Uganda Day 6- Women’s Conference, Olympic Day for Primary

The Men and Monica did an amazing Olympic day for the primary school. They had 350 of the kids walk with them about 30 minutes to a near by soccer field. They organized the kids into teams and had relay competitions. They gave each of the kids a medal for the participation and the kids had so much fun getting off campus and getting to do something different. The older kids had a soccer match and an in the middle of the game a grazing cow walked onto the field. There were many great conversations with kids while walking with them and fun for all who were there. 

 

The Women had a wonderful day at the Women’s Conference. Three hundred women came to Pastor Dongo’s church for 2 sessions and it was packed with no empty seats. The praise and worship from Abby and Sarah was amazing! The ladies danced and shouted to God, they have such a heart for Him! They are totally sold out to praise Him and there is no barriers between them and God. The Met Women served as a prayer team at the end of the session and we had 75 women in each of our lines waiting in the aisle to pray with us. They asked us to pray for healing, money for food and housing, and especially to be able to provide for their kids. There were very so thankful for everything we have done for them. There were so many God stories that I can’t even write them all down. We left the day very exhausted but we have never felt more energized and encouraged to see the presence of God. The ladies from the bush brought us lots of food, they said they just couldn’t show up empty handed. We were so touched because we know food is a very precious commodity. They were so excited because this is such a big event for them and they were all dress up in their very best.

Uganda Day 5-Primary, Garden, Church

The Men and Pastor Dongo had a productive day at the garden. They planted 550 banana plants, and were so excited to see the ones that we planted last year are growing tall and will be producing in 60 days! The kids will be so happy to start eating bananas!

The banana plants in full bloom!

Mike bought a stove that burns with wood and creates energy to charge a battery and gave to Wilbur who helps at the garden.

The cows and goats have been moved to the garden.

The ladies visited the primary school in the morning to complete sponsor correspondence and then headed over to Pastor Dongo’s church to meet with their ladies team to help prepare for the women’s conference. They are so resourceful! They are preparing for 300 women and since many are spending the night due to distance, there is so much to do. They are creating a wash area for them to wash their feet and clean up from travel, cooking for many meals over the 2 days and creating a sleep area for them in the basement at the church. They have worked so hard to have a place that the women will be comfortable and ready to learn about and worship God. Their women have been fasting and praying all day for this conference to be life changing for these women.

The kids at the dining hall at the primary school.

Abby and Sarah were able to practice worship with their worship leader Maria and had so much fun ministering to and learning from each other. Maria said she had never been to anything with 300 women in one place and was so humbled to be used by God to lead in worship. She said, “Praise God for the mighty work he is doing in women in Uganda! We have been praying for such a large women’s event for years and it is finally happening!” We are humbled and honored to be God’s vessels to help this happen. The high school girls 15 years and older are also coming, and we couldn’t be more thrilled for them to see these women worship and learn about God. These young girls are Uganda’s future and we believe God is going to do great and mighty things through them.

 

Please pray for part of our team that will be serving at the conference tomorrow and for the part of our team that is leading the Olympics at the Primary School. Also pray for continued good health for our team, besides not being able to sleep well, everyone is doing great!!

Uganda Day 4- High School

Their awesome daily quote board

The highlight of our day at the High School was Chapel. Ezra, Pastor Dongo's son, brought the sound system from the church so they were able to have mics and music. Abby and Sarah  practiced with the high school praise team before Chapel and loved getting to meet the kids and teach them a new song. They said they are amazing singers and had terrific harmony! Several of our team members said watching the worship was their favorite part of the day.

Mary taught chapel and asked some of the kids to volunteer reading John 4 about the Samaritan Woman at the Well. We talked about just as physical water in necessary to sustain physical life, living water from Jesus is necessary to sustain eternal life with Him! The best part was watching the kids stand up in front of their peers (who were laughing and cheering them on) and reading God’s Word into a microphone! They had never done that and although they were intimidated, they did it! They grew a lot today! The principal thanked us for challenging the kids to be bold with their faith. She said God gives us opportunities to stand up for him and we must take them. She said if we don't someone else will who may not believe in our God! Great lesson for us too!

Listen to this video and hear their sweet voices! This is a group of kids that were fasting during lunch. We heard them singing and went to hear their worship and prayer time. They have such a heart for God and want to know Him and please Him with their lives. It is totally student lead, there were no teachers around.

Darrick making friends with fellow Ice Cream lovers. I am not quite sure how that topic came up!

We took all the class pictures at the High School, and they were much calmer and “cooler” than the Primary School. They all wanted to be tall and be on the back row. It was fun to watch them interact with their friends. No matter where you are, there is always a class clown to make you laugh! We handed out more loom bracelets to all the kids that Met Kids made for them. They loved them so much and were so encouraged that kids from the US had cared enough for them to make them a free gift.The kids in this picture are all sponsored by families of The Met...what a great looking crew!

The crazy camera crew trying to make the kids smile!

Uganda Day 3 at the High School

The High School has changed since last year! There is a new floor and the roof is ready to be put on! There is much construction going on there. We were so happy to see some of our friends who have moved up to the High School from the primary. They have 70% that are able to move up to the High School, which is above average for Uganda schools. They have a very difficult testing system that kids must pass to go to the next grade.

Our team sanded the 4^th floor concrete walls and put the primer on the walls. Their method of construction and resources is very limited, but they are very hard workers and very innovative! They are so appreciative for anything we do and make our time with them so rewarding.

We were talking to one of the administrators and she said she had just returned from picking up a girl who hadn’t returned to school. She had graduated from the primary school at the top of her class, but her parents didn’t have the resources to send her to the high school and were not sure if they wanted her to go there since it is an hour from the primary and where they live. The administrator went to her house and brought Brenda and her father to the high school for them to see it, now that is dedication and love! When they arrived her father started crying and was so overwhelmed at the opportunity for his daughter and how caring everyone was to them! She would need sponsors, but they felt like this is where God wanted her! Someone from our team had a family member who was looking for someone to sponsor and was so happy to help and thankful to get to take a picture with Brenda and her dad! God is so amazing, He didn’t have to let us see the whole process….but He did and blessed us! Sarah and I walked off with tears in our eyes as we watched this thankful and proud daddy who is so thankful someone is giving his daughter a chance. School is her chance to not only survive in very tough conditions, but to have an education and a job to support herself one day. He was overwhelmed, as any daddy in America would be, that someone would believe in and help his daughter when he could not! That is God’s love in action.

We also passed out letters to kids from their sponsors. It was so fun telling them about their sponsors and how much they loved, sacrificed to support them and prayed for them.  We would ask them about their studies and what their best class was. They are so smart…physics, math, literature! Bob, one of friends who just moved up from the primary said he was learning so much. I asked him what he hopes to do in the future and he said he just wants to be used by God! He said he wants to help Uganda find God and stop doing such destructive things! Alex (the photographer because he always wants to use our camera to take pictures and our friend from the primary who returned this year to the high school) said he had so many talents he wasn’t sure which one God wanted him to use yet! AHHH, I agree. They are such amazing kids.

We are excited to return to the High School tomorrow for Chapel! Pray we will be a blessing to them! To quote our young friend Bob, we yearn to bless them more than they are blessing us!

Day 2, Uganda

We had a great day with the kids at The Primary School. There are about 1000 kids that range from 3 to 14 years old. We took their class pictures and gave each of them one of the loom bracelets that kids from our church made for them. We told them the bracelets were made with love from kids their age. They were so excited to receive a gift from America.

We were thrilled to get to see the water well we raised money for last year. It is so impressive and far exceeded our expectations. They use the hand pump part of the well for bathing and washing clothes, and have it filtered by the dinning hall for drinking. The kids are drinking and eating well! All have grown inches since we last saw them and are happy and growing spiritually as well. They love to tell you their favorite verse or sing a praise song.

The kids definitely remembered us and The Met. We met many new kids and were so impressed at the kids and their ambition. They value their education and have big dreams of going to college and becoming doctors, lawyers, and accountants. They have a great sense of humor and try to make you laugh.

They ask a lot of questions and are very interested what our lives are like back home. They ask about our families and our church and friends who are missing us back home.  They ask what they can pray for us, and are genuinely interested. Their joy is contagious! They are so happy for basic things we think are necessities and very happy just sitting and holding your hand and smiling—with them no words are necessary, just the understanding that we both are happy to just be together.