^passion fruit! yummm!
^breakfast club in walukaba

This is my prayer, this is my song: "In the quiet, in the stillness I know that You are God In the secret of Your presence I know there I am restored When You call I won't refuse Each new day again I'll choose In the chaos, in confusion I know You're sovereign still In the moment of my weakness You give me grace to do Your will So when You call I won't delay This my song through all my days There is no one else for me None but Jesus Crucified to set me free Now I live to bring Him praise All my delight is in You, Lord All of my hope, all of my strength All my delight is in You, Lord, forevermore"

One week from today I will be leaving Jinja. I can not even begin to believe that my time here is almost over (for this trip/time at least. haha) I have learned, experienced, seen SO much!

We just walked into town with a canopy of stars hanging over us. It is beautiful!

so the last few days or so have be just filled with learning, excitement, relaxation, beauty.

"KAMPALA, KAMPALA"
ha. a few of us went to Kampala last week! it was maddness! we started off our trip at a lovely coffee shop (my favorite of course). The name of the place was "good African coffee"..and it sure was good. Then we wondered over to the massive market. There was no stopping once you were in the market...literally. You HAVE to keep walking because there are SO many people! however, our stroll (more like run) through the market was cut short by a massive downpour of rain! after the rain we strolled more and grabbed some grub! on the way home...i tried the famous chicken on a stick...from the side of the road. To get it, you pull your car off to the side of the road at stop (likes), and people RUSH up to your car and shove food into the windows to try to get you to buy their food! after some yelling and barganing, we purchased our chicken. Well, it literally is just peices of grilled chicken...on a stick. and it was delicious. ha. perfect.

saturday we had a partaaay! 100 women, dancing, and food. yes. everytime the women dance, i am captivated. i love it!

sunday the newest volunteer came into town...and to sum up our friendship...every single person thinks we have been life long friends or sisters. they cant believe we just met.

Early in the week we went to a village nearby where a lady is running an non profit for malnurished kids in the area. She seves kids food every Tue and Thur and we helped serve kids for literally two hours non-stop. They said that over 900 kids came through the line! It was unlike anything I have ever seen or experienced.

this week we have done a few house visits, errands, and classes. On Wed i took a trip up to a place called bujagali which is about a 15/20 min boda ride to get coins for some of our newest necklaces. Well, the road to and from jinja is a long and dusty road...and by the end of my trip i was completely ORANGE! no joke. my face was the shade of the orange/redish african dirt!

All i know is that when i walk down the street, i feel at home. When i hear the women's laughter, i never want to leave the room. When i am covered in red dirt, i could care less.

God has continually been revealing himself to me in wonderful ways! of course its been nothing like i expected! i think God likes to work that way. I also think i will be processing this experience for a LONG time. Jesus is AMAZING. and the JOY that these women express is undeniably from Him. I see Him in the smiles, the laughter, the stillness, the bustling, the hardships, the scenery, the kids, the motion of everyday life. My mom recently sent me an email that was an exerpt from a book. It said, "we were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense." He is a WONDERFUL artist. in every way.

Joy. What defines joy?

I have an entirely new perspective on what joy is and means now. The people here are beyond joyful all the time, and yet it makes me wonder.. if we lived their lives, would we be that joyful?

After getting lost in the village of Walukaba and roaming around for an hour and a half, I found the little home of a suubi women. She told me parts of her story, and the whole time I was in disbelief that she had gone through so much. And the most amazing part of it all, was at the end she said, “it’s okay that this all happened, because God is in control and He is my hope.”

Wow.

Would I say that?

"you thrill me, Lord, with all you have done to me! I sing for JOY because of what you have done. O Lord what great works you do. And how deep are your thoughts"

-psalm 92:4-5

>>dancing.

Im finding myself lost for words. I don’t know how to process all that I am experiencing….maybe im not even processing at all. I don’t know.

I do know that I love seeing God’s face in all of the beautiful people here.

So instead of trying to muster up some profound thoughts, I am going to describe some of my everyday experiences. Here we go.

Transportation- to get anywhere really there are two, maybe three, options. 1. Walking, or here “footing”. 2. Bodas, which are motorcycles. So you wave them down, usually argue about how much money you are going to pay, jump on the back, and then after a breezy (and dirty) ride you arrive at the destination. 3. Matatu. This is their taxi cab-ish. It’s a large white bus that crams as many people into it as possible. These are usually just for going to Kampala or remote locations. I had my first matatu ride the other day…lets just say I was a little scared for my life haha.

Talking- most people speak English, however in town they also usually speak lugandan, and then the women of suubi mostly speak luo. I’m sloooowly catching on to some of the common phrases and words, however most of the time I find myself very very confused. They also switch up some of the English words. For example, “smart” means fashionable, or looking nice. So you would say to someone dressed pretty, “you are looking very smart”. “wise” means smart. Also, “stubborn” means both stubborn and funny.

Lines, restaurants, etc.- everything here is on slow-mo. It takes forever and ever to do anything. There is no such thing as fast food, only an hour wait. Being late, slow, etc is excused by saying “its African time”. I am definitely learning the beauty of patience, and slowing down.

Greetings- while you are slowly walking down the street, everyone greets eachother. Everyone.

Scenery- is beautiful. One of our friends recently took sarah and I up to his families land about 15 min away from town. The plot of land is nestled down a long red dirt road, and right down a hill snakes the Nile river. Everything is green, red, and blue.

Littering- I don’t think there is such a thing. It is totally acceptable to throw trash on the ground anywhere. Piles of trash are found on the corners of streets or piles in villages, and then just burned.

Someone once told me that jinja is like a black hole….one you come, you will always get sucked back in. I am beginning to see the truth in that.

learning and growing.

This has all been a whirlwind. Every day I experience something new, something unexpected, something wonderful.

On the downside.. Bombings, broken computers, and sickness. Oh my.

Last week, during the world cup soccer (or shall I say, “football”) game, there was three bombs that went off in Kampala. The group that sent the bombs claimed responsibility and are saying that they are going to continue to attack Uganda. So prayer for safety and Uganda.

Last week as well, my computer broke. Ok well not completely broken, but broken while in Uganda. However, after a few complaints, I have realized God’s provision through even this dumb situation with my computer. I met a family that just moved into Jinja and opened a restaurant and a computer technology center. The husband, Johnny is a trained computer technician, so he helped me get all my files off my computer, gave me CS4, and basically offered every skill he had. He and his family completely revealed Christ to me with all of their open arms.

Sickness..ew. but I guess I can mark “get a stomach bug” off my list of things to do in Uganda. Lets just say Tuesday was a very boring day in bed.

Ok, enough with the downers. On the upside, God is GOOD! All the time.

On wed, I taught my first English class. And of course the art major taught colors! After learning the english/luo words for all the colors, we played a game with the women. They divided into two groups and one from each group was given a bag with a colored marker in it. At the count of three, the lady had to grab the maker from their bag and shout out the color in english as fast as they could. It was SO fun! Gosh, who knew a simple game like that would bring about so much laughter! = )

Later in the week we went and visited Lillian, the translator at suubi, yesterday. She has two beautiful and FUNNY kids. We ate a delicious African meal and then we took a trek down to the Nile River. The walk was so so so beautiful.

Today, I experienced my FIRST suubi /acholi traditional dance! I got so many pictures and videos…don’t worry. However, I don’t think anything will be able to do the dance justice. It was amazing. The women are beyond joyful and completely in their element! Drums. Singing. Dancing. Laughing. Perfect.

God is revealing himself to me in a completely different way than I expected. He is showing himself to me through the quiet, the stillness, and the smiles. I don’t want a moment to go by too fast. I want to hold onto every second and learn all that God has for me here.

And here are three random facts:

1. I am constantly a shade of red…due to the red dirt.

2. It is extremely hard for Ugandans to pronounce the name “liz”

3. Ugandans can eat dinner in complete and utter darkness.

beauty.

pictures finally! = )

}} denida village!, and where suubi building is!

}} we went boating down the nile river..here is the spot of the "source"!

}} at breakfast club!

anywho, i love it here. I'm learning, growing and being stretched!

gosh, its just such a blessing to be here!

joy.

everyday my eyes are opened a little wider,

and my heart is tugged at a little harder.

It is all so overwhelming, yet I am so overjoyed.

We visited the suubi women in denida village yesterday for our Monday beading class. The womens smiles, laughter, joy…and the personalities! oh, they are so fun!

Today we went to the village for quite a few hours and visited some of the women. Sarah and I helped them make their food, which consisted of posho, greens, and grinded nuts. To sum up the food..interesting. haha it will def. take a little getting used to, but really, not too bad. After eating, the women taught me to string and varnish the beads.. learning from the pros! = )

Talking to the women and hearing their stories, helping them cook, sitting with them, and just experiencing life with them is truly amazing. Life is simple. and beautiful.

I heard this quote the other day that said, “we live in a world drenched in God. His fingerprints are all over.”

this is becoming so real to me. I am seeing and experiencing God’s people, creation, and fingerprints in a completely new way.