I'm a little teapot...

Today was yet another beautiful day in Uganda, but before I get too far, I want to give a quick newsflash that we failed to update you all on from yesterday: Scott’s airplane girl accepted his friend request on Facebook. The Lord is good.

So breakfast this morning began in renewed spirits, as we headed off to Lagutu for church. Upon arrival, much of the community was already present and in full swing (literally) amidst worship songs. We all introduced ourselves up front, each sharing bits and pieces of encouragement with them before Pastor Jeff gave a fantastic sermon from 1^st Samuel 17, called “Little Guy, Big God.” Based on the story of David and Goliath, his sermon not only encompassed so much of what our team has been experiencing here (even in the just the past 24 hours), but it embodied the story and hope for what God is doing in Lagutu.

Afterwards, Josh, Aaron, and George spoke with and prayed over young men in the community who were either dealing with personal struggles or beginning a relationship with Christ for the first time. Laurie, Joan, and C.C. prayed over a few women and children, while Lindsey and myself wrote a quick note/prayer of encouragement in the cover of the bibles we gave to two of the young men.

Our group hit up the hotel for a delicious lunch consisting of fried rice, the standard fried fish, and three servings of pineapple (DUH). Then began “Chase the Ace,” a card game that requires intense concentration and decision making skills (and by that I mean pretty much none). The hardest decision you make is whether or not you’re keeping or trading your card with the person to your left. If you have a king, you can refuse the trade from the person to your right. For future reference, 1.) Aaron is dealt kings a peculiarly large number of times, and 2.) don’t sit to his right unless you can tolerate sound effects (AND hand motions) every time he refuses your pass. But guess who lost for the first time ever? And got to do the worm across the hotel courtyard (his own idea), all after taking down almost the entire bag of starburst? Aaron. Sorry we’re not sorry bout it. Chase lost the second game, resulting in his best effort to walk across the courtyard while balancing a water jug on his head (after the hotel employee wove him his own head cloth) and singing “I’m A Little Teapot” at (almost) full volume.

We then returned to the Koro farm to organize medical supplies in preparation for tomorrow. Laurie, George, and Jeff took to competing over bottles of ibuprofen, (naturally), while Lindsey and Scott tag-teamed ibuprofen and Chase and Joan took over the vitamin department. A “friendly” pick-up game of soccer was then played between the SOI staff and our sore team, which we tied 1-1!! George also took a solid hit to the abdomen during the game, which later led to his self-proclamation of MVP.

The way home from the farm included a pit-stop at a nearby community. Pastor Jeff spoke (newsflash to him as well as us), and George followed up with his testimony. Four young men from the community came up at the end to receive Christ, and George, Aaron, Jeff, and members of the community encircled them and prayed. HALLELUJIAH!

For dinner, we refueled ourselves with mashed potatoes (holla!), another three rounds of pineapple, more rice, and you guessed it… fried fish. The discussion topics tonight included essentially a free infomercial from Pastor Jeff on the benefits of CrossFit, complete with his before and after photos, which got quite the reaction out of both Laurie and Aaron.

The night was again wrapped up with final thoughts, prayers, and even a couple worship songs (thank the Lord that Jesus doesn’t care what our voices sound like). As always, your prayers and encouragement from home are so greatly appreciated while we continue to fight the good fight of the faith here in Uganda. As Aaron said tonight, we’re pushing back the boundaries of the darkness and the enemy, and crossed a bit of a line today as a sense of peace fell upon us in Lagutu. God can do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine, and He is doing that here.

 

In Christ, (and Rock Chalk Jayhawk),
Shannon