It started out as a normal day for us - “hurry up and wait.” I sat with Martha and Pastor Charles and others as we waited. I loved when Kelly pulled Pastor Edward and me aside to get our picture together. We laughed as she snapped pictures, and I haven’t seen them yet but I know that I’m going to love them. It’s amazing the bond that you can have with someone halfway around the world.
On the way back to the second village, we stopped at Pastor Godfrey’s house and picked up his wife, Mama Joy, and three of his sons – Emma, Joshua, and Joseph. You have never met cuter, sweeter boys in your life. I promise. Joshua sat next to me, and I don’t know how we got on the subject, but he said something about how he was very big. “Very fat” were his actual words, and he said “See, I’m almost as big as you.” I asked him if that meant that I was fat, and he said simply “Not very.” Not very. :-) I love their honesty.
Pastor Edward sat on the other side of me, and he let me ask him questions about his life. He told me that he gets $5/week from the church. Five dollars a week. That’s twenty dollars a month. I asked him how much it costs him to take care of his family every month, and he told me that it costs about three hundred dollars. Three hundred versus twenty. It doesn’t take an accountant like to me to figure out that it doesn’t add up. I asked him how he made up the difference. I’ve sent him money since last year, but not enough to make up the difference between three hundred dollars and twenty dollars every month. He said that he buys on credit when he can. He told me, though, that a while back he literally had no food for his family. He went to Pastor Godfrey, who gave him some food so that his family wouldn’t starve. Not so that they could eat what they wanted. They needed food to keep from dying. I pray that they never find themselves in that situation again, but it breaks my heart. I have friends who have faced starvation and have worried about feeding their children. I didn’t know what to say to him, but I held his hand and told him that I was sorry.
When we got to the village, there were a LOT of children waiting for us. The day before, Pastor Edward had told all of the children assembled that they all needed to bring 3 friends with them the next day. When we pulled up on the bus, it definitely looked like they had listened!
Since there were so many kids, we decided to split up the older and younger kids again. Tonja, Mary, and I took the older kids. Tonja told the Jesus story as Pastor Edward interpreted for her, and then I shared the Gospel. I think that at least 15-20 kids got saved! Pastor Edward was excited and made them hold up their hands and said “Look at all of these ones who have prayed!” Webale Jesu! (Thank you, Jesus!) After the stories, we played "friend, friend, go," and then did the hokey pokey – both resulting in lots of loud laughter!
Kelly came up to me before lunch, and told me that there was a little boy named Juma who had joined our group after I had shared the Gospel. His shirt had been in such bad shape that she had given him a new shirt - a bright white shirt. In a sea of children in dirty clothes in disrepair, it was easy to spot him. Pastor Edward came with me and we went to talk to him, and he told us that he was Muslim. Kelly came over, and we talked to him for a few more minutes. I asked if I could pray over him, and he said that it would be all right. I prayed that God would reveal Himself to Juma, and that Juma would know how much God loves him and that Jesus is the only way that he can have a real relationship with God. After I prayed, Kelly gave him her water and told him in beautiful, powerful words that only through Jesus could he not thirst again. The way she spoke gave me chills, and I prayed that Juma understood what she was saying. If Kelly was not already a rockstar in my eyes, she was after that. Juma wasn’t saved that day, as far as I know, but he did stick close to our group the rest of the day. When we sang songs later, he was there and he seemed to be having fun singing with us.
We ate lunch on the bus, and then after lunch I blew bubbles with the kids and we sang a lot of songs. Being the entertainment for about 30 kids was intimidating, but it was a lot of fun. I sang and danced my heart out, and they seemed to have fun. Pastor Edward got them to sing some of their songs as well, and I tried my best to learn them. (I recorded video of this, but I’m having trouble getting the videos off of my memory cards!) Their favorite song was “I like to jump everyday….I like to jump everyday… I like to jump everyday because I know He loves me!” They loved to jump while we sang, and we would do it again with clapping and dancing instead of jumping. I love it too… I still get it stuck in my head and when I do it brings back sweet memories of playing in the Ugandan sun.
After lunch, we went out hut to hut. The day before we had been walking with a woman who told us that demons had been attacking her children in the night, and we had promised to go back to her hut to pray with her. Pastor Edward had told Smooth about this at some point earlier in the day, so I went Smooth and Tasha as we followed this lady to her hut.
As we walked, I held hands with 2 little girls –Amena and Lolini. When we started, they were pretty shy. I had to stick my hand out for Amena to hold, and I had to nod and smile until she finally grabbed it. I found out their names and told them that God loved them, but I seemed to get no response. I kept tried to talk to them, but for the most part they would just giggle and duck their heads. I kept talking though. In my heart, I could feel the same tugging that I had felt the day before – “Fight for my children.” So as we walked, I prayed for them. I asked each girl if she was saved; Amena buried her head in my skirt, and Lolini shook her head no. I kept praying, asking God to work in their hearts and draw His daughters to Himself with his relentless love.
We probably walked close to 45 minutes, and I was so thankful that we hadn’t tried to go out there the day before...even though she had told us that it was “just over there.” Pastor Edward told us that we were on the road to Kenya and we joked that we must be getting close! Along the way we were joined by another woman who said that demons had killed 5 of her children. They had died in their sleep - smothered by demons. It's hard to even understand something so terrible. I hate to think what I have called "bad" in my life compared to what she has been through. The reality is that for so many people there, they have faced things that we cannot even imagine.
When we arrived at the hut, we sat under a tree as a small crowd of women and children gathered. Smooth told them the Good News about a God who loves them, and I think that about 15 people were saved! It was awesome
After praying with our new sisters in Christ, we went into the hut where the children were being attacked by demons. Smooth prayed over the hut and the children, claiming God’s protection for them and affirming that Satan had no power in that place. It was a powerful experience that I’m not sure I can explain in words. The one thing that I do know is that that I felt peace and the presence of God when we exited, and I did not feel that at all when we went in.
We started to head to the second woman’s house to pray with her family, and I was again walking with Amena and Lolini. By this time, they were obviously more comfortable with me, and they had sought me out to hold my hands as we walked. I told them that God loved them, and I got half-smiles. I kept praying for them, even saying “I am fighting for them. I'm fighting for these two girls, and I will not give up. Save your children.” I knew that God wanted me to give these two girls a lot of attention and prayer.
At the home of the second woman, we entered and prayed for her family. I got to lay hands on the mother and some of her remaining children as Smooth prayed protection for the entire family. Again, the difference in that place between when we entered and when we left was significant. I can’t put it into words except to say that God made his peace felt in that place.
As we left the second hut and started walking down the road back to the village, I was walking between Amena and Lolini when I felt a sense of urgency that I couldn’t ignore any longer.
“Pastor Edward, will you ask my friend why she won’t be saved?”
He looked almost taken aback, but said “Of course! This one?” and he squatted next to Amena as she held my right hand, and for a minute and they exchanged words that I couldn’t understand.
“Oh. She will pray.” He said it very matter of factly, but it made my heart almost burst with joy!
“She will pray to be saved? Now?”
“Yes, she will.”
“And what about Lolini?” I asked and motioned towards the girl clinging to my left hand.
Again there were words that I couldn't understand, and then Pastor Edward straightened up, nodded, and said, “She will pray too.”
So on a dirt road in Uganda, I got to lead two friends to Jesus. I choked up several times in the short prayer as two little girls repeated after me in sweet, sing-songy voices. I will never forget that as long as I live.
At this point in the trip, I had probably gotten to lead more than 50 children in prayers to receive salvation, but there was something extra-special about this. I am humbled that God chose to use me to lead any of His children home to Him, but the way that He worked to save Amena and Lolini was unique. He wouldn’t let me leave them alone. He let me fight for them, and He won.
(Amena is in the orange dress on the left and Lolini is in the green on the right.)
I get chills remembering the walk back to the village. It wasn’t a walk, it was a dance, a joyful parade. The girls that were walking back to the village weren’t the same girls who had walked out with me. These two girls were now princesses. I told each girl that God loved her, and each turned a face to me full of a smile that radiated. When I told Amena that God loved her, she closed her eyes, sighed, and said "Amena" (meaning "Amen," not her own name). They knew it now. They laughed out loud instead of quietly giggling as we skipped and walked and ran - I would pull them into a run, and then slow them back down into a walk, and then to a skip, alternating quickly to try to make them laugh. If I walked too long, they would look up at me with mischievous smiles, and then start running, trying to pull me with them.
And we sang. I started singing “I like to jump every day” and they joined in with me. When I stopped singing they would start singing on their own, pleading with smiles and pulls on my arms to join in. We jumped when it said to jump, and we reveled in the Father’s love.
I believe with all of my heart that I’ll get to hold hands with Amena and Lolini in heaven. I believe that we will dance and sing and run and skip and jump again. I have no doubt. And honestly, in that moment, it felt like heaven. There were times when all we could see was the dirt road before us (Smooth and Tasha were behind us). I can only imagine what walking streets of gold will be like after walking that sweet dirt road in the sunshine. As the sun shone on us, I knew that God was smiling at us. I know that He was in the middle of the celebrating going on in heaven because two of His daughters came home. Two little girls found a Father in the King of Kings, and had become princesses.
I had left the village holding the hands of two poor little girls, and I danced back into the village holding the hand of a princess in each of mine.
When we got back to the village, there were people milling around. I knew that our bus would be leaving soon, and felt the sense of urgency that I had earlier – Richard. I knew that I needed to find him. I had been praying for him since the day before, and I knew that God wasn’t done with whatever He was going to do in the life of that little boy. I found him, and took him to Pastor Edward. I asked Pastor Edward to talk to him, and to ask him why he wouldn’t be saved. They talked for a few minutes, and then Pastor Edward said “He loves Jesus, but he doesn’t want to get saved today. Not today.” I could tell that Richard was uncomfortable with all of the attention that he was getting, but I asked if I could pray over him and he said that I could. I prayed that God would show Richard how much He loved him, and that Richard would know that he needed to not only love Jesus, but to surrender his life and accept Christ as his savior. Richard didn’t get saved that day, as far as I know. But I believe that he will be saved. I believe that when I walk with Amena and Lolini in heaven, Richard will be there too.
As we drove back to the guest house on the bus, there was a double rainbow in the sky. It was an amazing ending to an amazing day.
I love that God let us fight for His children that day. I love that He always wins. I love that we are all His children. I love that I got to dance with princesses in Uganda.
1 John 3:1 – “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
