Greetings from Uganda!
It has been quite a journey thus
far. I arrived in Entebbe, Uganda Wednesday at 7:45am. I received a warm
welcome from Alisha and our driver Joe. Alisha is from Mobile, AL and attended
William Carey a few years ago. We had never met in person before, but we began
messaging a few months ago and let me just tell ya we are kindred spirits. I am
challenged daily by her obedience to follow the Lord daily here in Jinja. She has been such a blessing to me as I have
had a million questions about Uganda, the culture, how to go about things here
in Jinja…and so on. I seriously have no idea what I would do without her! We
left the airport and headed to Kampala where we stopped for breakfast and
grabbed a few groceries. We then headed to Jinja, which is about a three-hour
drive from the airport. After a few scares in the matatu(Ugandans are CRAZY
drivers. Haha), we arrived at Ekisa orphanage where I will be staying for the
next few months. I was welcomed to Ekisa by Emily Worrall, Emily Henderson, and
Stacy. The two Emily’s started Ekisa
almost two years ago. They met a few
years back whenever they were both volunteering at a baby’s home and they saw
the need of a special needs orphanage for kids who are disowned by their
families because of their disabilities. This was a dream of theirs that they
thought would never come true. Little did they know that shortly after their
time of volunteering would the Lord turn their dream into a reality. They are
now serving the country of Uganda by giving children with disabilities a loving
home and sharing the love of Jesus with these precious children. A little while
after my arrival the children awoke from their nap and welcomed me quickly by
wrapping their arms around me and me and calling me “Auntie Whitney”…which I
love. Within Ugandan culture Ugandans call “muzungus”(white people), Auntie and
Uncle. These kids had my heart the first day I arrived. Wednesday night I was
able to attend the weekly bible study where all of the missionaries of Jinja
gather together to encourage and challenge one another, worship, and most
importantly study the word together. I was so encouraged by the community that
the Lord has brought together here in Uganda to serve HIM. On Thursday and
Friday I spent time getting acclimated and spending time with the children and
people I will be with for the next few weeks. On Saturday, I had the
opportunity to go visit the Mesese people. Amazima ministry had organized an
immunization drive for the children of Mesese. There were around 600 children
waiting in line to receive numbers in order to receive vaccinations. It was
completely overwhelming to see the poverty and the need for food, education,
shelter, medical attention, care, and hope these sweet children need. All parents of these children get up early in
the morning, head in to town, and do not return until late at night. Yes, some
of them are doing the proper thing of going and providing for their families,
and others are wasting away their day abandoning their children. There were four
year olds caring for their newborn sibling…. heartbreaking. I am still having a
hard time processing all of this and trying to determine what the Lord is
calling me to do within this situation.
I want to
challenge you all to be obedient to what the Lord is calling you to do within
your life. Just because He might not call you to be in another country that
does not mean you have an out of doing what the Lord has called you to do. We
are all “called” to the nations and to missions. Be open to what the Lord has
for you in your daily schedule. Look around for the needs that are surrounding
you on a daily basis. Take time to invest within the lives of your neighbors
and your community.
Please
continue to pray for these people. Pray specifically for the Mesese people.
Pray for the Ekisa children. Whenever I arrived there were several kids who had
measles and then we had a few children break out with chicken pox. Please pray
that measles and chicken pox would not spread among the other children. Please
pray for direction from the Lord for a few decisions that will have to be made
within the next few weeks. I love you all and cannot wait to continue sharing
with you what the Lord is doing here in Jinga and I cannot wait to see how the
Lord works within you guys as well! We serve a MIGHTY, AWESOME, SOVEREIGN Lord.
Here a few pictures to capture this week...
You have to be creative during quarantine. Books, coloring, and lots of stickers are always good!!
