Ugandan Welcome

Our Awesome Staff

I love all the people that we met in Uganda. They are some of the kindest and most welcoming souls I’ve ever met. We stayed on a YWAM base in Jinja which had its crazy points with the rats and roaches, but I would not trade that little house for the world because of the incredible staff that showed us love for two weeks. We had amazing food that they prepared for all of our meals, and they kept tea and coffee out all day. I think drinking tea is the way I stayed hydrated while there. 

We worked alongside members of the staff when building the mud house or visiting schools. They were an inspiration showing up everyday with smiles and leading as examples for us to follow. Philip, Elijah, and Godfrey drove us places and taught us through actions in service and through great conversations. 

Sometimes members of their team or other locals would join in our ultimate frisbee games or other events. For one of our Shout worship services, Philip and Israel led us in ongoing songs for about an hour, just singing whatever came to their heart. We didn’t always know the words, but we’d catch on quick enough and when we knew the songs, everyone belted them out. 

Goodbyes were hard for many people, but we had the awesome opportunity to shower the staff with love as our team members talked about experiences and thanked them for their kindness. We were so blessed to be on that base while in Uganda, and even more so, to be with those people. 

Making Chapati 

On our second Sunday, I went to a church that we had previously gone to for school with about a third of our team. Two of my teammates were speaking in church, and a small group of us were teaching kids church. We sang songs and did skits before heading back downstairs into the service where some of the students sang in church. I sat with some of the kids, and we danced to worship songs which is something I’m beginning to think every church should do. 

After service, some of the sweet leaders in the church had us sit in a room to talk and gave us juice. Our love for chapati came up in the conversation. They invited us to learn how to make it, so six of us stayed and went up to the kitchen to cook. Joy, who lives up to her name, walked us through all of the steps. We all laughed at my attempts to cut onions and then kneaded the dough, and began to make them into little balls. They get rolled out and then fried on these little oil stoves. We did a lot of the work ourselves, but there was no way we would have gotten anywhere without a lot of help and instruction. 

The chapati tasted amazing as we dipped slices of it into beans. We talked and prayed with our hosts who had been so kind and who we had gotten to know through simple cooking. They took us to the roof of their building where we could look out over the city and Lake Victoria, and we took pictures together and exchanged goodbyes before they sent us off on the back of motorcycles called boda-bodas. Speeding down dirt roads and passing our other teammates while riding side-saddle on the back of a motorcycle is an experience. 

The Orphanage 

There’s a babies’ orphanage somewhere in the outskirts of Jinja that has stolen a lot of our hearts. This beautiful place is home to about 25 children under the age of 7 with 10 staff members. Most of these children were either left abandoned or taken away from their families. Only a small group of our team went on different days, but we were all touched by the joy and love shown here. 

One little seven year old girl attached herself to my side very quickly. She and her twin sister had been poisoned by their stepmom who they lived with after their mother had been tested HIV positive. Now both girls are healthy and happy. Those two, along with the rest, loved to be held and hugged. They’d drag us in different directions toward the swings or see-saws or demand to be held and point to wherever they wanted to go. 

A part of me felt guilty after being at the orphanage as I thought about how this is the stereotypical picture of missions in Africa that is so often portrayed. I’m almost accustomed to seeing poor orphans and starving children being held by some kind missionary. There is so much more to Uganda than that, and I want that to get through in my stories, but I also want to realize how beautiful those moments holding those little kids were. I may not be creating a physical difference, but loving on those kids is what we were called to do on that afternoon, and it impacted my heart. 

I love the relationships our team was able to build in Uganda and continued on that. We got to experience with Antoine who helped lead the ATW V team two years ago when they were in Rwanda. We were shown what Jesus’ love looks like when it is lived out. I could not have asked for more kind or loving hosts and will always look back on our time in Uganda with love for the people around us and joy in my heart because of their compassion and open-arms.