Monday
Do you know what I am going to say? Today was totally legit (thank you Morgan for the new adjective).
We slept in today since we got home so late then headed off to Buloba. This morning we were going door to door doing evangelism. We headed off in three teams- Josh and Catherine with Pastor Isaac and Godfrey. Amanda, Jordan along with interpreter Dave and some church family. And then Morgan, Lauren, Me, and Pastor Eva with some church family.
My group headed away from Buloba down through the swamp area up to the other side. We encountered quite a few Christian brothers and sisters. We also prayed in front of the Voodoo Shrine gate. The voodoo shrine is used by those who still believe in witchcraft. Animal sacrifices and at times human sacrifices occur there. So we prayed as the spirit lead against the evil there.
We met with a man who attended the Catholic church and was interested in a personal relationship with Jesus but was not willing to leave his church. When we asked how we could pray for him he shared that his son had died and he wanted us to pray that he would be able to get into heaven if we prayed that. Pastor Eva explained that it did not work that way. So we prayed that the Lord would remove the hurt in their hearts over his death. As we left after we prayed the wife was crying. Turns out that the son was 15 and working for the voodoo shrine folks. He went over to another area to shop for them and the people from that community thought he was a thief and stealing from their store. So they beat him and 4 others then burned their bodies. Our hearts broke for the hurt they must have.
We also spoke with another older catholic lady and shared Christ with her. After that we headed back to Buloba Church. As we walked we were called over to a woman’s home. She shared that she had problems with alcohol and was interested in being a Christian. We prayed for her and with her. As we spoke with her there were several men playing cards behind us. One of the church family tried to get them to stop so we could speak with them. They said no, they were muslim and were not interested. I wished I could speak Luganda so I could tell them that when their life ends it will not matter that they spent the afternoon playing cards. That they had the opportunity to accept Christ that day and change their eternity. I walked away saddened that their hearts were so hard they would not even stop to listen.
I know the other teams had people come to know Christ as Savior. Amanda’s sponsor child came to know Christ! And Josh’s team met with a muslim woman for quite some time as they shared with her and answered her questions about our faith and coming to know Christ.
When we got back it was great to sit around and share a little with the church family about the morning while we waited on the rest of the team. And Lauren and Simon (a sponsor child) sat and read the Bible together. It was a blessing to see Simon reading- he has learned so much this year! And for him to be reading God’s word delighted my heart.
After a late and abbreviated lunch we set up shop in one of the classrooms for reading glasses distribution. We only had an hour and a half today and word has not really gotten around yet, but we distributed almost 50 pair! We had quite a few elderly but also a few younger people and 4 policemen from the police station. It was great to see the smiles on the faces of the people as they put on the glasses and began to read with them! It was great. We know that the word will get around and expect to have a bunch of folks tomorrow. We have 500 pair total and pray that the people will come to all be served and we have none left and everyone gets a pair.
We headed out and stopped at the supermarket on the way home for some random food and snacks. ON our way home we ran into a guy that calls himself the World Champion Bike Rider. We have seen him on the same piece of road 3 days so far. He said he has never had a wreck and asks how Alabama is every time. Funny stuff. Then we headed over to the house Patrick has been building. In the last year he has been able to get the roof on and now has some window frames and a door frame up. It is his dream to have teams stay there when he gets it completed. And Catherine decided she wanted to drive us home (see pictures when I post them : )
Tomorrow is eyeglass distribution all day. Which is nice- it is sort of low key and we get to interact with new people. It has been a joy to spend time with people more on this trip and build relationships. Tomorrow night we are heading to Pastor Eva’s home for dinner and we will also celebrate Lauren’s 19th birthday in some fun ways I am sure.
Once again- thanks for the prayers. So far we have been pretty situation free- which I contribute it to your prayers.
I will post a few pics later from today.
Love hearing about all of it (God is good)- wish I was there! We sold 850$ worth of baskets and bags that the Buloba women made on Sunday at church (we gave an item for each 10$ donation - and passed some of the dolls and balls to kids if they would pray for the Buloba children).
A few asked about sponsoring kids as well...
Keep it up team!
Posted by: Robin Duke | May 18, 2009 at 04:28 PM
Andi! I am just so so pleased that I got to see a picture with Amanda and Ashiraf! I couldn't quite interpret the expression on his face, so I hope he wasn't afraid, but I think he was just ADORABLE! I hope Amanda was able to let him know that we care so much for him...my kids are looking for more pics and waiting impatiently to hear more. AK says to tell Amanda "hey" and that she really likes her skirt A LOT! :) Praying every day for you all...and anxiously waiting to hear all about it! I hope that hearts are softened so we can hear more about the best stories of all...more people coming to know Christ!
Posted by: Emily | May 18, 2009 at 09:15 PM