We woke up this morning and headed downstairs for worship. I love that they do that here first, even before breakfast. Another young man spoke on John 9:1-25, the story of the man who was blind from birth. He said that we were all blind before Christ, but now that we have him we can see. He also said that the children should remember where they WERE (on the streets, in dangerous home situations, eating out of garbage dumps etc) so that they can SEE what Christ has done for them. Isaiah 51:1. They sang Amazing Grace…..awesome.
I noticed a little boy who I remembered seeing the night before. There was just something about him that reminded me of Aidan…..it was really odd, but I didn’t think too much of it…..at the time. He just continued to shyly smile at me, and I smiled back at him.
Then the children headed off to eat breakfast and so did we. Florence had made a wonderful breakfast of mango, pineapple and bread rolls with honey. Pastor Benson wanted to be sure that we had slept well, eaten well and that we did not see many mo-skweet-os.
After we all had breakfast, a few of us went into the dining hall, thinking that is where we would gather the kids, but the ladies were cleaning, so a few of us volunteered to help. Let me just say that I will never complain about sweeping with a real broom again. We hunched over with those tiny brooms made out of tied together bristles and swept the whole floor. Ouch.
The rest of the team gathered with all of the kids and sang songs for about an hour. We joined in as soon as we were done with the cleaning. They had a blast watching us all dance and act silly. I think they really expect Americans to be very straight laced and boring….and this group is not! I had 4 little boys who kept making eyes at me. They were obviously a close knit group of friends….and I also learned that my little friend I had been noticing was named Staron. He is 9 years old.
Then, we counted the kids off in to groups of 6 to get ready for game time. Each team had a name (Zebras, Elephants etc) and then they all made up a team cheer….which was pretty stinking hilarious. We all moved in to the dining hall and did a craft in our groups. After crafts, we did some more songs, and then we did some silly songs. I did the “Give me a J!” cheer and they loved that. We also did the Tootie Ta and the Hokey Pokey……these kids have probably been overloaded with silly white women today!
We all headed down to a really large field here on Fiwagoh’s land to play games. It was nice and hot by this time, which is such a huge change from wearing jackets and layers yesterday. It is really bizarre, but I guess none of us have any clean clothes left anyway, so extreme changes in temperatures don’t really effect us much. We are wearing dirty clothes either way so who cares! We had 6 game stations going, and the 6 teams rotated though. They all had a blast! Then they headed in to have lunch and we did too….another wonderful meal by Florence.
After lunch we fueled up with water and headed out for a “nature hike”. We were told it would take about 15 minutes to get down to the lake…..but that did not include the time it would take for us to get back! Staron found me as soon as we began the walk…..and he did not leave me the entire time. I would stop to take a picture, and he would wait. They would hold the kids back and send us ahead to get pictures, and he would catch up with me every time.
We went on a real African sort of safari…with all 180 kids! We saw flamingos on the lake, as well as large cranes and other birds. It was funny because the big guys made the kids stay back while we got pictures, and then he turned them loose….they ran as fast as they could to the water and scared the birds so they would all fly off….it was pretty cute.
On a side note, not one of us got a sunburn in Uganda…..but we have all gotten fried here. It is really weird. Even though the weather is much colder here, apparently the sun is closer or something…….
Anyhoo, so we continued on our journey, and we saw lots of cows being herded…some of whom were very unhappy to see us. We actually saw a few monkeys, but they were so small and camouflaged that it was almost impossible to see them. So, we finished up our walk, which ultimately took about 2 hours…..we were wiped OUT. Literally the moment that the last person crossed over to the Fiwagoh property, the rains came tumbling down.
We had another time of worship with the kids, and then we went back for another wonderful dinner with Florence and Pastor Benson. He shared a little of his history and how far his ministry has come in the last 8 years. It is really amazing how God provides.
I don’t know what it is about Staron, but I know that he taught me a lesson today. He showed me a very tangible example of God’s love for me. He found me, I did not find him. He sought me out again and again, and he stayed with me…..he said he wants to be a preacher one day.
What a sweet story. I pray things work out for you to sponsor Staron.
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