It’s hard to believe that we will only be in Uganda for a few more days. How quickly these two months have passed by for us!! As usual, I have very mixed feelings about our upcoming departure. Of course I am so excited to get back to Texas to see my family and friends. But I am also very sad to leave the “family” and friends I have here. Even though we are only here with our partners for a short time each summer, you can’t help but become close friends as you spend time praying and working so closely together. The Lord gave us a wonderful “parting gift” this weekend. I’ve been praying that it would work out for us to attend Victory one last time so that we could see our partners before leaving. So when Floyd was asked to preach this past Sunday, we decided to spend the whole weekend in Kampala since we don’t usually have the time or freedom to just “be tourists”. We arrived around lunchtime on Saturday, went to a little gift shopping area so that Troy and Tyler could get a Uganda jersey, visited Garden City Mall (which we now know our way around very well), and then we drove to Victory to see our partners. They had rehearsal from 4:00-7:30, and we were able to stay and watch them. And boy did we get to see them in action...
They began their rehearsal by running laps around the perimeter of the church. I'm letting the fact that I was in a skirt be my excuse for not joining them! :) Andrew told us that everyone is required to exercise before practice, and if they're not willing to do it, they can find another ministry to be a part of! :) After running laps, they lined up for their exercises. At one point, they were jumping over each other. I was quite impressed. They then began practicing their dance moves (which are a work-out in and of themselves), and went through all the songs they were going to sing the next day. I know I’ve said it before, but watching the Mass Choir sing and dance is truly one of my favorite things. Although it was just their rehearsal, it was a wonderful time of worship…and I felt doubly blessed because we got to see it again the next morning at church.
After rehearsal, we asked anyone who was free to hang out with us for the evening. You see, when we are at the crusade, we don't have a lot of time to just sit and visit with each other. We try to talk during the clinics when we have some down time, or sometimes we’ll have a chance to eat together before the crusades begin. But usually the days are so busy, there’s not always time to just hang out together. It was wonderful to have time to do just that. We picked up dinner, and then went back to the hotel we were staying at that night. Tamra and Floyd had a sitting area attached to their room, so we sat around, eating and laughing together. At the end, we prayed together and then said goodnight.
The next morning we attended VLWC. We were once again able to worship with the Mass Choir. They sang several songs that I just love…“You Are the Living Word” by Fred Hammond and "Awesome God". I’m always excited when I know some of the songs because I love being able to join in the worship. I'll be honest...at one point I was very tempted to jump up on stage to join the Mass Choir, but I controlled myself!
But even when they sang songs in Luganda, and I had no idea what the words meant, I would just stand there with my eyes closed or my hands lifted up. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know the words. I was surrounded by dear friends who love the Lord…and sing and dance their hearts out for Him. That is the thing I will miss the most…worshipping with our dear partners!
Floyd preached a great message. He taught from the book of Daniel, focusing on three main stories (refusing to eat the food from the King’s table in Chapter 1, being thrown into the furnace for refusing to bow down to the golden statue in Chapter 3, and being thrown into the lion’s den for continuing to pray in Chapter 6). With each story, He highlighted the fact that Daniel and his three friends all resolved that they would not defile themselves before the Lord. They did not weaken under the pressures placed upon them to turn away from the Lord….even if it would ultimately lead to their deaths. They held to their convictions. I had to ask myself: Do I have that same conviction? Am I willing to take a stand for the Lord even if it puts my life in danger? Is pleasing Him more important than my own personal comfort and safety? I want to say yes, but I also realize that I’ve never been put in that position. Yes, I might face ridicule or be made fun of for my faith, but I’ve never had to worry about my life being in danger because of it. What a humbling thought! Floyd ended his message by sharing the confession of an African man who was killed for his faith. It was found in his belongings after he was killed. I had read the words before when I got a sneak peek at Floyd’s message, but hearing the words just hit me on Sunday. I want to be like that...a woman of strong conviction…willing to take a stand for what I believe no matter the cost!
I’ve been thinking about what I want to take away with me from these two months in Uganda, and I believe Philippians 3:12-14 sums it all up for me.
“… I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.”
We live in a place where there are so many distractions and things that clutter our minds. We can always find an excuse for why we don't spend time with the Lord...there are too many other things that we need to do. After having two months of "distraction-free living," my prayer is that I will focus all of my energies on running hard after Christ. I pray that He will continue to ignite this fire and passion in me to serve Him. I pray that I will not lose the desire to spend time with Him and to know Him more deeply. And I pray that I would not allow the busyness of life to distract me from the most important thing…knowing Christ and running hard after Him.
Although it feels like this journey is ending, I know that it is really just the beginning of what God wants to do in our lives. May we all continue to run the race, focusing solely on Him!
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