Praise the Lord! What joy and smiles we have experienced! When we arrived, children flocked around the van, and I found myself looking down in two big eyes that had a pair of arms wrapped around my leg! Who would embrace so easily? They are fearless lovers - these kids who have no mother or father. Even muscles Sam had kids hanging off his arms 
Church is held in a brick, open-air structure with a rumpled aluminum roof. There are tiny pin prick holes in the ceiling, with small streams of sun making stars on the ground. The kids are in the front rows so they can see, with muzungus (they call our team “muzungus”, which means foreigner) specked on the benches, each bouncing a small child on their lap. We are smile magnets. Irene, a dynamic and shining Sunday school teacher, called up the children and they sing “Move, move, move and claim the land!”. Kids from two to twelve years old do the “Calypso” strut across the stage, back and forth, with a seemingly innate rhythmic ability that even rivals my skillz.
John Mark and Nicolaus played “Children of Africa, we were not born to suffa”, and invited Rachel and Danielle to the stage to sing! They did a great job, even when the song switched to singing in Lusoga! They team was also invited to the stage, and we introduced ourselves to the 100 or so congregates. Pastor Nelson wanted us to sing something, so we sang “You are Good” with Dale and Danielle as leads, and Rachel on the keys. We were better than Hillsong, fa sho. Glory to God!
Pastor Nelson preached from Revelations, declaring that Jesus - who has perfect authority and perfect wisdom to break the perfect seal on the scroll - this Jesus has come to set us free from our sins. With zeal he preached the good news, and with equal enthusiasm Pastor Ivan simultaneously translated to Lusoga or English. I could feel the Holy Spirit moving and the people responding. At the end of service, the music busted out, and we all know that I got some moves! Sam got some kids to clap a sweet beat, one girl taught Shawna how to shake it, Danielle - well… she tried, and I showed the kids how to embarass oneself by booty-shaking. I learned it from my mom. It was great! STAO sure knows how to make church fun
Something I’ve been really proud of the team for is that no one complains. We have no furniture and our floors are so hard, our skin is constantly sticky and oily, the goats bleet bloody murder at 6am, and the kids swarm around us like the ants around our now spoiled loaf of bread in the cupboard. But praise the Lord - we know He has called us here, and we are privileged to be in His will.
All is well, and we are getting along great. We have the confidence that the Lord wants us to be here. Thank you for reading, and thank you for your prayers!
– Jamie
Comments
Great post Jamie. Upload some photos when you can. We would love to see the kids hanging off of you.
Thank you all for your wonderfully descriptive posts! You are covered in our prayers - we pray for an unending supply of energy and love to give to the kids! We knew you were perfectly prepared with arms to give hugs, laps to sit on, and smiles - along with those “moves” to praise the Lord together.
Great post Miyazaki! I absolutely love love love hearing all that is going on with you all. I just can’t express my excitement! Praise God that He put together such a perfect team. Keep rock’n… and booty-shak’n of course:)
May God continue to shine down on you and those around you.
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe we get to hear about what’s going on with you guys. This is incredible! I’m so happy to hear about what you guys are doing and about how precious and loving those kids are! And I know you can shake it Jamie! hahaha You’re hilarious! We gotsta praise God with ALL we have right? =) I miss you guys!!!! God’s love is so extravagant! Bask in that right now! Praying for you and wish I was there!
Jamie thank you for your beautiful writing describing the details of sights and sounds so that we may all enjoy a visual in our minds of what you all are experiencing. Rachel and Danielle-way to go! Never thought by Day 4 you’d be talking in Lusoga let alone SINGING
Mukama Yebazibuei!!!!
Oli-otya Muzungus! (I’m sure you are all learning very quickly..)
Praise the Lord!!! I’m so glad everyone is fairing well. I’m so glad you are all enjoying the enthusiasm of their spirit, especially when worshiping our Lord, Jesus. I’m glad you guys are willing to go up there and praise God with them, when it was just Jenny, Kate, and I we were a little too nervous to do that. I bet they all loved it. I wish I was there with you all to experience all that joy. Clapping, crying, jumping up and down… It sure was and still is a blast.
I’m also glad to hear that your living accommodations are working out. You’ll come to love running water, whether it’s warm or not, and an actual flushing toilet! lol.
Although the internet connection is slow… and I “know” how “slow” it gets, I still hope you guys won’t give up on some days to describe your day’s experiences. I’m pretty sure that everyone here thoroughly enjoys them… especially me!!
God bless,
Sarah Lee
O… forgot…
you mentioned crossing the Nile by car… make sure eveyone get to make that experience even better by swimming in it. many times.
sarah
How fun to read all the posts, they make me smile and cry! It is wonderful to hear what’s happening on a daily basis. Thanks for great descriptions! You are all constantly in my prayers. Keep dancing and singing and bring it back to us :).
Hey Jaime! Its Layne and the fam. We are glad to hear that you have having such a great time! Also to have such high spirits. It’s so amazing that you are doing this and we wanted to let you know that we keep you in mind here in the US. Sounds like your having a awesome time and are keepin it G. Im pretty sure that Blake is still wearing the headband so you don’t have to worry about him. hahaha. Well, have fun.
Layne Miyazaki
(AKA - G-Unit) Thug life! hahaha