In less than 24 hours, I’ll be leaving for Uganda. I’m not too sure where to begin.. what to think, what not to think. I’m still trying to barely comprehend the fact that I’m actually going! Plus, just the mere thought of the impact this trip is going to have on my life has been absolutely mind boggling. However, I guess I’ll never know what this trip will have in store for me until I actually get there.

Just around ten months ago, four of my friends and I had been given the opportunity to start a non profit organization named Tusubira (We Have Hope) to help support an orphanage (STAO) in a small village called Mafubira located just outside of Jinja in Southeastern Uganda. Three of them had just gotten back from Mafubira at the time, where they spent three months of their summer volunteering at STAO. Though two of us haven’t seen the situation first hand yet, we all felt convicted and called to respond to the absolutely tragic and incomprehensible circumstances in Uganda we’ve been exposed to and informed of.

Frankly, as much as it has been an exciting journey, it has also been one of the greatest challenges I’ve had to face. The challenge wasn’t the grueling 501c3 documentation process, endless hours of fund/program development and budgeting, or logistical complexities we had to manage as five college age students with no experience in managing a start up non profit organization.

The real challenge was in trying to grasp what it means as followers of Christ to respond to the ways in which God has broken our hearts accordingly to hurt for those suffering beyond our imagination. The real challenge was countless nights of losing sleep over contemplating about what it means to be an NGO, what the definition of “sustainable development” is-and our role in walking alongside them and working with them, and trying to comprehend the utter reality of our status to live in an absolutely opposite world this very moment. And most of all, “why us?”

I’m simply hoping to grow and learn more about God’s heart through this trip. My main prayer request is that our team will stay as faithful servants and learners, and that He’ll continue to grow our hearts for love, compassion, and justice – and keep our minds and hearts open to see it, regardless of whichever form it may present itself to us in.

I can’t wait to finally meet the children and the STAO staff in Mafubira – Uganda!
Looking forward to updating you guys on our adventures in Uganda!

Sam

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