Sunday, July 1, 2007

8:20 AM

I am so excited for today! It is going to be an awesome worship service this morning. I love worshipping and singing with the Ugandans. This afternoon is also going to be a sweet time out at Lake Victoria for the baptism service. I love being reminded of God's transforming grace and how He takes the old and makes it new. So powerful!

4:30 PM

I have been so blessed! The morning church service in Jibouli was awesome! When I worship with the Ugandans, I truly feel that I am in the presence of the Lord. They have taught me what it is to sing and dance at the feet of Jesus.

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs, know that the Lord is God." -Psalm 100:1-2

Another blessing to me has been this older woman whose name I don't even know. She is a believer and ever since I met her for the first time at one of our ministry sites, she has done nothing but love on me. She speaks to be in her broken English but somehow we are always able to communicate. Today, as we were about to leave church, she came running towards our van. I looked and saw her beautiful face coming towards me. Days before, she had given me my Lugandan name. She calls me "Nakawunde." That name means, "woman of the world." It means that wherever I go I take the love and beauty of the world with me. That made me feel so honored. And this afternoon, she handed me a slip of paper. On the outside she had written, "Nakawunde". She opened it up and showed me that inside there was a film negative of a picture of her! I wanted to cry tears of joy. That gift is very special to me because that "picture" is probably one of the very few that she has ever owned. Wow, what an amazing love! She is so precious and I will remember her always.

The baptism time today after church today was so beautiful! I wish that you could have been there right beside me to see it with your own eyes. We all went out to Lake Victoria. There were nearly 50 people waiting to be baptized. Pastor Deo, Pastor Bennan and Pastor Joseph all went out into the water to meet the people. It was the most beautiful baptism I have ever seen! So many believers taking their first step of faith in obedience to the Lord and their personal witness.

10:20 PM

It is my sincere prayer that the beautiful images today be forever engraved on my heart. Some of these scenes were just too sacred to take a picture of. Others I want to look at every day and be reminded. I want to be reminded of the new believer that comes up out of the water and raises his arms over his head in celebration of what God has done in his life. I want to be reminded of Joseph, Deo and Bennan walking through the water hand in hand back to the lakeshore. These men work SO hard, spend so much time away from their families, and don't receive or even ask for anything monetary in return. But today, they welcomed many new believers into their congregation. Their people, their flock, their family.

I am so excited about what God is going to do in the lives of these new believers. They have even more ahead of them! They will immediately be in discipleship classes called T for T-training for trainers. They will be taught the Word and shown how to take the next steps in their walk. And soon, they will be trained up to become leaders, pastors, teachers and hosts of house churches! The possibilities are endless!