FORCED to fast

Ok, I know you aren't supposed to tell people when you are fasting, looking sad, hungry, or what not (look at Matthew 6:16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.")but I believe God has decided for me to fast today...how do I know that? Van was still down until 3:30 (YES! Laloyo did come back home), have no real food and even if I did I ran out of propane (so, Sarah and Melissa - a propane tank lasts about 5 months..lol). Ha.

Church was so different and perfect - HOLY SPIRIT did His THANG!! First, worship today was the first time we didn't worship to songs I knew and played back in the day. I kinda felt God was starting to work on my heart with worship...it was cool that I had no ties personally to the songs in regards to playing but rather all the ties were based on the absolute worship I wanted to partake in. Towards the last bit of worship during congregation prayer I started to feel dizzy, nauseous and was very clamy/sweaty. And it is cold here in Ug. I felt like the only way I could survive these feelings was to run out of the church and just breath. No clue where it came from. I immediately just started praying. When we released hands I sat down and just tried to breath...and prayed. I felt in my heart I needed to battle it out and it was somehow a spiritual attack, so I remained in my seat. And, boy oh boy, am I glad I did!!

Pastor Joe didn't preach today; the guest preacher was a pastor from Watoto East.He spoke on a blessing, benediction, for going out of 2009 since today was the last Sunday of 2009 (WHAT?! AGH!!!) He based the sermon off of Numbers 6:24-27

" ' "The LORD bless you
and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace." '

"So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

It was sooooo good. Overall, I needed it and it just reminded me how important it is to be obedient to God in ALL areas of my life....and how much I want His peace, His protection, His grace, His attention, His favor and His face to smile. Oh Praise Him!
And I needed to hear that today....

On a spiritual high, I went home ready to sit in God's presence and just enjoy Him some more..I was feeling a bit greedy in spending all my time with Him out on the porch.

But then, little eyes poked through. Then little voices carried over. And I heard them say "muzungo", "munu" and "you give me my ball" to which I ignored them. Then I heard "Christine!" and I responded. I told them I would be right out. See, I wanted to finish my God time. They kept on saying my name and I just smiled and waved and tried to do my study. But nope, God prompted me to get up and go. It was almost like He was telling me He wanted to be with the kids through me....that since He filled me up so much already, it was time for me to pour out unto the kids. So I obeyed. I closed my Bible and study, went inside to grab the odilo (ball), cones, books to read with the kids who didn't want to play, my keys and then my blanket to sit on.

Once I got out, I passed the cones and odilo to Robacken so they could start playing. I stretched the blanket on the side and took the books out of my bag. We first looked at the Animal Encyclopedia Melissa left. As we went through it more and more children came...and not just little ones...some high schoolers too! We were all huddled around looking at the pics and learning their names.

After about an hour sitting in the hot mid-day cen (sun), I went inside because the children needed to go and do their chores (fetching water and such). But I just couldn't stay inside....so I decided I need to go into town, check on the van and maybe pick up some juice. So I went....and so did Opio, Robacken, Sunday, Maxwell, Isaac and Lucy (the most annoying but still cute dog EVER). I realized that the kids walk very, very slow and that the dog likes to walk right in front of you so you almost kick her or trip over her. It was kinda cute how the 5 of them would follow me all through town. Not sure if they get to go into town much because they were really quiet and stared a lot. I did feel bad though because I realized they didn't have shoes once we got to the main road. They were so cute the way they held hands and walked. I stopped at the bank and they waited for me outside the gates; I stopped at supermarket to pick up juice and crackers to share with them and they stayed outside. It was interesting that they didn't follow me in. Why didn't they feel welcomed to go in the store? Was it really that big of a deal? We walked home together and shared some crackers. I really like those boys....actually all the kids in the neighborhood are pretty neat. I just really enjoy how receptive and welcoming they are towards me - they just want to get to know me...which is very refreshing here.

I have to also say that I feel like I am getting to know my neighbors and they are wanting to get to know me as well. I now only use the back gate where the van goes because the other gate has a shady dude who I no longer want to see. Robert and I both concur that and he has put a lock on that gate. Anyways, the other gate has a lovely drive and neighborhood to walk through. Not only do people say apwoyo but they will actually come up and ask me my name and introduce themselves. I like that. I felt really loved though when Collins stopped on the road, got off his bike and shook my hand to greet me. And then he laughed at me seeing my little troupe of kids and Lucy walking down the street. Ha.

On that note, today, I am grateful for Robert my landlord. He really is trying his best to look out for me. Some shady situations have happened (gratefully, not to me, but to his house) and we are about 99.9% sure it is our shady neighbor. That being said, Robert took action immediately to lock up the gate with a lock only he has so no one uses it anymore and then proceeded to take some serious action with security/groundsman, Cosmas. It ended up being a very long conversation that I felt I had to ensure happened to get things taken care of fairly. See, Cosmas has always been very kind, sweet and helpful towards me. I've never had a complaint....but Robert did and wanted to do something about it. But they needed to talk, have an understanding and I needed to know what the expectations were....that's it. We, Robert and I, expressed our concern with his friendship with the said shady fellow. Told him that if that is who he keeps company with it will only cause him harm, not good. Anyways, it was resolved but now we need to make a security hut for Cosmas....Ai Vi. Overall, I am glad that we had the conversation and I am grateful that Robert felt the call of responsibility over me. Thanks, yo.

Apiyo Nancy (Cosmas' daughter), Stella and her brother Michael came to visit tonight. They brought a pail full of supplies to make boo - which I would totally be up for except that I had no propane for my stove. So we sat and chatted...and all I had to offer was juice, kool-aid, water and a soya and ground nut mix...which they found to be really hard but still ate it. Oh bless them. Anyways, they taught me A LOT of Acholi and I made flashcards. We were also able to listen to some worship music and pray together....it was sweet. I really like them and I am excited to cook with them tomorrow.

Pray now, that when we meet with the library constructors tomorrow they will be cooperative and productive.