RADIATE!!!

I am so grateful God taught me a ton before I came to Ug. One thing I want to truly thank Him for is the lesson of hills and valleys. I have come to realize the closer you are to God's will or even right smack dab in the middle of it, Satan will show up in a mighty way...well, a mighty way that he can only copy from God and warp it. I almost am standing gurad of God's will everytime I see Him getting glory and praises just waiting for the enemy to sneak in...and I will defeat Him by the power Christ has given to me through His Word and Guidance.

On that note, imagine how great of a day we had today...and guess what the enemy tried...

Let me just say that the Christmas celebration today was AWESOME!!! Pato was the MC, Simon was entertainment, Mary brought the Word and I was able to present with the kiddos what we learned this week at VBS and share the Gospel with the families. It was amazing. All the hard work and preparation paid off!!! GO TEAM GULU! It was really cool. The families enjoyed the gifts as well: mattresses for the sponosored child, basin, salt, sugar, rice, matches, threads to mend uniforms, cooking oil, soap and pineapple. We had an awesome program - the kids made me proud by memorizing and reciting Isaiah 9:2 - "Those who walk in darkness shall see a great light; those who live in a dark land a light will shine on them." I hear their voices when I read this verse....and I feel like doing the motions (thanks, Candacee for teaching me how to teach children how to memorize verses!!!) Parents even had a blast playing an Acholi rendition of Musical Chairs.

It was realy cute to see the parents act out. We clapped and sang and once Simon called out "Acel, Aryo, Adek!" (one, two, three) they were to find a seat...if they didn't, they were out. It was funny. They would dance while the singing was going on. You can definitely see where the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with some of the kids and their parents.

We served sme yummy food and just had some time to fellowship. It was all lovely. The best part was seeing the families walk away from the school with all of their stuff...



Along with the celebration it really dawned on me how much I feel led to share the Gospel and God's Word lately. I have to say it really got a good kickoff when Charles was here and encouraged us to share the Word with our families when we visit them for home visits. It's like I needed a little match lit to get going. It so isn't me....so I know it is God. :) I feel like it is a priority nowadays.

So I bet you are wondering how Satan showed up...well, he did....and it caused a bit of drama. We had to have some hard discussions and reality checks with the constructors of the library. No final decisions were made but we have a meeting tomorrow to rectify it all. It will work out...but in the meantime it really hurt one of the staff's feelings on how they were treated by their own people over trivial things. It has taught me a big lesson...I need to be MORE involved in the negotiating process and we need a better, more clear system of contracting. A lesson learned. Good stuff. Now I just need to balance the extra costs that have been incurred with the poor quality of work that was done when the building was built and we had to fix during our renovation....however, it is looking nice:



I love driving into my neighborhood. The kids are so welcoming. I especially love Bridget. She ran and said hello to me...AND USED MY NAME!!! She speaks so well!! Her friends and brother were with her....sweet kids. She asked me if I could get a ball. So I am going to get a neighborhood ball. Then maybe we can play in the street by the compound (which isn't a street, it is more a road...a dirt road....or just dirt with tire tracks). OR we could walk to the nearby school and play....we will see. I just like the kids so much.

So I really want to respond in Acholi all the time...and right when I think I am going to Polish comes to mind or Spanish. It is like my brain knows it isn't supposed to be in English so it goes to the next known language, Polish...then the next, Spanish....then finally to Acholi....lol

When I finally got home tonight, I looked up at the stars. I saw so many...they were sooo bright!! I felt almost like I was under a million fake dome with lights hanging far off from my head. It is so beautiful here. I told Cosmas how it isn't like that back home...then I just blurted out "You have such a beautiful country." He just stood with me and looked up. I realize now he might have thought I was silly...I mean, all the things he has been through here probably doesn't seem like a beautiful country. But it is...and now as I am typing I realize how people are beginning to remember. To see parents and children dance, sing, laugh, and enjoy themselves and radiate hope just proves it.