“Mukama yebasibwe! (Praise God)….

I’m leaving on Wednesday, so I’d like to thank God for allowing me to come here to Uganda, and to serve along side you all… attack of the tears its been such a joyful time! And I wanted to encourage you all to always continue to meet together worshipping God. I know I’ve come, not understanding a word each time. But when I come, I am ALWAYS encouraged… because I know that you guys are joining together for the purpose of knowing God more, and to worship Him whole heartedly!

I wanted to share one of my favorite Psalms… Psalm 116.

I love you all.”

As I sit here, 4 hours away from returning “home”, I can’t help myself from searching my mind, striving to cling on to all the memories I made. I know it’ll be nearly impossible for me to remember everything, I just don’t want them to go away! That farewell was given the night before I left, the night of my last bible study! tears were ever on the rims of my eyes that night, and whenever my mind would wander to the reality of my departure, those tears would silently stream down my face. A big portion of my heart now belongs to Uganda… and having to leave… the place, the culture, and the people broke my heart! –of course—

The funny thing is…

About 4 months ago, during my first nights of being in Africa, I was HORRIBLY homesick. I would survive throughout the day, and then right when I would close the door to my room, when I was in the private, lets just say there was MAJOR floodings! Hahaha! I wanted to go home so bad that I even started a weekly countdown on my computer. (currently @ 0/16! Hahaha). I was SO looking forward to this day that I’m experiencing now. Nevertheless, despite my longing, I still kept asking God to give me a love for the people, and the culture!

And things changed, I’m not sure when exactly… but my heart definitely changed. God gave me wonderful relationships with the girls my age, and with my “co-workers”! He also gave me such a joy, every day I would go to baby class. Its not the easiest thing teaching and caring for these young kids, and often times, I would get SO exhausted, yet I still had a joy! What an answer to prayer that was!

And the bible studies with the girls… I am so overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for allowing me to lead these precious girls! I know, that God was there every time I would sit down to share with them, it was obvious! They were always attentive, grasping onto every word I said! I just hope that through those times, they will have a new vigor in knowing more of who God is! And I was thinking about it, thinking of what I was gonna do when I would return. I devoted my time and myself to these girls… I want to do the same thing in the bay area… In fact, I want the rest of my life to be a selfless service to God and the people I’m with, whether I’m in Africa, America, or AUSTRALIA! “make my life a prayer to you, I want to do what you want me to!” –keith green. (man, I love his lyrics!).

The truth is, I’m not a SUPER CHRISTIAN just because I went to serve in Africa… I’m still a wretched, fearful, weak, sinner in need of His grace, EVERY single morning. And let me tell you, I don’t know HOW many times God had to remind me of this, because I would start to have an independent mind set. In Paul’s word’s, “not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”. I pray and hope that People will glorify Christ alone through hearing about my adventures… because it really wasn’t me at all!

On my last day in Africa, I was sitting next to one of the new muzungu girls that had come, grading and preparing books for all the kids (yes, teachers have to manually prepare all the bookwork!), chatting about everything possible as always… somehow getting to the subject of how we need to live our lives for God alone! And kk said something that specifically stuck out to me, “our lives need to be CONSUMED by Christ Jesus! We may lose special people in our lives… but that ultimately won’t

matter, because we have all we need in Him, and He is all we need!” man, I don’t know how many times I have had that preached to me, and it still doesn’t get old!

That prayer should be on my lips, in my mind and in my heart from the moment I wake to when I close my eyes in slumber.

Heres some lyrics to a song we sang in choir one time,

 “I believe you’re my healer, I believe you are all I need. I believe you’re my portion, I believe your more than enough for me… Jesus your all I need.”

So, FINALLY, after all that rambling, yes… I am sad about leaving Uganda, but I am looking forward to what God has for me in the future. And again, as Paul says, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Amina! And thank you for joining me on my adventures to Africa.

Rats nests.

Curiosity continues to get me into big, fat rats nests. Let me cure your wonder and explain exactly what brings me to saying this statement. Most people that have known me, know that I’ve fantasized about getting dreadlocks for a good while now. When I came to Africa, I was educated about the fact that most girls here plait their hair on a normal basis (braiding extensions into their hair). This regular activity that they do intrigued me… in fact, it struck my curiosity nerve! I had to do it, to experience what they experience every few weeks. And plus, it’s so close to getting dreadlocks… without the permanent factor! ;) this excited me. So, from two months ago I planned to get my hair plaited right before I’d go, to surprise everyone back home! On Saturday, this plan took flight. I had the coffee brown (stuuuupid) extensions, and the pro plaiter lady ready to go. Six hours of pulling, and what felt like the ripping of my scalp, my braids were finished. I took my excited self to the bathroom to check out my cool, new dew. HAHA! When I reached the mirror, I wished I hadn’t. the regret flooded through my entire being as I stared at this foreign reflection. It was, to say the least, completely horrendous. Now, of course I couldn’t have a break down… I held myself together and tried to make what was a face in horror, one of surprise and glee as I thanked the lady who slaved away on my head for six hours straight. But, the truth was, I looked like a balding, pale monkey. Despite my feelings, I had to humble myself and continue with the days activities. I had to walk to church to meet with the kids! Each step of the way, I had to tell myself, that I just wasn’t used to it yet as each person I passed by stared at me like a purple elephant was standing before their eyes. I finally reached the church, self confidence still far below sea level. But when reaching, I had to find the truth from someone I could rely on to give it… because, after 4 months of living within this culture, I know better than to believe every compliment I received, saying how good it looked, and how “smart” I was! So, I went to someone who I trusted would be blunt and honest despite my feelings; a muzungu man, named Justin. I approached him with a devious smile, first thing he said was, “what did you do?”, that simple phrase told me a whole lot, but what really brought me over the edge was the rating he gave me… a 5! Oh goodness, I didn’t care at this point how long it took doing these braids, all I cared about was getting these babies out! So, with the help of the kids at Zana I started deplaiting my freshly plaited hair! This had to be one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever experienced. My scalp took the braiding pretty well, but THIS was almost unbearable… I just had to squeeze my eyes shut and bite my fingers holding back the screaming that was on my lips. It felt as if there were a multitude of birds attacking and pulling at my already raw head. After about an hour of this torture, the last extension slipped off my hair to the ground. My hair was a BIG, FAT rats nest now. But nothing could bother me at this point, my hair was exactly how it should always be; natural, extension-free, and blonde! Never have I been so thankful to have the hair I have now! God knew what He was doing in giving me this blonde color. It fits my skin perfectly, and it explains why I do such things like these. Hahaha.

Lets just say, I’m not too thrilled about getting dreadlocks now…