Home Sweet Home

There is something so special about HOME. Home is where we feel safe and comfortable. Home is something that I am longing for. Uganda is not my home. I am a stranger here, and it is very evident! People stare at me because it is so obvious that I don't belong here. Even though this is not where I belong, I am still living here for the time being. I live in a house with my international family, and every day we come “home”. God is doing to many incredible things, and I know I am right where He wants me to be. He has made it so clear that this trip is part of His plan for me and I am learning so much, but there is a constant void in my heart. I have a deep longing for my true home and for being where I belong. I long for my culture and just simply familiarity. I long for all the feelings that being home brings. Despite the longing, I am still filled with God's joy! He is so faithful and always gives me strength to carry on each day. In my obedience, He is right by my side. God has helped me with living in the now, and making the most of each day here, and not just “getting through it” and wishing it away. At the same time, there is always a pull in my heart toward home, even when I feel like I am fully present here.

As I work through all my feelings and emotions, I can't help but think about how great of an analogy this is:

"My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." -Psalm 84:2

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” -Philippians 3:20

“I am a stranger on earth, do not hide your commands from me.”

 -Psalm 119:19

“For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”

-2 Corinthians 5:5

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” -John 14:1-3

The way I feel when I long for my home in Big Rapids, Michigan, is the way I want to feel about heaven. This is not where I belong. I am not home, no matter where I am on this earth. I know deep down that I belong in heaven, but I want to live every day with that knowledge at the front of my mind. I want it to be evident to people around me that this is not where I belong, and that my home is somewhere else.

While I'm in Uganda, I know that God has me here for a purpose. I know that this is part of His perfect plan, and so I am striving to live each day to advance His kingdom and bring glory to Him. At the same time, I would be overjoyed if for some reason I felt Him calling me to go back home. In the same way, while I'm on this earth, I know that God has me here for a purpose and I want to live each day to advance His kingdom and bring glory to Him. But also, at the same time, I want to live in anticipation of heaven and of Jesus' second coming...

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:14

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” -2 Peter 3:13

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” -Colossians 3:1-4

So as I continue to live in a place where I don't belong, God is teaching me that it is not wrong to long for home. It's actually something that He has instilled in me. Living in another country and in a different culture has been so eye-opening for me and really shows me how I should feel all the time! Heaven is going to be so much better than our imaginations can even begin to comprehend. So all we can do is trust God's perfect plan and believe His word.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'” -Revelation 21:1-5

“Behold, I will create a new heaven and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” -Isaiah 65:17

“He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord; we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” -Isaiah 25:8-9

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'” -Revelation 21:1-5

Reading those verses truly makes me long for my eternal home. Having the hope of heaven should effect how we live every single day. I am only in Uganda for a short time, when compared to my whole life, and I want to live each day here to its' fullest potential. I want God to work through me in mighty ways! While we are on earth, we should make the most of each day and live completely sold out for God. Our time on this earth is such a tiny portion of all of eternity, and God has us all here for a purpose. He created us with a mission. He has so much He wants to do in all of our individual lives and we just have to surrender to Him and trust Him with everything. So, I will leave you with one of my favorite verses...

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” -Hebrews 12:1-2

Pictures!

More Beautiful Sky

 This is Fazira

We're a little Crazy!

We had a friend in our room the first night

Playing basketball with the Suubi kids

:)

A few of my new sisters :) Solvi and Anna

The church at Suubi

These next pictures are all of Suubi...

It's so beautiful here! I love my new home :)

1

Suubi!

We are now in Suubi! On Saturday we moved to our new home, in Suubi Watoto Village. It is located about an hour outside of Kampala (depending on traffic) and it is absolutely gorgeous! The first night being out there, I was able to see so many stars, and it made my heart happy. I was surprised to find that the constellation Orion is straight up! (Orion is usually low on the horizon) :) I knew the stars would be different, but I hadn't actually realized it until then. It kinda blew my mind when I was trying to understand it. The sunsets are also gorgeous. I'm in love with our new home! 

Yesterday was our first day off since being there and it was so relaxing. Being in a house is so nice, and has such a different feel than a hotel. It's also great because we have a lot more freedom to just go for a walk and just explore if we want to, since we are in the Watoto Village and it is really safe. I spent most of the day at our house, and outside just chilling and reading and listening to music. Then in the evening I went and played basketball with a bunch of the kids who live in Suubi. They were really good, and I had so much fun! 

God has been faithful in so many ways, and I'm so thankful for everything He is doing. "Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." -Psalm 40:5 This is already true, and I know it will continue to be as this journey unfolds more and more. 

I will hopefully post some pictures tomorrow. For now, thank you so much for all your prayers! They are so appreciated, and know that THEY MATTER :)

Mama Margaret

"Mzungu! Mzungu! Mzungu!"

I don't know how many times I heard this on Saturday. We got dropped off in a slum and as we walked through, there were so many kids that flocked to our group and to me and the other "mzungus" specifically. (Mzungu basically just means "white person") I had one little girl run right up to me and wrap her arms around my legs, and my heart melted. All I wanted to do was scoop her up and take her home with me! As we walked through, I felt almost numb. I had heard people try to explain what being in a slum makes you feel, and how it's so overwhelming emotionally, but I still wasn't prepared. We were there to visit our Living Hope client, Mama Margaret. 

Living Hope is a ministry of Watoto Church and its goal is "to restore dignity to vulnerable women in Africa". This is done in many ways, including: helping with basic necessities, providing medical care, education, and discipleship. If you want to take a minute to go to this web site, it will tell you all about it and there's a good video as well. 

Anyway, as a part of Watoto 360, we are split into groups of five and each group is assigned a Living Hope client, who we will visit 4-6 times during our time here. We will be getting to know her and also brainstorming some creative ways to help her. Saturday was our first day visiting Mama Margaret, and I was so unsure what to expect. She met us at our bus and walked with us back to her house and welcomed us in. We walked in and sat on her bed and around the room, very squished, with all of us touching knees to the person next to us. (there were actually eight of us there for this first time because a different group had to join us) It was tiny! The floor space was less than the bed. There was no light, and no windows. Just a door. It was simple and small. She has five kids, with two still living with her. I'm guessing they all sleep in the twin bed, unless someone sleeps on the floor. We went to encourage her, but after talking to her, she is the one who encouraged me! She is so happy and cheerful and full of life. She has nothing, and right now she doesn't have a way to support herself. She used to have a small business sewing things for people, but that died off, so she has nothing now. Despite all this, she left for a few minutes and came back with chips and juice for all of us. I felt so guilty for taking things from her when she has nothing, but she wanted to bless us and it would have been so rude to resist. We talked with her for about an hour and a half. She spoke quite a bit of English, which was really nice, and actually rare for people in the slums. She has a great sense of humor and is just such a sweet and genuine lady. We laughed, we talked, we sang, and then at the end we prayed. I had really pretty much felt nothing up until that point, but once we started praying, I don't even know how to describe how I felt. I had such a strong desire to help her, but I didn't know where to start, or even what to pray for. And then I began thinking about how many people around the world are living like her, or worse, and I felt so helpless.

 The whole experience made me realize how much our circumstances don't have to determine our attitudes or our level of contentment. Jesus is the answer to all of our problems, big or small, and if we keep our eyes fixed on Him, we can be full of joy no matter our circumstance. After we got back to the church, I had some time to myself and I read Psalm 30..."I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit...You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." (verses 1-3, 11-12) These verses can be true for each and every person! They do not vary depending on different situations. When Jesus is all we need to be content, nothing in this world can bring us down. Being immersed in how people live like that, and yet still have so much joy, really touched me and first of all made me feel guilty, but then thankful. Yes, thankful for my life and all the blessings I have, but mostly for JESUS, who is our everything! The best part of all this is that we don't have to do any of it in our own strength. Yes, we can choose joy and choose contentment, but God is the one who gives us what we need to have both of those things. As Paul says... "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." 

-Philippians 4:12-13 

I saw this verse being lived out on Saturday, and it inspired me! I don't have to rely on anything except Jesus to satisfy my heart. He is more than enough and if I let Him, He will provide me with all the joy and strength that I need.

"I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

-Psalm 16:8-11