Change

Change isn’t always easy. Even when it is necessary, even when it is for the good, it can be hard.Sometimes change is a really good thing, like a new job or a new home. But even then there are hard parts that you can’t avoid.

24 months ago I had never been to Africa. I had never been to Uganda. To say that I’ve gone through a bit of change in the last two years would be quite the understatement. When I think about it, everything has changed. Two years ago I was living in Chicago with a good, stable job staying in a fabulous apartment with an even more fabulous friend. My church was wonderful, my friends and family nearby and I had nothing to complain about (other than the weather J.But anybody who knows me knows that my heart was not content, so when God brought about the opportunity to visit and then move to Uganda, I took a step of faith – maybe more of a leap.

I arrived in a new country, a new continent to be exact with a new language, extremely different culture, new home, new environment, few friends and a lot to learn. And God was so good because most of the change was not too bad; in fact a lot of it was great. However, I say all of this because it was a more recent change that caused me more stress and hardship than the one when I moved here.

It’s amazing how relational we are. It’s amazing how quickly we adapt to our surroundings and how usually, the most important thing about our surroundings are the people, not the stuff.After living here for one year I was absolutely in love with my community. I loved my little room, my noisy neighbors, the kids that would come by after school and on weekends and I loved walking around the neighborhood knowing many families. However, throughout the year there were signs that I would have to move and I was not happy about it and a part of me wanted to be very stubborn and not go anywhere. But there came a point in December where it was clear I needed to move. It made sense why it had to happen, I was absolutely prepared for it and yet I was not happy about it at all. So reluctantly I went, I found a fabulous new place, much bigger, in a great quiet community closer to Kampala.

But it didn’t matter, I wasn’t near my community and the kids I had fallen in love with. At one point a friend told me not to worry that I’d find other kids to love and spend time with, but the truth was that I didn’t want new kids to love or serve, I wanted my kids. I knew there was thousands of children I could love and spend time with and I knew there orphans, children without homes, kids that didn’t know Jesus all over Uganda but it didn’t matter. I was not ready to move on.

But thankfully it didn’t stay like that forever and a couple months after the move my heart was already in love with a new group of children. God worked in my heart to allow for a bit of healing so I would have the capacity to love these boys that live on the streets. I still miss my kids but I am blessed to be working with the boys. The past few months have been filled with lots of joy and blessing.

A few weeks ago I was reminded that it is our privilege and duty to disciple these children and teach them about Jesus. We do daily sharing time with the kids but with a group of 50 + boys it is often short and few kids pay attention. However, I knew there were many kids that would listen and potentially welcome true discipleship from the leaders if we could get them away from the big group and pour into them. So, two weeks ago a friend of mine who leads the kids, David, started a club. He invites 6 kids to his house on Thursdays and 6 different kids on Fridays. We handpicked the kids and personally invited them to the group. David cooks a lot of food for them and does Bible study with them for 2 hours each time. I don’t go to the meetings but let David run them since he can relate to them at a much deeper level than me. I am confident the kids feel extremely special to be getting such personal attention from David and a home cooked meal from his house. David tells me that the kids are wonderful and some of the most unlikely kids ask the most questions. He said they all participate, they all listen and they all welcome his love and attention.

I am super excited about the group because I know how stinkin’ cool these kids are and I want them to know that as well. I hope they begin to see themselves as we see them and how God sees them. David says they are really learning how to pray and I’m so joyful that we serve a God that hears those prayers.

I hope to get a picture of the two groups soon and post them but as of now, they don’t know I know about their special club and for the moment I’d like to leave it that way. The kids in the Thursday group are: Simon, Peter, Tom, Bwanika, Joel and Isma. The kids in the Friday group are: Peter, Richard, Nathan, Gabriele, Matthew and Derrick. Please pray for them. Pray for David.

Below are a few pictures I have of some of the kids. Enjoy!

Peter and Richard

Isma

Simon

Bwanika (in orange)

Matthew

Gabriele