My trip to Uganda has been incredible and I feel so blessed
by God for such privilege. I would like
to sincerely thank you again for your generous financial support. This trip would not have been possible
without your kindness and generosity. In the follow, I would like to share with you
some of the highlights of my trip.
Our team landed in Kampala, Uganda on January 12th. We stayed at a hotel nearby that night, and
the following morning we got on a bus for an 8 hours ride to the area where we
would be working for the rest of the trip.
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| The Uganda Team |
During the first two days of the trip, our team went to
several widows’ houses to help with some house repair work. These houses
located in a very remote and rural part of the town; most of the houses in the
villages were made from a mix of mud and cement and only about as big as a
bedroom in America. Once we got there, we went straight to work
mixing dirt and cement together with a hoe to repair the exterior of their
houses. We worked throughout the entire
day, and during breaks I had many opportunities to talk to and befriend with
the people there. The girls in our
group worked with the women and played with the children in the village and
even went with them to draw water from a well. They walked for a long distance to the well
and each carried a 5-gallon jug on their heads on their way back!
The next couple of days we spent helping at the youth
conference. At the conference, hundreds of people, of all
ages, traveled many miles by bus or on foot to attend this conference. During
this conference, I witnessed the passionate worship, and love and thirst for
Christ.
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| Vocational training workshop for the men and women in Kiburara. Some of the skills that were taught include: automobile repair, art, sewing, and bricklaying. |
One of the dearest experiences I had was on a bus ride to
pick up people to go to the conference.
It was a long trip about 1 and ½ hours long. The people sang worship songs during the
entire bus ride! The songs they sang had
beautiful melodies and were sung with such passion about God’s love and
faithfulness. It was really a privilege
to witness such passionate worship.
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| Baptism in the local Mpanga River |
I remember how one of the older ladies on our team said she
always looked forward to see how God would use every single person on the team
with their own strengths and gifts. And
I found that she was right! God used me
in a surprising way in Uganda: wrestling
with the young men there. It was so
much fun and was a great way to engage and bond with the local Ugandans. It helped broke the ice and I became friends
with many young men there quickly. One young
man I wrestled with named James, told me how before that day, he always thought
white man/foreigners were bad people.
But after he met our team, he now knows we are all the same and just
people! God showed him that racism has
no grounds and that Jesus is Lord in Uganda and in America. He had a desire to become a pastor and I had
the opportunity to pray with him.
I was also able to bring my violin there to serve in singing
time during worship. To my surprise, most
of the Ugandans have never seen a violin before. So every time I played my violin they all
crowded around me to hear it. It was
such a joy to play the violin during worship there, and be able to introduce
this instrument to them. I pray that
God has blessed them through my music.
I loved being with the kids there as well. If I learned one thing from the kids, it is
that smiling is really fun! It was funny
because I was the only Chinese on the team.
They would point at me and say “China!”
They all love to smile back when I smiled at them, and laugh whenever I
try to say some words in their language.
Near the end of the trip we visited a refugee camp housing
over 30,000 men, women and children who have fled the war in Congo. It was quite a sobering experience. A man
I met, who also named James, fled from his home in Congo five months ago, and
hasn’t seen his wife or children since then.
I couldn’t relate to their suffering, nor did I bring any food or water
for them, but we did bring the Gospel. The
people there welcomed us so warmly; they
all gathered around us and pressed in, wanting to hear what we had to say. We stayed there for only a few hours, and
during that time we sang worship songs and shared testimonies. When they heard the melody they began to sing
and clap with us! It was amazing to see
them so cheerful in spite of their conditions.
While there I noticed that there were some very pressing
needs among the Christians there. One is
the lack of Bibles. Usually only the
pastors had Bibles and the congregation came to hear from it on Sundays. In the refugee camp a man came up to one of
us and said he had just become a believer and wanted a Bible! I don’t think he received one unfortunately;
my friend didn’t have one with her at that moment. We actually brought some
Bibles but it was nowhere near the demand for it. If you would, please pray that the people
there will soon have access to the Word.
Another need is theology. Most
Christians, even pastors, did not have any of the printed resources like we do
in here. One of the main reasons for the conference
was so that Pastor Robin Boisvert could lead lectures on important topics on theology
for the many local pastors there.
This trip has really been an incredible experience for me;
if God willing, I would love to go back next year. I have seen God’s work in so many wonderful
ways and He has been the one sustaining us throughout the weeks. It was also such a privilege to be able to
serve alongside with many of the older team members. They have exemplified Christ’s love and
compassion and taught me by example on how to live a life sustained by prayers.
I would like to thank you again for your financial support
and prayers. I truly appreciate your
generosity to make this trip possible for me.
God bless and cheers!
~Sam
2 comments:
Great sharing, Sam! =) - Goretti
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