Outreach Preparation

We leave for outreach in ONE WEEK! I can't believe how time has flown.

We are going to Western Uganda for our outreach.  We'll spend the first month in a place called Mbarara, and the second month somewhere else.  Our accommodation in Mbarara is a small four-bedroom house, that has no running water and no electricity.  18 students and 4 staff are going on this trip, so imagine 22 people living in one house with no water or electricity for a month.  Whoo!  We'll have a water tank that catches rain water, and there is a well nearby where we can draw water if it doesn't rain for a few days.  They said we might possibly have some solar power by the time we get there, but I'm not counting on it.  We won't have beds, and might not have mattresses of any sort either.  I'm buying a sleeping bag this weekend so that I have at least something to sleep on.   It's going to be so crazy, and we're all expecting to fight and bicker at times, but we have been praying for unity for weeks and we're trusting the Holy Spirit to help us live together!

I'm not sure what all we'll be doing while on outreach, but I know it will be a lot of ministering and sharing the gospel and performing.  We'll still be waking up at 5am to pray together for one hour, then having personal quiet time from 6-7am, then breakfast.  We'll have our work duties in the morning while on outreach, to keep our place nice and tidy.  Then all except two people will go out for ministry activities.  The two left behind are the cooks for the day.  Everyone else divides into groups and goes out for awhile, then comes back for lunch, then goes out again, then comes back for dinner.  After dinner we all meet to discuss our day.  Then it's bedtime!  We'll be doing this Tuesday - Sunday, except for Wednesdays will be our weekly fasting and praying day where we stay at home.  Monday is rest day!

I know for sure we'll be doing door-to-door ministry...and this initially gave me so much fear.  In America it is not common or welcomed to go door-to-door and talk about religion.  But I have since learned that it's much more common here in Africa, and even welcomed by many people.  I still have hesitancy, but now it's more because I feel unprepared than because I think people will slam the door in my face.  For sure there will be people who don't want to talk, or who challenge us and don't agree with us...I expect rejection at times.  But I find comfort in the idea that sometimes all God wanted to do was plant a seed in someone's heart.  Maybe they aren't ready to learn about Christ right now, but they are ready for a seed to be planted...you never know, years from now they might look back and think, "If those kids hadn't come talked to me that day, I would never be a Christian today."  So, I've been trying to mentally prepare for how to do door-to-door ministry... how to start the conversation, how to answer questions, etc... I'm sure it will still be hard, but it will be a good experience.

One of the things I've been really challenged with here is the fact that I grew up in such a politically correct culture.  It's as if religion starts so many arguments in America that you can't even talk about it unless you're in a church.  And so I grew up feeling like it was each person's own responsibility to find their religion... like I personally have no responsibility to help people know about Christ unless they actually ask me.  Maybe once or twice I've invited people to come to church with me, but that's as far as I've gone.  In my mind, I found Christ and I'm working on living my life His way, and everyone else is responsible to do the same.  But the thing is, when you read the New Testament, that is very much not what Jesus says.  I mean, what about the Great Commission, for crying out loud?  Go and make disciples of all nations!  How can you make disciples if you never talk about Jesus?  And look at the life of Jesus and his disciples.... what did they do?  They traveled and taught, and spoke, and preached.  Jesus didn't train his disciples and then tell them to just live a right life, and everyone would come to Christ because of their example.  No, he sent them out to travel through cities and teach people about the Kingdom.  Now, I do not believe he was sending them out to yell and shout on street corners or to condemn people for disagreeing with them...no... but I do think he was sending them out to approach people and talk to them.  To have personal conversations, in people's homes, about life and religion; to ask if they had question; to preach sermons in the churches; and to discuss religion with people they served or helped.  I am really finding out that part of a Christian's responsibility is to share the Gospel....not just to know Christ yourself and live rightly.  It's very hard for me, because I am kind of shy and quiet, and I don't like conflict...so I don't like conversations that I think might make someone uncomfortable... and that is why this outreach phase is going to bring so much growth for me.  I expect to come back much more able to talk about what I believe and why, openly and boldly.

Anyway... pray for us, that we will be safe and we won't get too tired of each other.   Since we won't really have electricity, we won't really have internet.  If we find an internet cafe or something in the town, maybe you'll see me post on Facebook once or twice during the two months, but for the most part I won't be able to communicate.  I have a local phone that I can send texts with, but it costs money for each message, so not many people have my number.  Just pray and trust that in January you will hear from me again :)

 Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with me and praying for me.  I can tell that I have grown so much over this experience already.  My relationship with God is so much deeper than it could have been without DTS.  I know Him better, I hear Him more clearly, and I have learned a lot about following His direction and letting him guide me.  I have learned that we all make mistakes, but God's grace is so sufficient.  I have met some of the most amazing people here in Uganda, and I have praised God an endless number of times for how incredible He is to have created such people. 

I'm still not sure what I'll be doing after DTS.  As of right now, I don't feel ready to come home yet...two months of outreach may change that, but we'll see.  I have a flight scheduled to come home in January, but of course that can change if God leads me somewhere else.  I have to extend my visa this week, and the office says that if I might stay later I should just buy a one-year extension, so I'm doing that just in case.  One of my classmates who lives about five minutes from the base said that I am welcome to stay with her if I ever want to.  And there are a lot of volunteer opportunities here at the base.  So I really don't know what God is doing....what He is planning... I'm trying my best to just let Him work it out and then tell me what to do later.  I'm praying that He'll show me what's next either while I'm on outreach or maybe during our debrief week once we get back, so that I have some time to plan... but I have learned that sometimes God waits until the last minute, to test your faith.  In one of the books we read about how YWAM got started, there are many stories of God waiting.  One in particular comes to mind, about Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, waiting at the airport with a student.  The student was supposed to go somewhere, he was so sure that he had heard God call him, but he didn't have the money to go.  But in faith they packed his bags and went to the airport to get a plane ticket.  They waited and prayed, as the time for the flight got closer and closer.  Boarding time came around, and still nothing had happened.  Loren started to wonder if this was really what God had said.  And then maybe twenty minutes until the flight was supposed to leave, someone came and gave them money... exactly enough for the plane ticket.  So they bought the ticket and the student went to where he was going!  I am really really hoping that God doesn't re-enact this for me...I would really prefer to know what I'm doing BEFORE the day I pack my bags... but really, it's all up to God.  He already knows where I'm going and He'll make sure I get there.  I just need to trust that, and rest in it.

Okay, so, I think that's about all... this weekend we are all trying to prepare for outreach a little bit.  I need to buy a sleeping bag, and make a packing list... and catch up on my bible readings... we've been so busy with dance practice and skit practice and outreach meetings that I've fallen behind!  Next week we have some classes on Monday and Tuesday, but we have Wednesday through Friday relatively free so that we can finish preparing to leave.  Maybe I'll write again before we leave, but if not, thank you so much to everyone who helped make this journey possible!  I could not have done it without your support, and I am eternally grateful!