The Rock Jinja Uganda

When I see this picture two scriptures come to mind

Psalm 18:2

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliver; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

And the second scripture is from

Psalm 103:1-2 says

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

I look at this picture and think

Bless the Lord oh my soul

He is the Rock of my salvation

On a recent mission trip with Actions Speak Louder to Uganda, Amanda, Josh and I drove to Bugumbe hill. From this point, we had panoramic views of the town below and Lake Victoria in the distance.

We reached this point at sunset

The hill and surrounding dirt were dark red,

Making the contrasting bushes and grass a vibrant shade of green

As we approached the hill, there was a young man who climbed to the top and he was singing praises to God.

This moment, this picture captures the Heart of our trip. Here this man climbed to

Bugembe Hill. Probably the highest point in Jinja and he came to sing praise to the Lord. I can only imagine in his daily life he endures hardship, some of which we may never experience but despite all, he knows to seek God, to praise him and to worship his holy name.

Bless the Lord oh my soul for by providing me with this opportunity.

How humbling that God chose to send me.

How he equipped us to provide a bible camp for kids in the community.

We had filled 300 bags for the kids that had beads to make a prayer bracelet, crayons to draw on their bag what they learned, lollipops and stickers. I loved seeing bags the kids decorated with the sun, trees, stars and hearts.

We had so much fun and we had over 300 kids hear bible lessons and learn fun worship songs.

And then our ladies night of worship

Seeing how much need there is for shoes and clothing.

Here again, we saw God, our rock, and his provision

The blessings of all your donations

Which in turn were used to bless the ladies in the community. I was humbled by your generosity and prayers.

Amanda asked me to share a devotion for our ladies’ night. And I can assure you it is only by the Grace of God that I can stand up and talk in front of a crowd

Even here and now it is a step-in faith.

And to think that night, we estimate about 200 ladies were there.

Talking to a crowd that size is a God moment.

It is said that God doesn’t call the equipped but equips who he calls.

As I prayed over what I should share with you tonight I turned back to Psalm 103 and reread vs.1 Praise you Lord oh my soul.

But then I Continued reading and Psalm 103:4 says

Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

I love that this verse says “crowns you with love and compassion”

In our ladies night of worship

We talked of walking in Peace, Strength, and Joy.

I brought a crown with me and lifted it high for all to see.

I said I brought this crown to remind you of who you are in Christ

He wants you to know you are loved!

You are precious to him!

You are not alone!

He who is good and faithful is with you!

With Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are clothed in righteousness and

you are a daughter of the king of kings, the Lord of Lord!

On this trip Amanda through Actions Speak Louder had the vision to

not only care for the orphans, but through the ladies night of worship, she wanted to show the ladies love and compassion.

Just as our Rock, the Lord, says in his word He will Crown us with love and compassion.

I love it when God gives us a glimpse of how all things work together.

Another item I brought with me for the ladies was a pearl purse that someone had donated.

I shared how our Pearl Group had prayed for them, and how you had donated clothes and shoes. I told the story of how a Pearl is formed.

From a tiny irritant such as a grain of sand that gets lodged in the oyster and continually rubs and rubs the oyster.

As a result of the discomfort the oyster creates a silky like substance to provide a layer of protection.

So, from this painful process a beautiful Pearl is formed. So beautiful!

Only God can lead me to join our ladies bible study

known as the Peals and next thing I know I am in Uganda which is called the Pearl of Africa

As I look to the Rock

I continually saw God’s hand and his faithfulness for our trip.

Before our departure neared

Amanda and I started getting notices that bad weather could impact our travel and perhaps we should reroute.

After praying we decided to give it to God and keep our plans as scheduled.

Praise God everything worked out even better than expected.

Some of our flights were relatively empty and we could stretch out and rest comfortably

Also, our luggage was over the 50lb weight limit and we had 6 bags, but the airlines took our bags anyway!

And wow meeting the kids!

What a joy to see their smiling faces.

They prepared welcome songs for us.

And how it touched my heart to hear them sing. So many hugs and smiling faces, it is impossible to not love them!

Some of my favorite memories include,

our trip to see the baboons with the older kids.

They were so excited!!! We sang songs the whole way.

After we returned home the kids wanted to look at our pictures over and over!!

Another time as the kids were doing their devotion time, everyone was sitting in a circle. And Paul, was reading from James and he talked about

James 1:5

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

What truth that scripture holds for each of us and to hear this coming from this precious Child, words cannot describe how moving this was to experience.

We played games, jumped rope, blew bubbles, painted crosses and read books. Every moment with these young kids was precious!