Uganda Week 3
Week
three was spent in the village of Buganco. This was the smallest of the
villages we had been to yet. Located near the border of Tanzania, there were
beautiful mountains and grassy fields all around the village.
Since
it was such a small village, the crusade was being held just outside our
accommodation, on a small stage set up in the middle of a group of stores. When
we went over on the first night, worship was starting and a group of people had
gathered around dancing and praising. Moriah preached the gospel that night
and, similar to last week, we had a time of prayer and healing.
The
next day held an unexpected start. The place where we were staying had a
courtyard surrounded by a brick wall. I discovered as I was doing my quiet time
that you could see through the cracks in the wall. I heard a quiet, “Hello,”
and turned around to see little kids peeking through the wall. They were so
cute. The one little girl later found me when we left for ministry and walked
with me. I found out her name is Juliet. To start the day, the pastor took us
to his house where we got to meet his lovely family. Then we walked to the
border of Tanzania. All the while Juliet was holding my hand and walking with
me. On the way back we stopped at a hospital where we were able to pray for
some of the patients. There were two main rooms full of women and then I
noticed one little girl and her father sitting in a backroom by themselves.
Before coming on outreach, I prayed for God to give me eyes to see the ones
others do not, and this was a moment I saw God answer that prayer. I got to go
back and pray with the girl, before heading out. We walked along a dirt road
the whole way back and I gave Juliet a piggyback ride. Along the way we would
pass groups of kids. I loved seeing their faces light up as they saw us.
That
afternoon was the first day of the conference, which had the same schedule as last
week. The church members led worship and then we performed a skit and someone
from our team gave a word. Juliet and I had so much fun dancing during worship.
At
the campaign that night, God was speaking so clearly to a few of our team
members. Alexis, Myranda, and Madalyn spoke, and as they did you could tell
that the Holy Spirit was speaking through them. Two people got saved! While
they were preaching I was standing in the crowd and an older woman got so
excited to see me and held my hand the whole time they were speaking. One of
the women near her apparently did not notice me standing there because when she
did look over she was so surprised she screamed. Do not worry; the scream
turned into both of us laughing.
The
next day was similar to the one before -- door to door, conference, and then
campaign. We spilt into groups for door to door, and my group had the
opportunity to preach in a nearby bar and market. Then we headed to the
conference. At the end of the conference, there was a girl who was lame and
Sierra and I went over to pray for her. I wanted so badly for her to get up and
be able to walk and be healed, but she was not. A few of my team members had
already seen amazing visible healings during outreach and part of me wanted
this to be the moment I saw something like that. I got caught up in wanting to
see a miracle instead of seeing the person in front of me. God kindly reminded
me that people are not projects and we are to seek intimacy with him over
miracles. That night we had the campaign and played the Jesus film.
The
following day, we had the morning off. So our day started in the early
afternoon at the church for the conference. When Myranda got up to preach, it
went from clear skies to pouring rain. The raindrops on the metal roof were so
loud you could barely hear anything. At first, she stopped to see if it would
slow down; when the rain had lightened up a little she decided to continue.
While the rain had slowed a little, every time she made a powerful point the
rain would come down really hard. This was just one physical sign of how much
God was moving in this village, and that the enemy was doing whatever he could
to try and stop it. Unfortunately for him our God is way stronger than he is.
At
the end of that evening, as the pastor was closing the service, there erupted a
shrieking scream. Heads quickly turned to find a woman in the back was
manifesting a demon. They laid her down on the ground and everyone surrounded
her and began praying. She looked so lifeless, except for the moments when she
would scream again or the demon would mock those praying for her. In the moment
God showed me His heart for her, even in this state she was still his precious daughter
and he wanted her to experience the freedom he died for. After probably about
20-30 minutes, she released a long scream and then experienced freedom. She got
up and was jumping around, hugging, and thanking everyone.
Then
a few of our team members came to get us to pray for another girl who had
manifested. They led us to a little building next to the church where the girl
was. She looked completely exhausted, because not only was she fighting a
spiritual battle but also had not eaten or slept in days. As soon as we went
into the room, I felt a strong connection to the girl and felt like I could
almost understand and feel her emotions. As people began praying for her, the
woman in the church started manifesting again. The next hours were spent with people
running back and forth between the two women praying for them. I stayed with
the young woman in the small room, and over time we discovered that her story
was so much more complicated than we could have imagined. Her bondage was
deeper than a demon. It also stemmed from deep-rooted family issues and feeling
unloved, specifically by her mother. We also noticed that she was more open the
fewer people that were in the room. So Jolien and I stayed back with her while
others went to lead the campaign.
Eventually,
we were not really sure what to do other than be with her, and then I felt God
encouraging me to share something that had been in the back of my mind since
going into the room. At the beginning of the week, God put a message on my
heart, one about emotional healing and our identity as God’s children and that
His love is stronger than anything else. I did not know when or where I was
supposed to share it until this moment. What a beautiful way to show her how
loved and valued she is, the God of the universe sent a girl from America to
Buganco to tell her that he loves her. God orchestrated this moment to happen
because he loves her. As I started sharing, she began to cough and it seemed as
though she was trying to block out the noise or ignore me, which seemed like a
sign that the demon did not like what I was saying, so I continued to push in
and allow God to speak through me. I would have stayed with her all day if that
was what it took because I have never felt so deeply or clearly the pain of another,
but God reminded me it was not up to me to free her and now we had to step back
and trust she was in His hands. Jolien went back later to check on her and she
was doing much better and was able to eat, drink, and sleep. At the campaign
that night, we finished the Jesus film.
The
next day was church. Remi was preaching on how God does not just like us, he
loves us. This was a message that I have heard many times before but hit me so
much harder that day. I found myself crying in the back of the church listening.
Outreach was so much go, go, go, constantly and I had allowed myself to be
focused on loving others but forgot to go to God to be refilled with is love.
In that moment, he reminded me that he does not just love me, he is not just a
distant God who died for me 2,000 years ago, but a God who is my friend every
day. After she finished preaching, I felt led to go encourage the mother of the
girl who was lame remind her that God is going to use their situation to bring
Him glory and to keep praying.
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