What a fantastic day. We just made it back to the house and I am sitting in awe of how today played out. We got to see firsthand just how effective the child sponsorship program is and that we are all connected in this family between Cornerstone, these children, the sponsors, and ultimately the love of Christ.We spent the whole day at Buloba Community Church for what is called Center Day. This day is set aside for all of the children within the Ebenzer School who are sponsored. When we arrived at the school everyone was gathered in the church and everyone was singing, dancing, and worshipping. It was an honor to join in with them and was just a small taste of what we will experience tomorrow during the church service. After worship ended they split the children up into four groups and then we divided among them to teach the Bible lesson for that day. Again, another situation where we were completely unprepared for this, considering we were handed the lesson plan about three minutes before we were supposed to teach. Todd, Davis, and I all went with the oldest group which were teenagers between the ages of thirteen and seventeen. After we taught the lesson I wanted to get to know these teens a little bit better. I met some bright teenagers who have aspirations to be doctors, lawyers, and teachers! I sat there admiring how hopeful they were for the future and how grateful they were for the opportunity to be able to be sponsored and receive an education that can help them reach these goals. Most of these kids were in the P-7 class (equivalent to 8th grade) and I immediately remembered that the girl I met the first day, Jalia, was their age. I asked of any of them knew Jalia and they all lit up and said they did. I remember Jalia asking me several times that day if we were coming back to their school while we were here and I could not ever give her an answer, I honestly was not sure. As the week progressed I knew that we would not be going back to that school and was sad knowing that Jalia was probably just as bummed as I was. After learning that these kids were friends were here I asked why she wasn’t, and it’s because she is not sponsored. Without hesitation I got up and found Esther, the woman in charge of the child sponsorship program and told her about Jalia and asked if it would be possible for me to sponsor her. She said that she would call for her to be at the church after lunch and I tell her the news myself. In looking back on how all of this just kind of fell into place, I am simply amazed. God had a reason for me making a connection with Jalia on that first day, meeting her friends, and for showing me the effect that sponsoring these children has on the whole community. In the matter of about two minutes I knew that sponsoring Jalia was exactly what I needed to be doing.After lunch we pulled up and sure enough, there she was. Her face lit up as we got off the bus and I was so excited to tell her the news. I asked her if she needed a sponsor and if it would be ok I could do that for her and I could tell that a huge weight was just lifted off her shoulders. It was such a sweet moment for both of us, to know that the God we serve had a perfect plan in crossing our paths. This amazing, strong, beautiful thirteen year old girl deserves more than just $30 dollars a month from me. She is currently living with her aunt and is separated from her mother and seven year old brother and her father who lived six hours away. She has one more year of primary school, six years of high school, and one day wants to become a doctor. She also wants to one day travel the world and explore all of the continents. Like I said, this girl is incredible. I am so excited to be able to get to know Jalia better via sending letters and pictures and to also be able to pray for her as she continues to grow into the woman that God has called her to be. I can’t wait to spend one more day with her at church tomorrow morning. Leaving will be extremely hard but I am so excited for this new journey we are about to start together.Myself and five other people on our team picked up children to sponsor over the course of this trip. Today was very special for everyone who already is sponsoring a child because they were able to give them things that they brought from home; backpacks, paper, pencils, dolls, crayons, or anything else that might have been on their child’s wish list. The joy on all these precious kid’s faces as they received these gifts or discovered they now had a sponsor were priceless and moments that we will never forget. We got to spend the rest of the day playing games, learning as many names as we could, and cherishing every minute we had with them. I have loved learning all of these fun Lugandan songs and dances, today I have got to learn their version of the game “Categories.” Kerri, one of the members of this team summed it up perfectly today, we got on the bus and as we wiped off all of the dust she said, “I am going to miss being dirty.” It’s true, by the end of the day we have turned a shade darker, but it’s not really from the sun. This dusty country has provided me with so much fulfillment and so many great experiences. I am indeed going to miss being dirty at the end of the day in this African way, but what I am asking myself how I can be “dirty” at the end of the day back home as well? Jesus has called us to love the people of Buloba, but He has also called us to love our next door neighbor. I know the heart of our team is to be able to bring the things we have learned here together back to our community.On top of all of wonderful things we experienced today I also got to buy my own bag of dark roast African coffee and Facetime my mom, dad, and sister via the coffee shop wifi. So really, it was a fantastic day.
“I sought the Lord and He answered me; he delivered me from all of my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Psalm 34:4-5
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