Mukama Yebazibwe {5-30-10}

Today was a glorious day filled with the presence and praises of God, clean water, sweet children, beautiful widows, and a precious little man named Marvin.

Church:

The Lord used to meet people in a tent in the wilderness. He never stopped. We had church in a tent made of orange tarps in the jungle. We used drums and our voices to Praise The Living God who works miracles in my town in America and in this impoverished village in Uganda. He is the same God that I praise at home, except here we praised Him in another language.

We didn't have to wear shoes or have air conditioning or even have a chair to sit in. We came as we were to praise God for being our deliverance, our redemption, and our hope.

I held a sweet little baby in my arms and I saw the story of the Widow's Mite in real life. She gave abundantly despite her need and danced all the way back to her seat. I want to give as joyfully as her, even if it means I might not be able to afford the things I had wanted, or maybe even needed. I want to trust God so much and love others so much more than myself that I will give without hesitation.

Please pray for this sweet church and for God to reach their village for Jesus in a tremendous way through them.

Marvin: Marvin spreads joy like no one I have ever seen. One of our Ugandan translators described him perfectly. "Mar-veen. Oh Mar-veen. He smiles unceasingly. He nevahhh speaks, only smiles...and that is enough."

He's a joy to be around. To say that he is less valuable than those of us who can speak is an outrage to God's heart. Marvin is fearfully and wonderfully made and I will treasure the moments that I got to spend with him.

The Well Dedication:

The Well Dedication was one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. TONS of people from Namasujju and the surrounding villages came out for the celebration. It was an African Jungle Party and I've decided that these are the very best kind. There was music and dancing{...and when I say dancing, I mean dan.cing.}

They had put on their finest clothes and their brightest smiles.

We sang and played games with the kids, and then one of our team members, Kirk, beat boxed for them. {For the next few days when we would walk around the village, kids would see him, point and giggle and start "Pchhh, boom, kkshh"- ing. Then we would laugh with them and they'd run and hide behind something.}

After we'd all been there a few hours, I was walking to get something when the sweetest, most hilarious elderly woman I have ever met, grabbed my arm in a death grip. Our conversation went like this except in Luganda:

Me: *whiplash of the arm* "OH. Hi!"

Her:{ with the largest, brightest smile ever}: "Hello, girl! Please get me some water!"

Me: "Water? Oh, Ok..Ummm...I'll be right back."

Her: "AHHHHHHH!! You speak Luganda?!?! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" as she laughs hysterically and nearly falls off her chair.

Me: "Haha! Only a little bit!"

Her: "AHH! NO! YOU SPEAK LUGANDA! God bless you!!"

I found water and brought some for her and about five other widows with her and they bowed as I handed it to them. It was humbling and such a blessing to have the privilege of serving them. SUCH a blessing.

We became instant best friends. The original sweet woman grabs my wrist again and pulls me in to hug me. She asks me how long I am staying in Uganda and I tell her I'll be there about two weeks. She yells" AHHH two weeks?! NOOO. ONE YEAR! Stay one year!" She hugged me again and we talked for a few more minutes until I ran out of useful Luganda. Then we just laughed some more. For the rest of the day, when she would see me she would throw her head back and yell dramatically: "AHHH, GIRL!"

She was beautiful. Later, as she was leaving, she found me and hugged me/danced with me and began dragging me off. I wasn't sure what was going on until suddenly she snatched another woman's child and handed it to me. It was a sweet baby boy who was only two weeks old and was all swaddled in a pink blanket. They all stared at me and smiled their huge white smiles for a while and laughed hysterically whenever I would tell them how precious He was. Then they would all nod bashfully in agreement that their baby boy was indeed, a ham.

They were beautiful and I love them. We all laughed and hugged again and then they were off to their village a few miles away with their new mosquito nets. They would go to sleep tonight without fear of mosquitoes or malaria.

We distributed several hundred nets on this beautiful day.

Late in the afternoon, a member of Ugandan Parliament came out...

...as well as several other local government leaders such as this hilarious man.

...and soon the more organized festivities began. There was more music and more dancing and then each of the leaders went up and spoke..for a while. They thanked SafeWorld Nexus profusely for helping their people and for assisting them in bringing clean water to this remote area.

{The children entertained themselves in various ways during this time of listening. Some held babies as big as themselves, some danced; my personal favorite can be seen below.}

I held the sweetest little baby who slept {and drooled} through the whole thing.

I don't know who it belonged to, but it was an extremely cute one that almost everyone had held by the end of the evening.

Matt shared with them about the seven other wells that will be dug in the area this year and they praised God. I got to share with them about God's heart for the orphan and how we will be back to care for their orphans and begin an orphanage there. They praised God.

I held several little girls' hands as we walked together to taste this "New Sweet Wo-tah".

We all walked across the dirt path to the well where all of the leaders had a chance to pump the water. I tasted the water. I praised God. We danced some more.

Photo Cred: Hayley Catt