Day 1 of service in Jinja district

Today the team split up and went to 3 different areas to serve.... Richard and I went to help build a house for Wamida in the village of Buwenda. We mixed cement using sand, water and dry cement on the ground with a spade and shovel. Talk about going back in time. Nothing like working with your hands and no automation! We worked with Mondi who is a member of Pastor Edwards church. Mondi is a great man that I love to work with. He is quiet but always keeping things straight. There were three masons bricking the house. Wamida and her daughters and their kids were there with us all day. They fed us cooked corn and the best cup of hot tea as a mid morning break. Richard scared a poor little girl every time he came anywhere close to her. It was a riot to all! I am constantly amazed at the resourcefulness of the communities we work with. They have nothing compared to the worlds standards, but they waste nothing. They make sure to use all available to them and their ingenuity at adapting to the materials they have just humbles me. Patrick, the lead mason, laughed at us all day long. He also spoke English to me when asking if we liked soccer. When I said yes the universal soccer question came next "what club do you support?" Patrick supports Liverpool and I support Manchester United! Richard and I also got to fetch water from the borehole about 200 yards. The jerry can holds 20 liters. We had to stop a few times since it was uphill! These Muzungus are not as strong as our Ugandan brothers! Overall it was a good day for us. Being thanked by Wamida and her family for building this house is humbling. Dottie and Audrey went to the Ekkisa orphanage for special needs kids. They had a great time just loving on this kids who have been abandoned due to their special needs. I know that their time there today was a blessing to the kids. The rest of the team went to the Mayuge district and set up the clinic in the village Rookio. They saw 201 patients in medical, dental, and wound care. Things seemed to flow a little off kilter, but that is to be expected since we have never been to this village in the past. Tomorrow will be much busier as word spreads tonight about the clinics, but flow smoother, as well after today. The Mayuge district has a large Muslim population and we treat them in the clinics without restrictions. Many of them wanted to be prayed for and so Kysia prayed with and for them. We do not tell people they have to be a Follower of Jesus to be treated. We simply tell them the reason we a here and offer to share our faith. So far in three clinics we have treated almost 1,000 patients. God has been very good on this trip. People are being treated and we are loving on them and letting them know they matter. The local hosts follow up with people and we love that. This is God's mission and we are here to simply serve and assist the local church. We do not come with all answers or tell our hosts how things should happen. We know that the local church is the one to disciple and care for the their community when we go home. This is what a faith community should be! We are off to bed. Another day of service and mercy and love awaits up tomorrow. Keep those prayers coming! Oh yeah... By the way... Morgan taught the kids to call the Hogs today! Good night, Chris and Kysia