Even after 30 some hours of traveling, it took me a few days here to comprehend that I am actually in Uganda. It doesn’t seem possible that I am on another continent, halfway across the world. I am so thankful for the blessing of being here in this BEAUTIFUL place full of beautiful people.

However, despite the great blessing of being here, we’ve definitely had some difficulties in the process of getting here and getting adjusted. During the two days of traveling our team faced exhaustion, sickness, anxiety, and culture shock. And shew, jet lag is real, y’all. Getting adjusted to the new sleeping schedule has been rough. In all of this, I let my fatigue and frustration get the best of me. Honestly, I lost sight of our purpose in being here and the promises God has made to bring good out of this trip.

Yesterday morning we groggily rolled out of bed and walked up the red dirt path to a Bringing Hope to the Family building where they were having a devotional time. Prossy and Mama Faith encouraged all the people there to
trust in God, no matter the circumstance.

I realized that in my discouragement, I was not living out this simple, important truth. Trust in God.

Sure enough, immediately after the devotion we took a tour of all the different parts of Bringing Hope to the Family and God revealed to me how much he has in store for us here. We saw the clinic, Hope Academy Nursery (Preschool-Kindergarten school), Home Again Orphanage, and Hope Academy (Grades 1-6).

As soon as we arrived at Hope Academy Nursery the children ran up to us hugging our legs, reaching up to be held, and smiling like crazy. They were so full of love and joy. I’m so excited to start teaching them tomorrow and learn their stories.

In Home Again Orphanage, we got to hold the babies! We saw the great need they have for someone to simply love on them and play with them. The women working there are constantly cleaning, cooking, feeding, bathing, and doing laundry. All of this work to meet the children’s basic needs consumes all of their energy. What a blessing to our team to get to show them God’s love.

Hope Academy stole my heart. It is beyond beautiful. It is made up of little buildings that are classrooms with cut out windows that give the perfect view of the most gorgeous mountains I have ever seen. Absolutely breathtaking. Classrooms full of children laughing, singing, learning, and working. Children who shared their love of Jesus and their joy in salvation by asking us, “Do you love God? We love God. Are you saved? We are saved.”

Seeing all of their sweet faces I was reminded of the promises God has given me about serving in this trip. How could I forget? God has GREAT things coming for this month. God is not limited by rough beginnings, sickness, anxiety, or culture shock. God is not limited by jet lag. He is so much bigger than all of that. Although he can do great things despite my negativity, I will miss out on so much if I am negative fail to acknowledge His goodness in all things. This experience is already teaching me so much about seeing rough circumstances not as something that limits God’s work, but instead as an opportunity to trust in Him even more. I am so thankful for the opportunity to not only grow in my own trust, but to also get to share life with these people who demonstrate this trust in God so well.

Sarah Grace