It's happened! I'm actually here in Uganda!

I arrived here late on Wednesday night and was greeted by Jade, Peter (a Ugandan who I'll work with), and a crowd of eager taxi drivers. To be honest, I actually felt a little fear as we drove through the dark back to the city (I would advise people moving to a new country to arrive when it is daylight!). As I went to bed, I asked God to take that fear away, and my prayer was definitely answered. Things have been amazing! There are so many reasons that I feel this is exactly where He wants me to be. Let me just share a few.

The couple I'm working with, Jade and Shelah, are wonderful. I have spent a lot of time at their house getting to know them and their family, and they have been so hospitable and welcoming. They have two daughters, Anna Grace (3) and Kaela Joy (1) and a Sudanese teenager named Lino who they've basically adopted, and they are all so fun. It's good to be included in a good family environment as I adjust here, and since our office is connected to Jade and Shelah's house, I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time getting to know this family.

I also have a Ugandan counterpart, Harriet, who is my age and is wonderful. She'll travel with me and has already taken me around town for two days trying to teach me places in the city and how public transport works (which is intense! I'll have to expound in a later post.) It's been fun, though. She's a self-identified "born again" Christian, and we get along so well - it feels as if there are no cultural barriers at all, which helps so much! I'm hoping we can spend time outside of organized work and that I can meet her other friends. I want to make sure to focus on building friendships with Ugandans.

I'm living in a house on a compound owned by a Christian organization called eMi with a small group of other people my age. Most of them are out on projects, so I haven't met my roommate and some of the others, but I really like the ones who are here and I think it will be an encouraging community for me.

I also really appreciate so far the way Jade and Shelah are approaching their ministry here. They are just getting started here in Uganda, so I will be basically facilitating a lot of the discernment process of where they think God is leading them to work. My first official day in the office we spent the morning praying over possible communities to minister in, asking for God's direction. I know it will be challenging making those decisions of where to minister and what to do, but it's also exciting to be beginning and planning things. Jade and Shelah have lived in several African countries and have a great passion to share Christ's love with people here by ministering to both physical and spiritual needs, and I am excited to learn from them.

This Wednesday I will be traveling to a village in central Uganda called Kaberamaido with Harriet and spending a week there meeting with local pastors and many others to try to discern what their needs are and how Refuge and Hope (Jade and Shelah's non-profit) can be involved there. This is one of the communities we prayed for last week and one where Jade and Shelah have made some good contacts, so I pray that it would be a fruitful trip and that the Lord would give me ears to hear and eyes to see what He wants to do there. I will be sure to write and update you all when I get back!

Thank you all so much for your support - for all of the phone calls before I left, the emails, messages and prayers. Love to you all!

                                                                      View of Lake Victoria from Jade & Shelah's home