Sunday Worship at Good Shepherd's Fold

 The man in between us (they call him "Big David") preached on Sunday while we were at GSF in Uganda. He came to GSF as a young adult who had not been able to walk since he had polio at age 3. He had surgery and was fitted with braces and is now able to get around very well. He is the tailor at GSF, making all the children's school clothes, and the GSF staff uniforms. He is also starting a Bible study in a nearby village with hopes of planting a church there.

That Sunday was Palm Sunday and the children went out and cut down some palm branches and used them to decorate the church. There was even a donkey in a nearby field. While all the props were in place and the worship was very celebratory, Big David chose to preach on Matthew 19:16-30, rather than the triumphal entry. This passage and his preaching really impacted both of us and by the end of the sermon we both had tears. I will include the passage of Scripture. They do not record the sermons and post them on a webpage, or I definitely would have linked to it.

Matthew 19:16-30

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?"17 And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."18 He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."20 The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?"21 Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"26 But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."27 Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?"28 Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

The International School at GSF- for missionary kids

During our time in Uganda, I had the privilege of getting to know Caralina while we studied algebra together. She is a really interesting 15 year old girl who has her own blog about life at GSF. She has some great photos and she is a very good at expressing her thoughts in writing. http://caralinag.blogspot.com/

While in Uganda, we went on a field trip with the "International School." The Nile River is behind us. Here we are with the current teacher(in the back) along with the 6 missionary kids who were in the school at the time of our visit. Now the Warfield family is also at GSF with 3 more kids. These 9 kids are the ones we would be teaching, along with our own children, if we go to GSF in the summer of 2013. Amanda, their current teacher has done a fabulous job, but is returning to the states at the end of the school year in May.

A few photos from our trip

 A village home in rural Uganda. We passed so many different homes, some were mud huts, some were built from bricks they made themselves, some had thatch roofs, some had tin roofs. Many were in process. 

Here are some of the girls at GSF. These girls were playing school when I took their photo. I told them that my daughter, Esther, loves to play school too. 

Always ready to pose for a picture.

This precious girl had malaria while we were there. Since she was at Good Shepherd's Fold, she was given medicine and was out playing with her friends in just a few days.

Our welcome to Good Shepherd's Fold (Friday 3/30)

Here are some photos of the welcome tradition at Good Shepherd's Fold. I described it in a previous post, but wanted to share these photos.

Back in Georgia

Everything with our return flight went smoothly and we were able to spend some time with the kids Saturday night. It was good to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with our church and family. It is challenging to put our trip into words, so please bear with us as we process our experience, and I try to go back through the week and give updates with photos. Since many have asked already, I thought I would answer the question about whether we are going to Uganda to teach the missionary kids at Good Shepherd's Fold. Thursday night, when we met with the team, we all decided to take the next 1-2 weeks to pray about whether this is where God is leading us. The team will contact us at the end of that time, and we will see where things go from there. Please pray for us now as we continue to think and pray about this opportunity to serve. We will keep you posted!

Last full Day in Uganda-sort of

Today is our last full day here. Tomorrow we begin our travel home. It will be about 3 hours to drive to Entebbe airport, then we leave very late in the evening Friday, hoping to land in Atlanta Saturday afternoon. If everything runs on time with our 2 connections, and we get through customs quickly, we hope to be back with our children around dinnertime. I think it will feel like the middle of the night to us, but I can hardly wait to hug my children again. Next week I will begin posting pictures from our trip along with stories about this very full week here. It is amazing how a 10 day trip can be so eye opening and life changing. We are having dinner with the team tonight, here in Jinja to discuss all of our thoughts and any questions about the possibility of us serving here long-term as the teachers for the "International School" for the missionary kids. Right now the school only includes 6 kids, but another family will be joining the team this month with 3 more kids. Please keep us in your prayers as we discuss God's calling for our family.