Day 6: Distribution

      Today was a big day for us. It was a day that Karla made many preparations for.  Seriously, she spent many hours this trip stressing over this one day.  This one day emptied at least half of the baggage that we took on the trip.  The reason for the stress was because today we distributed all the blessing bags to the children.  Today, about 140 bags were given to the students and faculty of Rock of Ages.
      Karla's hard work paid off.  The organized system of distribution worked very smoothly.  Karla, Abdu, Betty, Jeff, and Kirsten handed bags to the classes one by one.  At the same time, Jen and Josh did a short demonstration on tooth-brushing, and Michelle lead a bracelet craft that outlined the saving grace of Jesus.  I mostly spent the time outside, with the neighborhood children.
      As we handed out the bags, we watched the caring and love of hundreds of people go out to these children.  Just six people purchased tickets and flew to Uganda, but hundreds of people arrived in Africa today and left their mark of love.  Through their giving, the donors from the US went with the six team members to Africa .  Today we told the children at Rock of Ages, "I love you," with a bag of gifts.  Sometimes, a piece of candy and a book speaks love louder than a sentence with an empty hand.

Some of the children with their gifts

       This morning, during preparation, our host Jeff emphasized that we have no idea the impact we are making here.  He said that we need to open our eyes and see what we are doing through God's eyes.  From our point of view, our actions can seem like a drop in a huge bucket of need.  The giving can seem trivial.  And honestly those feelings of hopelessness would be true if we were not sent by our heavenly Father.  With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.  The will of the Father brought this team to Africa.  We can not imagine the tremendous work that God does through our "small" attempts at service.  No act of love is "small" when the God of the universe is speaking through it.
        I was especially happy today because we did our best to give every child some kind of gift, even the neighborhood children outside of Rock of Ages.  On our way to school, we purchased some sugar biscuits and distributed them to non-students throughout the day.  It was wonderful to see these bystanders receive love.  The phrase, "Yesu akwa gala," has more weight when a child's stomach receives nourishment in the process.
     Additionally, after school, we met with several widows in a nearby village, who used to be sponsored through Pam and Paul.  Now they are self-sufficient.  It was great to hear their words of thanks and praise for God.  They have seen hope and salvation come from their savior Jesus.  One widow said that though she is a widow, she has a strong, loving, caring man in her life... Jesus.
      Overall, we saw the love of Christ today.  We saw a testimony of His love in the widows, and we saw his love go out with the blessing bags.  Only God knows what impact was made today.  Only with God did the impossible become possible today.  Praise the Lord that all of us were able to be part of His will, that we were included as delivery persons in His divine distribution of love.

In Christ,

Mark Tatham