Encountering Jesus in Ngongulo

On Friday, I took 12 children with mama cook and Harriet to sleep at the land we are currently building on. The village is called Ngongulo and is located in Entebbe. We crammed into a 12 passenger van with all of our food and clothing needed for the 2 days we were there. When we arrived i set up my bed and then went with some children to collect firewood. The land is mostly thick bush, with bugs everywhere. Everytime i go, i have to wear long pants with sneakers and sometimes a sweatshirt because theres prickers, thorns, ticks and jitters everywhere as well. Its truly village life. we cooked matoke, rice and gnut sauce for lunch and in the late afternoon evening started digging in the garden. The children ate their full of potatoes and casifa they dug up. The following day everyone got up early to dig. We used hoes to dig up the dirt so we could freshly plant new seeds and new casifa sticks. i got blisters all over my hands, but it was amazing to enjoy the village life with the kids. They grew up in Gulu digging and eating in the garden and it brings them joy to be able to do it again. We've been going to the land to dig since last April. In April there was no garden yet, it was all bush. So Amy Toyota and I would take the kids with Harriet and go thrash the bush and cut down trees with machetes. We hacked the bush up and cleared about an acre of land. This was all before they started building the houses that we have now. I had never had so many blisters in my life. So digging this past weekend was not so bad. The kids think mizungus don't know how to dig, but so they laughed at me with a hoe in my hands. They stopped laughing when i dug in 5 minutes what took them about 30 minutes. The land is so fruitful these days. There are 2 harvest seasons and acres of land producing vegetables and fruits for us. My favorite part about going is the tea. There is some tea leaves that grow a little up from the house and they have somewhat of a minty taste. We boil water, i pick my tea, and i enjoy while the kids drink their porridge. It's amazing to be able to walk outside and pick your food from the ground instead of having to go to the store. the simple life is so different. I started to dream about living out there and how amazing it is going to be.
After digging, the kids went to play futbol on the field in front. Its incredible having our own field for them to play on! they played the village kids 6 on 10, UJV being 6 and villagers being 10. I think our kids won by 5. They are really learning how to maneuver the ball and pass to each other. While they played futbol, i sat on the hill and watched them. A little village girl around the age of 4, dressed in a short jean skirt and pink tshirt with the cutest braides and beads in her hair stood staring at me as i sat there. She had a look of curiosity but was still hesitant to come close in her shyness. So i looked at her and said Jungu (come). She timidly walked over to me and turned her head away from me still fearing a little bit. So i asked her what her name was and she looked at me now and replied "Favor". At that moment, as she stared at me with those big beautiful brown eyes, i felt so much love bubble up inside of me. I saw Jesus in her eyes and i heard the Lord say I favor this one :). So i pulled her close and had her sit on my lap. Harriet helped me translate as I asked her if she knew who Jesus was. Favor replied, "yes but I've never seen him and i don't know where he lives." I laughed so hard at this simple childlike response. It brought so much reality to who Jesus is. Jesus is a person, visible with a dwelling place. We can see him as He is. I told Favor he was the son God, God as a man. and the He loved her very much and is with her all the time. That he lives in whoever believes in Him. I asked her if she believed in Him and she said yes. I asked her if i could pray for her infected sore ears. She said yes and she prayed with me. Afterwards she sat with me a while longer, and when i had to go back to the house to prepare lunch she didn't want me to leave. She followed me all the way back to the house. i gave her a snack, and her mother came to get her. She cried as her mother took her away, but I'm sure i will see her again. She reminded me how much the Father loves us and desires us and really wants us to have our desires...He really favors us. We are so beautiful to Him and things are so simple in His eyes. I can't wait to live in Ngongulo and to see our kids reaching out to the village kids in love and compassion. I'm excited to see our kids bring the heart of Jesus to that village.
The difficult thing for me about sleeping in Ngongulo at the moment is that there is no privacy and feels very unprotected. The builders sleep on our land, as well as a farmer or two. There is no fence built yet, and no doors for the guards squatty hole. So I end up using the bush for a toilet wondering if someone is going to walk by at any moment. There are men i dont know all around building or farming so it just feels unsafe to me. There are also bugs everywhere with huge mosquitos and I was even stung by a huge African bee that didn't die after it stung me. It was so painful, but it really just helped me understand more about some of the fears i have in Africa. It helped me realize that i do have fears that God is still working out in me. I just want to know more of His always protective, trustworthy, hopeful, and preserving love. It is love that overcomes, and i want to be fearless in ministry. I want the extreme impossible, but daring enough to go after it. i don't want anything to hold me back from loving wrecklessly. I want to be crazy and willing to face pain, hurt, endangerment, maybe even death to bring Christ's love to the ones that need it most. i want to look fear in the face and know im dripping with the love of the Father, protected, secure and victorious.