Joy

I walked to the UJV from our house the morning I took the younger kids to the zoo. The distance is about 1 km and its all hill, so you walk up the hill and then you walk down. On the way down, there was a musei (what they call an old man) with a long white beard walking in front of me. I had never seen an African with a long white beard. He was carrying a huge sack on his back that seemed to be either beans or potatoes. It probably weighed around 52 kg. As we walked down the hill, there were 2 girls on the side of the road outside a shop. They saw the musei and chuckled to themself as they said, hey! Its Father Christmas! I was first surprised to hear them speaking English because normally people i walk by would be speaking Lugandan. but while i pondered the idea that maybe they were speaking English so i would understand, i laughed so hard at at the idea that this guy looked like an African santa clause.
I reached the UJV and the children were ecstatic about going to the zoo. They were drinking their porridge and looked so smart in their new clothes from Christmas. The only downside of the morning was that it was drizzling with gray clouds covering the blue sky beneath. We loaded up the bus and drove 45 minutes to Entebbe where we reached the zoo which is set on the lakefront of Lake Victoria. The rain had picked up so we spent 15 minutes waiting under a roof for the rain to become lighter. As soon as it died down to a drizzle, the kids started walking and we ended up in front of the oldest and laziest lion i had ever seen. His mane thick and his skin was all wrinkly. His face looked like that of a 70 year old man. David turned me and said "auntie, you call the bus, we bring the lion king and we go." For the second time that day my heart was stirred with joy as i laughed at yet another child making fun. We saw snakes such as pythons, cobras, and vipers. we saw otters, crocodiles, chimpanzees and zebras. The rhino wouldnt come near us, but supposedly if he does you are allowed to pet it. The zoo was very small, and definitely nothing that exciting for a westerner, but the children loved every moment of it. After looking at the animals, they played with the monkeys on the playground. They climbed, swung, jumped, crawled and hung from the playground while running around in a frenzy of joy. They had never experienced a playground like that, where they could jump and climb around like monkeys. The sound of children playing filled the air, so much so that i even had to give David, Cosmas, and bonifest a time out for spinning the girls way to fast, scaring them and making little Brenda fall on her back in the mud. The rain eventually stopped and the sun peaked from behind the gray clouds showing a little bit of blue for the afternoon. Its really incredible to be able to experience God in playtime and by just enjoying life. Eat drink and be merry, because God likes to party and play. He likes to have fun and enjoys us as we run around with him, experiencing His creation, making jokes and exploring life. Everyday is an adventure in Africa, and it reminds me that God has countless adventures for us, taking us places we've never been and doing things we thought we could never do. Never in my whole life did i think i would be taking 36 acholi children in Uganda to the Entebbe Zoo for a day. Never did i think i would enjoy swallowing a hundred white gnat like bugs, covering my face in order to breathe, while walking in the rain around a small little animal park so much. i loved every minute of it, because of the smiles and the energy that it brought the kids that day. God had assigned me to bring a little fun and enjoyment for his children who would probably have never experienced anything like that. JOY. Its part of my calling. Christ has put Heavenly joy in my heart, and i'm called to release it wherever i go. Haha, I want these kids to experience as much joy as possible! my heart is to teach them how to play with their Daddy. How to drink from the rivers of joy.