Sticks, Prayer, Prison and Flat Tires...

By far the BEST mission day of my life so far!

The final Sunday, we all split up to travel to different churches and share and minister to the congregations. Cristin, Shannon and myself were invited by Pastor James to visit his church in the village of Nawanyago, by far the longest distance from our base at Jinja. Now I love a good adventure, and I get excited knowing that our drive would be long and I have no idea what to expect over there in that little village. My only prayer was that Cristin and Shannon would feel the same spirit of adventure...

Our drive was long...not too long, but long enough! A little over an hour outside of Jinja, out in the country, we came to a little village. A quick jaunt through an alley and down a little dirt path, and there was the church! Sticks, tarp and a tin roof. It was not much structurally. Just sticks, tarp and a tin roof. But hang a few flowers from the rafters, fresh herbs at the doorways, a few plants on the stone and brick stage, and you'd be surprised how quickly you find yourself saying, "Wow! This is really beautiful!" We arrived to see the church packed out with people dancing and praising God in typical African fashion. We were greeted so warmly and welcomed with sincerity. I felt led to preach on John 4 and the woman at the well, speaking on where we draw our water from; the world or Jesus. As I closed the sermon, Pastor James casually asked me, "This is where we pray over the congregation, would you like to do it?" Of course I said I'd love to. Now when he meant pray for the congregation, I thought he meant as a benediction or something. But what he meant was to pray for them individually! He simply said, "Anyone who needs prayer, come forward, and you will be prayed over!" There was anywhere from 100 - 150 people there, and anywhere from 80 - 100 came forward. So Cristin and I took to the loving task of taking peoples' requests and lifting them up to God, right then and there. It was a powerful experience. Hot...so hot and sticky and sweaty as people packed the altar. Old women wanting prayer for health and pain issues, young children wanting prayer for school supplies and wisdom in their studies, young men and women dealing with regrets and hurts, and some battling witchcraft and demonic activity. It was a powerful experience for me. For an hour we prayed over every person as the worship leaders worshipped. Nobody's in a hurry on Sunday...God's not always done at noon. And as I lifted people up to Jesus, it was almost as if I could physically feel the hurts and pains I was praying over. I can't explain it, but I know I'll never forget it.

We said goodbye to the congregation and headed for the car. That was when Pastor James turned to me and asked, "You want to join us in prison?" I said, sure, why not? So we drove a little ways down the road to the prison. I would have never known it was a prison because of the structures on the property; round huts. But as we got closer to the huts, we could see the prisoners inside huts made of metal, hanging to the screen on the locked doors. Emptiness in their eyes. Our group of three joined Pastor James and a group of five men and women from the church. We met in a big clay hut with a thatched roof, because it's much cooler in those. After a few minutes, the prisoners came in wearing their bright yellow and black striped suits. We sang, we prayed, and I got to preach out of John 4 and the woman at the well, speaking on quenching the endless thirst of our heart. There was one who looked my age, and I was drawn to him. He was so quiet, would never make eye contact and just looked so hopelessly ashamed. All in all, I preached and Pastor James followed up and I had the sincere priviledge of leading two prisoners to Christ! One of them being a boy by the name of Grace, the one I was drawn to. After he prayed to receive Jesus, I felt so led to take him by the hands, look him in the eyes and simply say, "All is forgiven...all is forgiven...nobody and no thing can condemn you...because now you are His precious Son. Now you are forgiven." Maybe it was because I knew that feeling of guilt too well. Maybe it was because I could see genuine remorse. I don't know, but I felt led and literally pushed to say it to him and him alone and to say it to his eyes. And his eyes welled, and he smiled. That may have been my only reason for coming this year, and that's alright.

We left the prison and drove to a little old lady's house for lunch. Now, when foreigners come to visit, it's an affair. They treated us like royalty. Every opportunity to visit someone's home has been the same experience. All the best china is served, the best linen put down. You're almost not allowed to see the cooking area. All you do is sit on the living room couch, with a table and fancy linens in front of you, watching the food come out, more food than they probably eat in a week. All in all, they treat you like a king. Good African foods. We were there for a couple of hours, talking and chatting. The old woman is a widow, so we made it a point to thank her profusely, pray a prayer of blessing on her home and leave her with a substantial monetary offering. She was dignified, but I could tell she was joyous. It's so fun to be used by God in the life of a widow...to be the tangible example of His heart. She was a beautiful woman of God.

After we said our goodbyes, we packed our things in Pastor James' car, watched them throw a few live chickens in the trunk (don't ask) and we were ready to hit the road. Except, apparently the road hit first. Flat tire. So we unloaded our stuff, took out the chickens a proceeded to walk through the village looking for a car. Through alleys and yards and businesses and storefronts. It's always interesting when you know you stick out like a sore thumb. Thankfully, we found a van to get us back to Jinja in the middle of a downpour and thunderstorm. We were easily the last group to arrive back at the hotel, but that didn't matter. We were on fire despite exhaustion. God is so good! And I love that He includes us in His great work!

I think He is sometimes looking for those who'll have just a little spirit of adventure...even in our backyard.