Faithful in the small things

In the movie Amazing Grace John Newton said, “God sometimes does His work with gentle drizzle, not storms. Drip. Drip.Drip…..”   It is easy to be a follower of Jesus when He calls us to do big exciting and sometimes hard things. When He is doing His work in a storm.  I have really enjoyed several of the things we’ve done this past week-  like driving through the Ugandan countryside to visit the airstrip that Mr. Cash owns and talking to the mechanics that may be working on his airplane (more on that later); or sharing a meal with some of our friends here… I even got to help Mr. Cash assist two German tourist gals who were new to town. J However, as I said, it is easy when you have exciting things to do for the kingdom of God. But… what happens when nothing earthshaking happens? What if it is God’s work is being done in a gentle drizzle? This is what my week has been. Nothing earthshaking … It has happened to be a surprisingly and fairly normal week. But God calls me to be just as enthusiastic about following Him now living a peaceful life as when I am fighting fires (which I may get to do while I am here) or getting my hands dirty for Him. God says in His word, “Be still, and know that I am God.” My friends, know that if you are in a still time in your life, God is just as much at work in your life as when you are in the middle of the heart pounding times of your walk with Him. God is at work. Even if His works don’t seem huge and flashing-they still are. Maybe not in ways that makes sense to us at the time. But they are huge.  

 –Brayden

I think this is something God has been showing both of us in various ways over the past couple of weeks…Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land…” I think often times, I try so hard on the doing good part that I forget to DWELL in the land. Completely embracing where I am right now.  I am so thankful for the rest and semi-quietness of the past week… It’s so refreshing to have a chance to practice Isaiah 30:15- “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘…In quietness and trust is your strength.”  When we ask God to enable us to…

make the most of every opportunity.

see every task a ministry.

live life on purpose.

dwell in the land.

…it allows us to no longer see life as boring or normal, but rather as LIFE and JOY.

I’ve been listening to a new song by Cloverton called Take Me Into the Beautiful…."Take me into the beautiful/Won't you take me back again/With a love unexplainable/Come and fill up this dry land/Let it open our eyes/To see a world we've never seen/Let it open our hearts up/Take me into the mystery/Gently lift me with Your grace/Make the chaos a chorus/With Yourself come fill this place

/Cover me with Your mercy/Come and cover me with love/Cover me so that all might see/That it's You not me..."

May it be so!

Have an awesome week ya’ll!

-Bryn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXPHw4u-xng

Village Life

There are some things that can’t be described well with words; experiences that can’t be relayed over cyberspace; lessons that can’t be learned simply hearing about them…I hesitate to tell stories that are so real only to us who had the blessing of experiencing them because they aren’t just stories- they are real places. They are real people.  

Derrick drove Brayden, Hannah and I to his village, introduced us to his cousin Martin and drove away. He said he would return later, maybe the next day.  Martin and Derrick’s sister, Nunu, gave us a tour of the village and surrounding farm and lands…we walked for miles and miles- rich dark earth between our toes- our hosts explaining and showing us unusual fruits, plants, animals….explaining what everyday life is like for them. 

                                                Nunu with her sugarcane walking stick. 

Martin, Bryn, Hannah and Nunu. 

Children there don’t see white young people much and would run to the roadside and stare, point and wave. If we smiled and waved back, they would laugh and scream with delight. If we spoke to them in the few words of Toro that we know, they would grow wild-eyed- their mouths hanging open in surprise.

The head lady of the village welcomed us, grasping our hands warmly as we bowed to her in respect. She spoke of how happy she was we came to visit her.

That afternoon, they helped us kill, pluck and cook a chicken. In a matter of minutes, I saw a rooster go from running around the yard making a racket to being a few pieces of white meat in a pan. Hannah and I learned how to prepare a meal over the open fire. Can I just say that if everyone in America ground millet on stones, carried your water in jerry cans through forests and up hills and worked in gardens every day, there would be no need for gyms and fitness clubs- EVER. Now I understand why Africans don’t get working out- and think it strange. The women there were kind and patient, laughing with us as a couple of white American kids tried their best to live the way they do.

The pigs watching. 

Boiling the headless chicken so the feathers come off.

Removing the feathers. 

These pigs were cracking me up. 

Veggies for dinner. 

Hannah and Bryn outside the kitchen.

We sat around that evening, drinking tea and eating the meal we had prepared…using lanterns for light. Needless to say, we were SO ready for bed by the time we finished eating. Our sleep was interrupted by a very drunk man who angrily yelled outside the house for quite a while…shouting at the dog when no one else would listen. I was very grateful Brayden was with us. J

In the morning we had more tea, visited and attempted to carry water up the hill from the well. Between the huge cans, slippery mud and high altitude- it’s a wonder we made it at all. But then again we had our new friends to cheer us on and say how we needed to do it because “many American women are weak.” Ha. That was motivation enough. J

We sat in the sunshine watching Brayden teach some of the guys how to juggle in a open space in the garden. Life there is so quiet (most of the time) and peaceful. The people in the village spend hours sitting and talking. Or slowly walking down a long dirt road- speaking to those they pass….They work hard to live but take their time doing so.  

                                              Bryn and her favorite Ugandan baby- Melissa. 

Juggling lessons in the garden. 

Melissa and Brayden playing peek-a-boo. 

I came away with a new appreciation for dozens of things…running water, electricity, quietness, a day without a schedule, a day without worry and hurry…the sunrise…the birds…children laughing. No, these people don’t have easy lives or lives any better from anyone else. They are not nobler because of how they live. However, I think in a culture of affluence and “prosperity” we have lost awe for so many things that matter. We have lost a patience for them. A love for them.  

My time in the village made me thankful again for the simple things in life. Aaaand am I very thankful that every time I feel like eating a chicken sandwich or having chicken tortillas- that I don’t have to catch the chicken, kill the chicken, boil the chicken, pluck the chicken, wash the chicken……..

One Week.

Wow. We've been here only a week and yet feel like we have had an adventure of a lifetime. Saturday morning, we had tea with the lady that lives behind the church building. They were very gracious. We visited and talked about how excited they were to have just gotten electricity in their home.  Here are some pictures of the church as it is now.

                                                                     The sanctuary.

The Sunday school classroom. 

The Church kitchen and ovens. 

The future offices under construction. 

We also had a picnic at the Cashes property outside of town. The countryside here is breathtaking….

Silas protecting me from hippos with his machete. 

Ugandan Avocados. 

Tomorrow, Brayden , Hannah (another intern of the Cashes who is from Oregon) and I will be going with Derrick to his village to spend the night. Derrick is the church leader who is Mr. Cashes right hand man. He is hilarious and makes us laugh a lot. 

Derrick and Bryn playing guitar. 

Derrick has been talking about all the things he wants us to do and learn in the village….including killing a chicken and learning how to cook over an open fire. :O Pray that we will be a blessing and good learners..pray that we will have strength for whatever we have to do or eat. J Whew-this should be quite an adventure… 

Also please pray for concentration and focus for us. There is a lot going on at home with friends and family.  We live here right now and are loving it, however, our hearts are with our loved ones who are struggling. 

 

Impressions from another world

We arrived safely in Uganda on Monday despite our doubts as to how our flight would turn out….Instead of saying that they were going to turn off the cabin lights for the evening flight, the British flight attendant informed us that they were going to “dim the cabin lights during the hours of darkness.” J  Just slightly unsettling.

As we touched down in Entebbe, the reality of this was breathtaking. Driving past banana plantations, mud houses, mountains, security check-points….it all becomes real. Africa is a real place with real people that have lives, dreams and disappointments just like everyone else. Mr. Cash asked us what things were different than we were used to. We laughed and said, “I think it would be easier to answer what is thing are the same.” It’s a pretty crazy to be walking in a Ugandan town and then here Rascal Flatts blaring from a stereo. J

We drove to Fort Portal and had a happy reunion with the rest of the Cash family. The past few days have been a mixture of resting, adjusting, learning and watching… getting used to sleeping under mosquito nets, hearing the Islamic calls to prayer every day, hand washing our clothes, eating sugarcane, learning to slow down and adjust to a culture that has a much slower pace of life.  Honestly, we have had some amazing down time to be in the Word, stay up late talking and laughing with the Cashes, singing together, renewing…

                                                  Getting the luggage tied onto the SUV. 

                                                      View from the Cashes back porch. 

Brayden has been giving the boys sword lessons with some Nerf swords he brought. They also have started guitar lessons with Bryn. We have enjoyed getting to play with the kids- playing outside barefoot, playing card games, reading books and singing the Tangled soundtrack. So needless to say, the house has gotten a little bit louder since we arrived. J 

On Wednesday, we had the exciting experience of going to the market. Talk about standing out- being the only white people for miles around. Everyone watches us and talks about the “Muzungus” (African version of Gringo). Ugandan markets are divided into sections according to what they are selling. They spread out blankets and tarps then place their wares in piles on them. We walked past piles of bananas (Matooki), beans, raw meat hanging up, live goats for sale, piles of clothes and shoes…all the sounds and smells so different. A lot of the clothes come from the States. So you might see a village boy walking down a dirt road wearing a Hollister, Quicksilver or Florida Gators shirt.  It is really fun being on your knees, rummaging through piles of clothes trying to find a cool shirt or skirt that will cost around $1- $5.  Some of the people just stare and whisper, others actually speak to us and occasionally someone will smile.

We then had our first Toro meal...It was very interesting, but we were both glad to be back to Mrs. Cashes’ wonderful cooking when we got home.  

We also were able to see the church property and buildings, which was super exciting! Pictures to come.

God is already teaching us so much…there is so much to process and take in. Here is the way Brayden put it: “Some say that there is just one world, that we as the human race are just one people scattered to the four corners of the earth.  While that is true to some to extent and while all humans are equal in God’s eyes; I believe there are many different worlds on this planet. After setting out on this journey of a lifetime, I feel as if I have stepped out of one world into another. We arrived in Africa and of course it was different and it took some getting used to but for the first day or so I had more of a detached view of the world that surrounded me. It wasn’t until we drove from Entebbe to Fort Portal that the reality of the world that I had stepped into set in on me. Driving past the slums of Kampala, I realized that there are people who live lives that are so radically different than mine that there is no possible way I could even begin to fathom the hardship that they face on a daily basis. I realized that there is no way that I can love and these people the way I should. It is only through the grace of God that I will ever be able to serve these people as He has called me to love.  God, give me your heart for those all around me who are slowly hurting and dying without You.”

Souled Out- Phil. 3:7-8

Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”

Take off for Uganda, East Africa- 1 day. One Day!!!  So much prayer has gone into this trip- so much support and encouragement. We are super thankful for everyone who helped make this possible- for the love and prayers and support. We know this is where the Lord wants us this summer and we are STOKED to see what He has in store!! We will be serving with the Cash family who are wonderful friends that we have known for about 8 years. Their heart for the Lord is breathtaking-their courage and self-sacrifice for the Gospel- beautiful. If you want to read more about them and their stories, you can go to www.cashfamilymission.com

The reason we chose Souled Out as our blog title is because it embodies what God calls us as Believers to be…whether we are going to Africa, or working hard at summer school or loving our family by serving them in ways no one sees….We realize that if we don’t live lives that are “sold out” to Jesus- giving Him our all in everything he asks us to –exciting or not, then we aren’t truly sold out. Oh the joy that comes from striving to be at a place where “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Where if He asked us to deny everything we love and hold onto except Him- with no one watching to see our “sacrifice” -we would do it, with a heart of joy. A heart of joy because we are bringing glory to God- glory to the Lover of our souls. Can we be so caught up in keeping the face of Jesus in sight, that all else pales in comparison?  If the people we interact with were asked what fires us up, what lights up our eyes, what are we sold out for- would they say without a doubt- Christ and the Gospel.

If we are seeking to be “found in Christ” –our worth, our identity, our fulfillment- then we would consider every adventure, every task, every sacrifice of equal importance in the service of Christ. We would not consider some things to be “mission trips” that are more important than “normal summers.” We would not consider some things “adventurous” for the sake of Christ and everything else “boring.” In the end, it is all an adventure when serving Jesus. Yes, some may be harder or more exciting or whatever…but it all should be different lanes on the same road, headed towards the One Light. Sold out means no retreat, no regret and no return.

So pray for us that we would live sold out to the Lord in everything He calls us to do this summer. Pray that self sacrifice and joy would be our modus operandi. Pray that God would equip us and that we would not try to be strong in and of ourselves (cause that idea Fails!) That we would see the bigger picture and be filled with boldness to tell the world about this crazy Love that has called us out of darkness, rescued us and called us His own.