In just a few hours we will embark on our two-day journey from Uganda to home. Today we had a perfect send-off with attending worship at Gaba Community Church. Pews packed with somewhere around 1000-1100 people, we all sang, danced, and worshipped together - both Africans and Americans - the same mighty and loving God.
African worship is much more expressive than what most of us are used to - starting with the music. There was about an hour of praise and worship music before the sermon began, with singers accompanied by drums, keyboard, and an acoustic guitar. Africans were dancing in the pews as they sang - expression not only on their faces but with their gestures and body movements. Music was upbeat, spirit-filled, and moving. Much of the music consisted of traditional rhythms and cadence indigenous to this part of the world. It was a unanimous celebration - everyone in the church fully participated - no one was simply standing there observing. Every soul was a part of the celebration.
We were welcomed by many of the church members, and were brought on stage and introduced by Patrick. Sarah spoke of how the relationship formed with Patrick and Gaba and how ekissa is the response of God's call for ministry in Uganda. Kirsten was asked by Patrick to give an impromptu testimony to the church about having children with special needs and how she was able to minister this week to a mother and young Ugandan boy in Gaba Church who suffers from Type I Diabetes, just like her son, Jake. She spoke about God's provision even in difficult times.
Patrick gave the sermon this morning which focused on trusting God in all seasons of life. In Africa, they have two seasons - wet and dry. He paralleled the wet season to those times in life where things are flourishing, where things are going our way. The dry season was used in reference to trying times in our lives. We should praise God in wet (good) and dry (hard) seasons of life. Not only praise God because something great has happened, but also praise Him when something terrible happens. God is undoubtedly using that experience to teach us something or to strengthen our faith. He talked about Paul and Silas in Acts when they were thrown into prison, and how they immediately started singing hymns and praising the Lord. He talked about Noah going through a dry season of life after God asked him to build the ark. Noah had every right to doubt God: he'd never even seen rain, he lived 100s of miles from the nearest ocean, he didn't know how to build a ship, and it was 120 years between the time God called Noah to build the ark until the floods came. Yet Noah did not give up or get discouraged during that time - he continued to praise the Lord even when it didn't make sense.
We learned about waiting on the Lord and how God's delay never destroys His purpose. Trusting God is an act of worship. Patrick's sermon referenced people from scripture who waited on the Lord - Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, and even Jesus. Through scriptures we see that these people learned to trust in God and through their trials realized that His timing is perfect. We can certainly learn from these people who have gone before us. Everyday we have opportunities to learn to trust in God - faith is trusting in the unknown. Thank you, Patrick, for these reminders.
Pray for us and for safe travels as we leave in just over 2 hours. We look forward to seeing you all on Monday!
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