Hello from Asia! It’s hard to believe but we are in our fourth country now! After having sometime to reflect on the impactful time we had in Uganda, I would like to share what my experience was like with you.
In Gulu, Uganda, my team and I stayed on site at a nonprofit called Childvoice with 15 lovely refugee teenage girls. (Most of whom’s home country is Congo.) Childvoice serves girls whose life circumstances have also left them with a young child. They have a two year program where the girls and their babies live on site and are trained for potential careers including farming/selling produce, hairdressing, catering and tailoring. At the end of the program, the girls are given a small amount of funds to get started in their business and can choose a career path now that they have proper training and experience in each subject. My team of four was actually given the opportunity to participate in ministry to the girls how ever we wanted to! At the minimum each day we would join them for their morning and evening worship/devotional time at 7am and 7pm. For this, the girls along with their babies would gather under a pavilion to sing and dance to heartfelt worship songs accompanied by a shaker and drum. Their sincerity in worship was undeniable and beautiful to see. Either we gave an encouraging message to the group while the girls would practice translating into Acholi for their peers, or the girls would share a Bible message to their peers. They loved to practice preaching to each other and to learn about the Bible. I was awe struck and so inspired to see their beautiful faith! Many of them had gone through a lot of trauma. They were teenage girls who were not around their families, had their schooling disrupted for various reasons, and now had to care for a baby. It was easy to be moved by the observation that their responsibilities and challenges are extremely different compared to most teenage girls in America.
But, they know God and therefore they know Life and Love! They’re in a safe place at Childvoice. And they love each other and are given times in their schedules to act and live like teenage girls should be able to, which was awesome to see. One of my favorite times was when they played soccer. They’d be so encouraging to each other and would laugh so hard!
Another one of my favorite times was when we had a Christmas party with them on December 23rd, a day before we left. We brought snacks and gave them cards we had made and bracelets we had bought at a local shop. The girls seemed so impacted and grateful. They expressed how they saw us as sisters and how hard saying goodbye was. And it was so incredibly hard for us too!
So I pray and know that God will bless them. That he’ll give them the desires of their hearts, and bring inner healing and peace to them as they continue their belief in Christ. So feel free to keep the girls at Childvoice in Gulu, Uganda in your prayers too! That they heal from the traumatic things they’ve gone through, that they grow in Christ and experience His love and abundant blessings. That they truly know the love of the Father and stay protected spirit, soul and body as they journey through life.
Also.. that they learn to read so they can enjoy reading the Bible for themselves! As one of the sweet girls I became friends with said, “I love the Bible. I just need to know how to read.”
They are so important to God, and not a need of theirs or cry of theirs is overlooked by Him! So I hope you, reader, are encouraged by that thought as well. As you’re praying for the girls in Uganda, let that truth sink into your heart too! You are important to God.
(This is titled “so nice” because one of the dearest girls from our ministry in Uganda knew limited English, and would compliment us and respond to us often by saying “so nice!”) ❤️
Blessings!
Gina
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