Too much to say!

Hi everyone! Turns out that even the places that do have internet are really unreliable, so I might be able to update this once a week. It took 5 days total to get here. We have only done one real day of ministry so far. This is not like a normal mission trip where the days are jam-packed. Rather, we're living the life of real missionaries on the field. There are so many more problems here than I even realized, and the spiritual situation is more bleak than I had been told. The effects of the war are evident. The parents hardly tell or show their kids they love them, and we suspect it's because they want to remain detached from them in fear of their children dying. Many kids don't know what you're doing when you try to hug them. But they will grab your hand when you're walking and walk with you anywhere. It's adorable. We live in the middle of a village, which is great b/c we're making relationships with the people in the village rather than creating distance by staying in a hotel. Several of the kids have gotten saved already. There is a language barrier with the younger children because they don't start learning English until they're in about 4th grade. But the kids know we love them, and with kids there doesn't have to be much verbal communication. People here talk with their eyes and lift their eyebrows rather than saying yes. I've already started doing that. I never realized child sacrifice was such a problem up here. Most of the kids have sticks through their ears b/c that "defiles" them to where the witch doctors don't want them anymore. Virtually every child I have seen has a huge belly, either b/c of malnutrition or worms. It's so awesome to come alongside the Ugandan staff of ECM and support them in what they're doing. B/c of ECM these kids are loved, fed, and taught the Gospel, which would not happen regularly. Some things I've learned are that it's absurd to think the solution to Uganda lies within what we can do; the transformation of communities will only come through the Gospel. Also, if you can't share the Gospel in your own community, don't expect to do missions. The cultural differences make it even harder. So start now. Even when I speak the words I know in Acholi, they often can't understand the way I pronounce things, or make fun of me for the way I pronounce them. It's actually kind of fun. I wonder if you would live the way you do if you had suffering in your face. I dare say we would probably cut out our Starbucks. Or we would just turn our faces. You can even do that here. But certainly the suburbs are a dangerous place to be, away from the suffering. I'm still pondering this. I worry at the thought of coming home and how I will deal with the way of life of Americans (including me). No one has been healed yet but loving is the greater command. I love you guys. Please pray for the people here. We have not used our time like we could b/c of things we can't help. Please pray God gives us tons of opportunities that we don't even imagine. That His spirit would lead us on who to talk to and who to give to. That He would bring an understanding of the love of God to these people. That my heart would remain soft and not desensitized. I love you guys. Thank you.