I Wonder...Ugandan Style

It is now day 5 of my mission trip to Jinja,Uganda and words won't come easily!  Took us 2 days + to get here and a series of unfortunate events that tested our patience greatly!  BUT GOD...in His infinite mercy rescued us out of every single situation!  Oh, Satan tried his dead level best to thwart the entire trip...to no avail!  So we actually arrived in Jinja on Saturday.  After unpacking and re-acclimating we spent the remainder of the day a bit quiet.  Yesterday we attended church, where I taught the story of Joseph and his brothers with a translator in Luganda.  The children loved it!  Then we went to a 2 hour worship service that was absolutely amazing...different dialects, skin color of vast contrast, socioeconomic backgrounds vastly different....yet all worshipping the one True God...and it was amazing!

That afternoon we went to a village dance by the women of the Masese slum and, again, the indescribable joy of that experience is indelibly etched in my mind.

Oh, the fun those women were having!  Afterwards they set their handmade beads out, beaded coin purses, all manner of jewelry...and we bought and bought and bought!  They were ecstatic to share their culture with us, their traditions with us, and their livelihood with us.  Likewise, we were blessed to be the recipients.

Then we went on a boat ride down the Nile River with Moses!  Yes, I said Moses and the Nile River!  We set out on Lake Victoria, heading toward the source of the Nile River, circled around a bit, seeing all manner of wildlife including monkeys before returning.

And then there's the children...the orphans and abandoned children...the women, mamas, abandoned women...and I wonder...

...what they pray about and what do they pray for?

I wonder...

...where these feet have trodden and where they will go in their lifetime?

I wonder...

...why precious angel Lacey Desire's momma gave her up and why she was brought to Amani Baby Cottage just this morning...I wonder what the circumstances were, to give up this beautiful gift from God?  Did the momma die?  Or did she just throw her away, like another one recently found in a latrine?

I wonder....

...what this lady worries about...or fears...or longs for...or dreams of?

I wonder...

...what the story is behind each of these precious faces?  Where will life lead them?  What have they already endured in their short lives?  Are they hungry?  Are they lonely?  Do they have a bed to sleep in...and shoes for their feet...I wonder...

I don't know, and I will always wonder...But I DO know the ONE who does know the answer to all those "I wonders" and He has a plan and a purpose for every single one of them...and I pray His redeeming love and salvation over each of these and so many more!