Isaiah 55 : Uganda

For many things in my life, I have had to wait on the Lord and learn patience in all circumstances. It seems that lately I am telling the Lord to "wait for me!" How amazing My Love is and how quickly He works.

This is the story of how God called me Uganda:
There are so many details to this story, so let me just summarize....

Last year, the Lord clearly revealed to me His calling on my life: God made it known to me His plans to use me in ministry and missions. In January I got in contact with a missionary friend in Tanzania and through many detailed events, I felt called to be an intern for the orphanage that he works at. Long story short, I found out a few weeks ago that I was not going to be the intern at this orphanage. To be honest, I was pretty bummed out. It was hard to not question my ability to sense the Spirit's movement and wondered if I was just wrong about where God was leading me. After crying and really just trying to seek the Lord in all of this, I met with my amazing sister in Christ, Ginny. What an encouragement she was/is to me! She encouraged me to trust the Lord and the Lord faithfully reminded me of Isaiah 55--a passage of scripture that the He first revealed to me in Kenya. Since January, He has used this passage to grow and stretch me. I refocused myself and--once again--surrendered my plans and thoughts to Christ.

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.'" -Isaiah 55:8-11

I wondered what God was wanting for me this summer. Should I do a rush application to go back to Romania and see Christina again? Should I look into being a camp counselor? Should I try to find another organization in Africa and try to pair up with them? Or should I just stay in Camarillo and work? The Sunday after I found out about TZ, I went to church at CCC. Of course, the message was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. Pastor Ralph preached about how God knows the details of our lives and He always has a plan for us. (Thank you Lord for this!) That night, I went to my college group, Impact. That night was my friend Marianne's going away party. The Lord totally anointed her testimony as she was explaining how God was calling her to move to Texas. Every single thing she said and every single scripture she referenced/reflected on was, again, exactly what I needed to hear.

I went up to Marianne and explained to her how encouraged I was by what she said. She then told me that the entire time she was preparing her sermon notes, the Lord kept putting me on her mind. Curious, I updated her on how God had closed the door for me to serve at the orphanage in TZ. Her mouth dropped open and screamed (well, for Marianne, 'screaming' is her normal voice) "Are you kidding me?" Umm, no.
She informed me that literally 30 minutes before Impact, she and her friends were praying for this girl named Nicole. Nicole is going to to Uganda to work at an orphanage called Sanyu Babies Home in Kampala. She had already applied, been accepted, and was planning on going to UG, but her parents told her that she could not go unless someone went with her. The girls had been praying that God would call someone to rise up and go to UG with her. Marianne told me that the entire time they were praying, she felt the Lord putting me on her heart.

As Marianne was telling me all these things about going to UG, I had major Holy Spirit goosebumps, started shaking a little, and of course started crying. Long story short, I got in contact with Nicole that night, emailed Sanyu Babies Homes the next day, heard back from them 4 days later, sent in my application, and found out a few days after that that I would be going. Whoa. Talk about moving fast, Lord!

So that's the story of Uganda. I will come around to writing the second part of the story (Tanzania) soon, but I am just utterly blown away by the Holy Spirit's moving. Everything just happened. Just like that! (insert snapping fingers) God is GOOD! I am so excited to serve in Uganda with Nicole. If ever there were a person that I would want to serve alongside on a missions trip (besides my future husband), she is probably that person. Pray for us as we embark on getting peed on, having diapers explode on us, and getting thrown up on....

Seriously though, how often do we do that to the Father? We get sick on Him, and yet He cleans us up, scoops us into His arms of Love, and sings us to restful sleep. What an amazing Lord we serve. I pray that I will be a reflection of Him to these precious children.

Lord use my arms to hold Your little ones, use my voice to sing Your calming melodies, and use my heart to pour out Your rich love, grace, and compassion.