Dancing and JOY!

We had a very fun Sunday that started out at Pastor Andrew's church that HEAL Ministries works with.  The Harpeth Hall team worked with the children during Sunday School teaching them about Noah's Ark.  The team members acted out the animals with the children that would have gone on the ark.  What was so amazing to the team was the children's behaviour.  First of all, there are usually about 50 children in a confined area sitting quietly.  The children are so eager to learn and obedient that it usually surprises our teams.  Why?  Because we are not used to seeing children so eager to learn, so ready to please.  Here, education is a luxury and desired by all.  Every team member was hugged and loved on by the children that walked to church from the Masese area.  During worship, every team member had a child on their laps or a child sitting next to them holding their hands.  The church welcomed them and asked them to go up front to greet everyone.  Relationships here are very important and this team has developed many friends.

After church, the team got to experience a village dance in Masese.  One of the mama's from Amani Baby Cottage took us to her home.  They got to experience another home and see how the mama's live.  She was so proud of her home and wanted every member to go inside.  It was an honor to Mama Santa and an honor to each of us to be invited.

Then, the team experienced the village dance which was so amazing and fun and full of laughter.  The best part, the girls all joined in with the locals to learn the dance of this culture.  What was so amazing about this to me:  Nobody said no and acted like it was an embarrassing task, instead they joined in and made the local women feel loved by joining.  It blessed my heart to see women that I have become friends with here in Uganda joining forces with the young ladies here from America and crossing all language barriers through dance.  The ladies dancing and laughing together could not carry on a conversation together but through dance and laughter they were speaking a language of love.  What a blessing to witness!

After the village dance, the team got to experience a boat ride on the Nile River with a tour guide named Moses.  That in itself is a story to be told!  Moses rode the team around Lake Victoria to see all the native birds and then we got out to see the source of the Nile - where the Nile starts at the ZERO mark and the springs are underneath where the Nile starts.  The Nile is the longest river in the world and runs north.

We all discussed God's beauty from the day and everyone loved the church, the dance and the river ride.  We could see God through the people.  We could see God through the dance and laughter and we could see God through the beautiful scenery.  While God is everywhere with us at all times, it sure seems a little clearer here in Uganda.