By MARK MAYNARD / AFA
MOYO, Uganda – Sunday was labeled our day of rest on the Amy For Africa Mission to Moyo.
And it was restful and praiseworthy!
We visited the church at Vumbula, which also houses the fourth Penne Paris Nursery School and were treated to a good ‘ol Ugandan church service. There was singing, dancing, preaching and downright worshiping.
The day we arrived in Moyo we went to the same church building and some of the pastors from the Moyo district expressed some concerns over the shoe distribution. The feeling that night was more tense than Sunday when everybody let their hair down and praised.
Our own Amy Compston was invited to speak briefly and she drew excited applause (of course). Amy is quite the rock star here with the Amy For Africa mission. She told the church how much AFA loves their children and will do anything for them. The congregation seemed to appreciate it with some “Yeeee! Yeee! Yeee!” coming out.
On the drive to Vumbula we rehearsed some music with our director, Rob VanHoose, who had his own version of “Some Kind of Wonderful” where we’re “talking about my Savior, He’s some kind of wonderful!” I’m not sure how much the congregation actually understood but they could see the joy on our faces that we were singing something good.
Rob and I went out to work children’s church after one of the woman came over and asked if any of our group would like to help. We told the children the story of Zacheus and David and Goliath. We also made up a game that brought squeals by the dozens. There were probably 100 children outside. We also sang “Jesus Loves Them” and then they sang to us.
Meanwhile, inside the church, Bro. Floyd Paris delivered the message and then there was more singing and dancing after the children returned. The morning took worship to a new level for each of us.
We took the women who are doing the household chores to church with us and they sang an African song that was a bigger hit than Rob and the Robettes. They had so much fun going with us and Joyce, who is the main housekeeper and instructor of the young women, showed us the bondo where she was born on the ride home.
The ladies returned refreshed and cooked us lunch and began preparing chicken and dumplings (for the second night in a row).
The hospitality at Floyd’s UCE compound cannot be beaten. We’ve had almost a full day of electricity but running water remains a problem. We took “showers” by throwing warmed up water over us from a basin. But you know what, nobody is complaining about it. There’s no air conditioning either. This is not the lap of luxury although the compound is one of the better facilities I’ve seen in this short visit.
After lunch we visited the Moyo market and it was about as expected but at least it’s something for these impoverished people. Then we took everybody to the crumbling soccer stadium and our spirits were uplifted again with the children playing at the field. They loved touching my legs (I was wearing shorts) to see if the white would rub off. This was the most mazungas (white men) they had ever seen together.
We took their pictures and showed them on our cameras. They giggled and laughed like it was the best thing ever.
Tomorrow we begin four consecutive days of shoe distributions and it’s going to be long, hot days. But it will also be days where we get blessed way more than those getting the shoes.