By MARK MAYNARD / AFA
MOYO, Uganda – Amy For Africa has become a household name in the Moyo district.
The word is out.
More than 6,000 showed up Saturday for the AFA/Samaritan’s Feet shoe distribution and at least two-thirds of those walked away with new shoes.
It may have well broken the one-day Samaritan’s Feet record of 4,000 but, to be honest, we’re not worried about it. What we did like were the thousands of opportunities we had to share Jesus Christ with children and adults. Again, it’s the message, not the shoes, that matters most.
Amy Compston, the face of AFA, spoke to the crowd and get into their hearts in a hurry. She talked about her life as a drunkard for 14 years. Amy is never fearful of sharing her testimony in the Ashland area or Uganda. Her past is not the person she is today. Amy has a heart for the people of Moyo and it certainly comes out in her. The people in the Dufile area opened their hearts to her and treated her like royalty.
Each day has been better than the previous one. Sunday will be a day of rest after three intense days passing out shoes and sharing Jesus. We will go to Vungbala for a church service in the morning and then visit the downtown Moyo district for some shopping and looking around. We need it to get recharged for four more days of shoe distributions next week.
Our day started with an incredible visit to the Moyo Babies Home, where a staff of 26, including eight nuns, take care of 58 children currently. The AFA team walked onto the grounds and immediately fell in love with these orphans. We hugged them, ran with them, blew bubbles at them and lifted them up into the air.
If you’re ever feeling depressed, come here. It’s kind of a long journey but worth the trip once you enter into this compound.
The AFA team was so impressed with how well-kept the babies were. These little ones wanted nothing but love and we had a lot to give them. I feared that Amy Compston was going to try to put a few of them in a duffle bag that she brought full of dresses, stuffed animals (made by the inmates at FCI) and candy. We made sure she didn’t put one in the bag to take home with her.
She wasn’t alone in wanting a baby. All of our women would have taken one home and probably the guys, too.
Dr. Maggie Lawentmann gave us a reality check on the ride to Dufile when she announced that she needed a “long call,” which is Ugandan for No. 2. When we made a pit stop in Panyanga, she came out, uh, relieved and with two thumbs up. Here’s an education: The word awze in Ma’di means “I pooped.”
We need Dr. Maggie healthy but she’s not enough kidding. You know you’re getting comfortable with people when everybody is talking about someone’s poop. This group has bonded well to say the least.
Dufile is on top of a hill and the dancers and singers met us at the bottom of it. Everywhere we’ve gone these 13 mazungas are treated like somebody special. An amazing journey isn’t even halfway over. It will be hard to say goodbye.