Day 3 at Jireh: Courtney

Last night while debriefing on stories of the day and making a game plan for the days to come, we talked about how this trip is shaping into more than we could have hoped for. We came to find out that in general Americans tend to be success driven, wanting to see visible progress on these kinds of trips. I can absolutely be categorized as such a person. It is almost as if somewhere along the way a wall having a coat of paint or a building being completed (all of which are necessary and good things!) somehow take precedence over a child's heart and if we are attending to the aches they hold inside that can't be seen. Praise God that he put this specific purpose of our trip on Ciara's heart. Yes, we are answering questions as Melissa previously wrote and hopefully bringing a bit of healing and joy. . The truth is though, they are doing everybit of the same for us. We are being stretched and challenged. These questions are becoming a bit more complicated as the kids are opening up to us more and more and a level of trust is built.  We all see why it is important to be close at heart with God's word so that we have a solid basis to build our answers on.  Usually when America comes to antoher country and brings its ethnocentrism (anthropology jargon Ciara would appreciate, thank you TCU education :) we can quickly mess things up with our forceful cultural superiority. However, taking a typical Texas christian summer camp setting into Jireh with our smallgroups/familes, coucilor type roles, song time, and playing games and sports is just what is needed here. Attention and fun has seemed to do the trick to bring these 14 + age students from the outskirts of the school grounds to closely huddled around us to learn cords on a guitar (Riley) or pray tightly shoulder to shoulder.  Now I would like to spend some time describing to you what Jireh is like. I know if I were a reader I would like to know details to get the full picture. Plus, it is hard to understand the magnitude of what is going on here without knowing the beauty that we are surrounded by. This beauty can be both seen and felt. Frist with the tangible- I am sure this next part will be quite "flowery", but it is sort of hard to not be if I want to give an acurate description. Jireh has been built on top of a hill with a view over the countryside of Masaka that has "God made all of this and said it was good" written all over it. There is a building for primary school (3 years old up to 12 I believe) and secondary school (13-20), a small nurses quarters, small dormatories where the students sleep, the guest house where we eat lunch and keep our supplies, and a new teacher's building that is still under construction, but will soon house 11 teachers that Jireh is in desperate need of.  It is true that these buildings are in a condition you could find no where in the States, but we have forgotten their lack of perfection according to the eye because we find so much joy from the peeople who occupy them. I have to mention also that the climate of Uganda is best put as what Texans dream about escaping to on those hot summer days when we are melting. A cool 70 degrees almost always and if it is slightly warmer you can always count on a cool breeze. Hard to complain. Jireh is a safe place. It seems so much of this coutnry is full of evil like abuse and neglect, but Jireh is a safe haven. Those in charge here are people who love the Lord above all and have created a firm foundation for the way things operate here. They have so little, yet they manage everything strategically and wisely. As a former business student I admire it very much. Thank you gracious God for the gift of technology so that we can share our experiences with those we love half way around the world. Matthew 18:4- (verse on the shirts we made)  "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." PS- the pinapple and avocado alone are worth making the trip here :) Love, Courtney