sunday best

Here's another story of the street boys that I didn't include on my previous post, but has been on my mind quite a bit recently.

The boys and their new shirts (Marvin's on the right!)

One day we handed out tshirts to the boys. While I admit it was a bit chaotic trying to find a shirt that fit specifically for each boy, the boys' faces and responses to receiving the shirts made the chaos fade. Handing out these shirts made my heart ache. I have a closet full of shirts (some of which I don't even wear) and there I was giving an 8 year-old boy his second or third shirt. Definitely a new perspective. These boys were thrilled about getting shirts. I remember some of the boys exclaiming, "I can wear it to church! And I can bring my new Bible too!"

Michelle putting a new shirt on 4 year-old Kasemu

The next day, we noticed that some of the boys didn't wear the shirts we had given them the day before. Our translator/house mom, Eva, asked them why they weren't wearing their new shirts, they told her that they were saving them so they would have something nice to wear to church. Their Sunday best is a clean tshirt. On other Sundays when they don't receive new shirts, they wear the shirt that is least dirty. My Sunday best? High heels, a nice sweater, straightened hair, and my big fat Bible. They go to church dirty with the same shoes that they wear on the streets. They are so thrilled about having a clean shirt to wear and being able to bring God's Word to church with them. I realized how I had taken even bringing my own Bible to church for granted. I say we all show up to church one day in tshirts and barefoot. God sees and loves what's on the inside anyway. I like their Sunday best better.

stuck on repeat

The street boys lined up for food

I knew I was going to fall in love with the street boys, I just didn't know how much. The second I stepped out of the van and was welcomed by huge smiles, beautiful faces, numerous voices, and little hands grabbing mine, my heart was gone. Moments that I will treasure and reflect on for the rest of my life occurred on this field with these boys. My every day walk with God was dramatically change by the things that I saw and the stories I heard. I had gone to Uganda with a heart for kids and a heart for orphans, but when I actually got there He absolutely broke my heart for them. Every single one of these boys has experienced and continues to live in conditions and circumstances that the majority of us can't even begin to imagine. These boys have been abandoned by their parents, orphaned because of the war or AIDs, or they left home because living on the streets was better than taking the beatings and abuse from their families.They haven't had the childhood that we have had. Yet, they taught me so much and they brought out some of the deepest joys and delights in my heart. While I spent time playing with them, teaching them about Jesus, and giving them what was probably their only meal for the day, I spent more time hugging them, holding their hands, carrying them on my back, letting them lay in my lap, and kissing their heads. God used me to be a vessel of His physical and emotional love to these boys who haven't experienced that kind of love. To see their faces when they would lie in my lap, look up at me, and smile made my heart melt. Three boys, Marvin, Dennis, and Vienay (ages 9, 11, and 8 respectively) latched onto me immediately and never left my side the entire two weeks. On day two, Marvin told me, "you're my mama," so he called me mama the rest of the time we were there. Every day we pulled up to the field, they would come running with big smiles on their faces and would help me out of the van. Every day that we left, those three boys would be the ones walking me back to the van, hugging me around my stomach, looking up at me, and saying, "I miss you already. See you tomorrow!" They made me papaer airplanes and wrote me notes. They wanted me to help them with math problems (the street program helps to educate them in basic stuff). Above all that, they were most content lying in my lap. They just wanted to be held and loved. I dreaded the day we had to leave because it hurt so much to leave them. I have more stories about them further down.

These boys are strong!

Part of what made these boys beautiful was their generosity. They didn't have much, if anything. For some of the boys, their only possessions were a tarp for them to sleep on and the little cardboard box that they carried their tarp in. Yet, what they did have, they would share. When we sat on the ground with them, they would spread their tarps on the ground and made sure I sat on it with them. When I gave them food, they wanted me to eat it with them. The necklaces and bracelets, which they made so they could sell them to have one meal deal, they shoved into my pockets, places around my neck, and fastened around my wrists without wanting anything in exchange for them. When I gave them a Bible, they wanted me to write in it. I have endless stories like these about their generosity. They are beautiful, broken, but so beautiful.

Reading the Bible with the boys

Giving them their Bibles was a precious day. When we announced that we were giving them Bibles that day, their faces lit up like it was their birthday, Christmas, and the 4th of July all combined into one. As I was giving them Bibles I realized that part of the reason they were so excited was because I was giving them something that they could call their own; they can finally say,"this is mine." It broke my heart to think that those Bibles might have been the possession they had. However, think about how cool that is too. Their only possession is God's Word! And it was incredible to see them absolutely treasure God's Word. I remember a small boy coming up to me with his small cardboard box that held his tarp, then he showed me his Bible and said,"look, I'm putting my Bible right here!" and he placed it very gently in his box next to his ragged tarp. It brought tears to me eyes. They boys wanted us to write their names and our names inside their Bibles, so we did. Then all they wanted to do was read their Bibles to us and have us read to them as well. When we left that day, they said that they were going to read their Bibles that night and tell us about it the next day.

Marvin, Vienay, and Dennis teaching me Lugandan

The following stories are about some of the things that completely flipped my world upside down. One day Marvin, Dennis, and Vienay pulled on my arms, sat me down, and told me,"we are going to teach you Lugandan and you are going to teach us English." So that's what we did the entire morning. The delight in my heart made me feel like my heart was going to explode out of my chest. They laughed so hard that I couldn't remember (nor pronounce) half the words they taught me. They laughed so hard when I taught them slang in English because it sounded so funny to them. That's when I felt the Spirit's soft gentle nudge: ah ha. THIS IS IT. I have been on the journey in pursuit of missions and have been praying and searching for three years for the way that I might serve God on the mission field. And teaching English, as I realized that day, was it. Teaching these kids English gives them hope for a job and a future. It's not the AP English I had endured in high school, it was teaching them to know enough English to be able to hold an intelligent conversation so they could have potential in the future. That was it.

Vienay and me

Another day, as I was playing futbol with the boys, I see a little guy trip and completely face-plant on the ground on the opposite side of the field. Little Vienay, who was standing right next to me, sprints across the entire field, picks up his buddy from off the ground, hugs him, and pats him on the head. Michelle and I just stood there in utter shock. I wish we all could show that kind of love and concern for others.


This last story shattered my heart to pieces. On the last day we were there, we had gotten food catered for the street boys, a feast if you will. I swear we could have fed half the city of Kampala. Around 300 boys showed up that day. They lined up in their lines, got their plate of food, and sat in the grass to eat. When Marvin finished eating he came over to me and lay in my lap and stayed there. An announcement was made that there was enough food for the boys to go and get seconds. As 300 or so boys rush forward to get more food, Marvin didn't move. I asked him,"Marvin, don't you want to go get more food?" He replied,"No, I just want to stay here with you." Marvin, a street boy, wanted to have LOVE more than FOOD. Tears rolled down my face as I hugged him. I also realized what an amazing picture it was of the value of my own relationship with my God. When I spend time with God, when I spend those moments lying in His lap, there is NOTHING more important than being there with Him. There is NOTHING else that I value more. Not friends, not sleep, not food, NOTHING. My satisfaction, my life, my contentment rests in God and in God alone.


Leaving that day was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my entire life. Marvin had gotten separated from me for a few minutes and he was scrambling around asking everyone,"where's my mama?!" He found me and hugged me around my stomach so tightly. He looked up at me with those big brown eyes and said,"I love you and I'm really going to miss you." Dennis and Vienay didn't leave my side and held on to me as tightly as Marvin. I was crying, they were crying, everybody was crying. Who was going to hug and hold and kiss my boys when we left? When was the next time they were going to feel loved? It broke my heart to leave. As we got in the van and drove away, all the boys chased our van down the road until they couldn't run anymore. I've missed them terribly since.

Marvin and me

The smiles of Marvin, Dennis, and Vienay, their faces, their voices, and the faces of the other boys have been stuck in my head. I constantly wonder where they are, what they're doing, and if they know how much I have missed them and how much I've prayed for them. These memories of them have been stuck on repeat in my head and each time they play, they tear at my heart. I love them, I miss them, and my heart aches to be there playing with them and holding them again, but I have to entrust them into my Father's hands.
 

Vienay and his new Bible

hug at least 3 people around you

This is what the pastor at Watoto Church said for the “meet and greet.” It wasn’t your ordinary “say hi to the person next to you” or “greet your neighbor.” Now that’s showing some brotherly affection. It doesn’t matter if you’re white or black, American or Ugandan; they showed the love towards each other that the body of Christ should. And did I ever mention that I love hugs? 

Inside Watoto Church

Watoto Church is where we went to church on Sunday and has several locations throughout Uganda. And get this, the founders of this church once lived in Virginia Beach! How crazy is that?! The Holy Spirit was MOVIN’ during the services with everyone swaying and clapping and singing. It was all in English too! There was no such thing as a personal bubble, we were all packed in there shoulder-to-shoulder like sardines. Being a part of these services, I couldn’t help but think that a church like this makes so many American churches look dead. Great worship, great teaching, great fellowship. The link to Watoto’s site is HERE. You’ll hear more about Watoto and what it’s doing for God’s kingdom later.

The first Sunday that we were at Watoto, the church was sending the children’s choir to the US for 6 months. They brought all the kids to the front and the whole church prayed for them to send them off. I never really realized before that other countries actually send missionaries to the US, it’s not just the US sending missionaries to other countries. The US needs Jesus just as much as the rest of the world. Anyway, we actually got to meet the children’s choir after the service. Right now, they are actually in Virginia. This is also the same children’s choir that sang in Chris Tomlin’s CD “Hello Love.” Cool huh?

So that was church. The next couple posts will be stories about the street boys and the boys in the home. As I mentioned before, every day that we were with the street boys, we gave them a small meal and we gave them one of the things we had collected and brought over with us. We had already given them Cliff bars, so here was what we gave them the other days:

Monday- Bibles

Tuesday-Toothbrushes and toothpaste

Wednesday- Silly bands

Thursday- Tshirts

Friday- Notes of encouragement

Monday- Flip flops

I probably won't go day by day because honestly I could write a novel. Stay tuned!