Holy Spirit by Katie and Bryan Torwalt is a song that I used to play a lot as a worship leader at my church and one that I regularly listen to on the bumpy bus ride to Watoto church every morning. I just love it sooooo much!
Holy Spirit you are welcome here.
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere.
Your glory God is what our hearts long for
To be overcome
by your presence Lord.
On
Thursday, my team headed out to Ebenezer Christian High School to teach a
lesson on trust. We have heard a lot
about how incredible this high school is from our classmates that have already
taught there. Once we arrived, we were lead
on a narrow path between two brick buildings to a classroom filled with many
children in uniforms and tattered shoes.
This classroom is an extension off the other school buildings and is
made of iron sheets and wooden boards with a dirt floor. The students sat on wooden benches and there
was a single chalkboard with a podium at the front. No bright colored displays, no smartboards, no
power-points, no textbooks, and resources, just a sitting area for children to
listen to their teachers and write in their notebooks.
As we
entered, the students lead us in praise and worship songs. The Holy Spirit presence was so thick as we
sang along with these kids, clapping our hands along with the djembe drums. Words cannot describe how beautiful it sounded
and looked as the students sang to the top of their lungs with arms stretched
wide and eyes closed in that classroom.
After praise and worship, we split the students into two groups as two
of my team members preached on trust.
Below is a picture of my friend Emmanuel teaching the students at
Ebenezer. He did an incredible job!
As I have
mentioned before, our home is situated between other very nice fenced in
homes with a slum just down the street.
The contrast is very real between rich and poor. Every day, as we travel past the slum, the
children will smile, wave, run after the bus, hold our hands as we walk to the
grocery store, call our names by our gate, or lately jump out of the bushes to
surprise us. One time they even ran into
our yard after our bus entered the gate and screamed and did cartwheels until
our gatekeeper yelled at them. That
moment was priceless! It was as if their
life mission of infiltrating our home finally came true.
Some of my housemates have gone out to play with them in the
streets a few times. A few of us have decided
to make a consistent meeting time with the kids by having a mini Sunday school
with them once a week. This Sunday,
Jess, Natalie, Jack, Callie, and I walked out of our gate to find the little
munchkins. We saw a group of 5 kids about
100 meters down the road and Jack signaled for them to come over. Word spread like wildfire and soon we were
swarmed with 30 to 40 children varying in ages of 1 to 13. They taught us games… actually that is a lie,
they started to play games and we tried to figure them out as they went along
shouting and squealing in Luganda! We
taught the kids a song, and then got them to re-enact the story of Daniel in
the lion’s den. The Holy Spirit was ever
present as we sang, danced, and laughed with our neighbour friends. Many of the parents curiously came out to
watch as we played with the kids. One
mother even thanked us for teaching her kids even when in reality those kids
were teaching us. They taught us how to
be accepting and including of all, how to love your neighbour, and how to have
so much joy and fun with so little.
Those kids are incredible!! Before
we were escorted back to our home by this vivacious little mob, we joined hands
in a circle and prayed in the dimly lit evening.
Holy Spirit
you are welcome to play with adorable babies at Bulrushes Baby Home with me. Come flood the Suubi track meet when I
encourage the competitors while my skin is getting torched. Fill the atmosphere, as I play a donkey in a reenactment
of Jesus coming to Jerusalem by donkey in a Sunday school lesson about Palm Sunday. Your glory God is what my heart longs for to
be overcome by your presence Lord.
Peace and
love
Great pictures!
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