Through the eyes of a team member: David Cho
Joel Schmidgall
Aug 22, 2007 · 3:04 PMDear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18
From this day forward, I will never be able to read this particular verse the same way again. This charge from the apostle John was inscribed on a plaque that was located above the entrance to House 74 of Suubi Village, and seeing these words immediately before stepping foot into a beautiful, loving home for eight Ugandan orphans is just one of the many powerfully indelible images that have been forever etched into my brain. Presumably, the people of Watoto selected this verse as a reminder to the children of how we, as Christians, should live our lives: loving one another and following the example set for us by Christ. However, after everything that we have been blessed to experience over the past six days, these words seem to fully encapsulate not only the awe-inspiring events of this amazing day, but also the purpose of our entire time here in Uganda.
After two intense days of building and hard work, the final brick of our house was laid this morning around 11:00 AM local time. Through your prayers and, of course, the providence of God, we successfully completed the task that we had been called to do here in Uganda (and unofficially, according to the people of Watoto, we even managed to accomplish this feat in record time). Following a rousing game of soccer with a number of our fellow Ugandan workers, we were given the privilege to visit Suubi Village – another Watoto site that is currently home to over 800 children. We were served a delicious home-cooked Ugandan lunch and had the opportunity to spend a few hours with some of the most incredible children I have ever met. Finally, we were blessed once more by being given a couple of hours to visit a local youth summer camp and interact with hundreds of additional children from Suubi Village. On behalf of the entire missions team, I can honestly say that today was the perfect culmination of everything that we had been striving for, and amazingly enough, we still have another two days to go!
To all those who have been following and praying with us during our time in Uganda: I hope that each and every one of our experiences has strengthened and encouraged you. We are inexpressibly grateful for your support, and ask that you continue to pray for us until we arrive safely home.
Connie Jones
Aug 23, 2007 · 8:29 AM
Chesapeake, VA
As the mother of one of your co-workers, I cannot stress enough about how proud and thankful I am of all of you. I praise God, our Father that He laid it upon your hearts to “go and tell” just as well as Paul, Barnabas and Silas did (to name a few) all those years ago. As a proud Mom and a Sister in Christ, please accept my thanks for going and doing what I cannot. I am sure that the children in Uganda feel the same way. Take care and God Bless you all and bring you home safely.
Connie Jones (mom of Amy)