While in Africa

While here I felt like there were some certain cultural things that I needed to do before I left. Here are those things and my experiences doing them.

1) eat Posho and beans (the typical low income dinner of Ugandans)
2) ride a Boda (motorcycle) to market
3) get a pair of tire flip flops that all the locals wear and literally walk a mile in their shoes
4) dig in a garden and plant something
5) go to a Ugandan church

Ok #1 let's begin with the food. Now in America low income people will eat spam and ramen noodles; here they eat Posho and beans. Posho is basically taking straight maze flower adding water and eating it. We asked our cook to make some and it literally tasted like stale glue, but here it is what they eat every day for dinner. The beans make it a little better but still I can't even imagine living on just that and without my mama's spaghetti. It is so eye opening to see how much good food we have in America and how blessed we are.

#2 was riding a Boda to market. A Boda is basically a motorcycle taxi that will take you wherever you want. I was too scared to ride one by myself for fear of getting lost in town or something so when our cook and housekeeper, Anette, went I asked if I could tag along. She let me and we rode the Boda together, 3 people, 1 long seat, interesting ride. I got very close to the driver because Anette put me in the middle, overall it wasn't too scary and I'm glad I got the experience below is a picture of me on the Boda when we got home. I had fun but I will not be doing that again!

#3 was to get a pair of flip flops made out of old tires, like all the local kids, and literally walk a mile in their shoes. Let me just say that in America I have fairly tough feet and run around barefooted all the time. Here I fail. Just walking to school and back my feet were bleeding and had multiple blisters. I'm hoping that I just need to break the shoes in so I'm gonna try to wear them more (with bandaids). I also have a new respect for how tough these kids are walking around with these tire shoes or no shoes at all. We Americans are so weak here!

The 4th thing on my Uganda Bucket List was to dig in a garden and plant something in it. When I saw all the people here working in their gardens the first Saturday we were there I decided that I wanted to help! The first Saturday that I had a friend to work with we spent the morning starting up a garden! They all laughed because I worked slow but hard. All the kids were so excited to see a mzungu doing the same work that they do! The first Saturday we took an area where there was tall grass (taller then me), trees, shrubs and lots of other fun plants and she said "here is where the garden will be. I thought she had to be kidding but then she took her hoe and showed me how to dig up trees and slash grass to clear the area. We got the younger kids picking up what we had knocked down and moving rocks, it was actually pretty fun! The next Saturday I went and she said "that is no good, too many rocks and animals already there, we start over." I thought that was great all that work to not even use the area! Oh well it's the fellowship that we had that really mattered! So we dug a new garden and it went a lot faster because it had previously been a garden anyway. It took us about half the time then we were ready to "plant" she just took some beans and threw them around and said "good." I was somewhat confused because our gardens are in lines and organized, then she explained to me that when she bought maze seed then we would plant it in rows and the maze and beans would intertwine, everywhere there wasn't maze there would be beans, pretty smart I suppose! Tomorrow morning we will be planting maze in rows and making the garden look like a real garden! I am super excited!

The last thing on my list was to go to a typical Ugandan church. Most of the Christian population here is catholic so we had a somewhat hard time finding a church that wasn't. Well we found one and I love it! Gulu Bible Community Church is amazing! They are a lot more high tech then any other places here, with microphones, speakers, a keyboard, and a drum set, but that isn't why I like it so much. It is so cool seeing people from all around the world worship the same God with the same passion but in a completely different language! GBCC has 3 morning services; 1 in English, 1 in English and Luo, and 1 in Swahili. We went to the English and Luo service and it was so cool worshiping in both languages at the same time. I have loved going to GBCC and tonight will be going to a Praise and Worship Service, I'm so excited! God is so big here in Gulu!

I think as Americans we have a tendency to see God as an American God, I know I always think that God speaks English and that He focus' on us so much that it is totally normal for us to claim Him . It has been so cool to see that God is working just as much here, across the world, as he is in America. What a hard concept to grasp, the God who wakes my mama and sisters up in Alabama also makes sure that Pamela Peace and her siblings have enough food to survive. Our God is so big and so great that it is impossible to understand! How can the God that cares about me so much also keep this whole big world of ours turning? Mind= blown! It has been such a blessing being here and how God has given us the opportunity to plant seeds in this community, I have loved it here and have definitely been changed for the better!

I miss my mama and can not wait to get home. Tomorrow (Saturday) is the June teams last day in Gulu, we will be leaving for a safari early Sunday morning then staying at the safari overnight. We will drive the rest of the way to Kampala on Monday morning then work with the Street Boys Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. We fly out of Entebbe late Tuesday evening then fly to Brussels, then Frankfurt, then Atlanta! We will be back home Wednesday evening. Please pray for safe travels for us 5 girls who are going home: Me, Jerica Pealor, Emma Jaggers, Kasey Tucker, and Laurel Schweers.

Age does not matter

Coming into this internship I was a little apprehensive because all the other girls were in college and I had literally just graduated from high school.

Well God has proven to me that age is not an issue when it comes to sharing His Word. Yesterday when I was at school waiting for music class to start and the same man who had noticed my tattoo started up a conversation across the table with all the teachers there to listen. He said "when you leave I want you to leave your bible with me." Well I explained to him that my bible was a gift and that I was extremely attached to it but that if he really needed a bible then I could try to find him one, turns out he already had one and just wanted mine because of all the sticky notes and highlighted verses. Well in Uganda tattoos are pretty rare so all the other teachers wanted to see too. After they saw I quoted the verse then pulled out my bible to show them the passage (Jeremiah 29:11). They were super receptive and passed the bible around flipping to different tabs that I had already made for quick access and then they began to discuss the gospel.

Well some of the teachers were asking me things like "how do you become a born again Christian in America?" and "what do you think heaven will be like?" How was I supposed to know the answers to these questions, I'm not in seminary, I'm not even in college yet! Well God literally put the words in my mouth and I have no idea what I said the answers to the questions they had were but they seemed like the right answer.

God totally put the words that he needed into my mouth and let the Holy Spirit work through me. After the questions were answered I told them my testimony and they sat quietly and listened, then asked some simple questions that didn't add up because of cultural differences. They had a really hard time understanding forgiveness and understanding the legal system, I did my best to explain but it was a pretty hard thing to do.

I am so excited that I had the opportunity to share with these teachers and even more excited when they were all done with the conversation and asked how old I was. When I replied with 18 they were in awe, how could such a young woman have so much to say about her God? Well good question! I have no idea what all happened in the conversation but it was definitely not me and all the Lord! It was super exciting and I know that is why God sent me to work in the school!

After music class was over some students stayed behind and began singing some of the praise and worship songs that we sing at church here on Sunday's so I was able to share "musical scripture" with them and they were so excited to hear me sing to the Lord with them! It was so exciting and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to be there!

Please pray for the last week that the June interns have here in Gulu and pray for happiness and not too much sadness as we prepare to get home. All of the relationships made are seeds planted and pray that God sends some people to water those seeds now that they are starting to sprout!

Meet Pamela Peace

The house we are staying at in Gulu is within walking distance of a village. We went out into the village to start making friends and at first I struggled, everyone else was making friends and beginning to poor into them with the Word. Two weeks went by and I still haven't made any friends. Some of the girl decided to walk their friends to school and home after so I thought I would tag along. Well as soon as I did, Pamela found me.

At first she introduced herself to me as Juliet, then someone else told me her name was Penelope, then she finally told me that her name was Pamela Peace, which is the best name for her. After walking in silence for two days we finally began to talk.

She is 15 years old and both of her parents are dead. She has one brother named Jasper who is 16 and they both live with her aunt and her 4 children. Pamela helps care for Brenda (11) Prose (8) Fiona (4) and Juliet (1 1/2) . She works wherever she can on the weekends to raise money to pay her school fees. She also has her own garden in which she plans on planting beans and maze when she can afford the seed. She gets up early each morning to get herself and her siblings ready for school and then walks to school with me.

On the way to school we list out all the things that God has blessed us with. Her favorite answers are energy, legs to walk, hands to work, ears to listen, and eyes to see. She is so excited about everything the Lord has given her and her smile proves it!

On Saturdays we work in the garden then read the bible. Last Saturday we spent two hours working on math and English. She wants so much to succeed in school but struggles. Whenever she has extra time she studies, but extra time is rare to find.

She has taught me so much just by spending time with her. Her joy radiates through her smile and she is so excited just to be alive. We have had such a good time getting to know each other and she has shown me so much! In my last week here I am so excited to spend as much time with her as I can. Girls will be girls and here is a picture of the two of us laughing at something funny Fiona said.

Please continue to pray for her as she works for the money for next terms school fees and pray that her joy radiates through everyone that she sees here in Gulu, she has so much going for her and just needs someone to remind her of that!

Evangelism via tattoo

Well originally I got my tattoo as a reminder for me, when times got rough I could look down at my wrist and remember "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11. Well apparently God has some bigger plans for my tattoo.

Today I was in music class next to another teacher who was just sitting there listening to the music, he looks over and catches a glance of the "J" underneath my watch and bracelet, then he points to it and asks me to show him. He asked what it stood for and so I said, "it is a bible verse that reminds me that God has my life in control". He proceeds to pull out a notepad and copies down the "Jer. 29:11" and says "for me to look up when I get home" I replied with quoting the verse and pulling out my bible and showing him so he could write it down.

He asked "where I went to pray". The people here have a hard time grasping the concept of praying all the time anywhere you are, they don't understand that you do not have to be in a church to pray. Well my response was "oh I pray everywhere, all the time" he was somewhat confused and so I began to explain that you did not have be in a church building for God to hear your prayers. It was a somewhat short conversation but turns out we go to the same church here in
Gulu.

I love how God used a tattoo, that some people were not too happy about me getting, to start a conversation with a complete stranger in the middle of a music class! God is good all the time, and all the time God is good! I just thought I would share that quick story that made me smile!

Love,
Mattie

The universal language

"Music is the universal language" I have heard this many times and began to study and believe it with all my heart. Now that I am in Africa, where they speak a different language everywhere you go, a couple of things remain the same: Music is everywhere, and God speaks every language. One afternoon we were going to the local school to walk the kids home and as soon as we get there I hear the most beautiful voices that I have ever heard. Of coarse I start freaking out and want to figure out where this chorus of angels is coming from. I asked our friend and security guard Willie to go into the school with me and figure out what was going on.

When we walked in a teacher was there to greet us and when I explained to him that I was studying to be a music teacher in America he was more then eager to point me in the direction of the 'music room'. When I walked past about 200 little brown faces looked up at me with eyes filled with joy as they sang. The teacher came out to greet me and we discussed how I had heard the wonderful music from the street and just had to come check it out. He proceeded to invite me to come and observe his classes every afternoon and to help the students prepare for a music competition that is in 2 weeks, of coarse I said yes!

The next afternoon I went to the school and figured out that I had a whole lot to learn. They do not read the music staff (treble and bass cleft) that we do in America. The teacher said that that is taught in upper level college courses (which blows my mind). They read a type of music called solfa which I had never seen before, thankfully the first class I was sitting in on was explaining how to read and count the music. I was extremely nerdy and took lots on notes, then went home after and studied and I now understand how to read it!

It is so exciting to see God working in all parts of the world through something that I love so much! I am looking forward to working with the teacher and students in sharing Gods gift to us through our voices!

Please pray for the school and the teacher and the students that I will be working with, let them see past the color of my skin and into the music and love in my heart.

Thank you so much for reading!

Love,
Mattie

Hey I know you!

There is a team from Cornerstone Church in Auburn that is made up of 6 AHS Class of 2012 graduates and 2 adults that came to visit us! It was so cool to see familiar faces even though we are so far from home! I knew of a couple of people who were in the team but I did not have all the details until they were at our house! There were three students that I have grown up with since elementary school, the two adult leaders are family friends, and every other team member I have had in classes throughout Auburn City Schools. It was so wonderful to have that fellowship here and made home seem not so far away. The interns split into groups when the team got here to take them to different parts of the village next door. Rebecca and I took Michael Hutson and Caleb Heaton to the rock curry to help and let's just say we all got a slap of reality! We are so weak! Even Caleb, a football player, and Michael, a triathlon athlete, could not carry half as much as the Ugandan women could! Caleb said "my man card has been revoked" and it was so true! These women were carrying so much with the least bit of trouble and they would just laugh at us when we tried! But oh did we try! We worked alongside them and did our best, as they continued to laugh. We all have a new found respect for these people who work so hard for so little and do it with a smile on their faces, it is a humbling experience to say the least.

On the way to find some other people to work with we passed the bore hole where everyone gets water, they fill up these extremely large cans of water and carry them back to their huts on their heads without spilling or breaking a sweat. It is so funny how hard we Americans try to help but we end up spilling and just making a mess, no wonder they look at us as weak muzungus, that's exactly what we are!

We have tried really hard to break some of the stereotypes that are placed on white people and I think that we have by doing out best to work alongside them, trying to learn their language, and asking them to teach us. Missionaries can not come in and just think that all of their western ways are right and that the locals have no idea of what is going on, these people are extremely talented and do not need us to come in and do things for them, they need us to come in and fellowship with them, wether that is breaking rocks or just sitting and talking that is what the people really need.

As we were taking all of my friends around they realized how quickly relationships could be made and how easily it is to find something to do, these people are more then happy to teach us if we are willing to listen and learn.

It was so wonderful seeing all of my friends and it made the homesickness a little more bearable, also people commenting on my blogs and writing on my Facebook wall has helped so much. It is a great feeling knowing that people back home are still caring and praying for me.

Thank you so much for reading and thank you to the Cornerstone team for coming to visit and for bringing me much needed cold supplies, y'all are the best!

Love,
Mattie

Worshiping Beyond the Walls

At my home church, Auburn United Methodist Church, we have a contemporary worship service called Resonate. In Resonate we have a saying "worship beyond the walls". Well here in Gulu we have decided to take that literally.

Tonight we had a community worship service in the village close to the house. When we were all discussing our spiritual gifts in a devotional one night I said that God had given me the gift of music. Turns out he was about to use that gift no matter what. We decided that we wanted to have a community worship and music night and guess who was to lead worship? You guessed it, me. Now I have grown up in church choirs, praise bands, and doing solo performances but I had never lead worship all by myself. So obviously there were some scary thoughts that accompanied that task.

What will these people think of me?
What if I forget the words?
What if no one else knows the words?
What if my voice cracks?
Will they even understand me?

All of these questions were running through my head but what do they all have in common? ME ME ME. I hadn't put it into God's hands and let Him have control. It was His worship service, His village, His Gulu, and His world. Who am I to be freaking out about leading worship for Ugandan people who do not even speak my language? Well that was a slap in the face. The whole reason I am here is to expand God's kingdom, not to show off my musical skills (or lack there of). When I sent my mom an email venting about what I was scared of and what I was struggling with she sent back a very humbling response. Basically she was telling me that it was in Gods hands and it was all about Him, not me.

Well I did my best to prepare for this event by writing out a set list and writing out some of the lyrics so that if I did get stage fright and forget the words then I would be prepared. We as a group decided that I would do one or two songs before the message and one or two after, so I completely wrote out the lyrics to 4 songs so that I would for sure be ready. Well when we got there we obviously needed to do more songs because there were no adults even though we had invited them but the kids were there sitting quietly ready to get started. So what do we do? We sing as many songs that I can do from memory and repeat choruses as many times as possible to make everything last longer! Somehow even though the kids had no idea what I was singing they enjoyed clapping along and dancing to the music.

Originally the plan was for me to sing and play the drum but as I was practicing I realized that that was not going to happen so Willie (our security guard and friend at the compound) played the drum as I sang my heart out. We had a few awkward moments there where we did not know what to do next but overall it went very well. We figured out that of you sing "Jesus Loves Me" about 10 times in a row then the kids will learn the words and the sign language! God was definitely there as we were worshiping and even though only a few adults showed up (halfway through the message) the children loved every second of it. We sang Baby Jesus, All Because of Jesus, Jesus Loves Me, How Great Thou Art, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, Amazing Grace, Oh Happy Day, Lead Me to the Cross, and Father Abraham. With the mixture of the southern and African accents I bet we sounded pretty interesting but we were giving praises to the Lord.

I really hope that the kids learned more then how to play hop scotch this week at VBS and tonight at the community worship. But that is no longer in my hands. We presented the gospel in English and in Acholi when there was a translator present, we played and loved on these kids and we have made some awesome relationships.

Everyone else has been able to connect with people on a one on one basis but I have been fighting a cold and ear troubles so in the afternoons I would have to lie down instead of going to play. One of my friends in coming to visit us next week and is bringing me some much needed cold medicine, so after I am all better I am super excited to get out there and make some real relationships!

My home church found out about what I was doing and said a special prayer for us as we were having the community worship and I could really feel the prayers! As much as I was nervous I really enjoyed the experience and I can not wait to do it again. A big thank you to Brother Charles and Mama for getting everyone involved in the prayers and for believing in me.

Here are a few prayer requests:
- the Cornerstone Class of 2012 as they travel to Uganda and as they drive to come and see us, some of the members are Camp Hand, Kate Duke, Codarious Findley, Caleb Heaton and Will Lott, there are probably other members but these are the ones I know are coming.
- Jamie and the baby as they go through these last few weeks of pregnancy
- the OHS FCA team who will be traveling home this week: Kyle, Cokey, Stephanie, and Alana
- all the interns who are beginning to feel a little homesick at this point, here are all of us by name if you would like to pray for us:
Mattie, Elizabeth, Anna, Rebecca, Sara, Jerica, McCamy, Jerica, Emma, and Laurel
- everyone who is having tummy trouble (which is basically everyone)

Thank you so much for taking the imw to read!

Love,
Mattie

I'm learning

I am learning more from these Ugandan children then they will ever learn from me. It is hard and weird to think about but these kids do not need me. They are not the ones who are being blessed here! When God put this dream in my heart, in no way did I think it would be like this. I thought that I would come over, do some VBS share some love, give some hugs, maybe pass out some new clothes and some candy to kids who said they needed it. Boy was I wrong! We walk down the street to a village of hits who literally sleep in the dirt, kids take care of themselves (and their siblings) and still have time and energy to play and work hard. There is nothing that we can give these kids that will help them in life. God has given them everything that they will ever need. Being here and seeing the way that they live compared to the way that we as Americans live is soooo different. We think that to be happy and successful we need a big house with 2 cars and a well kept lawn. HA! Boy are we missing the target. We do not need any of that stuff to be happy. If we have each other then what else is there? God has given me a family that I love very much and he has given me a home. He has given me hands to work, feet to walk, a voice to sing, and a mouth to share His word, what more is there? I mean really, take a minute and think about everything that God has blessed you with. Look outside and look at the grass and the trees and your house and your car. All of that is great but do we really need it? The people here do not have all of that stuff, but are Perfectly fine. True poverty is when you have no hope. The people here have hope and they love life. The children play and work with the same smile on their faces, they are just happy to be alive. So what am I learning?
1) I am not all big and bad and special just because I gave up a month of my life to come over here and "help" these people, they are the ones helping me
2) God has a much bigger plan in store for us here in Gulu, it's just going to take time for us to figure it out.
3) Poverty is a state of mind, not a state of materialistic possessions.
4) I can't even think of all the times that I am learning, there are too many to count!
Please pray for the East Family and the interns, God has some big plans we just are not sure what that is yet, at least I am not!
Love, Mattie

One simple book

A friend of mine gave me a journal titled "Lord I Love To Praise Your Name Journal" for my 18th birthday this past December. I love the book because on every page it has a bible verse and a quote. Now when people wrote this book they had no idea of knowing what I would be doing when writing on a certain page. God has too much fun with things like this! While I have been on this trip I have had multiple times when what we were discussing and what the devotion was about was on the page! Example: we were discussing how to tell these children the Gospel with the language barrier and o coarse my book said: "But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these"" Luke 18:16. Wow, how did my book know that we would be struggling with this task and easily backed our problem up with scripture? Talk about a God Moment! Also we were discussing Poverty Alleviation and what the Bible tells us about what to to to help the poor, we were Debating an issue Anouilh wether or not to pass out candy to the children for fear of them coming for candy and not the Gospel . Then as I turned the page in my notebook the scripture said: "for you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:18-19. Again, just smacked in the face by the Gospel! I'm not exactly sure what God has planned here but he for sure is not planning on leaving us alone here in Gulu! One simple book has given me such confidence that I have never had, the confidence to go
Out into the community and proclaim boldly who Jesus is and that no matter what you have or do not have He is always with you! John chapter 9 talks about how we may not be healed here on this earth but when we get to heaven, everything will be great! Revelations 21:4 backs this up also! Wow, it is just so wonderful to see God working here in such a powerful way. I would like to say thank you to the friend who gave me the journal and even more thanks to God who is using it in such a wonderful way!
Love,
Mattie

A weekend in Gulu

Well, we are finally here! After 20 hours of plane rides, 10 hours of layovers and 6 hours of driving we finally made it!!! I am in love with Gulu!!! It brings such joy to my heart to see these kids, who live in so much less then we do in America be so happy! They see a Muzungu (white person) and they have one of two reactions: 1) they run in fear because they think we are ghosts 2) they run up to us and play and play and play! Even though there is a huge language barrier, (they all speak Acholi and only the educated speak a little English) they still seem to be so happy and just want to play. We live in a house that is right outside of a village made of 40-50 mud and clay huts with straw roofs, so we decided that that was the best place to start making friends. As we walked over there the people were super excited to see us, though some only wanted tangible items and very few wanted actual manual labor, which is what we are offering. The ones who could speak English were more then happy to act as translators for us and show us around. There are so many kids. One lady said that a normal family has 4-10 kids (more hands to work). These kids have worked more in the past month then I have in my entire life, they are happy to do it too! I do not think that "no" is in their vocabulary no matter what you ask, they do it, if they understand what you are asking. Tomorrow (Monday) starts our "Children's Program" AKA VBS in the village, we told all the kids where and when to meet so we are hoping for a pretty big turnout! Now a little about how I am doing (because I know anyone reading this will be worried). I am doing fine, I have not been able to sleep well at night but a lot of that may be because it is a new place, with new sounds, and I am sharing a room with someone I do not know very well yet. I tried taking Tylenol PM but it has done absolutely nothing so tonight I am taking some sleeping medicine that Jamie had, so that I will get a good nights rest for the first time in 5 nights. Some things we have planned for this week are:
Monday: VBS with the kids in the morning and play time in the afternoon
Tuesday: VBS with the kids in the morning and a visit to Baby Watoto to work with orphan or neglected babies
Wednesday: VBS with the kids in the morning and play time in the afternoon
Thursday: VBS with the kids in the morning and a possible visit to another ministry in Gulu
Friday: a whole day at an outreach place that councils and cares for the emotional and physical needs of women who were abused by Kony's men then teaches them to make crafts
and art to sell to make a living. While we are there we will be having a workshop with the women and learning how to make lots of fun things

This week is going to be a fun one but tere are a few prayer requests that we have:
- pray that we can communicate the gospel to the children even with the huge language barrier.
- that everyone gets over their jet lag and gets enough rest
- that Jamie pulls through these last few weeks of her pregnancy and that the baby does not come extremely early before they go to Kampala
- that everyone stays happy and healthy, including the boys!

Love,
Mattie

Wifi is up!

We are now in Gulu staying at the East's house and now the wifi is up so I will be able to blog more now! We are about to go to church so tonight I will blog more about the last two days!
Love,
Mattie