Welcome to Uganda: Day 1

Hello Everyone!

Greetings from Lugazi, Uganda! 

Well, it only took one day for Uganda to steal our hearts. After a 26 hour trip, and making friends along the way (shout out to TREY), Corinna almost losing her wallet, Missy rapping for people at the Ethiopian airport, Beth cracked out on Ambien, and Chloe almost fainting in line at customs because of the heat; we have arrived safe and sound in the beautiful town of Lugazi. We were greeted at the airport by our new papa Pastor Hudson and two missionaries that are staying here for the summer, Heather and Mark,  whom we have also fallen deeply in love with! Hudson automatically shared his hospitality and treated us to lunch in the capitol of Uganda, Kampala (where we ate, American food). From there, we had about an hour drive to our new home in Lugazi. What we saw on the way certainly changed our perspective on the way we live at home. The clay colored, uneven roads, were full of ditches and bota botas (Ugandan motorcycles). There was constantly someone at our window shouting Muzungu (white person), or someone trying to sell us something. When we arrived at Hudson's home, we were then greeted with a warm welcome from Mercy, Hudson's wife, his two boys, and the women that work in the house. By that time, our jetlag set in, and we crawled into our mosquito netted beds and crashed. 

Now for our first real day in Uganda. Our first job was to visit God's House of Miracles, the school that Hudson and Mercy started. This is a day, none of us will ever forget. As we walked up to the school, the 200 children that were playing outside, instantly spotted the Muzungu (us), and stared for about five seconds before they broke out in loud cheers. They then RAN towards us, screaming and laughing with an overwhelming joy that we were there. As, we were each being tugged on and hugged by 30 children each, we looked over at each other in tears. We were then dragged (literally) into the classrooms and were thrown into teaching grades K-5 in every subject imaginable. Corinna, somehow ended up teaching Math to 4th graders, Beth was with the babies, Missy was with the five year olds teaching music, and Chloe was with the 8 year olds teaching Religious Studies and English. When we all got back to the house for lunch, we were in awe of how much love we received. At this point we were exhausted from the day, and sat at home with Hudsons children, Trinity (5) and Redeemer (2), who LOVE our attention and our cameras. They call Corinna "Inna", Missy "Massy", Chloe "Crowey", and best of all they call Beth, "BUTT." They wore us out, so, we went up to our room and had some quiet team time. We then headed to our first church meeting. Beth, volunteered to share her testimony, and TORE IT UP at the pulpet. The Lord truly gave her the words to speak, and she reached so many hearts, including her teammates. We all left with inspired and warmed hearts, in awe of this place, and the people we met. Hudson then took us to get special treats, a Pineapple drink called Nuvida, that honestly tastes better than American pineapple, but to our surprise there was absolutely no pineapple in it. We ended the day with dinner with the entire family, and a prayer. Tomorrow, we plan to wake up and teach PE at school, then we will adventure out to the source of the Nile, Jinja, and Thursday we will go to a hospital.

We are currently sitting out on our (balcony?), having killed a huge beetle that almost killed Corinna, and being attacked by Mosquitos and Gnats; writing to you, our family and friends. We look forward to updating you soon! Love you all dearly!

-Chloe, Corinna, Beth, Missy <3

"Be courageous, let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord's will be done." -2 Samuel 10:12

Children of God's House of Miracles

Team Team + Redeemer

 Beth JOY Missy Smooch

Beth and Joy