Last Day of Secondary Students

Day 14

We began this Sunday with a church service with the students. Pastor Jamez would have been leading this service, however he came down with an illness and was unable to attend. We have come to love Pastor Jamez and missed him today.

The worship time was amazing as usual. Something about the way these kids worship is so uplifting, we have just been so blessed by them. God has given them the gift of worship. It is something I will never forget.

Many of the students had formed singing groups and shared their music with us. It was great just to listen and take in the harmonies and lyrics. Although we weren't able to follow all the words, it was more about the delivery that stirred our hearts. There is no mistaking the reverence and moving of the soul. Pastor Joseph provided some words of encouragement for the students. Some of us were also able to share encouragement with the students. Our NW Hills team then sang a song to them that we had learned from a man named Wellington, a former orphan who had come to our church in Corvallis from Brazil to share with us this past October.

After the service, many of the students had to catch the bus back to Karamoja, so we distributed the tie-dyed shirts, took photos, prayed for the students and soon they were gone. Dr Moses and I returned the mattresses the students used back to the Ugandan Widows organization whom they were rented from. On the way, we stopped at Pastor Jamez home to find him sitting outside recovering from the illness he had so quickly been hit with. This was not the same laughing and joking Jamez that we had all come to love. He was very ill, and had gone to the hospital for injections and medication that morning. He said he was beginning to feel better.

Upon our return to the retreat center we all loaded up and headed to a downtown Soroti restaurant for Sunday lunch. We were joined by much of the CLIDE staff. This is small place that served good local fare and we ate and enjoyed each others' company. The balance of this day was mainly relaxation, catching up on our journalling and blogging, and just hanging out. We were all exhausted and welcomed the chance to kick back a bit.

Blog by Bryan