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Well….. Hey lol

So I’m back home!! I am SO sorry I have not updated you all sooner! I’m sure some of you were curious how the corona virus was affecting my time in Uganda! But first, let me tell you about my last couple weeks in Africa!!

The last time I posted something we were leaving Mubende!! Such a hard goodbye… I cried and cried the whole day! I will miss my family there every single day. There are so many people in Mubende who are wholeheartedly serving the Lord and giving their everything to spread the word of God and they inspire me all the time.

When we left Mubende, we went to Arua and we stayed at the YWAM base there!! It is BEAUTIFUL oh my!! I never wanted to leave! We were only there for a couple days until we went to the Rhino Refugee Camp in Arua, which is one of the largest in the world! Most of the people there are from South Sudan, Congo, or Uganda. Occasionally some from Rwanda and Burundi. While we were at Rhino, we stayed in tents along with the other 2 Ugandan teams. Let me tell you, fitting 5 girls in a 4 person tent with all of our bags, while it’s 100 degrees outside was very interesting. Our days were filled with worship, playing with the kids, going house to house preaching, LOTS of soccer and volleyball, and SO much Uno. I LOVED our time at Rhino. I was overwhelmed with the joy these people have even under their circumstances. Their stories were heartbreaking and hearing how much they still love the Lord WRECKED me! My Mom's saying during her cancer journey was “Faith Not Fear”, and these refugees in Uganda live by that to a level that most Americans will never understand.

When we left Arua, we went back to Mityana with the other Uganda teams and the Kenya team! We had a super chill week here...lots of Boda Boda rides for WiFi, Chapati and coffee! The necessities, you know. After our week here, we started DEBRIEFFFF!!!! Debrief in YWAM world is your last 3 days in your outreach location before you go back to your lecture phase location! And it’s basically the best 3 days ever. We stayed in a SUPER nice hotel with REAL beds, a REAL shower, a REAL toilet, ROOM SERVICE, and the best part is you just sleep and chill and process the last 3 months with the Lord and your team!!! We stayed right in the city of Kampala (the capital of Uganda so it’s pretty americanized) and our hotel happened to have the nicest mall right across the street from our hotel...THE BEST MOVE EVER.

While we were in the hotel we had WiFi all the time so we were just starting to hear about the Corona virus and all that was going on in Italy. Two days before we were supposed to leave we heard about the travel ban! We woke up at 4 AM to calls from parents and staff saying we needed to get out! Half of our team are non US citizens so we had to get out of Uganda quickly. YWAM handled the whole thing SO well. We packed up all of our stuff and headed for the airport. Once we got to the town the airport was in, we waited around for word from the YWAM staff in Kona, to see if we were leaving earlier or if we had any change in plans. We had about a day or so of confusion and stress and uncertainty. We had no plan and we weren’t sure when we were going to get a flight and leave! YWAM’s first concern was obviously the students in Europe, so they got them all out as soon as they could. Then next they had to figure out a plan for all of the internationals. The plan was for them to fly through Dubai and then to Kona, and then all of the US citizens were on our original flights back to Kona. Soooo eventually we left Uganda and flew to Belgium. AND AS SOON AS WE STEPPED OFF THE PLANE IN BRUSSELS, our phones started blowing up and we were notified that our debrief in Kona had gotten canceled. If we chose to fly back to Kona, we had 48 hours before we had to leave. Of course when I landed and heard about this, it was 2 am back home in GH and I called my Dad like 8 times! No answer. Then I tried Charlie a few times. No answer. Thennn I called Scout and he picked up PRAISE GOD! He was so sleepy and confused but eventually I got him to wake up my Dad and we made a plan. Instead of flying all the way to Kona for my bags and then having to leave immediately after, we thought it would be smartest to come home. My next flight out of Brussels was to New Jersey and then I was rerouted to Chicago and my Dad came and picked me up!!!

I can’t even begin to explain what a stressful and unexpected end of my DTS this was! As happy as I was to come home and see my family, I was heartbroken that I couldn’t have a proper end to this journey and see all of my friends. Saying goodbye to my team was the WORST THING EVER!! So much chaos and so many moving parts. I didn’t get to say bye to almost half of my team!! I had to leave my team in New Jersey and I was a crying, emotional, stressful MESS and I had to hop on a shuttle to the opposite part of the airport which was super fun because I had strangers staring at me as I cried my eyes out HAHAHA. It definitely was NOT funny at the time, but now it is.

When I landed in Chicago and saw my Dad and Scout waiting by the baggage claim, I felt the biggest sense of peace and relief. Being wrapped up in my Dad's arms after this rollercoaster was the best feeling ever… :)

SOOOO I’ve been home for a little over a month now and I’m getting settled back into life here! Of course all of this Corona stuff is making that a bit tricky… but we’re learning to just adapt and adjust to how life is going to be for this next little bit! I’m still learning how to prioritize my time with Jesus and keep that in my daily schedule, which is a lot harder at home I may add!! But He’s so worth it so it’s ok;)

Now that my whole DTS is over I have tried to process everything that I’ve learned, seen, heard, etc. I have learned SO much that I can’t even compare and rank what was the most impactful, but one of the biggest things that I’ve learned is how REAL God really is! That may sound funny but before my DTS I didn’t realize how big of a war we are in! I viewed the Bible as more of a history book! I can confidently say that my DTS showed me WHO Jesus really is. I know the man Jesus. I love to spend time with Him. I know what His voice sounds like, and I can see Him move in everyday life!

Another big thing that I learned in the last 6 months is about the father heart of God. Especially in Uganda, I saw how much He loves his children. I saw the Lord speak to these kids and tell them how much they are loved and it blew these children away. God knows exactly what each and every one of us needs and it was so cool to see these kids learn about their heavenly Father and how much they are loved by Him. I got to see this in my own life as well. To be totally honest, Uganda brought out a lot of insecurities in myself. I began to let the devil tell me lies about my worth based solely on my appearance. It was an all day every day battle in my mind. I have NEVER felt the devil attack in my own life as much as I did in Uganda. But God began to show me what HE thinks of me. God reminded me every day that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). He reminded me that I was made by GOD himself! He told me how beautiful I am, He told me how much he loves me and I was able to recognize that those lies I heard were from the devil and were not true!!!

UGH GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!

He continues to blow me away each and every day how good He is. He meets us where we're at, no matter where that is. ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS REACH OUT!!! I have never really felt the presence of God while reading scripture before I got home but a couple days ago when I was having some time with Jesus, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to read that day. I clearly heard revelation and so I began reading and I was so undone by John’s vision of Jesus. In verse 14 John begins describing Jesus. Read this really quickly.

“The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” (Revelation 1:14-16)

Reading this, I was just in awe of the beauty and power of Jesus. But the BEST part that totally wrecked me, was in the 17th verse. John says that when he saw this, he FELL AT HIS FEET AS THOUGH DEAD…. Did you get that? I mean how AMAZING and how BEAUTIFUL and how MARVELOUS does one have to be to make someone fall to their feet as though they are dead just by their appearance?? AND THE FIRST WORDS out of Jesus’ mouth are “do not be afraid.” I mean c'mon. I was undone by the humility that Jesus displays. The beauty, the kindness, the power, the gentleness and all sorts of other words that can’t accurately describe the character of Jesus Christ displayed in just this one moment.

I am so thankful for this quarantine. Sure, I’d love to go to Paisley Pig and Don Luis and see my friends. But when else do we have absolutely nothing scheduled? When is the next time you’re going to have no other option except to sit in your house? I AM SO THANKFUL THAT I CAN HAVE AS MUCH TIME WITH JESUS AS I WANT!!! And I hope that you are able to do the same!!! Like I said earlier, God meets us wherever we are. All we have to do is reach out and take that first step. He never disappoints. :)

I have SO many stories from Uganda, and Kona too, of how the Lord moved sooo if you’re bored and are interested in hearing/reading some super sick stories comment either on this website or my facebook to let me know! I would love to share and hopefully encourage you and fill you with some hope about what God is up to on the other side of the world!

All I can say is I am so thankful for these last 6 months. I want to give the BIGGEST virtual thank you possible to everyone who was praying for me, and everyone who supported me on this journey. You not only helped transform my walk with Jesus but were a part of the process of hundreds of people giving their lives to serving and loving Him. I will never be the same. Jesus is amazing.

Thanks for reading and keeping up with my life!!! I would love to keep posting on here and updating you with what God has been speaking to me, so you may be hearing from me again soon!

Again, THANK YOU!!!!!!

love u

-jam