In Colorado every day I am Alissa, but as soon as I land in Uganda I am Auntie Aleesa. Alissa makes a living from keeping hundreds of people organized. By contrast, Auntie Aleesa has to let go because Ugandan order looks different than American order. As mzungus (their word for us - foreigners), it feels quite unnatural.
Months ago Alissa started praying for Auntie Aleesa. Auntie Aleesa has led the VBS Bible story station each year with a Musana co-leader. My prayer this year was that I would be able to let go of control at the Bible story station and never teach a single story. One of the biggest principles at Musana is sustainability, and each year the VBS team has been able to hand over more of the responsibilities to the Musana staff. With that in mind, I prayed, “Lord, if you have to, make me sick so that I simply CANNOT teach or take things over and instead provide the opportunity for the staff to rise up and lead.”
I did not teach on Monday at VBS. Julius did a great job telling 800 children that Jesus gives us hope. On Tuesday, Esther told the children that Jesus gives us courage and had them in stitches with her telling of Peter walking on water. Once again I led songs and passed out Bible verse cards. But I wondered if I could even release that. I even joked to our team leader, Jodi, that we could go home tomorrow; we were no longer needed.
And then at lunch on Wednesday, a mere thirty minutes before we were scheduled to start VBS, my stomach started to grumble and I reached for a bucket. Horrendous timing, or a perfect answer to prayer? Be careful what you pray for. Instead of participating at VBS, I spent the next three hours in bed. More mzungus were pulled away from their posts as God provided a flood of opportunity for the Musana staff and Musana students to rise up and take leadership.
When the team trickled back into the guest house afterwards, I eagerly pried them for news of today’s VBS. Our other team leader, AJ, told me that at one point he peeked into the chapel, and there was not a single mzungu in there. This is what we have been working toward and praying for for five years: a 100% Musana VBS! God is so good!
Lest you think that everything has gone perfect on this trip, let me assure you that is definitely not the case. Turns out children are children everywhere and sometimes they just don’t listen. There have been other stations where leaders have not stepped up. There are snacks that have gone missing as hungry people took extras. The scissors for the craft station have also disappeared. The science room apparently required a LOT of cleaning after the experiments.
But those all fade to the background as this evening I sit here with a still-queasy stomach typing this story. One of the reasons I love coming back to Musana is the opportunity to see year after year how God keeps using this beautiful organization to create change here in Uganda.
Months ago Alissa started praying for Auntie Aleesa. Auntie Aleesa has led the VBS Bible story station each year with a Musana co-leader. My prayer this year was that I would be able to let go of control at the Bible story station and never teach a single story. One of the biggest principles at Musana is sustainability, and each year the VBS team has been able to hand over more of the responsibilities to the Musana staff. With that in mind, I prayed, “Lord, if you have to, make me sick so that I simply CANNOT teach or take things over and instead provide the opportunity for the staff to rise up and lead.”
I did not teach on Monday at VBS. Julius did a great job telling 800 children that Jesus gives us hope. On Tuesday, Esther told the children that Jesus gives us courage and had them in stitches with her telling of Peter walking on water. Once again I led songs and passed out Bible verse cards. But I wondered if I could even release that. I even joked to our team leader, Jodi, that we could go home tomorrow; we were no longer needed.
And then at lunch on Wednesday, a mere thirty minutes before we were scheduled to start VBS, my stomach started to grumble and I reached for a bucket. Horrendous timing, or a perfect answer to prayer? Be careful what you pray for. Instead of participating at VBS, I spent the next three hours in bed. More mzungus were pulled away from their posts as God provided a flood of opportunity for the Musana staff and Musana students to rise up and take leadership.
When the team trickled back into the guest house afterwards, I eagerly pried them for news of today’s VBS. Our other team leader, AJ, told me that at one point he peeked into the chapel, and there was not a single mzungu in there. This is what we have been working toward and praying for for five years: a 100% Musana VBS! God is so good!
Lest you think that everything has gone perfect on this trip, let me assure you that is definitely not the case. Turns out children are children everywhere and sometimes they just don’t listen. There have been other stations where leaders have not stepped up. There are snacks that have gone missing as hungry people took extras. The scissors for the craft station have also disappeared. The science room apparently required a LOT of cleaning after the experiments.
But those all fade to the background as this evening I sit here with a still-queasy stomach typing this story. One of the reasons I love coming back to Musana is the opportunity to see year after year how God keeps using this beautiful organization to create change here in Uganda.