VIEW DIRT DIFFERENTLY

WOW!! Let me tell you, these Ugandans get crazy for JESUS!! It is so Awesome! We just met with the ministry we are working with in Pader and they were getting us pumped for JESUS! We just watched the movie, "War Dance" about the people of Patongo (that's where we're going!) You should watch it too. Please be in prayer for our work there and pray the Spirit will give us guidance and favor with the people. We are going to fast during our dinner tomorrow the 26th to pray over our mission to Pader. This will be around your lunch time, and we ask you to fast with us! Check the prayer requests at the end of the blog! We really just want to pour blessing over our time there! The team is getting SUPER PUMPED for the trip there and are ready to be totally pushed out of our comfort zone!

While Pader is definitely on our hearts, we are so thankful for the work the LORD is doing in Nansana! We are so encouraged everyday as we grow in the LORD and as our team bond gets stronger and stronger! Everyone is doing fine and we are so blessed by the LORD'S guidance and protection! Here is a little encouragement for loved ones and friends. Ladies:

Ashley: Ashley has so much energy for the Lord and it's contagious! Her heart is so WILLING to serve and it's a blessing to all of us! Thanks to her energy and love, all of the kids just adore her and she loves on them with genuine affection.

Crystal: Crystal has such a beautiful spirit and she serves our team so much by constantly praying for each one of us in SECRET. Nobody is fully aware of how much she covers each one of us in prayer, and I am humbled and so thankful for that gift the Lord has given her and that she gives right back to us. Just this morning during our team devotion, she shared individual messages the Lord had given her for each of us and I know that she touched everyone's heart.

Merlyn: Merlyn is a truly anointed woman of God, and she is so consumed with PASSION for the Lord and for his glory! Her faith never fails to amaze me, and we always know we can count on her to speak truth into us and to inspire us more and more to finish the race!

Sara: Sara epitomizes COMPASSION. I took her with me to the hospital on Saturday and I could literally see her heart breaking for every disturbing scene we witnessed. Still, she trusts the Lord for strength, and he gave it to her to pray over and with so many people. As she prayed for one little girl, she got to watch her go from being in intense pain to being in no pain at all! Praise the Lord!

Let me tell you, these ladies love the LORD so much! They had "girl time" one night and it was so beautiful! All the fellas could hear them singing to the LORD and it was TOTALLY AWESOME! Beautiful voices and hearts....nothing greater than listening to some women totally worshiping and laying everything down to the LORD!

Fellas:

Ben: Ben, by definition, means "kid magnet." Let me tell you, this kids heart is incredible and i haven't seen a kid that doesn't love Ben. One morning i walked into the church in the slums and Ben had about 30 kids on him, it was so AWESOME! He is also filled with incredible faith! When in the hospital, Ben prayed over a child with a fever and the fever went away. What faith...PRAISE GOD!

Brian: Brian, aka "stinky teets," aka "mustache man," has done an incredible job and his willingness to serve is AWESOME! One of our goals as a team is to encourage the "Come Lets Dance" team. Brian went to the sewing shop ministry run through "Come Lets Dance" and totally encourage the only male worker there, Solomon. Brian has done such an awesome job encouraging him and giving him some male bonding time.

Grant: Grant, also translated in Lugandan "great" is such an encouragement to the team. This guy is so filled with wisdom, its ridiculous! His faithfulness is astounding and GOD is totally using grant for the glory of HIS MAME! Every guy on the team looks up to grant and learns so much from him each and every day. By the way Katie, he doesn't stop talking about you! :)

Scott: Scott is the CRAZIEST man i have ever met! He definitely keeps all of us on our toes! He is working so hard to learn the language and is so interactive with the Ugandans! They all love him so much and he has such a passion for the people! Scott is so in LOVE with the people in how they worship. He had the opportunity to say a little something at the worship service on Sunday. He was brought to tears at how the people worship and totally give everything to the LORD! It was AWESOME!!

These guys are all incredible! They're such strong men of God and they're always so thoughtful to look after us girls and keep us safe. It's so comforting for us to know that we can fully trust them! They also do an amazing job of setting a godly example for the men in the Ugandan community....they've been discipling them and they don't even know it!

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying for us! Know that your prayers are making a difference, for "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective!" Here are some of our more recent prayer requests:

1. Pray for even stronger UNITY among our team - we want the bonds of Christ to be so strong that absolutely NOTHING can get in the way of us completing the work the Lord has set before us!

2. Pray for GREATER THINGS!!! The Lord promises in John 14 that we will do even greater things and that anything we ask in the name of Jesus, he will do! We have already seen several healings take place at Mulago Hospital and we are excited to see the Lord display his glory even more!

3. Pray for every Ugandan the Lord has ordained for us to encounter. It has been such a blessing for me to see women who I met last year in the slums and hear them tell me how the Lord has redeemed their lives and answered all of our prayers from last summer! We know the Lord has his hand in every relationship that we build and we pray that each person would encounter our sweet Jesus!

4. Building off of that, pray that we would be intentional with every relationship we build, with every person we meet. We don't want to be viewed as "mzungus (white people) who just come and leave" like so many other people, but we want the Ugandans to see Jesus and to experience his love through us, so that even when we have to leave, the Lord remains in their hearts and they know that they are still being loved and prayed for.

5. Pray for ENERGY!!! We've been staying up late and waking up early, but the Lord is faithful! Pray that he would multiply the hours of sleep we get!

6. Pray for the people of Pader! Sometimes we think about the fact that we're leaving Saturday and we really have no idea what we're doing, but we do know that the Lord is sending us, that we are his vessels, and that he WILL accomplish his purpose there. These people in Pader WILL be witnesses to his glory and encounter the perfect love of Jesus!

We love you all so much and are so grateful for you! Thank you for being such awesome, faithful prayer warriors! Hopefully, we'll be able to update you again soon!

Peace and love from Kampala,

Zac and Kristin

P.S. The boys' room smells AWFUL.