Today was an emotional day off… kind of. This morning we met Mary Ann who started
Children of Grace. You can tell she is a strong woman. Her story is pretty
amazing. She was having a good time in America living the dream with her
husband after her kids left home. God put it on her heart to get connected. She
said “God wouldn’t leave me alone.” She began sponsoring kids of her own until
one day she came to Uganda and saw this place for herself. She met Grace. Grace
told her she didn’t have much more time to live and that she feared for her
kids. On that day Mary Ann promised Grace that she would make sure her kids
got an education and were taken care of. Mary Ann started “Children of Grace”
in 2006. Grace had 2 boys. I met one of them today. Derek. Actually, he starts
another semester of school today. I got to interview him. He told us his story
and showed us how much Mary Ann has enabled him to do by paying for his
education. Him and his brother are the first ones to go to school from his family.
I almost lost it. I could barley keep it together. I guess because I come form
a similar situation of a WAY lesser degree I feel like maybe I can at least
begin to understand. I am a sucker for glory moments and when a kid has his
whole life altered because one woman cared enough to change it… my friends
that’s a glory moment.
After meeting with Mary Ann we went to the school where we
will be having camp, which is on top of Monkey Hill. Since tomorrow is the
first day of camp we began to start setting up. We also split in to our
families. There are 5 families labeled by color with 6 leaders and 18 kids in
each. I am in the yellow family. We all got together today and played team
building games. I have to say they were pretty fun. Lots of dancing here as
well. As the sun got low some of us went over to the water tower and looked at
the view. I took a couple short time lapses throughout the day. The clouds here
are fantastic. Some said it looks as if Pixar made them.
I had a bonding moment with a kid named Wilson today. He is
a camp assistant. Some of the kids come back to camp and help when they are
older. Anyways, I asked Wilson if he played football. We went outside to a
small patch of grass and set up 2 goals. We took off our shoes and played soccer
until the sun went down. I loved it. Wilson of course is super athletic but I
was able to keep up. I could feel my lungs wanting to explode as we battled.
Minutes went by and sun was nearly gone as I finally said… “Wilson, first one
to score a point wins.” We widened the goals and Wilson took his shirt off…
It’s getting serious. So I took my shirt off. I could here some Ugandan girls
laughing at us from far away. Wilson started with the ball and he began
taunting me. I was worked. Several minutes went by again and we had not yet
scored. It made me feel good to know that I could keep up with this 18-year-old
kid who has like a solid 10 pack. Wilson finally got me to mess up as he kicked
the ball around me. I jumped in the wrong direction and he passed right by me
and scored. My feet are now red from the dirt and my heart is pumping beyond
belief. What a good thing to end the day. I am so thankful to be here.
