SHOWING MERCY

BY SARAH LAST

Dear brothers and sisters,

I know many of y’all don’t know me, but I just wanted to share a bit about a trip I just took to Uganda. I was able to go on this trip in part thanks to the financial support from my Mars Hill family, so I want to thank you and encourage you by sharing my experience.

I originally started planning this trip two years ago, but I was delayed going two different times. I was set to go to Uganda, with the ministry Show Mercy International, for their 9-week internship in the summer of 2020. Well, obviously Covid happened, which needless to say, stopped lots of things, including my plans. My dad and I tried to go again in December 2020 but were unfortunately stopped from going that time due to Dad contracting Covid. He tested positive less than 12 hours before we were supposed to leave to go to the airport. I was pretty upset about that, but here we are, a year later, and I was finally able to make the trip, although now it was only for two weeks instead of the original nine. This was definitely not what I planned for or how I would have chosen to write my story, but the Father is in control and His plans are much better than mine are. And as I like to tell my friends, He’s pretty smart.

I made this trip in December 2021, and Dad was unable to go with me. That was a little bit scary since it was my first trek across the Atlantic Ocean, and I was alone. But, as Dad says, I’m an adult now, so I chose to do it even though I was a tad nervous. I left Mom and Dad’s house at 4:40am on December 9th, and arrived at the base in Uganda at 2:00am Ugandan time (which is nine hours ahead of Central time) on December 11th. That was a very long trip, but, praise the Father, it went as smoothly as I could have asked for! All of my flights went as planned, none of my luggage got lost, and I was picked up from the airport in Uganda by some very friendly and welcoming people.

I was there for about 10 days, returning home on the 22nd of December. While I was there, I had the privilege of assisting in multiple different ministries. I’m graduating from nursing school in May, so I asked to be able to spend time in the medical outreaches, since medicine is my career field. They were super accommodating and allowed me to help with home visits for chronically ill elderly patients, postnatal home visits, baby immunizations, and work in the clinic. There were three other college students from the United States who were there most of the time I was there, but I participated in many of the medical outreaches with just Ugandan staff.

With the chronic patients, we were mostly following up with them and refilling medicines they needed and encouraging them. For the postnatal visits, I got to work with the babies, the oldest of which was two months. And I got to spend time with two different doctors in the clinic seeing patients, all the way from little kids to terminal patients. The staff asked me what I thought of the work we did in the clinic, and I truthfully said that it was cool, but very different than in the U.S. One of the doctors told me, “Sarah, it’s different here. You just have to improvise.”

The medical work they do is so cool as they not only meet physical needs for these people, who don’t have very much money and can’t afford to go other places to get help, but also they share about Jesus with those they serve. The community we were in had many Muslims, and I asked one of the staff members if the Muslims were okay with us talking about Jesus to them. She said that as they build relationships with the people in the community, they are more open to hearing about Him. Obviously it takes discernment, but it was so cool to see and to learn from them. They asked me multiple times if I wanted to share the gospel with families we went to see, sometimes just asking if I wanted to share some encouragement with them. I’m a naturally shy person around people I don’t know, plus I worry too much about saying something “stupid” so that was hard for me. I find it much easier to talk to and share with a group of children than with a group of adults. I verbalized these fears with one of the Ugandan staffers named Rachel, and she told me closer to the end of the trip that even though I don’t think I can talk to “big” people, I can–I just need to let myself do it. They were so kind and patient and encouraging to me, and it convicted me to get outside of myself and my fear of talking to people and looking silly and to just let the Spirit speak through me.

It was just so cool to be able to spend time with the medical personnel and see what their life looks like working there and to be included in the patient care while also being encouraged to be listening and attuned to the Spirit. I feel so blessed to have gotten to spend that time with the medical staff who didn’t just focus on the present physical needs but also on the spiritual needs of the people we took care of.

I also spent a large portion of time doing children’s outreaches including feeding center days, kids fun days, and Christmas parties. Africans apparently dance a LOT, so every single time we were with the kiddos, we danced with them. That was a good cardio workout! The kids were so sweet and so enamored with the white people or the “mzungu” as they call us. As we would drive down the road, groups of kids would gather and wave at us and shout “Bye mzungu, bye mzungu!”

“All we can do is be faithful to the Father, do what He is asking us to do, and then leave the rest up to Him.”

When we would get to the sites for the time we would spend with the kids, they would rush over to us and all want to give us hugs and be with us. At the feeding center days, we got to spend time teaching the children a bible story, do some dancing, maybe some games, and then we would feed them. At the Christmas parties, we just got to be with the kiddos and have fun. We had cake and presents and food for them, and just played and danced with them and let them be kids and have a good time.

I loved the culture there, as the people were genuinely welcoming and hospitable. While I was there, I tried grasshoppers, sugar cane, passion fruit, an array of their cultural foods, and even slaughtered a chicken (that was definitely an experience!). I was constantly asking to try new things, asking questions, trying to learn words in Lugandan (the major language spoken in the part of Uganda we were in; they said they have over 50 languages in just that one, small country!), and much preferred riding the boda-boda (a motorcycle) than riding in the van. I even got to take part in a borehole (a hand water pump) commissioning.

The Lord showed me a lot of things while I was there. Like I said before, He convicted me of getting out of caring so much about what other people think about me and just listening to and obeying Him. He showed me again that other cultures are so, so cool, and they can reflect Him in other ways than our own culture does. He showed me that HE is powerful and the One who convicts hearts and changes people’s lives. For instance, during a home visit, a neighbor was under the influence of alcohol and was really attention seeking, but when we got to the prayer time, he asked us to pray for him because he wanted to change. We can pray for him, but the Lord is really the only One who can truly change his heart for good and turn him to Him.

That’s honestly a really comforting thought because WE are not responsible for people’s salvation; all we can do is be faithful to the Father, do what He is asking us to do, and then leave the rest up to Him. Also, as I said, we were in a largely Muslim community. There is no amount of reasoning that I can do with someone who isn’t a follower of Christ to convince them to be (and truly I shouldn’t be trying to convince them). I just need to love them and share with them, but leave the rest up to the Spirit, the One who has that power. Also, it gave me a glimpse of what a really good community of people working for the Father and His purposes can look like in the context of a third world country, even working cross-culturally, as all of the staff there are Ugandan and we’re just coming alongside them.

Please pray for the people of Show Mercy and the people of Uganda. Please also continue to pray for me, for clarity and direction, as I am graduating in May and will be making some major decisions. I wish that I could share more of my trip with you all, so if you have any questions or want to hear any more details about it, I would LOVE to chat with you about it!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

FROM OUR MARS HILL FAMILY

This issue’s recommendations come from Sophie Miller who serves on staff for the Mobile campus. Sophie is a covenant member of Mars Hill Church, wife to Drew, and new mom to Susannah Jane. Check out these recommended resources from Sophie!

Podcast: Gospel Parenting During The Little Years with Jen Wilkin and Melissa Kruger (TGC Podcast, December 2, 2021)

“Drew and I listened to this one on the way home from Kentucky recently and it was so encouraging and practical and full of gospel goodness that helped us thoughtfully prepare for the arrival of our new baby.”

Book: God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World by Andrew Wilson

“This book was so good. Short, concise chapters that help fuel our awareness of and worship for things from the Old and New Testament that we might overlook in everyday life (and how those things are understood through Scripture). Really well done. Recommend reading this before or after Joe Rigney’s The Things of Earth: Treasuring Christ by Enjoying His Gifts.”

BIBLICAL TEACHING. GOSPEL COMMUNITY. INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP.