Although we left Uganda roughly one month ago, that country is still very much on our minds and in our hearts.
After leaving Ukraine last year and then finding ourselves moving to Uganda for a season, I found myself working through a lot of different emotions. In one way, I was still grieving for Ukraine. In another way, I was so excited to be in Uganda - making new friends and serving the Lord in an awesome and exciting setting.
For me, I really feel like Uganda was the place that my heart finally started to heal, and the Lord really refined my understanding of my calling in life. God also showed me a lot about what it means to take up my cross and follow Him.
After my first three months in Uganda (January 2015), I found myself still really struggling with the loss of Donetsk. I remember being in my room and talking with Byron. Well, Byron was talking, I was crying. And he said something to me that I hadn't considered for some time... "Why don't you pray about joining the worship team here at church?"
Before we moved to Ukraine, I was serving on the worship team back at Calvary Aurora for a while. Worship is something that I've always been really passionate about, but once I moved to Ukraine, there was never an open door for me to join a worship team. Our first year in Ukraine, I couldn't overcome the language barrier. The second year, we were in Donetsk, so I did get to be part of worship, but it was just me - no team. And then, we found ourselves back in Colorado after fleeing Donetsk, and I had to leave my beloved guitar behind in Donetsk (that's a story in itself, but the Lord really taught me that a possession is just a possession, and I had to let go of the fact that my guitar was gone.).
So, right before we moved to Uganda, Byron suggested I look on Craig's List for a cheap used guitar so that I could start playing again. At this point, I had struggled so much with depression because of everything we'd been through, it had been a good 2-3 months since I had even considered singing, let alone playing a guitar. I have always been the type of person that sings in the shower, or sings while cooking, or even just walking around, so the fact that I hadn't sang at all, excluding during worship on Sundays at church (and sometimes I still didn't sing, I just stood there and cried) showed that I was really struggling.
Ok, back to Byron's question. At this point, I had started playing the guitar again and singing, and Byron saw that it was something that restored some of the joy I had lost during the grieving process. And with all of the stress we were dealing with in January, Byron felt like it might be good for me to have some type of service outlet. Of course, I was serving a lot at church, and at the farm, and the islands, etc., but Byron felt like if I joined the worship team at Calvary Entebbe, it might help me to continue in the healing process...
I started to pray about it, because I didn't want to join the worship team just for fun, but because God really called me to serve in that capacity. As I prayed, I felt the Lord confirm that He did want me to join the worship team. So, a few days later, I went to Jane (one of the worship leaders) at Calvary Entebbe and asked if I could join.
It was really cool to see how the Lord used the worship at Calvary Entebbe to really stir up a lot of things in my heart, bringing them to the surface so that I could continue working through them with God. And before long, I found myself doing some of the things I hadn't done in months - singing around the house, worshiping during my quiet time with the Lord, and even laughing - genuine laughs that I hadn't experienced in some time. I was also able to become close friends with many of the people on the worship team at Calvary Entebbe, which blessed me more than I can say.
There are many reasons why leaving Uganda was difficult - and if the Lord had called us to stay there, I would have stayed in a heartbeat. But I think, for me, leaving the worship team was one of the hardest aspects of leaving. However, I know I've built lifelong friendships with the people I was blessed to serve alongside of, and I know that somewhere, whether here or in heaven, I'll get to worship with all of them again.
So, to all of your on the worship team at Calvary Entebbe, thank you for letting me serve with you for those three months! You blessed me more than you can ever imagine, and the Lord really used you to work in my life! I miss you all so much!
Blessings,
Emily
After leaving Ukraine last year and then finding ourselves moving to Uganda for a season, I found myself working through a lot of different emotions. In one way, I was still grieving for Ukraine. In another way, I was so excited to be in Uganda - making new friends and serving the Lord in an awesome and exciting setting.
For me, I really feel like Uganda was the place that my heart finally started to heal, and the Lord really refined my understanding of my calling in life. God also showed me a lot about what it means to take up my cross and follow Him.
Before we moved to Ukraine, I was serving on the worship team back at Calvary Aurora for a while. Worship is something that I've always been really passionate about, but once I moved to Ukraine, there was never an open door for me to join a worship team. Our first year in Ukraine, I couldn't overcome the language barrier. The second year, we were in Donetsk, so I did get to be part of worship, but it was just me - no team. And then, we found ourselves back in Colorado after fleeing Donetsk, and I had to leave my beloved guitar behind in Donetsk (that's a story in itself, but the Lord really taught me that a possession is just a possession, and I had to let go of the fact that my guitar was gone.).So, right before we moved to Uganda, Byron suggested I look on Craig's List for a cheap used guitar so that I could start playing again. At this point, I had struggled so much with depression because of everything we'd been through, it had been a good 2-3 months since I had even considered singing, let alone playing a guitar. I have always been the type of person that sings in the shower, or sings while cooking, or even just walking around, so the fact that I hadn't sang at all, excluding during worship on Sundays at church (and sometimes I still didn't sing, I just stood there and cried) showed that I was really struggling.
Ok, back to Byron's question. At this point, I had started playing the guitar again and singing, and Byron saw that it was something that restored some of the joy I had lost during the grieving process. And with all of the stress we were dealing with in January, Byron felt like it might be good for me to have some type of service outlet. Of course, I was serving a lot at church, and at the farm, and the islands, etc., but Byron felt like if I joined the worship team at Calvary Entebbe, it might help me to continue in the healing process...I started to pray about it, because I didn't want to join the worship team just for fun, but because God really called me to serve in that capacity. As I prayed, I felt the Lord confirm that He did want me to join the worship team. So, a few days later, I went to Jane (one of the worship leaders) at Calvary Entebbe and asked if I could join.
It was really cool to see how the Lord used the worship at Calvary Entebbe to really stir up a lot of things in my heart, bringing them to the surface so that I could continue working through them with God. And before long, I found myself doing some of the things I hadn't done in months - singing around the house, worshiping during my quiet time with the Lord, and even laughing - genuine laughs that I hadn't experienced in some time. I was also able to become close friends with many of the people on the worship team at Calvary Entebbe, which blessed me more than I can say.There are many reasons why leaving Uganda was difficult - and if the Lord had called us to stay there, I would have stayed in a heartbeat. But I think, for me, leaving the worship team was one of the hardest aspects of leaving. However, I know I've built lifelong friendships with the people I was blessed to serve alongside of, and I know that somewhere, whether here or in heaven, I'll get to worship with all of them again.
So, to all of your on the worship team at Calvary Entebbe, thank you for letting me serve with you for those three months! You blessed me more than you can ever imagine, and the Lord really used you to work in my life! I miss you all so much!Blessings,
Emily
No comments:
Post a Comment