Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday! the other morning at breakfast I was trying to describe to my German roommates (Vera and Sophia) what Halloween was. They were so confused at why we celebrated something when we didn’t really know how the holiday originated. They thought our answer of “it’s just fun,” was not legitimate enough for the whole country to celebrate a holidayJ
It is my third night here in Kampala, and the amount of learning I have done in the past three days is incredible. It was nice coming in on a weekend because it gave me time to settle in, explore a little, before my schedule and work gets a little more demanding. Tomorrow is my first day at Dawn, the day care for special needs children, and I couldn’t be more excited. I am sure God is going to stretch me in everyway possible, and I just pray that I can be of some help to the workers, and especially the children. I will keep you updated on that once I know exactly what I will be doing and such. Keep Dawn Center in your prayers though. A center like this is very unique here because special needs kids are more likely to be neglected by family than helped, or sent somewhere they can receive treatment.
I am still struggling a little bit with some jet lag. I did not sleep at all last night!! I thought since I slept so long on Friday night that I would be ok. Well I was wrong, and jet lag seriously sucks. I laid awake all night, tired, but couldn’t sleep. So I read, and thought, and prayed. It was pretty miserable, well not the praying partJ I made an effort to pray for anyone but myself, so I spent a lot of time praying for people at home. It 11:17 pm here, and I am exhausted. Hopefully I can get a full nights rest, and be done with this!
Today was a good day. Heather and I met Florance (the lady that started Dawn) for church. She has taken us under her wing and is so wonderful. We call her Mama Duck because we all just follow her in a little line wherever we go. We went to Calvary Chapel Kampala in Kololo. I was expecting this totally cultural experience, but it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. First of all “African time” is a little different than American time. No one is on time, ever. We get to church and its ALL mzungus (white people). I was thinking ok I cant be here and go to a church with all people who aren’t even Ugandan. But then about 20 minutes after the service started the place filled up with nationals. By the end the nationals outnumbered the mzungus. But it was an American Calvary Chapel so the pastor is a white guy and the service held nothing out of my comfort zone, or anything too different than what it is like at home. I think we will go there again, but I also want to try a more local church to experience that as well.
After church we met up with Sophia and Vera (Germans) and we all went and got pedicures. Its crazy, in town it looks so run down. you see signs for all kinds of shops, salons, restaurants, but because of how they look on the outside you cant imagine them being bigger than 6x6 on the inside, and not nice at all. So we walk into “the vine salon” and its actually fairly nice, I was surprised. Heather (roommate, and also with AIM) and I were kind of freaking about this. We are weary to get them in the clean salons in the states, how could this be sanitary here?? But not to worry, I am alive after experience, and I got to see the guy sanitize the equipment. we each got a pedicure for about 7$ but it took us about 3.5 hours, and believe my I was ready to get out of there.
Then Florance took us all to the cultural center tonight. They have a cultural show every night where they show off all the local dances and music. It was a great show. At the end the MC went through the crowd to see where everyone was from. There were people from the UK, Germany, Holland, Austria, Canada, Panama, Spain, Mali, Denmark… and more. I would say some were there for a visit, but most were there helping in some way. Then the MC thanked us all for coming to Uganda to help them, and that they appreciated it so much. Then he had all the foreigners come down to the stage and line up. There were about 150 of us. He then told all the Ugandans to get out of their seats and to come shake our hands. They did, formed this huge line and individually welcomed and thanked us. It was really cool!
I appreciate all of the prayers and support more than you know. To know you are right where God wants you is the most amazing peace I have ever experienced in my life, and so many people are apart of that because so many people have supported me in one way or another. So thank you again. I am not sure what God has in store for me, but this is only the beginning
About Me
- Carolina Morgan
- Kampala, Uganda
- Hello! My name is Carolina Morgan. I am 23 years old. After I graduated from college in December 2009 I could not ignore any longer the call that God had laid on my heart to serve as a missionary, somewhere, somehow. Now, after a few years of doubting and fear, here I am. My desire is to become more like my Savior. I want to be someone who is overflowing with faith, hope, and love. Thank you for visiting my blog!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
i am the most tired person alive.....
below is an email I sent my Mom after I arrived in Kampala, instead of rewriting it I just decided to post the email to post a quick update of my last couple of days. I am finally in Kampala in my new home. It is very nice, full bathroom, running water, kitchen, and everything I need. Thank God for that! I also got to swing by the day care I will be working at (Dawn Mukisa Center). Right now I am about to go to bed and hopefully catch the 9 hours I lost during travel! Updates/Pictures coming soon!
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Hello! I have made it to the guest house in Entebbe. The flight was long, but i took some meds and slept most of the way. i sat next to this guy from baton rouge who was going to uganda to make a video of all the orphanages and schools he has started, so it was cool talking to him. he was excited to hear what i was doing, and continued to preach to me about trusting and believing in God, and taught me all (i mean all) the Bible stories that go along with that. It was very sweet, but i was really tired so i had to throw in some hints about how tired i was. he finally let me sleep, and i did for about 6 hours. I am still really tired though, but i guess i will be for a few days. jet lag is no fun. i really feel like i am in a twilight zone, especially because i am in a whole different day than you!
when i got to the airport it was really rainy outside and about 70 degrees. it is really pretty weather, not too humid, and not too hot. which is nice, i hope it stays like this. the country of course is beautiful. so lush and green. right outside of the airport a monkey was playing on a tree! and nobody even cared, like it was a squirrel or something. then i had to wait for the driver for about 30 minutes. it was kinda funny because i had my huge cart of luggage, and so did everyone else. but let me tell you, they do not value personal space here. this one lady pulled her 2 carts of luggage literally touching mine and blocked me in against a wall. i am thinking "hello, what part about this is ok?" hahah she didnt care, obvioulsy.
we have about a 40 minute drive to matoke inn, so it was cool looking out the windows. i guess it looks a lot like the bad parts of mexico, but worse. when i got the airport it smelled like mexico, you know that smell? its rainy and muddy everywhere and i sure that makes things more difficult. there are people everywhere walking and talking. and most of them are just standing there. i was wondering what were they all waiting for? the driving is insane. our driver was pretty good, but scared me a few times. then half way there he gets out his super thick glasses and drove even worse. the cars literally bump eachother, its like adult bumper cars.
i am not sure what the plan is for today. i am pretty sure i am still about an hour from kampala. from what i gather someone will come get me and take me there, i am just not sure when. but they have internet at the inn so i am happy for that! it is sooo weird being so far from instant communication. i store up all these things in my head that i want to tell you, but i usually can tell you right away so i feel like i am forgetting some things!!
oh, i forgot to tell you what happened to me in london. we got off the plane and i realized that i left my makeup bag on the plane. i had so much stuff with me, so i think it actually fell out of my bag. but i was freaking out when i realized it because i had put the cash, $950 worth, that AIM gave me for my first two months here. i go to the front desk not even 5 minutes after i had gotten off the plane and told them. they brought in 2 hours later. looked in it and $500 was missing. i was so upset, and they told me i could file a police report an d so on, but i didnt. i wasnt too worried about the money though, i brought enough cash to cover that. i emailed aim and told them and Rae said not to worry about it and they would credit my account. so thats good. i guess something had to go wrong somewhere....
hmmm, what else. i am stinky and gross. i have not taken a shower since wed morning, and have traveled the whole time since them. yuck. you dont even want to know what i look like!!
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Hello! I have made it to the guest house in Entebbe. The flight was long, but i took some meds and slept most of the way. i sat next to this guy from baton rouge who was going to uganda to make a video of all the orphanages and schools he has started, so it was cool talking to him. he was excited to hear what i was doing, and continued to preach to me about trusting and believing in God, and taught me all (i mean all) the Bible stories that go along with that. It was very sweet, but i was really tired so i had to throw in some hints about how tired i was. he finally let me sleep, and i did for about 6 hours. I am still really tired though, but i guess i will be for a few days. jet lag is no fun. i really feel like i am in a twilight zone, especially because i am in a whole different day than you!
when i got to the airport it was really rainy outside and about 70 degrees. it is really pretty weather, not too humid, and not too hot. which is nice, i hope it stays like this. the country of course is beautiful. so lush and green. right outside of the airport a monkey was playing on a tree! and nobody even cared, like it was a squirrel or something. then i had to wait for the driver for about 30 minutes. it was kinda funny because i had my huge cart of luggage, and so did everyone else. but let me tell you, they do not value personal space here. this one lady pulled her 2 carts of luggage literally touching mine and blocked me in against a wall. i am thinking "hello, what part about this is ok?" hahah she didnt care, obvioulsy.
we have about a 40 minute drive to matoke inn, so it was cool looking out the windows. i guess it looks a lot like the bad parts of mexico, but worse. when i got the airport it smelled like mexico, you know that smell? its rainy and muddy everywhere and i sure that makes things more difficult. there are people everywhere walking and talking. and most of them are just standing there. i was wondering what were they all waiting for? the driving is insane. our driver was pretty good, but scared me a few times. then half way there he gets out his super thick glasses and drove even worse. the cars literally bump eachother, its like adult bumper cars.
i am not sure what the plan is for today. i am pretty sure i am still about an hour from kampala. from what i gather someone will come get me and take me there, i am just not sure when. but they have internet at the inn so i am happy for that! it is sooo weird being so far from instant communication. i store up all these things in my head that i want to tell you, but i usually can tell you right away so i feel like i am forgetting some things!!
oh, i forgot to tell you what happened to me in london. we got off the plane and i realized that i left my makeup bag on the plane. i had so much stuff with me, so i think it actually fell out of my bag. but i was freaking out when i realized it because i had put the cash, $950 worth, that AIM gave me for my first two months here. i go to the front desk not even 5 minutes after i had gotten off the plane and told them. they brought in 2 hours later. looked in it and $500 was missing. i was so upset, and they told me i could file a police report an d so on, but i didnt. i wasnt too worried about the money though, i brought enough cash to cover that. i emailed aim and told them and Rae said not to worry about it and they would credit my account. so thats good. i guess something had to go wrong somewhere....
hmmm, what else. i am stinky and gross. i have not taken a shower since wed morning, and have traveled the whole time since them. yuck. you dont even want to know what i look like!!
Monday, October 25, 2010
and so it begins
I am currently sitting in the guest house at Africa Inland Mission (AIM) headquarters in Pearl River, NY.I have two days of orientation and then I leave on Wednesday evening for Kampala, Uganda for a four month mission trip. I am so excited to be able to have to opportunity to blog about my time in Kampala, and I hope you enjoy reading about it.
I was trying to think of how I got to where I am exactly.....and it seems as though this has all happened so quickly. But to be honest, God has been reaching out to my heart specifically about a mission trip for over four years now. I would get so inspired hearing stories of missionaries and the places they served and the people they met. And everytime I could hear a whisper on my heart, telling me to put myself in their shoes, to consider going myself. I pushed those whispers and thoughts so far out of my head for two reasons. First, I was scared. I was scared of leaving my family, and being alone in an unknown place, and most of all I think I was scared of all the change God would do in my life. Second, I knew that I had a choice. I could choose to obey God, put myself out there, or I could choose to disobey and continue living the life I always had.
After four years of back and forth I finally said yes. This summer I began the application process with AIM, and in under 6 months I am now 2 days away from this trip. I could no longer choose to disobey, and with that God showed me how His plans are always the best for me. He has showed me that He will always provide. Most importantly He has showed me that He has specific plans for my life. He knows exactly who He wants ME to be, and what He wants ME to do. I thank God that now, at this point in my life, I know what that is.
I have no idea what my life will hold after this trip. I literally left my job and apartment. It's all wide open spaces for me. But my God has a plan, and a purpose for my life. People have been asking me how I feel about the upcoming trip. Nervous? Sad? Excited? Happy? Yes, to all of those.
But most of all, I feel hopefull.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and to not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I was trying to think of how I got to where I am exactly.....and it seems as though this has all happened so quickly. But to be honest, God has been reaching out to my heart specifically about a mission trip for over four years now. I would get so inspired hearing stories of missionaries and the places they served and the people they met. And everytime I could hear a whisper on my heart, telling me to put myself in their shoes, to consider going myself. I pushed those whispers and thoughts so far out of my head for two reasons. First, I was scared. I was scared of leaving my family, and being alone in an unknown place, and most of all I think I was scared of all the change God would do in my life. Second, I knew that I had a choice. I could choose to obey God, put myself out there, or I could choose to disobey and continue living the life I always had.
After four years of back and forth I finally said yes. This summer I began the application process with AIM, and in under 6 months I am now 2 days away from this trip. I could no longer choose to disobey, and with that God showed me how His plans are always the best for me. He has showed me that He will always provide. Most importantly He has showed me that He has specific plans for my life. He knows exactly who He wants ME to be, and what He wants ME to do. I thank God that now, at this point in my life, I know what that is.
I have no idea what my life will hold after this trip. I literally left my job and apartment. It's all wide open spaces for me. But my God has a plan, and a purpose for my life. People have been asking me how I feel about the upcoming trip. Nervous? Sad? Excited? Happy? Yes, to all of those.
But most of all, I feel hopefull.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and to not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
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