Serve

June 2, 2014

Sozo House 4 is officially occupied! The interns arrived last night late to a house that still has its quirks, but has a lot of love poured into preparing for them. After traveling for two days, the top two priorities upon arriving are: 1) shower and 2) bed. Well, the city water had been off all day and we did not have any reserve water in the tanks. No showers or toilets. Today, we were able to get a water truck out and take showers before dinner. But, after dinner, the power went out. Most of the time scheduled outages are during the day, so this evening has been interesting finding torches (flashlights) to finish hanging mosquito nets (we had to move a few bunks around and get creative…) and trying to entertain ourselves to distract from the sweat that is literally rolling down my back as I lay in bed. Thank goodness for computer batteries…

(Yes this is two mosquito nets from one hook that is in the middle of the room. Using duct tape, a knicker hanger, and rope. Tommy Lunceford would be proud of our Jimmy-rigging!)

It has been so neat to be here the week leading up to the summer interns arriving. There are 13 college students who were selected to do a summer internship serving in the Sozo homes this summer. In the past the interns have lived at the homes, but with so many teams in and out over the summer, Sozo found a separate house for the interns and summer missionaries. It is just down the hill from House 1. The Sozo Uganda staff has worked so hard all week coordinating the plumBer (see previous post for Ugandan pronunciation…), electrician, and corralling some of the Sozo kids to help clean, hang curtains, move beds and mattresses, lay (make) the bed, label keys, fill buckets of water for the toilets, etc. I have loved every minute getting to work alongside them and seeing the joy that they have in having a way to give back to those who are coming to spend their summer with them!

Helping hang our curtains with zip ties.

Our key ring with all of the keys finally labeled for the different locks keeping us secure in the house. This lasted for all of 10 minutes before we had to find a better system...

Each one of the intern family groups picks a “word” to focus on over the summer. Some groups pick words like “love” or “abide.” They dig into the Word to discover what God has to teach them about that idea as they spend time working and doing ministry together throughout the summer. After my first week here, I’ve decided that my word for the summer is “SERVE.”

“Sozo” is a Greek word meaning “to save.” Sozo Children is a ministry that exists to save children not only from their physical poverty, but most importantly to save them from spiritual poverty. (Read more about this ministry at www.sozochildren.org.) I love every part of who Sozo is and what they do. The more that I am around Sozo, the more I realize how every single Sozo staff member, child, and missionary has a heart to SERVE.

Mark 10:48 says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to SERVE, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” My prayer is that through my time in Uganda this summer, I will learn how to SERVE the way that Jesus came to this earth to SERVE. And I’ve got a lot of people to learn from all around me, most of them our Sozo children!