Singing filled our bus as we drove to Kampala for an end of the year field trip with the CIA Bible study kids. For most of these kids it was their first time to go to Kampala (especially the rich part of it)!
Back in September, I promised my Bible study kids that if they got 70% or above, five times, they would come to an end of the year party. They worked so hard, and their work paid off yesterday as they had one of the funnest days of their lives.
When we clambered into the bus, I asked who had gone to Kampala before and only a few raised their hands, and those who did had never been to the nice part of Kampala, only the slums. "When I lived with my grandma, I used to wash cars in the washing-bay to pay for my school fees," Muyanja, who is 15, told me. "I did that from 2011- 2014. Then when my grandma died, I moved in with my uncle in the village, who I'm living with now." Muyanja was the only one who had lived in Kampala.
When we arrived at the Sheraton Hotel to swim, the kids looked around wide-eyed at the towering skyscrapers and nice houses. "We're not in Kubamitwe anymore!" they agreed. We walked through the hotel to the swimming pool, and after we had changed, the kids jumped into the pool! The only place they had ever swam in was the swamp in the rainy season when it would overflow. What a big difference an actual swimming pool was to them! When they played and splashed themselves into exhaustion, they grabbed their towels and laid out on the lawn chairs. If only their beds were that comfortable!
We then walked to a nearby mall and got ice cream at KFC. None of them had ever had real ice cream before, and they were so pumped! They kept walking up to me, giving me knuckles and a thumbs up with huge smiles over their faces. It took us around 20 minutes to get out of there because they savored every lick of their dollar soft serve vanilla ice cream. As we were walking, we passed by some street kids begging for food. "Where do they sleep and get food?" one of the kids asked me. I explained that they got their food from begging from others. "We are so blessed!" he responded. "If we're hungry all we have to do is climb a tree and get fruit or go dig in the garden and pick some food. We know where we're going to sleep at night." The other kids agreed with him, as they waved to the beggar children. What an example of thankfulness to God! These kids have nothing! Most of them don't have parents, live in mud huts, work from dawn to dusk, but still they are grateful for what they do have!
If I wrote every detail of that amazing day I could fill a book, but to sum it up: they went on their first elevator (you would've thought it was a roller coaster), their first escalator (they were very hesitant), they ate their first pizza, drank soda, got more ice cream, and sang praise songs the whole way home.
The insights of these kids are profound. They pointed out to me how unhappy the rich people in Kampala seemed and how even a lot of money doesn't satisfy.
Thank you to Word of Life at Lakeside for making this day possible for these kids.The joy of making somebody else's day has been so much fun for my brothers and me! And you can join in their fun when you watch this video of their day CIA Field Trip.
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35). Take the time today to go and show someone that you love him! I watched one kid who I have never seen smile, smile for the first time! It's by our love that the world will see that we are different. Let your light shine to them! Let them see Christ through you!
