God's Small Voice

YWAM Hopeland, Uganda- My home

This is my first update since arriving in Uganda, February 19th. I would like to apologize to everyone who has wondered what has gone on the last few weeks and months with Ruth Dodgson! I am alive and well! Uganda is a beautiful place especially since I can see Lake Vicoria in the distance and have cool evenings. The YWAM base that i am staffing at is called, Hopeland, here in Jinja, Uganda. 'Hopeland' was given its name at the very beginning of YWAM in Uganda to be a place of hope and rest. Hopeland is a plot of 60 acres with staff housing, meeting halls, dinning room, quest rooms, soccer field, and even a garden. Even though the YWAM base is near the tourist Jinja town, it is secluded from the tourism and surrounded by Ugandan villages...

(Preparing nuts for peanut butter)

I would love to use this site to keep everyone updated with what I am working on here in Uganda and how God is moving. I realize I had started another blogspot page but I feel this one will motivate me to write weekly updates. For the last month and a half I have travelled quite a bit. I first arrived in Uganda after my two months outreach in Tanzania. My Tanzania team left to go back to Hawaii for a debriefing week to complete their YWAM Discipleship Training School. The Lord has called me to extend my time in Africa and graduate my DTS on the mission field!

Right now I am living on the YWAM Hopeland base here in Jinja, Uganda. Since graduating my DTS I have joined a team of staff to put together the first international YWAM leader's conference on AIDS and compassion. My role is to oversee the hospitality here on base and for our guests attending the conference on AIDS starting May 27 to June 3, 2007.

At the moment, I live in a room with 5 other girls who were with me in Makapala, Hawaii. They as well are dedicated to serve on staff at Hopeland for 3 months. We girls love to chat outside our rooms and reconnect as friends since leaving Hawaii to go on seperate outreaches. On base there are about 70 people who are involved in different ministries and schools. The AIDS conference team includes about 12 people including myself.

The first few weeks our work seemed slow and not much was being accomplished towards the conference but after much prayer and delegating responsibility, we have seen much progress. Everyday my faith is being challenged and strengthened as I depend on God for our financial needs, physically protection, and blessing over everything I do. My daily chores include: working in the kitchen preparing rice and beans, cleaning my room, killing snakes, ants, and mosquitoes, meeting with leadership to discuss future plans for the base, praying, and much more. The Lord is seasoning my faith as I work.

Although I am adapting to life in Uganda I have experienced a huge lesson about faith and waiting on God. For the last three months I prayed for a way to go to England for a week for my friend’s wedding and to spend time with my dad's family whom I havent seen for 7 years. For weeks I prayed, waiting for God to give me the 'ok'. There was no clear answer and I became nervous as time and money were running out. As I continued to prayed I felt I was to be very honest with God and tell him what I was thinking. Now I see he was preparing me for a time of faith.

(Rob and I preparing food)

I remember sitting down at the office computer one week before the date of the wedding praying, “Lord, I want to dedicate my desires to go to England. I pray that you will open the doors or close them. If you open them I will dedicate everyday to you.” At that moment I felt I was to just buy the ticket and see where God would lead. The planeticket was bought and I was shocked that I would be leaving Africa after 4 months to go back into western culture and visit people I know!

To make a long story short, God did bring me on a trip of faith. Everyday I dedicated my time and resources to God. I wanted to be fully available to Him since he blessed me with a trip to England. Before leaving Uganda I had no idea who would meet me at the London airport or who I would stay with. Needless to say God continued to answer my prayers and made my path smooth all the way to London and back again to Uganda. While I was in England I was able to share my story and faith with a number of people on the airplane, family, and friends. The Lord blew me away by how gracious he is and how he makes everything work together for good.

(England-St. Paul's Cathedral behind me)

Back in Uganda I shared with my team of God’s faithfulness and about my trip. The Lord used me to speak into the staff and push them to wait patiently on God while walking in faith. Now, I am looking ahead to the conference but also spending more time with God and learning to have more faith.

posted by Ruth @ 8:38 AM Comments: 2