God Cares School - the High School

Today we visited the high school. This is about an hours drive through the city to get from our hotel to the school. It is a very interesting ride. After riding in the front seat of the taxi, a 16 passenger van, I have decided that Ugandans are better drivers than Americans. One must give full attention to the streets here, otherwise there would be some major problems. There are very few stop signs, even fewer sidewalks for pedestrians, very narrow streets, and tons of buda-budas, a motorcycle tax. You just wait for a spot then merge and go. We concluded that the horn honking is to warn others they need to get out of the way. Most people moved when they heard a honk. It was crazy.

The best part of the day was when we arrived at the school and saw men working to complete the third floor of the school and dormitories. All of the students live at the school for logistical reasons. The girls live in the indoor kitchen right now because they are waiting for the building to be completed.

We were given a tour of the grounds, we includes the school/dormitories, the outdoor kitchen, the indoor kitchen, and where the goats and cows are kept.

At the high school, they have chapel once a week on Thursdays. That was amazing and beautiful. The students lead the worship by singing praises to the lord. Incredible accapella, outside surrounded by the countryside. These kids love the lord! They brought tears to our eyes as we watched them sung, joining in if we knew the words.

Pastor Mary spoke to them about Jesus walking on water and how we need to trust him in our troubles days and our goods days. And the answers he gives are yes, no, and wait.

After she spoke, a student lead the closing. He was on fire for the Lord and was telling his fellow classmates that he is the way.

Both the student and Pastor Mary spoke much more eloquently than I write.

As we walked to our lunch, the students came to greet us. We ate a wonderful lunch prepared by Pastor Dongos wife, Florence. After we ate, we were able to talk with the kids some more.

All through lunch we heard the students singing. Once we headed to the second floor, it was deafening. The children were crying out to the Lord. There were many different reasons, but mostly asking for forgiveness and guidance. Then the singing started again. The students left tear puddles on the floor. It made me wonder if I was there to help them or for them to help me.

Once the students went back for their afternoon classes, we organized ourselves to pass out the t-shirts we had brought for them. We broke up into teams and went to the classrooms to deliver them. I let the class I was in get a little loud and an administrator came into the class to quiet. Oops!

We had to leave shortly after or risk turning a one hour trip into a four hour trip. Not a good idea when all are squished into a taxi. We will get to go back and see them one more time before we head home.

We ended our day by eating some good Italian food and spending time as a group.

Next time I come, I will be bringing a video camera, just so I can record the chapel. That or have a large enough SD card in my camera.

Blessing to all of you.
11:45 pm Kampala time