Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 8/14/2011
The first half of this month was one of the most "real" experiences I've had thus far on the Race. Scotty and I were working with three teams in Ongole, India, and the ministry opportunities were pretty open. With it being our last month, the team leaders decided to do something where EVERYONES' gifting could be used- plant a church. We would be starting everything from the ground up: building relationships, raising funds to construct a building, institute age-appropriate Bible studies, find and develop church leaders, engage the children in activities and Bible lessons, host worship and healing services, and much more! We were so excited at what this last month held, and we could not wait to get started!
The first two days of the month the ministry contact searched for a village where we could move. As soon as a village location was set up, a gentleman in the village donated a home for us to live in for the month. Our teams were absolutely stoked at the opportunity that was before us- to live in a village and build relationships with people who had never seen white people before, to share the Gospel to people that had only heard the name of Jesus before and didn't really know who He was or how much He loved them.
As soon as our rickshaws pulled up in the village, people from every direction flooded our yard with curiosity. Who are these people? What are they here for? How long are they going to be living in our community? Some of us joked that this must have been to be in Hollywood and have a paparazzi following! As we settled in, children cheered outside our house; men, women, and children lined our gate and just stared at us as we unpacked. There must have been at least fifty people just standing outside our gate waiting for information on why we were there.
Since we are now in our final month of the Race and we knew we were headed to a village, we knew how to pack light and therefore it didn't take us very long before we were out in the yard mingling with people, playing guitar, and letting the people know that our purpose for being there this month was to get to know them and share some extremely exciting news with them.
Since we only had three weeks with them we didn't want to waste any time. The next morning we held the first church service that the village had ever had out under a large tree, hidden from the scorching rays of sunlight. We shared the Gospel message with them and stressed the importance of water baptism. You see, many of these people are of the Hindu faith and so they will eagerly admit that they believe in Jesus, but they just add Him to their list of thousands of other gods. We knew that the only way the reality of who Jesus Christ truly is is not through our words, but through demonstration of His power.
"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that you faith may not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
The next morning we held a healing service, and for the next several days we had people knocking on our gate at all hours of the day and night, asking for us to pray for them in the name of Jesus Christ. It was such a surreal experience because for the first time, I felt like I was living in Bible times- Haha. This is what Paul must have experienced as he traveled around to all the churches. It was amazing to experience people coming to us with physical ailments and leaving with little or no pain. Praise God!
There were a couple of circumstances that I want to hone in on and give God all the glory. An elderly woman came to us complaining of joint pain in her knees. We laid hands on her joints and began praying. After our prayer we asked her to walk around and see if the pain had left. She said the pain was still there, so what did we do? We prayed again! As we were declaring freeness of pain from her joints, Scotty felt led to tell her to take a step of faith and throw her cane across the grass. So as we were praying the women threw her cane and began to walk around the yard! Praise be to God!
Another gentleman came a few days later saying that he had not been able to bend his knees in a long time. Some of our guys surrounded him in prayer and the man began to lift his knees up to his chest. What?!?!? Did that just happen?!?!?!? Haha It brings laughter to my lips as I think about the look on the man's face when he realized what had happened! Hallelujah! THAT IS MY GOD!!! J
Throughout the week we went with the children to their swimming hole, our guys played Five Stone in a field with a bunch of the boys, many of our women were "kidnapped" by the village women to play "dress up" with sarees and jewelry, and a lady tried to give Cassie and I her baby. They just placed it in my arms and said "just go." When I tried to give it back they said, "You do not want her?" And I had to politely explain that as much as I liked the one month old baby girl, Lexi, I think that Lexi would rather be in her mother's arms than mine. That seemed to suffice for the time being, and Cassie and I were able to escape from the crowd of women, but not without a dot first.
Our evenings consisted of praying over people, worshiping on the roof, watching Bedtime Stories in our tents outside, and dodging monsoon winds and torrential downpours. The time that Scotty and I spent in the village had to eventually come to an end, and now we are on a train traveling thirty-three hours up to Bihar, but I am so thankful to be a part of what God was doing in that village for the short time I was there. There was a peace in the air there, as I sat along the side of the game of Five Stones, I gazed across the fields towards the mountains where the sun was setting, a light breeze blew across my face, and in that moment I knew there was no other place I would have rather been... J
India from Ginger Larson on Vimeo.
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 8/12/2011
I sit here in the second week of our last month on the Race, and while I am overwhelmed with numerous emotions, I came to the humbling realization this week that I have begun to distance myself and harden my heart against feeling anything. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it is because I know 60 meaningful "goodbyes" await me in just two weeks. Or perhaps it's the realization that this year I have been challenged beyond my imagination and I just want to rest. OR, maybe it is because the enemy realizes what a powerful tool I will be when I return home and so he is going to distract me any way possible. No matter the reason, I realize that I am called to eleven months of the Race and not a day short of eleven months. I am ecstatic to be in India, to share this time with four amazing teams, and be a part of the work God is doing here, but there is also an excitement for "what is to come" that wars with my longing to be present-minded each day. The cry of my heart is to finish strong, and I recognize that it is not my own strength, but the Lord's, that will allow me to give these last weeks my all.
It has always been easy for me to share stories and write about experiences, but blogging about how I feel and what is on my heart at a particular time requires vulnerability, and well...that's not always something I am willing to offer. I express how I am feeling now, because I recognize the power of joining together in prayer, and I am asking for you to join me and my squad in prayer that we will be able to finish our time together in India strong.
There is a song by Misty Edwards that I've been singing all day and I think it accurately describes the state of my heart at this present time.
What Only You Can Do
by Misty Edwards
I'll take my cold, cold heart
I'll take my unrenowned mind
I'll take Your Word in my hand
And I'll give You time, to come and melt...me
I can't even love You unless You call my name
I can't even worship unless You anoint my heart, God
I can't even want You unless You want me first
Come fan the flame, oh oh come fan the flame yeah
Do what only You can do - Come fan the flame
Do what only You can do - Come fan the flame
Do what only You can do - Come fan the flame
Do what only You can do
Just let my heart be alive
Let me be living deep, deep on the inside
Come fan the flame hey, hey yeah
Do what only You can do - Come fan the flame
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 7/24/2011
In the last ten months I have seen poverty I didn't know existed; traveled through more countries than I ever expected; rode on more modes of transportation than I ever imagined; and interacted with more people from various cultures, faiths, and life experiences than I ever thought possible.
As I reflect upon the last year, I stand in awe of all I have been blessed to experience and feel. I have been challenged in WHO I AM, WHAT I WAS CREATED FOR, and the Lord has expanded my idea of WHAT I AM CAPABLE OF.
I remember the days just prior to my launch date last year when the reality of  my decision to leave on this journey began to set in. As excited as I was, and as much peace as I had that this was indeed the direction the Lord was leading me, there were moments that my flesh took over and I would find myself terrified at the thought that my life would never be the same after I stepped foot on that plane...
The thought that God had chosen me for this journey gave me the impression that He had something great ahead for my life. Maybe I was going to become another Mother Theresa- caring for the poor around the world, permanently living in desolate conditions. Or maybe I was going to start a children's home in Africa and raise orphaned children... I had NO IDEA how I was going to change, or what I was going to learn over the following eleven months, but I was up for anything.
I guess that's why I was so shocked in month one when I was working in Guatemala at a children's home and in the cerebral palsy wing of a hospital feeling completely out of place. I did not find myself falling head over heels for the people I was serving, and I certainly did not feel like Mother Theresa! I knew I was committed to the remaining ten months of this journey, but I recall arguing with God and asking Him to show me what my purpose was for being out here on the mission field. The answer I received: Be patient my child.
I wish I could say that it's now month eleven and I love playing with children and I enjoy every aspect of ministry but that would not be an accurate statement. However, I CAN say that I  have developed a sensitivity to different people groups and new ways in which the Lord can use me. I've learned that I will not always be passionate about the things that are laid in front of me, but the important thing is that I am WILLING to be used in any way that brings the Lord glory, and that I serve joyfully.
The last year has been the most CHALLENGING, EYE-OPENING, HEART-REVEALING, REWARDING, and BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE! If I had to do it all over again, I would without a second thought. Every sacrifice that was made to be here was worth it. The confidence that the Lord has built inside me is priceless, and I look forward to returning home and living out the things that the Lord has revealed to me.
A question that I receive quite often is, "Shannon, what are your plans after the Race?" The OLD Shannon would have been utterly  overwhelmed and distraught at the thought of not having the next two years, let alone the next four months planned out. Living with an active faith that requires that I constantly depend upon the Lord is SO appealing to me now. I no longer just talk about how God will provide for my every need, but I believe it with my entire being. This year has been lined with impossible circumstances that allowed me to put my faith into practice and see my God come through mighty in power. When I think about my future I know I want to accomplish the impossible. In the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan, he says, "You are not all you are made to be when everything in your lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Holy Spirit." This statement has resonated with me all year.
So as I look ahead to my future, I know and feel with every bone in my body that the Lord has something much larger for my future than I could ever imagine. I am earnestly seeking Him and taking time to listen for His voice to lead me. The confidence that I feel about not knowing the details of my future is unexplainable. It is incredibly freeing to live in the present, focusing on each day as it comes, and not worrying about what tomorrow brings. I never thought I would say that, but here I am with a smile on my face as I reflect on how far the  Lord has brought me. I don't ever want to step into a situation again, whether ministry or a career, that I think I can handle on my own- where does that leave room for God to work? I will walk in the confidence that when I am faced with a position that I cannot handle on my own, that is where the Lord comes in and fills in where I am weak.
So as I step foot into the next season of my life, I am going to turn away from anything that I know I am capable of accomplishing, and look for things that seem too big, too advanced, too out of my reach, and those are the things that I want to pursue, because I know that as much as this year has been the best year of my life thus far, the BEST year of my life still lies ahead... J
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 7/13/2011
It has now been four days since the debate and I have found myself, well I think it's actually been God, waking up at 5:00am the last three mornings when I hear the Muslim Prayer time down the road. Each morning I hear it, I take time for intercessory prayer before falling back to sleep.
Erica, a friend of mine on Team Crash of Love, brought up an encouraging realization the other day. When we began the Race our original African route consisted of South Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique. At our first squad debrief in December we were asked to prayerfully consider a re-direction of our route to include Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. With much prayer our squad felt like the Lord was saying, "I need you to battle on the FRONTLINES in East Africa." We were obedient to the Lord's voice and this we are finishing up our time in Tanzania.
What better FRONTLINES to be on than defending our faith to one of the supposed fastest growing religions in the world- interceding on their behalf- standing in the gap for them as they begin to hunger for TRUTH.
I know that there are many purposes that God has called me to this 11 month journey, many of which I may never know, but one thing I feel so deeply at the bottom of my heart is that IF THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK WERE THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ME BEING ON THIS 11 MONTH JOURNEY, EVERYTHING I LEFT BEHIND WOULD BE COMPLETELY WORTH IT!
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 7/12/2011
On July 9th,2011, twenty-two World Racers and over ninety Muslims gathered in a church building in Morogoro, Tanzania. The reason, to debate two topics: The Authenticity of Scripture & The Religion of Jesus Christ.
A few days earlier during door-to-door ministry, Team WOW had met a man who was very passionate about his Islam religion. Ironically, his name was Jesus. As the team conversed with the man several other students from the nearby Muslim university gathered to participate in the discussion. There were many questions and not enough time so the group arranged an organized debate to be held at a church down the road a few days later...
That, my friend, is where we begin the story. 8:30am on our free day, four teams joined at the church, passionately engaged in dialogue with friends, brothers, and family from around the globe.
Those who had experience with formal debates took charge of the positions of Chairman and time keeper and led us into the first forty minute segment where each side took twenty minutes to explain the foundation for their beliefs on the topics.
Five hours and sixteen minutes of pure debating wrapped up around 3:30pm. Both parties made very good arguments, but I must say that the crowd noticed one difference between the groups, and it was a difference that broke my heart. The most difficult thing to witness was the haughty intent of the Muslim man, Jesus, to prove himself right and prove the followers of Christ wrong. I could not have been more proud of those who chose to represent our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Each person stated that they weren't standing up there to prove the Muslims they were wrong; they stood there because we LOVED them, because we want them to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that what they believe is TRUTH.
One of the bold men in our group went as far as to say that many people in the world, Americans specifically, may associate all Muslims with the events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but that we see them through the eyes of Christ. We understand that not all people within their religion are out to seek destruction and that a few have taken a radical approach to their faith. We understand they are not grouped with those events and we love them and care about their eternal salvation.
At two o'clock we showed them respect by honoring their prayer time and let out for a fifteen minute break. We came together a couple of times during the debate to shake hands with each other and mingle through the crowds. The peace and presence of the Lord could be felt throughout the room and it was AMAZING!
In conclusion of the debate we stressed that Christianity is the ONLY faith in which God ALWAYS takes the first step towards us.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His ONLY and begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting LIFE." - John 3:16
Every other faith requires that man take the first step up the mountain to get to God- they they have to "DO" something (animal sacrifices, tasks, etc.) to try to cleanse themselves so that God will accept them. You have to be willing to test your faith, to step out and ask God to show you the TRUTH, and whatever He reveals to you, pursue it with your whole heart.
Jesus, the Muslim representative, alluded to the fact that every one of the 90+ Muslims in that room had thoroughly tested his faith against others. Shaun, sensing that perhaps the statement was not entirely truth, got up and publicly asked, "How many of you in this room have picked up a Bible and read through the Gospel of Jesus Christ?" When only three men raised their hands Shaun passionately, with his heart broken, presented them a challenge, "I challenge you to do whatever it takes to find a Bible and even just read through the four Gospels. THE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE WILL SHATTER THE HEART OF ANYONE WHO READS IT!!!"
After the debate, we once again mingled with the crowd, many of them asking for our contact information and blog addresses to continue communication and read into Christianity further. But the BEST part of it all, the part that made the ENTIRE six hours worth it, was the handful of Muslims that came forth ASKING, BEGGING FOR A BIBLE!!!
And thus I began to label July 9th, 2011, as HISTORY IN THE MAKING!
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 7/5/2011
This morning we left the house,
We were way behind.
Needing to get India visas
Was the only thing on our mind.
Boda boda or tuktuk?
We had a lot to lose.
Which mode of transportation
Would we choose?
A boda boda driver pulled up slow,
Unfortunately English he did not know.
To converse we had to use signs and expressions
It was the only way we knew to give directions.
Off to the internet cafe in a hurry
We did a version of the boda boda scurry!
The Embassy address we finally got,
We were still behind, my stomach in a knot.
We found ourselves
In the wrong section.
But Moses showed up
And gave us direction.
Flying through traffic.
Now we were on our way.
80 kph with no helmet,
Boda boda drivers here don't play
On the back of a boda boda
Racing through Dar
On more than one occasion
I almost got hit by a car.
Oh dear Lord we need
Your favor and protection.
So we showed the India Embassy guard
Much love and affection.
Inside the walls he let us in
To a place we had never been.
There we were standing in line
Making friends while passing the time.
The lady at the counter never cracked a smile
But that all changed when Team Shotty showed up in style!
It was no doubt favor was on our side,
Obvious to us, the Holy Spirit was our Guide.
In and out
In just over an hour,
As you can see
We walk in demonstration of power!
Right now
I'm willing to make a bet
That this 4th of July
We'll never forget.
- Poem courtesy of Team Shotty :)
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 7/4/2011
I have realized that I have never written a blog describing a typical travel day with sixty-one people on the World Race, granted most of our travel days have been extremely smooth. But this past week we were tackling our longest single bus ride through Africa and let¡¦s be honest, TIA (This is Africa)- something interested was bound to happen. And thus our 28 hour African bus ride turned into a 44+ hour bus ride!
Our bus was scheduled to pick us up at the Adrift Campground on the Nile River in Jinja, Uganda at 12:00pm on July 1st. 12:00pm¡K1:00pm¡K2:00pm¡K3:00pm¡Kthe bus finally arrived. There was some confusion with the driver of where we he was taking us so we clarified the confusion that we were going to Dar Es Salaam, not Arusha- just a several hour difference.
- Description of bus:
- Shady
- Roach infested
- Noisy
- Plexi-glass windows held on with caulk
- Tinted windows that we weren¡¦t sure if the tint came from window tint or dirt
- Had the shakes
- Made of extremely heavy material
- No toilet
- No air conditioning
Almost immediately after we left it began to rain and the windows did not keep out the water. We searched for anything we could find (coats, blankets, bags, etc.) to cover us from the rain attack. Around 5:30 pm we went through customs at the Uganda-Kenya border and a money exchanger teller cheated me out of $9.00 USD- WHAT!?!?!
Every two hours we stopped at a shady squatty potty and waited in a line of 40 people- the men opted for the back of the building on most occasions. And every time we were about to approach a ¡§weigh station¡¨ the driver would pull off to the shoulder of the road and make the last three rows of the bus get out of the bus and into a few unmarked cars that would drive them to a roadside stand ahead of the weigh station and wait for us. The weigh station was charged if the bus was over the weight limit so we were able to avoid any additional fees- sketchy, I know, but the driver acted as though this was a common occurrence in Tanzania.
During the first portion of our travels I watched two movies and listened to three podcasts, but the African roads made it impossible to get much rest. Then at 11:00 a.m. July 2nd, we cross through Kenya-Tanzania customs. TANZANIA!!! We made it! The landscape was absolutely breathtaking, yet drastically different than Kenya or Uganda. Tanzania was flat with spurts of massive mountains. Tribal people wearing their cloak and staff herded sheep across the plains. All of a sudden the left-side of the bus broke out into an uproar! WILD GIRAFFES! A family of giraffes was gracefully crossing the Serengeti plains. It was absolutely beautiful!
3:00pm arrived and we stop at rest-stop that actually sold food (rice, greens, and beef chunks for $2). It was still an African rest-stop but it was the nicest facilities we had seen yet on our journey- food, two sets of bathrooms, a large parking lot, and it was cleaner than most. We stop for twenty minutes and let the driver know that we would like to finish up the remaining four hours of the journey without any bathroom stops. We re-board the bus and make it about 3-4 kilometers and that¡¦s when we heard a nasty grinding sound coming from the front of the bus. Our driver informed us that we lost a few nuts and bolts in our drive shaft which apparently are very important. We return to the nice rest-stop and waited approximately two hours for the replacement part to make its way to us. No biggy- TIA baby! :)
 Twenty minutes later, our second World Race bus with our remaining 18 squadmates (that left two hours after our bus), arrived at the rest-stop, said hi, used the restroom facilities, and then continued on. The replacement part arrived but it was the wrong part number. Apparently there are no bus companies that operate between the hours of 10pm-5am due to the extremely high number of bus hijackings in Tanzania, so the new plan: Stay at the rest-stop overnight and leave at 5:00am.
Our squad was so great upon hearing the news. We talked, played cards, and took walks in the parking lot until the restaurant closed to the public at 10:00pm. The owner of the restaurant was very generous and offered for us to sleep inside his restaurant if we wanted. He also had his cook fix a couple pots of hot tea and coffee to hand out free of cost. He was such a blessing to us! We all spread out over the building and the bus. Some people set up their tents in the parking lot or inside the restaurant, some people slept directly on the tile floor, and a few people joined me inside the roach-infested bus.
 It took awhile to get comfortable, and when I finally did I realized that everyone on the bus was constantly swatting at mosquitoes- malaria, no thank you. I managed to get two straight hours of sleep as I was curled up on two bus seats. My alarm went off at 4:00am when the replacement bus arrived. Everyone packed up their sleeping equipment and moved all sixty-one large backpacks onto the new bus. At 5:00am, just before dawn, our bus departed for Dar Es Salaam.
The last four hours turned into six hours. I¡¦m not sure how, but it was a much quieter six hours since everyone was exhausted. Around 1:00pm on July 3rd, we finally arrived at the bus station in Dar Es Salaam. A few teams were able to buy bus tickets for their continued journey to their ministries within various cities in Tanzania- anywhere from 3-12 hours of further travel. The rest of the teams waited for the local pastor to arrive with a private bus and we loaded it up and headed to a home to "rest" for the evening. I say "rest" because on our ride to the house we realized that it was only a 15 minute tuktuk ride to the Indian Ocean. So twelve of us dropped our bags off at the house, grabbed our swimsuits and took off to swim in the ocean, while the rest either stayed back to sleep or went to get phone SIM cards, bottled water, and minimal groceries to hold us over for food the next few days.
 So the last seventy-seven hours I have had about ten hours of sleep total. But all I keep saying is FINALLY I have a sweet African travel story and "God's provision and safety¨ is written all over it! We could have been stranded in the middle of the Serengeti where we were in prime location to be hijacked, but instead we happened to break down a few kilometers from a stop that had a gate, food, electricity, running water, and extremely welcoming owners. Praise God! And I know this is funny, but it was probably my absolute favorite travel day yet. I mean, what a great memory right!?!? ;-)
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 6/27/2011
This blog is for all of my friends back home that laugh at me every time I refuse to leave home without a nail file or nail clippers in my purse.
So, you may be wondering, "Where would a pair of nail clippers come in handy in Africa???" Great question. Let me tell you...
We were constructing the mud house last week out in the middle of nowhere- a thirty minute walk from the car, and a thirty minute care ride from there to town. We had string to tie the poles together but after a few minutes we realized that we left our pocket knives back at our hostel. Big mistake! Our machete was not sharp enough to cut through the rope, and the rope was thick enough that we could not just pull it apart. Our team searched all over for something that resembled scissors so that we did not have to waste two hours running back to our hostel.
All of a sudden it hit me, I have NAIL CLIPPERS in my purse!!! The team laughed at my idea, doubtful that it would work. But it did! It worked! :) They took awhile to cut through the rope, but it was something when we had nothing. That was the moment that I realized I would never leave home without them! Nail Clippers saved the day!
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 6/25/2011
(Video Attached)
I am spending the second half of this month with Team Pneuma in Lwamata, Uganda, a few hours outside the capital city of Kampala. We have been building a home for an elderly lady, Agnus, that takes care of her young orphaned granddaughter, Viola. Her current straw home is about to collapse on her so we are working with an amazing couple from Australia, Brian and Jan, to get a new one built ASAP. :)
  Each morning we wake up, lather on the sunscreen, and head off to the house. It takes us about thirty minutes to drive down the two mile bumpy trail to an orphanage where we park our vehicle, grab our tools & lunch (usually consists of a loaf of bread, bag of tomatoes, and a bag of mangos), and hike another thirty minutes up the hills to the plot of land that we are building on. This is the first month that I have been a part of a building project, and I am absolutely LOVING the manual labor! Being outside six hours a day throwing up the wood beams, attaching the leeds to the poles, and filling them with the mud mixture (we have not yet gotten to the mud & manure mixture for those of you who are wondering!) has been priceless. Well, I'm not sure that the building project has been priceless, but the work going on that we do not realize is the priceless part.
  Agnus was not a Believer when we met her a few weeks ago. She didn't really believe anything, but the Lord has able to use our conversations with her over the last two weeks and our acts of service "living out the Gospel" instead of just talking about it to bring her close to Him. The father-in-law of the pastor we are working with came up to help us with the construction the other day and he walked around praying for the property and the house. He made a comment that has really stuck with me...he took a look at the work being done and he said, "Now THIS is the Gospel!" It was a very humbling moment for us as we realized that God was using completely imperfect people who had given up a little bit of time each day to bring a change that was not only momentary but eternal to a community in the middle of Africa...
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." Ephesians 3:20
Yesterday, half of Team Pneuma went to finish putting the roof on the house while the other half of us trekked through the Ugandan countryside doing door-to-door evangelism. When we met back up as a group last night we learned that Agnus had decided to give her heart to the Lord. It had never really crossed my mind that building the house would lead to a life won for the Lord. I merely was thinking it was an act of service to the lady, and I was excited to finally be able to track the progress of our work. Praise God that His plans are so much greater than ours!
Uganda Mud House from Matthew Williams on Vimeo.
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Posted in General Posts by Shannon Ahola on 6/16/2011
Scotty and I stayed back in Nairobi two extra days with our Logistics team (Brandi Jo, Paul, and Michael) to digest and recuperate from the busy week of Debrief. On June 8th, we left Milimani Backpackers Hostel at 5:30am for the bus station where we hopped on a thirteen hour bus ride to Mukono, Uganda.
I would like to tell you that our ride was really bumpy, but I'm afraid that would not do justice. The frequent moments of EXTREME air that we got every time we hit a pothole and flew off our seats left us with two options: 1) we could moan and complain from the lack of sleep and the bruises we were attaining, or 2) just laugh because there was nothing else worth doing. I chose the laughter- obviously! Bus rides in Africa remain unparalleled.
 We arrived in Mukono late at night and Scotty and I parted ways. I spent the first week of June with Dex and Christina's team in a hostel just outside Mukono. We preached, led home groups, walked door-to-door for evangelism, and taught in schools during the day. After dinner we had the opportunity to relax on the roof of the hostel. Our view was gorgeous- we were situated on a hill outside the town so our hostel overlooked the lights of the city, and we would have frequent gatherings up there while watching lightening storms roll in. I couldn't have imagined anything else that I would have rather been doing in those moments.
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