This write-up is compiled by Peter Kimbugwe, EA cooperative in Uganda. This year our summer internship relied upon the facilitation of our cooperatives in East Africa, who carried the responsibility wonderfully. We asked Peter to review his experience with the interns here.
2018 Summer Interns did several home visits which allow them to sit and visit with locals, hearing about their lives and the kinds of challenges that God has carried them through. This visit, spent with Madame Jane (third from right), was especially wonderful as they learned about her decades of experience as a teacher at St. Johns school, where the interns volunteered throughout their trip.
I am more than excited to share with you the wonderful experience that my community members and I were able to experience in amazing ways through which God was working in us, and the way he used each one of us in different ways.
I am Peter Kimbugwe, married to Cissy Kimbugwe, and we are parenting six children. I am serving with Global Outreach Developments International, in East Africa, Uganda, where our G.O.D. East Africa hub is located. I have been serving with the organization for over 14 years, and I now serve as a Bible teacher at the Institute for G.O.D. East Africa, and in various other ways.
I am excited to share with you the wonderful time we had this summer to host an internship team from the U.S.A. This was not our first time to host such a group of people, we had done it several times before. What made it different for me this time was the programming that started happening several weeks before. Everything was streamlined and responsibilities were shared amongst the locals, allowing us to fully participate in the planning process and facilitation. This gave us ample time to discuss and come up with right suggestions about which things could be doable and those that wouldn’t. We did this with the brethren abroad through the mediation of brother Cameron (Kagay) and John (Nyago), to prayerfully make sure that everything was clear and streamlined. This allowed the spirit of God to be present and operating in us as we moved on, day by day, experiencing God’s presence in our daily activities.
Summer interns spent about 6 hours preparing, cooking, serving and cleaning up a lunch served to the 400+ students at St. Johns. This experienced showed them how difficult it can be to supply good food to so many are hungry, and the commitment of G.O.D. East Africa to ensure it happens every week.
We had wonderful moments of experiencing and enjoying each other's presence in different activities, like starting off our days early as usual with worship, prayer, and encouraging words from the scriptures. We would enjoy daily meals as we shared stories pertaining to the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness. There were lots of activities that we were able to do with these precious young ladies and a gentleman: helping to feed the children at St. John’s, in the after-school children’s program. Visiting the Nakasongola churches, widows, and health centers were also wonderful experiences to get the American interns exposed to the needs in the region. Helping out with different activities like gardening, helping to prepare community meals, and cleaning up the premises and utensils were all good moments of serving and reflecting upon the servanthood lifestyle that the Bible teaches. They were given good exposure to real life in a third world rural area, at least what kind of needs exist in these areas, and that which the scripture again refers to as the bountiful harvest that needs laborers. They were one of the best teams I have ever met among the internship teams, they were very humble, loving, committed and promising.
During one particular visit to a medical center, interns learned about the various sicknesses and diseases that people in East Africa face, as well as the shortages and struggles that hospitals and clinics face in trying to meet the overwhelming need.
I am so grateful for how the Lord used us all to serve as a team in different ways, but united and committed to see God’s kingdom come into our ministry and in the neighborhood as well. Our time together was a real blessing to our community, our neighbors at St. John’s primary school, and to the entire village as well. It’s a time worth remembering, and we are keeping these youth in our prayers that the spirit continues to convict them in the truth they heard about God and his wonderful plans towards humanity.
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