To Begin. . .

First, I wanted to start by introducing myself. My name is Abby (or Mulungi if you’re Ugandan. Ha ha!) and I am preparing to begin a lifelong career as an overseas missionary in Uganda, Africa. I’m currently working on writing a full, detailed post about my story, but I thought it would be a good idea to start out with something a bit shorter.
If I were to sum up my entire story into just one phrase, it would be that God uses the weak to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27). Nothing I have ever done was from my own strength. In fact, a lot of what I have done has actually been a result of my weakness. But that’s the beauty of it. God didn’t choose me to go to Uganda because He saw my strength. He chose me because He saw my weakness.
So, to begin, God called me to be a missionary in Uganda when I was only nine years old. He used many different situations before calling me that prepared my heart to be open to what He was getting ready to say. But, I’ll be honest, I still didn’t want to do it. It took years before I actually had a desire to go. But as soon as I did, nothing was ever going to be able to stop me. Ha ha! God has always been my source of strength. When people would tell me it was too dangerous, I would simply smile. The old Abby would have cried her eyes out at the very idea of doing something that didn’t please everyone. But the God filled Abby didn’t care. She knew it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was to rest in the embrace of her loving Savior.

Sitting with Melisa on my first trip to Uganda

When I was fifteen years old, I went to Uganda on a ten day mission trip. I had never realized before how deeply my heart could love someone until after that trip when I had to say goodbye to the little children that stole my heart the very second they touched my sunburnt skin. After getting back from Uganda that year, I couldn’t go back to life as usual, no matter how hard I tried. Everything had changed. I had to learn the hard way how to deal with my reverse-culture shock. But God, once again, became my shoulder to cry on. He lifted me up from the pit I had put myself in. He woke me up from my sorrow and taught me how to love without holding back. So, when I was sixteen, I went back to Uganda. This time, the trip was much longer, and we faced much greater trials. But where there are trials, faith grows. By the time I returned to the States, I had realized how strong my faith had grown. As a result of this, I prayed a somewhat dangerous prayer, ha ha! I prayed that the Lord would keep my new faith strong. So, once again, I was faced with trial. One day, while I was praying, I felt the Lord call me to do something I had never even considered in all of my life. He told me to move to Uganda without a four year college degree. My initial reaction was, why? This didn’t make any sense to me. What good would I be if I didn’t have a full degree? Surely God wanted me to be independent, not a burden to other people. But, without a full degree, I probably wouldn’t be able to provide for myself in Uganda. I felt so confused. I spent a week and a half praying like a crazy woman. And God, being gracious and kind, spoke to me over and over and over again. He kept repeating what He had told me. Finally, one Sunday, I asked the Lord for one last final confirmation. And that day in church, God told me once again to move to Uganda without my four year degree. So, finally, I submitted to His will and promised to obey. I will be moving to Uganda approximately one year from now.
God has never let me down. He has never filled my cup up beyond what it can hold. I still have a long path ahead of me, full of mountains that need to be moved. But my God has promised to go before me and level my mountains (Isaiah 45:2), so I will not fear.