Carly’s Trip to Uganda

Read how Carly’s trip to Uganda with the college ministry opened her eyes to God’s will for her.

My trip to Uganda truly changed my life. I had never gone on a trip like this before and I did not know what to expect completely. My brother, Travis, had gone on the Uganda trip a couple years before so he at least sort of told me what to expect, but there is no way to ready yourself for the experience this trip is. The night we arrived I remember the only thing on my mind was how tired I was. Everyone was loopy and crazy from lack of sleep which made for some pretty funny memories from the experience on the plane ride.

Once I met William who was in charge of everything on this trip, I was excited. But I was nervous at the same time because this thought of sharing my faith to people in Uganda became a reality. We got to Uganda at about 2:00AM and we were on the road to a prison by 8:00AM the next morning.

The first prison was the scariest for me. I went into that prison not knowing what to expect and not knowing that William wanted all of us to speak that day. I am naturally a very shy and reserved person when it comes to talking in front of large groups of people, so this was quite a stretch for me. After I got past that first day, I began to get more comfortable talking in front of the prisoners. These prisons changed my perspective on life so much. These people are stuck in such a small space with hundreds of other prisoners, and many of them seem so hopeless. Watching the hopeless come to know the Lord in such harsh and horrible conditions was so awesome.

While many were hopeless, some of the prisoners had already come to know the Lord through other trips William had made to see them before. Watching these people that were already saved sing out and praise our amazing Lord and Savior was beautiful to watch. Even though they are stuck in this prison for years and some of them even for life, they were praising the Lord with everything they had! This really convicted me. Here I am, an American girl that has just about everything a person could want or need, and do I worship like those prisoners? Most of the time, that answer is no. Throughout the entire trip I was convicted of how little I praise my awesome God for everything that he has given me. I don’t deserve anything that I have, and none of it is mine. All of what I have belongs to my Savior who gave his Son to die for little ol’ me. I would say that a God that would make that kind of sacrifice for me deserves the highest praise I can possibly give Him!

Throughout the process of leading others to Christ, it caused me to grow a lot in my own way as well. I was able to more fully develop my testimony. I never realized that my testimony could actually have an impact on others until this trip. I finally felt like God was using what I have been through to bring others to Him. The beauty of how God can work through my struggles and hardships was just overwhelming.

This trip truly changed me as a person. I grew so much in my faith, and I was shown a whole different perspective on how to live life. I want to live my life boldly and sold out for Christ. I want my life to make a difference whether that is right here in Evansville or in Uganda. Wherever God wants me to go, I want to go. Finding God’s will for my life right now as a college student is sometimes overwhelming and hard to distinguish, but I know that where He takes me is better than any direction or path I could make for myself. I cannot wait to see where God has me go!