When we boarded the plane in February, we carried excitement, nerves, and a deep sense that God had opened the door for this trip. He provided everything we needed financially, and with our children’s school having agreed to time off, as well as our employers saying yes to us taking unpaid leave from work, we knew it was right for us to go. Now, sitting back at home in England, it feels a little surreal and it’s hard to put into words just how much these two months in Uganda have shaped us. What we experienced there wasn’t just a mission trip - it was a re‑awakening of joy, simplicity, community, and faith.

When I look back at my journey with Uganda, I can’t help but smile at how God has woven it into my story. I’ve been a few times before (although it turns out not for about 18 years now!) and the experience left a deep imprint on my heart — the people, their faith, their hospitality, and the way God moves when we step outside our comfort zones. Uganda became more than a place; it became part of my calling.

Sitting at the back of a Christian Union meeting on my University campus in my 1st year, I was very nervous not knowing anyone and wondering why I had felt I should go.  That meeting changed everything for me though. I felt God speaking to my heart for the first time and showing me who He really is, answering my questions, and changing my outlook on Him and who I thought He was. I had never truly understood who God was until this point, but had thought He was a far off God that I just had to kneel and say my prayers to each night to tick a box like a good girl.  There had been a build up to this moment though, and suddenly I just knew He had to exist and that He wanted a meaningful relationship with me - and that no other reason except God existing and Jesus dying for us and rising again made any sense. I felt like Paul (Acts 9:18) where my eyes were suddenly opened and I knew I needed to make some changes in my life.   I went on my first mission trip to Uganda that summer, and I fell in love with the country.  The people, the hospitality, the levels of faith there were truly humbling. (I’ll tell you more about this time and other mission trips later).  I didn’t have a big sign telling me that I was meant to go, but I’d always felt I needed to visit Africa and work with the children there, so I decided to look up a short term mission company and simply apply. I think sometimes it’s just the things we’re passionate about that God wants to use! A year later, I was sitting at the back of Soul Survivor, when we were asked who would take on God’s commission - who would stand and say ‘here I am God, send me’? (Isaiah 6:8). Several of us stood up and I said yes with all my heart, not really knowing what that would mean or where it would take me. All I knew was that I didn’t want a boring relationship with a far off God I had previously imagined, but one with the relational, living, exciting God, who cared for the poor and wanted justice in the world – a relationship where He would graciously let me partner with Him, and make life so much more fun too!