Kendall Snyder:
"This trip hit me in so many ways. This was my first mission
trip so I had no idea what to expect, but man God has never taught me so much
in only two weeks. He taught me stuff way before the trip even started. I went
to Leo my first semester of school this year and all of a sudden over Christmas
break God was saying to my mom and I that I need to go back to Lakewood. So we
listened and I came for the second semester at Lakewood. The first day I
started back we had just started reading ‘Kisses from Katie’ which is what
inspired this trip. Then we found out that we might have a chance to go on a
mission trip to Uganda and it blew me away because I knew I was supposed to go
on this trip and that is one reason why God called me back to this school. So
God taught me that he knows what He has planned for my life and I just have to
listen and obey because I don’t control my life, God does. God is always
present and walks us through every moment of our lives.
The first days we were in Uganda I was still a little shy
because It was my first mission trip and I wasn’t sure what to do or how to do
it. Tina, during home visits and hospital visits, would always have to say
“Kendall do you have anything to say?” and then I would finally speak up. After
about the 3rd day Tina wouldn’t have to ask me anymore, God taught
me how to be bold. I have never been that bold in my life I had hardly ever
prayed out loud or really confess my faith to anyone I didn’t know or that
wasn’t a Christian before. So after that day, I was praying or encouraging just
about everyone we came in contact with and God just kept surprising me with
what I can do if I can just be bold.
Another thing I learned on this trip was how ungrateful I
was for my parents. A couple weeks before we left I had noticed really how
disrespectful I was being to my parents so I prayed that this trip would really
help me to obey them and respect them more when I got back. And that’s exactly
what God did. Just about every lady we went to visit didn’t have a husband
present or if they did they had one present they were abusive. So all these
kids had no father figure or they didn’t have a good fatherly example. So when I got back home I noticed a huge
difference on how I responded and acted towards my parents and our relationship
has probably never been better.
The last thing that really struck me was how joyful everyone
was in Uganda. These people hardly had any food for the day or no bed or no
clothes or no money, but they had Jesus. The girls in the maternity home at
Kupendwa, you could see their love for God in the way they worshipped. You
could tell the Jesus has filled their hearts and they don’t need material
things to be filled. They were always so joyful. So God taught me that when I’m
having what we Americans consider a “bad day” be joyful in what we have and
just praise God all day long.
This trip has got me on fire for God and I prayed there that
it will never burn out. I’m still going strong but I need God’s help every day
to keep that fire. Thanks to this trip and my new boldness for God I am getting
baptized in August and I can’t wait!!
This trip was the best thing that has ever happened to me, I
have countless other things that I have learned but I don’t think I could write
about all of them. I love Uganda so much and I can’t wait to go back. I love
the friendships that I made and friendships that grew during this trip. I love
everyone that we met there, their country, and our team. I could not have asked
for a better group of people to go on this trip with me. Thank you to everyone
that has prayed and supported us! I love you all" J
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