January 21, 2026

Shortly after my trip with KCC to Uganda, I went on a pre-planned vacation to Asia with my family. While in Asia, I opted to stay in at the hotel a day here and there as my travels caught up with my tired body!  During that time and at odd hours of the night, I reflected on my time in Uganda and summed it up in three words: Lifted, Lineage, and Loved.  

• Lifted: I felt nudged to go to Uganda but felt very anxious to go. I got sick right before we had to fly as well. In Uganda, I felt lifted and walked on a cloud of prayer. I ended up enjoying every aspect of my time there from being with the team, doing VBS and interacting with the children, and seeing God's work in Uganda. Thank you to all the prayer warriors!  

• Lineage: Midweek, when each VBS's activities became more familiar, I paused to survey Living Hope. We had gotten a tour the first day we arrived, so what I heard ran through my mind as I looked around at the land, school, soccer field, bathroom, cooking, chapel/dining hall, dormitories, all of which KCC had made contributions to building and which provided the Ugandan children a safe haven from the harshness of their surrounding and lives. Then it struck me that I, too, had somehow joined those before me (and hopefully those to come) in serving and giving to Living Hope. I had joined the KCC lineage of serving and giving to this particular group of Ugandan children. I felt completely quieted and humbled.  

• Loved: I never planned to be in Hawaii longer than 5 months to do some outrigger canoe paddling. That was almost 3 years ago and, through unexpected events, I am still here and I wonder why. The VBS kids' song "God is for Me" that we sang kept playing inside my head long after Uganda, and especially at odd hours when I couldn't find my sleeping rhythm in Asia. "If God is for me, who can be against me? When I just don't understand, God is for me. When life doesn't go the way I planned, God is for me." I can trust God loves me in the in-between and just chill.

Thank you to Van Thy for sharing your reflections on your experience in Uganda!