I am so blessed that I was able to go to Uganda this summer to serve at Family Spirit. I have always dreamt of going on a mission trip, and I was so excited when my friend Sara Grace invited me to go to Uganda with the team she was going with.  It was almost surreal that I was finally going to go to Africa.

To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Sara Grace had shown me a lot of pictures and videos which made me so excited to be there and meet everyone.

Showing up on the first day, I was so blown away by how excited the kids were. There was really no way to prepare for how excited they were that we were there and I didn’t expect that much crazy excitement.

From the second we got off the van, they grabbed ahold of our hands, and they never let go. The past 2 weeks with them, getting to love on them, do projects for them, and hear their stories was more than I could have ever hoped for.  I really hope that I can go back next year.

All of the kids showed me how to love so well even though most of them don’t really have any one to love on them and show them affection daily. When these teams come to serve in the summers and other random times during the year, they are so well loved and the joy they show proves it.

The amount of joy they all had was truly inspiring. I am so thankful for this experience, and I will never forget the people I met.

-Erica Ridenhour