$9000 Blessing

I was about to blog about the amazing chance my team had to bless countless ministries in Uganda with our extra $9000 we raised but two of my teammates did it so beautifully I will just refer you to their blogs. Thanks guys!!

Katie
http://kingandakingdom.blogspot.com/2011/04/9000-ugandan-give-away.html

Jenn
http://nothingsandnotions.blogspot.com/2011/03/uganda-stories-giving-more.html

The Lord Speaking

Have you ever had one of those moments when you heard the Lord speaking to you directly through someone else. I just had one of those and it could not have come at a more perfect time. I was listening to a sermon about God's will/calling for your life and God made me aware of so many things. First, that there is a universal call for every Christian's life and it is to live faithfully, fruitfully, and finish well. The Bible is full of so many "callings" and I fear that we get caught up in waiting for a sign or to feel that special emotion but if we were to just read His word it is sitting there waiting for us!

I want to live faithfully in my walk with the Lord. I want to trust Him with all of my heart and honor Him in every part of my daily life. Yes, God blessed me with the opportunity to travel to Uganda and serve the fatherless. He changed my life there and I will never be the same but I'm not there right now. I don't ever want to forget what I have seen and I will continue to pray about what God wants me to do with the experience but I do know what I should be doing right now. I need to be living faithfully by going to school, working hard, honoring him in my relationships, being a friend, making disciples etc... It is so easy to get caught into the trap of wanting that glamorous "calling" and pull on your heart from God towards a specific thing or path. He may put a strong desire/calling on your life but He may not. And in the meantime I want to be faithful to what God has given me right now!

By living out the fruits of the Spirit, by blessing and serving others who I live life with, by praying for the world and the country I have fallen in love with while I am here, and by being proactive and acting on God's living and breathing word.

Micah 6:8 What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Praise God for answering my prayer and placing this message on my heart.

Where Do I Go From Here?

Wow I am back. I can't believe the trip went so fast and I have to reengage back into school life again. Adjusting is always something that takes me awhile. Coming back to school from being abroad was a crazy time period trying to get used to this life again. It will be different this time but I pray that I don't let this past week become a blur and only a memory. I don't ever want to forget all of those beautiful faces and how they touched my life. Want I really want to know is, where do I go from here. God really broke my heart while I was gone. He humbled me and opened my eyes to the reality that so many of His children face daily. The hopelessness, the rejection, the loss and confusion. So much pain and suffering but they have SO much joy! I want that joy. I know there are distractions that I need to remove from my life in order to hear the Lord more clearly and I am going to work to minimize the chaos of my life as much as possible. It's so hard being thrown back into school, homework, and busy things that keep me from pursuing the Lord as whole-heartedly as I would like to. Finding balance in life is so important but so difficult! I miss the peace of Uganda, I miss my wonderful and encouraging team, I miss feeling God's presence all around me day and night. But this is where I am now, this is where God wants me to be and I am going to seek Him here just like I did in Uganda. Who knows what God will ask me to do next, but I know much lies ahead in my life.

I will continue to post on my blog for awhile adding more details about the trip and about my life. My team ended up having $9,000 extra dollars to bless the people we visited with while we were in Uganda and I will get a list of what we did up here soon for all of my supporters. I'll also be sending out a thank you letter soon so be looking for time :) In the meantime as they say daily in Uganda, May God Bless You!

Final Days

I didn't end up blogging last night so I have two days to briefly write about. Yesterday morning we spent the morning with the Karamajong tribe. These kids are the least of the least in Uganda. They are the poorest and the least respected. Katie bused them in from their village on two buses. There were about 130 children smashed onto each bus, it was quite a sight to see! These kids were definitely different from the Amazima children that we had been with the day before. They were clearly malnourished, much more needy, clingy, and hungry. When they were told they could play the sprinted to the playground in a mob. It was heartbreaking to see. But what was more difficult was meal time. Like the day before there was a huge pot of rice, one of beans, and some chicken. The Karamajong children are there every week but they were pushing and shoving relentlessly to get their food. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! All of the children were given plenty to eat and each week they get food but they still worry that they may not and feel like they need to be the first to get food. I will never complain about being hungry again!

Around 1 we left to go back to Canaan's and say goodbye. On the bus back tears instantly formed in my eyes. I had no idea that I would become so attached to that place. The children again were jumping up and down, SO excited to see us when we pulled in. Ruthie ran into my arms and I picked her up, never wanting to let her go! It was so difficult saying goodbye, all of the team was emotional and feeling so sad to leave the place that we had come to love. I finally had the courage to kiss Ruthie and all of my girls not goodbye, but see you later, knowing I will be back again soon! I left a part of my heart there with them yesterday.

Today we spent our last day serving at Royal Hope Academy in Kampala. The school is run by Rebecca Sorensen and she is such an amazing woman. We got to get to know her today and she has such a sweet spirit and deep passion for what she is doing. Her school is called Royal Hope academy because she talks about how she is serving God's royalty, his children, his orphans who have a father in Him as we all do. The children there were very clingy and needy, kind of like we had experienced with the Karamajong. They were not used to teams being there but it was good for us to pour out our love once more and fill some of their need to be loved.

I can't believe the trip is over! We fly out tomorrow at 5pm and I will be home around 2pm on Wednesday! I still need to reflect and process what God has been teaching me here before I write a blog post about it but God has rocked my world in Uganda and I am definitely coming home changed. Thank you AGAIN to EVERYONE who has supported me in ANY way along this journey! I am so grateful, humbled, and appreciative. I love you all!

A Humbling Day

Saturday March 19, 2011

My heart is heavy as I think about leaving Canaan’s tomorrow. Every day I am here I fall in love more and more. I have some exciting news to share! Ruthie, the little one that I have fallen in love with needs a sponsor and I am going to sponsor her! She is 3 years old and has only been here at Canaan’s for two weeks. Her parents both died in a car crash and she is completely orphaned. She has become my little love bug. Every time she sees me she runs into my arms and cries every time I put her down. I am going to be so sad to leave her and will miss her so much!! But, it will be so awesome to sponsor her and watch her grow. I already can’t wait to come back to Canaan’s and see her along with all of the other children I have come to love. I had so many great conversations today with children and many divine moments.

I need to back track though. For most of the day we spent our time working with the children of the Amazima ministry. I got to meet Katie today and many of her children. Their facility there is so nice! They just recently built an amazing playground for the children and a chapel. It was so cool to see it in person and see the children’s faces as they played. The big thing that Amazima does is feed the children every Saturday. I got to help serve all of the children their food, which was humbling and quite the experience. We made an assembly line filling their bowls with plenty of rice, beans and chicken. There was so much food and each child ate it all when I couldn’t even finish all of the rice! After spending the day at Amazima we headed back to Canaan’s for an amazing afternoon/evening.

We had the opportunity to provide the children at Canaan’s with nice new shoes for school, along with socks, and silly bands for them to play with. We called each child by name, took their shoes off, washed and dried their feet and put their new shoes on. I loved being able to serve the children in this way and give back to them just a little bit of what they have given to me. I have never experienced this kind of love. The children honestly don’t even know the word mean. They don’t know hate. They only know the Lord’s love and how to share it with others. So many children have written me the sweetest notes that I will forever cherish. I can’t believe how much being here has changed my heart and made me feel so whole and fulfilled. I prayed before I came for God to show me childlike faith, and He has gone above and beyond!

Tomorrow we spend the day again at Katie’s but working with the Karamajong tribe. These children will be bused in from where they live. They are considered the least of the least and will be the poorest children yet. I only have two more days left and am going to make the most of every minute I have here. It is so exhausting but the Lord has been providing and giving me his energy to keep going. He is so mighty!

All Smiles

Friday March 18, 2011

Ah what another long but fulfilling day I spent here in Uganda. We started our day off in Kampala back at Return Uganda ministry. It was a great feeling to pull up in our bus and see the children jumping up and down and excited to see us. I had about 6 little ones run to me and cling to me for the rest of the day. We spent our time with them singing, teaching them songs, dancing, and doing a VBS lesson. Today we were learning about Abraham as well as how special we are as God’s creation who were made in his image. The children made cute masks with feathers and they loved it! We also got a quick tour of the home that the children stay in and we got to see the mattresses that people donated money for! Thank you to all who donated money for these, and here they are!!






It was sad to say goodbye to the children in Kampala, but all of us were aching to be back at Canaan’s where we all have been calling home. It really does already feel like a second home to all of us. When we drove up to Canaan’s the children were screaming and singing and SO excited to see us! It was such a warm welcome and all of my team members faces lit up along with mine. I will be so sad to leave this place and all of the children and people that I have fallen in love with. My heart is so at peace here. We had a night of singing praise to our Father tonight with all of the children and it was wonderful again. I just love hearing their voices lifting up the name of Jesus. They have so little but so much faith. I see God’s face in each and every one of them. There is so much pain in many of their eyes though, from their pasts and their stories. Oh how all of the children need to know that their Heavenly Father loves them so much and will never leave them or hurt them. Praise God for his faithfulness!!

Tomorrow we will spend the day working with Katie Davis’ children through her Amazima ministry. I’m excited to meet yet another group of bright shining children. I’m so sad that we only have 3 full days yet, I am not ready to leave!!

On the bright side though, I just wanted to acknowledge how amazing of a team I am working with. I have been so inspired and encouraged by the faith and integrity of these people. I am the youngest in the group and have been learning so much from their example. I am so thankful to be on this team of many ages and personalities that all mix so well. I am thanking God for uniting us and hand picking us for this missions trip. Shout out to my team, I love all of you!!

Feels Like Home

Hey everyone! We are back from a long day filled with excitement, energy, many hugs and kisses, and lots of lovin'! Today was our first day at the ministry called Return Uganda. Pastor Samuel is the head of this ministry where orphans from Kampala, Uganda come to eat, sleep, and feel God's love. There are currently only 15 orphans actually staying with Pastor Samuel but they have SO much need. Today there were about 150 children with us but there are up to 400 who venture to and from this place. The land that they have their "church" on (which is just a tent) is rented and not a large area at all. Currently only 3 of the children are sponsored but today may have been the start of something that will change that. Visiting Orphans set up a meeting with Joseph, a representative who lives in Uganda from Hope Chest to come and talk to Pastor Samuel about setting up a church link with them. Basically, from what I know, Hope Chest is an organization that links a church in the United States or elsewhere who have a heart for orphans to an orphan ministry. There is a lot of corruption in Uganda with Pastor's having orphanages for money and other things so there can be difficulties with creating these partnerships with churches. Apparently both Pastor Samuel and Joseph were apprehensive at first but it went well. Please pray that Pastor Samuel at Return Uganda could get support through Hope Chest. I am also planning on sharing a lot of detailed information about the ministries I have been visiting and how you can help or get involved when I get home.





Our day at Return was very different than Cannan's but wonderful. This was only the second time that a team from Visiting Orphans has been there so the children are still a little confused about why we are there and obviously who we are. It took them awhile to warm up to us but once they did they had the time of their lives. We were there for 6 hours today! I spent my time dancing and singing with the children, teaching them the hokie pokie, talking with them, trying to learn more about their lives, and hoping they felt cared for and encouraged. I met so many wonderful children today who just need to know they are loved. My heart is broken daily by the poverty and stories that these children have. But through it all, they still have life in their eyes. The one thing that so many of them are lacking is hope. It is though so many of them don't know how to dream.






God is definitely speaking to me loudly here but I am still trying to decipher what He is actually trying to teach me. i am so convicted by so many things but also a little overwhelmed with it all. Please pray with me that God will impress upon my heart what he specifically wants me to learn, and how my life needs to change after I return home. It's crazy though because Uganda feels so much like home. I have traveled so many places and this is the first time where I have actually thought, I could live here, I could spend every day holding children and be completely content. The Lord definitely orchestrated this for me and put this desire on my heart.