A heart for orphans

"The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of earth, may terrify no more." Psalm 10: 16-18

Today was incredible. Every Monday at EAC we alternate going to 2 different babies homes: Sanyu (Sahn-uh) and Nsambya (In-sahm-byuh). It took us almost an hour to get there because of traffic, but when we walked into the home it was time to feed the baby-babies! (For those of you who don't get my lingo, that's 1 year and under!) Everyone grabbed their baby, a bottle, a chair and started feeding! As soon as I went to this little mans crib he gave me the biggest smile! His name is Isaac. He was delivered to Sanyu April 11, 2011 and is approximately 5 months old.

(above) In my lap before naptime! I rocked him to sleep! 

(below)Swinging on the swing. We practiced kicking off of my feet to help build his leg muscles!

He's precious!! But what happened today was more than just meeting a sweet, beautiful, happy, loving baby! Over the weekend I spent some time to myself: reading, praying, journaling, etc. I was reading this   book that made me think about why I've been struggling with some things here. It wasn't too long ago that I had a conversation with Jeremy about my lack of interest in the babies homes. We always left early in the morning and I felt like my time was useless there. I don't know why, but my heart was just hardened over it. I told him I felt like it was completely against what I was called here to do, but I couldn't understand why I wasn't just in love with the opportunity to serve orphans. I just didn't get it. 

Well, the story I was reading was about this girl's desire to know more about Christ and to know what it meant to be a Christian, not just say she's a Christian. She heard this guest speaker and after the presentation she approached the speaker asking why she's never felt a connection with Christ like what they described. Long story short, he asked her when did she just point blank ask God for what she wanted to see his response. It really got me thinking about my struggle here connecting with orphans. 

I decided to ask God to give me a heart for his children, but specifically orphans. I really feel like God, because he's so loving and knows me so well, was just waiting on me to figure this out. I finally broke down my pride and admitted that I needed him to open my eyes and heart to these children. So today I go into this project with a completely new outlook and it was life changing. 

As I was feeding Isaac his bottle my heart just broke for all of the beautiful, wonderfully made children in orphanages all over the world. It honestly made me cry all morning. How could I go my whole life thinking that I care for them, but not ever, until this moment, really see them the way God sees them. I mean that sounds harsh, but I've prayed so many times about all of these things I want, the things I'm doing, the things the organization is doing, the things my family and friends are doing, God's will for their lives and not mention orphans and widows. I definitely have a new perspective on this! It was incredible to know the moment I held this baby that God was teaching me through him. I am so excited that I had the opportunity to meet him and pray over him and his little life.  I'm so thankful to serve a loving God, who answers my prayers and knows my heart. 

Tomorrow my team will end our week in the Zerobwe (the village). I'm excited to give this another chance. I feel like I have a completely new outlook on the pain and discomfort that comes with being in Africa... I hope that doesn't sound bad. I'm excited about growing with our team. We have 2 new people here, so hopefully we'll all work in unity! I am helping Jonah lead praise and worship...stepping out of my comfort zone and using my talents to glorify God. Bring on week 4! I continue to miss all of you, but am equally, if not more, encouraged constantly by so many of you- thank you!! xoxoxo

Prayer requests:

For Isaac and the other babies at Sanyu, Nsambya, and all over the world. God has great things planned for their lives! 

Pray for their future families and for their current care-takers. It's amazing how much work these "moms" do each day. 

Our trip to the village: safe travels, safety on projects, and energy for our programs with the children. They deserve our best!

My friend Katy- she burned her leg on a boda a few weeks ago and it's just not healing as quickly as we hoped. She won't be able to go to the village this week and we're all pretty bummed about that, she is as well.

And my family and friends who had to make, and continue to make, sacrifices for me to be here! I praise God for you! 

Hakuna Matata

Week 3 was fabulous! Monday we went to the babies home and helped with some work around the home and played with the kiddies. We found out our safari was pushed back from Tuesday to Wednesday because the barge was broken. So Tuesday I went to Victory school with everyone. It was lovely. I have a wonderful advantage of being here for a while longer than most MSTs. I am really hoping and praying to build relationships with the kids we work with weekly. This week I met Eva. I feel like it'd be easy to know children's names, but when you ask them their name they get really embarrassed and speak into the ground. It's so hard to hear them, especially with everything going on. And on top of that I have a horrible memory, but I'm trying my hardest to say the names I know a lot so I don't forget.

This week was my safari.  Actually, I asked Jayan if I could go and originally she said no. So, last minute I found out I was going! I was thrilled and I definitely needed some rest from the first two weeks here, especially since I'm going to the village next week. I really needed to rest my mind and just spend some time continuing to reflect on God's call for me to be here.

Safari highlights:

 We found this momma lion and her 4 cubs resting after a delightful Warthog dinner. We got pretty close until she sat up like this and then we slowly drove away. You can't make sudden moves around these cats!

I love elephants. Last time I came on safari we only saw like 6 from a distance. This time we saw so many! There are only about 1400 or so in the park. That's significantly down from the start of the park because of poachers. We probably saw about 30 at different distances from our car. It was delightful. 

Day 2 we saw more lions. This time these lions were looking for water. We followed them and watched as this lion and her 2 babies filled up on H2O. I was riding on the top, front of the car, so I definitely thought I'd pee my pants if they got closer. At one point she walked right in front of our car. 

Antelope-a-plenty! There are so many antelopes, and many different kinds, in the park! 

 These are water buffalo fighting over territory. We watched at the one on the right beat his competitor and nudged him in the butt to keep running in the other direction. It was funny.

 Of course, my favorite! I love giraffes. My last trip we didn't see as many as we did last week! They were every where! Just driving down the road we had to stop because they were everywhere. We even saw a teeny baby giraffe with her parents!

 The boat was broken Tuesday, our original departure date, so we went Wednesday-Friday. We did 2 game drives and a boat tour. The game drives definitely were the best.

Continue to pray for my trip. For some reason, it's getting harder for me by the week. Love you all!

Our God.

This weekend I've really tried to reflect on my week in the village. It gets so busy here that I'm having a hard time pulling myself away from being with others, going places and exploring Uganda, or being on the internet, catching up with family and friends. I was talking with Jonah, one of the staff members here, earlier about my week in the village. I feel like my body is crying out because I didn't absolutely love my time in the village and everyone else did. 

As Jonah and I spoke I realized that I had been comparing myself to everyone else. Because everyone loved the village I expected I would also. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved the fellowship with the other MSTs and the children, but I am still  having a hard time embracing the manual labor. I wish I could explain it, but I think the only people who understand my issues are maybe my mom, my sister Stephanie and my friend Deanie. I have exercise induced asthma. It sounds lame, I know. When my body works I can't breathe. Although I longed to help out more I felt useless while I was in the village and that really hardened my heart towards the experience. 

Jonah reminded me that we all have different gifts and talents. God has given each of us a gift and it's ok that I didn't love doing that work, but I rejoice that I can do a little. I suppose there's a high you get, or maybe it's just my competitive edge (That lovely D in me... admissions folks, you get me!) that made me want to work super hard, challenge myself, and cause myself to almost faint from heat exhaustion. Instead of doing what I could, to the best of my ability, I wanted to be the best. I hate that that's how I live life sometimes. I don't want to compare myself to anyone other than Christ. 

This whole situation has reminded me of Romans 12: 1-8 that says,

“Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you. Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

I have been so encouraged to not compare my life, my experience, my circumstances to other people. It's so important to remind myself that God uses me, asthma and all, to bring glory to his name. I need to trust what God has called me to do.

All week I have been praying for passion. I want to see the people here, the situations here, my life and circumstances as God would see them. During worship tonight we started singing “Our God” and the words became real, like a fire in my heart. There’s no one like our God. The lyrics are “Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other. Our God is healer, Awesome in power, Our God, Our God.” As I sang it I started thinking, is that what I really think? Is there no one like my God, our God? As the song continued the lights completely shut out. The city of Kampala turns black. To me it was a simple reminder to worship our God, all distractions aside. It was an incredible moment. Praise the Lord for reminders like that, even if it does mean not having electricity for the night. He is definitely at work here! 

The spirit is willing, but the body is weak...

The village. The village. The village. Where to begin. I will start by saying this is probably the first time that I have gone a week without showering, shaving, or putting on makeup. Of course that's not the only thing this is going to focus on, but I consider it a huge accomplishment to take that out of my mindset. Those things weren't even options for us this week :) 

We tackled a lot. We cleaned 2 wells, planned a program for the school children and planned programs for the village children who aren't in school, ministered and prayed with families, and had fellowship together. I will honestly tell you that going to the village was not my favorite thing. I struggled this week just feeling feeble and weak. I'll start from the beginning....

The first day at the village we set up our campsite and played with some school kids before heading into the village to evangelize and pray with families. Our campsite was a little bit of a walk away from the trade center where to went to put on a program for the kids and meet their families. The roads aren't in good condition, but it was so much fun walking by all of the huts and the children coming our screaming "Mzungo, Mzungo, BBYYEEE!" I learned a new words, although I'm not sure I know how to spell them, but it's Hello, how are you? and I'm fine in Luganda. Also, thank you and you're welcome. I knew thank you, but you're welcome I never knew before. I have decided to try and learn the most Luganda I can before I leave since I'll be here for 15 more weeks. It will definitely come in handy.

Being with the kids was definitely my favorite part of the village. We did programs with them much like we do in Kampala. On Thursday I did a bible lesson with them from Matthew not the sick woman who touched Jesus' cloak to be healed. I felt really compelled to tell that story, even if it was to little children, so they can start to understand how faith in Jesus can change your life! 

The hardest part of the week was definitely the manual labor. We cleaned 2 wells and walked back and forth multiple times to fill up our jerry cans for water. The first day was fine. Our well was smaller and we had a team of about 16 people working on it. The wells are different than you would think. We had to clean them completely out, so that any new water that filled from the well under it would be clean. The first well hadn't been cleaned in 10 years. It was motivating to see our team slashing the tall grass from all around it and the mud come out as buckets of smelly mud passed through our assembly line. The local villagers came to help and laughed at one point in irony saying that the grass we were cutting down was where they came to pray to the rain gods. We made it a point to let them know about the Almighty God who would provide their needs and I silently prayed that God would speak to them through that well. It rained every day this week. So much for grass rain gods. I leaped for joy inside and out each time it rained because I knew that was a prayer answered for so many people who wanted to testify to these villagers! 

After working hard on a well all day, we ran out of water and had to make a trip, mid-day, to the well. It was hot and I was personally exhausted from hauling mud up and down a huge hole. Filling up the cans is a long process. It takes your whole body to pump it out. When we came in the middle of the day, children came from all over with their cans to come be near us. I felt a little like the Samaritan Woman. People were literally stopping their bicycles and boda-boda's and just staring at us at the well. They would say things in Luganda, stare some more, and leave. I know they were enthralled more than anything, but it was weird to just be stared at by adults. It has motivated me to learn more Luganda! 

It was also at this point that I was reminded of something God has been teaching me through this whole process. Jeremy and I spoke about my weaknesses before I left, just how I knew God was going to continue breaking me down, and I was ok with that because less of me means more of him. Well, that afternoon I wanted to carry a jerry can by myself. It's a 5 gallon jug, I think, and I'm not a strong person at all. The women and children do it here every day. If they don't have a bike they carry it by hand or on their heads! I struggled to get back to our campsite and when I finally did I broke into tears. It hurt so bad and I felt so weak and insecure. I kept reminding myself that people do this every day, all around the world, and I prayed to God for strength. Afterwards I took a moment to really just reflect on how God uses moments like that to speak to us. I knew carrying the water would be hard, but I didn't realize God would be reminding me of my weaknesses as I walked alone down the red dirt road. 

By Wednesday I was definitely exhausted. We had children around us 24/7 to play and be entertained. It was hard to keep pushing through. We started work on another well. This one hadn't been worked on in 30 years. It was a mess. I've never seen a team work harder. I'm incredibly thankful for each person on our team this week because we all encouraged and motivated each other to keep pushing through the heat and thirst and hunger and pain. I don't think I've ever worked harder in my life. It rained again on Wednesday and I think we were all thankful for the coolness rain brought, although I wasn't excited about the thunderstorms.


Yesterday was my worst day. We worked harder than Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We wanted to finish the well. It was taking a lot longer than usual. By noon my shoes weighed 10 pounds, so I took them off (please, don't freak out) and I worked barefoot. The smelly mud felt so good on my hot feet. After about an hour of working without shoes the inevitable happened. I cut my foot. It wasn't bad. A rock, I think, just took the skin off the top of my foot right between my last 2 toes. It hurts likes a blister, but it was awful walking around with dirt just pounding it. Pure torture. To make things worse, I got heat exhaustion and almost passed out in the middle of the well project. It was so hot, the hottest day yet, and there was 1 tiny tree for shade, and we had just run out of water. It was an awful feeling, but my team helped my stay calm and my friend Katy walked me back to the camp site to rest, eat and drink. Another team member, Megan, cleaned my foot and bandaged me up. I seriously have the best team, ever.

Earlier that morning I couldn't sleep and got out of my tent to read a little bit before projects. I started reading the book of Philippians and I came across this part of scripture:




^"7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in^[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
 ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."


I can honestly tell you that this week was terrible for me, wonderful and terrible at the same time! As I read this scripture I really meditated on how I need to press on. I don't like being in the village, but I know without a doubt that God called me to Empower-A-Child and that includes going to the village. So I will press on to the goal. I haven't figured out everything I'm supposed to learn yet, but I am sure God is preparing my heart for what he has planned for me! 

I am thankful for the people in my group. They have all taught me so much about faith, encouragement, and love! 

The Village people!

Here we are at week 2, already! This week a group of 16 of us are going to live in the village. Although we have a huge concentration on the city of Kampala, the new addition to the EAC program (well, over the past year or so) is the village where the Empower-A-Child training center will be. My understanding is that when a company purchases land in Africa they usually kick out the tribes, villagers, families living there. Well, Empower-A-Child took this as an opportunity to share with them the gospel of Christ, find out what their needs are, and help bring those to this area. You can see more about the training center at the EAC Website!

There's a lot of work that needs to be done on the land, in addition to helping out the families! There are termite hills taller than me, and stronger than cement, that need to be knocked down. We also have to pull up stumps from big trees from the area. The land needs to be cleared to make way for the foundation. Because it will cost so much to pay for the equipment, gas, getting to and fro (although it would help immensely with time and energy) EAC Staff decided the best thing to do was to save money by having the MST's (Mission Support Team) serve in the village, alternating every other week! We will also, like I said, go around the villagers and help them around their houses, play games with the children, teach them about Jesus, and what I'm looking forward to most of clearing out a well for the people to drink clean water!

This week is our turn! The group that went last week came back and told us lovely stories of using the squatty, exhaustion, being grossed out by so many things, but being completely humbled by the experience. There was a struggle with us wanting to take them away and give them the luxuries we knew of, and questioning how on earth they could be happy, but reminding themselves that this is their way of life. The most we can do is love them and respect them! I'll post pictures and videos as soon as we get back so you know what life in the village is like. We will be back Friday afternoon and if we have internet I will post pictures, updates, and everything then! If we don't have internet in Kampala I will do it as soon as it turns back on.

Prayer requests:

-Our team in the village. We will have new members, just arriving today, who will join with us! My prayer is that this will be a learning experience about God, his promises, his love and just having fellowship regardless of the circumstances!

-Please pray for me: the 2 week curse is upon me. Last year everyone got sick at week 2. I'm starting to have bad upset stomachs (and issues I won't get into that come with that). Pray for rest and health!

-Pray for Craig: he's still not doing well. He is on crutches now, with swelling in both legs (knee and feet). Just pray for God to intervene, that he would speak clearly for Craig to know what to do.

-Pray for the EAC as they lead us this week!

Praises:

-Everyone who has left and come, has done so safely! That is a huge blessing!

-Friendships being built: I think it's intimidating for everyone to come to a new place, but God is faithful and the people here are like brothers and sisters!

-Praise to the team last week who did so much work and set the path for our team this week!

See you in 1 week :) xoxox

My Week in Videos.

Waka Waka, This Time for Africa!

Love love love.

Today was amazing! My days here seem to get better and better, but it sure does feel like I've been here so much longer than 5 days (6 if you're counting the day I actually arrived!). We've done so many projects this week: babies homes, prisons, Primary Schools, High School/Colleges, Childrens hospital, project after project after project. The amazing thing is that with each project our team was more and more motivated. The children and young adults have such a desire to know Christ and feel his love that it has given us the energy and motivation to be our best at every program. This week I conquered 3 tasks: teaching, leading games and coordinating. That's really hard for me, even though I'm one of the oldest ones here. I always say I'm the backbone, not the lead or the face. This is definitely challenging me and I want to be my best for Christ!

Our last program was City View High School. What's great about the high schools is that these children take their only break during the day to come and worship with us. It's always to incredible. They want to shake our hands and welcome us- it's so lovely! Today was just an incredible reminder of how God works past languages, past continents, past all of the things we place in the way. Jonah lead the kids in some Luganda praise songs and I have to say I was intimidated when they first started. I thought, what good can we do just standing up here, listening to them sing worship to us? As I watched them sing and listened to their praises in Luganda I was just incredibly overwhelmed! God was working in my heart even when I didn't know the language. I could feel his presence and his love for all of his children! Matthew 18:20 says "Where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them." It was so evident today that our God is a mighty God! He has called us all by name and has a plan for each of us!

Sometimes I get so worked up on knowing the songs and being the leader or the best that I tend to not enjoy other peoples talents or passions. God has really been revealing that to me this past year. I'm a singer. I critique people like it's my job. I don't mean to, it just happens. There is something about the children, young people and even adults here in Uganda that brings that part of me to shame! My heart burns with their passion! I don't hear someone who can't sing well, and that is exactly how I used to be, I hear someone who is singing and shouting praises to God, our Father! It was incredibly today to be silent and feel the Holy Spirit just move through those kids! It was incredible!

Prayer requests:

- I've been having headaches every day. I don't know why, but they have come every day.

-Continue to pray for Craig. He is healing up, but just longs to get back out into the ministry!

-Pray for our team: next week we'll be doing work in the village. It's going to be tough, but we want to continue to do our best because God has called us to this task!

- For our ability to love the way Christ loves his children, because it's what every person deserves from us!

Praises:

-My team here in Uganda has been amazing! It's such an answered prayer from my first blog post here! Thank the Lord for the guidance of the EAC staff for trusting in the Lord to work in these groups!

- To my church, family and friends who supported my trip to come here: I was reminded and humbled tonight as I was reminded of the incredible opportunity you have all given me and I just thank you from the bottom of my heart!

-The Empower A Child staff for their tireless dedication to these programs!!

I seriously continue to be humbled by this opportunity! I am amazed that God called me here, truly amazed! I can't believe that week 1 is over! WOO!

More Week 1 in pictures:

The Rat.

The other day I had a conversation with Ivan about what TIA means. We've concluded that when it's something awesome it means "This Is America", but if it's something awful it means "This is Africa". Well, last night our electricity went off. It was lovely, actually, because we did praise and worship by candlelight. It was truly incredible. I even showered by candlelight.

Into the evening we decided to have a movie night on the lawn. And the rat race begins. Brace yourself. I walked inside to get something to prop the laptop on so everyone could see and in the dark I see a rat scurrying in the office, down the chair and back out of the door. No big deal. At about 10:30 the electricity came back on and I went inside to update my blog. Rat number 2 comes out from the chair and scurries to the other side of the living room. Startling, but no biggy because he went into hiding and I was not going to attempt to run him out. Well then at 4:30 am I see and hear someone standing at our door. I was so confused b/c it was pitch black outside, but the lights were on and I could see someone in the hallway. I walked out of my room to see Amy standing in the hallway with holding her door open, trying desperately to wake someone up to help her out. I walked into her room, which she freaked out about, and saw a rat on the ledge of the wall.

Amy then explained that she felt the rat scurry across her neck and face, climb up her mosquito net and stand on the ledge on the wall trying to get to her Mister Potato Crisps! The rat was frozen in fear. I'd say he was a good hand length long with another hand length for his tail. After much deliberation I grabbed a laundry basket with a lid to try and catch it in an attempt to throw it outside. Well, I put it up to the wall, he jumped in, and as I went to grab the lid he literally flew out of the basket and ran under the bed. I did all of this while Amy was out of the room so she wouldn't freak out. When Amy comes back we both stand on the bed thinking of a game plan. I'm fine with rats, but I don't like the thought of them running across my feet in the dark. Gross.

Well, we decided to run out of the room and sleep in my room. Right before we jumped on the ground to run 2 rats ran across the floor and into the closet. Amy and I shrieked and ran out of the room, shutting the door behind us. When I climbed in my bed I laughed for literally 5 minutes! It is seriously the funniest thing that happened to me. In 1 night I saw 4 rats in the house. Keep in mind we keep our doors open all day long for the breeze to come in. They come in at night and stay hidden usually. I guess the electricity going out just confused them and they showed their little beady rat eyes to me all night long. So, TIA- This is Africa!

We have given the rats names: Rafiel, Remi, Raquel and Regina. Maybe they even sit secretly under our chairs singing worship songs and praying for peace for Africa. The Lord definitely answered their prayers because they didn't die last night, just sayin'. OH AFRICA!

This week in pictures:

Uganda, May God uphold thee!

Today was amazing. Thank you, friends, for your prayers, encouraging words, and reminders of God's purpose for me here! Today we did 4 projects. It was a crazy, crazy day, but I will cherish it forever. We went started our day at Katalemwa (The Children's Hospital), then went to Clive College (which is just a high school), Dargvan Primary School and Good Choice School.

Katalemwa is always a joy because the children are so joyful. I love that today when we asked a child to pray he thanked God for his life- who does that? It's so great to be reminded of God's blessing of life and we, or I, so rarely spend time actually thanking him for it! Clive College was also awesome. I met my first set of Ugandan twins. They were so excited when I told them about my twin back home. I don't know if they've ever met another set of twins, or maybe it was simply that I was a Mzungo (Mah-zoon-goo) that they were excited. Either way, we took a picture together after a lovely time doing praise and worship! Dargvan Primary School was insane and absolutely fantastic at the same time. I can't tell you how many children were there, but we all crowded into one classroom. It was so much fun! I taught a lesson about Daniel and the Lions Den and they really enjoyed it, so that was encouraging to me. I've been a little intimidated about teaching, coordinating, doing games, etc, so it was nice to conquer that 2 times this week. Nothing like getting thrown in right when you get here to help out! (Just sayin')

The last project was my favorite, and I am so excited that we'll get to go to Good Choice every week that we're in Kampala! There are hundreds of children. They danced and sang to music playing and it was lovely! It made me think of back home because they sang Waka Waka and I'm pretty sure I made everyone in my life listen to that song the whole last week before I left for Africa. We did praise and worship with them, played an egg race game (which was hilarious) and Jamie taught a lesson on the man with leprosy. It was an incredibly long, tiresome, encouraging day. I love children all day long and I couldn't have asked for anything better. I am amazed at how quickly God works in our lives sometimes to answer our prayers and to reveal himself to us!

During devotion tonight we learned about the history of their political system here. I don't know what it is about history, but it naturally just broke my heart. Ivan told us about the President who has been in power for the past 25 years, how their are 3 social classes in Uganda: the very wealthy, the middle class, and the very, very poor. He explained the protests that we've been hearing about in the states and the rising gas prices. They pay 8.00 US Dollars a gallon for gas. 8.00. I can't handle that. I spend so much time complaining about my 3.00-4.00 gas prices, knowing I had a stable job to support me, and people can't even get to work. We prayed for peace in this nation, that God would rule over the crooked, and that his will would prevail. It was incredible. It put my life into perspective.

I know that I'm here and it's easy for this issue to be real to me now, but my prayer is that it will be real always. That we would be a loving world and desire to helps people in different nations and tribes to live. It's a new reality when you go from seeing it on TV to seeing in front of your face. I believe in the work Empower A Child is doing and my prayer is that this nation will remain peaceful with opportunity for them to succeed! Today was just a huge reminder about prayer, faithfulness, trust and love.

I can not begin to express how my heart of overjoyed at the opportunity to be here. It is definitely worth giving everything up for! Thank you for your continued prayer and support!

Some of my luxuries!

Two posts in 1 day, I know! I always joke about my luxuries in life, you know what they are: air conditioning, Starbucks, Target, manicures/pedicures, going out to eat, all the delightful things I work so hard for. I wanted to post some things that are now my luxuries, so you can get an idea of life here!

Jonah leads devotion. It's a huge essential to our daily lives.

You can't tell, but I wanted to come up with a way to show you the lovely luxury of wireless internet! Ah, such a blessing. This is in our living room.

Starbucks instant coffee and creamer. AMAZING lifesaver! It was such a joy to wake up this morning and make a cup of coffee.

My lovely bunk bed with mosquito net. I think I'll appreciate this even more since we'll be living in the village in tents for a couple of days every other week.

My favorite luxury. Only 1200 shillings, which is roughly .60 cents. It's a giant bottle and I don't have to boil water to drink it. It's lovely. And I just walk down the driveway and there's a little convenient store right next door where I can buy this any time.

I just wanted to share some things in my daily life. Enjoy your day! XO

I don't know what about this trip already feels like it's going to be a harder summer, but I've only been here for 2 days and that's how I feel. It may be because I am struggling with the fact that I left an amazing life in SC, probably the best my life has ever been, to come to a place where I know only a handful of people and don't speak the language. I had an amazing job that I loved, a fantastic boyfriend, a lovely little family of puppies and kittens, my family is near, my kids at church and my church family. These are all things I have just spent countless, countless hours praying to God for.

I was talking to my AMAZING sister earlier and she reminded me of something that I wanted to share, and trust me, it came at the perfect time. It's from Deuteronomy 8:2 and says, "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years (of 4 months), to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands." It's such a blessing to be constantly encouraged by my family and friends at home. I've only been here for 2 days, but this whole process has just blessed my life more than everyone will know!

As I was talking to another MST I mentioned the discouragement I had, but I knew that I needed to conquer it for the sake of Christ who called me to this mission. I'm nothing without him and as hard as this is for me to be away from everything that I know I am also reminded of God's calling and can't wait to see what he will do in my heart, here in Uganda, and back home.

This week is going to be BUSY BUSY BUSY! We are going to like 5 primary schools, 4 high schools/college, The babies home, the children's hospital and the prison. That's a lot! Plus, the drives everywhere are the worst...just saying'. Traffic here is awful. I'm teaching a lesson at the school tomorrow, coordinating on event, planning games on Wednesday and a few other things. Then next week our group goes to live in the village for 4 days!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Craig's foot isn't doing well, but he doesn't know what's wrong. His back is also hurting and he is going to the village. Pray for healing for him so he will be able to help in ministry this week.

- Our team: just for unity, compassion and passion for loving these children, their families, and Uganda!

- For my adjustment to all of this: the work, the lack of luxuries I'm used to, and preparing to live in the village. I'm really not excited about not being able to shower for 4 days!

-For the children and families affected by HIV/AIDs in Uganda and around the world. Some of our sponsor children are orphans because of it.

Ode to Columbia College!

Thursday was my last day at CC. I was overwhelmed with love and support, and I was completely thankful to God for the amazing opportunity to work with such great women, both in my colleagues and our students. Columbia College, to me, really does build the best women! :)

I wanted to take a minute just to recognize the amazing women who spent the day with me. I would also like to point out that Christin wasn't there that day, so she doesn't have a picture. Baby Harper comes first and she, being the amazingly, awesome mom she is, stayed home to take care of her!

Samantha, Deanie's paparazzi.

Group shot!! Miss you fabulous ladies!

Deanie Kane

MHizzle for shizzle!

Me and Mrs. Parsley

G'Ster.

Me and my little owlet, Gretchen.

Me and my biggity boss, Julie King.

2 of my workers from the Spring- Tempestt and B.Little

Thanks for a great going away party! Love you all!!