June - The Heat Of Summer

June was full of traveling and friends.  Jude had his last elementary kid's camp. Zeke headed to Uganda. Rainy had her nanny job, with the perks of a neighborhood pool that we got to partake in, along with her full-time job at the studio. We tried to squeeze in as much friends and fun as we could!

 

Looking Back Uganda 2022

 

You CAN Make A Difference

How can you look at a face like this

and NOT melt?!

Each of these children have a future.

We can help make sure that their future is secure.

You CAN Make A Difference In A Child's Life!

By sponsoring a child for only $30/month YOU can ensure that:

they have food, education, and the much needed medical treatment they deserve.

Above all else, YOU can ensure that they grow up hearing 

about the HOPE and TRUTH of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Come out to Journey this weekend to see which child you are going to sponsor.

"Religion that God our Father accepts 

as pure and faultless is this: 

to look after orphans and widows in their distress 

and to keep oneself 

from being polluted by the world."

James 1:27

Story In Pictures - Uganda

Days One And Two

A fishing village on Lake Victoria

The body of this guy was about the size of a quarter!

The green bucket was for washing clothes.
The kids were taking a bath with the blue bucket.

Days Three And Four

The village where all the demon activity took place

This little girl clung on to me all day.
I got to sneak her a baby doll and a sucker before we left the village.

This was the day when all the kids were "observing" my whiteness:)

Day Five

This was me speaking in church on Sunday morning

 Charles invited us to his home on Sunday evening.

Days Six And Seven

Bukaleba Orphanage

Josh holding Saffiki, the little boy we support

Kelly and I interviewing the children

Shabila, the girl that stole our hearts!

And This Was Our Awesome Team

Kids Will Be Kids, Even In Uganda

So...How Was Your Trip?

I've been having a really tough time morphing back into life here at home.  I don't know exactly what it is.  The only way I can think to explain it is that I have so many different thoughts and feelings that I can't seem to cram them all into my head in order to process it all.

So, when people ask, "So...how was your trip?", I don't exactly know where to begin.

First of all, I stare into space and try to figure out if the person asking the question is truly curious about the details of the trip, just being friendly, or really curious about the DETAILS of the trip.

I mean, what part do you want to hear about?

The way I watched 4 movies on the airplane rides trying to stay awake the whole way there...
The part about the change of plans from getting a full night's rest at the "hotel" before heading the rest of the way in the bus, to just going ahead and making the full trek in the middle of the night...
The fact that I kept forgetting to brush my teeth with bottled water instead of tap water...
The way the kids in the first village totally rushed us every time we came into sight...
The beautiful huts made out of clay and straw that they keep so clean...
The smells...
The way the Ugandan's drive as if the painted lines on the roads (the ones that actually have lines, that is) are merely suggestions...
The animals...
The hurting people...
The hope of the story of Christ that we brought...
The demon(s) that were cast out of the woman...
The evil spirits that were cast of the home of a woman and her two children who were being strangled at night by them...
The evil spirits that were cast out of the home of another family who had lost 5 children to witchcraft...
The way I smuggled a little girl, who had become attached to my right hand for two days, a baby doll and watching her eyes light up, knowing that this was probably the only toy she had...
Having just the right size shoe in my pack for the preteen girl who had no shoes at all...
The tears I shed as I tried to encourage a young, single mother with 2 sick children...
The friendships I made among out team...
The way the Lord scripted out the perfect messages among us, his servants...
The heaviness I felt in our room that one night.  So heavy, in fact, that I was crying out of fear and couldn't even close my eyes because of the evil images and Josh literally read the Bible out loud until we could sleep...
The fact that almost everyone else on the team experienced the same evil presence in their rooms at around the same time, that very same night...

Sharing my testimony to inmates, wondering how in the world I could ever possibly relate to them, when in the end they ALL chose to follow Christ...

The people...

The fact that 3 of us came to each other one morning with the same message with a different twist to share with the ladies in the village that morning...

The way the keyboard player spends half the song tinkering around, note-by-note, trying to find the key the singers are singing in:) (this one is a personal favorite of mine)...

The night where we were invited over to the director of Arise Africa's home to visit with his family.  We all watched him turn from director to daddy as he joked with his kids and made-up songs about staying away from hookers (I guess you had to be there for that one, ha!)...
The fact that we have the power to make people feel valued and unforgotten...
Seeing those kids in the orphanage...
Tickling and playing with those kids in the orphanage...
Loving on those kids in the orphanage...
Kissing on those kids in the orphanage...
The food...
Walking along a dusty road and handing out suckers to little kids...
The conviction I'm feeling in my heart...
The way I got SOOOO sick the last night there...
The fact that I watched a total of 6 movies on the way home because I had butterflies in my stomach in anticipation of seeing my kids again and simply couldn't sleep...
Saying "yes" to God, but wondering what exactly the next step is...

Really, I could go on and on.

So, if you are really wondering about my trip, could you please be a bit more specific.  I'm having a bit of a hard time processing it in my own head, much less trying to explain it to other people.

Resting In His Arms

This is Shabila.  I fell in love with her

as soon as we walked up the steps of the orphanage

and she held her arms up for me to pick her up.

As a matter of fact,

she wouldn't let anyone else hold her or pick her up.

I quickly realized that I really needed to get to work

so I brought her over to Josh

thinking maybe she's find some comfort in his arms.

She went right to him! 

She became more than comfortable with him.

In fact she had a death grip around him

 as she slept safely in his arms.

*****************************************************

I'll be giving full reports throughout next week as I am still trying to process everything in my head.  Right now I am drinking lots of coffee to stay awake and spending every minute I can with these three children of mine that have been attached to us like extra limbs since we walked in the door from the airport:)

Have a GREAT weekend, I know I will!

The Day I've Been Waiting For

This didn't post yesterday before we left, but here it is...a day late:)

I've been waiting for today since we got here in Uganda.  We are headed to the orphanage to play with the children today.  We sponsor one little boy named Saffiki and we get to meet him TODAY!  Rainy and Zeke picked out some toys to give him and I can't wait to see his face when we give them to him.

Pray for Kelly and I as we work one-on-one with each of them getting current pictures and information to give to their sponsors.  There are about 50 children so we have a full days work ahead of us.  Pray that we can communicate well together with the kids and that they open up to us quickly.

Also, pray for Faima, one of the orphan girls.  Last night she had a very hard fall and had to be rushed to the doctor.  She lost consciousness and several of her teeth.  The last I heard she had woken up and was doing much better, but the doctor had not examined her face yet.

**I'm bringing an empty bookbag today in hopes that I can sneak one of the littler ones inside to bring home;)**

_________________________________________

So, we made it back from the orphanage.  Kelly and I got through 30 children and only have 17 more to finish up tomorrow.  I am more exhausted tonight than I have been any other night since we began our ministry here.  I think we all shed more tears today than any other day.  The children were so sweet!

One little girl found me as soon as I walked up the stairs and stayed with me for a majority of the day.  She even took a nap on Josh's shoulder...

Pray for our last day of ministry today.

To my own babies, mommy and daddy will be home soon!
I miss them so!!!

Not Me Monday - Ugandan Version

When the Ugandan children began looking at me and giggling I got very offended and became self-conscious, wondering what they were laughing at.   How rude;)

And seeing as how uncomfortable these children were making me feel, I would NEVER sit down in the middle of them and begin giggling along with them.


No way, not me.

For starters, the ground is way too dirty and there are far too many diseases that could be caught.

And since I definitely didn't just sit down in the middle of them, they wouldn't have followed my lead sitting almost on top of me and pointing and laughing.

Since this never happened I surely didn't pick up on their cues and realize that they were laughing at my skin color and how different it was.

After not realizing this, I would never hold my arms out and begin placing their little fingers on my freckles and veins.  That would be entirely too weird and my personal bubble is much too small for that!

I'd never allow that, not me!

I'd certainly never allow it to get as far as allowing dozens of little Ugandan children then explore the hair on my arms, freckles, fingernails, toenails, veins, knees and bottoms of my feet.  I mean, that's just weird!  I could just never go for that!

Nope, not me!

But if it were to happen, I'm sure they would love every minute of it and want to just sit there for over 20 minutes and laugh and giggle with me as we point out the amazing differences that God created between us.

Just Another Wild Day In Uganda

I don't have time to give all the details.  I'll just be sweet and leave you hanging;)

Yesterday was just another normal day here in Uganda, full of casting out demons, sneaking baby dolls to a little girl that befriended me throughout the day and literally speaking words given from the Lord to a large group of ladies.

You know, just one of those "normal" days.

I'll give you more details later.

We're headed out to Arise Africa's church plants to minister this morning.

Prison Recap

Going to the prison yesterday was a surreal experience. We received a letter from the warden stating that we could not enter the prison so they brought some of the prisoners to us in the village church.  There were 14 of them.

They came in and could not even make eye contact with us.  They were full of shame and guilt and had no hope.  You could just see it in their eyes and the way they carried themselves.

We sat down together and I got to share my testimony of how the Lord has worked in my life.  I don't know if my heart has beat so hard in my chest before!  I was so nervous.  I had been praying all the way there about what I could share to these men.  How I could encourage them.  I don't have a clue as to what they have done or what they are going through, but I felt the Holy Spirit speaking through me.  It was like nothing i've ever felt before.

I talked about choices and the consequences of my choices and how my choices not only effected me, but my entire family, my friends and my relationship with my future husband.

But I told them the hope that I had in the Lord and the relationship I now have with him.  I told them that having him in my life doesn't make my life easier, but now I have the Lord to help me make better choices.

Josh then brought the gospel.  He did a great job!  By the end all 13 prisoners had received this free gift of salvation!  It was incredible.

After we finished talking we handed out gifts to them, toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap.

Then, our translator, Pastor Timothy, whom you wouldn't want to get caught alone with in a dark road (he is a HUGE black man...but really a gentle teddy bear) gave his testimony of when he was in prison and how the Lord changed him.  He shared in the most gentle voice I've ever heard to these men were in tears in the end.

What a wonderful day!  We did some hut-to-hut when we got back to the village and got to hold some newborn babies and love on their mothers.

It is good to be here!

I'm Going To Prison

Wow! Yesterday was an incredible day.  I was able to speak with the women about submitting to the Ultimate authority in love and then brought connected it with the Fruit Of The Spirit and living lives that portray these characteristics.  They seemed very receptive.

After I spoke I got to spend time encouraging one of the local interpreters from the village and she took me to her home and I met her family.  She has a very sad story and she was very discouraged.  It was such a blessing to be able encourage her just by being with her, listening to her story and allowing her to cry while she held her sick baby.  They have so little but they trust so big!

We are about to venture out into another day of ministry.  While the rest of the team goes to a new village Josh and I are headed to minister to a couple of local prisons and share the gospel.

Thank you so much for your prayers.  Continue to pray for confidence in sharing the gospel as we rely on the Holy Spirit to work through us.  The team is really beginning to gel as we get to know each other.  I mean, when you share a moment such as peeing in the bush with a bunch of pigs how can you not, ha!

Have I mentioned how tempted I have been to bring a dozen black babies little black baby home?

We Made It!

We made it!

After a 1.5 hour flight, a 7.5 hour flight, another 7.5 hour flight and a 3-hour drive...we made it.

I got to bed at 2am and slept until about lunchtime yesterday before we headed out to our first village.  Josh sat in with the men in the first village.  I got to share with the ladies.  They are so beautiful!  And the babies...oh my goodness!  I can't begin to explain the way your heart aches and loves for these people that you do not even know!

The rest of the team did some school ministry and worked with the village kids.  GREAT DAY!

After the men and women got back together Josh and I grabbed our interpreter and headed down the path to the huts to go love on the people and share the saving news of Christ.  It was a little bizarre bit distracting having the circumcision party parading around with their statues and machetes and drums while we were sharing the gospel, but we were reminded that it is not us who saves, but the Holy Spirit.  The two women we shared with prayed to receive Christ!  Ameena!

This village is right on the shore of  Lake Victoria and our interpreter was from that village so he took us down to see his boats and the HUGE fish they catch.

I was broken, again, seeing how little these people have and how happy they are with nothing!  A little hut or boarded shack that they call "home".  The little naked babies crawling around the clay path in crap while they look for crumbs to eat is heartbreaking.

We are about to head out to this village to work with the same church in just a minute so I need to go.

Pray for receptive hearts today as we pour into these people.  Pray for team unity.  Pray for boldness for me and the rest of the team!