The eve before the eve we leave....

I have so much more to post about our time here in Uganda...

But right now I am a mix of emotions...

I can not wait to see my little 5 and husband again... CAN.NOT.WAIT!!!!

I miss them so much it is crazy...

Yet, I know to cherish those moments with my older two alone, my niece, my sweet friend Katie whose daughter is hanging out with Samuel in Heaven, old friends, and new ones...

I know better than to wish any time away...

If the truth be told... My husband has always been ready for the mission field...
If the truth be told, I have been the one holding him back, at least until the last few years...

If the truth be told... I was the one who needed to come to Africa this year...

I have felt The Lord stirring in my heart BIG TIME over the last 6 mos or so... I know He is doing a work... I know He has plans for our family... But truly we have no idea what they are... I am praying that The Lord makes His very best plans for Greg, his ministry, our family, our ministry as a family, abundantly clear...

Every time something new or big happens, like Isaiah being born clear out of the blue.. I have thought was this it Lord? A glimpse into your bigger plan for us? Or now being here... I wonder again... Ultimately, I just want to be a willing servant...

If the truth be told.... I am a little fearful to return... I am afraid to transition back into American life... I am by far not normal, by many people's standards... But now after what I have lived, seen, smelled, touched and experienced, I feel even WAY more not normal... Lord please allow me to transition gracefully back into life at home with my sweet family... Yet allow all that has happened in the last 2 weeks to color everything in my future in a whole new light...


So on the eve of the eve before we leave... To head back to the states...
Precious memories are forever etched in my mind...

Memories of ...
Caleb walking back from church hand in hand with a precious boy The Lord saved just a day from death not too long ago...

Louis boldly proclaiming, "I love Jesus!!" At the baby home and hearing loads of little Ugandan voices echo back loudly... "I love Jesus!!!"

Katie tenderly working on wound after wound on foot after foot affected by the jiggers here...

Ryane being Ryane, making us all laugh hysterically...Yet embracing fully the hurt and brokenness of this place...

Ella allowing that group of boys their attempt at weaving her hair....FUNNY!!

Dwight, our fearless leader making sure we saw everything we could see here in Uganda... And getting down and dirty with us...

Emma, being a girl of 19... So excited to be in her new home here in Uganda... (It is so neat seeing the Lords plans unfold for her life right in front of our eyes)

Countless young women doing amazing radical things to show and share the love of Jesus with the fatherless kids here...

Team member after team member setting aside their wants or desires to love on, care for, get dirty (really dirty!!), getting peed, pooped, or vomited on by these precious little ones here. It has been such a blessed time...

Orphaned baby after orphaned baby or child, innocent and beautiful, all just needing to be shown love, care, tender human touch, Jesus' warm love...

My heart is touched... My heart is changed... My heart has fallen in love with this country AND with quite a few little ones... My heart has been so touched by some beautiful God loving God fearing older Ugandans...

My biggest prayer is that The Lord will use all of this... Not allow my heart to forget the precious things He has taught me here... That He will direct our footsteps and continually open up our hearts wide to HIS will and plans for our lives...

The street child project

Another amazing young woman on fire for The Lord and willing to follow Him to the ends of the earth to answer His call on their life.... Seriously, I am in awe of these young ladies who are missionaries here...

Meet Jenny Morgan of the street project here in jinga.... We went to church with her crew of former street boys and came back to their home for lunch and a game of soccer... Caleb and Louis played hard... I tossed the football around with some kids.... I am not sure that they have ever seen a football... But Futbol, our soccer, they are awesome at:)

Worship was amazing... Loved hearing the, loud, heartfelt worship. It was beautiful!!! I loved worshipping with my brothers and sisters here together... All different colors... All worshipping the same God!!

This ministry is wonderful... Basically pretty similar to API, where we were last week:). The stories of these boys who were former street boys are gut wrenching and painful to hear. What a transformation The Lord has done in their lives...

Many of these kids take to the street because of poverty, or of being a part of a polygamist family... It is not uncommon for kids to have up to 30 some siblings. Usually no one dad can support that many children, so some are forced out... Child sacrifice is still practiced here amongst Muslims. So kids will take to the streets to be safe even though the streets are not a safe, nice, or good place to be... In fact they are frightening and incredibly dangerous... Drug abuse, abuse of all kinds... Etc...

One little boy we met today had walked (what was a 5 hour drive ) to get to jinga because he had heard of the city and life was so bad at home... His dad had died, his mom was nice but paralyzed and couldn't do much for him. It was his uncles that knew he was set to inherit the land because he was the only son. Because of this, his uncles were trying to kill him so they could acquire the land... Literally his own family trying to kill their own blood for their own selfish gain... So He ran away... And let me tell you... He is precious and funny and full of spunk. What a neat kid today...

I could go on and on with different stories on these kids... Sad, scary, but miraculous stories...

Not too long ago Jenny rescued a little boy maybe 6-7 years old when he was screaming in the street in broad daylight. There were 2 men who had a machete and were trying to take this little boys head off... He was supposed to be a child sacrifice... Unreal!!

Because it is illegal to be on the streets and there is no government help for street kids they are round up and put in prisons. If she finds them while they are still on the streets, Jenny helps to find sponsors for these kids and gives them a permanent home once they have proven that they want to be off the streets...

There are over 10,000 street kids in Uganda. I was shocked to hear that the government doesn't do anything for them... In America these little boys would be put in a shelter or foster care or something... But not arrested or beat by police for being on the streets... It is crazy!

Jenny and The Street Child Project are doing a fantastic job with these boys:) It was so encouraging to see the work they are accomplishing and most importantly the faith they are sharing with the boys here... Many of which are now Christians but came from Muslim families... God is good!!

Jinga

We left Kampala yesterday for jinga... Jinga is beautiful... Way more lush and unpopulated in comparison to Kampala. We hooked up with some friends Louis and Greg knew from last years trip...

Let me just say we are an hour from the equator...AND IT FEELS LIKE IT!!! It is warm and humid... But beautiful all the same...

Today The Lord orchestrated 2 beautiful conversations with 2 different people... Both Americans who either just moved here or are in the process of moving here with their families ... Both doing great ministry work here... I love how God does that... Puts those exact people right in your path...

Today we spent some time at an orphanage for kids with disabilities called Ekisa. It was started a couple of years ago by 2 young ladies who are now 23!!! Yes, you heard me right... They started this orphanage at 21 years of age!!! The kids are well cared for and loved.... The mamas that work there seem to do a great job and be happy. We have been other places that are very different... Where the mamas (women who care for the kids) really don't seem like they like their job. This was inspiring and beautiful!!

These young ladies are doing a fabulous job!!

One of the pictures on this post is of the new team we are working with. I also posted pics of jinga and our great Ugandan friend, George, who keeps us safe and is so trustworthy:).

Super cool orphanage model

One thing I love about coming to Uganda with IVO is that they work very hard to work us very hard:):). Kidding... But we are exhausted In a really good way.... Really though, they work really hard to give us the opportunity to see so much of the problems and great work being done here.

Today we went to see a four square church run orphanage. It was awesome... So neat to see something so positive... A breath of fresh air... They have a beautiful church built and the whole top floor is their orphanage. They have 30 kids there now ( some of the most well behaved kids I have seen).

12 of them they prayed and worked hard to get out of a witch doctor family that was keeping them... At night the witch doctors would pray that the spirits would have their souls... Then they would,work them hard all day..., they would be so tired from not being allowed to sleep,at night that they would fall asleep on the side of the road as they were working... Wild stories!!

They were beautiful children who sang precious songs to us. It was a sweet time. This church body has 6-8 orphanages in the process of being built and plans to build more. They want to raise these kids to be strong Christian leaders with hearts on fire for their Heavenly Father... So that they can go back into their communities and share that strong faith with those around them... It is a really cool model!!

We came back to namierembe guest house and then spent the evening working with the babies at Sanyu... Always a precious, but EXtREMELY crazy time:):)

A Perfect Injustice

We had an amazing day at API (A Perfect Injustice) it was such a blessing to be there... It is like being a part of the assembly line... This is where the boys go when they are taken off the streets in the slums... So the boys that are in the feeding program in the slums that we served at last week eventually, lord willing, may be able to be moved off the streets to API and have a forever home...

What a ministry... The horrors of living in the slums, especially during the night... Drugs, all forms of abuse, no parents, no place to lay your head. Nothing to call your own...

Now these kids have a home and uncles and aunties to care for them and love them... A bed area to call their own... And any small possession or picture is treasured.... Last weeks team worked there 2 days before and the boys cried and cried when we left yesterday. They really bonded with the boys. It is amazing how much they love having us here...

It was so cool, right when Louis arrived...a boy came up to him and said, "I remember you!" He had seen Lou while he was still living on the streets!! Wow, he is now safe!

They fed us a true African meal and it was delicious!! Atoka with g-nut sauce... Fried eggplant, rice, the best peas ever, chicken, potatoes, and gravy... It was so fresh and yummy!! Best meal here! It was such a treat.

Last week and yesterday we worked on the gazebo they are building for the boys... These boys need a meeting place, a place to receive counseling and talk through the things they have lived and seen in the streets... It was hot hard work today digging the trench for footings of the flooring. We are sore today!!! We carried 40 lb water jugs back and forth from the well... These people are tough...we did it, but they did it with so much more ease...

Caleb got to play basketball with the boys on the court that IVO built for the boys last year with a team. They worked on some skills, shot around and played a couple of games... Basketball is new to them... But they love having something like that to do. They have beautiful lush land there... little gardens planted throughout, banana groves Andalusia few cows roaming around...

It is amazing to see what some love, a forever home, discipline, nurturing and care can do for these boys... A total life transformation!!! Thank you God for giving these people the vision of a ministry to save these boys lives... For eternity!!

To the end of myself...

I think... No I know I came to the end of myself today...

It was one of the most precious, beautiful, gut wrenching, heartbreaking days of my life...

The reality of what we experienced.... Makes me cry out... "Lord this is so so unfair!!!"

I was sobbing tonight during our group time... Saying "This is just NOT OK!"

We drove out to Praise's house... Last year Lou and Greg went there and fell for two brothers... As we drove in I was watching for them... Right away I spotted one of them. Immediately he was grabbing my hand and we were waiting to see Louis. We spent time with them all day.... One next to one of us almost the whole day...

Our church donated the costs to get some supplies to put on a VBS for the 30 kids there and then about 50 more community kids... WOW?.. To see them praise their Lord with such passion... Amazing!!! I was asked to teach the lesson and tell the story of the butterfly and how God performs a miracle and makes us new creations. Praise interpreted it for me... How fun was that?
We played games, did a craft, had a donut and juice, painted nails and faces, and the boys played soccer. It was so fun... These kids who have so very little give you so much... You are just filled up with their amazing love... Every last one of them...

My precious friend Katy bandaged wounds for hours... Please see www.internationalvoiceoftheorphan.blogspot.com to read and see better pictures of the jiggers that reeked havok on these little ones feet. They had to be dug out... Leaving holes in their feet... Infected holes...deep wounds...

This is where I totally lose it... These precious kids... God's kids... have wounds that the rats chew on at night when the kids are trying to sleep... No lie... This is real life for these 30 kids... How I can go home to my nice home with an abundance of food, clothes... The whole 9 yards... And they literally are sleeping at least 2 to a bed (these are not all small kids either) with rats and chickens in their rooms at night??? I just can't fathom it...

Here I am tonight at our guesthouse and they are there... Probably scared... Hurting feet... Maybe getting bit on by animals... Too much for me to take... Where is the church?? The body of believers to care for these people?? Yet there they are with joy in their hearts and on their faces.... Amazing...

We hope to go back there... And are really looking forward to helping Praise more in the future!! We are hoping that there may be away for some of Praises kids to be able to be adopted in the future... Please pray for them... Praise is an amazing servant hearted 26 year old woman and these kids she cares for are so precious!!
We love them!

Day in the slums

This morning and evening we spent time at the baby home... That is a whole other post...WOW... My heart was broken in two...

Most of the day was spent in the slums of Kampala... Crazy!!! I can hardly put into words the experience... But I will try...

The smells of raw sewage, rotting garbage, and pretty much anything you could imagine penetrated deeply the minute we left the vans... We wove our ways through the paths around these people's homes to a dirt field above the slums... The community kids gathered, grabbed your hands and walked with the team and the street boys that are a part of the ministry feeding program provided for them...

A great game of soccer ensued... Caleb got chased by one of the 4 cows that shared the playing area with us... Probably 80 kids played with us... It was wild and fun. To watch... I didn't do a whole lot of playing...

We wove our way back down to grace church in the slums...(literally a 3 walled building with a tin roof). To be a part of the program the kids need to participate in the devotion and praise time... They are fed a meal 3 times a week through front line feeding programs a division of IVO. One little boy said he eats 5 meals a week... Probably 3 provided by the feeding program... Crazy!!! We had time to sit and talk with them ( they love being with us) sing and praise with them and then feed them. We fed 80 kids today... One being willing to share his lunch with my niece Ella... Probably one of his few meals this week and he was willing to share.... Humbles this selfish heart for sure!!! Unreal!! Hearing them belt out their belt out their praises was heart pounding... Oh how we Americans take the ability to worship freely, opening, in MANY different ways for granted...

Some of being in the slums was more than I could take... Babies crawling around the slums literally some without anyone watching them... TRULY!! Some moments were so heartwarming, heartbreaking.... Some hilarious!! All In all a beautiful... Life changing day!!! (I apologize for any typos... No time for spellcheck... Up in 6 hours to meet the babies again:)