Slums

After the Hope House we went to lunch and then headed to the slums for a feeding program, a mini-clinic, and to just love boys. 

Street children is a huge problem in Uganda and most all of Africa. It is a heart-breaking, horrible situation where children are so abused every day. Most children are on the street because they ran away from their abusive family or they were kicked out of their homes. It is more street boys than girls in Uganda. Their situations are desperate, sad, and just heart-breaking. 


When we entered the slums I was overcome with emotion. The ground was dirt and trash. SO much trash. It just piled on the ground. The 'homes' were made of mud and sheet metal. It was the stuff you see on TV that you think isn't real and it comes true before your eyes. The slums are truly the worst of the worst area. My heart breaks for His people. 


One thing I learned as I went through Africa though; God is ALIVE in the slums. He is alive in Hollywood,too. He is real and alive and so very present. In the worst of situations, God is all you have to lean on and that's exactly what most of these people do. 


Street boys are not even allowed to sleep in the gutters of the slums or eat the trash/left over food there. Can you imagine that? Seriously. How can you be lower and more desperate than the slums? I did not think it possible, but it is. These boys are not just faces. They have names, they have stories, they are real and alive and they need someone to love them. That is exactly what API does. They love them like Jesus does. They are the hands and feet of Jesus there and for one day, I got to be that too. 


Ms. Barb began the cooking and a few other ladies joined in to help. We began cutting vegetables, meat, and everything else needed for a 'Ugandan Gumbo' thanks to our native Louisiana girl, Ms. Barb aka Jja Jja Barb or the Cook. She was so wonderful to these boys. She loved them so much and they loved her, too! Before we knew it, we were surrounded by a lot of little boys from API's street program who were so eager to help! They wanted to cut the vegetables for us and clean the meat. It made them thrilled to get to help! It helped us a lot too! 

I soon stepped away and began another mini-clinic so to speak with Alicia. We were overwhelmed with the children who wanted their wounds looked at. Some were really bad and others were just scrapes and some were just kids who wanted a band-aid and a kiss. We did it all. It was so amazing to see the joy and thankfulness on their faces for simple first-aid. I am no where near qualified to do anything amazing medically, but because of my clumsiness I am over qualified at using peroxide and band-aids. It went perfectly. Two hours passed and we still had kids. The meal had already been prepared and everyone had eaten. 


We then got to hand out NEW clothes to these boys. THAT was the highlight of my trip. Seeing the joy on their faces from a simple tshirt and pair of jeans. Truly overwhelming and emotional and heart-wrenching and tear jerking and just amazing. I fell in love with those boys. They were so sweet. 


At the end of the day we were all gathering and talking and these boys began to sing 'Mighty to Save' Do you know how moving that is in the slums of Africa with street boys? They are praising the Almighty God of the Universe in full. Offering themselves and saying 'My God you are mighty to save'  and they are in the worst of the worst situations. Another wonderful saying that our entire team adopted from Africa was God is good, All the time and All the time, God is good. 
This saying broke my heart more than anything else the entire trip and especially in the slums and it left me with this one question; 

if people who have no home, food, schooling or security in this life can proudly claim "God is good, All the time. All the time, God is good" why can't we, who live the 'dream' life, proclaim this in every situation?

Hope House

On Monday we went to Hope House which is a branch basically of API. Hope house is a place where women who were once on the streets learn how to make jewelry, sell jewelry and in return get money to support their families. It is truly an amazing ministry. The women are truly amazing and inspiring.

We arrived at about 10am to a group of smiling, beautiful women and a table full of jewelry..woo! We spent the first thirty or so minutes shopping. I bought so many beautiful necklaces, headbands, and bracelets. It was so much fun and the best part was that it was all going to a GREAT cause! We finished shopping, put everything in the bus and sat down in a room and began to introduce ourselves.

It started out like any other introduction would. Hello my name is __________, I have ____ children and am so happy to be here. It went like this for about 7 women...and then we came to a beautiful woman. Hello my name is _________ and I have 3 children. I used to have four until my oldest son was killed.
She began to tell her story and we all began to cry.
Please pray for me and pray that I will forgive these people who did my son wrong and also did me wrong. Please pray that God will give me the strength and I will forgive them.

This part right here made my stomach hurt and a lump build up in my throat. This woman had been so hurt by the evil of this world. SO hurt. Yet, in the midst of her great pain she is asking us to pray that she will forgive these men. I think to my life and how selfish I am. I don't want to forgive the girl who said a mean word to me in 7th grade, so how could I ever forgive the ones who killed my son? I don't think i could. It was an emotional, totally God moment. My heart broke for her and I was amazed at her resilience and grace and just beauty from the ashes of a horrible situation.

After our introductions had continued and ended a wonderful, prayer-warrior, always had a smile on her face teammate came to the front to give her testimony. It was beautiful and well-worded and just wonderful to hear. Everyone was moved and encouraged. Then another wonderful woman from our team got up and excited these women as she announced she was going to be showing them how to pack a new style of jewelry! It is the gorgeous hand-stamped jewelry. She tearfully gave the very brave woman a necklace that said "My grace is sufficient" The necklace was beautiful and her face glowed when she received the necklace around her neck. A smile I will not soon forget. Each woman was able to make her very own necklace with their name on it. They felt so special! It was priceless! They were so happy and so thankful and so joyful.

We finished making jewelry and then packed our things and began to leave. Another goodbye I didn't want to make. I was leaving all of my new friends who were so loving and precious. We took a group photo and then got in our bus and left.

 

It was a very short time but a very important and very moving time. I loved the women of the Hope House and they are truly so amazing and wonderful. Please keep these women in your prayers. They will be graduating from Hope House soon and going into the world to start their own business! Will you please pray for them with me? I know they would be oh-so-thankful!

Church In Africa

If you know me or if you know my Mother or if you have ever been to China with our family then you know...We love to shop. My mom and I especially. We love it. Whether that be good or bad, it's debatable.

On Sunday it was our church and shopping day. The day was overall just amazingness. I wore a pretty dress. I wore makeup. I attempted to do my hair. I didn't have to cut grass with a piece of metal.
It was good day, y'all.

Anyways, We drove to church and when we pulled up I was honestly amazed. It was so beautiful! It was white concrete building that was surrounded by beautiful green plants, red dirt, and beauty in the unexpected. I loved that church. When we walked in we got our seats and the worship began. If you want to be moved, experience church in Uganda. End of story. They sang a lot of songs in Luganda and a few simple hymns in English. Nothing glorious or over done or crazy melodies and whatever else we in America think we need. They have a few microphones, a keyboard, a set of drums, dancers, and the spirit of Jesus. it was utterly amazing and I will never forget it. I was more moved and touched and closer to God in that church service then I have been in my entire life. The last song they sang was "How Great Thou Art" it sent me over the edge. It was beautiful. With the thick accents, the overall just surrender to Jesus and just the beauty of the whole thing. When we got to the "then sings my soul my savior God to thee How great thou art" I don't think there was a dry eye in the entire church. We all had our hands raised and we took it all in. We danced and sang and jumped and praised Jesus with our whole heart. I didn't care who saw me, I didn't care what other people thought, I just didn't care. I was overwhelmed with thankfulness to be standing in the middle of a village in Uganda, Africa worshipping Jesus Christ. It was amazing. I still get butterflies just thinking about the service.

In America, we have a very warped view of church. We don't have a reckless abandon or a true deep passionate need for this man named Jesus. We spend millions on building a church and having awesome sound equipment and making sure everything is just perfect. In reality though, God doesn't need that from us. God doesn't want us to worship in perfection or in $500 dresses. God wants us to come to Him just the way we are; dirty, reckless, ruined, horrible sinners. He wants to meet us at our lows and rejoices with us at our highs. He wants to be with us through it all. I have now learned how fake I play off church. I wear the nice dresses, make myself look 'good', make it all fancy, get there on time, carry a bible, and sing along during worship. That's all great and wonderful. It is. God wants us to worship Him and respect Him. In Africa though, I was dirty, looked like a mess, wore the same dress I had worn earlier in the week, I was so tired, and nothing was the way my American head wanted it to be, but I was so in love with Jesus and learned so much during that 2 hours. It might sound crazy, but that one church service changed my life.

I want to have a reckless abandon and joy for Jesus in America like they do in Africa. I want African church. I want African joy.

Once the service was over the Pastor's wife led us to the top of the church where an orphanage is being built. How AWESOME is that? They are combining church and orphanage. This way orphans are learning about Jesus and the church is following James 1:27. They are living it. It was awesome and I cannot wait to see how God works with this church. They have 5 orphanages already and they continue to expand. God is good! Please continue to pray for them.

Once we left the church we headed to Garden City for a pizza lunch. Of course lunch with 23 muzungus in a mall of sorts is not going to be dull! We had delicious pizza {it might not have been that good, but to me it was little slices of heaven} and the famous glass sodas. So yummy.

Our next stop was to the African Village shopping area. Much to our dismay, from things we could not control, it was blocked off. We found out why by experiencing it first hand and quickly found our way to another shopping center. This is where I earned my name as E.S.P. {aka Economic Stimulus Package} I made a lot of new friends and bought a lot of stuff. I was in my element {just ask anyone on our team} and quickly filled all of my make-a-bags and had to resort to using the regular black bags. We only had about 45 minutes to shop, but it was so much fun! I got a lot checked off of my list, but was thankful we would be doing a little more shopping at the end of the week!

We headed back to the Guest House and went to the baby home for the rest of the night. I snuggled my boy and sang to him about how much Jesus loved him. We tucked all the babies into bed, kissed them goodnight and with that headed back to the guest house.

Sunday was a good day and Sunday made me fall a little more in love with Uganda. Thinking of saying goodbye was already ripping me in half.

African Hearts VBS [Day Two]

Our second day at Ssenge Village and African Hearts began about the same way as the first day. Some of us went to work and pour/slash/plant trees/etc while others stayed at the African Hearts home to love on the boys and other children from the village who were home from school because it was Saturday. These kids are SO amazing.

Ruth. She is beautiful and amazing and sings like a little angel. She has an awesome story and excels in schooling against all odds. Precious, precious girl. 

Woah, woah...WAIT. I thought you were a pastor, man? :)  

Samuel is abusive ;)

This kid right here is SO amazing. He has my heart for sure. He speaks such good english and told me his entire story. He is a singer/song writer and an orphan. Such an amazing kid. I cannot wait to see God's plans for his life! 

Emma and I with George slipped out of the village and into the city to grab snacks for VBS later that afternoon. A lot of driving around, a lot of shillings, and 500+ donuts and juice boxes we had completed our 'mission' and were on the way back to Ssenge. We pulled up at the school unloaded all of the goodies and headed back to African Hearts for some of Moreen's delicious cooking again. Those from the pastor's conference came back to African Hearts and ate with us. I took the pictures below as we went to town with George. I am so fascinated with the beautiful scenery in Africa.

The VBS people then packed up and began the walk to VBS. This time we literally yelled for anyone and everyone to follow us. "Aye. Baybee come with me! we have sweeties and Jesus! come, come!"
totally like a kidnapping call, but so many children and adults came running with us. They were SO excited and SO ready to go play with us! It was so joyful.

One thing about Africa, everything is 20 minutes and nothing starts on time. For example;

"George how far is it to Ssenge?" -me

"20 minutes" -George

one hour later 

"Ten more minutes!" -George

and 

VBS begins at 2pm!

 we arrive at 2:10pm and the kids arrive at 2:30pm or later. 

That's just how it is. I love it that way though. It keeps things interesting and fun and so laid back. It is Africa. See, in America everyone is usually 30 or so minutes early. In Africa, everyone 30 or so minutes late. You learn to love it. Trust me.

Anyways, the VBS began with lots of songs and Jesus praising. We then went on to separate class rooms and began coloring, face painting, stickers, jewelry making, nail painting, and etc. It. Was. So. Much. Fun. Truly one of the highlights of my trip was nail painting and face painting.

Alicia and I did face painting. We painted probably 150 little faces. They looked so stinking cute, too! The joy that was on these kids face from face paint was enough to bring me to tears. Face paint, I thought. FACE PAINT. I don't rejoice over face paint, thank the person 100 times for painting a crooked and very pitiful flower on my face, and I surely don't bow to them in thanks. No, usually I have this 'Oh, whatever' feel about it. These children were JOYFUL. They were Jesus. I believe more and more that we need to send missionaries from Africa to America. We need Jesus. The REAL Jesus way more than these precious people. These people know this man named Jesus and he is so real to them. It is a BEAUTIFUL thing. Absolutely beautiful.

Our next stop was to pass out all of the snacks {which is a chore in itself} and to listen to Emma tell them about Jesus. It was a wonderful moment to sit back and breathe. Once that was over I got this genius idea while everyone else was giving hugs, kisses, and packing up to pull out the one bottle of nail polish I had tucked away in my bag 'just in case' so I could paint a sweet little girl named Mary's nails. All of a sudden I was surrounded. It turned into one set of nails to 100 set of nails. Boys, Girls, or anyone with fingers was wanting me to paint their nails. Oh, and to answer any questions, Yes I did paint boys nails, too. I was not about to tell Joseph he could not have his nails done. He's just a little boy and if he wants it then that's perfectly okay with me. {Save the judgement, please}

Once my nail fiasco was over we said our very tearful goodbyes. I hugged so many children. I kissed so many children. I flat out just loved so many children and in return, I was loved back. I was loved fiercely those five minutes. It was a sad goodbye, but in Uganda we do not say goodbye. We say 'See you' which gives me hope.

I did not tell any of my little ones goodbye. I told them 'See you' because I will see them again one day. and that day is one I just can't wait for.

God continued to break my heart in Africa. At the end of every day I was dirty, tired, gross, smelled horrible {looked it, too}, and just plain mentally exhausted, but at the end of every day I was filled with unspeakable joy. I was looking forward to getting up at 6am the next morning because that meant another morning to rejoice in the day that the Lord had made.

African Hearts VBS [Day One]

On Thursday we headed to African Hearts and the Ssenge Village. 

Half of the team went with Pastor Dwight to the Pastor's Conference and the other half went to African Hearts to make concrete and then later host a HUGE VBS for over 600 kids. Both that go to African Hearts school and those who live in the village. It was such a huge blessing for all of us. Both at the Pastor's Conference and African Hearts. 

When we pulled up at African Hearts we met two very sweet children. One was a little boy and I never ever figured his name out {anyone on the team know?} and then there was a very sad, very little, and very dirty little girl named Rita. They followed us everywhere. From walking around the village to pouring concrete and slashing the jungles of Africa. They stayed with us. 

When we got to the house that African Hearts is building for their bigger boys to pour concrete, we were able to see how just plain dirty Rita was. It was heart breaking. Her belly was very round because of malnutrition and the rest of her tiny body just shrunk in. Heart wrenching, basically. 

A girl from our team, Jessica D., had brought an extra shirt which served as the perfect little dress for Rita! It looked so darling on her and we were so happy for her to have a very full tummy and a clean face and dress to go with it. Oh the difference 5 minutes of love can make in a child! It was truly wonderful. 

Once we were done pouring concrete and loving neighbors babies we headed back to AH Home and had a delicious lunch cooked by Moreen! It was so delicious and we had such a good time fellowshipping and preparing for VBS. The best part of it is that every single child, no matter where they came from {the village or the school or wherever} got a full plate of food from Moreen. Isn't that amazing? The little ministries that you just don't even think about, but that make such a HUGE impact on little lives!


We finished lunch and then began the walk to the school where we would get to hold a vacation bible school. We were all so excited! 

The vacation bible school started with Alicia and I leading Father Abraham and other classic bible songs. Then, the real fun began as the sweet African kids showed us white girls up with their singing, dancing, and song skills! They were so talented! They taught us how to 'shake our booty for the Lord' and then led into 'How Great is Our God' if you ever want to be moved. Stand in the middle of a village as African children sing to you How Great God is. Talk about perspective. 

 

As we were about to leave the VBS, my lovely teammate and friend Alicia {she's a nurse} pulled me to the side and asked for my simple medical stuff that I carried everywhere with me in Africa. {There is such a HUGE need for this kind of stuff; peroxide, antibiotic ointment, bandaids, gauze, etc} I pulled it out and went with her to see the situation. Standing before us was a tiny little boy by the name of Marvin. He had a darling face and eyes that just stole your heart. When I looked down at his legs I realized they were severely burned and left open. Flies were covering them and they were horribly infected. Nurse Alicia with me as an assistant to the rescue! Alicia quickly cleaned, bandaged and prayed over this precious little boy. We discovered that he had been burned by a pot of boiling water while his step mother was cooking. This is common in Africa because they cook over charcoal outside with big pots. It is very unsafe, especially for small children. I was so thankful and realized so much how much need there was for simple first aid. I walked away with a little bit more of a broken heart, but a little bit of encouragement too. God is doing work! 

During Day 1 of VBS we sang, worshipped, painted finger nails, colored, had a dance competition, loved a lot of kids, and overall just tried to soak in every bit of the beautiful Uganda and the people right in front of us. 

We thought Day 1 of VBS was awesome...little did we know, it was just getting started!