Better late than never!

"You are you are my strong tower, shelter over me, beautiful and mighty, everlasting King."


Ok, so I guess saying that I've been slacking on blog posting would be an understatement considering this is the first time I've done it since I've been here in Uganda. I'll try my best to sum up the past three weeks though and fill you in on what's going on now!

So for the first 3 weeks, the team and I were with an organization called Empower A Child based in Kampala Uganda.
While we were there, we worked in several different places. We were mainly at schools doing what they call “program,” which includes sharing a Bible story, singing songs, and playing games with the school kids. We also went to a village called Zirobwe and did program there. We hitched some tents in the village church for two nights one week so that we could do different ministry projects. Chelsea and I got to teach the little ones their ABC’s while others learned their numbers and different English words. Mom, dad and Kara got to go around with some of the rest of the team and evangelize to the people of the village. Some of the time, Wes and Krys played a large role in leading the music and teaching the choir some songs while dad taught about gardening and mom prayed with the women of the village. Chelsea fell in love with sweet little Brenda and decided to sponsor her to help the family with school costs and medical fees.

I fell in love with the beautiful Julliette who is a blind little girl in the village. I cannot express how awesome it was to watch the children of the village lead her around and bring her to places so that she could be a part of the activities going on. What a testimony of true grace and humility embraced by love. I’m praying about being able to sponsor her when I get back to the states and have a steady job again.

Chelsea and mom and I got to take some of the sponsor kids to the zoo with us and it was so amazing to see their expressions, especially since some of them had never been out of the village or into the city. We rode camels, pet the baby elephant, or in mom’s case got kissed by him, held the huge anaconda, and just roamed around taking pictures and seeing all of the African animals.

The house we stayed in was set up so that the main part of the house held the kitchen, living room, dining room, 2 bathrooms, a walk in shower and then three rooms for the girls; two of which held 4 sets of bunk beds that we all slept in. Connected to the house was a separate room where the married couples sleep. It had 2 sets of bunk beds as well and then a queen bed with a bathroom and shower. Chelsea and I moved into there after dad and Kara left. Then the boys and some of the staff stayed in another building that was connected to the office. This house was kind of crazy considering there were like 21 of us girls by the time we left because missionaries just kept coming! It was pretty conveniently located in Ntinda considering we had Tusky’s grocery store right around the corner along with a bank and some other little market shops. There is also a beauty salon where us girls went to get some weave put in. It never hurts to support the neighbors!

It’s been really hard to go to the airport to say goodbye twice now, once to Kara and dad and then to mom and the team. Part of me wanted to just go along with them but I know my ministry here isn’t done! In fact, I kind of feel like it’s just getting started. The first 3 weeks of the trip was much different for me because it was kind of a basic “101” even though it was here in Africa. Of course theirs nothing wrong with that and it’s kind of hard to explain what I mean…but I’ll try my best. So Empower A Child, much like any other organization that welcomes teams, is all set up so that everyone kinda goes out and does the ministry that is all set up and you just kind of jump right in with the people that know what their doing. Which is PERFECT for a team, especially one with people that have never been to Uganda. And don’t get me wrong, I loved being able to be on the other side of the spectrum and see the expressions of my team members. That was definitely an awesome feeling knowing that they were realizing why God put them on Team Kugusa Dunia, if they didn’t already know! However, I just felt like there was more that I was supposed to be doing and that God wasn’t done yet. So although I was sad my team was leaving and I wanted to go with them, I knew that God called me to this second part of my trip for a reason. It’s a blessing to realize that the first part of the trip wasn’t exactly for my ministry but for the other 6 members of the team. And although He used me to set the trip up and get them here, He also made this second part possible so that I could truly focus on what he’s calling ME to do for His kingdom. More so than just joining an organization but possibly starting my own one day when He says the time is right and hopefully when I am financially free and have someone to walk alongside me.

I couldn’t believe how beautiful it is here in Masindi. Janine (the American I’m living with for the next 6 weeks) met the team and I for dinner last Tuesday night before we dropped them off at the airport. She and I stayed at a guest house in Entebbe before taking a huge link bus for our 4 hour drive on Wednesday. We walked from the town market to her house (about 20 mins) and I just couldn’t believe how much it reminded me of Karamoja last summer. The view of the mountains and the colors everywhere are absolutely breath taking.

When arriving at her house I immediately met her guard dog JoJo and 3 month old puppy, Simba. She has a beautiful home that she has lived in the past 5 years with mango trees right in the front yard. Around back are goats, sheep, BUNNIES!!, a white cow that we get fresh milk from everyday, a big black pig and two piglets that we bought today, turkey and some ducks. Inside, there is a living room, kitchen, bathroom, 2 bedrooms and a storage room. The school kids walk by each day and throw things up in the mango trees to try to get some of them to fall. It’s quite entertaining, especially when the monkeys are letting more fall just from swinging from branch to branch.

I’ve met a few people so far from the church and then today at the hospital which is right down the road. I also met a disabled lady at the market that has been asking Janine to show her and the rest of her friends how to make small cakes. Since Janine is so busy and I enjoy cooking, we’ve decided that this will be one of my ministries. We plan on meeting next Thursday so I can show them our mango recipe and explain how to cook it over a fire! It’s funny because I thought that it was crazy when Chelsea and I ate grasshoppers in Kampala but what’s really amazed me is the way that Janine has shown me in these past three days how you can use the ingredients they have here to make such delicious food. I can’t wait to share these things with the ladies here so that they can have more variety in their foods and also know how to make healthy and affordable meals for their families. For example, just with the milk that we’ve gotten from the cow, we’ve made vanilla pudding (with real vanilla bean…amazing), cheese, and a sweet dip for cookies. Okay so that was a bad example for something healthy…but it’s all soooooo yummy! I made pineapple muffins yesterday and I think I may try mango tomorrow. Janine and I are going to switch off every night in making dinner so we’ll see what I come up with!
Oh! And I got a bicylce yesterday so that I can use it as transportation to get around town!

I really could see how someone could live in a place like this. It’s so peaceful and just goes to show that when you don’t have material things to focus on, you really start to focus on God’s creations and the joy that He provides in any situation. I’m so excited to see what He has in store for me here in the gorgeous Masindi, Uganda.

Encouragement email 2/11

Feb. 11, 2013
As most people know, I've been given this grand calling by God to not only go back to Uganda, but to bring a team of both Christians and non Christians back with me this summer. Through all of the trusting and growing I've gone through in planning this trip, I still get discouraged sometimes and just worry about the "what ifs. " This morning was another one of those panic moments as I woke up at 6 a.m. and had the team on my mind as it raced over what all still needs to be done and how much money we need to raise. There was NO WAY I was going to calm my mind until I got up and worked on some things for the trip.
So I rolled over and grabbed my phone and was going through it, deleting the new junk emails that had popped up over night and I scrolled down to see the emails that my dad had forwarded to me a couple days ago. In procrastination, I hadn't read them, and sometimes I just delete them because I don't want to take the time to stop and read through them (most are pretty long and are just emails that he's gotten from someone else with pretty pictures from around the world or a devotion that someone got from a book). But this morning, one of them caught my eye and I decided to go ahead and open it before deleting it to see what it had to say. To my surprise, it was exactly the encouragement I'd need!

Here it is, enjoy:

Isaiah 65:24

This is a story written by a doctor who worked in Africa .

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in
spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby
and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the
baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator).


We also had no special feeding facilities.

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.
One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool
that the baby would be wrapped in.

Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly
in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates)..

'And it is our last hot water bottle!' she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying
over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles.

They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

'All right,' I said, 'put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the
baby and the door to keep it free from drafts Your job is to keep the baby warm.'

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage
children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things
to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping
the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily
die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten -year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of
our African children. 'Please, God' she prayed, 'Send us a hot water bottle today It'll be no
good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.'

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, 'And while You are about it,
would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?'

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say 'Amen?' I just did
not believe that God could do this.

Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there?
The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from
the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever,
received a parcel from home.

Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message
was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone,
but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not
open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.. Together we pulled off the string,
carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top,
I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the
knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box
of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be?

I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried.

I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, 'If God has sent the bottle,
He must have sent the dolly, too!'

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly.
Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!

Looking up at me, she asked, 'Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll
know that Jesus really loves her?'

'Of course,' I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class,
whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator.

And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it 'that afternoon.'

'Before they call, I will answer.' (Isaiah 65:24)

When you receive this, say the prayer. That's all I ask. No strings attached. Just send it on to whomever you want �but do send it on.

Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards. Let's continue
praying for one another.

This awesome prayer takes less than a minute.

Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this. I ask You to minister to their spirit.
Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubting, release a
renewed confidence to work through them Where there is tiredness or exhaustion, I ask You
to give them understanding, guidance, and strength. Where there is fear, reveal Your love and
release to them Your courage.. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders
and friends to support and encourage them. I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name. Amen


P. S. Passing this on to anyone you consider a friend will bless you both. Passing this on to one not considered a friend is something Christ would do.



After reading this, tears came to my eyes. How could I doubt? I feel like there's just no further explanation needed! God is so good =)
Kam