But the greatest of these is LOVE...

Just A Glimpse.

2011-11-10T04:48:00.001-05:00

Hope this helps you catch a glimpse of what a day around Serving His Children looks like....

Here at Serving His we have had some quiet, calm days. We are so thankful for this season of few crisis'. We are resting in Christ's perfect peace. We are being filled up with Him. We are readying our self for what is to come......

Thank you, Silent Images and Brett Baggett for the beautiful pictures.

Patricia

2011-10-28T02:57:00.012-04:00

I finally made it to church. It had been a couple of weeks….and I was doing my best to focus on being there, not worrying about so many other things…. I was breathing deep; trying my best to allow my fears and worries to melt away as I prepared my heart for worship.

It was the beginning of service. People were starting to sing. And then my phone rang….

It was, Mamma Fatuma, our Sunday worker. She sounded worried. Which in turn made me worried. She said “Auntie maybe you come home. There is a baby here, and maybe she is dead.”. My heart stopped. I grabbed my bag, gathered the girls I had come with, and we jumped in the car. Homebound. Fast.

When we arrived, I found a man and woman anxiously sitting on our veranda. Fear filled their eyes. The woman was holding a small bundle, and a little swollen hand stuck out of the blanket. The baby in her arms was so still. And when I pulled the covering back my eyes widened. For under the blanket lay a small, but very, very swollen, pale baby girl. Her breaths were frighteningly slow. No wonder I was told she might be dead; the raise and fall of her chest was almost invisible.

I immediately ushered them into the clinic. I hooked the baby up to oxygen and got to work... As I took her temperature, started an IV, checked her blood sugar, tested for malaria, and looked at her HB count, they began to tell me her story…. A story that I feel I have heard many times before. But even though I’ve heard countless similar stories, my heart still breaks every time!

The baby’s name is, Patricia. She is 9 months old. She had fallen sick 3 weeks ago. Her Mom had taken her to a health center, but there was no improvement. She continued to get worse, despite any treatment that was given. One of their relatives told them about a “hospital” in Masese with a “White Doctor”. So that Sunday morning they left their home early and journeyed to Jinja-in hope of finding someone, anyone who could help their daughter.

While I was listening, I was attempting to diagnose the many problems that could potentially be at hand…. Got it. Malaria: positive. HB: 3.2. Both are a big problem. And together they create an even bigger [most likely fatal] problem for such a small child.

She needed a blood transfusion. And fast. After doing a search for blood around Jinja town, we found her type and it was a match! We started the transfusion. Praying with every drip. About 30 minutes into her transfusion she started to show signs of having an anaphylactic reaction. Not good. Not good at all. Her neck and face started swelling. A lot. I’m talking about a ton of swelling. Within 15 minutes her breathing went from bad to worse. Her throat was beginning to close. We gave her an antihistamine and off to Kampala we went…

We arrived at one of the best hospitals in Kampala by about 8pm. And then sat in the ER for over 3 hours waiting to see a Doctor. It was a very long night to say the least. But surprisingly, she made it to see the morning!

The next few days seem like a blur…. They consisted of daily drives to and from Kampala, nights of very little sleep, many tears, and lots and lots of prayer.

Everyday when I would arrive at the hospital she would be about the same-still on oxygen, still running tests, still no change. Until one day I walked into her little curtained off room, and oh my, she looked terrible. Her Mom sat by her bed, crying. Shortly after I got there the Doctor came to give me an update….. I was informed that Patricia’s blood levels had dropped to a dangerous level again and she needed blood. Again. BUT, the problem was that the hospital didn’t have her blood type. So therefore she couldn't be transfused. In Uganda there is always a shortage of blood. So frustrating. The Dr. asked if I would be willing to donate my blood, and if I knew my type. Of course I was willing, but didn’t know my type….I was quickly sent to the lab to be typed. I was B+. Patricia was B+. It was a match. Glory to God!

I caught a boda (motorcycle) across town to the blood bank. They drew my blood, gave me a soda and I headed back to the hospital.

The next day Patricia was transfused. It’s an odd feeling thinking that your blood is being put into someone else's body. Someone that you know, that you love; that you are paying life over. I was praying that my blood would be to her as the blood of Christ is to me! A promise.

We continued to pray....

After the transfusion my hope was that she would begin to show some signs of improvement. Not the case. The next morning when I arrived, she had again worsened. She was continuing to swell from inadequate nutrients. Her eyes were even swollen shut. And there was a wound forming, just appearing on the side of her face...none of the Doctors seemed to mention anything about it...

But later that morning I was told that they wanted to refer Patricia back to our center because they could no longer manage her severe state of malnutrition. So we packed up her things, transferred her to our portable oxygen tank, and started driving back to Jinja.

Patricia all hook up in the SHC clinic

The next week was rough. Within the first few days of having Patricia back, she continued to be in a comatose state. Her appearance seemed to be getting worse. Things were not looking good at all. I remember sitting in the clinic for so many nights, holding her little fragile body, crying, begging God to heal her. I felt an odd attachment to this little person who now had my blood running through her veins.

I spent so many nights praying, just praying that God would work a miracle. Praying that He would reach down and heal this little girl that most people said couldn’t be healed. Praying that He would give me wisdom, or that maybe He would send someone who was already wise.

And then. God did. He sent a miracle. In the form of a short term missions team from Alabama; in the form of 2 ladies named, Vivian and Melody…

A few days after Patricia was brought back to the center a medical missions team flew into Uganda to spend a week working with SHC and a clinic about 3 hours north-east of here. And wow, does God have perfect timing or what? They really were the miracle we were all paying for!

They allowed myself and the rest of our team to get some much needed sleep, not to mention they provided me with so much encouragement. They were not only the hands and feet of Christ to Patricia, but also to all of us who were caring for her!

Between all of us, we were able to help treat the mysterious and ever growing wound on Patricia’s face-the wound that appeared after her transfusion at the hospital. The wound that at first just a small opening on her face and then later turned into a huge gapping wound that was starting to make its way down her neck. But God truly provided and we were able to get the proper medication to stop the spreading. Her swelling started to go down and she was becoming more alert!

Now, I could go on and on about the next week… But, the most important thing about the days that came is that we saw God move. In huge ways! He literally preformed a miracle before our eyes.

Recently our Assistant Director, Danielle took Patricia and her Mom home for a visit. Patricia's family hadn't seen her since she first left to come to Jinja, so the last they had seen of her was when she was at her worst. Very close to death. When Patricia and her mom arrived at their village everyone was in awe. Patricia's great Aunt and Uncle (who she lives with) were so astonished to see that Patricia was even alive; they were overjoyed! They were both under the impression that she had died in Kampala because they got word from Patricia's father that she was transferred there from Jinja.

As they were there friends and family began to slowly trickle up to the house to see Patricia. Her mom was so proud, I don't think she stopped smiling the entire time they were there! Some of the neighbors didn't even believe that she was the same little girl. A lot was said in reaction to seeing Patricia, but mostly Patricia's great Aunt and Uncle repeatedly praised Jesus for His mercy, and thanked both Christ and SHC so much for helping. It was so amazing to hear how each person who looked at Patricia then looked up to the sky and just shook their heads in astonishment, thanking Jesus. Thanking their God.

I was told that Patricia would not live. Today, she is alive. I saw her little body begin to give out. At her weakest, I was scared. But I kept praising Jesus! I kept praising the one who created us both. The one who has the power to give and take away. The one who can perform miracles beyond all of our understanding. Today, Patricia is alive. She can sit up tall, even feed herself. She is one of our messiest kids at meal time. Ha. She laughs, smiles [crookedly], plays with toys and lives just as any other girl her age.

All glory and honor and praise to Jesus!!!

This is by fair my favorite picture of all time! Even though Patricia was all bandaged up and breathing thorough a tube, Selah still loved. Unconditionally. Just how the Father loves.

Thank you to all of you who spent countless hours in prayer for Baby Patricia! Thank you to all who stayed up long nights, holding a fussy baby. Thank you to all of you who loved her like Jesus!

2011-09-15T02:52:00.016-04:00

Though we have been through some great trials in the past few months, God is still working miracle’s everyday. And those miracles come in all different shapes and sizes...

Jonathan, age 3 months

Before

7 weeks later

Fiona, age 2

Before

5 months later

Sometimes miracles also come in the form of God's mercy. You may remember this little girl, Joy. After a long fight at a hospital in Kampala, she went to be with Jesus.

Remember Resty (and Brian-from a couple of posts ago)?

Before

6 weeks later

And Brian...

Before

6 weeks later

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

2011-09-07T10:36:00.011-04:00

Thank you all so much for joining in prayer for Baby Ivan! I don’t think words can express the gratitude in my heart. The knowledge that there are so many people praying all around the world…yep, no words!

Ivan was in the ICU at one of the best hospitals in Kampala (Capital city) for 4 days... The staff there struggled day and night, fighting for his little life. But on Tuesday at 4:30am God choose to bring him home. He decided that it was time for Ivan’s suffering here on earth to come to an end.

I don’t know that I’ll ever really understand why God didn’t just take him on Friday…why he allowed him to keep hanging on for so many days to only take him in the end. It seems strange to me. But, I trust him! I trust that Ivan’s fight, our fight was not in vain. I know there was great purpose in the last 4 days, even if I don’t see it. Ever. God used Ivan’s suffering for good! He used, and is still using my tears for his glory….

So in my brokenness I’m choosing hope. Joy. Peace. I’m claiming Christ’s victory in the battle. Because though I feel like the battle was “lost” yesterday morning, I know that’s not the case. No, He won! He always does.

"The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place... Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the VICTORY..."

Deuteronomy 1:30-31 & 20:4

He remains forever victorious!!

2011-09-05T14:17:00.003-04:00

Sweet Baby Ivan 5 months ago...

Please continue to keep Ivan in yours prayers!

He went into cardiac arrest twice yesterday. But, God wasn’t, isn’t finished yet. He’s now on a ventilator…. But there are still some good signs showing that he may be able to come off. Praying. Praying. Prying.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5 & 6

Thank you sooo much for lifting him and his mom up in prayer!

2011-09-03T16:08:00.004-04:00

Wow. Where to even start…I have no idea. I’ve been sitting here starring at my computer for the past 20 minutes, and I pretty much have nothing. Not from a lack of things to share, just an inability to clearly convey them. So many emotions. So many thoughts. So many things to say that I don’t even know what to say. My mind is a little bit like a merry-go-round at the moment, spinning round and round at a high speed; people jumping on and off; kids ducking under and jumping over bars…madness. And at any point something can happen, someone can make a decision and we totally stop. We change directions completely and start all over again, just going to other way. Yep, that’s how the past couple months have been. So challenging. I have been tested and tried in what feels like every way possible. Our ministry as a whole has been fighting in some major battles. And fighting can be extremely exhausting. Oh my.

But fighting in a battle when you have the King of the whole universe on your side is a pretty large plus! Because even when you are weak, He is strong! When you feel like you’re coming undone, He holds you together! And in times of distress, He is the bearer of peace-the mountain moving kind of peace! So even though we have been walking through some pretty intense fire, God has been holding us tightly in his loving embrace! And, for a short while things slowed. The battling came to somewhat of an end...our house became calm! For the first time in a long time, I could count the amount of children in our house using only 2 hands. We took a deep breath; all while knowing that it was probably the calm before the storm…but which storm exactly? There was no telling.

Well our house started to fill up…. We went from 9 kids to 18 in a matter of days. And on Monday we received some visitors. Pretty common around here. We were all delighted to see our friends, Ivan and Moreen (twins) and their Mom, Nalango! Ivan and Moreen were in our program back in March, and were discharged as fat, healthy babies in May. We have been doing follow up since their return home and they’ve been doing very well! We had not seen them for about a month and a half though, and what’s normally a lighthearted, short check up very quickly turned into a positive malaria test, IV and an overnight…for Ivan.

He looked pretty out of it, and treatment was started right away. Moreen looked great, but Ivan was not at all ok. But, we had no reason to believe that it was anything more than malaria. We assumed he would be fine within 48 hours. So we gave the necessary drugs, prayed, watched, and waited.

3 days later. Ivan was not feeling much better. His temperature was still very irregular, and he was so weak. We changed his treatment, and ran some more blood work. Continuing to pray all the while!

Well, very early yesterday morning I was awoken by our night worker who was saying “Baby Ivan is not ok. Maybe you come?” I quickly slid out of bed and ran down stairs. When I reached the clinic door I found Ivan all wrapped up in a towel. Taking very labored, short, fast breaths. His eyes were swelling and he was like a little limp noodle. His Mom was on the other side of the room, face in hands. Tears streaming down steadily. When she heard me enter her head lifted slightly and I looked into her red, puffy eyes. The look I was met with was terrifying. I did a fast assessment, and quickly put him on oxygen.

Now we often have kids on oxygen, but something in my gut told me that we needed to go, we needed to get to a facility that was capable of much more than what I could do in our small red room. The room we call “the clinic”. We, as quickly as possible prepared everything needed, plugged our o2 machine into the car, and off we went….headed to Kampala.

By the time we reached the hospital Ivan was unconscious. His pulse was very faint and he was hardly breathing. We waited while papers were processed, deposits were paid, and a bed was readied, then we were rushed off to the ICU. Yes, there is an ICU in Uganda, but only one...

And to this very minute that’s where Ivan is. Laying in a room that’s mostly white, hooked up to machines galore, with tubes and cords going every which way. And that’s where I’ve spent the better part of the last 2 days as well, in the ICU, talking with Doctors, reading numbers that mean very little to me, watching his every breath. Listening to the hum of oxygen. The pattern of beeps coming from his many monitors. Praying. Praying. Praying.

Ivan is still in a coma, he has a slew of imbalances that are keeping him in that state…the Doctors and nurses are doing their very best to try to correct all the electrolyte levels that have gone wild, along with treating his diagnosed encephalitis, and pneumonia. This fight will not be an easy one; I guess no fight really is. But with God on our side ALL things are possible! Because when you are weak, HE is strong! When you’re coming undone, HE holds you together! And in times of great distress, HE is the bearer of peace!

Tonight I beg you to please join me in prayer! I’m asking you to run into the battle with us. To suit up in readiness. Take hold of the armor God has given you; bend your knees and lift your hands! For where there are two or more gathered in my name, there I am also… Lets gather together in the name of Christ. Lets fight as one!

Note: if you would like to make a contribution to help cover the large hospital bill that we are quickly acquiring please click on the donate button to your upper right. Please mark the donation “for Baby Ivan”. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!! We couldn’t do it without you! More updates to come....

2011-07-24T07:09:00.010-04:00

Please keep these beautiful little faces in your prayers!

Resty

Joy

Brian

These 3 kiddos are some of our newest. They, along with all of us (the SHC staff) could use some extra prayer...for that is the only thing that can heal their bodies and give us strength to face the challenges ahead!

"He is before all things and in Him ALL things hold together." Colossians 1:17

More updates to come...

2011-07-20T08:56:00.002-04:00

Who can recall this little boy? Katoyia? Yes, yes it is. This little man was picked up from the hospital almost dead. In fact I thought he was dead when I first saw him. But God held him tight and healed his tiny body in an amazing way! Now almost exactly 1 year later, he is a very healthy, happy toddler!

It's such a honor to be a part of what God is doing in Uganda, well all around the world really. Keep those prayers coming. God is working miracles everyday....everyday. He is making himself known! He is showing His power. He is being glorified...in the good, and in the bad. Yes, this is the same little boy as above!

Katoyia the day I "found him"...wow.

Julius has VERY advanced tuberculosis of the lungs, stomach and heart. We actually had to transfer and admit him into a government hospital in Kampala to get the proper treatment for him because no hospital or health center in all of Jinja would treat TB that advanced. Now Julius is as lively as ever. No more coughing up blood that's for sure. Praise Jesus for that!

Julius and his Mom upon discharge from a Kampala hospital!

Rachel. Wow, this girl make my heart happy! Four months ago Rachel was in heart failure. Her liver was pretty much nonfunctional, and she was so malnourished that she couldn't even stand without assistance. She was in an incredible amount of pain 24 hours a day and her heart was constantly beating out of control. Each and every breath was rapid and labored. I thought her belly was going to explode due to all the fluid laying dormant...

She was very quickly rushed to Kampala.... After many tests, scans and x-rays we were told that Rachel had a condition called "Rheumatic Heart Disease". It was explained to us that it was probably caused by some sort of infection that went untreated for too long. I sat across from a doctor at the best hospital in Kampala and and was told that I should take Rachel home because she was "not going to make it". They said she would never be strong enough to come out of heart failure. She was just too sick...

Today!

Today Rachel is at home with her family! She is no longer in heart failure. She can eat food, run and play! She can help her Mom with her little brother, and do most things that an 8 year old girl does. Her favorite activity is coloring, and she is never without a smile spread wide across her face!!

Thank you all so much for all of your prayers and support! God is doing great things here and I am so happy and honored to be able to share these stories with all of you.

Stay tuned for more stories of our kids to come soon! Promise.

He knows...

2011-06-12T15:01:00.006-04:00

If you’ve ever visited my house, you would know that as you walk through our clinic door, you are met with the faces of little miracles. As you enter the room where so many emotions are present, you are first met with a wall full of visual reminders. Reminders of our mighty, all-consuming, powerful God who is the ultimate healer and sustainer. You are forced to remember that, ponder it even. And as your eyes are drawn to the faces of past children, God somehow gives you the strength in your heart to keep walking. To keep loving. To keep going. To keep trusting. To face whatever challenge awaits you around the corner…

Just over a week ago this room was full. Overflowing with people. Overflowing with emotions, so, so many emotions. This small red room in the downstairs of my house wears many hats, hats it’s not always intended for….hats that I wish it didn’t ever have to wear. Ever. One day this room holds a little girl in heart failure, the next day a baby on oxygen literally fighting for every breath, and the next, a baby with wounds wreaking of infection. There’s almost always a baby who is being warmed up, or one that’s being cooled down; it’s a never-ending stream! Often in the red room you’ll find a baby who’s contracted malaria or some other sickness, with an IV bag hung high, just dripping away. Almost daily, children come into this room, and soon after they go out. Each one of them different, each one of them unique.

Some stories that take place in our clinic are of physical healing, a healing that is so miraculous that even those who claim to not know Jesus say that they know Christ is the one who saved their baby. But sometimes the end result is not always what we really had in mind... Sometimes I sit in this room hour after hour after hour, praying my heart out for healing; believing with everything in me that a miracle can take place. Believing that it will. Knowing that the God of the universe is holding everything together, that He’s the one truly holding the baby that I am so desperately attempting to, by the worlds standards save. Trusting in HIS will, not mine…

One week ago this calm room was mass chaos…. There were a millions things going on at once, there were so many people in my house, so many…everything. But in the midst of the insanity, lay a small boy. A little tiny boy, all wrapped up and covered in thermal blankets. And even with all the busyness around him, he lay very still. Buried in a heap of blankets and Nalgene bottles full of hot water, he slept. And as he slumbered the low hum of an oxygen machine faded into the noise around him. A clear tube entered into a tiny brown nose where oxygen poured in, giving his lungs some relief. Every once in a while he would open his eyes, just enough to catch a glimpse of him Mom across the room, then they would quickly close again.

The little boy I’m speaking of. His name is, Raheem! Raheem came to Serving His Children from a hospital in Jinja town, he was not showing any signs of improvement so he was referred into our malnutrition program. Upon his arrival he was in pretty rough shape! He was so tiny and wasted, with many (unknown) underlining problems. That day marked the start of some very long days, and nights…. Myself, our staff and volunteers worked around the clock monitoring Raheem. We stayed up during the night; we watched every breath he took 24 hours a day. We all stood by and watched as this little baby lay, fighting for his life, struggling for every breath. We did everything imaginable to make him confortable; we treated every symptom that arose. And we prayed, my goodness did we ever pray. I prayed until I had nothing else to pray, and then, I prayed some more…

Fast-forward 3 days.

Danielle and I could hardly keep our eyes open. We had been doing night shift for the past 4 days, and exhaustion had completely set in. It was 7 am and Raheem was just barley hanging on to life….literally. I had been praying for hours that God would take him. That He would just take away the pain, the hurt that his mere existence was causing his body. But, there we were, Raheem was holding to life, and for some reason God was not seeing fit to take it away from him yet. So we continued on!

At 8am I had one of our volunteers take a blood sample to town… About 40 minutes later I got a call saying that Raheem’s HB was low. Very low. And nowhere in Jinja, and I mean nowhere, had blood for a transfusion. So, we packed up our oxygen machine, hung his IV bag from the roof rack, and sped out the gate…

We headed for a small Catholic hospital that often has blood….but when I arrived I was told that they too had no blood, not only was I told that they didn’t have blood, but that most of Uganda was in a “blood crisis”. The minute I heard that every part of me wanted to vomit. To fall on the floor and lose it. To scream. But I couldn’t, because in the parking lot, hooked up to so many tubes was a little boy that had very much stolen my heart. I had to be strong, keep going, keep searching, keep praying!

I sprinted back to the car. Jumped in, and took off. Off to where, I didn’t even know…

I drove down a random dirt road headed for Kampala. Praying for total guidance, for Jesus to literally take control of my car so as I wouldn’t kill anyone…and as I sped along, leaving only a cloud of dust, my ipod played in the background; tears streamed down my face as I listened to the familiar words.

“This is my prayer in the desert, and all that's within me feels dry, this is my prayer in the hunger in me, my God is a God who provides, and this is my prayer in the fire, in weakness or trial or pain, there is a faith proved of more worth than gold, so refine me Lord through the flames. And I will bring praise, I will bring praise, no weapon forged against me shall remain, I will rejoice, I will declare, God is my victory and He is here. And this is my prayer in the battle, and triumph is still on it's way, I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ, so firm on His promise I'll stand. All of my life in every season, You are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship.”

That was pretty much my exact prayer. That HE would be Raheem’s victory. That HE would be my victory. That I would not measure the end result of the day by what I thought was “victorious”, but by what God knew was true triumph! I was fighting in the battle, but God was commanding it, he held all the cards, my job was trusting him fully to play them. Easier said then done when you have a sinking feeling in your gut that things aren’t really going in your favor…

3 hours later…..

I found blood! We just had to get to it…. Oxygen was finished and I had been driving and bagging Raheem at the same time, it was working, but wasn’t exactly safe. My sister and 2 of my best friends in the world came to my rescue!!! They met me along the road with the oxygen cord, another set of hands to drive and some emotional support! We all pilled in and headed to the clinic that was said to have 2 units of A+ blood! We made it in record time, and got Raheem all set up for the transfusion. Then, we waited. We watched. We prayed. After the transfusion was completed, we packed up our things, and began driving into Kampala; where Raheem would be admitted into a hospital in the city…

Now here comes the tough part of the story. The reason that this blog post has been sitting on my computer unfinished for days… the reason that even now, after days of thinking and processing and praying, I still cannot think of a way to bring what you’ve been reading to a close.

I selfishly wish the end to this story was different! I wish the end was just that, Yay, he got blood, now he is happy and healthy. But that’s not the case, well I mean I suppose it is in a way. Because Raheem is happy, healthy, and very much whole! He is, at this very moment whole in the arms of Jesus!

That very day, not long after we left the hospital Raheem passed away. God decided it was time. I will never understand why He waited for that moment, but He did. He decided to bring Raheem home right there in the car, surrounded by people who loved him, who were praying for him, and who in the end rejoiced in his going home!

Raheem is forever ingrained in my memory. The face of that little boy will always flash through my mind, and I will probably forever wonder why things happened the way they did that day. That’s not to say I don’t fully trust in God’s perfect plan, because I do. I know every single thing that took place on that dreaded Tuesday was not without purpose or great reason. So I rest in that. I rest in the fact that God DID win the battle, in more ways than one. He was victorious! He was glorified!

I might not have seen the full picture that day, in fact I know I didn't, and I may never. I was busy fighting, but only in one very small part of the field. God was over the entire battle, He didn’t miss a thing, and the whole time He knew what was coming next! And that’s just it, He knows; He always knows whats about to come our way!

2011-05-13T16:03:00.002-04:00

Dear fellow bloggers!
Please forgive me for not posting in what seems like forever. Life just carries me away to crazy places these days, and blogging is normally one of the last things on my mind (no offence, friends). Wow, I have so much to tell… I feel like there is SO much to say and I just don’t have to words, or maybe it’s that the hour is late and my brain is not fully functional at this time….haha, who knows! Or, maybe it’s because life is so incredibly hard these days that I don’t even know how to express what my mind is attempting to process… But, none the less, I’m going to give “blogging” a go tonight…

Well. I’m sitting here watching an IV to drip on one of our new little boys, Sam! I picked him up today, along with another little girl (Diana) from a health center about 3 ½ hours away…he was so dehydrated that I started an IV in the parking lot of the hospital, and we rode home with a bag of saline hanging in the car window. We got some strange looks, but hey. You do what ya gotta do in an emergency situation. Praise God that we were prepared with the necessary supplies; we weren’t really planning on filling our car with vomiting, IV needing children today, but lately almost everywhere I go I’m met with “Oh good. I’m glad you’re here; I have a patient for you.” Today I was brought 5 cases of moderate-severe malnutrition, and if I hung around for to much longer I would have undoubtedly been handed many more. Almost daily I get a call about “a sick baby”. Or, they just show up at my door…and they don’t normally come alone…no, no. Come one, come all! Haha.

In the last 35 days we’ve had 20 new kids come into the Serving His Children Malnutrition center. But, there always seems to be just one more sick, starving, dying baby. Our 14 bed center is currently filled with 31 people, everywhere you turn there’s someone sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Yep, I’d say we’ve made it to the full line! Maybe gone beyond it…but somehow we keep finding a little more space, a few more blankets, and lots more love. God keeps sending kids, so I keep saying “yes”, who am I to say no? Some people say I’m insane. Well, folks, I would have to agree with you. Some days I think that I’ve literally gone insane. Do you know what the actual definition of “insane” is? I didn’t, so I looked it up “In a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill.” Yep, that’s me. Insane. Great. But, right after I looked up the definition of “insane”, I looked up “normal”… “Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical”. Yeah, I think I would rather go with the insane label. I feel like as Christens, we are called to live an “insane’ life. I life set apart, a life that is not “normal’ by any sense of the word. I life that would cause others to wonder “what the heck? Why on earth would she do that?” Now, I’ll be the first to say, a life of “insanity” is sometimes very exciting, by obeying Christ’s call He blesses you with many amazing things! Exhibit A: my wonderful, incredible, beautiful daughter! Total blessing! B: I get to be a part of children returning to wellness and going home to their families! I get to watch Mom’s finally get it; finally understand things they have never before comprehended. I’m literally able to assist in nursing children back to health, children that should have left this earth long ago. I am allowed the opportunity to marvel at the progress they make everyday. I get to see them smile for the first time. I get to watch them gain enough strength to be able to sit up. I get to watch them start to feed themselves, and with a LOT of prayer, eventually I get to see them run and play! It is such a joy! An unspeakable joy!

But, along with those privileges comes a lot of hard stuff too. A lot of challenges. Just in this last month, I held 2 babies as they took their last breath, I watched them die and there was absolutely nothing I or anyone else could do about it. Nothing. I had to comfort 2 mothers after the death of their babies; I had to try to explain that God is still good, he still cares, and that the God of the universe is indeed still in control! I had to let a mother take her baby home, home to be with her co-wife who is a witch doctor and has been chanting death over her baby boy since birth. I so desperately wanted to force her to stay; I wanted her to be in a place where 24 hours a day people were praying LIFE over her baby’s weak body. But I couldn’t keep her here, I had to let them go. I had to trust. And then 2 days later I received a phone call…and like that he was gone. Gone to be with Jesus. And there was nothing I could do about it. Everyday I’m learning to let go. Whether letting go of a small, trivial task or a big one, I’m learning to release and trust. Release and trust. Release and trust. For there is no other way. “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your path.” I learned that verse in Sunday School when I was about 5, and when I memorized it I never truly knew what it meant, or how hard it would be to live out….and boy is it ever hard sometimes.

It’s an absolute honor to be a part of what Christ is doing in Uganda! My prayer is that as I labor I will constantly be drawn more and more towards the throne of God. And that as I am pulled closer to Jesus, He will be made known to others in a more real way! That is my hope. My dream. My prayer.

Well sorry for that scattered mess of jumble, hope you got something out of it…ha.

Serving,
Auntie Renee

2011-05-12T08:42:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow bloggers!
Please forgive me for not posting in what seems like forever. Life just carries me away to crazy places these days, and blogging is normally one of the last things on my mind (no offence, friends). Wow, I have so much to tell… I feel like there is SO much to say and I just don’t have to words, or maybe it’s that the hour is late and my brain is not fully functional at this time….haha, who knows! Or, maybe it’s because life is so incredibly hard these days that I don’t even know how to express what my mind is attempting to process… But, none the less, I’m going to give “blogging” a go tonight…

Well. I’m sitting here watching an IV to drip on one of our new little boys, Sam! I picked him up today, along with another little girl (Diana) from a health center about 3 ½ hours away…he was so dehydrated that I hooked him up to an IV, and we rode home with a bag of saline hanging in the car window. We got some strange looks, but hey. You do what ya gotta do in an emergency. Praise God that we were prepared with the necessary supplies; we weren’t really planning on filling our car with vomiting, IV needing children today, but lately almost everywhere I go I am met with “Oh good. I’m glad you’re here; I have a patient for you.” Today I was brought 5 cases of moderate-severe malnutrition, and if I hung around for to much longer I would have undoubtedly been handed many more. Almost daily I get a call about “a sick baby”. Or, they just show up at my door…and they don’t normally come alone…no, no. Come one, come all! Haha.

In the last 35 days we’ve had 20 new kids come into the Serving His Children Malnutrition center. There always seems to be one more, just one more sick, starving, dying baby. Our 14 bed center is currently filled with 32 people, everywhere you turn there’s someone sleeping on the floor. Yep, I’d say we’ve made it to the full line! Maybe gone beyond it…but somehow we keep finding a little more space, a few more blankets, and lots more love. God keeps sending kids, so I keep saying “yes”, who am I to say no?

Some people say I’m insane. Well, folks, I would have to agree with you. Some days I think that I’ve literally gone insane. Do you know what the actual definition of “insane” is? I didn’t, so I looked it up “In a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill.” Yep, that’s me. Insane. Great. But, right after I looked up the definition of “insane”, I looked up “normal”… “Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical”. Yeah, I think I would rather go with the insane label. I feel like as Christens, we are called to live an “insane" life. I life set apart, a life that is not “normal’ by any sense of the word. I life that would cause others to wonder “what the heck? Why on earth would she do that?”

Now, I hope you understand that a life on insanity is often very exciting! By obeying Christ’s call He blesses you with so many amazing things, and fills your life with so much joy!! Example A. My incredible, beautiful daughter!! I mean I get to be a part of children returning to wellness and going home to their families! Children who should have died. I get to watch Mom’s finally get it; finally understand things they have never before comprehended. Christ allows me to be a part of nursing children back to health, and I'm given the opportunity to marvel at the progress they make everyday. I get to see them smile for the first time. I get to watch them gain enough strength to be able to sit up. I get to watch them start to feed themselves, and with a LOT of prayer, eventually I get to see them run and play! It's such a joy! But, along with those privileges comes a lot of the hard stuff too. A lot of challenges. Just in this last month, I held 2 babies as they took their last breath, I watched them die and there was absolutely nothing I or anyone else could do about it. Nothing. I had to comfort 2 mothers after the death of their babies; I had to try to explain that God is still good, he still cares for them, and that the God of the universe is indeed still in control! Last week I had to let a mother take her baby home, home to be with her co-wife who is a witch doctor and has been chanting death over her baby boy since birth. I so desperately wanted to force her to stay. I desired her to stay in the place where 24 hours a day people were praying LIFE over her baby’s weak body, I wanted her to stay because I thought it was best, but I had to let them go. I had to trust. And then, 2 days later I received a phone call…and like that he was gone. Gone to be with Jesus. Everyday I’m learning to let go. Whether letting go of a small, trivial task or a big task, I’m learning to release and trust. Release and trust. Release and trust. For there is no other way. “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your path.” I learned that verse in Sunday School when I was about 5 years old, and when I memorized it I really had no idea what it truly meant, or how hard it would be to live out those words….

It’s an absolute honor to be a part of what Christ is doing in Uganda! My prayer is that as I labor I will be constantly drawn, pulled more and more towards Jesus. And that as I am pulled closer to Jesus, He will be made known in a more real way to others!

Well sorry for that scattered mess of jumble, hope you got something out of it…ha.

Serving,
Auntie Renee

2011-04-08T14:03:00.012-04:00

Please, please keep these sweet children in your prayers.... we are overflowing here at Serving His Children!

Rachel is 11 years old. She just arrived last night, and we believe that she's suffering from Congenital heart disease. We are praying that God will give the Doctors here wisdom in her treatment….

Faleeda is 3 years old and has one of the worst cases of Kwashaco I've ever seen. But, along with her being incredibly malnourished, when they arrived, Faleeda’s mother was on the verge of dying from starvation. No exaggeration. They are both on the mend, but have a VERY long way to go!

Precious little Muhammad... On Tuesday this beautiful little boy went to be with Jesus. My heart is still attempting to heal.

Patricia is little a firecracker! She came to be us last week, and has improved and leaps and bounds since. Praise be to the one and only Healer!!!

Moreen and Ivan are 9 month old twins! Right now they are both so tiny and sickly. But, we’re hopeful that one day very soon they’ll be chubby little munchkins!

So, those are the newbies at my house... Thanks in advance for praying. We really need it!!!

2011-04-04T01:27:00.005-04:00

How many of you have ever heard the statistics on deaths caused by malaria each year? I would say, probably most of you. I mean you can read about the “malaria crisis” on the internet, in books, newspapers, and even hear about it on the news. It’s everywhere, and with good reason! Malaria is a terrible disease that takes the life of over 1 million people every year.

But, how many of you have ever heard about the millions of people every year that survive malaria, but suffer permanent damage from the effects? Probably not as many of you, I’ve not often hear those numbers. I do know one though. I live with one. I care for one. I love one. And her name is, Teddy….

In 2009 Teddy came to our feeding program on Tuesdays and Thursdays! She would line up outside my gate along with 900 other children from Masese. She would wait patiently in the smoldering sun until it was her tern to hold her bowl up over the massive pot of beans and rice. Once her food was in hand, she would carefully walk back to her home, sit on the ground, and eat her lunch!

Teddy was attending a local preschool; learning to speak English and recite the alphabet. She would walk home hand in hand with her friends, backpack bouncing all the way. Their laugher was so contagious, and soon they would all be giggling uncontrollably. She played, laughed and danced her days away…

Well, in September of 2010 all that came to a halt when Teddy fell very sick. Her mom, Brenda took her to a nearby clinic and she tested positive for malaria. She began treatment and little by little she began to improve, and soon she seemed to be fine! But a few weeks later she fell sick again. This time the malaria had escalated; it came back even stronger. Brenda rushed her baby back to the hospital where she was quickly admitted. She began treatment right away, and they stayed in the hospital for what seemed like forever. Weeks, with only slight improvements, followed by bigger back slides. She began to have seizures. The hospital staff was at a loss, and soon she was transferred to another health facility. But when she moved, Brenda was unable to go, as she had to stay in Jinja for work. Teddy’s Grandmother volunteered to stay with her, and Brenda returned home to Masese. Teddy and her Grandmother stayed at the hospital for one month…she continued to have out of control fevers everyday and because of her high body temperature her brain started to show signs of damage. She continued to have seizures. Her immune system was so weak that she developed a severe case of pneumonia. She was treated. She contracted meningitis and became paralyzed. Because of her paralyzed position she could not eat properly and soon moved to a liquid only diet. But even then, while attempting to swallow she would choke and milk would find it’s way into her lungs. Aspiration pneumonia set in. They again treated her, but this time the pneumonia was somehow resistant to the drugs and so the treatment course was twice as long as the first.

By this time it was well into the month on November and her condition had only worsened. She continued to get deathly ill, receive treatment and improve a little, then in a matter of days she would be right back where she started-literally fighting for her life. Struggling for every breath.
Yet again, she was transferred, and the same story took place, just in a new location.

Finally with nothing left to do, and no money remaining in her pocket Teddy’s Grandmother took her home. There had been no improvement for months, and very little hope that there would be any in the months to come. Teddy, at age 3 was completely paralyzed, and unresponsive.

In the course of moving from place to place, Teddy picked up almost every sickness imaginable and she grew very thin. She lost her desire to eat food, and when forced she would inhale it into her lungs and further infection would breed. That’s when one Wednesday morning, in a state of desperation, Brenda ended up on my fount porch….

That night at 9 o’clock Brenda, Teddy and her Grandmother arrived. As they walked up my front steps I was….overwhelmed. For that very afternoon one of our precious little boys had gone to be with Jesus. I, along with a sweet sister of mine had just returned from bring his body to the family’s village. I was drained in every sense of the word.

When Teddy was unwrapped and I saw her small, stiff, sleeping body for the first time my heart broke. I didn’t feel “ready” to handle what she was bringing to the table. I mean earlier that day I just tried with every part of my being to save a little boy, and I had failed. I told God “Now is not the time. Can’t you just allow me heal first?” my emotions were still so raw…. But what was I to do? Nothing? No, that’s never an option in my book. So with a cautious heart I extended my hand and greeted our visitors and newfound friends. Prying all the while.

That gesture was the start of a new journey…one of incredible pain, frustration, and of just plain unknown. BUT, it was also the start of an opportunity to show Jesus to a hurting family, to love a broken Mother. That night I was given the option to choose hope; to be a giver of hope, and I took it! And let me tell you, it’s not been easy. Oh no, it’s been extremely hard. I’ve had to do things that I never wanted to do, and make decisions I had no desire to make. Following God to the hard places is not always easy, that’s why they’re called “hard places” and oh my goodness, have we been to those hard places. But, Christ has been our strength, our refuge, and our constant HOPE along this long and difficult path!

I would love to tell to you that today, Teddy is a new girl. I would love to sit here and say that God turned her life around and completely healed her. But I can’t because as of now, it's not 100% true. In the weeks and months which followed that night, life was still hard for Teddy. She continued to battle for her life…sometimes harder than others. Many tears were shed. Sleepless nights were had. And SO many prayers were prayed. Oh my, following the call God puts on your life is exhausting!

THOUGH, I am very pleased and excited to report that last week during weigh-ins teddy showed a weight gain of 2.2 pounds!!! In just only one week! Wow, God is good! She still has a long way to go, but seeing some improvement brought tears to my eyes and a song of praise to my heart! I wanted to burst with joy! I don’t think I can really express the feeling in my heart when I saw that scale reading, so I’m not going to try. But, it's a moment I will never forget. Never-ever.

I still don’t know what God has in store for Teddy. I don’t know if, or how, or when he will choose to heal her, but I do know this, He has not forgotten about her. He’s crazy in love with her, and when the time is right he will move mountains for her! He already is!

The night after Teddy arrived...

Last week!

I would like to say a very HUGE thank you to Danielle and Jennifer!!! You girls rock!! I couldn't have done it without you. You were both so instrumental in Teddy's everyday (and night) care! Thank you for loving her like Jesus!!!

2011-03-09T18:42:00.000-05:00

I’m surrounded by unthinkable poverty…. Mother’s who literally can’t feed their babies, and I have food in abundance. My baby has never gone hungry.

Children come through my gate adorning rags as clothes. My daughter has a closet full of dresses…I can’t even count them.

Parents come to me, get on their knees and beg me to treat their children. My daughter gets Tylenol for the slightest ace or pain.

90% of Ugandan babies sleep on the hard dirt floor. My daughter has a beautiful bed that was made just for her.

Children right outside my gate are contracting deadly sicknesses from dirty water. My child drinks clean water from a filter.

Almost every child in Masese digs through the trash to find something to play with. My baby girl has a whole basket full of toys from America.

All around my home there are children huddled together in huts…trying to say warm. Dodging the rain as it pours in around them. But my baby girl, she sits on the veranda watching with wide eyes. Warm in her pink jacket.

I look around my living room at all the children sitting on the floor; their mothers seated next to them. It makes my heart hurt to think of all the pain and suffering that these sweet people have endured in their lives. My house is literally full of women who cannot provide for their children. They cannot feed them. They cannot cloth them. They cannot take them to the doctor. Most of them can’t even give them a bed to sleep in. So why is it that I have the ability to provide all of those things for my daughter? Seems unfair to me…and I want to change it. Don’t you?

P. S Thank you for all your prayers for Baby Siliman. He is doing wonderfully!! Praise be given to the God of HEALING!

2011-02-23T09:04:00.003-05:00

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU to ALL who made a donation towards Serving His Children buying oxygen tanks. Though I am not “happy” to be using them, I am VERY thankful for them! You have no idea…

Please continue to pray for Baby Siliman… He is so sick and tiny. He needs a blood transfusion, but there no available blood that is compatible. The Doctors are at a loss, they don’t know what to do. Neither do I. I can only pray.

“God, God of the universe please enter into my house and cover this little, tiny boy with your healing hands. If it is your will could you just please work a miracle in his small body? Please. For your glory, for your praise; not mine. I know that you are the only one capable of saving this little life, so I give it to you. I place Siliman in your hands. I know I cannot save him, that job is only for you, for he is your Son and you love him more than I. But, please give those of us who are caring for him the knowledge that can only come from you. Show me what to do. Be my eyes. Gide my hands. For I can do nothing without you. I KNOW that you are in control. I will follow. I will trust. I love you. ”

2011-02-22T16:12:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends, please pray for one of our many new house guests, Siliman. He just arrived today and is in pretty rough shape… He is sleeping on the living room floor with his Mom as we have no more available beds at the moment. We’re up to 31 people living here, so it’s a bit tight. But, he has a whole load of blankets covering his small body and hopefully he will SOON warm up! We are praying...

Join us and Pray for: wisdom in his care. Healing in his body. And restoration in his family.

God, I know you are in control!

2011-02-07T10:54:00.008-05:00

I am blessed. So blessed.

My incredibly wonderful family. I love you all!

2011-02-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

My bare feet pounded down against the cold, cement floor. My heart was pounding in my chest. It was 2:30 am, and I was running through every hallway in Jinja main hospital. I ran with determination, urgency; I ran with fear. My eyes scanned quickly into every room, every corner as I passed by…and more than once my fist met the peeling paint of a closed door.

I ran breathlessly, pleading for help, but there was never any reply. Only silence met my cries. I know my voice was heard by all who lay occupying beds, but somehow it did not reach the ears of those in uniform.

I was in search of a nurse, a doctor, or anyone really. But more importantly, I was searching desperately for oxygen… for waiting in my car was a little boy who’s life depended on it.

Every time I entered another hospital I was met with the same scene; I would quickly come to the conclusion that there was no oxygen available, and with haste, I would make my way back outside. And each time I jumped back in my car, I grew a little less hopeful; a little more fearful. And as I sped along the bumpy roads that led to our next destination, I found myself looking into the rearview mirror...far to often. When I would glance back, what I saw was horrifying, it was heart wrenching, unfair even, BUT, it was also a picture of Christ. A picture of servant hood.

In the back seat an IV bag hung, swinging and moving with every bump and turn. Attached to the end of that long clear tube was a little 11 month old baby boy named, Harrington. His very pregnant mother held him close. Uncontrollable tears spilled out of her puffy eyes and ran down her cheeks. A flow of salty tears fell to Harrington sweet face as he gasped for air; the rise and fall of his chest was frighteningly inconsistent. Next to this little family sat my sweet sister, Jenifer. She sat close using an oxygen bag, attempting to keep him alive. She was slowly squeezing the big yellow balloon like shape, pushing oxygen into his lungs; praying that God would give him his next breath. We were both praying, begging God to perform a miracle. Yet every time we reached another facility, the result was the same. No oxygen, not a single hospital in Jinja had available oxygen. Not one.

So we started off to Kampala…hoping and praying…

Then…God answered our prayers! One of the baby homes that we’d been to earlier got their oxygen machine working!!! Even after we left in such a hurry one of their girls, Helen stayed up franticly trying to fix what was broken. She got it working and called! I made a U turn and we were on our way…minutes later we pulled into a quiet, sleeping compound, bringing with us only chaos. We moved as quickly as possible. Holding a limp baby, an IV bag, and trying to continue getting oxygen into Harrington’s lungs was quite a task. Even with 3 sets of hands....

As I walked in the door, I felt a change take place within the small body I was clutching so near to my heart. Not a good change. I started running to the back of the house where Jennifer was preparing the oxygen machine. But by the time I made it into the clinic he had no pulse. I placed him on the floor and we started CPR. We pounded on his chest, gave him our own breath and prayed. Prayed. And prayed. And prayed…

But God did not choose to bring him back to us. He chose to take him to a better place. A place with no pain. No suffering. No hunger.

Sometimes when I’m in valley of the shadow of death, I DO fear. When I got the call that Harrington’s oxygen ran out, I was scared. As I drove to the hospital as fast as possible to pick him up, I was scared. Every time I bolted out of my car, I was terrified. And getting back in was even worse. As I knelt over Harrington and pounded on his chest, begging God to bring him back, I felt as though my own heart was stopping. Many times in the past month, I have asked god “why? Why me? Why here?” and every time without fail, I hear “Because I chose you.” So with a heavy heart I continue….I continue the work that God has called me to because just that, HE has called me! Even when my heart is breaking...

We miss you Baby Harrington. We love you.

NOTE: SHC would like to buy our own oxygen tanks, so that next time maybe this situation can be avoided. If you would like to make a donation to help cover some of the costs it would be greatly appreciated. Please indicate that the donation is to go toward oxygen. Thank you so much for all of your continued prayers and support!

"You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples."

2011-01-13T11:58:00.004-05:00

“Harriet has a 40% chance to live…at best.” That’s what the Dr told me on Monday morning when he diagnosed her with very severe, advanced pneumonia. I can’t explain the feeling in my heart when I heard those words. My stomach dropped. My heart broke. I was scared. Paranoia started to set in. Tears began flow.

In Uganda pneumonia alone is be enough to kill an 18 month old child, but accompanied by an incredibly severe case of malnutrition due to lack of protein…made her shot at life even slimmer.
Through my tears, I began to pray, but even then, when I was on my knees before the Lord, I still had a sinking feeling that the Dr was right. And as she worsened it seemed inevitable that Harriet would die before the morning.

Well today is Friday. Harriet is still alive!!! And her pneumonia is gone! We are being discharged from the hospital this morning!

This morning I heard one of the Muslim doctors say “I don’t know how that girl lived, but she should have died; it doesn’t make sense to me?” I have no words to express how thankful I am that God choose to save Harriet, to literally perform a miracle. And I am continuing to pray that He will work a miracle in the hearts of the those who worship a false God.

"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted."
Job 5:9

2011-01-07T02:11:00.006-05:00

“I want my Mom”. Those were the last words that came out of Andrew’s month right before he met Jesus...

At approximately 4 years old, Andrew was left on his Grandmother’s doorstep. Abandoned and starving to death. With little hope of a recovery they made their way to our house; seeking refuge and healing. Though, the kind of healing that we all desired to take place was not achievable here on this earth.

On Wednesday, after being with us for 3 days, Andrew passed away. Trying to breathe life back into a 7 kilo baby is an experience I never want to repeat…ever.

Still today, I do not believe it was an accident that Andrew ended up on my porch… Just like Nabakoza, God had a plan. He still does! Even though I don’t know what it is, I will choose to say “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” When He gives, and when He takes away. I will praise. I will pray. I will follow. I will love. For that is what I am called to do...

2010-12-27T12:55:00.004-05:00

I want you to meet my friends, Zakia and Wasawa….8 month old twins, and their Mom, Nalongo. They came to live at my house 4 and half months ago…

When I got the call about this little family, I was told that Nalongo was mentally challenged, and that the twins were close to death. The hospital staff had tried their best to treat the babies, but after a month and a half they were still severely malnourished. They were not improving and the longer they stayed there the more sickness’ they contracted. The hospital wanted to discharge them, but they had nowhere to go. Nalongo didn’t understand how to properly care for her children, nor did she have the desire to care for them. She was told her that babies were dying and she had no intention of trying to save them; in her mind they were already dead.

When I picked them up from the hospital, I Looked into their eyes and there was a look of despair. Defeat. Hopelessness. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy task...but, I brought them home and enrolled the babies into our malnutrition program. All 3 of them actually. They came together, as a family. But, from the looks of it they had no idea how to function like one. The babies cried all day and all night, and their mother had no desire to tend to them. She seemed more annoyed by their presence then anything, and she would get a look of frustration when Zakia or Wasawa would “disturb her”.

As soon as this little family became accustom to the routine around our house, Nalongo jumped right in with household chores! She was a great help to our staff! Though, washing clothes and cutting onions was not what she was here for….but we continued to gently encourage her to pay closer attention to her children; to tend to their needs first, above other things.

After many, many days there was still no change. I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and say, “Ok, I’m finished.” But God gave me the grace I needed every day, and renewed my strength each morning! And eventually she started to get it… She started to treat her children differently. She started to react to them differently. She started to look at them differently. She began to care for them with love. With JOY! With the delight that all mothers should have when caring for the children God has given them! I would walk into their room and she would be holding them, talking to them, helping them attempt new things such as sitting up, rolling over, and she would be smiling all the while! Along with that newfound love, came great improvement in the baby’s health. They started to eat better, and gain weight…they started to smile!
Well pretty soon Nalongo found herself caring for many of the other children in our house- the babies that didn’t have mothers with them. She would help bath the girls and put them down for nap, she would hold crying infants, and feed hungry children at meal time. I couldn’t believe the change that was taking place. It was pretty cool to watch!

I remember this one night. I was lying in bed and that doesn’t often happen…not for me at least. And I heard a little voice outside my door. It kinda scarred me at first, but I got up and right outside my room was Mamma Nalongo and baby Wasawa. She had tears running down her face and was absolutely frantic. Now I’m most definitely not fluent in Luganda, and she was talking so fast that I was having a hard time understanding her…I was only hearing “He is going to die. He is going to die. I don’t know what to do.” I was so confused. When I had gone to bed just an hour before, he was fine; I didn’t know what could have happened in such a short period of time that would bring his Mother into such a state of panic. So, I took wasawa and began to look him over, and at first glance he seemed fine to me, but she was so upset. She just wouldn’t stop crying. After a few minutes of consoling her, I finally got her to calm down enough so that I could take a better look at the baby in her arms. And as it got quieter in the room, I know exactly what was wrong….he had the hick-ups! I quickly ran outside to call our night guard who translated to her what in the world hick-ups were, and that there was no need to worry. After the explanation, she got the biggest smile on her face as she realized that her baby boy was going to be perfectly fine!

By the time I made it back to my bed that night, I just lay there praising Jesus! I knew she had truly gotten it! God had set ablaze a love for Zakia and Wasawa in their Mother’s heart. She had that love, the kind of love that makes you panic in the middle of the night when your baby is breathing funny, or making a strange noise, or maybe even when they have those annoying hick-ups…

Today if you come to my house you will not find Zakia and Wasawa there. No, those skinny, desperate, lifeless babies are gone. BUT, in their place are 2 fat, very healthy, loved babies that bare a remarkable resemblance, and their names are, Grace and John… You see Zakia and Wasawa are Muslims names. They come from a Muslim family; their Mom has been Muslim her whole life. Worshipping Ala is all she’s ever known. That is until she walked up our front steps…until she entered a home where she was surrounded by Christ Followers. Until someone cared enough to share Jesus with her, to love her like Jesus. Unconditionally! Nalongo never knew Jesus, she never wanted to, but she does now! She says, “I no longer follow Ala. I want my children to have Christian names because it is Christ who has saved our family.” And when we speak of Jesus’ family she gets a huge, sly grin on her face as if she knows exactly what we’re talking about!

As Christians we are called to love the poor. The orphans. The widows. Even when it is unconformable. Even when it’s hard. No matter what!

This picture was taken today, right before Nalongo, Grace and John went home. I would say that they have the "one big happy family" thing down!!!

2010-12-06T23:23:00.002-05:00

Hey, If you have not yet been able to come hear about Serving His Children/live to far to come, you can catch a live video cast of my last fundraiser before I head back for Uganda…
Wednesday, Dec 8th at 6:15pm!

http://www.elcchurch.com/ -Check it out!

2010-11-13T21:58:00.002-05:00

Hello from America!

Wow, I must say it is a bit chilly here, even in the south…but other that needing many jackets Selah and I are doing very well. It’s so fun to have her here with our family; she is of course getting incredibly spoiled and will expect to have a human play toy all to herself for the rest of her life. She is in for a rude awakening once we get home… oops.

Please keep SHC in your prayers as I am away and we have 2 fairly new volunteers running the show. They are so far doing a fabulous of taking care of everything, but I of all people know that it can get pretty overwhelming at times, and so prayers would be much appreciated! Thanks!

I will be doing a little bit of traveling while in the US (aka fundraising) and so I wanted to let all of you when and where, in case anyone wants to pop in and say hi. Here is my schedule as I know it…hope to see you there!!

Renee’s 2010 Fall Speaking Schedule

Nov. 14 – Moneta, VA – Radford Baptist Church, 10:30 Worship Service, potluck lunch to follow http://www.radfordbaptist.com/

Nov. 17 – Roanoke, VA – Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, Dinner at 6:00 (reservation required), Program at 6:45 http://www.rcpres.org/

Nov. 20 – Chattanooga, TN – Ethos Church, Fundraiser to include finger food, silent auction and program, $5 at the door http://www.ethoschattanooga.com/

Nov. 21 – Ooltawah, TN- Crossroads Baptist Church, 10:30 Worship Service http://www.crossroadsconnection.org/

Dec. 3 – Winnepeg Manitoba, Canada- Blumenort Evangelical Mennonite Church, Dinner fundraiser, and program(reservations encouraged-donations appreciated) (866) 999-3268

Dec. 4- Oklahoma City, OK- Evening Meet & Greet (580) 221-3799

Dec. 5 – Muskogee, OK, Southeast Baptist Church, 10:45 Worship Service (918)913-2010

Dec. 5 – Muskogee, OK, Southeast Baptist Church, Meet & Greet with Renee, time TBA! (918)913-2010

Dec. 8 – Moneta, VA, Eastlake Community Church, 6:00 evening program http://www.elcchurch.com/

Update...

2010-10-20T15:35:00.001-04:00

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR OUR NEW CAR!!! ! Wow, what a blessing it has been to be able to drive a vehicle that can handle the conditions in which it is driven in. Recently myself, a friend, and some of our staff traveled to Arua, Uganda, Congo and Sudan. Our trip would not have been possible without this new vehicle. What an adventure!!!

Driving out of Congo...ahhh

We made it...alive...and I even let Selah take the wheel for a while...

Who remembers this little boy?

Well, he is now THIS little boy!!!

Yes, can you believe it? God worked a miracle. Today Katoya is alive. God saved his life. He raised him up from the pit. He planted his feet firmly on the ground. We got to witness it. We got to rejoice in the victory that took place in his healing. And not very long ago we got to watch his family leave Serving His Children, bound for their new life together. What a joy, what an honor, what a privilege to work for such a mighty, awesome, powerful God!

1 1/2 months ago...

Betty has gained 4 puonds so far!!!

My Baby girl turned 1 years old!! Wow, does time fly. For her birthday she got a passport/visa and a trip to America!!! We levae next week...

We have 2 new volunteers in the house! They will be holding down the fort while I'm away... So please keep them in your prayers.

Danielle

and Jenifer

Well, I guess that's all the news for now, or at least all the news I have time to share. Thanks for all your prayers and support!!!

2010-09-16T13:19:00.001-04:00

Meet Baby Robert!

Robert is one month old and suffers from a genetic skin disease called “Epidermolysis Bullosa”. EB is a rare skin condition where the two skin layers lack the protein anchors that hold them together, and any action that creates friction between the layers (like rubbing or pressure of any kind) creates blisters and painful sores. The wounds are compared to the sores of third-degree burn. It is very rare, and as of now there is no cure.

It’s a miracle that he is still alive today! He and his parents showed up at my front door last Sunday morning, and after a google search, we immediately took him to a hospital in Kampala where after many, many tests they confirmed that our findings were in fact correct.

In attempt to keep Robert more comfortable he is constantly wrapped in heavy dressings, so that his mother can hold him without causing friction, resulting in more blistering

Yesterday Robert came home after a week and a half in the hospital. He and his mother will be staying here for a period, or possibly until he goes to be with Jesus. There is really not a lot that can be done as there is no “treatment”, but we are doing our best to prevent infection and treat whatever does come.

"And the King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Long ago God called me to love the “least of theses”, He told me to follow Him. He led me to Uganda. He put me on this path. He said “trust me at ALL times”. So I am, I am trusting that God has a big plan because I don’t; I’m just taking it one day at a time, relying on His strength to carry me through the tough situations that He brings to my front steps. Even when it seems to hard for me to handle, it’s ok because I am not my own, I am His, and He will provide everything that I need to do the work HE has called me to! “Trust in the Lord with ALL your heat and lean not on your own understanding, but in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.” I don’t know why God sent Robert here, but He did. I don’t know why He thought it would be a good idea to bring the “1 in a million baby” to the 21 year old with no professional medical training, but obviously He did. God is still saying "trust ME".

Now, I don’t know about you, but I work for a God who is still in the business of performing miracles…so you just never know what He’ll do…and I for one cannot wait to find out!

Note: because of the many special tests that needed to be run Roberts hospital bills are VERY high…and his care here will also be fairly extensive as we have to buy sterilizing equipment, and many other things required for his daily care. If you would like to donate and help cover some of Robert’s expenses it would be such a blessing! Please indicate when donating that it is for “Robert”. Thank you in advance!

2010-09-09T14:39:00.001-04:00

Dear fellow bloggers and readers,

I would like to send a HUGE “THANK YOU” to all of you! As of yesterday Serving His Children is a proud owner of a Toyota Land Cruiser! Thanks to all of your generous donations we were able to purchase a vehicle that will be able to accomplish the work we have for it-without getting stuck in the mud…what a blessing! Thank you very much!

Serving in Uganda,
Auntie Renee

2010-08-27T04:54:00.001-04:00

Sweet Nabakoza lived a life full of incredible pain, and suffering; she lived a life of neglect. A life of abuse. She grew up in a home where because of her disability she was denied the right to eat food, wear clothes, and go to school; she was even denied the right to be loved by her own mother. Can you even begin to imagine what that would be like? I can’t.

Despite her situation, Nabakoza didn’t give up hope. Oh no, she fought for her life every day. She struggled, and pushed through the pain, not only the physical pain, but the emotional pain; the pain of rejection-she did not give up. I believe that in her heart she knew there was something worth fighting for, something worth living for…she was just waiting to find it, OR, maybe she waiting for it to find her…

On Wednesday my friend, Nabakoza went to be with Jesus. God decided that it was time for her to come home, to leave her earthly pain behind and come worship him for the rest of eternity! Now, I have to say this is not the way I wanted things to happen, I had other plans; I had a different end to her story in mind. But, this is GOD’S perfect end to her story, and the story is not mine to write. In a previous post I think I talked about how our God is mighty to save, and how He was slowly saving Nabakoza. Well friends don’t be fooled; He did save her…He chose to save her in the ultimate way! He chose to save her from the pain and suffering, and sin of this earth. He chose to make her whole and complete. You know Nabakoza was never able to walk properly, or talk very well, but now, NOW she can do all those things and SO much more! I know that right now she is dancing before the king, laughing, and twirling around with a huge smile spread wide across her beautiful face!

I will never fully understand why God allowed these horrible things to happen to her, I mean hey, I’m just some 21 year old trying to follow the call…what do I know? But I do believe this: Nabakoza’s life was not in vain. God is still using her, even today. For a lot of people Nabakoza was a wakeup call. God has used her to put a beautiful face and a name to the word “starvation”; to make the hunger crisis real for people all around the world. Nabakoza’s life mattered. She is making a difference today. Thousands have fallen in love with this precious woman, have cried over her pain, and spent nights in prayer for her. There are thousands of “Nabakoza’s” all around the world. Now that you know about it what are you going to do? What was Nabakoza fighting for?

I wrote this letter to my friend, Nabakoza…I didn't get to tell her these things in person...

“Dear Nabakoza,

I am so happy that you are with Jesus now; I know you are running through the streets of gold and playing with the angels. You aren’t hungry anymore. But, I miss you dearly, and selfishly wish I could have you back here on earth. I walk into your room and wish you were still there so I could give you a big kiss and tell you “I love you”. I miss holding your hand at night while you sleep, and watching you make such a big mess when you eat…and I wish I could have seen that beautiful smile just one more time. I know that I only knew you for 12 days, but I’m eternally grateful for those days, and wouldn’t trade one of those sleepless nights for the world. Sorry if I got a little grouchy…I think you might have made all my hair turn gray. Thanks… You should know that thousands of people are praying for you and your family. I know your Mom is feeling so sad about the past 23 years; I told her you forgave her. My heart hurts for the hard life you had to live, but your pain was not in vain my friend. Because of you hearts are being stirred, God is calling out a people who desire to bring about change in this world. You made a difference in this world, Nabakoza! You matter. It’s a privilege and an honor to call you my friend, my sister. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life even for a short time. Thank you for forever changing mine. I love and miss you. See you at the golden gates…

Your friend,
Auntie Renee”

2010-08-24T10:23:00.000-04:00

The prayers, support, and encouragement that has been streaming in is overwhelming! What a blessing. Here, in this little red room, we feel incredibly surrounded by prayer and love.

Friends, I urge you to continue to pray for Nabakoza… She’s had a rough couple of days, and is in an incredible amount of pain. My heart hurts for her small, frail body that is trying ever so hard to hold on to life. Outwardly is doesn’t look good; she is fighting so hard, but by all appearances seems to be losing the battle. BUT, we are judging only by what we can see from the outside… only God knows what is going on the internally. Only He knows. So we hold to the hope that He is healing her from the inside out. That every day He is renewing her!

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

A good friend reminded me of that promise today!

Thank you for joining us in lifting up Nabakoza. Thank you for falling down on your knees before the throne in surrender.

2010-08-20T07:27:00.004-04:00

I serve a God of COMPASSION! A God who is MIGHTY TO SAVE! A God who can perform MIRACLES! A God who is ALIVE! A God that breathes LIFE into death….

48 hours ago I was holding a child who was unconscious; a small, bony little girl who was barely breathing. A child that had been neglected for so many years, that she was literally starving to death. A girl who was dying because for the past 10 years she’s been hungry….and had no food.

48 hours ago, I felt sure that Nabakoza was going to be with Jesus. That at any moment she would leave this earth, headed to heaven where a heavenly host would welcome her with open arms. I was certain there was no way she could survive. How could she when no doctors would agree to treat her…? Each time another hospital refused to care for her, hope faded a little more.

48 short hours ago we were driving franticly through the city of Kampala, in the middle of the night; searching for anyone who would even give her a second glance. I was terrified. Hysterical. Sad. Angry. In one of our last attempts, I (along with Shana) ran into a hospital barefoot; carrying Nabakoza in my arms like a small infant. No one even looked up...and after sitting on a cold floor for over an hour, the Dr told me to leave her existing IV in and take her home. Take her home?

48 hours ago we drove back into Masese, pulled into our home…and I placed Nabakoza in her bed. We piled every blanket we had on her, and put boiling water in plastic bottles. I started her IV, then Shana and I sat…we cried. We prayed. We waited…

Today, Nabakoza is awake! She can sit up. She is eating small amounts of food and keeping it down! She can move a little bit, and make noises in response! Today Nabakoza is very much ALIVE!!!

Here in Uganda, malnutrition is a fact of life. It is real. It is part of life. And death happens every day as a result. It infuriates me that all over the world right now children are dying of starvation. I want to change it. I want to make it better. I want to “fix” it. And I can’t, but I know someone who can! I know someone who is BIGGER than the worlds hunger problem; someone who is so powerful, who breathes the breath of life. Life!

I know that Nabakoza is alive today because God decided to save her, what other explanation is there? It’s not because she received good medical care, or because of any medicine that was put into her body, she had neither of those things. No, God decided He’s not yet finished with her here on this earth. Even if that just means he wants to leave her here a few more days, He has a purpose. Maybe He just wanted to show off to the world; to proclaim his greatness to the nations. To help His children remember…to remember He IS mighty to save!

I serve a God of miracles. I and I just watched one unfold before my eyes!

Thanks to all for all your prayers and support!

And to Shana…”Thanks for walking beside me through thick and thin; I am incredibly blessed to have YOUas a sister in Christ. I love you! “

2010-08-18T03:27:00.001-04:00

Dear friends,

I Beg you to join me on your knees in prayer tonight. My hear is breaking…I wrote this blog about a little girl named, Nabakoza this afternoon (though I never finished it), and at 7 this evening I rushed her to the hospital (s) in Kampala… we went to 4 different hospitals, and were told the same thing at each one “She is to critical; we cannot help her. You take her to a different hospital.” At 3am we had exhausted all of our options, and the Dr we were currently with told us to “Go home!” so we came back to Jinja…. She is now on an IV here and we are trying our best to keep her comfortable. PLEASE PLEASE PRAY for this little girl! That her pain would ease; that the Lord’s plan for her sweet little life will be accomplished. That through this her family would see HIM!

This is the story of Nabakoza…

After driving all morning, I approached a small; half collapsing hut…the home was littered with trash, animal waste, really everything else imaginable. I was unsure of what to think; my mind was reeling…just 2 days before, I had heard a horror story of what I was about to see, and I was still having a hard time wrapping my mind around it all. As I walked closer and closer a dread come over me, but also a strong desire to run as fast I could, to reach my destination with speed, to comfort those hurting; to fix the problem at hand. But I didn’t. I remained calm. I prayed.

When I reached the tiny home, I glanced inside the falling down doorway…and there is really no way to describe what was before my eyes. I don’t think I would have believed it if I had not seen it myself; what I was looking down at was unreal, unbelievable. Wrong. As my eyes adjusted to the dark I saw a little, skeleton of a child sitting on the dirt floor. Well, she was trying her best to sit up, but was failing miserably. She was naked and sitting in her own waste; it looked as if she hadn’t been bathed for weeks…in her hand she held an empty cup that she was ever so slowly tapping on the ground. When she saw movement, she slowly lifted her eyes, and when I saw a fear, death-like look in her eyes, I screamed inwardly. My heart stopped. In that moment I didn’t know what to do. She was just there, no one was caring for her, no one was feeding her, no one was even looking at her. And that is how Nabakoza has lived everyday for the past 23 years…until now.

As we waited for her mother to be found, we attempted to bath her with the small amount of water that was there. After she was semi clean I wrapped her up in a cloth, and held her like a baby. Within a few minutes she had fallen fast asleep in my arms. The man who brought us to Nabakoza’s home said “Ah, she is now experiencing comforts that she has never in her life felt before.”

I wanted to hold her tight, and never let go; to comfort her- “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3 & 4

I wanted her to know that she was loved, not only by me, but by a GREAT BIG HUGE God, and that He had not forgotten about her- “But the needy will not be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.” Psalm 9:17.

I wanted her to know that He was coming to her rescue- “In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.” Psalm 31:1 &2.

Sorry I can’t finish…there are to many tears...

2010-08-18T03:27:00.000-04:00

2010-08-10T09:36:00.025-04:00

The past 2 weeks we have been blessed to have a team of people from America helping us out here in Masese! We built 2 water harvesting tanks-one for a local school, and another for a community center on a nearby island! Everyday these 10,000 liter, cement tanks will serve the children and adults of our community! Our hope: that we will be able to help the people here understand that when they drink this water, they will thirst again and again, but when they draw from the spring of Christ, they will never be thirsty; His water is everlasting, eternal, forever! That is our prayer!

Thank you all for coming to serve with us! Thank you for being the “hands and feet” of Christ to the people of Uganda! You have impacted many lives…you have been a BLESSING!!!

House update…
Currently we have 7 babies in the house! Each of them has a unique story…a story of how God has brought them to be here at Serving His Children! Detailed stories to come...

Twin brothers, Katoyia and Kakulu (7 months)

Katoyia on July 3rd / Katoyia Today

Twin brother and sister, Waswia and Zakia (age 8 months)

Shadia (age 4 months)
Sharifa (age 1 year)

Sophia (age 16 months)

And, of course Selah had to make it in here… Side note: we went to court a few weeks ago, and finished all of our paperwork; I was granted legal guardianship, and Selah now has a passport!!! But, keep praying…her guardianship order is missing a few key things that are needed to obtain a visa. So frustrating…

2010-07-26T15:08:00.002-04:00

Thank you all for your prayers. Peace went to be with Jesus last Saturday morning. It was a heart breaking time, and I don’t even have words to describe the pain of walking alongside one of your dear friends, as she witness’s the death of her child. I felt as though I was losing my own baby girl...I have cried so many tears, I don’t have any left, and I have prayed every prayer a hundred, million times… And even though my heart is hurting more than ever before in my life, I know the pain I am feeling is just a fraction of what Ashley is feeling during this time. Please continue to remember the Laverty family in your prayers. Ashley and her oldest daughter, Diana, still have a lot of healing left. God chose to take Peace to be with Him; He has taken away all of her pain and sickness, all of her suffering, but even that thought doesn’t always make it easier for a mother’s heart, so plase pray for her even now.

The night before Peace passed away; myself and 2 other close friends sat on the floor with Ashley, and had a sweet time of fellowship and prayer! I felt the Lord was leading me to read this scripture:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip, he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you, the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm, he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121

Well, Ashley asked me to speak at the funeral…and I did my very best to make it through reading that verse again, a small part of this story…and lyrics to the song “Praise You In The Storm”. I pray that if I were ever in this situation, I would have the faith and determination to literally “Stand of the word of Christ” as the women in this story did. Wow!

I know it’s long, but I encourage you to read it.

You're probably familiar with the Casting Crowns hit single "Praise You in This Storm." In this excerpt from his new book Lifestories, frontman Mark Hall tells the story behind the song.

Great songs don't just come out of nowhere, and there's quite a story behind the Casting Crowns hit, "Praise You in This Storm." In a new book called Lifestories (available August 29), Mark Hall, the band's frontman and chief songwriter, tells the stories behind the songs—including this one about a little girl dying of cancer who never gave up her trust in Jesus . . . and her mother who literally stood on the promises of God through the whole ordeal. The following story has been adapted and condensed from the book.

Laurie Edwards watched her little girl gasping for air and wanted to breathe for her. She wanted the Maker of breaths to swoop in and fill her child's lungs and dissolve every tumor with His mere glance. She wanted another miracle.

It was the early morning of Saturday, October 30, 2004. Ten-year-old Erin Browning lay in a hospice bed in her home, in such pain and shortness of breath that, in fear and exasperation, she could manage only one request of her mother.

"Just read the Scriptures!" she said.

So Laurie began reading the Scriptures. She included Erin's favorite passage, Proverbs 3:5-6. From 1 a.m. until 5 a.m., loved ones took turns reading aloud the Word of God over a child in the last, cruelest stages of cancer's grip. Little Erin had battled for more than three years.
And now the end was near. Laurie tried to refuse to believe it, but her trust in the Lord remained steadfast. She was frightened and faithful all at once. She prayed for an eleventh-hour miracle. And she kept reading the Scriptures, as Erin had asked.

At one point, Laurie placed her Bible on the floor and stood on it, literally standing on the Word of God as she read over her child. Finally, after the long night of reading Scripture followed by another long night of hopeful prayer, Laurie consented for a hospice nurse to administer an IV with medicine that essentially placed Erin in a painless coma on Sunday afternoon. There would be no more gasping for breath.

I met Erin Browning on Valentine's Day, 2004 at Westover Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. Erin loved Casting Crowns, and, after six years of dance lessons, had choreographed a dance to our song "Here I Go Again." When Laurie initially contacted us, we made arrangements to meet their family before that concert. Three months later, Erin danced for the last time as her mother and two sisters joined her for a performance of "Here I Go Again" at The Carolina Theatre.

I was gripped by the imagery of Laurie's standing on her Bible and quoting Scripture over her sick little girl. After all the e-mail updates and prayers, that moment melted my heart and sparked the lyrics to this song.
I kept up with Erin's condition through Laurie's e-mails detailing the family's wrenching ordeal. Every e-mail described a change in Erin's condition. One e-mail would offer hope: "There is a new treatment, so please be praying." So we'd pray, and then the next e-mail would report, "It's not working."

Sometimes Laurie had questions: "What's going on? I feel like I'm all alone in this." But her love of Jesus remained fervent even though she questioned what was going on and didn't really understand the reasons. It was raw, rare faith, and it was inspiring.

On June 21, 2004, I e-mailed Laurie to tell her that I was writing a song for Erin entitled "Praise You in This Storm." Upon the news, Erin screamed so loud that it hurt Laurie's ears. Erin never got to hear the song, but Laurie heard it for the first time when her mother bought the CD on the day it was released and took it to the school where Laurie works. The two women sat in the car, listened to the song, and "cried and cried and cried."

"Erin would be so happy to know that other people were being touched by something written for her, because she was never about herself. She was about other people," Laurie said. "Other kids at school would say 'I want to be like Erin.' And she would say, 'No, you don't. You want to be like Jesus.'"

I was impressed with Laurie's faith, but Laurie will tell you how much she was impressed with Erin's faith. Erin was six years old when she prayed to receive Christ. She was diagnosed with cancer when she was seven, and by the time she was eight she was visiting area churches to give her testimony.

Four months after Erin was first diagnosed, a second bone scan revealed that the cancer was gone. Doctors called the results remarkable. Laurie and Erin called it a miracle. Emboldened by the Lord's clear hand in her life, she began regularly sharing her faith and giving her testimony.

"She had a desire to reach people to let them know there is no hope or joy without God. And even though she had reason in her life not to be happy, she was joyful because she had Jesus in her heart," Laurie said. "She wasn't afraid. She let the Lord speak through her, and when she would get up and speak it was like I wasn't listening to my own daughter. He would put words in her mouth, and it was just awesome."

But the cancer eventually returned, and this time, it didn't go away. The tumors grew so large that they displaced organs and created a visible bulge in Erin's chest. They pressed down on her spleen, pushed her heart to the right, and deviated her trachea, straining her breathing.

Near the end, Laurie's e-mail updates were desperate. Her last one before Erin's death was a simple request in all caps: "PLEASE PRAY FOR ERIN!" It was the night in which Laurie stood on her Bible during the four hours of Scripture reading. The weekend crept into Saturday, when at 1:15 a.m. the hospice nurse told Laurie that Erin's vital signs and statistics suggested she had only approximately 20 minutes to live.

Fifty-one hours later, [she] finally gave up her fight. Erin Browning went home at 4:24 a.m. on November 1, 2004.

Laurie still doesn't fully understand what happened next. She remembers only a tremendous peace and describes it as being under the shower of the Holy Spirit. She held Erin's body for 90 minutes while her daughter played in heaven.

"It was not like how I expected her last minutes to be. I thought I'd be hysterical, but I wasn't," Laurie said. "But she was where she always wanted to be. She told me when she was six years old that she couldn't wait to get to heaven. She said she had felt an emptiness in her heart, but when she asked Jesus into her heart she never felt it again because Jesus had filled her and would never leave her. For the 10 years she was on this earth, God used her in a remarkable, powerful way.

"I've learned that He can use an average, ordinary family to do extraordinary things and that He continues to use us despite ourselves," Laurie said. "How He has done that is beyond me. But He has a plan and purpose. A lot of times I may not like His plan, but I accept it. I'm just honored that He chose to use Erin and this family as He has."

Through it all, I was captured not just by Laurie's faith but also by her worship. She had the worship of Job:

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Job 1:21

"Praise You In The Storm"

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Urgent!!!

2010-07-16T14:06:00.001-04:00

Please, please be praying for my friend’s daughter, Peace. She is currently in critical condition, and needs a lot of prayer. Ashley is the one who stayed at my house while I was away, and is a dear friend of mine; it breaks my heart to watch her suffer so with her beautiful baby girl. There are no worlds to express the emotions of the past couple of days…I have been physically sick….on my knees before the cross….there are no more tears…

I am so thankful that all of our children are doing well, and that we have such amazing help, so that Shana and I can be with her during this time. PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY!!!

“Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am also.”

2010-07-11T08:30:00.019-04:00

Wow, what a week it has been here in, Masese… But, everyone is still alive, and breathing; God is healing the little ones in our house as I sit here at my kitchen table!

On Saturday 2 of our boys went home to be with their families! It was a joyous time, but also a little sad as everyone here has grown to love them so. Both of these boys come from Muslim families, and my prayer is that the seeds we have planted will find root in their hearts! I am so honored, and blessed to have had the opportunity to share in their stories! God is not finished writing yet…

Allafat upon arrival

With his Mom 3 and a half months later

When Allafat first arrived he cried constantly, and never smiled. He did not know how to crawl, or even play…NOW; he is almost walking, plays for hours and LOVES to laugh! God has truly renewed this little life!

(Note: yes, I was very tired in this picture…Saturday was day 6 of no sleep…)

This is the “traditional African picture”…

Becaham was such a little peanut when he came…he has grown in leaps and bounds since February, and he is now a “BIG little man”!!!

Arrival

Almost 4 months later!!!

Thank you all for your prayers! We couldn’t do it without you!!!

2010-07-08T13:28:00.003-04:00

Thank you all so much for your prayers!!! The power of so many people gathering together is untouchable! “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.” When I logged into facebook tonight, the first thing I saw was my home page, where all I could see on my screen was brothers and sisters urging others to pray for Katoyia and his family. It gave me chills; I can literally feel your prayers in our home. Thank you for interceding for this precious life! It has been a rough few days, but God is ever faithful, and I continue to put ALL of my trust in him! "I DO trust you, Lord; my HOPE is in YOU!"

Last night Katoyia worsened a considerable amount. I finally went to sleep at around 3am, for the first time since Sunday, and while I slept he slowly became weaker and weaker… When I woke up this morning he was in a critical state again, and I drove him to the hospital to see a Dr. Though they didn’t really have any helpful information, and in the end the only plus to going was that after much effort they were able to get an IV running!!! Praise the Lord!

Right now I feel like we go 2 steps forward, and then 10 back…it’s so frustrating, and the fact that no medical personal feels that his life is worth saving is just another reason to get mad. As you can imagine it has been very hard for me to stay calm about the situation...

BUT, I know that the Lord holds this little boy in his mighty, healing hands, and I am trying ever so hard to rest in that fact, but let me tell you, it is really hard… Everything that’s happening right now is out of my control; I have done everything I can (as little as I feel that is), and I have exhausted every option-the rest is up to our Father in heaven...I continue to lift him up in prayer as that is the only thing I can do, and most effective of anything that I COULD do… Thank you for gathering with me, for surrounding a little 7 months old boy that you don’t even know in healing prayer!

“But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! “

2010-07-05T17:45:00.006-04:00

Wow, it’s been awhile…sorry. My time in the Sates was wonderful; it was busy, but so great to see my family and friends, and hey, I only drove on the wrong side of the road a few times… The fundraiser went great, and I want to thank all of you who played a part in putting it together, and for those of you prayer warriors who couldn’t be there in person, “Thank you”!

Not a moment went by when my heart wasn’t hurting for my daughter. It was So hard to be away from her, but she was VERY well cared for in my absence, and has now readjusted back to life here in Masese! I cannot get enough of that girl!

I thought you guys would want to see her cute face!!!!!

Since being home I have jumped right back into life full force… I went to the hospital the end of last week, and was asked to admit some of the children from their “malnutrition ward” into our rehab program and of course I said “yes”, so Friday I picked up one of the saddest little babies I have ever seen in my life, a 7 month old boy named Katoyia…when we left the government hospital I didn’t think he would live for more than 2 hours. He even smelled like death…I had him transferred to a private clinic, and he improved slightly overnight. The next day the Dr insisted that he be discharged. Why? Because He didn’t want the extra work brought onto his plate, so I loaded him and his family up and we headed home; and he is currently being monitored by our nurse, Constance.

At the hospital on Sat.

I must say, we’ve had quite a few ups and downs in the past 48 hours, this morning, even after drinking fluids throughout the entire night he was again very dehydrated, and his veins would not hold an IV, so he’s taking electrolytes and special, high calorie formula every 10 minutes…yes EVERY 10 minutes around the clock. This is the part of my job that kills me…because I still have to get up in the morning; well I guess you can’t really call it “getting up” if you never went to sleep in the first place. Please pray for Katoyia, and his twin brother, Chakuru (Chakuru is also malnourished, but is not as severe); they both have a long road to recovery ahead of them. I mean it’s a miracle that he’s still alive…It’s only by the grace of God that he’s able to draw a full breath with his frail little body. God is MIGHTY to SAVE!

Sunday night

Tomorrow I am picking up 4 more children from the hospital. It’s not normally the goal to have this many new kiddos at a time, but God had different plans, so we’re going with it! They are all suffering from malnutrition; some worse than others, but all needing lots of TLC, and requiring a large amount of time, patients, and devotion. By the end of Tuesday we’ll be up to 12 children (including mine and my friend, Ashley’s who stayed here while I was away). It’s gunna be a full house!

I also ask that you please pray for my sanity. This is not really a “stress free” job…I think it’s safe to say that the past 24 hours have been the most stressful time of my life. Walking into this kind of situation with a child that is in the condition of Katoyia is not easy. God has given me the ability to care very deeply for really all people, and having to juggle the thought of losing a precious life at any moment is incredibly emotional. String that together with everything else that happens here daily and you’ve got yourself a tight rope to walk on…

“Even though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will fear NO evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.”

I feel a little like I’m walking through the valley of death right now, but I am choosing to NOT fear because even though the enemy is real, and at work every day, my God is BIGGER, and He IS the ultimate healer! I put my trust in Him; I choose Jesus’ comfort!

"Be Hands For Africa"

2010-05-29T12:32:00.006-04:00

Announcement:

Wednesday I will be heading to America for a visit, a wedding, and of course some work… I am very excited to see my family and friends, but that excitement if almost completely drowned out by the fact that I have to leave my baby; right now I cannot fathom even walking on the plane. The panic attacks have already started… I thought I would be able to take her with me, but the Judge broke his arm 3 weeks ago and we still haven’t gone to court. It is apparent that the Lord doesn’t want Selah to experience the good ol’ USA yet… Your prayers would be much appreciated during this time!

While I am in the States Serving His Children is hosting a fundraiser (the reason for this post)! The event is June 5th from 6pm-9pm, at Palestine Baptist Church. It will be a night to remember; there will be African food, and an action, your kids can even make their own bracelet out of Ugandan paper beads! We will also be selling the new SHC t-shirts, and Ugandan necklaces, made exclusively for this event (pictures below)! I will be speaking/answering questions, and of course there will be lots of pictures of adorable children! This will be a night of fun for the whole family! For more information and to purchase tickets please visit our website: http://www.servinghischildren.org/, or you can call, Lauri Bach at (540) 798-6018 and she can get you the information needed!

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!

This is the only event I will be speaking at during my time in the States, but if you can’t make it on Saturday evening, and you still want to hear more about our ministry, I will be speaking for a few minutes at my home church (Radford Baptist Church) at the 10:00 service on Sunday June 6th.

These beautiful beads will be for sale at the fundraiser on June 5th!

Another “Starfish” homebound!

2010-05-26T03:30:00.011-04:00

87 days ago today I embarked upon an incredible journey…a journey that has forever changed my life, and the lives of others all around the world!

I can hardly believe that it was only a few short months ago when I walked up the steps of our home- with me, a little girl that I didn’t think would live to see another day. Yes, almost exactly 3 months ago, Sarah was carried into our lives by her 12 year old sister, and none of us have remained the same. For those of you that don’t remember hearing about Sarah, I encourage you to go back and read her story; I Promise your heart will be forever changed.

When Sarah came to live with us back in Febuary she was 13 months old, and weighed 6 pounds (3 ½ of those pounds were her head…). There are words to express the horror in my heart as I unwrapped her small, almost nonexistent body that very first day.

After hearing Sarah’s story told by her sister, Mary we had no option but to take this small girl and do our very best to keep her alive. At that point sending her to the hospital would have just been traumatic, and quickened her undoubted death. So, we called our staff nurse and got to work… but there was really little to be done for her medically; her body was simply shutting down. For the previous 4 months Sarah had been literally starving the death, and by all appearances, her death was very near.

Myself, and our current volunteer, Brigitte started praying… we asked our families to pray…we asked our friends…word spread and soon hundreds of people were praying for this tiny, lifeless baby girl.

Well, much to my surprise, Sarah made it through the night! She continued to hold on to life...I continued to pray; I knew that if the Lord chose to keep her here on this earth, He could perform a miracle and save her live, but I also knew that He could in an instant decide to take her to be with Him. My emotions were on edge as I waited for the death that seemed inevitable.

As I cared for Sarah (she had to eat every 15 minutes around the clock…), I grew tired…weary…and had little hope of her living. But the Lord continued to remind me of this promise:

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will NOT grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives STRENGTH to the weary and increases the POWER of the WEAK. Even youths grow tired and weak and young men stumble and fall; BUT those who HOPE in the LORD will RENEW their strength. They will SOAR on wings like eagles; they will RUN and not grow weary, they will WALK and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28-31

After 6 days with little more than 2 hours of sleep, it became apparent that the Lord intended to leave her here a little while longer! She began to slowly improve, then much to everyone’s shock she began to very quickly move past her critical state of health. In one week she gained a little over 2 pounds! In 3 weeks she had more than doubled her weight! She was growing stronger everyday! I couldn't believe what was unfolding before my eyes-it was truly a miracle! I would not have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself…

We continued to pray for Sarah: for her health, and also for her future… For those of you who don’t remember Sarah’s Mom died shortly before she came in Febuary, and her Dad is not mentally stable. We knew she couldn’t return to her original home, and started to look into other options for a family…

It was determined by her extended family that Sarah's Mom’s sister would take and care for her when she was finished with our program. So, for the past 3 months her “Auntie Rukia” has been coming to visit. Every week she comes to spend time with Sarah, participate in a health class, and learn about Jesus! She faithfully travels 2 hours to Masese on Friday afternoon, and again 2 hours home on Saturday. While I was a little skeptical about the situation at first, I am no longer. The more I get to know Rukia, the more I grow to love her! She brings smiles and laughter into every room she enters; she loves Sarah with her whole heart and is grateful for the opportunity to honor her sister by caring for her daughter. I have seen the interaction between Sarah and her Aunt over the past 3 months, and I feel very confident that Rukia will do everything in her power to keep Sarah safe and healthy!

When I did Sarah’s home visit last month, I told her Aunt, and all the neighbors that were gathered around, "Sarah would be able to come home soon!" the abruption of joy that tuck place soon turned into a celebration, and a dance of thanksgiving! They shouted in jubilation, rejoicing, and thanking God for protecting Sarah’s life! I get chills just thinking about it…

Well, yesterday Sarah left our home in Masese, bound for the adventure of life with her new family! It was a bitter sweet time for my heart; I am SO excited that Sarah has an incredible home where she will be cared for and loved, but at the same time I will miss her dearly. This little girl and I have been on quite a journey together….I cried as everyone, EVERYONE in our household marched out the gate, escorting Sarah and her Aunt down to the road… Sarah was happy as a clam her new Mothers arms, and Rukia had a smile spread wide across her face!

3 months ago God renewed Sarah; He gave her strangth to keep going: He saved her life! She still can’t walk today, but I know that soon she will RUN; and I pray one day she will soar on the wings of eagles...

Sarah and her new MOM!

2010-05-17T13:21:00.007-04:00

In a little house outside a town called Myuge, a small boy lays on the floor crying. He is unclothed and covered in his own waste …screaming with a lung capacity that a child of his size should not have. The neighbors are def to his cries though and no one comes to his rescue. Where is his Mom? Where is someone; anyone?

After the death of his mother, Becaham spent most of his days locked in a house with no one to care for, or about him. His Mom died in November of 2009 from AIDS, and since then he has been living with his father, along with 1 of the 4 other wives he is currently married to. Everyday his Dad goes out to find work, and his “co-wife mom” leaves to dig in the gardens. Becaham is left alone-for hours and hours; all day he lays, all day he cries.

After weeks of repeatedly being left alone, he learned to cry out of boredom, and even when someone was with him, he cried. He cried all night; every night. His family grew more frustrated, and they began to leave him more. They bought Valium tablets to make him sleep at night, though an adult dose only kept his little body asleep for 3 hours.

Becaham fell sick, but there is no health center, so his sickness went untreated. He lost all apatite, and refused to eat. He grew thin, but no one really noticed. He lost weight at a rapid speed, and his Dad finally realized he needed to do something soon otherwise he was going to lose his son, but there was nothing for him to do. He had no money, and the nearest hospital was very far.

So Becaham’s condition continued to worsen…

That’s when we entered the picture. We were brought to Becaham during a home visit for another child in our program, and there was no turning this little guy away. After our home visit was complete we went back to pick up him and his father. When we arrived Becaham was laying on the floor, not a family member in sight… When I met this intriguing little man, he was a 1 year old weighing in at a little less than 7 pounds.

Just 3 months ago I said “I am not admitting any more kids until after I get back from America in June”. (I am going back to the state for 3 weeks at the beginning of June). Yeah right… since I made that statement we have received 3 new children 2 of them being very severe cases of malnutrition, and the 3rd being a 4 day old baby girl. That worked out really well… Please keep this crazy, nut house in your prayers!

Allafat: age 2. 10 pounds

Shadia, a now healthy 1 1/2 month old!

Becaham Then

Now!

“The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to FULL health”

Psalms 41:3

2010-04-27T13:19:00.001-04:00

Oh life is insane….so many things to do and never enough time to complete them all.

Quick kid update-we have 2 new faces in the house these days: Allafat, and Shadia! Allafat- a 2 years old boy who suffers from severe malnutrition, his Mom is currently staying here to assist in his care. Shadia: 11 day old baby girl whose mother died during labor. She is staying here for a few months until she’s stable enough to go live with her very old Grandmother.

Life is never dull here!

As I have not had time to blog very much, and will most likely not in the next few weeks, I would like to direct you to our current volunteer’s blog: www.livinghislove.blogspot.com For the next 2 weeks I have 3 girls staying with me! McClain, Candace, and Megan! They have already been a HUGE help, and I look forward to working together with them in the coming weeks! God has sent them at the perfect time, and I am so grateful for their hands and willing hearts!! Check out their blog and read about the adventures God is taking them on here in Uganda!

One life at a time...

2010-04-03T09:51:00.020-04:00

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference, it's impossible!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf.

Then, smiling at the man, he said…” I made a difference for that one.”

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness. There are so, so many hurting, hungry children; I want to help them all, but can’t. I want to save every life, but it’s impossible.

There are thousands, millions of children suffering from malnutrition all over the world today. Every year over 15,000,000 children die of hunger. We can’t save the lives of even one percent of the precious little boys and girls who will die this year. The situation is seemingly hopeless. Why try? But as we work, sifting through the sand our fingertips grasp something, someone and with the help of our Healing Savior we attempt to cast that little one back into the ocean… It’s not always easy to pick them up, to lift them out of the sand, but as we do beauty is unveiled; life is found, a life that has simply been waiting for someone to pull them out from under the tide that is ever washing over them.

It's true, we cannot save every life, but we can save a few...

Alafat

Chakool

Faith

Becaham

Blair

Sarah

Kamia

Nusula

Chakool

2010-03-26T10:32:00.006-04:00

On Wednesday we went to visit Sarah’s home… we left early in the morning, drove for about 2 hours, got stuck in the mud multiple times (4 wheel drive is a great thing to have when driving on dirt paths in the rain), and finally arrived at her home at around 11am. As we pulled up to their house I saw Sarah’s Dad out digging in the garden, and of course he was wearing his fuchsia pants-rolled up, barefoot, and covered in mud! When he spotted us his face lit up, and he immediately came running.

We parked the car and as soon as we exited we were promptly greeted by many. Chairs were brought out for the “visitors”, and there we sat…in the rain…surrounded by smiling faces! Sarah’s Mom’s sister, Rukia was among them. Because of Sarah’s Dads mental status Rukia was going to decide where to place Sarah after she is finished with our program. So, we sat and discussed with her some different options…

We brought with us a camera that had some pictures of a now almost 13 pound Sarah, and the pictures were a huge hit! While Charles, Rukia and I talked, Brigitte showed the growing number of family members and friends Sarah’s picture! She is a beloved daughter, Granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, and friend to many, and that was evident in the faces of those surrounding us. Every time a new comer would join our little gathering, they would be sent to Brigitte to see on a little screen the child they all thought would never again be seen on this earth. After seeing the pictures some would shake our hands and thank us profusely, some would raise their arms to the sky thanking and praiseing the Lord, and some would just walk back to their seats quietly, dumbfounded, but all smiled and laughed with clear JOY. I got so enamored with watching their faces and seeing the awe in their eyes that I would have to remind myself I was having a conversation… One of my favorite parts of the day was watching Mary’s face as she looked at a picture of her little sister…

She was not there when we first arrived, and when she came sometime later, I almost did not recognize her. She was not the same scared, despite, hopeless little girl I met almost a month ago. She looked so grown up, so strong and beautiful! So full of JOY! I had tears in my eyes as I watched Brigitte turn on the camera, and ladies and gentlemen let me tell you, I then watched the biggest, most beautiful smile I have ever seen in my life spread across a 12 year old girls face! It was priceless. As she turned and walked, or should I say skipped back to her seat on the half broken bench she could not contain the happiness that filled her, it spilled out, and bubbled over into her face! I don’t think she stopped smiling the whole time we were there.

As we concluded it was decided by the whole family that Sarah will go and live with her Auntie Rukia at the end of May! I was so excited to see that her family cared for her so much and was willing to do the necessary things to ensure that she has a safe place to live, and someone to care for her well! They wanted to make sure that she was able to remain their family, yet not fall sick again!

As we prepared to leave and start our journey home, Sarah’s Grandmother slowly stood up, raised her arms to the heavens and started to sing a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord. After a few seconds everyone chimed in, and we stood, surrounded by a chorus of beautiful praise! The young, the old, and the blind, all together, unashamed, they sang and danced before the Lord. I don’t think it gets much better than that!

Part of Sarah's family

Well, as we headed home we had no idea what was coming next, well, we kinda did… you see on the way to Sarah’s house we stopped to pick up one of their neighbors who was going to take us the rest of the way, as we didn’t know how to get there. VERY long story short there was a little boy who was brought to us while we were stopped, he was very malnourished, and in need of some major help. We said we would stop on the way back and talk with the father more (the mother died back in Nov.). I had been praying about what to do because as Brigitte is leaving in just 2 short weeks I did not really want to take on another “Sarah”. But, well let me just say, we ended up with a couple of extra passengers on the ride home… All that to say, we have a new baby in the house! Meet, Becaham, yes like the famous soccer player.

We got all of his paperwork through yesterday, and the Dr. said he thought he would be fine; they didn’t even try to admit him. He said “I know you will care well for this baby; you are ever bringing in these very sick ones, but they become ok very fast. You just take this one home.” So, we did! The Doctors at the clinic know we work with malnourished children, but I think sometimes they think I am crazy when I go in there with a kid like Sarah or Becham. Anywyas, we have ourselves another 13 month 6 pounder. Prayers please!

2010-03-21T02:29:00.002-04:00

So, yesterday when I came down stairs Sarah’s Dad was sitting at my kitchen table…in bright fuchsia dress pants. Sometimes you have to just laugh about life. After talking with him for a few minutes I was utterly confused; I was under the impression that he was MIA, so why was he here?

Apparently when he heard Sarah was still alive he would not believe it to be true until he saw her with his own eyes. So, he came with his neighbor, Silvia, the woman who first brought Sarah here. They live very far away, so I was a bit surprise that he would have come all this way; they left their house at 3:30am to arrive here at 7am.

At first I was a little upset because from his appearance, he looked to be of sound mind, and I was told that he had a mental condition that prohibited him from caring for his children. We had been lied to… When Charles (our day guard/interpreter) got here, I called him in to attempt to help solve the mystery. Within a few minutes it was apparent that this man did indeed have a condition that made it impossible for him to think and process things clearly.

It was very sweet to see him interact with Sarah, she definitely remembered him! They just sat together on the veranda and played. Here you don’t see fathers playing, or really interacting with their children in a positive way, so to see that he really cared for Sarah, and was willing to show his affection was encouraging! Before he left we come to the conclusion that we would visit his home and meet with his sister-in-law; she would be the most likely relative to be able to keep Sarah after she is finished here with our program-if she is unable to care for Sarah long term than we will start looking into alternative options for her future.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers; I received so many emails from people saying that they were praying for Sarah and everyone here at SHC administering her care! It was so encouraging to read those emails, facebook messages, and blog comments; to know that people all over the world were covering Sarah in prayer! She has made a complete turnaround; she weighs a total of 5 ½ kilos, and learns to interact with people more and more everyday! I ask you to join us in continued prayer for this little girl and the future that God has in store for her.

2010-03-11T10:40:00.008-05:00

Some of you may remember a blog post written back in September about a little baby that was brought to my house, well one of the many.

You may remember reading the story…she was brought by a neighbor who rescued her from a pit latrine. My neighbor, Mary tried to care for her, but she became sick, and grew weaker every day. Mary had no money to properly care for the baby, and in an attempt to keep her alive she carried the little bundle here, to my house.

There is really nothing strange about a lady bringing a sick baby to my house, people do it daily, so when she arrived I was not all concerned or alarmed, though I was a little surprised because Mary did not have a baby. After Mary explained that she had been abandon-left to die, how she had come to find her, and that she couldn’t care for her, I agreed to take the baby for the time being. She was very sick, and needed immediate medical attention. The day she arrived she weighed a little under 6 pounds, and had severe rashes all over her body; she had never been bathed, and was bound tightly in a blanket almost constantly since birth. She was said to be about 1 month old. Little did I know that this small, nameless baby would change my life forever...

We promptly gave her a name, Selah which means “Praise the Lord”, did some research and found that she was only 10 days old, and started her on the prescribed treatment. Then, we began to search for some kind of family member who would be able take her. I expected we would get her healthy, and send her home in a few months, though no one knew where home was…

Every day she grew and developed more and more, and I fell more and more in love with her.

A couple weeks after her arrival an elderly lady came to the gate and said “I heard my grandchild is here. I would like to see the baby.” My heart stopped. I knew she would be going home; all the kids that come through SHC do, but I didn’t think it would be so soon. I brought Selah outside and placed her in her grandmother’s arms, trying to prepare myself for goodbye. Over time I have learned to guard my heart and not get attached to the kids that come-it’s to painful if I don’t, and it was no different with Selah, or was it?

As I talked with Selah’s Grandma, Emaculate, she explained what happened, and filled in some of the blanks that were still question marks in my mind. At the time she didn’t know where her daughter was; she had run away from home about a year prier, and had only heard thorough a friend that she was pregnant. She asked if we could keep her for a little longer while she looked for her daughter, and I of course said “yes”!

About a week later I got a call saying that she had found Selah’s mom, Pricilla. She had been in the main hospital, but now wanted to see her baby. With a heavy heart we went to visit. When we got there I knew why this woman had left her baby…she was so sick. Pricilla had been suffering from severe AIDS and TB for the past 2 years, and she was definitely showing signs of her fight. Selah herself had just tested positive for HIV, so when her Mom said she had TB I wanted to get her out of there immediately-TB is VERY contagious, and for a baby, deadly. But, I curbed my fears and asked if she wanted to hold her daughter? Much to my surprise she declined; she knew to risk of infecting her baby, and put her own desires aside to protect her child. That day I brought Selah back home with me-her Mom was in no condition to care for herself, much less a baby.

7 days later Pricilla died.

I will never forget that day I met Selah’s Mom, when I looked into Pricilla’s lifeless eyes, I saw the love she had for her daughter, the desire to know her, to be with her, to even touch her for a moment. She didn’t abandon Selah because she didn’t care, she knew if she kept her that she would surly die; she cared so much that she wanted her to have a chance at life; she wanted her have hope, a future. And she did it the only way she knew how. In a way Pricilla did for Selah what Christ did for us.
We decided that it was best for Selah to stay here until further notice…

Well, long story short, Selah has a Mom!!! Me!!! After a LOT of prayer and thought, I KNOW that the Lord is calling me to be Selah’s forever Mommy. I really had no intention of adopting a child at age 20, but apparently God had a different plan, and His plan normally wins!

I really struggled through the decision making process that has gone on the past few months-not about whether I wanted to be her Mom or not, but about what was best. In my heart Selah was nothing but my daughter, but because I love her so much, I want the absolute best for her. So if that meant to go to another family then I prayed I would be able to release her, and trust that the Lord knew better than I. I ran all the pros and cons through my mind a million times… for me and for Selah… Some of the cons being: Selah having to grow up surrounded by children that are very sick, not having a mom all to herself, but having to share with other children that require more attention then she, not having a Daddy right now-I want Selah to have Dad like mine; one that thinks she’s a princess, and tells her how special she is and says that he loves her every single day. And for me, it’s a little scary to think about having a child, especially a child that will be on medication twice a day for the rest of her life. I thought and prayed about all those things, and more. And the Lords answer was what it tends to often be “TRUST ME”.

This is the start of a long journey, and your prayers would be a huge blessing! Adoption in Uganda is VERY difficult, and VERY expensive; I have neither an abundance of time or money, so I am completely trusting the Lord for both.

Oh, and let me tell you about answered prayer…Selah had another type of HIV test done a couple months back, one that test her actual DNA, and I would like to proclaim with great EXCITEMENT that it came back NEGATIVE! Thank you Jesus!

Plumpy Nut it up...

2010-03-01T07:20:00.011-05:00

I don’t know if any of you have heard of something called “Plumy Nut” well, I hadn’t until about a year and a half ago… It is a readymade therapeutic food designed to treat severely malnourished children. The high-protein, high-energy, peanut-based paste typically comes in foil wrappers or small plastic tubs, which are practical for children, and makes feeding easier. The WHO and UNICEF distribute it; you can’t just go to the store and buy it. It’s not easy to get. Some government hospitals give it out, but only if you are admitted into the ward, and consume it while there. I have looked into getting plumpy Nut in the past and have been very unsuccessful.

Typically, it allows children to return to a healthy weight within three to four weeks. Last year, the product was used to treat more than 63,000 malnourished children all over Africa.

I actually brought information about Plumpy Nut to my board, and they laughed at me; they didn’t think it was a real thing. That’s how good this stuff is. It is just jammed packed with protein, milk powder, vitamins, ect. They dose it by measuring the child’s mid upper arm (using something called a MARK tape-Sarah falls in the “red zone” I don’t think I have to explain what that means for you to know it’s not good) , height, and weight.

A child of Sarah's age should be at 13-she's at 8

As I have said, Plumpt Nut is not easy to get here in Uganda-there are only a few places that have it, and only 2 that will give it to you to take home. Well, God is so good! This is what’s sitting on my kitchen table at this very moment!!!

YES, 50 packets of Plumpy Nut for Sarah! She is not yet a fan, but I believe she soon will be. God is holding this little girl up in his mighty hand; He is fighting the battle for her! And winning by a long shot. I didn’t share these pictures with you; well simply because she looks a little scary, but I want you to see the improvement that has taken place in such a short time.

Hours after arriving on Wednesday.

After only 6 days!!!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!

2010-02-27T03:26:00.002-05:00

In a mud hut a small girl, Mary sits with her 4 brothers and sisters. Alone, cold and hungry... The night before, their Mom had come home and went right to bed; she had been digging in the garden all day and was utterly exhausted. Mary could tell something was not right, not normal, she usually came home and fixed dinner before resting, but last night she went to bed without even a word. Mary tried to wake her, but she seemed to be sick, so she left her to sleep. She went out in search of food for her siblings, but there was nothing, and she had no money. That night they drank tea for dinner.

Later that night Mary bathed her little brothers and sisters, put them to bed on their mat, covered their Momma with the blanket hoping that she would be better in the morning, and washed the dishes outside. When she came back in, she closed the door-though it would not latch properly, and put herself to bed.

That was the last time she saw her Mom alive. Early in the morning some men came and took her body away. No one said a word. No one looked her in the eye. They were just there…alone; she had no idea what to do. How was she supposed to care for these children? She was their legal guardian. At the age of 12 she was now the mother to 4 children. Over the next few days they drank tea for meals, but the children began to cry-they were hungry.

All except for one... In the corner lay a little tiny girl-the youngest, Sarah. She had been sick for a while, but the closest health center was a 2 hour walk, and they had no money for medicine. She had been sick for a long time, Mary could no longer tell if she was getting worse, or just staying the same.

They became despite, so Mary started going to ask the neighbors for food-some would give her something small, some wouldn’t. Most all of their neighbors were poor, so they had nothing to give even if they wanted to. She started going to their Moms garden in hopes of finding something there. Sometimes there would be something, but sometimes there was nothing. While she was gone all day searching for food her siblings would play outside in the sun-to them things were not all that different, and they still laughed and sang. But while all the big kids played outside Sarah lay in a dark room by herself. Mary would give her tea in the morning with the others, and one of her other sisters gave her more at midday. When Mary got home she would mash whatever she had found to eat and give it to Sarah for dinner, but there was no improvement. They ate mostly Cassava root, millet bread, and tea. As the days passed Mary became less and less successful in finding food for her hungry family, and Sarah was growing weaker every day. Mary found someone to let her use their phone and called some of her relatives that lived in another village. They came a few days later and picked all the children, all except for Sarah. They said she was too sick, and no one could care for her, so they left her behind.

Mary was scared. She didn’t want to lose another family member, but what was she to do? Every morning she would tie Sarah onto her back and go searching for something, anything; she didn’t even really know what she was looking for, but she had to try.

Silvia had seen Mary walking aimlessly with a baby strapped to her back, and when she got a closer look at the baby, she felt sad, she was so small and looked to be very sick. She had heard what happened from a fellow neighbor… Silvia could sympathize because her own child had been very sick, and become severely malnourished because of it. She wanted to help this baby, though she had nothing to give, she and her husband had sold everything to keep their own child alive, but she felt as though she had to do something. That’s when she remembered…she was taking her child to Jinja to be evaluated for a program that helped malnourished children. Maybe she could bring this baby too?

She was planning to leave in a couple days, so she called ahead to inform her contact that she was bringing another baby that was severely malnourished. She gathered Mary and Sarah and started the journey toward Jinja. Hoping, praying that something could be done for this little one before it was too late

Here in Masese it had been a crazy day, and when I got the call that our kid was here, I have to tell you I was not super duper thrilled. And when I heard that there were actually 2 when there was only supposed to be 1, I was a little skeptical. I was told that the girl was an orphan, but nothing else. I assumed that they were just looking for a place for her to live, and as we are not an orphanage, I knew I would not be able to help her. I figured I would just have to send her back home, or try to refer her to a baby’s home.

When I got to the hospital I saw a small girl holding a blanket that looked to have a baby inside, but it was so small to be a baby, I thought maybe it was just a blanket with nothing inside. I was in a hurry and didn’t think too much of it; you never know what you’re going to see here, and it would not be all that strange for a girl to carry around a blanket for seemingly no reason.

When I got inside and found Joy, the nutritionist who was doing the referral, we talked briefly and went outside where the kids where waiting for us. It turned out that that blanket was a baby, it was Sarah. Joy introduced me to Mary and Sarah and began to explain a little bit of her situation. As she talked I tried to get a look at Sarah, it was evident that she was very malnourished, but she was covered, and it was hard to see how bad she really was. After hearing a little bit about what had happened, I agreed to take them both back to my house and talk through what would need to be done for her to be admitted into the program.

We left the hospital with Sarah, Mary, and another Mom plus her baby. When we reached home, we all got out of the car, and went inside. As Mary carried her little sister up the front steps her eyes were huge-I’m sure she had a lot of different emotions going though head… We talked for a long time using Charles to translate as neither of these ladies speak any English, and I got a better grasp on what had happened.

As you know our goal is to work with families; to teach the mom, not only rehabilitate the child, but Sarah has no mom. And she didn’t really have any place to go once she finished the program. I had to make a judgment call… I prayed that the Lord would lead me in the right decision. I wanted to take this little girl so badly, but I wasn’t sure that we could get permission to take her as she doesn’t have a mother, and we are under very strict orders from the government that the children are to be placed back in their homes with their families once discharged. But as of now Sarah has no family willing to take her.

I prayed. The Lord said “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Was this the Lord's way of coming to Sarah? I felt the Lord saying “Trust in the Lord. Trust in Me.” So I did. I finished her paperwork and fed Mary lunch and she left to go back home. You could see the relief in her eyes as she handed over her little sister…she had done it! She had found a way for her sister to live!

After Mary left I brought Sarah back to her room to put a diaper on her, change her clothes, weigh her, and finish a few things up. When I removed her dress I was shocked. I knew she was underweight, but I hadn’t guessed by that much.

Sarah is 13 months old and weighs 3 Kgs (that’s 6.6 pounds). She cannot sit, roll over, hold her head up well, or eat solid foods. She is a very sick little girl. Her first day and night here I thought it might have been to late, I was uncertain if she would make it. But by the Grace of God she is pulling through!!! She’s a fighter! She’s pulled her IV out 4 times. After running some tests the doctors (along with myself) were amazed that everything came back without any traces of serious infection/disease - God has surely protected this little child. After a few days, I have full confidence that the Lord is not ready to take her from this earth yet.

It’s not going to be a piece of cake to get Sarah healthy again. Oh no, it’s going to harder then hard to get to the point where this baby has a tight hold on life again. She’s on a vigorous feeding schedule, eating every 15 minutes, and yes, that would 24 hours a day. I am already super drained from just 3 nights, but I know the Lord will give me the strength to press on! He will fight this battle we’ve just entered; I am not strong enough, and because my God is ALWAYS victorious, I have no doubt what the outcome will be!

"Thus says the Lord to you. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde. For the battle is not yours but Gods. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf."

P.S As it is VERY late here and due to my tiredness, I will not be posting pictures at this time. My internet is to slow. pictures to come…

HERE WE GO......

2010-02-17T12:46:00.002-05:00

Today I write you with an excited heart! Some of you may have heard mumblings through Brigitte’s blog, or updates from my Mom about a “pilot program” for the new Malnutrition Rehab Center, and I would just like to say that it’s true! Just yesterday we got the last of our paperwork signed by the government, and can now begin to put things into place.

We will be running a 3 month pilot program to “test out” our ideas, and see what works and what doesn’t. We’ll not only be keeping the child and bring him or her back to health, but we’ll be working heavily with the child’s family as well-It’s going to be a lot more work then situations in the past when we were just keeping, and treating a malnourished child (Chakool, Faith, ect.). The goal is that during the child’s treatment time the entire family will be actively involved in their recovery! We want to attempt to nip malnutrition in the bud. One of the main causes: simply not knowing how to care for your child in a healthy way. So, while the child is here with us, we are requiring that the Mother or guardian come for one overnight a week to assist in the care of their child, learn about nutrition, help do things here to give back so they are not just receiving a free hand out, and take a health class provided by a local church. The ultimate goal is that one day we will have housing for the Mothers to stay here full time with their child, but as of right now we’ll just be putting mattresses on the floor. We may have the opportunity to rent the house next door which would be a total blessing! We actually have a gate on the back side of our compound that goes into theirs…was it meant to be or what? funny how God works.

So, here we go…today we picked up one little boy, and by Saturday we should have 2 more! We only want to take a few children for this test run, so we’re keeping it small. We want to get a good feel for everything now, so that by summer we will be able to run in full swing with hopefully 10 or more. Yes, 10 children is not a lot, but the kinds of children that will be admitted into our program are very sick and require around the clock care. And when I say around the clock, I mean all the way around the clock.

Well, I’m gunna try my best to keep you updated on the kids throughout these next 3 months; I want you to come along on this journey with us!

2010-02-06T09:36:00.011-05:00

Chakool on right

Chakool…I don’t even know where to begin… Today I had tears in my eyes as I watched that cranky little boy that I love so dearly ride away on a piki with his Grandmother. They both had big smiles spread wide across their beautiful faces as they drove away, ready to embark upon the great adventure of life together! As they were leaving Chakool turned, waved, and said one simple word, a word most children can say by the time they reach the age of 1 year “bye-bye”. Even though Chakool is almost 2 ½ I still marvel every time he says it…I don’t remember what I’ve told you about Chakool, but statistically this little boy should not be alive right, he should have gone to be with Jesus months ago. You see when I got the call to pick up Chakool from the children’s hospital the nutritionist said “this one is just going to die, he is very badly off. It’s impossible; you can try, but he is just too far gone.”

When he came to my house he could not even sit well on his own, he was on a milk based diet, and vomited after nearly every meal. It was very easy to lose hope, and just think that the everyone’s assumptions were right, this little boy was going to die, “maybe the Lord just wanted me to care for him in his last few weeks?”

Well, I and SHC’s 2 other AMAZING volunteers worked, and worked, and worked, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed. We work around the clock for 3 weeks, and somehow he was still here, alive….no improvement, but he was still breathing. “Thank you Lord”. We hit 4 weeks, and there were some ever so slight changes-he was sitting up, eating on his own (and keeping it down most of the time), and best of all he was having some of the most impressive fits I have ever seen come from a child as sick as he was. 6 weeks: he SMILED for the first time, oh but don’t worry the fits continued… 8 weeks: He gained almost a pound (which was about a sixth of his weight), slept all the way through the night-except for when he was woken up for his special formula, and was starting to interact with some of the other children! He continued to roll his eyes and glare at his caregivers, but hey, we were taking what we could get; he was interacting with another human, a white human! As we prayed, fed, and cared for him he slowly by slowly improved, and the thought that we might lose him faded into the distance... 10 weeks: because of the chemical burn that covered 1/3 of his head a huge chunk of his tissue peeled off, and left a large portion of his skull exposed. We were told that he needed a skin graft, but he was to malnourished for the operation, so we waited… all the medical professionals here looked down upon not putting him into surgery right away, but we had no other option. We prayed that God would close his wound, and were laughed at. Let me tell you, I have been on a very long, exhausting, frustrating, JOY FILLED journey with this boy… There were many moments of doubt and fear, but the Lord continued to show HIS power everyday as we relied on him to heal this very sick, hurting boy that no one believed could be healed. I know a lot of people say that miracles don’t happen anymore, but no one will ever convince me of that. I just watched the impossible happen! Before my eyes I saw a child that was suppose to die, LIVE!

Today Chakool can WALK, he won’t stop laughing, and is always smiling, and he likes to play in the dirt like all little boys, and grins when he thinks he might get into trouble! His head has completely closed, and NO surgery was needed. I have truly seen the miraculous healing power of Christ at work!

This afternoon Chakool’s Grandmother came to take him home! Because of some issues with his Mom she will not be able to care for him at this time, but his Grandmother was overjoyed to hear that he was still alive and doing very well, and she happily agreed to care for him until further notice. When I carried Chakool outside to her she had tears in her eyes because she couldn’t believe that he was even the same child. She had a picture of Chakool and his big sister-it was only about 6 months before he was admitted into the hospital. He was standing up looking fat and healthy; it makes me wonder what on earth happened in such a short time to make him regress so quickly? Crazy. Brigitte and I spent some time talking with his Grandmother, and found out that she was Muslim. Her whole family has been for many generations. Well, today that chain was broken… She said “I want to know a God who can heal a child that was almost to die, a God that cares about my grandson! A God who is alive.”

That, that is what it’s all about!

Thanks to all of you who lifted Chakool up in prayer over the past 5 months!!! Our prayers were heard…!

2010-01-23T05:05:00.011-05:00

Well, so I know I said that I would be posting updates from my Mom, but as you can see that has not happened. I always have good intentions when it comes to blogging, but it never seems to play out that way… sorry guys. But let me cap what’s been going on for the past few weeks.

Rachel and Rita have been doing really great! It’s precious to see the way the Rachel cares for her baby sister, and is always watching out for her as they are in a new place with strange people. Having some extra loving hands around the house has made their transition a lot smother! I’m still working out all the details of where they will be going in the next few weeks, but for right now they are very content to play outside in the dirt, and eat lots of beans!

Praise the Lord! We now have a VAN!!! Thank you Amazima Ministries for graciously donating your old van!!! We LOVE it!

Selah has the chickenpox…waiting for the rest of them to catch it…

Nusula has gained almost 2 pounds, and is looking great! Her age was estimated closer to 1 ½ or 2, and the more time I spend with that girl the more I am convinced that she is toddler going on twenty… She is so smart! She’s learning new words everyday!

SCH has decided to hire a nurse once a week to come and put on a small clinic for the people of Masese! We attempt to offer some medical treatment to the community, but can’t handle all the needs here, so we have found a wonderful Christian lady, Constance who will be coming every Wednesday morning! Right now we have been incredibly blessed by having a large portion of our meds donated, so Constance will be using our front porch, donated medicine, and Jesus’ love to provide the best treatment possible!

I broke my toe the other day..not even a good story, I just wasn’t paying attention.

Ok, well I need to go... My Mom is making my favorite dinner ever!!! All the kids are waking up, and Selah is about to wake so she can continue crying until she goes to bed-life calls…

2010-01-13T16:45:00.001-05:00

Hello all! Well, as some of you know, and some of you may not, my Mom and Sister (along with another friend, Brigitte) are NOW here in Uganda!!! It’s so fun to have part of my family here with me, even for a short time! After 4 morning meetings, feeding 980 children lunch, receiving 2 abandon sisters with nowhere to go (1 and a half and 3 years old, both of whom screamed until falling asleep shortly before I left), piling 2 babies and their pajamas in the car, oh and I might add forgetting my shoes, I finally left for the airport! Though I did go back to grab my shoes because while I don’t wear shoes a lot around here, they frown upon going barefoot at places like the airport, and believe me, I get enough stares caring around 2 black babies, I really need no other reason to be looked at like I’m a crazy person. So, along with my babies and my shoes, we went to the airport…It was a sweet reunion of seeing family and friends! I’m so thankful to have them here-my Mom and sister will be staying for 3 ½ weeks and Brigitte will be here for 3 months! I probably won’t have time to blog much, like I do now, however my Mom is writing email updates and as she sends them out, I will be posting them here, so you can also read about what’s happenings here in Masese over the next few weeks! And both my sister, Eileen and Brigitte have blogs as well (links on right side bar), so check them out for pictures, and updates as well.

P.S Nusula is doing fantastic! She has gained almost a pound in her 2 weeks here!

2009-12-31T15:07:00.013-05:00

Along with Christmas comes gifts right? I mean that’s what all the hype is about, that’s why you can’t be in any store at last a week before Christmas if you’re closterfobic in the least, or why stores make over double their profits in the months of November and December. Well here things are a little different… the gift part of Christmas is not as much of a big deal, though we did receive an extraordinary gift over the “holiday season”; a blessing in the form of a beautiful, itty bitty little girl (literally)!!! Meet Nusula. Nusula came to my house with her Mom at the beginning of the week, and the moment I saw my heart hurt, I knew she was a VERY sick little girl… Nusula’s family is new here in Masese, and has essentially nothing. When her Dad died in a piki ascendant this past summer they lost everything they had, which was not much. And now their family of 5 lives on a little under $25 a month. Can you imagine? When she and her Mom came knocking on my gate this past Monday she was a lifeless, sick little baby, but today she is smiling, laughing, and playing! Only because of God’s AMAZING GRACE!

Monday, just after her arrival

As you look at this picture you might think that “she doesn’t look that bad”, but I would like to inform you that this 11 pound girl who looks to be about 9 months of age is actually in fact a year and a half old. I know; crazy. She has made huge improvements in just the past few days, but she has a long way to go… For a child that is as severely malnourished as she is it will take months of hard work for a full recovery to take place, and even then her little body will never be the same. Aside from the sickness she is currently facing, she will be forced to fight everyday to keep her life… Yes, Nusula is one of the 24.5 MILLION people in Africa that suffer from a disease called, AIDS. But despite what a large portion of the population here says, her life IS incredibly valuable, and worth FIGHTING for!!! My Jesus thought it was, as He was beaten, mocked and hung on a cross, when He gave up His life, He thought that even the babies with a deadly, and socially shameful disease were worth dying for!

So, here we go giving it another attempt; again, going on a great adventure-trusting that the Lord, the Great Healer will take the lead, and work a miracle in the life of a small girl, in a little village in Africa.

Tonight after dinner..eating chocoalte cake!

P.S I ask for your prayers for not only Nusula, but for me as well. Last Monday I was bitten by what is believed to be a Brown Recluse spider. As this can be deadly, I pray that the Lord will protect my body, and that my immune system will not eat away at the tissue around the bit in an attempt to get rid of the venom. Thanks for your prayers!

2009-12-23T15:03:00.007-05:00

Christmas morning: wake up incredibly to early, open our stockings, tromp outside in the snow wearing PJ’s and boots to feed the horses, and of course give them all a candy cane, come back inside, and worm up while smelling something delicious coming from the kitchen! Then the most important part of our families Christmas morning… Each year no matter where we were, or who was there, we read the Christmas story!!! We all sit near as my Dad opens his tattered bible and begins to read... “In those days Caesar Augustus made a decree…”Even from the time we were babies that’s how Christmas morning began in our home! My parents were always very intentional about keeping the TRUE meaning of Christmas the center of our festivities!

Well, this year is going to be a little different, I won’t be participating in my families traditions, or eating any of my Mom’s fabulous food, I won’t go to dinner at my grandparents house, or sit around talking after we’ve stuffed ourselves, and because of that it may not even feel much like Christmas. That thought hurts my heart a little bit… BUT, because my parents we’re always so diligent in teaching me the real meaning of Christmas , though I won’t open stocking or presents, drink hot apple cider, or most importantly be with my family, I will be having a mighty celebration in my heart because December 25th is the birthday of a king, the one true king! As I celebrate the birth of my Savior this Christmas season here in Uganda I pray that I will not forget, that I will not forget about that baby who lay in a manger over 2,000 years ago, and that I would remember to worship HIM in the same way that those dirty Shepherd’s came, and the wise man bowed down!

This is what I will be reading to my children Christmas morning!

But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "Let it be unto me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:30-38

So, Mary, the mother of Jesus was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. Matthew :18-24

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke 2:1-21

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene." Matthew 2:1-23

Mom and Dad,

thank you for being incredible parents, the BEST ever! Thank you for instilling Christ in my heart, and for teaching me to love HIM with everything in me. Thank you for being such a great example of a father’s love for their child, and for intruding me to my heavenly father! Thanks for teaching me the real meaning of Christmas; I hope to one day do the same for my children. Know that I am missing you terribly this Christmas, but remembering, and celebrating the birth of our Savior! Lots of love.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

2009-12-09T06:31:00.010-05:00

Well I do believe the Christmas season is upon us, and I’m finally going to attempt to fill you in on life here, and bring you up to date. I’m telling you, I can just never seem to get to blogging, and for that I’m very sorry.

Most of you are probably experiencing the weather change to cold! Maybe some of you look out your window and see snow, have so melt ice off your cars before you leave for work in the morning, or shovel your sidewalk.
Well, I am experiencing the sun get hotter, and more intense. Yes, the rainy season in over and the hottest months of the year here in Uganda are coming… I can’t really say I miss the cold of winter, I was never a fan of being freezing, but I wouldn’t mind not getting scorched every time I walked out of my house. Its ok, people just say I am becoming black like them!

It is a bit strange to think that in America right now everything is all about Christmas! When you walk into to a store you get bombarded... you are greeted by singing Christmas cards, red & green, big blow up Santa’s, and fake snow “The reason for the season”, even Barbie has a special outfit on! Here, 3 weeks before Christmas when I walk into the supermarket they try to sell me a new kind of soap for washing clothes. That’s the Christmas excitement around here. Weird that is can be so different...But to all of you back in the States who are already celebrating the Christmas holiday

“Have a very Merry Christmas!!”

This is something I want to share with you guys, so you can be praying along with us! It’s a long story, but I’ll try to just hit the highlights! A couple weeks back the Lord planted an idea in my head, and on my heart. I didn’t really tell anyone because I tend to get lots of crazy ideas, and that’s all they are, ideas. But 2 Saturdays ago Heidi and I were sitting in the children’s hospital waiting for the night shift Dr to show up. We had a little girl with a protruding rectum, and it needed to be pushed back in. We had been too many hospitals, but continued to be sent to other medical facilities because no one wanted to deal with her.
So there we sat in the dirtiest, grosses hospital I have ever been in, just waiting for the Doctor to feel inclined to come to work. We were getting board, and that doesn’t happen often, so I started to tell Heidi my “idea”. In a nut shell this is what it is: it’s to basically start a malnutrition rehab center of sorts. Kind of what we’ve done for a couple of the kids here in Masese: Faith, Allafat, Chakool… We would most likely work with a hospital for referrals-a lot of times kids with severe malnutrition don’t necessarily need to be in a full blown medical facility, and being in a government hospital is most of the time more detrimental to their survival than if they would have just stayed at home. Only 30% of children admitted with severe malnutrition come out alive. Those aren’t very good odds.
So, we would probably get most of the kids from poor quality government hospitals. And we would “rehabilitate” them, but with the intention of being able to integrate the children back into their homes with their families! But while the child is in our program we’d be using that time to work very closely with the parents/guardian to teach and mentor them! We don’t end up back in the same situation in a few months. The hope would be to have a large garden that could mostly sustain the household of maybe 10 to 15 children, and the parents would be required to help “dig” and work in the garden with the SHC staff. We would really kill 2 birds with one stone because they would be giving back to their child’s recovery, not just getting a free hand out, and learning at the same time! The goal being that we would be able to help them start their own garden once their child is able to go home! The parents will also be required to take health classes among other educational courses in attempt to better the chances that the child will not have to be admitted to a medical facility for malnourishment reasons again. We pray that in working closely with the parents we will have the opportunity to share the gospel and tell them about the Love of our Savior! Because that is our heart more than anything else; to bring hearts into the kingdom! Also, since we will be working closely with the whole family, we’ll be able to conduct follow up visits to ensure that the child is being properly cared for. That’s the basic idea!

So, not 2 minutes after I told Heidi about all this a lady (white lady) walks by with an African Man and Woman; she waves, and keeps walking. It’s very rare that you would see other white people in that particular hospital, so we were a little curious. A while later they come back and sat down, the white lady walked over and says “hi my name is Linda; I’m starting a nutrition ward here. What are you guys doing?” We got to talking, and then she had to leave for a meeting with the head nutritionist of the hospital. A few minutes later when she was still waiting; she came back over and said “come here, I want you to meet this lady, Molly, I think she would be a good connection for you in your line of work here.” Well, we weren’t doing anything but waiting, so we went over… Long story short-Molly is working with the minister of health in Kampala to start a new program to work on eliminating the malnutrition problem in the Jinja/Kampala area! While talking to her she said how important it was to actually teach the parents because the problem really stems for them, not the child. Heidi and I just looked at each other, and she said “Renee you have to tell her!” So I explained what we do now, and then went out on a limb and told her briefly, like in 2 sentences what this new idea was, and she was super excited! She said that’s exactly what they need here in Uganda-someone who will work with the parents to teach them, not just feed their children. We exchanged phone numbers, and she asked if we could get together in a week or so and talk more about the idea, and how she could help us get it started!

Not long after we talked with Molly, we left because one of the nurses told me that we should have never come, that we were sent to the wrong place, and we needed to go back to the main hospital (the place we had just come from). There was no reason for us to have ever been there at all. It was a divine appointment!!!

Well, last Tuesday Heidi and I went to Kampala to meet with Molly, talk about different possibilities, and get her thoughts and advice. We discussed so many things; she has a wealth of knowledge! Molly is very excited for the possibility of this program, and is willing to help in any way she can to get it up off the ground! Her job for the past oh 15 year or so has been to start community programs, to make all the government connections, help set up policies, and then move on to the next project. WOW! Working with the government here is not my favorite thing in the world, I mean I don’t even like to work with the government in America. Having someone just offer to help with getting all of the government stuff done was incredible! Thank you Lord!

Right now we are still very much in the thinking and praying stages of everything. We want to take things slowly and wait for the Lord’s perfect timing to really “start”! We are still running normal programs, and going about life here in Masese as usual, that will remain the same. So I’m not sharing this with you just to tell you about a new program that's not even running yet, but to ask for your prayers! There is so much to decide… so much to do… and I’m asking that you would join us; that you would come along with us on this new adventure!

Lastly, but most certainly NOT least, I want to say a very special THANK YOU to Heidi Elliott! Heidi has been volunteering with SHC for the past 4 months. She left last night, and is greatly missed even after just a day.

Heidi, you are an incredible servant, and I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with you! Thank you for not only serving the people of Uganda with your whole heart, but for also serving me during your time here. You are such an encouragement to my heart, while at the same time being an example with your own. Thank you for following the Lord, and for following Him HERE; you have made an impact on countless lives, my own included. We miss you so, so much already, and pray that one day the Lord will call you back to our corner of the world! THANK YOU FOR HELPING BE THE HANDS AND FEET OF OUR LORD! It’s been a joy! Love you lots Sister Friend!

2009-11-13T13:46:00.013-05:00

This is the story of a boy named, Chakool...well, part of it. He's got a lot more to write!

Our journey with this little boy started 2 months ago when he was transferred from the children’s hospital in Jinja to my house! Before he arrived I was told that he was going to die of malnutrition; he has a cleft palate, and I was quickly informed that no hospitals in Uganda would do cleft palate surgery-only cleft lip. When he arrived at my house he was 11 months old, couldn’t sit up, never smiled, cried constantly, and had a chronic chest infection from fluids going down his nasal passages. Upon his arrival we immediately started looking into different options for a surgery. We considered taking him to the States, but then found out that it could be done in Kenya, so we began to make preparations to take him to Nairobi, though we were not sure that they would be willing to perform the operation for a Ugandan child, we were going to give it a go! While we were excited about having found a hospital as close as Nairobi, we still continued to pray that we’d find something here in Uganda...

As our search for the best way to fix the hole in this little boy’s mouth went on, Chakool was put on a vigorous feeding schedule to bring his weight up, and prepare him for the possibility of surgery! Because of his family’s financial status he had been drinking water from a cup for the months prior to coming to live at SHC (that was considered his “food”). As you can imagine his body was very weak and in despite need of nutrition. He was put on a formula called “F75” which is a concoction developed by the WHO to treat children with severe malnutrition. The local government hospital gave us the ingredients that could not be purchased, and we attempted to cook up our first batch or “F75”… That’s where it truly began… every 3 hours, around the clock feedings with a little boy that was soon to capture my heart!

A child that is truly malnourished doesn’t snap back as fast as you might think, and some nights (and days) were very frustrating. I like things to happen fast, and get impatient when they don’t. But the Lord is teaching/showing me that everything takes longer then you might like, and that the more impatient you get normally the longer, and more frustrating it becomes. My Mom always said “patients is a virtue!” Well, with time Chakool began to slowly become accustom to his “white caregivers”, and started to gain weight; he even cracked a smile. There was hope!

Well let me tell you, that boy grew, and he grew, and he grew, and he grew-he grew until he was almost 20 pounds. 20 POUNDS! He was fat and healthy; healthy enough for an operation!

Today I write to you from the floor of a hospital in Entebbe called, CoRSU where Chakool is in recover after a surgery to correct his cleft palate!

Before

After

Chakool is still in the hospital under close observation, but he’s doing really well and will hopefully be able to come home on Monday! Please pray that the rest of his recovery goes well, and that there are no complications.

2009-10-24T10:38:00.017-04:00

Well, I do realize it’s been forever since I last blogged. Some of you may have wondered if I’d just stopped all together. But no I haven’t; I’ve just been out of control busy. I was in Kenya for a conference a couple weeks ago, and hit the ground running when I returned…

I was very privileged to be able to attend a medical training class put on by Arise Medical for all the AIM air pilots! The class was held in Nairobi, Kenya so I got to visit Kenya for the first time (yay); I don’t really get out to much! I would like to say a huge thank you to the Arise Medical staff and volunteers, as well as all the AIM missionaries who hosted us! They were all so gracious in letting me tag along, and pick their brains. Thanks guys!

I feel like there is so much to tell, and yet I don’t even know what to write at the moment. But I want to share with you some major events of the past few weeks. I hope this gives you a little bit of an idea of the happenings here in Masese.

The weather is changing. Everyone is sick. This last week over 110 people came for some kind of medical treatment. Most days I would arrive home and there would be 20 or 30 people sitting outside my door…I treat what I can from here and take the rest to a local clinic. Lots of piki rides with arm full’s of children!

Currently in my house there are 5 children all under the age of 3. AHHHHHH…Love it!

For those of you who think I do what I do alone, let me tell you that is not true. I have been extremely blessed with some wonderful volunteers! Many have come and gone, but recently we’ve been a team of 3. But last Tuesday we lost a third of the tag team. Elly, had been serving with us for the past 2 months, and was such a blessing in so many ways! Thanks for all your hard work Elly! It was a joy to see how the Lord worked in your life while you worked in the lives of those around you; while you LOVED those around you!

I have 1000 kids in my yard on Tuesdays and Thursdays! For many different reasons we moved, and are now having feeding here at my house. It’s actually been really nice, and way more controlled! Praise the Lord!

Chakool smiled for the first time, and now we can’t get him to stop… I never thought I would see the day (you can see a picture of him when he first came in a previous blog post)

The newest and most exciting news is, Selah Grace! Selah was brought to me on Monday of last week by one of the ladies in Masese. Her 15 year old mother abandoned her on the front steps of the house where she was a part time house girl, and has been MIA since. Baby Selah is said to be about 1 month old, but no one really knows when she was born, so it’s more of a guess then anything. When I saw her I immediately thought “that baby most only be a few days old.” She just looks so small to be a one month old; she only weighs a little under 6 pounds. We’re working on getting a more accurate age estimate though. When she arrived she was covered, and I mean covered in a weird rash that I believe came from being bound tightly in blankets and never being bathed. She was being kept by a lady in my village whom could not afford to feed her properly, so she has lost a considerable amount of weight since birth. She didn’t look good that first day. But when someone brings you a very sick, beautiful 1 month old orphan, you say “yes!”
I think I’ll let the pictures show you the progress she’s made!

the day of her arrival

Within the first few hours…

Day 4: we weighed her at the market on a bean scale.

She did NOT think it was a good idea...

Last night.

She’s doing so much better in just a week. It goes to show that sometimes a little food, sleep, and lots of love can go a long way in the recovery of any child. And I thank God for the opportunity to be the one to provide those things for her, to all the kids that the Lord entrusts me with! It’s truly an honor!

Again I’m sorry for the long gap of nothingness. But please do know that when I don’t blog it only means that I’m super busy doing the things I’m telling you guys about. thanks for your prayers!

"To God Be The Glory"

2009-10-06T15:27:00.006-04:00

Thank you so much for your prayers! Allafat, Chakool, and I were able to come home from the hospital on Sunday morning, in time for church! It turned out that Allafat actually had to stay another night as well, but I got back home an hour before leaving again, and was even able to take a quick shower (thanks to Heidi). It was a huge blessing to be able to worship with fellow believers after such an emotionally draining week.

I don’t think I can put into words how incredibly exhausted I was. When I arrived at the hospital on Friday I had not really slept since Monday, and sleeping in the hospital with 2 sick children was not exactly "restful". There are no nurses around at night, so if there’s a problem, you’re on your own. During many points of the night I thought “why am I here? I can care for these children better from home.” Yeah, I was up for 99% of the night for sure (not that I normally sleep much more then that at home); think I have a new appreciation for American hospitals… But, we’re home now and everyone is doing well other than the nasty cold that’s going around my house. Praise the Lord!

Thank you so much from every corner of my heart for your prayers. Threw a very scary and utterly exhausting time I could feel your prayers surrounding all of us! A peace that passes all understanding…

Allafat on Thursday of last week

Today!

Soli Day O Gloria!!

2009-10-03T08:37:00.004-04:00

Well, I have to say that the past few days have been some of the most emotional, and stressful ever. It started on Monday when I got a call to pick up 2 very malnourished babies from the children’s hospital in Jinja, and after spending a large portion of the day there I (along with Elly and Heidi) left with 2 little boys. `They both have the same name, Chakool. We quickly changed that by ever so slightly changing one of their names to, Shaquille. He’s adjusting to the change quit well!

Chakool:16 months old and has been in the hospital for over a month with his mother who could not afford to purchase food for herself or her child. So, he has been living off a formula called F75 (a high calorie, high vitamin milk made by the hospital) that is provided in the malnutrition ward for free.

Shaquille: an 11 month old little boy who has been admitted for the past 3 weeks, also with malnutrition, but his is mostly due to having a cleft palate (looking into options for surgery). All he can drink/eat is milk, so he’s on F75 around the clock as well.

Both boys are adjusting well to life without their Mom, and to a bunch of white girls taking care of them! I’m trying to get in the swing of things though because I’ve not had a baby, much less 2 in the house before, we tend to stick to older kids, not that we don’t want babies, just never had them before. It’s been fun! I feel without a doubt that the Lord sent these boys to us, so we’re doing everything in our power to ensure that they return to full health ASAP. It’s not been an easy road so far though… Many clinic visits, lots of crying, and 3 am feedings, and more 3am feedings which =no sleep. But god is gracious, and He continues to give me strength every morning!!

“O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.”

So…I know in my last post I asked you to pray for Allafat, and I would like to ask you to continue praying. On Friday Allafat and Chakool were admitted into a local clinic because their malaria count was so high. Allafat is able to go home today-praise the Lord! But Chakool has to stay at least one more night because his IV keeps entering the tissue. And because he’s so malnourished his veins are small and continue to collapse. So, tonight I’m going for night number 2 in an African hospital; it’s a good time! It’s not like I’m losing too much sleep though, I get about the same amount at home. I think I’m going on 5 days with only getting about 1 ½ hours of sleep at a time. God is multiplying the minutes though, and somehow I have the energy to get up in the morning and do what he has called me to do: LOVE HIS CHILDREN. Well, got to run. Lots of kiddos to tend to…

Allafat at the hospital today.

2009-09-24T09:18:00.003-04:00

Allafat is a 4 year old boy from Masese; he’s one of the many on our “greeting committee” outside my gate! These days Allafat hasn’t been hanging around the outer parts of the gate though, He’s been sleeping on this side of my front door…

He was brought to my house about a week ago because most of his body was swollen so tight that he was in constant, large amounts of pain. His Mom thought he had malaria. Here if you aren’t feeling completely up to par, “you have malaria”. But, after several visits to different clinics it was determined that he has a condition called “Kwashaco”. Kwashaco is a form of severe malnutrition. It stems from lack of protein in the body, but instead of losing a ton of weight, fluid begins to collect in between your cells; you become swollen, and it’s very painful. Loss of appetite is common and becoming very weak is a given when you’re not eating food and your body hurts all over. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a child that’s dying of starvation who actually wants to eat food. It seems strange that he doesn’t want to eat, but I’ve learned what happens when he over eats, so I let him go at his own pace. Sometimes Allafat will just start crying because he can’t stand up, or he’ll topple over for seemingly no reason. Poor little guy, he’s just so weak. But, now that he has a diagnosis we’re able to treat him properly!

A vigorous treatment plan has been put into place, and I believe he’s on the road to recovery, though he still has a very long way to go! He’s on a formula called F75; it’s a high calorie, high vitamin milk that he drinks every 3 hours around the clock. I was told that because of his condition he needed to be admitted into the children’s hospital, so that he wouldn’t get an infection because his immune system is so low (he also tested positive for HIV). But when I reached the hospital they said I should bring him home because it was more likely for him to get sick there, and he would get better care from my house. It’s pretty twisted when you’re told by the hospital staff not to leave your child there because he’ll probably become more sick then he already is. So I brought him right on back home, but while at the hospital the nutritionist was able to write down the recipe for F75, and gave me all the ingredients that cannot be purchased here. So, our trip to Navafenya (children’s ward) was a success! I’m so thankful they were willing to give me what I needed to make the formula from home.

So, Allafat is now home with me, and making progress in his recovery, though it’s a very slow process, but hey, slow and steady wins the race right? I ask that you would please keep him in your prayers as he continues to get healthy and his body slowly becomes stronger.

His little hands and feet are so swollen, but they are now starting to go down!

He looks fairly healthy in pictures, and he smiled just for you guys!

What's your story gunna be?

2009-09-14T14:42:00.003-04:00

I’m reading the book “Crazy Love” right now, ya know in all my free time. I would recommend it to anyone! Francis Chan really puts into prospective how “unloving” the church has become, we as Christians tend to take the easy way out, the comfortable way, whatever is less painful. I think we often forget the first and second commandment, or maybe we don’t forget, maybe we just choose not to remember- “Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, and mind” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I know it’s easy for me to forget to love the people around me, and that’s my everyday job. I came to a different country to specifically love people, and I still find myself getting frustrated with that person who shows up at 9:30pm with malaria, needing stitches, or treatment for scabies. On those nights it’s sometimes only after the fact that I remember the incredible privilege I have to LOVE; to love them as if it were Jesus Christ himself sitting at my kitchen table. Christ said “whatever you do for the least of these, you have done unto me.” All too often when I look down at that dirty kid sitting on my floor, with jiggers in His feet, and fungus covering the top of his head, I don’t see Jesus. But only when I look into the teary eyes of that little boy, being so brave to sit and endure pain do I see Him! The pain he’s going through will make him clean in the end. Healthy even. I know that, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t know what the next few minutes, or hours will bring? Yet, he sits... He waits... He trusts that I will care for Him… I imagine what the eyes of Jesus must have looked like that day He endured unbelievable amounts of pain for me… I don’t think I can even begin to imagine, but If God in the flesh took all that suffering for me, why can’t I at the least get a little uncomfortable, do something outside of the box, and show His crazy love to the people around me? He continually gives me chances to LOVE, but what will I do with these opportunities, what will I do with the opportunities to serve Christ, and I mean literally serve the least of these? Will I embrace the challenge, whatever it may be? Will you? Will people remember you for running with reckless abandon toward the prize God has set before you? Will people remember you for living with CRAZY LOVE?

I want you to read these stories of people that ran hard for Jesus! People that LOVED, trusted, and served God in everyday life. Most of these people you’ve probably never heard of, but they made a difference, they changed the lives around them. I don’t think anyone has ever written a book about them, or given them a huge amount of recognition; they just lived with incredible love. As you read, I challenge you to think about what people would write about you. What would your story be? Is it worth writing about...?

George Mueller-
George was born in Prussia in 1805 and was attending the University of Halle when he became a Christian. Up until then he had been infamous for his gambling debts, drunken stories, and escapades. But his life was transformed when he came to know Christ. He finished school and left for England to be a preacher. He and his British wife eventually settled in Bristol, England, where they saw many orphans rooming the streets-uncared for, unfed, often sick, and virtually guaranteed death at a young age. At this time, writers like Charles Dickens and William Blake had not yet brought attention to the plight of these children, and nothing was being done to help them. George and his wife decided to start an orphanage that would be entirely free of charge, and for which they would never ask any money or support. When they had needs, they would go to God alone, trusting that He would give them everything they needed. Many people were incredulous, and so the Muellers’ purpose in starting the orphanage became twofold: the first was obviously to help the orphans; the second was to show people what it looked like to trust God for EVERYTHING. When the first orphan house opened, George and his wife, Mary, prayed for everything they needed. According to George’s meticulous records, God provided all they asked for! By the time George died, in 1898, over ten thousand orphans had been housed and cared for in the five orphan houses they built. During His lifetime, a million and a half pounds went through George’s hands in the form of donations. He directed every cent toward those in need. After his death, a British paper wrote of George that he “robbed the cruel streets of thousands of victims, the jails of thousands of felons, and the poorhouses of thousands of helpless waifs.” Another newspaper noted that it had all been accomplished by prayer alone.

Rings-
I don’t know how old Rings is, but he’s definitely what you would call an old man. I also don’t know where he was born or what his real name is; he simply goes by Rings. His home is in the cab of His pickup, which he parks near downtown Ocean Beach, California. He is a chain smoker, and ex-convict, and ex-alcoholic. Rings likes to say that if Jesus saved him, then Jesus can save anyone and everyone. So instead of using his monthly check to buy alcoholic or a hotel for himself, he spends it on food at the local supermarket. He transfers the food he buys into coolers in the back of his truck, then drives down to the beach and makes meals for the fellow homeless. While preparing the food, Rings tells the gathering crowd about the freedom that Jesus brought into his life. He tells them that God is the One who told him to feed others with his money, and it’s all because God loves each of them. This man gives everything he has to others-literally everything-because he knows that he has nothing that wasn’t given to him by his Savior.

Nathan Barlow-
A medical doctor who chose to utilize his skills in Ethiopia for more than 60 years. Nathan dedicated his life to helping people with mossy foot. Mossy foot is a debilitating condition primarily found in rural districts, on people who work in soil of volcanic origin. It causes swelling and ulcers in the feet and lower legs. The subsequent deformity, swellings, repeated ulcerations, and secondary infections make people with mossy foot social outcast’s equivalent to lepers. I met Nathan shortly before he died when his daughter brought him to her home from Ethiopia when his health started to fail. After only a few weeks, he couldn’t handle being in the states. The people he loved were still in Ethiopia, so his daughter flew him back home so he could spend his last days there. Once while on the field, Nathan got a toothache, the pain of which was so intense that he had to fly out to get medical attention. Nathan told the dentist that he didn’t ever want to leave the field for the sake of his teeth again, so he had the dentist pull out ALL of his teeth and give him fake ones, so that he wouldn’t slow down the work of the Lord. This amazing man was the first to help these outcasts, and he spent his life doing it. Yet he died quietly without a lot of attention or recognition; no one knew about him. He worked for the Heavenly Father, not for the praise from the world. That’s a beautiful thing!

Lucy-
If you met Lucy at church, you would think she was somebody’s innocent dear grandmother. She’s the kind of woman who would come and give you a huge hug and then introduce herself. You would never guess that she was an ex-prostitute. When she was in her teens and twenties, drugs and prostitution dominated her life. Through an older woman who reached out to prostitutes, Lucy met Jesus and her life was completely transformed! To this day, almost 40 years later, Lucy lives near the streets where she once worked as a prostitute and consistently opens her home to other young women caught in prostitution. It is common knowledge on the streets that if you need anything you can go to Lucy’s house. She doesn’t have a lot, but her home is always open. Prostitutes, pimps, drug users, dealers, and anyone else who most people avoid-Lucy invites them in! This is her way of loving people who are in despite need of the hope and love that she, herself found 40 years ago.

I hope these life stories have done more than just encourage you; I hope they have eliminated every excuse in your head for not living a radical, love-motivated life. Hopefully these average, everyday people give you hope that you too can live a life worth writing about.

2009-09-05T15:42:00.009-04:00

This morning I woke up with 5 children in my bed. Not exactly sure how that happened; throughout the night someone had to pea, needed water, was scarred, and didn’t want to sleep alone, somehow that equaled getting into my bed to finish off the night. Most of my nights these days go about like that; I’m learning to run on very little sleep, and appreciate every minute I get. Sleep is a precious commodity here at my house! Because of the frequent coming and going of children simple things, such as bedtime/sleeping can turn into a very difficult task. Like right now I have 5 little girls’ upstairs still talking, crying, singing, and very much trying my patience. I had to get out of the shower 3 times to break up crying disputes. Some days it’s hard to be Jesus to the people around you. I pray for strength. And the Lord delivers!

One of the “non-sleeping” girls upstairs is named, Moraine. She came here under a unique circumstance. The other day after feeding program a man came up to me, and said He needed to talk to me…. I was not surprised, this is a common after feeding, or really just anytime I walk out my gate. (Whenever I have other volunteers with me, I normally get left behind because I have to talk to everyone and their Mom along the way). He said that He knew of a little girl who was being severely abused by Her step father and explained that said she needed a place to stay where she would be safe. Here if the child isn’t biologically yours then a lot of times He or She will be neglected, beaten, and cast out of the house. That was the case with Moraine. Her Mom remarried after her husband died, and had 2 other children, since Moraine was from a different marriage, she was “unwanted”. Without really thinking twice, I immediately said “yes”. Yes, I will take her. Yes, I will feed her. Yes, I will care for her. Yes, I will give her a bath and put her to bed at night. Yes, I will love her! It just blows my mind to think that someone would cast a 5 year old child out of the house to sleep in the rain simply because she doesn’t have your DNA. I don’t think I’ll ever understand. But she’s here living with me now, and I think she’s adjusting well all things considered! I don’t know what the future holds for her, or where she’ll go from here, but I do know that the Lord sent her, so she’ll stay here until the Lord takes her somewhere else.

For the time being I’m going to get her into school, and teach her some English words so I can communicate with her better; she doesn’t speak any English. Well, that’s not entirely true, if you ask her “how are you?” she can say “I am fine.” Oh yet another adventure!

Internet decided to work, so I was able to post some pictures! These are the girls currently living with me!

Christina & one of our volunteers, Elly

Moraine

Rusty

Atasha (a 2 year old that weighs a little under 13lbs)

Faith (she's getting fat)

2009-08-30T18:55:00.000-04:00

Wow! It’s been a crazy couple of weeks; hence why I have not blogged in forever. Sorry. I have had 9 kiddos in my house for the past few weeks, and it’s been pretty insane. But also so fun! There’s been lots of bodily functions, sleepless night, and lots, and lots of crying going on in this household. Our littlest guests have been: Rachel, Rusty, Tracy (all sisters), Christina, Bethsheir, Winith, Judith (twins), Esther, and of course Faith! It’s been challenging having many sick children here who do not speak English, know how to sit at a table to eat, or use a toilet. Oh, it’s been a good time! Rachel, Rusty, and Tracy all got dropped off at about 9:30 at night (which is not uncommon, a large portion of my nights I get people coming to the gate with medical needs up till about 10:00) they had scabies, so we removed their clothes, bathed them right away, and started them on treatment. Before bed, Rachel made it know that she had to “fuka” (pee), and looked at me like I had horns coming out of my head when I showed her the toilet. She looked really hard at it for a few then made an attempt… It was one of the most hilarious things I have seen in my life! Once she had made it successfully into a sitting position she looked up at me, and gave me the biggest grin I’ve probably ever seen. She was SO proud of herself! Unfortunately the other girls did not catch on so quickly…

Along with all the munchkins, I have some new volunteers in the house as well: Heidi (Helping to start the Bible club program), Elly (my cousin!), and our 2 visitors: Rachel & Airelle! But along with the coming of new help my right hand man (well, lady), Shana is headed home for Canada this week, and my heart hurts a little bit. Shana has been with me since I got here, and has helped get everything on this side started, and it’ll be so sad to say goodbye. Shana has not only been an incredible blessing to Serving His Children, but has been a huge encouragement and good friend to me as well! But I’m blessed to have new volunteers, and excited for the coming months!

Last week we started Bible Clubs, and that’s been super fun! We always have any/all children over for “playtime” on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, so we just added bible class to those days; it’s great because we already have many kids here on the compound, and I already somewhat know them! Heidi and Elly are doing a great job being creative with their teaching tactics; the kids love it! Especially the music! Some of the older girls are asking a lot of good questions and seem to be very curious, so it’s super exciting to see God working in their hearts!

Feeding has been great! Instead of numbers shooting up, they have actually decreased since school let out. I found out that it’s because we feed all of the kids at the local school, Lake Site Primary and most of their students walk for a good long hour or so in the morning to get to school, so when they’re on holiday it is too far for them to walk for lunch. We’re sitting at about 900 these days.

All around life has gotten back to normal, well, as normal as it can be… All the sickys are now back home, except for Faith. It was sad to see them go because I had a lot of fun with them, but at the same time, I was a little relived. We had a couple major, major fit throwers, and I mean I don’t really blame them; I would through fits for the white girl who was shoving nasty tasting meds down my throat, and sticking needles in me. But they are now home, Happy, and Healthy!

Oh, quick Faith update: She is doing really well, being put on ARVs in the next few weeks. Her white blood count is dangerously low though. For a child of her age she should be at about 25%. 14% is considered critical, and hers is 7.8%. The doctors said if she has not been found when she was, she would be dead in less than 6 months. Thank you God for bring her to my doorstep. Both she and her Mom are now enrolled in an HIV relief program in Jinja where they can receive free treatment; In Uganda ALL aids treatment is free. Thanks America!

Well, I guess that’s about it. Though I sat down to write this blog at 2pm, I was continually interrupted (surprise), so It’s now almost 2am, and Faith will probably expect me to be up with her by 6 to change her dirtiness; I think I should probably go to bad for a bit. I tried to post pictures, but the internet is being “Ugandan”, and refusing to be timely, so check back in a few days….

2009-08-16T16:31:00.001-04:00

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while; most days I don’t feel like my life is very exciting, so I don’t want to bore you. You’d be surprised. I think a lot of times people have this thought that being a missionary is glorious, adventuress, and fun. While sometime that’s true, most of the time that’s not the case. I spend many of the hours that fill my day holding dirty children, cooking, and cleaning up LOTS of vomit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen/had to mop up so much vomit in my life-actually, I know I haven’t. Life here is indescribable. On those days I don’t feel like I’m doing anything worthwhile, or really making a difference. Come on, how many of you just read that and thought “ huh, that sounds like a good time.”? It’s easy to love the days when you feed 950 hungry kids, not so much the “ throw up days” the days you have to be the messenger with the news no one wants to hear, or when you have to be the mean white person what shoves pills in kids mouths. But I’m learning to LOVE everyday no matter what I do/accomplish. If all I do in a day is hold a bowl for one of my sick kids to throw up in, well then they had someone to hold a bowl for them, sit with them, and comfort them, and they didn’t have to throw up in a trash pile by themselves. But, I’m going on a trail here, sorry.

Today I want to ask for prayers, but also tell you how God has already started to answer my prayers... Most of you probably read the last post about Faith, so I won’t retell it, but I’m ask you to be in prayer for her and her little family. Faith did get better and went home. Though about 4 days later she was back again, and way worse than the last time she showed up. I really thought she wasn’t going to be around long; she was so, so bad. She was refusing food and had all the same symptoms from before; I brought her back to the clinic, and surprise, she has malaria again. It seemed strange to me that she would have gotten Malaria again so soon after finishing her round of treatment? So, I had her tested for HIV. It was positive. It was heart breaking to hear the results. She’s only 2, and has so much life to live; it seemed that all that was being taken away in just 5 minutes. And since she is so young there was almost no chance that her Mom did not have it too.

So the other day I took Faith’s Mom and older sister to be tested as well. It was advised that I did not tell them what they were being tested for otherwise they could refuse, take off and leave Faith, or who knows? So off we went to the clinic... After waiting for the HIV staff to show up, and filling out the necessary paperwork, blood was drown and we were left to wait for the test to process. The hardest part. I can’t imagine what was going thought Mama Faith’s head. Finally the results came out, and they first gave them to me and Shana. Because they didn’t even really know what they were giving blood for, I thought it best for us to be the ones to tell them their results. So, as we sat there on the yard of the Walukaba clinic, I had to do one of the hardest things in my life- tell a Mother that not only did her youngest child have a deadly disease that will eventually take her life, but so does she. The only light in the situation was that Whitney (Faith’s older sister) does not have! Thank you Jesus!! The only thing said was “so, I have? And Faith has? Whitney does not have.” It was heart wrenching. Ya know in America when you find out you have to have something strange going on in your body, or you even have to have a minor surgery, you are surrounded be your family, and are loving told the situation and given some options. Here, you get a piece of pink paper that has the stamp “positive” on the front. It
makes you wonder why?

So at the moment Faith is living here, her Mom and sister live with another family. They are not Ugandan, they are from Kenya, so they cannot speak luganda, and that makes life all the more difficult for them here. They came here to Uganda in search of a cousin (that they still have not found). Faith’s Dad was killed in a tribal war last fall, and then in the spring of this year their house was burnt to the ground; they have nothing, so they came here hoping to find their relative. They really have nothing; I mean that when I say it. They are the poorest of poor.
Here in Uganda ARVs (the meds for HIV) are free, you just have to be enrolled in program, so their meds won’t cost them anything. Thanks America! But the place where Faith’s family lives is just a horrible situation, and that’s why Faith is continuing to stay with me. I have been praying about how to best help them, and I know one of the first things is to get them out of that house. But renting a house for someone cost money, and that I am not exactly floating in. Ask and you shall be given right? Well, the other day I had some volunteers at a local orphanage visit the feeding program, and, long story short they had some money left over from their support and they gave it to me saying “I don’t know if this is weird, but I would just love this money to go to someone who need s a house or something. So, I don’t know if you know anyone who needs something like that, but, here ya go!” WOW GOD! Really? The money they gave me is enough to rent a house for almost the next 3 years!! God is good isn’t he? Anyways, this week I suppose I’ll be looking for a small hose for this beautiful family to live in!

Please be in prayer for the health, and well being of Faith and her Mom, that they would be able to stay healthy as long as possible, and that they would come to know the Lord. I want them to live with Christ’s abounding Joy! The times will only get harder with time... Thank you!

2009-08-07T07:47:00.004-04:00

Finally had a chance to post these pictures of Faith; sorry it’s taken so long. Faith is now home and doing well, I just saw her today!

Faith on her first night here

(She doesn’t just look sad in this picture, I didn't even think she had teeth until I had to force feed her)

3 days later...

2009-07-31T09:12:00.002-04:00

Quick update: Feeding is going great! Yesterday we hit the 1,000 mark! Crazy. Love it! But we’re about to have a bit of an issue because all the children that go to school get out of school next week, and will be on Holiday for the next month which is great, but it’s been said that we’ll probably double or triple our numbers, and that’s going to be a challenge. We’re not really prepared for that many kids; or the cost that come with that big of a jump. Please be in prayer for the decisions that have to be made in the next week or so.

I have a little girl staying here (our first MR patient to stay here); she has a bad case of Malaria, and up until today has been refusing to eat or drink. I was so worried, and thought I might have to take her to get put on an IV drip, but this morning she wanted to eat and has been drinking electrolytes all day! Praise the Lord! I’ve been trying to upload a picture of her, but something is up with the internet, and it won’t finish the upload, so picture to come… She’s super duper cute!

Oh, yes, I am now living in Masese! It was a very “event full” piki ride home last Sunday night, but the Lord used that circumstance to remind me in a very literal way why I’m here…

We didn’t actually leave Katie’s until about 10pm, so of course it was dark, and on the way home the piki headlight went out just before reaching Masese. If you have ever been anywhere in Africa, you know the roads here are terrible, and can probably imagine what it’s like to be on a little motorcycle, with 2 people, and have a lot of stuff, when it’s pretty late, and nothing to light the way; not fun. Now you have to understand that where we (Nicki and I) were there are no other lights; there are no street lights here. It was a pretty rough ride; at a couple points in the journey I thought we were going to end up in the ditch with the piki, and its driver on top of us. Lots of prayers were being said. As we started up the last hill before reaching my house the piki staled out, and while we were stopped I decided to look in my bag for a flashlight. Now, I did not think that I actually had one, in fact I was almost certain that I didn’t, but I thought I might have left my little one in there because I remembered not being able to find it while packing. And Nicki was so nervous; I thought the possibility of finding a light might help her nerves a little bit. Nicki started praying really hard for a flash light to appear… I started digging… And God delivered! Out of my backpack full of junk came, not just a little light, but a big flashlight! A lantern! “If only His people will pray”.

As I turned on the “life saving” light the area around the piki was immediately illuminated, and we could clearly see the path ahead! I said a prayer of thanks, got back on the piki, and off we headed, headed for home! But the cool thing about that experience is that a few days before moving I found out that there are 3 different Maseses (well, I already knew that), and they all have other names as well, names that are more indicative to the specific village. Well, the Luganda word for the Masese that I live in translated means City Of Darkness.

As we drove the rest of the way home, surrounded by a bright light, I was brought to tears. This is why I’m here. To Shine the light of Christ in Dark places. To illuminate the Darkness. To show them the light so they can find their way home too!

2009-07-24T16:44:00.010-04:00

These next few days are going to be filled with lots of mixed emotions… On Sunday Katie comes home and I move into my house in Masese! I cannot put into words how excited I am to finally be getting settled (I don’t mind living out of a suitcase, but after 6 weeks it gets a bit old). But I’ve also grown to know and love with all my heart the 13 girls that have been occupying so much of my time and energy for the past 6 weeks. My heart hurts having to say goodbye, but yet is soars with the excitement and anticipation of what’s to come…! So be praying on Sunday morning (your Saturday night) as I pack my Rubbermaid containers onto a piki; which is going to be a hilarious time, and drive across the Nile to the place I will now all home, the dirty, but yet beautiful village of Masese. I can’t wait! The second I arrive, I will promptly be greeted by a large portion of the village children, who will then later have to be chassed back to their homes for the night; my porch is the new favorite “hangouts”, and I’m sure they won’t know what to do with themselves once they realize I’m actually there all the time. Oh the fun, but very loud times that are sure to come!

Our last few days with the girls, we, Shana, her twin sister, Natasha, and my friend, Nicki, yes, the list keeps getting longer ha-ha! God had been providing some AMAZING volunteers/friends/major help for me, and I have more coming! I couldn’t do it without them. THANKS GUYS! Anyways, we’ve been doing all kinds of fun things to keep the munchkins busy while the wait out the last few days till their Mother’s return. The highlight was the “fair”! Yes, Jinja has a county fair of sort, and we totally went with the girls; we had a BLAST! The best part, the top all of the afternoon, the icing on the cake was that we all got to ride a camel! Yep, a real camel! I was pretty pumped about it. We don’t have camels here, but they had one at the fair, and it was super great to see the girls faces when that camel started walking! Nothing like it in the world. I know it sounds strange to be so excited to ride a large animal that stinks, spits, and is, let’s face it-kinda ugly, but we were ha-ha. Here are some pictures to document the memory!

P.S Oh, I know a lot of you have asked about how many kids are coming to feeding program, and we’re up to about 900-950 these days! I think we’re finally leveling off to a steady, consistent number. We were just gaining so many kids every week, and it was a challenge to even guess how much food to buy; never ran out of food though, thank you Jesus! But I think we’ll probably stay close to this number for awhile. And that’s fine, 900 is plenty for now… though we’re ready for more if God chooses to send them!

"A day in the life"

2009-07-15T11:48:00.005-04:00

Well guys, life is just moving on at lightning speed here in Uganda. I’ve been trying to get at this (blogging) all day, but keep getting distracted by crying children, sick girls, and America. I don’t really have anything exciting to say, I feel like I do the same things every day, but I realized that you don’t know what those same things are… So this is what a day in the life looks like; well, most of the time.

5:30: Up to get the girls off to school. Here in Uganda people believe that you can’t actually walk at a normal pace, so the girls leave extra early so they’re not late for school. Also, sometimes it takes us “non-Africans” longer to peel 11 eggs.

6:30: BACK TO BED! Well, until the littles, Jane and Grace jump all over me, and want their breakfast of bread, tea, boiled eggs, and multi vitamins.

8:30ish: up again getting ready for day!

9:30: Out of the house for the day. Normally I have a ton of things to do in town before heading to Masese! Bank, Paint store, pharmacy for a sick kid, picking up furniture, central market; today I went to get passport photos taken so I could then go to the post office to get a PO box! Yes, here they need your picture so you can receive your mail. I know it’s strange.
I’m in Masese for a good portion of the middle of the day taking care of things for the feeding program, doing house stuff, and hanging with kids. But mostly right now I feel like I just breeze in and out more than anything, but that will be changing very soon! Our greeting committee (a posy of village children) can’t figure out why we are always coming and going; we like to keep them on their toes!

We try to get home between 3 & 4 to spend the rest of the day with the girls, but because everything here takes stinkin’ forever our return time is always changing. Though whenever we do finally make it back we’re met with lots of excited little girls, and many hugs! Recently the older girls have been trying to teach me to play a jump rope game that involves a thin piece of elastic, high leaping, and spinning. Let’s just say that the girls get a good laugh out of me attempting, but despite the fact that I have not yet been able to master it the girls still insist I try. I think they forget that I’m white. A lot of days there’s more than one sick child here when we get back that needs to go to the clinic, be hugged, eat, and driven home. It’s always an adventure driving a child that, a large portion of the time does not speak the same language as you, and is the one directing you (in the dark) to their small hut in the middle of nowhere. We’ve only gotten the van stuck a few times (sorry KatieL).

8:00ish: Dinner. But more importantly then food… we get to read a message form MOM! Katie left a paper chain with a lil’ message; every day we get to remove one, and read what Mom has to say for the day. I think the all around favorite was “Don’t forget to brush your teeth…I love you” I’m fairly sure all of Bukaya could hear the eruption of laughter around the table!
9:00 sharp: Bed time (for the children in the house) 5:30 comes very early. Yuck.

5:30: start all over again…!

As you can imagine that “routine” changes from day to day becasue life here is insane all days no matter what, but if you love everywhere you go, and everyone you come in contact with in your busy day, then you have the opportunity to show Christ to those around you, and make His love complete in you!

1 John 11 & 12

2009-07-09T16:21:00.002-04:00

774 KIDS TODAY!

There are way more than 774 kids in Masese, but today 774 of them got to eat!

"Do not worry about tomorrow"

2009-07-06T10:21:00.021-04:00

Well, I don’t really have anything terribly exciting to tell you about. Right now my life is consumed with little, sometimes boring, and most of the time very frustrating odd jobs, and all kinds of running around that’s not fun. I suppose it’s what comes along with starting/running an organization in a third world country. It’s just frustrating. I spend so much time in town trying to accomplish things that seem so useless when I’m surrounded by people, and children that are suffering every day, going hungry, and sleeping outside on the dirt. I wish it was as simple as just coming and feeding. Coming and teaching about Jesus. Coming and loving. But most of the time it isn’t that simple, or is it?? Does it have to be so complicated? I think we tend to make it complicated. We have to have everything in order, we make lists of what we need to accomplish throughout the day (at least I do), we run, run, run all day, and never take time to really see what we’re flying by at breakneck speed. Or maybe we look, but we don’t really take time to SEE.

I have to be honest with you, these past couple weeks I’ve been looking at the people I pass by every day, but I haven’t really been seeing. I’ve been looking through my eyes, when I should be looking through the eyes of Christ. I’m always going so fast that I don’t have time to really look into their eyes, or to be sad for them; I tell myself that “I just have to get started; I need to get moved in, I have so much to do, I’ll have time later, I don’t have time now. I’m still doing the “start up” thing”. Nope. No more... The Lord has been showing me that I do have time; I can make time. He’s saying “stop worrying about all those stupid details. It’ll happen. Do what I sent you to do!”

“Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about its self”

So, I’m enjoying my time with Katie’s girls! I (and Shana) have the great privilege to watch this amazing group of girls (if all kids were like this more family would have 13 children)! We have so much fun playing outside, just hanging out in the afternoons, even eating; the thing right now is they ALWAYS want to dance (I think they don’t realize that I’m white, so I can’t touch their dancing, but they’ll figure it out soon). Serving these girls is such a delight! They have incredible Joy; you’ll see it in their faces! Thanks Katie for giving me the chance to get to know your wonderful girls!

In Order of picture: Christine (the one who takes care of us all), Prossy, Margaret, Agnes, Joyce, Tidita, Zuula, Mary, Sarah, Hellen, Sumini, Scovia, Jane, and Little Grace!

2009-06-30T15:35:00.009-04:00

It was AMAZING! Today went above and beyond my expectations, which goes to show you should never think you know what to expect when you’re working alongside Jesus Christ! It was SUPER chaotic, but hey, it worked. We had about 510 children; we were only planning to serve 400, but we didn’t run out of beans! Praise the Lord!

On the menu in Masese today: Beans, Chapiti, and Mango!

Our cooks: Joyce and Christine

Shana and I with 400 mangos

Oh, and "cook Shana"

We had 40 Kg of boiling beans

Starting the “line”

“Let us pray children”

Looking more like a line! YAY

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Tomorrow is the day!

2009-06-29T10:37:00.000-04:00

As I walked through the village with a child hanging to each finger; surrounded by a beauty that is hard for some people to see, I think it started to sink in, to become real to me… This is what I’ve been working for, living for, completely focused on for the past 9 months (though it seems short saying it, it’s felt like an eternity). But the time has come for Serving His Children to take action…

Tomorrow it all begins; the long awaited day is finally here! Tomorrow Serving His Children is starting the feeding program! I’m so excited and a little worried at the same time, I really have no clue what to expect? I don’t know how many children will be there, and that stresses me a little bit because I like to be in the know, to be prepared. God is just laughing at me saying “You foolish child. Trust in ME, I’ve come through every other time haven’t I?”

Shana and I were in Masese this morning bringing food and firewood to the cooks, we, along with a large posy of children walked around most of the village (with a translator) telling the parents and children to “come!” I can’t wait to see what happens…

I ask that you please pray for me tomorrow. We are VERY “short staffed”. It’s very possible that it’ll be Shana, me, and 500 very hungry, none English speaking, rowdy children. It’s going to be a challenge. I’ve been covering this day in prayer for months, and I know that the Lord will be right beside us in serving every child! But I ask that you would join us on our knees in prayer, praying that there will somehow, miraculously be enough people there to help, that there would be many “hands and feet” at work tomorrow. And most importantly, that the children and watching adults would not just see our hands at work, or our dirty, sandaled feet, but that they would see the whole body Christ…

2009-06-21T15:13:00.007-04:00

The meeting on Tuesday was wonderful!! We all crammed in a little church made of sticks and straw mats; it was great! I was able to better explain the village what Serving His Children is here for, and the ladies got to ask lots of questions, some of which I had no idea what the answer was, but its ok, I don’t have the answers to most things in my life right now; walking in total faith here. I wake up most mornings not knowing what exactly what I’m going to do, but my days are full, full of JOY, laughter, and fun! Living with 13 girls can be frustrating sometimes, but it’s the most joyous job I think anyone could ask for!

Funny story: Yesterday we, along with all the girls locked ourselves IN the house… Shana, and I get up at 6am every morning to get the girls off to school (then we go back to bed until the younger ones wake up), well, apparently someone locked to door, but left the keys outside. Smart, I know. We tried to squeeze Sumini through one of the bared windows, but had very little success, so we had to call a man who lives nearby to come and get the keys from on top of the chicken coop; embarrassing. I’m sure we were quite sight-13 girls in their school uniforms afraid of being late for school, and 2 white girls in their PJs trying not to fall asleep, and attempting to keep all the uniformed girls calm. Oh, these are some of the joys of life here!

I’m beyond blessed to have so much joy fill my days! Sometimes it’s not easy to see it though; sometimes I have to look really hard to find small pieces of joy in this life. Days in Masese I have to look harder to see the joy… there is so much pain, suffering, and poverty there, I pray every day that the Joy of Christ will envelope that village, that they would see the light and be able to have hope...

The other day in Masese I had to tell the friend of a little orphan girl named, Molly that I could not take her home with me. Molly’s Mom died a few years ago; her step Mother refuses to care for her, and her Father isn’t around, but even when He is, He couldn’t care less about what happens to her. Oh, how I wanted to pick her up, and take her home with me, but I don’t really have a home yet, so I couldn’t take her.

I’m realizing now that this job is going to be a lot harder than I thought, I know I can’t take all the orphans, and children in need, yet I desperately want to. It still baffles me that there are so many orphans, so many children with no one to care for them, to love them, how do you see the joy in that? How do you see the joy in starving children? How do you see the joy in poverty like Masese? I don’t really know, but I plan on finding out!

I MADE IT!

2009-06-15T06:48:00.003-04:00

Wow, I can’t believe I’m here, that it’s happening!! God is so, so GOOD! The weirdest part about being back is that it’s not weird at all. I feel like I never left, like I’ve always been here. Driving home from the airport I kept waiting for it to “hit me”, but it never did. It feels so normal.

Sorry to leave everyone hanging; life has been so crazy since I got here. My flight was good, very long, but good. Because of some changes with the Airline my journey was about double the normal length of time, so when I finally arrived Thursday afternoon, I was very ready to be out of airports, off planes, and finally be in Uganda!!

Well, I arrived in Entebbe Thursday mid-morning, and after filing papers for some of my lost luggage, I headed for Jinja (well, Bukaye) to my friend, Katie’s house where I’m staying for the next 5 weeks…

Katie is going home to the States for a visit, so I’m (along with another friend, Shana) watching her kids, and keeping an eye on her sponsorship program while she’s away. Katie has 13 girls, so needless to say I don’t think I’ll be getting board anytime soon. Just in case you were wondering. I absolutely love the girls, and I’m excited to be helping out a friend!

Even though I’m not staying in Masese now, I will be spending lots of my time there, doing many things to get ready for programs to begin! I’ve been in Masese everyday so far meeting with village leaders, and hanging with the kids! Also, I am now the proud owner of a house in Masese, Uganda! I signed the contract yesterday, and am now making preparations to clean, paint, and get furniture, so I can move in fallowing Katie’s return! There is a lot to do to get the house ready to be lived in, but overall it’s beautiful, and SHC is so blessed to have found it. I can’t wait to move it! It’s perfect.

My hope is that in the next 2 weeks I’ll be able to have the feeding program up and running, but because I’m not actually living there yet it may take longer than what I would like. I want to start programs ASAP though, I have a big village meeting tomorrow, and at that time I will be explaining to everyone what we are there for, what we want to offer, and let them ask any questions. But the village is super excited that we’re here, and have some good ideas on other things we could do to help meet needs as well. I’m praying the Lord will show me which ones are the right ones.

Thank you for your prayers and support! Without all of you this would not be possible. I will try to keep you all informed, but please forgive when I fail. If I don’t post often please know it’s only because I’m busy doing the work I’m telling you about.

Well, 1 2 3, here we go…

Katie and her Girls

I'm off...!

2009-06-10T06:32:00.006-04:00

Well… I’m under way! I’m sitting in the airport right now waiting for my connecting flight to Kenya, and then it’s on to UGANDA! I can’t wait to get started! I was so blessed to have a huge send off from some of my closest family and friends at the airport; what a great way to start this incredible journey. Thanks guys for coming and being so supportive, encouraging, and especially for all your prayers! I couldn’t have done it without you!

As I travel I feel so covered by an awesome, amazing, huge, big God; the God who breathed the stars into existence, who placed us on this beautiful earth that HE created (you need to watch, Louie Gigolo the “how great is our God tour”, I strongly suggest that you find a way to watch it. youtube it). Incredible!

As I was “lost” in the Atlanta airport yesterday, I walked through a hallway that had pictures of some of the stars that make up our galaxy; they are magnificent, HUGE, and spectacular! The God who created those stars, who just said a word and there were suddenly there, that God, is watching over me, He’s watching over this ministry, and he’s watching over you. He is holding us up in His right hand! God used something as simple as some pictures to remind me of that, He used it to say “I am bigger than anything that’s going to come your way, don’t forget that. Look what I can do.” Sometimes, well, a lot of times I forget how BIG God really is, that He’s a star breather, He’s not some little God we pray to, oh no, He can hold the whole earth in His very hand. That’s HUGE. He’s mighty and powerful beyond belief. Why do I even worry? Why do I fret over silly things? I need to be reminded more often of the sheer size of our incredible God!

Even in just the early stages of my journey the Lord has done amazing things to remind me of that- how mighty and faithful He is. From walking me through a hallway adorned with pictures of stars and planets, to somehow letting me check 2 extra bags for FREE (I have no idea how they let me check 6 bags on an international flight), to letting me find a shower in Amsterdam! I mean He uses the small things sometimes.

We should NEVER forget how BIG our God is...

P.S Please pray that all my luggage makes it to Uganda, because some of it was not checked in normally (hence the free part) there is a good likely hood that it may not arrive. Thanks!

Check out Serving His Children on youtube!

2009-06-02T01:38:00.002-04:00

I am starting to feel weary. There is still so much to do, and not much time left. I know somehow everything will be completed, but it’s hard to see the light at the moment. Pray that I would have renewed strength every morning! “Lord hold me in your right hand.”

“You whom I took for the ends of the earth, and called from the farthest corners, saying to you “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your GOD; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

“But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they will mount up like wings on like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not grow faint.”

Thought you guys might enjoy this! For some reason I can’t get the video to actually post on the blog, I’m not sure why? Here is the link though, and you can watch it on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PR-7xWFAec

7 days till departure!