Another Reason To SMILE !

There are many reasons for me to smile everyday .... but this news will keep me smiling for years to come : 

Words can not express how happy I am. One small yet important life has been saved! Praise the Lord. Miki Paul, who I had the pleasure of spending many hours with in a small isolated orphanage room has been blessed with a family who loves him. During my time in Uganda many of you know of my dear friend Melissa who recently adopted Lola. While in Uganda I spent a lot of time with Lola and her roommate Miki Paul. The mammas at the orphanage often talked badly about Miki Paul expressing that they felt there was no hope for him because he was HIV positive. But God has a much bigger hope and plan for him. He has been adopted and has been blessed with a family. He was already special because of all of the missionaries who loved him and have been praying for him. But now, he has a family and is able to live a healthy and safe life. 

Here is a link to the family's blog. Read more about Mik Paul/Levi here :

http://www.lovewithrecklessabandonment.blogspot.com

Knoy 2012

Dear Friends, 
Help the country that is so dear to my heart. Help the country that my close friends call HOME. The world does not know about the wars in Uganda because America did not care. America knows more about the entertainment world than it does about the children who are in pain, who are scared, and who worried for their lives. FINALLY it looks like America is caring. PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT LOOSE HEART. Joseph Knoy needs to be stopped. Without stopping him, he will continue to do the unthinkable to the people and the children of Uganda as well as other East African countries. 


Please watch this short film and learn about what is really going on on the other side of the globe while you are safe in your home watching TV. 

TAKE ACTION! 
If you can not buy something to visibly show your support from the website. You still can take action. 
You can write letters to the government. 
You can change your facebook picture. 
You can simply TALK ABOUT IT! 
Raise awareness any way that you possibly can!


We wouldn't let this happen in America - so how can we turn our eyes at it now? 

NOW THAT WE HAVE SEEN, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE TO CHANGE IT. 

BE HUMAN. MAKE A DIFFERENCE. TALK ABOUT IT. SHARE IT. CARE ABOUT IT. 

KONY 2012

Now That I Have SEEN, I am responsible !

Hey Friends! Please take one moment to listen to this beautiful yet eye-opening song ! 

Brooke Fraser - Albertine 

 

Now that I have seen, I am responsible

Faith without deeds is dead

Now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are...

I am on a plane across a distant sea

But I carry you in me

and the dust on, the dust on, the dust on my feet.

For 9 months I was across a distant sea on a plane in Uganda, Africa. I held children and people with the very hands that I am typing with today. I showed my faith through my deeds. Yet now that I am home, I am responsible to tell the world, to tell my family and friends, to even tell strangers, about what I have seen. 

Here are just a few pictures of the children that I have held in my own arms. The children that I am responsible for. The children that I want to tell of their stories :

Each one of these children above hold a special place in my heart. Some of them live in a village called Zirobwe, some live in the city of Kampala, and some live in orphanages. The children who live in the Uganda, have a harder life than anyone I have ever met. 

Village children have to walk miles multiple times each day to fetch HEAVY containers of water. They are expected to work on the farms with their parents. And most of them NEVER get a chance to go to school. They live in small houses or huts that are smaller than the average American bathroom - with their WHOLE family. They are exposed to many different disease yet are not able to receive proper medical attention.

City children are often left unattended, hungry, and unloved by families. Some children have great families who love them, yet they are still hungry, sick, and living in poverty. 

The children that are so dear to my heart simply needed love. They are happy children. They are loving and compassionate. 

Therefore, now that I have seen these children. Now that I am held them in my own arms. I am responsible to love them, to pray for them, and to tell the world about them. 

Yet... as most of you already know -I saw more than just children while I was in Uganda ! I also taught English.


Teaching English was such an amazing experience! I loved every second of it. My students were so ready to learn. They were so eager to understand the language of English. With each day that I went into the classroom to teach the Reading & Writing class, I was filled with joy. I was so happy that I was able to come in, teach these students, and leave knowing that I was not only teaching.... but I was also sharing my faith to them through my actions. 
For the 3 months that I taught my students, I was able to build relationships, get to know about the culture of where each student came from, and to spread simply the LOVE of Christ Jesus to them. The students openly knew that I was a Christ follower. Yet, I did not have to preach to them for them to see the joy, happiness, and completeness that I have in my life from simply following God. 
By the end of my 3 months with my students. I was able to see smiles as students did assignments correctly. I was able to have FUN teaching students from all over the world. I was able to teach them how to understand what they were reading and not just read what was on the page. But most of all... I was able to work alongside a group of wonderful Christian leaders and show the love of God through our actions as well as leadership.

"Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."

Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove."

James 2:14-18 (The Message)

I will tell the WORLD. I will tell them where I've been

MAKE A DIFFERENCE !

BUY COFFEE :-) 

https://www.justlovecoffee.com/bringlolahome

 If you by coffee from this website, you can help SAVE a child's life.

Lola & I 

I have talked about Lola in my past blog post. She is a little girl that my friend Melissa is in the process of adopting. With each day that Lola is still here in the orphanage, she gets worse. There are not enough people who love her here. There is not enough medical help that she needs. I visit her as often as I can. But that is not enough. She needs to be home with Melissa and she needs love every second of the day. 

She has cerebral palsy as well as epilepsy. She needs to be somewhere that she will get the attention that she needs. That is NOT here in Uganda. As of now, she is left alone with no physical therapy. One day Lola will walk, talk, learn, play and HAVE A LIFE. But until she is home in America, those things will not happen.

Me, Lola, Hilary 

Christmas is just around the corner - Buy a gift that will make a difference ! 

Teaching Brings Joy To My Heat

I never know how much teaching could bring me joy,But it sure does. I wish I had a picture of my class to show you but… instead maybe I can give you a visual.

 I have a class of 20 students on a good day and about 13 on a slow day. My class is a garage that was once turned into a classroom. I have 2 long rows of desks.

My first row is always filled with all of my Somalian girls. They are all beautiful young teenaged ladies and they are always so colorful with their scarves and long dresses.

My second row always has my 2 Somalian teenaged boys in the back right corner who always get their work done fast in hopes that I will give them a break so that they can go play football (soccer) for five minutes. Which, I have found out that if I talk about football at any point of my class, they pay attention 100%.  

Then the rest of the back row is filled with the one Somalian girls who just sits in class with a smile because her English is very bad. I just mastered the Alphabet with her. Yet, on the good days, the back row is also filled with my Eritrean, Congolese, Rwandan, and Sudanese students.

Recently I have had two older Eritrean male students sit in the back of my class. They are my best students. When I ask the class to write a few sentences on a topic, most students will give me 2 or 3 sentences, but those two always give me at least a page.

My favorite part of my class is when I correct their work. Every single student is excited to hand me his or her work to check. As I check their work, they all sit there eagerly. Often times I have to ask them what they meant to write since it is so off base. But recently, they have had very little mistakes. Sure, there is a misspelled word here and there, but for the most part it all makes sense.

But my favorite parts are the smiles that I get when I tell them good job, or the hands that go up when I ask if someone wants to read something aloud, or simply the fact that I have to dismiss them two or three times before them leave because they want to stay and learn more.

Teaching has definitely been a blessing. I love It ! 

Change In Plans

So I may have thought that Charlotte's Wed was and easy read for my students, yet I was wrong. My students level of reading is just a bit lower than I had expected. They also can not grasp the fact that animals can talk, and if they can understand that, they don’t understand that there is a little girl who can hear then as well as understand the animals.

So I have gone onto different plan. I found a Magic Tree House book here in Uganda. I remember reading Magic Tree House books when I was learning how to read as a young kid. Magic Tree House is a series about a brother and a sister who go all around the world through their Magic Tree House to solve puzzles or riddles.

The book that I have chosen for my class is about Africa and the lions that they run into. So far, my students are enjoying it. The book has 10 chapters. Each class we read one chapter together as a class. We are now on chapter five. My goal from reading this book with them was to work on their reading comprehension. I told my class that there is no point to knowing how to read if you do not understand and remember what you read. Therefore, in my class, the students read the chapter once together as a class. Then I read it aloud for them. After that, I answer any questions they have. Most of their questions are about what different words mean. After I answer their questions, they answer questions that I make up about the chapter. So far we are successful. :-)

I have also picked up teaching a computer class. I teach basic computer skills to a small class of about 6 students twice a week. I teach them things such as how to save and open a Word Document, make a list with bullets, chancing fonts and sizes of their text, and copying and pasting texts. Before I too over teaching this class, they had just got past learning how to turn the computer on and basic typing skills. So it has been fun and quite an easy class to teach.

 I am not only a Reading and Writing English teacher, now I am also a computer teacher. :-) 

Want to know more????

Refuge and Hope

^ The organization I am working with.

The Center of Hope

^ Where I am teaching.

 

My NEW Everyday, Ordinay Life

I am a college graduate.

I am unemployed - but I like to see it as employed by Jesus.

I am a teacher.

I am HAPPY :-)

Most of you are probably wondering how teaching for me is going. Well ..... it is going AMAZINGLY! I am in love with it. I have been teaching the Reading & Writing class for the past few weeks. I have about 20 students. 9 of my students are related. They are all either siblings or cousins. That half of my of my class is Somalian. The other half is Sudanese, Congolese,  Ethiopian, or Eritrean. I love my students and I love teaching. They are all eager to learn because they so desperately want to learn.

I will admit though - it has been MUCH harder than I thought. When I started my first thought was " I have been speaking English my whole life - sure I can teach it to some foreigners". But no.... it has been much harder than I expected. Especially since I now realize that I just speak English - and most of the time I don't speak it well. I had no idea how to teach these students how to READ.  When they don't know a word ... I just tell them it. But that is not helping them. So It has been MUCH harder than I had ever thought it would be.

Looking back on my schooling, I remember the sense of achievement that I received when I finished a book. It feels so great to know that you have finished a task such as reading a book. So ..... I have purchased Charlotte's Web. I am in the process of making them all a copy of the book so that they can have it in front of them as they read. My hope is to read the book together as a class by Christmas. Then hopefully they will feel the happiness that I once got as a child when I finished my first book.

Life as a teacher has been fun. I love serving in this way. I am much happier with GOD's plan than I was with my plan :-)

Therefore, my NEW everyday ordinary life is still placed before God as an offering. I am still taking my life and taking what God has done for me to glorify him in every aspect of my days. I am simply doing something different with my time spent here in Uganda. Instead of empowering children though bible stories, songs, and games.... I am now empowering young students through teaching and through love.

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it." 

                                                   Romans 12:1-2 (The Message) 

Prayer Requests:  

* For me to be filled with knowledge of how best to teach my students. 

* For walls to be broken down and doors to be open for me to get to know each one of my students better.

* For stress of financial issues to leave me. Because of lack of funds, I often find myself stressed more than necessary. Please pray that God will do something huge in this area so that I may focus solely onto the work He has brought me here to do.

* For my Dad,Mom, and sister (Brandi) back home. The lack of contact with me due to internet access worries them. Please pray that God will give them peace and comfort as I finish out my time here in Uganda.

Proverbs 19:21

"Many are the plans in a person’s heart,but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails"

                                PROVERBS 19:21

How stupid could I have been? I planned my tirp here to Uganda. Sure, I prayed about it….but ultimately it was my plan. But God is good. He has bigger and brighter plans for my time here. I had “many plans in my heart” but it is totally “the LORD’s purpose that will prevail. "


I am in Uganda for God, not for myself. I am in Uganda to be a light to people here. I am NOT in Uganda to be comfortable at all. 

Unfortunately things have come up to where I can no longer stay with Empower A Child. I do not have enough money or support to stay there.  I am not going to be able to finish out my time with them because of expenses. 

But ....  I am leaving in GOD'S TIMING and  for GOD'S PLAN.

 I took about 2 months to pray and seek God's council as well as the council from different spiritual leaders in my life. In that time, I reached out to a sister in Christ who is a missionary here in Uganda. I had met her a few years ago when she was a youth paster and had brought her youth to a TEAMeffort camp that I had be running in New Orleans. She encouraged me to come to a center where she teaches English. 

I had no idea what I would be getting myself into. But I took a leap of faith and went for it. I visited the Center of Hope last week. The second I was there, I began to feel a sense of peace. This center provides English Education to refugees. They teach students from Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Erirtea, Congo, Rwanda, and more. These students are here in Uganda because of war or something else going on in their home country. They struggle here because they do not know Luganda or English. So this center is helping them learn the basics of English. This is also a Christian organization. Their goal is to help the students with English as well as other skills such as cooking, sewing, and other trades of that sort. The organization also reaches out to them in a relational way. The teachers build relationships with the students so that they build a  level of trust with them and in turn can tell them about the TRUTH of Jesus. They also have bible studies on Wednesday nights that they invite the students to.

I was able to sit in on two of the classes while I visited the center last week. I absolutely fell in LOVE with the classes and the students. The organization is in need of a new teacher as well........ SO I will begin teaching on Tuesday !!! I will have 20-25 students from all over the world and I will be teaching them in a Reading and Writing class. 

To work with this center, it is totally free and I have an opportunity to have free housing. So God was able to take an unfortunate situation and completely turn it around to be wonderful. He took my plans and showed me what HIS plans where for me while I was doing  HIS work here in Uganda. 

So as of Tuesday, I will no longer be reaching out to Children with Empower A Child, I will be a teacher...teaching English to refugees from all over the nation. 


I will be sure to keep you all updated on the way that God will work through me as a teacher for these next few months :-) 

Ethiopia

Sudan

Eritrea

Rwanda

Congo

Somalia

 

"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
 "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:13-16 (The Message)

From the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere. And back in just ONE day !!!!

This past week I was given the opportunity to visit Emily's and my sponsorship child! Well, currently the only one supporting her is Emily ..... I'm more like the grand-mom who gets to simply spoil her. Either way  .... I got to see our sponsor child. Her name is Harriet and she is now 9 years old. Because of Emily and I she is given the opportunity to go to school and have a chance at a bright future. Last summer Emily and I met her while we were on a mission in a village called Rakki. It was such a blessing to be able to meet her. I never in a million years thought that I would be blessed with a chance to see her again. But God is good - I got to see her beautiful face this past week.

Emily & I - Proud Parents Of Harriet :-)

How I got to go:
Felix, the head of sponsorship here at Empower A Child, was traveling to Rakki to pay school fees for children as well as give them school supplies such as school bags, pencils, pens, notebooks, as well as any letters that they had received from their sponsors. Felix had to visit all of the children and travel from school to school to find the children. I was able to tag along because Harriet was one of the kids that Felix was going to be visiting. Felix aslo was grateful for a travel partner.

The Journey There :
Now Rakki is a far trip from Kampala where I live here in Uganda. So, Felix and I had to leave the house by 5:30am. We were taking taxis to get there. So at about 6:00am Felix, myself and about 12 other people squeezed into a 14 passenger van and headed out of Kampala. I slept almost the entire ride there. By 10:00am we were in Rakki. AND on the other side of the Equator !!!

Felix and I then sorted out the school bags and filled them with goodies for the children. Then as he visited a child at a school near by, I went into town with a staff member from Send A Cow. My mom has always told me to never go anywhere empty handed. So of course I couldn't visit Harriet's family without bringing them something.I had gifts for the children, but nothing for the family. So in about 1 hour I collected 5 bars of soap, 2 kilos of sugar, 4 kilos of flour, a packet of match boxes, 5 liters of kerosene for cooking, and a loaf of bread.

When felix returned, it was time to head deep into the village. So we hired a boda boda for the day to take us around to each child that we needed to visit. So before I knew it, I was on a boda boda with our driver in front, me in the middle,and Felix behind me, holding 7 bags and all my gifts for Harriet's family.

On our boda ride into the village I was blown away by the beauty around me. I was looking around at the world around me and all I could think of was " Where in God's green Earth am I?? " A saying that I have heard from my mother while growing up. It never made much sense to me until this week. THIS IS GOD'S GREEN EARTH. He created the beautiful sights that I was seeing as I was ridding along a dirt African road in the middle of nowhere called Rakki. For the entire day I was blessed with the chance to be in awe of God's beautiful landscapes, beautiful people, and beautiful wonders of this great country. 

Visiting Harriet's Family :

Because Harriet was in school, she was not at home when we visited her home. When we got to her home, the only one home was her younger brother, Emma. He was in the house alone, eating what looked to be moldy makokee. He greeted us, but was scared of me and my white skin at first. The Aunty was in the fields working, so we had to send for someone to get her to meet me. 

( Both of Harriets parents had passed away from HIV/AIDS. Her and her 3 siblings are now under the care of their unmarried Aunty. This Aunt also has 2 other children form other siblings of hers that have passed away. She is young and single taking care of 5 children what are not even hers. SUCH A STONG WOMAN! ) 

As Felix and I waited for the Aunty to come up from working in the fields, I tried hard to make Emma like me. He was so hesitant until I gave him a sparkly bouncy ball. (Thanks goes to Brandi for mailing it to me!) He is such a precious child. It was a pleasure to play with him as we waited for the Aunt. 

Emma 

Before the Aunt came, it began to rain. Emma let us come into the house and sit with him. Last year I did not go into their house. I only stayed outside with the family. While sitting inside the house.....My heart completely broke. I could not wrap my head around how 6 people could LIVE in this house. I had been in village homes before, but I guess when its a child you care about and pray for often it hits you a little harder. 

This is their house. it is not much bigger than this picture. All 6 of them sleep right there. 

When Harriet's Aunt finally made it out from the fields to see me, she came running. She ran right up to me and greeted me by bowing at my feet. Culturally bowing is a form of respect....but for me it just makes me uncomfortable. So I hugged her and most likely made her feel uncomfortable. When Felix asked her if she remembered me, she said "YES, it's Aunt Amy!" It was such a blessing to see how she appreciates me enough to remember my name and be excited that I came to visit. 

When we all were settled into her home, I presented her with the gifts that I had brought for their family. With each small gift I gave her, she thanked me as though I was giving her a million dollars. I was so humbled by the fact that my small gifts meant so much for the family. They were the most excited about the kerosene that should last for the rest of this year, and the loaf of bread. Emma, who was eating moldy food when I arrived was the most excited about the bread. This was also humbling as well as eye opening to me. That same loaf of bread is bread that I would never eat. When my team spends time in the village we get that type of bread.... but it tastes stale, so stale that I usually just pass on it and go hungry. But for this family, it was as though I handed them the best cooked steak in the world. They were so unbelievably grateful. 

I was so happy that I was able to visit Harriet's family. They were so grateful for my visit that they are now planning on making me a broom. So, I'll have to go back and visit them again before I leave Uganda :-) !!

Harriet's Aunt is the woman in the yellow t-shirt

Emma with his bread :-) 

The family and all the neighbors wanted a picture :-) 

Seeing Harriet :

Harriet was at school when I went to visit her family..... so I didn't get to actually see her until the end of the day! It killed me to wait that long, but it was worth it. When we arrived at her school, most of the children were out in the school yard. I kept my eyes pealed for Harriet, but I did not see her. We had a teacher call for Harriet and her cousin who is also sponsored. When Harriet saw me, she ran as fast as she could over to me. She gave me a huge hug and bowed as well. She had the biggest smile on her face as she looked up at me. Felix asked her if she new who I was and she said yes ..... but then called me Aunt Emily. But when she found out that I was not Emily, she quickly said "Aunt Amy!" It is so nice to know that Emily and I are not just sponsors to her. We are not just two Americans she met last year who help pay her school fees..... we actually mean something to her. She does honestly love us. 

After we said our hellos, we went into the school's office. We were in there to pay their school fees. I saw that Harriet was not wearing a school uniform. In Uganda, every child has to wear a uniform at school. The children who can no afford them don't have them..... but often times they get in trouble if they do not own one. But our little Harriet did not have a uniform. We asked the teacher about it and apparently Harriet had grown out of hers so she did not have one that fit her anymore. Being the mother/Grand-mom/Sponsor that I am..... I looked at Harriet ( who was already smiling at me because she hadn't taken her eyes off of me since she first saw me at her school ) and asked her if she wanted a new uniform. Of course she smiled and said yes followed by a bunch of "Sank Kus". ( In Uganda the TH sounds are hard for them, so often times Thank You comes out more like Sank Ku ) . I did not want our Harriet to be one of the only kids without a uniform. So once I paid the 15,000 (about 12 dollars) for her new school uniform, she was handed one immediately and she wore it proudly. 

Harriet in her new school uniform :-) 

After we were done with what had to be done in the office, I only had a short amount of time with Harriet before I had to go. So I had felix tell her that I had left gifts for her at home. (I saved a few pillowcase dresses and goodies from the last package Brandi & Mom sent me ) I also told her that I loved her very much and that Emily and I want to see her do well in school. She just hugged me and smiled. 

Harriet and I 

All of her classmates wanted a picture as well :-) 

Harriet, me, and Harriet's cousin 

I wish I could have had more time with her ........ But there is always next time ! :-) 

Harriet & I 

So, where on God's green earth was I ? I was right where God wanted me to be on that Tuesday afternoon.....ridding around the beautiful country of Uganda on a boba boba searching for a child who loves me and my friend Emily so dearly. It was such a blessing for me to go on this trip. It may have been a long journey and at the end of the day I was exhausted ...... but it was completely worth it.