A Week In The Village

"I have a special concern for you church leaders. I know what it's like to be a leader, in on Christ's sufferings as well as the coming glory. Here's my concern: that you care for God's flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way."

-1 Peter 5:1-3

These past few weeks Empower A Child has really been looking to me for leadership. I am one of the main communicators of our team. Everyday, the Ugandan staff approaches me with their announcements and I am the one who delivers them to the team. The announcements range from super important ones to something as simple as telling the team that dinner is ready to be eaten. I am thankful for the leadership that I have been given. When I was planning my trip, I knew wanted to come back to Uganda. I knew that I wanted to come back with EAC as well. But mostly, I knew that I wanted to have a role with some type of leadership. I am so blessed to now know that EAC has put their trust in me. They trust me to fully communicate the ways of the organization to the team. Just yesterday I even lead an orientation meeting all by myself. Knowing that the organization has put their faith and trust in me is a wonderful feeling. 


Last week I was the leader for the team that went out into the village. This summer, we are beginning the building of the Training Center for Empower A Child. The organization has bought land in a village called Zirobwe that is located about 45 mins away from Kampala. They hope to build a school, a church, a medical clinic, and one day a type of trade school or university. So here in Uganda we have been focussing on making that happen. Each week we split our group of volunteers ( which has grown to about 25 people ) one group stays here in Kampala and the other goes out to the village for a week. We are trying to create a good relationship between Empower A Child and the people of the village.Then we all come together on the weekends to share our stories from the week. 


Last week was probably the hardest week for me. The village life is MUCH different from the life here in the city. When you spend the week in the village, you spend it sleeping in a tent, not showering, and working hard. 


Our first night in the village was an interesting one. Our team consisted of 6 American girls, 1 English girl, 2 American boys, and about 5 Ugandans. All of our tents were close together so there is almost no privacy at all. Our first day in the village consisted of us simply setting up our tents and getting settled in the village. We did a small amount of evangelizing to some of the families in the area, then headed back to our campsite to head to bed. In the village, with no electricity.... you go to bed when the sun goes down. 


Each day in the village we would wake up, then head to the water wells for cleaning. We were able to finish the cleaning of one well in just a few hours of our first day of work. These wells that we cleaned out were more like huge mud holes. The wells that we worked on cleaning out had not been touched in 10 - 30 years. So they were overgrown and for a lack of better words - just plain nasty. So we took our slashers ( the African lawn mowers ) and cut the tall grass and weeds back. We dug all of the thick mud out, and cleared out the hole. At the end of 3 days of work, we had cleaned  not one ..... but TWO water wells for the community of Zirobwe. 


In the evenings we spent our time with the children of the community. We did our Empower A Child program with them, which consist of signing songs, playing games, and sharing bible stories, and doing crafts with the children. The children in the village are so amazing to be around. They are so loving and so great. The children in the village have next to nothing. They have no shoes, some have no clothes, and they are just so so dirty. But they are so filled with love it is amazing. They get such much joy out of simply holding our hands or being carried and loved by us. It is such a blessing to be able to spread God's love to them.


The week in the village made me appreciate all that I have. I was completely humbled. It was such a hard week for me, but every time I felt myself getting ready to complain I had to remind myself that this was one week out of my life. This is everyday life for the people of Zirobwe. I struggled greatly with the fact that I was so dirty and did not have even a speck of make-up on my face. I am very insecure about  not having make-up on ,therefore week in the village really challenged me. I was forced to not wear make-up obviously because there were no mirrors and no access to showers.To even get water you had to walk 1/4 mile to get to the closest water well. We used baby wipes to keep ourselves clean. Every time that I was thinking to myself about how dirty I was , I immediately felt guilty. I was not there that week for me. I was there for GOD'S PURPOSE. 


The week in the village really helped me grow. I had to not only focus myself and keep myself from getting tried or complaining, I also had to focus on being a leader. I had to make sure that I was also encouraging my team, keeping a smile on my face, and not outwardly complaining so that others would be lifted up. I was thankful for my role as a leader for the village team because it helped me stay on track. I was constantly reminded of how I was there for God's purpose and not mine. I was able to encourage others through the strength that was given to me from God himself. 


Next week I will be headed back to the village. So hopefully God will use me in some huge ways :-) 

The children with their craft ( a cross made out of popsicle sticks)

Our team after our day of working on the wells.

Gabe, Jamie, Hilary, Mallory, Me, Kelsey, Megan, Cody

Bogare ! Our special helper :-) 

Cleaning the well ! 

Katy, Me, Jamie, Hilary, Kelsey, Mallory

Gabe teaching the children about Jesus walking on water.

Hilary pumping water form the water well !

Working hard ! 

Me holding a village child :-)

Bungee Jumping Over The Nile River !!

That is right.... I bungee jumped over the Nile River. 8 of my fellow volunteers here at Empower A Child and I leaped off a 150 foot ledge into the Nile River. 


From working on the adventure staff at NorthBay I was confident about the equipment. I for sure thought that I would be able to do it. Somehow I ended up being the last one to jump. One by one everyone made it look so easy. I for sure thought that I would be fine. I even was encouraging the two who went before me that they would be fine. 


Then it was my turn..... 


When I got to the ledge I chickened out. I was standing there with my toes over the edge with the director supporting me. I begged him to let me down. I told him that there was no way I could do it. He would begin to count down 3......2.... then I would quickly say NO! Finally after about 4 minutes, I thought that I could do it myself..... but of course again I chickened out. But then, all of a sudden I was flying through the air. The director had given me a little shove . As I was flying down, he yelled down to me "Please don't hate me!" Of course I didn't hate the man. I was thankful. I could not have done it without the push. 


As I was flying down I soon was dipped head first into the Nile River. Then safely taken off the bungee onto a raft , then taken back to land. 


I am so happy to have had the experience to bungee jump over the Nile River. It was SO beautiful and so amazing :-) 




"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me"
- Philipians 4:13

The Rat Attack

On a hot summer night in Uganda. I was tucked fast asleep in my bed, wrapped in my mosquito net enjoying my sleep. My roommate was away in the village, so I was all alone in my dark Ugandan room. My roommate, Jayan, had told me that I could keep food in a bag high up on a hook and if it was high off the ground, the rats will not find it. So I had put my pringles in a bag, and hung it on the hook above my bed.

As I began to fall asleep, I heard a few sounds that could have been a rat, but tried my hardest to fall asleep anyways. Deep in my slumber at 4am is when the horror began.

THE RAT crawled on my face, over my head... and then flew up my mosquito net. I quickly grabbed my head lamp, RAN out of the room and screamed. When I was able to calm myself down a bit, I went back to my room, flung open the door and switched on the lights.

To my surprise, the rat was still hovering on the ledge above where my net was hanging. I would not enter my room. I stood at my door holding the door open partaking in a staring contest with the rat.

SIDE NOTE - Let me explain..... this rat was legitimately 6 inches long, then about 8 inches long with his tale. He was fat and scary.

Ok back to my story.

So there I was 4am, head lamp on head, having a starting contest with the rat. I began to think about waking up the girls in the room next to me. One because I was scared and needed comfort, and two because no one would believe me without another witness. So I began to straddle the hallway so that I could have the starting contest with the rat to make sure he didn't move, and swing open the girls door to begin to try to wake one of them up. I didn't want to wake them all up... so I whispered loudly to them. FINALLY, after about 10 minutes, Hillary came to my rescue.

Hillary was my rat attack hero. I could not have made it through the night without her. Fearlessly she walking into my room to get a better look at him. I stayed outside watching her as she attempted to figure out how to catch him. She fearlessly took a laundry basket and caught him. Sadly, he was a super flying rat... and flew out of the basket and under my bed before she could put the lid on it.

Still freaking out, I quickly ran onto my bed to garb my hippo and my pillow and get out of there as quick as possible. As I was on my bed, the rat ran from my bed across the room to Jayan's shelf. Then TWO rats ran into my closet. At that point I was dunzo. Hillary and I screamed, then I quickly took an empty bed  in Hillary's room of on of the girls who is away at the village. It took a long time for me to fall back asleep. But thankfully I finally did.

So I learned my lesson the hard way. I will no longer EVER have food in my room. Pringles are never going to be worth the feel of a rat on my face.

I will end this post with nothing more than T.I.A. ( This Is Africa) 

Summer Is Here :-)

Two bear feet on the dashboard
Young love and an old Ford

Cheap shades and a tattoo

And a Yoo-Hoo bottle rollin' on the floorboard

Perfect song on the radio

Sing along 'cause it's one we know

It's a smile, it's a kiss

It's a sip of wine, it's summertime

Sweet summertime

- Kenny Chesney - Summertime 

For as long as I can remember. Summertime to me is time spent with my friends. It is spent going to the beach for a week or more, walking on the boardwalk, eating ice cream, fireworks, bearfeet, windows down, sunglasses, late nights having fun, no worries, BBQs, and just a lot of fun with my close friends. For the past 3 summers, I have also spent my summer working for TEAMeffort. So that means hot days working in the sun, staying happy all the time, and the usual TEAMeffort worries such as do I have to shower today? Can I really make these high school kids believe that I am the one who knows how to build this roof? When can I sleep? 


But now- I am here in Uganda this summer. And I will be here for the whole summer. Last summer I had the chance to go home and still spend time at the beach, and still have those summer memories. But this summer I am here in Africa where it has been hot since the second I got off the plane. I am experiencing the weather or summer but it will not the the summer I am so used to. I will not be spending my nights at the beach. I can go bearfoot although it is not recommend. The windows are always down... but that is because you will boil in your car if not. I wear sunglasses only when I am on a boda boda ( motorcycle taxi) to prevent the dirt from getting in my eyes. 


This will be a different summer for sure. Yet, I think it might be one of the best summers I will have had in a long time. It quite possibly will be the best summer of my life. I am here in Uganda waking up every day ready to serve. I have already been presented with millions of chances to further the Kingdom of God since I have been here. I get to walk outside at any point to the day and receive huge hugs from my neighborhood friends. As much as I have loved my lazy days of summer in the past - I am more than excited to live out my summer this year in Uganda.




So, with that being said.Summer season is here and with that comes busy days. We have been busy here in Uganda working together and going strong on our outreach programs. We now have about 20 people staying in our house so there is never a dull or quiet moment around here. Summer is a great time here in the EAC house because you are never bored. There is always someone to talk with and there is always a child to play with outside the gate. We sure have been keeping busy. 

With the new volunteers arriving, I have been put in a role of leadership. I am one of the go to people when a volunteer has a question or concern about something. I have also been a leader for different outreaches that we attend. So I am the one in charge of my group of muzungus ( white people ) at times.


Last week we spent a lot of our time in the village. There was a home that was not yet finished. Our team was blessed with the opportunity to go into the village and help by mixing cement to make floors as well as putting up more brick to creat more stable walls for the home. While in the village I was the leader of the water group. Now that would seem like an easy task in the States...... but in Africa - NOPE!  My team of about 5 girls were given the task of walking to the well with our empty jerry cans, filling them with the well water, then bringing them back up the hill completely filled....and repeteing that task all day. Now, this well was a ten minute walk down the hill then more like a fifteen - twenty minute walk back up the hill with the heavy jerry can. Doing this task always reminds me how what I take for granted in my life. So many people here in Uganda do not have the luxury of turning a faucet to find water. They have to walk to the well every time they want to drink, cook, clean , or bath. For us, we just walk to the refigorator, the kitchen, the laudry room, or the bathroom and turn the faucet. So by walking back and forth to the well, I believe that my team was able to understand just how much we take for granted in our daily lives. 


Later in the week I was given the chance to share at the Remand Home. The Remand Home is the juvenile home that we visit on Thursday afternoons. I was able to speak to them about the woman at the well. I was excited to have actually walked to a well to know how to explain the story better. I explained about how we have different things in our lives that we thirst for. Just like the woman at the well, we all are thirsting for different things. The woman in the story was thirsting for acceptance in the husbands that she had. I shared about how each of us thirsts for many things and we keep retuning to those things over and over again to be filled with joy. In the end, we are always thirsting. We are never fully satisfied. We constantly are turning to things for acceptance, satisfaction, and fulfillment in our everyday lives. For the kids at the Remand Home, they are thirsting for money, so they tend to steal. Or acceptance, and they turn to bullying. But just like the woman at the well, we are left still thirsting. But Jesus showed her grace , love, and forgiveness .... and he will do the same for us every day. I ended my time of sharing with a visual aide that I have seen many times with Young Life. I did the filling of our cup demonstration. If you do not know what that is - let me explain :-) ..... You take one plastic cup and you poke a hole in the bottom of it. Then you pour water into the cup as you explain all of the things that we "thirst for". As you are explaining them, obviously the water is falling out of the bottom of the cup and never fully being filled. Then you explain how all of those thirsts go away when you have Jesus in your life. You then take a new cup, with no holes in it, and place it over the one with the hole. Then when you pour water into that cup..... it becomes filled and could even overflow. 


Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
- John 4:13-14


The young adults at the Remand Home were very attentive the whole time. My interpreter, Douglas was very energetic for me as well. When we broke into small group discussions, the teens really showed that they understood what I was talking about. Some kids explained that they thirsted for stealing when they were on the streets and knew that it did not fill them with joy because it did nothing but lead them there to the Remand home. Some other kids said that they wanted to trust Jesus like the woman in the story because when we believe in him and trust in him, our lives will be better. It felt amazing to see that the kids not only listened to me, but understood as well. 


This week, we are slpitting our team into two groups. One group will be going to Zirobwe. Zirobwe is the village that we are going to be building the training center. So we have one team heading out there to start construction as well as participate in outreach programs in the community. 
The other half of our group will be staying here in Kampala doing our minitries that we do in the city. I will be in Kampala this week keeping busy with our outreaches here. I am excited to get the chance to reach out to more children in this city this week ! 
We will be switching groups each week. So next week I will be living in a tent in the village :-) 


Thanks so much for all of the prayers and kind thoughts that you have all been sending my way. I appreciate all of them and you are truely helping me stay strong over here in Uganda ! 


Miss you ALL ! 




Prayer Requests:
- Zirobwe and the huge things that are happening in that village through Empower A Child
- The team in Kampala to stay strong at all of the projects that they will be setting out to do this week. ( 8 schools, 1 babies home, 1 disability hospital, and 1 juvenile home)
- My health - I am currently coming down with a super soar throat and a bit of a cold. It is becoming hard to speak at times. So please pray for me to be healed so that I can speak to these children here in Uganda. 
- My fellow volunteer Craig. For the past month 1/2 he has been violently ill. He has been here for 10 months serving with Empower A Child. He is trying hard to stay strong and not let his sickness bother him. But it seems as though every time he turns around he has a new illness whether is it pink eye, or stomach problems, or body pains. So please lift him up in your prayers so that he can finish his year of service here in Uganda happily and healthy :-)
- And as always, the children and people of Uganda :-) 

Break My Heart For What Breaks Yours

"Heal my heart and make it clean 

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours

Everything I am for your kingdoms cause

As I go from nothing to 

Eternity" 

  

God has really been breaking my heart for what breaks his. This has been my prayer everyday as I wake up. I want God to use me here in Uganda. I want him to open up my eyes to the things that are unseen. I want him to so show me how to love others the way he has so willingly loved me. I want my heart to be broken to the things that breaks His heart. And I want everything I do be for the glory of God and I want everything I do to be for His Kingdoms cause. 

We are each placed on this earth for a reason. Not our own reasons, but for God's reasons. He knew us before our parents even knew us. And at that moment when he knit us in our mother's womb, he already had a plan for our life. A plan that is bigger and better than any plan that we could ever have for ourselves. 

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Psalm 139:13-14

I know that God has big plans for me and for my life. I know that I am here in Uganda to do things for Him. I am here in Uganda so that everything I am can be for His Kingdoms Cause. Because of that I am grateful. I get to see people each day who need God's love, and I am able to share it with them. 

This past week I really saw God working in the lives of some beautiful Ugandan children. The first time that God honestly completely broke my heart for what was breaking His was when we went to Katalemwe on Wednesday morning. Katalemwe is the disabilities children's hospital. When we got there on Wednesday morning, we went into the room where we always meet the children and I was able to see some familiar faces of smiling children seated at the table. But there was a few new children. The one that broke my heart the most and caught my attention the most was this young girl who was about 7 years old. She was at this children's hospital because she must have survived a very bad fire. Her face and head was almost completely covered in scars from burns. Her left ear was burned off,her left hand was missing, and most of her face was just one big scar from the burns. 

When I greeted her she smiled huge and shook my hand. She sat next to me and just smiled at me as I smiled back at her. When we began to sing worship songs, she sang right along. She was filled with joy as we were there with her and she was smiling and having fun. 

I took a second and looked at my own life. That morning I was concerned with what I would eat in the morning and what I would wear that day. I was worried about stupid things. Children who are at Katalemwe have to worry about if they will ever heal from these scars, fix their broken limbs, or even walk. They have to think about if they will ever go back to school. They are so young, and probably so scared. 

I have so much to be thankful for. I am healthy and I was able to have a good education. These children may never see such things, yet they are still thankful... they still are rejoicing in the Lord. This just blew my mind. 

I am so thankful to be here in Uganda. I am able to see the things and the people that God' heart is breaking for and in turn my heart is also breaking for them as well. I am so thankful that I am able to be here and witness these things so that I now can pray for these children and smile with them and hold their hands to let them know that someone cares about them. 

God has been putting these words on my heart for years now. And I am thankful that I am in a place that each day he is actually breaking my heart for what breaks His. He is showing me how to love others as He has loved me, and he is opening my eyes to the things that are so unseen in my life back in America. 

Two Weeks Down ..... A Lot More To Go :-)

I am now finished with my first two weeks here in Uganda!!  These weeks completely flew by. Luckily I have a lot more wonderful weeks to come. To sum up my time so far, I would say that it has been eye-opening, exciting, relaxing, tiring, enjoyable, and wonderful.

Taking the children to the pool was a success ! Thank you so much for the prayers. We ended up being able to take 8 of the Uganda children who live next door to us. We all walked hand in hand all the way to the pool ( about a 10 minute walk ) When we got to the pool we were pleased to find out that children were less expensive. It was only 3000 Ugandan Shillings ( about $1.50 ) per child. None of the children had ever really gone swimming before, so we were nervous about having all of them in the pool. When we arrived at the pool we saw a shallow pool off to the side. This children immediately jumped into that one. They barely even took notice of the HUGE pool next to them. So, we spent about 2 hours in the shallow pool having a blast with our 8 Ugandan neighbors. This children has so much fun. They now keep asking us when we will be taking them again. Hopefully we will be able to bless them with a day at the pool again sometime soon.  :-)

The rest of our time we were able to spend time at the different ministries that we go to on a weekly basis. Because of Easter, the numbers of children were fewer . We spent time at the children's disability home called Katalamwe as well as the juvenile youth home called Remand Home. At Katalamwe we sang worship songs with the children, shared about Christ, and made a fun craft. At Remand home, we watched a movie ( in Luganda ) about a homeless family and the troubles they were going through.

For Easter I was able to go to church in the morning. Then go to a Ugandan zoo and Lake Victoria. It was interesting to see how many people spent time out of their homes on a Holiday. There were loads of people at Lake Victoria and the Zoo.

To make Easter feel more like home for us, the two other volunteers and myself made ourselves an Easter basket filled with sweets, soda , and fruit. It helped us feel like we were at home enjoying Easter.

My time here has been amazing. I can't wait to continue to wake up each day to serve God in Uganda :-)

Prayer Requests:
- Prayer for Uganda and the rising gas prices. Ugandans have to pay about $6-$7 US Dollars per gallon. Most people don't even make that much in a day. Because of these rising prices, there have been some riots and strikes. So please keep Uganda and its people in your prayers !
- The children who I interact with each day.
- And strength for me to wake up each day with a smile on my face ready to do what God has asked me to do.

BUBBLES ! :-)

While I was preparing to come back to Uganda, I racked my brain for toys or activities that I could bring back for the children outside of my compound. I decided that bubbles would be a good idea. - AND OH MY WORD.....THEY WHERE :-)


There are about 7 young children outside of our gate ranging from 2 to 10 years of age. They often are the highlight of my day. As I had stated in my last post, they often like to scream my name in excitement when they see me. Although, when they pronounce my name it sounds more like A-MEEEE, or IME!  


When we went outside with the bubbles, the children greeted us with their usual hugs and shouts of our names. They soon realized that we had something new for them to play with. When they saw the bubbles they all got excited. Some of them said that they have never even played with bubbles before in their short life. 


The reaction that brought the most joy to me since I have been here in Uganda was from a 6 year old Ugandan boy named Kevin. When Kevin blew his first few bubbles into the air his eyes immediately got huge, he smiled wide and screamed " YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!" There was so much joy in his life at that very moment all because of some simple bubbles. I don't think I will ever see someone more excited about bubbles floating into the air ever again. It was such a joy to me to see Kevin so happy :-)


Tomorrow we have a personal ministry day. This means that anything that we wish to do that will either bring someone joy, lead someone to christ, or help and love someone....we can do it. So Sarah , a fellow volunteer and I have decided to take the children from outside our gate swimming. This morning we spent our time meeting with the parents of the children, introducing ourselves, and asking permission to take their children swimming. Every parent has agreed. Because the children are off of school for a Holiday, they all can come. 


So tomorrow, Sarah and myself ... and Hopefully a Ugandan will be taking about 7 to 10 children to a local hotel pool. They are already so excited about it. As we have been playing with them outside today they are all showing us how they swim by laying down in the drive way to show us. I can not wait to see their expressions tomorrow. Hopefully Kevin will have an even better reaction to swimming :-) 


Prayer Requests :
- Energy for Sarah and I as we take the children swimming
- Safety for the children
- Prayer for this weeks ministries : Nsambya - a baby's home (orhanage) , Katalamwe- a children's disability hospital, and the Remand Home- ajuvenile home


Nkumissinga - meaning: I miss you (Luganda)
LOVE & MISS YOU ALL :-)