"I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane......"

I can't believe its time to say goodbye!!!!!! Tomorrow is my final day in Kampala, and then we will be flying out early Monday morning to JoBurg for our debrief! Tomorrow will be an incredibly hard day, but I know the Lord will be sufficient for us. And, honestly, I am thankful it will be hard to say goodbye..because it represents the love that I have grown for my brothers and sisters in Christ here.

I know I haven't updated the blog in awhile, but please know that there is an INCREDIBLE PRAISE REPORT COMING SOON!! With all of the emotions of saying goodbye, I just know right now I couldn't do these last few weeks justice. So, within the next week--- it will surely come!

For now, thank you all so much for your support and encouragement! YOU ARE AN INCREDIBLE BLESSING!!!

Can't wait to be able to write about these last couple of weeks!!!! And see you in Texas!!!! I'll be leaving JoBurg Friday (5/29) and arrive in Dallas, Texas on Saturday (5/30) at 2 pm!!!

I actually can't even believe I'm typing this! What an incredible adventure this has been... but how sweet it will be to be home!

2 ½ weeks. 18 days. 8 visits to Kawuku. 3 church services.

There are moments this seems like an eternity. Other moments I have to fight back the tears that try to fall as I think about finishing out my time here. Only 8 more visits to Kawuku to see the smiles that have changed my heart forever. Only 8 more times to catch Zina in my arms as she runs towards me. Only 8 more chances to have little Brite steal my heart as he yells out my name and then proudly says something in Luganda that he thinks I can understand. Only 3 more services to watch Grace and Sister Pros lead worship.

As hard as it has been for me, the beauty in what I have been surrounded by is unexplainable. How, when everything has been hard, does my soul still see beauty deeper than ever before? How can such an impoverished area produce such hope in this “all American girl?”

To work in the slums here in Kampala has both produced the most heartbreak and the most joy.

To know that some of my people live off of 2000 shillings a day (= $1). To see their tattered second hand clothes and torn shoes. There are no manicured yards for the kids to play in. No libraries near that they can sit and read in. No air conditioning to escape the Ugandan heat. No packages coming with brownie mixes and spring colored Oreos. No good medical services when they are sick. Money talks here…in a horribly corrupt way…and when you don’t have it- you don’t have a voice. They are welcome at the clinic, but there is a chance they will get the left over, outdated medicine that possibly has nothing to do with their illness. These are the things they live with day in and day out that I will never understand.

We don’t know what it’s like to go without food. We don’t know what it’s like to have to walk sometimes for miles, because we can’t afford the transport. I know that some of us walk places…. But it is our CHOICE. What about when you can’t choose………

Yet, the smiles on the faces of our church members reflect a joy deeper than I can ever explain, or even understand. They are so thankful. They have dirt floors, yet clean them as if they were hardwood. They have torn second hand clothes, yet they take perfect care of them.

I thought I was coming for them…. I thought I was coming to share Christ and the hope of His message….. I thought I was coming to love and serve…. To fuse courage into them…… There are a hundred more reasons “I thought I came” that all have to do with me giving to them.

And maybe I have done all that. But what I didn’t plan on was them so abundantly giving to me. They have given me JOY, LOVE, HOPE, and CHANGE. They have forever changed my heart, and the hearts of those God has chosen to embark on this journey with me. They have forever changed the way that I minister, surrender, and love.

I have to be honest- I am really excited about coming home to air conditioning, drinking water straight from the faucet, good food, no mosquitoes buzzing around my room at night, and a gazillion other things. But…… what these people have given me is deeper than any of those. They have shown me what life really is about. What really matters. And how love and joy can greatly abound regardless of circumstances.

It breaks my heart to see their lifestyle. But, you know what? It breaks my heart to see ours too. We have everything, yet somehow for the past 23 years… I’ve missed all of this.

White Water Rafting on The Nile

1) Can you believe its May 1st?!?!

2) In total exaggeration---- I am thankful to be alive to see this 1st day of May!!!

Yesterday, my team and I drug ourselves out of bed between 5:30 and 6am to begin our trek down to the Nile River to WHITE WATER RAFT!!!! Oh my.... if you know me, you know A) I always enjoy a little adventure but B) I am in total agreement with the philisophy that, "too much of a good thing is bad."

We signed up for an all day trip to raft down the Nile. 12 rapids with a lunch break halfway, rapids ranging from grade 3 to grade 5. 4 of these rapids were grade 5. Just to highlight a couple, we rafted down a waterfall and a rapid called, "the bad place" (you'll hear more about that one later.)

As we set out in the morning, we noticed rain clouds, but thought "surely it won't rain on us........". I was seriously underestimating the rainy season here in Uganda! As fate would have it, within an hour we found ourselves rafting the Nile in the middle of a thunderstorm! I felt like I was in a movie!!!!!!!!! We continued down the river in the storm .......did I mention I was holding a metal paddle (just want you to make sure you get the full effect here!) ...until we arrived at our lunch destination. I was so proud of our rafting team!!! We swept through all the morning rapids without falling out or flipping! =)

When lunch came, we climbed slippery steps up to a tin roof with a large picnic table underneath. It was actually a nice spread! Sandwiches, potato salad (hadn't seen that yet here), and fruit. Freezing cold, eating, and thinking about how much I was loving this!!!!!!! I even remember telling Sarah how I would definetely want to do this again!!!!!! (amazing how quickly those feelings can change.....)

So, with a smile on our faces and rain jackets thankfully now on our backs..... we headed out for the afternoon. The afternoon went well.......much slower than the morning...... until the last rapid. The second to last rapid, we did flip though. Thanks to our guide! He was a little overconfident in our rafts ability to withstand the water of the last rapid. He thought we'd safely make it through..... and felt it was his job to make sure we flipped atleast once! I am now saying that I am very thankful we flipped on this rapid because atleast when it happened for real I was a little more prepared.

So...... now we're at the last rapid of the day..... "The Bad Place." The Bad Place has forever engrained my feelings about Grade 5 rapids. Maybe I'll change my mind later, but for now.... I confidently say I will not feel a need to experience this type of adventure or adrenaline again. As Jake said, we each have our own story to tell of what happened. For me..... well, lets just say I never knew I could go that long without taking a breath. It was the craziest feeling...... like calm chaos. I think I was keeping my composure pretty well....... however, at some point---you just become disoriented. Suddenly, when I came up to gasp for air, I realized how far from the main rapid I had gotten.... ..yet I was still caught in something and coming up with barely enough time to gasp for air. It was at this moment that I hit panic mode..... My arms started trying to get someone's attention....as if I thought that no one saw me way down there.....

Thankfully, within 10 seconds of hitting panic mode and seriously thinking, "this is it for me... I was sure done. Atleast my last breath was taken doing something awesome on the Nile Rivier..... " the safety kayak arrived to save me. I really actually feel sorry for the guy. I can't even imagine how big my eyes were or what I sounded like gasping for air. Actually...now the thought of what that poor guy was thinking makes me laugh out loud! But..I was so thankful to see him!!

All in all, the trip was awesome! We had a lot of fun with our team and I created some lasting memories!! I'm so glad that I went!!!! =) I wouldn't trade that trip for anything. However, if you ever ask me to raft the Nile River with you again...please don't be offended if my answer is no. Its definetely an experience but I no longer feel a need to defy those powerful walls of water.

Thank you Nile for an amazing time and great memories! I had you beat until The Bad Place. But, I think you won yesterday.

And.....on a side note, I know there are some of you that aren't believing me. That's why we got a DVD of the entire trip! =) Maybe soon I can post clip for you. It will be pretty hilarious to see how long we ACTUALLY were under the water compared to how it felt!

Thankfully, these next 3 weeks will be spent with those precious kids in Kawuku and all of the wonderful people I have come to love here.

Can You Imgaine

"Can You Imagine"

---- my friend Redempta came to visit me this past week!!!! I met her when I was in Kenya in 2007 and we became really good friends. We were both praying to be able to see one another since I am back in East Africa, and the Lord in His graciousness worked out the details for us! She took a 12 hour bus ride to Kampala to stay with me for a few days!!!! When we said goodbye 2 years ago, we never imagined we'd have the opportunity to meet again!! GOD IS GOOD!

This quote is something that she says anytime something is unbelievable to her. Its my absolute favorite thing to hear her say!
------
Love and friendship

2 things that I am exponentially seeing surpass the boundaries of language and culture. I want so badly to be able to explain this to you in a way that captures the essence of its beauty. Though I know I won't be able to get all of the words correct, I pray that your heart feels the warmth in knowing how big our God is and how His love is far greater than anything we can ever understand, imagine, or contain.

Example 1)
A 5 year old Ugandan girl who speaks only Luganda runs towards a 23 year old American girl that speaks only English……..she picks the child up in her arms, swings her around, and they both have smiles on their faces larger than life. Tears almost fill my eyes as I think of the love I have for this small child, Zina. We have never said anything more to each other than “How are you? Fine” or “Olyotya? Jiindi” (Luganda greeting) yet my heart is attached to her beautiful smile, the way she casts her eyes downwards when she’s being shy, and the way she runs towards me when she is excited.
Zero words are needed to share our emotions. Our hearts are able to illuminate love in a way that doesn’t require anything created by humans. The depth of this type of communication cannot be put in to words. It makes sense---- something that doesn’t need words surely can’t be explained by them.

............ this is To Be Continued

http://www.commongroundchristiannews.com/july2006/pushups_for_donuts.htm

Happy Easter!

This past week I had the opportunity to do some traveling around Uganda. It was beautiful, breathtaking, relaxing, and a blessing! =) We took a girl trip and traveled to a place called Sipi Falls which is 3 large waterfalls in the mountains. The view was breathtaking, and the others with me can agree that I could hardly put my camera down. I LOVE TRAVELING! I love love love it! Something about seeing new places and new people just completely fills my soul. I was also so grateful to be able to get away from the city and see the beauty of Africa that we miss being in Kampala.

This is Easter weekend. Its weird being in Africa on Easter. It is still a celebration, but much different that what I'm used to. No family, no family lunch, no singing of the easter hymns in English that I am accustomed to. However, I am grateful to experience this. At home, the highlight of Easter is usually the church service and then being with family afterwards.
But here----- it will be much more focused on the work of the Lord. This afternoon we are going through Kawuku to spread the gospel. To tell people about the risen Lord that we are celebrating and praying for Easter miracles to be done in the hearts and lives of people.

I hope that you and your family have a wonderful Easter! Please celebrate and praise the Lord for all that He has done for us.

Kawuku/Jesus Film Update

Thank you for praying for the Jesus film!

Update:

The Jesus film was amazing! Thank you so much for dedicating your time to be in prayer for that blessed opportunity to present the truth to so many people! The number of people is only known to our God who brought them there. We estimated 250 people, but there could have been more that were standing off at a distance. To understand this, you have to get into the Africa culture.

Let me try and set the stage for you: We set the projector up on top of a hill, and most people just stood and watched in the field below. There is a “road” that passes by the field where many people walk to and fro, many people passed, stopped, and may have stayed, or continued on. Also, no electricity= no lights. Because of these and many more factors, there is no way for us to have seen all those that were there.

But our Lord knows! That is the beauty of serving our Lord. We know that our labor is never in vain! Your prayers and my prayers were answered perfectly! =) One of my favorites parts about watching this film was how excited our people got about Jesus! Each time Jesus performed a miracle, they would cheer and clap and yell amen! Their enthusiasm was such a blessing!!!

Thank you for praying for this event and for the people that God brought. Thank you for praying protection over us and over the place! I felt even in my own heart your prayers. Before I sent out the email asking for your prayers I really felt a lot of unrest, but after I sent it out, the Lord gave me a verse in Psalms that reminded me that He was mighty in battle! =) Thank you for your prayers! Please know that in both tangible and nontangible ways they were answered for greater than anything we can ever imagine!!