You don't learn about this at Vacation Bible School

Exodus 4:24-26 (NIV)

²⁴ At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. ²⁵ But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. ²⁶ So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

For some reason, the writers of The Prince of Egypt "forgot" to put this part of Moses' story in the movie. Maybe they were afraid of the R rating that including that snippet would surely bring? Idk.

In all seriousness, I have never ever heard of that part of Moses' story. I'd heard about God's appearance in a burning bush, God's command that Moses go up to Egypt to bring the Israelites out of bondage, and Moses' journey up to Egypt, but I've definitely never heard of the events of Exodus 4:24-26 happening on Moses' journey to deliver the Israelites.

Does that passage make you feel uncomfortable? Honestly, I tried really hard to just pass right over it. Why? Because what it reveals about God does not coincide with what people want to hear about God. We want a God who is so "loving" that He is okay with our disobedience. Because of this, we have manufactured a god who obeys our personal rules of morality and then we have had the audacity to call Him Yahweh.

Yes, my God is loving. But even more than that, He is a God who honors His covenants. The whole reason God was concerned with delivering the Israelites from the afflictions in Egypt was because "God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob" (Exodus 2: 24). God promised Abraham that " for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions"(Genesis 15:13-14).

Why would God, because his son wasn't circumcised, seek to kill Moses? This goes back to another covenant God made with Abraham. "¹This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you"(Genesis 17:10-11).

When it comes to God's covenants, He definitely doesn't play any games. How awesome is that? Even though we are surrounded by people who are constantly breaking promises and letting us down, God never will.

Lust, Brainerd High, and Hair Dye

How often I lust after the things of this world. If I were to be honest with you, over half of my thoughts start off with “I want” and many of my prayers begin with “God, please give me” and end with one of many worldly delights. In a society where we are taught to live the American dream, I can guarantee you that I am not exempt of this desire.

Moses “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt” (Heb 11:26). Would you have regarded disgrace as greater value than earthly treasures? DO you regard disgrace for the sake of Christ as more valuable than the treasures of the world? 2 Timothy 3:12 says that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. For every single one of us who are a part of the body of Christ, we will face persecution. To some degree, we will all face disgrace for the sake of Christ. Are you willing and ready? In Hebrews 10:34, the Jewish brethren accepted joyfully the seizure of their property, knowing that they had a better and lasting possession. Is that how you would have responded?

Those are just a few of the questions I’m currently pondering while studying through the passages I am going to be leading the Brainerd High girls through on Monday. Please pray for me on Mondays, I begin classes at 8 am that day and don’t get home from Student Venture until around 9 pm that night. Last week, the exhaustion about caused me to bless one of the students with a Holy Ghost beat down because she decided she wanted to compare who had a busier day when I mentioned that I was super exhausted from all the events that day. Okay, maybe I wasn’t about to bless her with a beat down, but I really did have to bite my tongue from saying something I was going to regret.

I dyed my hair to a lighter shade of blonde about a month and a half ago and already need to color the roots. Why can’t they make hair dyes that don’t require touch-ups?

I am raising more support and the Lord is providing in phenomenal ways. He who promised is faithful.

Would you pray with me for more male and female volunteers for Student Venture? Starting in January, I will be the only active staff member on campus. We desperately need guys & girls with a heart for urban youth to come alongside of me through evangelism, leading bible studies, and doing discipleship.

Changes!

I haven’t updated since February. Wow, things have changed. If you had asked me then what my plans were for the next year, I would have told you very confidently, “I will be joining full time staff with Student Venture after I graduate college in May 2012.”

This summer the Lord has rocked my world.

My plans to join staff with SV after college are gone, and I have (after about a year of fighting with God) finally submitted to the will of the Lord. I changed my plans to attend Campus Crusade’s Staff Conference to instead take General Chemistry II at UTC and have spent some time job shadowing doctors. After a lot of prayer and consideration, the Lord has definitely shown me His will is for me to pursue the pre-med route. This at first was a really, really scary and burdening thought because, well honestly, my personal desire has never been to become a doctor. Also, I’m gonna have to be honest in saying that I’m a math girl, but never have had a love for science (and pre-med classes are mostly science!). I asked the Lord to put a desire in my heart to learn sciences if that’s what His desire is for me, and I know this is going to make me sound like a huge geek, but I am honestly excited every day about going to Chemistry class and get really giddy when I’m about to do lab experiments. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!

This fall, instead of taking my senior math classes, I will be taking Physics, Organic Chemistry, Biology, (all 3 with labs) and Numerical Analysis. Please, please, please pray for me as I prepare myself emotionally and spiritually to take on such a heavy school load this next semester. I am clinging to the verse, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”(Matt 6:34) The Lord has been challenging me lately to live life day by day rather than looking ahead into the great unknown. I must hold onto this truth as I go into the next semester because if I don’t, I will end up VERY overwhelmed!

Also, please be praying for me as I take on 15 hours a week working with Student Venture on Brainerd High School’s campus this fall. I am so excited to be spending my free time loving on the girls at Brainerd and showing them the truth of who God is!

I am currently trudging through the book of Job, and am going to leave you with this verse of encouragement:

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me! –Job 19:25-27




celebrating my 21st birthday with my american friends, this was the first birthday celebrated in the states in 3 years!

my 19th birthday with my african papa. i miss him so much

Yahweh Jireh

I have always wanted brothers.

I remember nights growing up when I would pray and pray that God would provide one (or two or three) for me.

Well, ten years after those prayers were lifted up, He has answered.

No, my mom's not pregnant.

These brothers have not been adopted the traditional way, being raised by my parents and living with my family. Some of them I see once a week at our weekly Student Venture meetings, others I see on campus at Howard and Brainerd High School more often, and still others do life with me on a more regular basis.

Based on appearance, we don't look related. We didn't grow up in the same neighborhoods, we haven't experienced the same struggles, and some people would argue we have no ways to relate with one another.

But, we do relate.

See, my brothers and I, we are in desperate need of the same thing. We both desperately need Jesus. And that's where my brothers and I differ. Some of them, like me, realize this need. Others are searching....looking into gangs, sex, drugs, success, money, and love to fulfill them.

My God is Yahweh Jireh. HE will provide.

It is so awesome to see how the Lord has answered my prayers with the provision of so many little brothers that I am able to encourage and pour into during this season of my life.

Please be praying for my little brothers, that the ones who do not have a relationship with the Lord will realize that HE is the way, the truth, and the life.

Please be in specific prayer for D (For privacy reasons, I will not be using their full names). D is in middle school and while, thank the Lord, he has asked the Lord into his life, he is really struggling with allowing the Lord to take over his whole life.

Also, please be praying for K. K looks to things other than the Lord for his satisfaction. (Don't we all sometimes!) His life has been a struggle, to say the least. His father died when K was 5, and since then his mother has had a tough time raising his brothers and sisters.

And lastly, please be praying for me, that the Lord will give me discernment and guidance when dealing with my brothers.

Thank you Lord, for being my Provider.

Anticipation

This is what the bulk of the children's medical records look like when it comes to weight. The top line is the line for healthy weight for age. The second line is underweight for age. The bottome line is extreme underweight for age.
Some of the children around Kikambwe.
Clinic day at Rapha! My Favorite Day of the Week.
Who needs Walmart when you have shops like this?
Nambossa (i'm pretty sure that's her uganda name) and I. she's one of my nursery class kids!

While having a small quiet time yesterday, I came across such a beautiful story of the Lord's faithfulness. Abraham decided it was time for Isaac to be married, so he sent one of his servants out to find Isaac a wife. The servant prayed to God that whenever he meets the right girl for Isaac, he will know it because she will offer to draw water for him and his cattle as well. Before the prayer was even finished, Rebekah came along and fulfilled exactly what the servant prayed she would. In such thankfulness to the Lord, right then “the man (servant) bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying 'Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master.'” (Genesis 24:26-27)

This servant bowed down and worshiped the Lord AS SOON AS He proved himself faithful. The man wasn't discreet about it, and instead even BOWED down in utter reverence for the Lord.

As I write this, tears stream down my face as I realize how faithful the Lord is. HE has provided the funds for me to come to Africa all 3 times. HE has provided every cent for the Shalom Nutritional Project proposal to be written. HE is the whole reason I am able to stay here for three months and not feel the homesickness I felt last trip. HE is who brought me to Rapha Medical Centre to begin with. Even in the US, HE is the One who guides me and holds my hand as I go week by week working with Student Venture. See, it's not me at all. It is all HIM. It has taken me till now to realize how faithful HE is, and how if it weren't for HIM I wouldn't be here today. And even though I wasn't as quick or as intentional as the servant was to thank HIM, I write this today telling you all that all Praise goes to the Lord for all HE has done. HE is so good.

If I were to be completely honest, the bulk of this past week has been spent anticipating (and often times worrying) what all awaits me when I get back to the States. I've applied for a part-time internship with the Student Venture I've been volunteering with, so if I get accepted I will need to work on raising my support for that. There's the Nutritional Project, which will require much attention as we fundraise and work to start it up in January. And then on top of all that, there's school which requires a lot of attention. I've been kind of down thinking about how IMPOSSIBLE it will be for me to do all 3 of those tasks well when I get back. But just realizing (once again) how faithful God is has been such encouragement. Yes, it will be impossible for ME to do those three things, but wow HE can do the impossible. So, for now I'm just clinging to the promise that He is my Ultimate Provider and praying/believing in a miracle.

I spent Tuesday evening-Friday morning at Rapha. After 10 very long days, we FINALLY got running water back at Rapha on Tuesday. When I heard one of the taps start running, I about cried out of excitement. I even flushed the toilet a time or two for the heck of it ha. We haven't been so lucky in getting water back at home in Kampala. Apparently, when the construction workers were widening the road, they damaged the pipe that carries water to all of the houses around us. To top it off, the water company didn't realize that was the problem until AFTER the construction workers finished working on our part of the road. So for now we're waiting on the construction workers to dig back up the road so the water company can fix the pipes.

On the taxi ride back to Rapha, I saw the aftermath of a REALLY bad accident. A huge Greyhound bus hit a small truck head on, killing everyone in the small truck. The taxi passed by right as they were pulling one of the bodies out of the truck. Seeing that was definitely a first for me, and drew to my attention how fleeting life really is, and how thankful I am to be given another day to live.

On Wednesday I worked at the school helping out the teacher in the nursery class. I have no idea how that lady manages 25ish kids age 3-5, but I Praise the Lord that she somehow does. Her name is Teacher Candie if yall would like to send up a special prayer for this hard-working woman. There was one little boy with what appeared to be syphilis sores growing on and around his right ear. I'm praying that he will be healed of that disease because it must be a very painful thing for him to handle.

Thursday at Rapha I was blessed to meet a little 3 year old girl named Sophie who is suffering from an enlarged heart because of the malfunctioning of one of her heart valves. She was first discovered in a community outreach conducted by an English doctor who comes yearly to Rapha specifically to reach out to the community. One of the nurses told me that when they first saw her, she could significantly see her heart beating from outside of her chest. They took her to the hospital in Kampala to run some tests, and learned she will have to get surgery abroad. Sophie was put on a waiting list allowing her to come to the US (I think) and receive that surgery and also transportation and accommodation for free, however the organization who funds it can only afford to take 10 people a year abroad for their respective surgeries (and there must be a million people on that waiting list I'm sure). When the nurse introduced me to Sophie and pulled up her little shirt so I could see for myself, sure enough I could see her little heart pumping, and when I touched it I could feel that it was pumping abnormally. I'm definitely going to be on my knees for that little girl and also for the others who are on that list to receive surgeries, that the Lord will deliver each of them in His own perfect way from whatever sickness each of them is experiencing.

On Friday, I came back to Kampala to meet with our project proposal team. It was so encouraging to hear from Joshua (the man in charge of the budgeting) and Dr. Betty (a doctor well educated in malnutrition) that they see huge potential in the plans we are making for the project. Joshua even challenged everyone writing out the proposal that we all need to take ownership for this project and that even in Uganda, the proposal writers should be meeting with individuals and companies to raise funds for Shalom.

Saturday, I spent the day walking through Kampala with David searching out travel agencies to find out how much they charge for safaris to Murchison Falls National Park so I'll have that information back in the states for individuals/groups to know if they're visiting Uganda and this is what I came out knowing: Travel Agencies make A LOT of money. David and I concluded that my best bet may be to try and cost out a safari trip that does not include the use of a travel agency. As we were walking along one of the main roads, a little girl came up to me with her hand open wide begging for money. At first I thought she would stop after I walked about 5 steps away, but then she continued walking with me for quite a distance, and much to my surprise her MOTHER came right behind her giving her advice on how to beg better. Extortion of children by their mothers to raise money really frustrates me, especially since there are SO many ministries here in Uganda whose prime purpose is to help families who beg find legitimate jobs, but I guess the money that momma is making from extorting her children must prove to be more lucrative.

Before I finish this blog post, I just want to thank each and every one of you who have been praying alongside of me the last few months. It has been quite a ride, and I am so thankful to have yall's support during this trip. Please, please, please don't stop praying!

Only one month to go...

It's absolutely insane to think that I've already spent two months in beautiful Uganda, and only have one month left. My mind has been running like a crazy lady thinking about what all needs to be accomplished in my remaining time here :) We had a meeting for the Shalom Nutritional Project project proposal on Sunday and I must say I am quite impressed at the work going on to get it ready. Dr. Betty, the doctor helping draft this proposal, is SUCH a bank of knowledge on this subject and I am so thankful to have her working with us as we figure out what exactly we're wanting to accomplish with this project. I'm not gonna lie, though, I about have a heart attack thinking about the fact that I am committing myself to something for at least 5 years (that's the extent of foresight we're giving the project right now), considering I can barely commit to a major in college haha.

By the way, if anyone has any SPARE JARS or cans I can have to distribute for change donations for the project, please let me know! These “A Penny and a Prayer” Jars will help to publicize the project in the homes they're in while also raising money. Also, if anyone is interested in donating their time or heading up their own fundraiser for this project, let me know as well. I have a cousin who is raising money to help support two children he sponsors at a school here in Uganda by baking pre-ordered cakes. (Did I mention he is like 9 years old?) Tanner loves cooking, so what better way to raise money than doing what he ABSOLUTELY loves? We can use the things YOU enjoy in life to help make a difference in the lives of these children suffering from malnutrition.

Now for an update on life as of late: Last Sunday ( a week ago) at church as I was leaving to take a bus back to Rapha, a young teenage girl gave me a card. I didn't read it right then (Praise the Lord), but as I was walking to the bus stop, I opened it up and took a look inside. This girl (her name's Maureen) wrote me a note in the card asking me to adopt her. I was in utter shock as I read what she had written in the card, and also in a separate letter as well. I had never seen Maureen before, so I didn't know anything of what her home life was like, except for the fact that she'd stated in the card that she lives with her brothers and sisters because she was orphaned by both parents. After the initial shock was over, I called her older brother to find out more about their home life situation. Turns out, both parents had died from AIDS because the father had contracted it from one of his other wives (polygamy is rampant here) and had given it to Maureen's mother. Right now, the family is surviving solely on the money being made by the two older brothers who Praise the Lord were able to finish a college education and get a degree. Maureen is the youngest in the family, and there are 3 other sisters in between her and the older brother I was conversing with on the phone. The brother was completely in shock and so apologetic when he found out about the letter, and he promised to talk with her about the issue. Apparently, when he approached her about it, she tried to cover up the truth by telling him all she wanted was a pen pal. I was semi-freaking out about what I should do about the situation, because I couldn't imagine the pain she was going through missing her parents but after much prayer I knew that my job wasn't to adopt her in any way. I was planning on speaking to her at church yesterday about maybe developing a friendship with her instead, but she was nowhere to be seen. Please continue to keep her and her family in your prayers. I really can't imagine what that situation must be like for them, but I believe that even in that heartache and pain that Christ is there.

The last week at Rapha has been quite uneventful. Monday was my birthday (i'm 20 now...so old ha!) and it was spent going to a community outreach in Lugaaga. We were there from like 10-2 PM because there were around 70 children who came to be immunized in that village. The rest of my birthday was spent relaxing and reflecting.

By the way, this whole past week we were out of both water and electricity at Rapha, so as one can expect I was seriously excited to come back to Kampala for the weekend to enjoy those luxuries only to learn we have no water here at my Kampala home either ugghhh. Instead, we're surviving on water brought to us in jerricans. It's such a disappointment when you turn on the faucet only to have no water come out of it haha, but this situation will definitely make me thankful and not take for granted those luxuries that I EXPECT to always have in America.

On Tuesday I was attacked by a red ant the size of me (okay well maybe I exaggerated a little bit). As I was walking to the school to help out in the nursery class, I walked through a huge trail of ants and one of them decided to take a bite out of my middle toe. Although it was quite painful, I was impressed at how much strength that ant had as it was hooked on to my toe for dear life and I was trying to pull it off. Praise God, it did draw blood but only a little bit. I did learn a lesson though, and that's to watch where I step because I may be greeted by more of those man-eating ants! Haha.

On Wednesday I woke up with a slight fever and slept the ENTIRE day. The hospital staff was worried I may have had malaria, so I had to get a blood test to check and see and it came up negative. I think by sleeping it off, I was able to fight whatever I was getting and by Thursday I felt completely fine. In the morning on Thursday I helped out with the clinic for the pregnant mothers in the morning and then headed to Kampala for the weekend.

Allrighty, well that's mostly all I have for now. Sorry I don't have any pictures this time; I completely failed at taking any this week :( Peace!

Destitution

one of the children reading a book sent by LIA
all of the children with their books from LIA!
Fridah with the mother of Shakila in her lap. Lydia the nurse is to the right in the blue dress.
The burial
The burial meeting place
Lydia, Fridah, and I

As I was taking an evening walk last week after a long day at Rapha, one of the villagers approached me. “My back is hurting and I need some medication for free,” he said to me. Taken aback at the fact he had just asked for free meds, I replied, “No, you can go to Rapha just like everyone else to be checked out by the doctor and then YOU can pay for the meds you need.” His response was, “No, you are American so I EXPECT you to give me them for free.”

We in America can often times (wrongly) view Africans as destitute. After all, the only things we really learn about them in school and in the media are they are super poor, often times without shoes and without decent (at least in our view) clothes, and living in grass-thatched huts with large families and big bellied children. We think the answer is to pour billions of dollars of relief into these people's lives because these people are in our eyes destitute. We think the answer is providing FREE medical outreaches, school fees for children who have healthy, capable parents, and FREE food in areas where people are able to farm. Just because these people don't have the ipods, the computers, the nice houses, the cars, and other modern conveniences doesn't make them destitute. Many families living in villages have other types of material possessions: LAND on which to farm, cows, goats, sheep, and chickens. It's all just a matter of where they choose to spend their income. Many families around Rapha do not see the importance of education, so they choose not to spend their money on schooling for their children. Many families around Rapha practice polygamy, so men can have as many as 30 children. 30 children can be VERY difficult to nutritiously feed and clothe, but families refuse family planning because of some untrue myths circulating through the village. Many families around Rapha can afford to take their children to the hospital when they're sick, they just choose to seek help from a local witchdoctor until the child becomes deathly sick, then they come to the hospital when it's too late. Many families around Rapha have men who refuse to work and spend the income generated by the wife (through farming) gambling and drinking.

See, the answer to all of these problems is not relief, it is education. The answer is not providing free handouts to everyone because all it does is create expectations (ex. The man quoted above) and a reliance on relief organizations. Imagine what life would be like if you relied on the US government for your livelihood...how would you feel? While it would be kinda nice having everything provided for me, at the same time I know it would NOT motivate me to study and work hard at whatever I was doing, because they'll be putting the food on the table regardless at the end of the day.

All of these thoughts have been whirling through my head as we begin drawing up a project proposal for the Shalom Nutritional Project (yes that's the name!). Our main goal with this project is to understand exactly WHY these children are becoming malnourished(and the answer is normally not because of lack of food) and then based on what we've learned about the roots of malnourishment in the area, educate the families on the realities of malnourishment and proper feeding while also rehabilitating those who are moderately to severely malnourished. We are not looking at this project as a way to help those who are destitute, but instead as a way to collaborate with the completely capable, surrounding communities to stamp out malnourishment. We expect the community to come together and provide land for demonstration gardens and also to maintain them, so when the project does outreaches there, all we have to bring are the nurses to teach and examine the patients. We want the communities to feel ownership over this project and to provide inputs on how we can improve it. We want this project to work WITH the communities to educate, and improve the overall livelihood and success of the communities.

Okay, enough about Shalom and misconceptions about Africa and onto what I've been doing the last week. Last Sunday when I arrived back to Rapha after a weekend in Kampala, I found out that one of the patients on the ward, a young lady named Shakila, had finally died after a horrible battle with HIV. She had had HIV for about 5 years, but refused to tell ANYONE about her condition because of the negative stigma against it. She gave birth to a child about a year ago, but after just a few months the baby died. This caused much stress to her, and combined with the battle with HIV, caused her to go into a coma. That's when her family brought her to Rapha. She was only at the hospital for about 4 days before she died. So, on Monday afternoon, I along with 4 Rapha staff went to the burial in a village about a 45 minutes motorcycle ride from the hospital. When we arrived at the house everyone was meeting at, I was amazed at the amount of people gathered. With the amount of people in attendance, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire village had come for her burial. Because her father is a Muslim, it was a traditional Muslim burial in which the women were not allowed to go and actually bury her, so when the body was carried to the burial place, we had to stay behind. The ceremony involved the men doing their prayers about 3 times, and then a short Islamic service, and lastly burying the body. Most of my time was spent with the nurses consoling the mother. Her heart was absolutely broken because of the loss of her daughter. She would grab my hand and moan and cry uncontrollably, to the point I thought she was going to pass out.

When it was time to leave, I heard one of the nurse's telling Shakila's boyfriend(he didn't have HIV) to make sure and go back to Kampala that very night and to not delay staying at the family's house any longer. Hearing that conversation, I was intrigued as to why she was telling him that so I asked her when we got back to Rapha. Turns out, because the boyfriend was very good looking and rich, the family had already offered him another one of their daughters to marry and the nurse feared that if he stayed overnight at their house, they may try and give him some witchdoctor concoction that would make him fall in love with another of the daughters. It still amazes me how real and commonly accepted witchcraft is here...

On Wednesday, I took the books to school that Ladies in Aiding sent all the way from America! It was so exciting to see them being opened by the P2 and P3 classes and read. Each student stood up and read a sentence out of the book they were given, and then both teachers in the class read a book each as well. After they each read a book, I got up and read a book to them about Christmas, American style. It was hilarious trying to explain gingerbread houses, Santa Claus, snow, Stockings, and Presents to children who know nothing about those traditions. Christmas for the few Christian students in the room was simply going to church on Christmas day and eating a big feast afterward. After we finished reading the books, I went through each book individually and sorted them based on difficulty, stamped them, and left them for the headmaster to put in the library. Thank you so much LIA for those books! They are going to be such an awesome teaching aid! (I'm even using some of the books myself to help one of the staff at Rapha's sons learn how to read!) THANKS!

On Thursday evening, I traveled back to Kampala. When I arrived back, there was no water in the taps and apparently there had been none for the past week but PRAISE THE LORD the water came back on just an hour after I arrived back. The electricity hasn't been so friendly lately, though. Because the electricity company is replacing electricity poles, the past couple of days they've been turning the current off at around 8 AM and not turning it back on until about 8 PM.

On Friday, I visited a couple of banks to compare costs for getting a US dollar account, went to church to visit with everyone, and then unknowingly decided it was time to pick a fight with gravity. As I was crossing a street, I tripped over a short brick wall that separated the road and the sidewalk, and fell face forward on my hands and knees, tearing a ligament in my left ankle and badly spraining my right foot. My right hand is a little scuffed up as well, and both knees are left with scrapes as well. Because of these injuries, the doctor suggested that I stay around Kampala for a week to give my various wounds time to heal and also so I won't use my feet as much as I would if I were at Rapha. So, since Friday I've just mostly been resting at home. On Monday I went to the local mall to possibly see a movie because electricity was off at home, but watching a movie there cost $8, a price I sure as heck wasn't going to pay! The guys at home have been begging me to make some American food for them, so this morning I made french toast and tomorrow I'll probably make pancakes. I'm also going to try my luck at making smoothies. Even though I really hate having to spend so much time at home just chilling, I'm thankful because this is God's way of MAKING me rest my ankles so they'll heal. I've also slept in till about noon the past two mornings which is pretty much unheard of here!

Allrighty, that's all for now! On a side note, four Chattanooga Student Venture students got saved during Getaway praise the Lord! I've been told that two of them are from Howard and Brainerd (the schools I work with) and I'm super excited about hearing that awesome news! It's crazy to think that in just 5 weeks I'll be back in America. So much to do, so little time!

Overlooked Heroes

the frog i found in the bathroom tonight! isn't it a weird color?
Me with the box of books sent by Ladies in Aiding! Thanks!
At Bulo, buying the green oranges...(those oranges are ripe)
Bulo from a distance
Scenery!
Working on english vocabulary with the nursery class!
Teacher Diana with the Baby Nursery Class!


“Wherever you are, be all there.” -Elizabeth Elliot (I think)

When I first felt the calling to missions in Africa my senior year of high school, I was ALL about it. After taking my first trip there volunteering at orphanages and loving on people, I came back changed. I was changed in the sense that Africa became everything to me, it was always in my thoughts and always on my lips. I would hear people saying (quite misconcieved)“Hannah, you're such a good person for going to Africa and helping orphans. You are so dedicated to doing the Lord's work.” Because I spent THREE WEEKS in Africa working in some orphanages somehow meant that I became dedicated to the Lord's work, when I had spent SEVENTEEN YEARS prior and the year afterward ignoring His great commission while in America.

I say all of that to tell you this: The most overlooked heroes are the Americans passionately dedicated to the Lord's work IN America. I know that I'm so quick to make people who do foreign mission work my heroes, but often times I forget the ones at home doing the same thing. If you were to have an informational session on a mission trip to Uganda and then an informational session on going door to door in your hometown building relationships and preaching the gospel, I dare to say there would be more people at the Uganda informational meeting. Why is that? Why are we more likely to spend $3500 to speak about the Lord in a foreign country for a couple of weeks when we could do it in the US for FREE?

After my second trip to Uganda, the Lord really convicted me of that sin in my life. He said to me,”Hannah, you go halfway across the world to do my work and yet when you come back to the US it's like I don't exist.” I knew at that point my heart had to change. I could no longer view the little I did in Africa as “enough”. I had to realize that I was saved by GRACE and not by my WORKS, and that regardless of where I was, I needed to be ALL there.

That's when I met two overlooked heroes.

Student Venture, the high school version of Campus Crusade for Christ, has a major hub in Chattanooga. There are about 8-10 high schools in our city with some sort of Student Venture (SV) presence, whether it be volunteers or staff. My bestie Ruth and I got involved with “Urban aka Inner City Student Venture” at Howard and Brainerd High School. And that's how we got introduced to the two overlooked heroes.

Jack Noonan, the SV staff member at Brainerd, and Aubrey Fritz, the SV staff member at Howard, may have two of the most bejeweled crowns in Heaven waiting for them. They, along with their families, are committed to full time ministry with the Urban SV ministry. They have committed to following Christ even if it means working with students who can sometimes be very difficult to work with. They are following Christ into the schools and the neighborhoods known for shootings, gang violence, and drugs and are trusting Him the whole way. They are awesome. And they are two true heroes to me because of their dedication to Christ's work even though it is TOUGH. Christ is making disciples through them in areas of Chatt. most people wouldn't dare step foot in. All Praise be to God for these two souls.

Pray for those doing the Lord's work everywhere. Whether it be down the street or halfway across the world, these people are sacrificing themselves for the sake of the Gospel. Pray as Student Venture has its summer Getaway conference this week, that all of the students attending will come to grow in their faith or for some commit their lives to Christ. Pray for Jack and Aubrey and all of the other Chattanooga SV staff and volunteers, that they will be ready in season and out of season for these students and any questions they may have.

Allrighty, now to completely change the subject and start talking about what's been going on with me the past week. I met with the two people helping with the project proposal for the Nutritional Rehabilitation Center last Sunday and we will be meeting again this weekend to talk in more details of the plans for it. The doctor who is helping write it is pouring so many awesome ideas into this Center that I had never thought of. She is going to be such an awesome asset, especially when it comes to planning out specifics on how to help with prevention of malnutrition in these areas.

Last weekend my Afr. Cousin David and I started watching the first season of Heroes and it has become my guilty pleasure. I have spent WAY too much time watching that series! Haha.

Coming back from Kampala last weekend, the car bringing us back to Rapha hit a dog. Today on the way home, we almost hit 3 goats. These animals must have suicidal issues or something stepping in front of fast cars like they do!

Nothing really interesting happened the past week at the hospital or the school. I've started working with the nursery class students at school and they are so precious. Because these children's mother tongue is luganda and they NEVER speak English at home, they are really struggling when it comes to learning English but they are trying so hard so they can talk to me. It's really precious!

Oh yea...my african parents went to the US for a wedding on Tuesday. It's so weird that I'm here in Africa and they're in the US haha. Be praying for them, that they will have a safe and relaxing trip! My mom should be coming back in about two weeks, but my dad may be there until August or so!

On Wednesday, Jalia and I walked to Bulo about 3 kilometers from Rapha for market day there, and I bought a pineapple and some oranges! Oranges here aren't even orange, though, it kind of has me confused!

I went back to Kampala on Friday to pick up the books Ladies In Aiding sent for the school! Thank you all so much for all the books you sent, they will be such a blessing for these kids!!! I will be posting a pic of the students with them whenever I take them to the school!

On Saturday, I ate sausage that was not thoroughly cooked which caused some serious upset stomach issues as David and I were walking from home to Kampala. I don't think yall wanna know any more details, but let me just tell yall that bathrooms are hard to come by especially when you really need one, but Praise the Lord we found one haha.

That's seriously all the news I have. I'll try to come up with more interesting stuff for the next blog!

A little bit of life (blog post)

Ok, so my sister said that all she can see on my new post are new pictures and an old blogpost so I'm going to try reposting the blog again. My new pics are in the blog below.

When I arrived back at Rapha Sunday from a weekend trip to Kampala, Jalia (I talked about her in the last blog) informed me of some very bad news. Over the weekend she had walked to Kikambwe to buy a couple things and on the way there, she saw Salaam's father. She asked him how his little daughter was holding up since she had been discharged from the hospital about a week ago, and that's when he told her that she had died just two days after being discharged. She had been admitted into the hospital because of stomach ulcers that caused her to quit eating and had left her hungry and quite malnourished. In the ward, she had caught my attention because of her extreme malnourishment and also because of the fact that she was the only child there without a mother taking care of her (apparently her mother had abandoned the family and had gotten remarried). That little girl had become quite an important part of my life during her hospitalization (you can read about her in my other posts), and it breaks my heart to hear that she is no longer here on Earth with us. I think, well what if I had taken her in for a little while until she had regained full strength or what if I had gone to check on her everyday, but it is too late for what if's. What if's do not change the past. However, the way I react now can change the future.


For about two and a half weeks now I have been praying through something that the Lord has laid on my heart:starting a Malnutrition Rehabilitation Center here at Rapha. I could not look into these precious little malnourished babies eyes and then ignore their present suffering. Currently, the nearest place for these children to be treated for malnutrition is two hours away in Kampala, a trip quite expensive and unrealistic for people here. Most parents in the villages, because they fear traveling all the way to Kampala for treatment, instead watch their children waste away slowly.


Not only will this be an awesome opportunity to be a part in saving children's lives, it is a crazy awesome place to share the Gospel. Rapha is located in an area with about 50%+ Muslim population, so this Center will be a great avenue in which to introduce them to Christ's love for them (that is most important, after all).


The main reason I went to Kampala the past weekend was to discuss the vision for a Nutritional Rehabilitation Center with my African parents. Since they are the directors of Rapha, it was very important for them to agree to this idea (they did, Praise God!). I am in Kampala again this weekend to meet with them again along with the various doctors and health care workers in the church to get their advice on the best way to start this project and also to lay our vision out so the person who will be writing the Project Proposal will know exactly what the vision for the Center is.


Since we are still in the very preliminary stages of starting this project, I do not have very many details about it to tell yall. My vision and dream is to purchase a plot of land very close to the hospital to build the Center with enough land to garden for most of the foods we will need to feed the children. This vision, though, is one that is quite expensive and until enough money is raised for purchasing of land and also construction, right now we are looking for temporary means by which to house the center. We may purchase a small trailer to house the ward or I may be spending some serious time cleaning out one of the empty rooms at the hospital! (While purchasing the trailer would be easier, doing some serious cleaning and sprucing up of one of the empty rooms here is a whole heck of a lot cheaper!) Some of the other expenses incurred will be purchasing the beds for the children to sleep in, hiring a couple of additional nurses to help with this ward (we are predicting it may end up being the busiest ward in the hospital), purchasing the cooking appliances needed, and getting some toys for these babies to play with while staying here (the least amount of time needed for a child to stay at the Center to be monitored and correctly fed is 3 weeks!). My ultimate goal is for the Center (when it is up and running) to be self-sustaining, but as we are purchasing all of the initial items needed, there is no income to offset the costs.


This is where I need your help...While I wish that my savings account were enough to pay for all of these beginning supplies needed along with paying for the project proposal to be written and the various governmental offices to accept it, the reality is that I need your help. Whether it be having a garage sale, car wash, bake sale, or any other fundraising event, I would be so blessed as to have some people coming alongside of me to help fundraise while I am still here in Uganda. Every single penny donated will make a significant impact in starting this Center. I had not started a Nonprofit Organization in the US prior because I was very unsure of what the specific mission was to be, but now that I have a much clearer vision, I plan on starting the paperwork for one as soon as I get back to the States (beginning of August).


All right enough news about the Rehabilitation Center, now on to what I have been doing the past week.


This past week has been A LOT of fun, considering that I have had plenty of firsts. I traveled for the first time to Kampala from the hospital and back all by myself via taxi (those are the local buses used). While it is kind of uncomfortable being in a bus with people who for the most part are speaking a language I don't much understand, it is always an adventure and motivates me to study Luganda more rigorously. On the way to Kampala, the people on the bus knew (somehow) that I understood and could communicate some Luganda, so the whole bus greeted me when I got on haha. As one lady was getting off the bus, she even called me by name which was weird because as far as I know, I've never met that lady before. I guess when you're the only white person around for miles, people are bound to talk about ya. On the taxi ride back to the hospital from Kampala, I sat beside a young Muslim girl named Sarah. As I began talking with her about her religious beliefs, she confided to me that she wanted to become a Christian because it was “easier” than being a Muslim. That opened up a door for me to share the truth of the Gospel with her and to also talk with her about her (very interesting) belief that Christianity was somehow easier. She never came to accept Christ on the way home, but I believe that one day it will happen. Please be in prayer for Sarah, that someone else will come into her life to speak more truth about Christ into her life.


On Tuesday, I WATCHED someone slaughter a chicken. I would consider this to be the first step in my ultimate goal of killing one myself haha:)


At the hospital this week, I got my first glimpse of what is in your uterus when you are pregnant. The women around in the villages know we don't give abortions at Rapha, so they opt to have them done locally in the villages by either eating certain raw foods or other means, but when there are complications afterward they always come to the hospital for help. Sometimes, the women end up bleeding uncontrollably after the abortion and it's either we help them or they die. So, the lady I was around to see was 2 months pregnant and claimed to have had a miscarriage while using the bathroom, but everything didn't come out so the doctor had to remove the rest of the bloody mess right in front of me. To say that I wanted to throw up after seeing that was an understatement ha....


As for my time at the school, it has been filled with many firsts as well. I ate my first meal traditional african style (with my hands) on Tuesday. Trying to eat posho (millet flour poured into boiled water with the consistency of grits kept out too long) and beans with your hands is quite the challenge, but it's been really fun eating like all of the other teachers and students(they used to give only me a fork).


It has been a joy getting to know some of the students there as well while working in the classroom and also teaching PE. I have caught the nursery class students peeking through windows at me on multiple occasions, in awe of my foreign, white skin. On Tuesday, I was in charge of teaching the Primary 4 class English and Math. After taking so many upper-level math classes, it has proven to be quite the challenge teaching elementary mathematics. I tried teaching long division to the P4 class, and while some students caught on, I hate to admit that I probably left some kids more confused about it than they were before haha.


The trip back to Kampala from the hospital yesterday was quite the adventure as well. I traveled with 3 employees of the hospital, and on two separate occasions the taxi drivers tried to drop us off before the mutually agreed upon time. For about ten minutes Stella, the administrator of the hospital, argued with the taximen in Luganda. The entire time I was laughing so hard because Stella and the other employees were having such a heated argument, and I didn't even know what the heck they were saying. I just had to put in my two cents as well, but I'm pretty sure those taxi drivers couldn't understand what I was saying ha. After all of the arguing was over and the taximen finally agreed to take us where we needed to go, it started pouring rain, so when it was time for me to be dropped off by the taxi to the gas station near my home, I got to spend some quality time under the overhang there for about 20 minutes. There was a little kid about 3 years old under the overhang with his mother, and I guess that kid had been staring at me for a while but when I made eye contact with that poor child he started SCREAMING and grabbed his mother's leg to hide his face. I have NEVER seen a child so scared for his life. Everyone around me thought the situation was hilarious, and while I did too, I felt some sympathy for that little boy as well.


Well, that is all for now. Please be in prayer for all that I wrote about above and also that the Lord will reveal to me which children desperately need help in paying their school fees so I can match up the 4 new sponsors with a student. Please pray for Sarah, Salaam's family as they are mourning, and Rapha.

A little bit of life

Celebration after a team won at the games in PE. This is the p3 class.
The kids playing one of the PE games.
The P3 class at Grace Community School and I.
Uncle Paul's family and I. From left to right is Tendu, Jireh, Faith, Aunt Rebecca, Nissi, Uncle Paul, and I
Last weekend at Uncle Paul's house for a get-together. My poor dad fell asleep! (Nissi is in my lap)


When I arrived back at Rapha Sunday from a weekend trip to Kampala, Jalia (I talked about her in the last blog) informed me of some very bad news. Over the weekend she had walked to Kikambwe to buy a couple things and on the way there, she saw Salaam's father. She asked him how his little daughter was holding up since she had been discharged from the hospital about a week ago, and that's when he told her that she had died just two days after being discharged. She had been admitted into the hospital because of stomach ulcers that caused her to quit eating and had left her hungry and quite malnourished. In the ward, she had caught my attention because of her extreme malnourishment and also because of the fact that she was the only child there without a mother taking care of her (apparently her mother had abandoned the family and had gotten remarried). That little girl had become quite an important part of my life during her hospitalization (you can read about her in my other posts), and it breaks my heart to hear that she is no longer here on Earth with us. I think, well what if I had taken her in for a little while until she had regained full strength or what if I had gone to check on her everyday, but it is too late for what if's. What if's do not change the past. However, the way I react now can change the future.

For about two and a half weeks now I have been praying through something that the Lord has laid on my heart:starting a Malnutrition Rehabilitation Center here at Rapha. I could not look into these precious little malnourished babies eyes and then ignore their present suffering. Currently, the nearest place for these children to be treated for malnutrition is two hours away in Kampala, a trip quite expensive and unrealistic for people here. Most parents in the villages, because they fear traveling all the way to Kampala for treatment, instead watch their children waste away slowly.

Not only will this be an awesome opportunity to be a part in saving children's lives, it is a crazy awesome place to share the Gospel. Rapha is located in an area with about 50%+ Muslim population, so this Center will be a great avenue in which to introduce them to Christ's love for them (that is most important, after all).

The main reason I went to Kampala the past weekend was to discuss the vision for a Nutritional Rehabilitation Center with my African parents. Since they are the directors of Rapha, it was very important for them to agree to this idea (they did, Praise God!). I am in Kampala again this weekend to meet with them again along with the various doctors and health care workers in the church to get their advice on the best way to start this project and also to lay our vision out so the person who will be writing the Project Proposal will know exactly what the vision for the Center is.

Since we are still in the very preliminary stages of starting this project, I do not have very many details about it to tell yall. My vision and dream is to purchase a plot of land very close to the hospital to build the Center with enough land to garden for most of the foods we will need to feed the children. This vision, though, is one that is quite expensive and until enough money is raised for purchasing of land and also construction, right now we are looking for temporary means by which to house the center. We may purchase a small trailer to house the ward or I may be spending some serious time cleaning out one of the empty rooms at the hospital! (While purchasing the trailer would be easier, doing some serious cleaning and sprucing up of one of the empty rooms here is a whole heck of a lot cheaper!) Some of the other expenses incurred will be purchasing the beds for the children to sleep in, hiring a couple of additional nurses to help with this ward (we are predicting it may end up being the busiest ward in the hospital), purchasing the cooking appliances needed, and getting some toys for these babies to play with while staying here (the least amount of time needed for a child to stay at the Center to be monitored and correctly fed is 3 weeks!). My ultimate goal is for the Center (when it is up and running) to be self-sustaining, but as we are purchasing all of the initial items needed, there is no income to offset the costs.

This is where I need your help...While I wish that my savings account were enough to pay for all of these beginning supplies needed along with paying for the project proposal to be written and the various governmental offices to accept it, the reality is that I need your help. Whether it be having a garage sale, car wash, bake sale, or any other fundraising event, I would be so blessed as to have some people coming alongside of me to help fundraise while I am still here in Uganda. Every single penny donated will make a significant impact in starting this Center. I had not started a Nonprofit Organization in the US prior because I was very unsure of what the specific mission was to be, but now that I have a much clearer vision, I plan on starting the paperwork for one as soon as I get back to the States (beginning of August).

All right enough news about the Rehabilitation Center, now on to what I have been doing the past week.

This past week has been A LOT of fun, considering that I have had plenty of firsts. I traveled for the first time to Kampala from the hospital and back all by myself via taxi (those are the local buses used). While it is kind of uncomfortable being in a bus with people who for the most part are speaking a language I don't much understand, it is always an adventure and motivates me to study Luganda more rigorously. On the way to Kampala, the people on the bus knew (somehow) that I understood and could communicate some Luganda, so the whole bus greeted me when I got on haha. As one lady was getting off the bus, she even called me by name which was weird because as far as I know, I've never met that lady before. I guess when you're the only white person around for miles, people are bound to talk about ya. On the taxi ride back to the hospital from Kampala, I sat beside a young Muslim girl named Sarah. As I began talking with her about her religious beliefs, she confided to me that she wanted to become a Christian because it was “easier” than being a Muslim. That opened up a door for me to share the truth of the Gospel with her and to also talk with her about her (very interesting) belief that Christianity was somehow easier. She never came to accept Christ on the way home, but I believe that one day it will happen. Please be in prayer for Sarah, that someone else will come into her life to speak more truth about Christ into her life.

On Tuesday, I WATCHED someone slaughter a chicken. I would consider this to be the first step in my ultimate goal of killing one myself haha:)

At the hospital this week, I got my first glimpse of what is in your uterus when you are pregnant. The women around in the villages know we don't give abortions at Rapha, so they opt to have them done locally in the villages by either eating certain raw foods or other means, but when there are complications afterward they always come to the hospital for help. Sometimes, the women end up bleeding uncontrollably after the abortion and it's either we help them or they die. So, the lady I was around to see was 2 months pregnant and claimed to have had a miscarriage while using the bathroom, but everything didn't come out so the doctor had to remove the rest of the bloody mess right in front of me. To say that I wanted to throw up after seeing that was an understatement ha....

As for my time at the school, it has been filled with many firsts as well. I ate my first meal traditional african style (with my hands) on Tuesday. Trying to eat posho (millet flour poured into boiled water with the consistency of grits kept out too long) and beans with your hands is quite the challenge, but it's been really fun eating like all of the other teachers and students(they used to give only me a fork).

It has been a joy getting to know some of the students there as well while working in the classroom and also teaching PE. I have caught the nursery class students peeking through windows at me on multiple occasions, in awe of my foreign, white skin. On Tuesday, I was in charge of teaching the Primary 4 class English and Math. After taking so many upper-level math classes, it has proven to be quite the challenge teaching elementary mathematics. I tried teaching long division to the P4 class, and while some students caught on, I hate to admit that I probably left some kids more confused about it than they were before haha.

The trip back to Kampala from the hospital yesterday was quite the adventure as well. I traveled with 3 employees of the hospital, and on two separate occasions the taxi drivers tried to drop us off before the mutually agreed upon time. For about ten minutes Stella, the administrator of the hospital, argued with the taximen in Luganda. The entire time I was laughing so hard because Stella and the other employees were having such a heated argument, and I didn't even know what the heck they were saying. I just had to put in my two cents as well, but I'm pretty sure those taxi drivers couldn't understand what I was saying ha. After all of the arguing was over and the taximen finally agreed to take us where we needed to go, it started pouring rain, so when it was time for me to be dropped off by the taxi to the gas station near my home, I got to spend some quality time under the overhang there for about 20 minutes. There was a little kid about 3 years old under the overhang with his mother, and I guess that kid had been staring at me for a while but when I made eye contact with that poor child he started SCREAMING and grabbed his mother's leg to hide his face. I have NEVER seen a child so scared for his life. Everyone around me thought the situation was hilarious, and while I did too, I felt some sympathy for that little boy as well.

Well, that is all for now. Please be in prayer for all that I wrote about above and also that the Lord will reveal to me which children desperately need help in paying their school fees so I can match up the 4 new sponsors with a student. Please pray for Sarah, Salaam's family as they are mourning, and Rapha.