Uganda-trip slide show

Here's another slide-show for ya - this time about my recent Uganda-trip.
It's shorter than the USA one :)

The daily needs - just for SURVIVAL - of the precious people you'll see on the photos - are HUGE!

As you watch, would you allow God to touch your heart - and cause you into doing SOMETHING to HELP?

Every PRAYER and every DOLLAR MAKES A DIFFERENCE!!!

This digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Going out on a limb

The one thing that seems to characterize all the "Orphans Know More" families is that they are continually going beyond their means to help the orphans.

Last year, Rich and I visited this family.

Missing 1 child, plus 2 who passed away in the last couple of years (one at a fire at school and one at an accident of the school bus)

They have been building their home for almost 10 years,

little by little.

this is the living room

The floors are of dirt,

there is no kitchen - yet



this is where the kitchen will be one day

there is 1 bedroom for the parents,

1 for the boys



and 1 for the girls.

one of the kids' bedrooms holds the dishes/kitchen supplies as well.

When a rather large donation was given for OKM a few months back,

we felt to pass it on to this family

towards the completion of their house.

We had found out that the dirt floors were causing some health problems in the family.

I was curious to see the progress they had made on the house

when I visited them recently.

This is what I found:

Instead of proper floors,

a kitchen

or walls plastered,

this family is using the money to add 2 more bedrooms to the house.

Why?

Because they want to make room for more orphans in their family!

They have 10 kids in 2 bedrooms.

They recently had 4 more kids for some weeks

as their widowed mother needed some respite care.

The teenage girls stayed in a tent in the living room

in order to have some privacy.


They are also looking after several children in the community that are not in good situations and need to be brought "home".

So - building was going on during our visit.

NOW - THIS IS THE HEART of all the OKM families I have met.

Always out on a limb to help more orphaned children!

The parents Mabel and Dickson need our prayers at the moment.
Mabel's brother just passed away a week ago

and her father needs to be looked after.

It's unbelievable HOW MUCH DEATH people in Africa have to deal with...




There's also a very exciting project I am working on together with this couple for next year.

Just giving some hints:

Streets of Europe

Dances, Songs, Testimonies

Ex-orphans ministering.

More on that another day...



more W.A.T.E.R.!!! YAY!!!

This widow with children that Rich and I visited last November

had to walk a long way to get their daily water supply every day.

Carrying the heavy water 

not without danger

especially when the young girls go out to get water before school...

NOT.ANY.MORE! 

(as long as it keeps raining every so often, that is)

one of the kids taking her "bath" just as I came around the house

Thanks to the generous gift of more amazing, kind, compassionate friends

this family now has the luxury of getting water from their 5.000l water tank

that collects rain water from the roof of their modest home.

washing hands

What a pleasure to visit with them on this last trip!

Had a great time of fellowship and encouraging the mom!

The best part:

The children get to drink the REAL LIVING WATERS!!!

"Anyone who is thirsty may come to me (Jesus said)!

Anyone who believes in me may

COME AND DRINK!!

For the Scriptures declare:

"Rivers of LIVING WATER will flow from his heart.""

John 7:37

Family picture

We could live in a grass hut!

While I'm procrastinating scrambling to START getting the house back in order 

and everything caught up on ~ ~ ~

here are some more photos from my trip to Uganda:

This is one of the "Orphans Know More" families that some very generous friends decided to bless with a 10.000l water tank a few months back!

those who were there - in front of their new water tank

What a HUGE BLESSING for them - they are SOOOOO GRATEFUL!!!

I went to visit with them for the birthday of their 12-year-old biological son 

(only found out later that he was their bio son).

Was tickled that I got to put to use the balloons I brought and also get some other goodies food for the family. (they have been living without electricity for a while)

It was SOOOO sweet!!!

Everybody was dressed up (it was school vacation), we had a yummy lunch, a cake, a small gift and the Ugandan version of the "Happy birthday song".

Every member of the family said something nice about Dan - some quality they see in him - to encourage him!

WOW!!!

He must be ONE AMAZING KID!!!

What touched me especially was when the mother of the family shared:

He asked her a while ago if they couldn't sell their house and give the money to the abandoned children who live on the streets.

When she asked him where they should live then - if they did that - his response was:

"We could live in a grass hut!"

What a precious heart!!!

And that's one of 4 bio children who shares his parents with over 20 orphaned children and young people!

Go, Daniel - cut that cake!

The Dad shared with me on the way to the house how he and his wife NEVER thought of having such a large family.

All they wanted was their own few kids.

That's it!

But GOD changed their plans!

And they are INCREDIBLE parents and role models to these children,

besides also pastoring a church!!!

Just to witness the incredible LOVE, AFFECTION and RESPECT these children have for each other and their parents - blessed me "off my socks" - WOW!!!!

"GOD places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell."

Psalm 68:6

Convicted

Before going on from here and not being sure about the internet connection in the next place (I was given a stick to use here), I can't resist to upload this short video clip of the first night I was here.

One of the things the father of this beautiful African family told me, and I have thought of this, too, many times, in raising our children:

"We look at the end result of how we want our children to turn out  - and then we invest what is needed."

I can see it in their older children - they are all lovers of God and strong yet gentle leaders, hard working and serving joyfully.

Rich and I have kind-of been raising our children with the end-result in mind, too.

But when it comes to developing our children's relationship with God, I admit it's been a struggle over the years to really invest what is right, good and necessary (and our kids love the Lord now, don't get me wrong).

Yet - why have I/we given in and gotten discouraged when feeling the resistance of the kids to spending time in God's Word, prayer and worship as a family - and it's felt more like a drudgery than the highlight of the day?

Yes, we've done some, but doesn't the Word of God tell us to

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Col.3,16

Can't say we've done that.

It's been barely, just enough not to "bore" them and get them all fidgety, even with different devotional books for kids.

YET - how many hours do we spend as a family doing things like reading wordly books to them or letting them listen to whatever songs, watch movies (nothing wrong with them, but if they memorize THOSE and NOT the TRUE, LIFE-GIVING spiritual FOOD that ALONE can make them strong and whole INSIDE - something is wrong.)

It's been stirring in me for a while now, but I think there are going to be some changes in Betts-house when I come back home.

Yes, again.

Get yourselves prepared, family!

It's really SOOOO MUCH BETTER!!!

Our Western families have so many distractions - we diligently run our kids around to all kinds of sport, music and church activities, and at home they're doing Wii, playstation, video and other games, TV, movies, ipads and iphones, facebook and other internet stuff - and once again, in and of themselves, these are not bad.

But seeing the contrast from our lives to theirs here - I am convinced now that as Christian parents we are actually ROBBING our kids from the GREATER TREASURE! The RICHNESS of GOD and HIS WORD becoming deeply ingraned in their hearts and spirits, FILLING them to overflowing with REAL LIFE!

May I suggest that we have fallen into a trap???

All these exciting and FUN things are STEALING the real treasure from our kids!

Do we want our kids to be entertainment addicts when they've grown up,

yet empty in their hearts?

Having a form of godliness, but no power? (and once again, I am not saying my kids are like that - just talking generally)

Or do we want them to be so FULL OF GOD that HE IS THEIR TRUE SOURCE OF LIFE - and no matter what comes along for them in life, they will stand strong, because their "house will be built upon the rock" - in a VERY REAL WAY!!!

I was so humbled last night, as the kids kept quoting many different Scriptures by heart, including their references - spontaneously.

And it was no rigid, religious exercice.

They were enjoying themselves, having a different sort of FUN!

I would have been hard pressed myself to come up with half of them...

I'm glad they didn't ask me to quote a Scripture, although they did invite me to share - and the Lord had put something on my heart that I was able to give them - although I had to get my reading glasses out and read it from the Bible rather than quoting it - but that was alright :)

One of the things I told them is that they many times think that the white people are rich (in Uganda, if you are white, you are automatically rich in their eyes). I told them that the REAL RICH people are THEY, not us! You get what I meant...

What an IMPACT these words of truth, exhortation and comfort that they memorize will have when they go back to school and face all kinds of challenges, issues from their past creeping up, lies from the enemy attacking their minds etc.

The Word of God is POWERFUL and VERY EFFECTVE!!!!

And we have neglected it - I admit it and feel DEEPLY sorry for it.

Kids, if you read this - I'm sorry for robbing you of the BEST!

We have many times treated it as an accessory ~

Not a necessity!

Here, dinner is eaten only AFTER the spiritual food is eaten -

and yes, it's been 9pn (I'm not sure - the kids may have had their porridge or beans before family devotions at 7pm - but definitely not the older ones, or the parents)

And no, I'm not saying we'll wait til 9pm til we eat dinner from now on :)

There so much more to say, but I've got to go now. Here's the short clip, taken without them realizing I was filming.

What would YOU do???

IF

• You were the 7th child to your 22-year-old mother

• Your father was killed when you were in your mother's womb

• You had to be taken to be raised by your grandmother, because your mother just couldn't take care of you/feed you

• You were raised in the slums by your grandmother, along with about 24 siblings/cousins most of whom had lost their parents to HIV/AIDS - in a tiny "house"

• You spent most of your childhood fending for yourselves, trying to find food at the garbage dump where the "rich people" dump their trash.

• You came to know JESUS at the age of 13 and became part of a good church.

• Your grandmother died when you were 14

• You were 16 and started seeing little children all around you that had NOBODY to care for them, feed them, love them???

What would YOU do???

Praise did what she felt Jesus would do:

Take them and love them and trust God to provide for all of them.

Needless to say, 10 needy children later,

left on the streets and struggling to survive,

she PRAYED - PRAYED HARD!

After a long time of prayer, these words came to her mind:

youth having mission

Going to an internet cafe, she typed in the words "youth mission" and guess who she ended up finding???

The Youth With A Mission leader for Uganda,

Who is the man who started

Orphans kNOw More

Need I say more???

This precious 24-year-old single girl with her 10 children have been living with his family (with already 21 children - 16 adopted) since January of this year.

This is what she says:

"At the moment, I am praying for my own land so that we may build a home there and have sufficient space to grow food to feed all the children, and even help more children. I have a vision of building a school for abandoned, orphaned and disadvantaged children and spreading the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We may not be able to do what Praise is doing.

But we can do something

That's why we're doing what we're doing at the moment.

Fundraising is neither fun nor easy,
but we will continue to travel and share

and PRAY

for GOD to open hearts

so that Praise can continue loving and caring for her children

and many more people like her, too!

They do what they can do,

let US do what WE can do!!!

Every dollar given (go to the website above, marked "Praise") goes straight to Uganda to help this beautiful ministry.

Sorry, got no photo of her family at the moment.

Another beautiful family

At the moment, our Ugandan son Richard is doing a camp with one of the couples in the "Orphans Know More" network.
I so wish I could be a little mouse at that camp and see/hear what's happenin'... hehe

The leaders of the camp are Dickson and Mabel. They are trained children and youth workers with Youth With A Mission. Dickson and Mabel host camps for hundreds of Ugandan children each year. They do this voluntarily without pay.

They also have adopted four orphaned children in addition to their biological children, and look after a widow, Hilda, and her four children.

Their family has faced serious tragedies, like so many others in Uganda.
Unfortunately, tragedy and death are very common companion to everybody there.

A couple of years ago, their daughter Melissa was killed in an arson fire at her school along with 19 other children, and then last year their daughter Jackie died when the bus taking her to school was hit by a drunk driver.

Dickson and Mabel and their 8 children have been living in an unfinished house with windows missing, a very rough dirt floor, and no electricity. These conditions make it very difficult and their health has suffered.

Although Dickson and Mabel have been trying to complete the house for several years, they are constantly generous to others.

Even in its current condition, their home is a center of life and is full of children from the village.

We were very touched by their warm, loving and cheerful hearts when we visited them last year! And we are planning on seeing them again this year when Leilani and I will be in Uganda.

We have a very exciting project that we'll be planning for together.
Something that God placed on their hearts - and mine - about the same time (about 1 1/2 years ago, a long time before we ever met) - more about that another time.

We would be so THRILLED to bring funds with us towards the completion of their home!

This is the family:

You see Dickson all dressed up - well this is the way that all Ugandans dress when they go to work in an office - we had just come from the YWAM office with him.

As a matter of fact, Rich and I were embarrassed on more than one occasion about our casual dress code. We never expected it to be this way, but the Ugandan men almost always wear dress shirts - poor as they may be. And the ladies also dress nicely in public.

This is the boys' bedroom

This is where the kitchen should/will be

the hallway of the home

the living room

Orphans kNOw More

The main ministry the Lord has put on our heart to help raise support for, is the "Orphans kNOw More" ministry started by African YWAMers.

It started with them taking in the orphans left and right, as they would care for their parents who were dying of Aids.

No support, no money, lots of love ~

~ and faith ~

And then, along came a YWAM family in the UK to bring support - after their 8-year-old daughter heard from God that she was to take care of orphans.

Long story - Orphans kNOw More was born out of that.

As I wrote in my last post, these families do a MOST OUTSTANDING labor of love for the orphans and I have the highest admiration and respect for them! I know I would NOT be able to do what they are doing!

As a matter of fact, when I was in the plane on the way back from Uganda, I felt like lying on the dirt - face down - for a month (of course this wasn't possible, are you kiddin' me?).

I felt SOOOO very humbled!!!!

... by the way people in Uganda lived.

... and by the way the local people are reaching out in the most self-less ways and caring for the orphans and widows around them!

The solidarity is just amazing!

Before going to Uganda, I always saw myself involved in orphanages.

After being there, I am convinced that the orphan care model of OKM is so much better!

In an orphanage, the children's physical needs may be taken care of very well, but they grow up with changing caregivers and the stigma of being an orphan.

And who will they go to and relate to once they're adults if they've grown up in an orphanage?

Nothing beats being part of a family!

That's GOD's design!

"GOD SETS THE LONELY IN FAMILIES."


Healthy ones, full of love!

In this photo, the dad is missing (he's a pastor and was just busy when the photo was taken)

The children have a sense of belonging and the consistent love and care of parents.

Talk about 24/7 discipleship happening in those homes!

In the pilot project in Jinja, there are 9 core families.

Most of them are YWAMers/pastors.

They live scattered in the communities, not in some kind of compound.

It's the most natural and cost-efficient orphan care model.

Each of the core families have satellite families they care for.

These are widows with children.

In Uganda, widows are helpless and vulnerable and really need the care and protection of a "man in the house" kind of situation.

So the core family's fathers act as father for all the widow's children as well, which includes going to school meetings, looking after these children's extended families, including their grandmothers etc.

It's a incredible amount of practical work, running around here and there, caring for everyone that's all scattered.

It is not an easy model.

Not easy to fund-raise for, as there's no "building", or "compound" that you can take photos of and "advertise" or have people visit easily.

We did get to visit with lots of the families, but it took people's time to take us around, which is something they can't do continually - on top of their already stretched days.

This model is not easy for the parents.

In an orphanage, staff are on shifts and get time off and if it gets too much, they can always resign and find another job, right?!

In a family?

Not a chance!
It's 24/7 care - no breaks - and folks, these people don't have vacations - ever!

It's full-on!

Many of the couples are young and just starting their own families.

Others, like the families in my last post, have been doing this since they got married - now children are getting older.

Can you imagine taking older children into your home, including teenagers, with traumas and grief etc after you just get married!

The only support they have are each other.

No social services to give on-going support and training, like we've got here in NZ.
(there is 1 social worker regularly visiting the families and giving a bit of support, but it's very limited)

The more experienced help the new ones.

It's tough.

Even financially (they get help through OKM, but it mostly just covers the education costs for the children)

BUT - It's rewarding!

And worth it!

We got to hear some of the testimonies of these children.

VERY touching!

As one girl said at the end of her heart-breaking story:

"I am so happy now, because I now have parents and a family.
I get to go to a good school and everybody knows that I've got a momma and a papa.
It's so wonderful!"

Most all of them (if not all) want to reproduce what they've experienced.

Take in children once they get married (some of them have).

Support the ministry once they finish their education and get a job.

It's BEAUtIFUL!!!

This is one of the satellite families - the one that we were able to bless with a small water tank with the gifts we got to take.

Precious family!

Precious hearts!



We saw how far the children had to walk to get water every day.

It was such a joy to designate the water tank for them!

Priceless W-a-t-e-r

Yesterday and today, we had no water in our house - due to a broken pipe that was transforming our downstairs dining room area into a shower - and so all water had to be turned off.

It actually happened while Rich and I were on a lil retreat - spending time with each other and God to hear what he would want to tell us concerning this New Year - which was great, by the way!

Being without water for a mere 24 hours opened my/our eyes just that little bit more to what people in many places of the world experience because of lack of water.

It was challenging - you never realize how much you need water until you don't have it!

Washing hands many times a day, like after cleaning a diaper or going to the loo - or before and after preparing food - flushing the toilet - taking a shower - brushing teeth - doing dishes - wiping the table, doing laundry and oh yes, can't forget -

DRINKING!

At least we still have SO MANY other luxuries, like electricity and a car to drive somewhere to get some water. Boy, are we blessed - and spoiled!!!

Speaking of water, I don't think I ever mentioned that through the generosity of people from Germany, Brazil, Tahiti, Korea and New Zealand, we were able to leave money in Uganda for 2 water tanks to be built. Yippiiiieeee!!!

We had been told 1 water tank would cost US$650 and thought we could get water tanks for 5 of the Orphans kNOw More families with the generous gifts that had come in. We were so excited!

These tanks can provide a family with water for 6 months/year - during the rainy season and are a great blessing for the families.

When we got there, we found out that the prices had gone up.
We also found out that the US$650 tanks were small and that there was a need for some of the bigger families to receive 10.000l water tanks.

One of those roughly cost 4 times as much.

It was hard to decide who to bless with that ONE big tank.
First, we wanted to bless this family with it.


A beautiful family with 4 biological and 16 adopted children, plus many more that they are caring for (not all are in the photo).

AMAZING couple - some of the people that left us feeling completely humbled by their love and selfless service to the orphans - 24/7 - WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

They already had a tank, which we saw in use as we came to their house.
They told us that it was way too small and they needed a bigger tank.

But later we found out that the family of the leader of the ministry (the ones you see in the DVD in the link above, now with many more children), don't have a water tank at all yet.


They have 4 biological children and 27 adopted (some are already adult and out of the house)
and are another outstanding couple - seriously, some of the people we met in Uganda are the most incredible, selfless, loving people we've ever met in our lives!

As leaders do - he would put his own needs at the end of the list - and would probably continue to do so.

So we felt to designate the 10 000l tank to their family!

Oh, that every family could have access to clean water!!!

For your information, the amount of people dying from contaminated water equal
20 jumbo jets crashing - EVERY.SINGLE.DAY!!!!

This is so unnecessary!!!