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

SO LONGING for FAMILY!!!

Over and over, my heart is broken for the orphans - those SO longing to BELONG to a FAMILY!!!

And I'm stirred up when I read this or this blog-post about children in Uganda!

EVERY CHILD needs to be in a FAMILY!!!

Our family is getting ready to go to the USA/Canada - from June 13th to the middle of August -

from West to East

{and back again - at least Rich, Kylie and Shayden -
Leilani and I are hoping to be able to fly on to Uganda from the East Coast}


to share with whoever would want to hear and see -

about the Orphans Know More ministry in Uganda.
The one I've shared about before... several times :) (and you won't be able to shut me up, either)

... hoping and praying to raise awareness

prayer and

support

for this wonderful ministry that wants to multiply all over Uganda and Africa!


This is a huge undertaking for us - organizationally and financially -

and we have quite a few mountains that still need to be moved.

But in times of weakness, like today, where I haven't slept much, am not feeling great and will need to lean on God for strength to make it through this day (what in the world am I doing blogging?!!)

I get energized by watching this video - and off I go -

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

Please pray for Uganda!

I just came home from a garage sale to help Leilani and me get to Uganda in August.

And I found out about rioting happening in our beloved Uganda.

The children and staff of one of the ministries we visited have had to hide under their beds to stay safe from bullets flying over their heads.

Please read more about it here and join me in prayer!

Our son Richard also lives in Kampala, where the riots are, and we are concerned for his safety...

THANKS!!

Katie

This girl is incredible! Only in her early 20s - living in Uganda - having adopted 14 children - lost one (back to her birthmother - who's now staying with her).

Reflecting JESUS soooooooo well! WOW!!!

What an example!!!

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!!!

The cry of my heart

Today's another one of those days I'm hit with "IT" -

the overwhelming grief about what I witnessed in Uganda,

the individual stories of people who's names I know,

who's hands I've touched,

who I spoke with,

prayed for

and the agony of figuring out exactly what it is that I am meant to do about it.

I've got so little extra-time and energy that I need a very clear strategy.

The last thing I want to do is burn myself out in the process ~

Or have my family suffer ~

Been there, done that ~

Not again!

Crying out to you, Lord

CONTINUALLY

I've got LOTS of ideas

Please show me the first step

Or the whole picture

a strategy

YOU are a father to the fatherless

the defender of widows!

YOU love these precious people with a passion way greater than mine!

I know I can't possibly help them all

But what I CAN DO - I GLADLY WILL

Just make it clear

And I'll be off running with it!

My eyes fail from weeping,

My emotions are deeply disturbed,

My heart is poured out upon the ground in grief

because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,

because infants and nurslings faint in the streets of the city.

They keep crying to their mothers:

Where is food and drink?

as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city,

as their lives ebb away on their mother's bosom.

Lamentations 2:11-12

Broken heart - still

My heart continues to break and grieve for the starving, unloved babies, children, teenagers and adults in Africa.

I find myself overwhelmed with sadness again and again.

It comes at the most unexpected times, like when I get up in the morning.

Other times, it comes when there is a trigger.

Just like grief when a loved one dies.

Cuz I DO LOVE THEM - SO MUCH!!!

And they are dying - and I feel it!

My family doesn't always understand why I get very quiet all of a sudden and for no apparent reason and I walk around the house with red eyes.

Until Kylie explains to the older ones who are not always there:
"Mom always cries like that - for Africa."

I can barely even type this post - tears flowing again.

YES, we had a wonderful few days camping! God's creation is so beautiful and we enjoyed family time!

But I just can't shake this burden ~ ~ ~ am consumed by it ~ ~ ~

Constantly praying and thinking, asking the Lord to give me a plan to make a difference.

Got a newsletter today from this ministry in a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, that takes in abandoned babies and cares for them until they can find adoptive families for them.
Here's an excerpt:

"The growing need for homes and places to care for these little children is apparent. Abandonment is on the increase and we are finding that more and more are babies being born via late abortions. Some are surviving,
some are not, many are being found discarded on rubbish dumps. According to the government mortuary, each month 200 dead babies are found in Gauteng alone. This does not account for the 60 babies that are found alive and in need of care. Our passion as always is to save lives."

They also wrote that they are in urgent need for finances to continue running this ministry.

If I could I would just take a plane tomorrow, visit this ministry personally, meet the leaders, staff and babies and then come back home and do what I can to raise money to keep up the ministry.

Then I get news about a lil 4-year-old in Jinja, Uganda (close to the Nile where the photo in header was taken) who just passed away - malnourished - weighing 7kg.

LORD, HAVE MERCY on these little ones!!!!
Raise up an army of loving, caring, generous people to come alongside those who are already serving them, pray for them, and share some of the abundance we have - providing formula, food, water, etc etc...

Precious Lydia

I met Lydia on our last evening near Jinja (Eastern Uganda).

She is 23

Her husband died 2 years ago

She's got 3 children - 4-year old twin boys and a 5/6 year old girl

When her husband died, his family came and took EVERYTHING from her

Her home now is a rented cement-cube of about 6-8 square meters (US$5/month)

without windows (it's hot!)

What you can see here is all she owns



No mattress

No mosquito net

Don't know about a blanket

She's got no money

No skill

NOTHING to work with

She's young

She can work

She would like to learn tailoring (sewing)

IF she could just learn a skill like this one, she would be able to support herself and her children!

She needs help because this training costs money...

I went to her place around dinner-time

Asked her what they are going to eat for dinner

She said, "I have nothing"

I know that some YWAM-friends share their (meager) food with Lydia often

It was hard for me to encourage her and pray for her

without the thought in the back of my mind:

"SOMEBODY is going to help finance her training to become a seamstress"

S O M E B O D Y ????

Ruth

Tonight, I'm thinking of 2 more widows I met while in Uganda... One is Ruth.

Ruth's husband died 13 years ago of Aids and shortly afterward, she started getting sick.
After getting worse and worse, she went to the hospital, did the test and found out that she also was HIV+.

She's got 6 children. The ones that are still with her at the moment are 14-year-old twin girls and 15-year-old twin girls - you can imagine what she would have gone through in the last years, trying to raise her girls - she's also got 2 older ones - one who's 18.

There is NO financial help for a widow in Uganda - life is tough!

I met her one day when she came to see Judith (local YWAMer who's reaching out to the ladies), desperate because one of her daughters had been sent home from school that day because she wasn't able to pay the school fees.

I also found out that her now 18-year-old daughter had a baby 3 years ago.
She dropped him off at her mom's place and pretty much disappeared.

He's severely handicapped - three years old now!
She carried him to the HIV support group where we were able to meet him, too, and pray for him. A friend in NZ had given me some money to give to a needy child, and HE was the one I felt we should designate the money for.

I really feel for her! Taking care of a special needs child in NZ can be a challenge, but there's SOOO much support! There is NO support in Uganda!

I don't know how these women do it.

They are VERY resilient, courageous and hard-working -

trusting in GOD!

WOW!

Some very real faces of Aids

Still in the village that means,

"A well of deep sorrow" or

"A place where nothing good can happen".

We made an unannounced visit to this home.

It was dinner-time.

There was no food cooking anywhere.

No staches of granola bars either, or bread, or anything else in that place.

You only eat what you cook -

If it's a good day, it's posho (cornflour and water) and beans.

Rice would be considered extra special.

That evening, we surprised several ladies as they were praying or reading the Bible

Imagine that:

Instead of cooking/eating

Reading the Bible

Praying!

There were three benches in front of a mud home.

A Bible was open on one of them.

We got to meet a grandmother,

shake her hand

quietly pray for her.

She's blind and is dying of Aids.



Her daughter next to her also got the virus.

She's got 8 children.

2 teenagers were there. This is them:


They don't go to school - cuz there's no money.

There's no Christmas in this village

No fancy decorations

No songs blaring

No gifts

At least - today, Monday, Dec. 13th, they will eat!

Thanks to a gift we were able to leave behind.

We are told that when the YWAMers brought food occasionally in the past

there was a "mob"

they are SO hungry!

THIS will be their Christmas

A special day!

I wish there could be food provided for them

EVERY DAY!!!

And - better yet -

A means to kick-start them out of their misery

into a self-sustaining life-style!!!

LORD, HAVE MERCY!!!

Inspiring!

If you want to know what's been going on in my heart since Uganda, have a look a this video. I sums it up pretty well...

Next door...

... to Joyce lives this teenage mom with her baby - and I don't know how many others.

We didn't get around to asking her name and her circumstances.

But we were told that due to the hopelessness in the village and teenagers not being able to go to school, many young girls hoping for a better future get involved with a guy.

They end up with a baby and soon realize that things aren't as sweet as they were hoping for them to turn out...

Meet Joyce

How would YOU like to be a widowed grand-mother

and care-taker of 5 grandchildren,

living in a 6 square metre mud hut

that you are renting?

Owing what you can see here:

Sleeping all together on THE "mattress" you see in the photo below (we just arrived to this scene, as the little one was carrying the mattress into the hut for the night)

Not sleep when it's raining, cuz your hut gets flooded?

Not being able to send the children to school?

Eating/drinking only sporadically?

Surrounded by a whole village in similar conditions?

A village called "A well of deep sorrow" - or "A place where nothing good comes from"

YET - Joyce has hope - she is part of a group started by an African YWAMer, Judith - "Women of Hope". Judith has been reaching out to the women in this village for 2 years now,

Leading them to trust in Jesus.

Encouraging them to cry out to Jesus in their distress.

I could see HOPE in Joyce's face -

Whereas the children in the village seemed lifeless - hopeless.

There has GOT TO BE SOMETHING that can be done by the body of Christ to be an answer to this grand-mothers cries!!

I believe so!!!

Joyce with 4 of the 5 grand-children (the left part of what you see is another "room"/"hut" where somebody else lives, the photo just missed the door)

Can't remember if she was HIV+ or not - (a large percentage of the widows and children in the village are)

Teenagers praising God!

On a spontaneous visit to an orphanage that our driver told us she had, we witnessed this scene (not put on for us).

I was VERY touched - these girls are former "child soldiers/abducted by the rebels" in the North of Uganda. I cannot begin to imagine the trauma they must have gone through, and here they were singing - the same song we sing here in NZ...

JESUS is just AMAZING - what HE can do to transform lives and bring FREEDOM!
I've got the leader, Jennifer, also on video, but it's too long to post...
She's this one I wrote about before.

The second video is them singing an African song (at my request) - BEAUTIFUL!
Sorry - for some reason, I can't load the second video... shame

short video from the market

... and you can see Richard showing me his favourite beans.

MORE FUN

We had a BLAST yesterday!!!

We were supposed to get all the shopping for the games done on Friday, but in good 'ole African timing, we were running about 3 hours late and by the time we could've gone shopping it was after 7pm and the shops were closed.

What an awesome time we had visiting with 5 families, after a spontaneous time with a group of HIV+ ladies from the village next to the YWAM base (while waiting for Moses, our driver/guide for the day - YWAMer). Heart-breaking on the one hand, yet hope-inspiring on the other. Enjoyed listening to them and ministering to them in prayer and encouragement.

Haven't ministered to sooooooo many people in a loooooooooooong time - every day - visiting, listening, sharing, ministering, praying. Oh how I wish more of God's supernatural power flowing through me/us - especially in physical healing, as there are soooooooooo many who really need God's healing touch!

At times it does get exhausting and at the end of the day, I feel I've got nothing left to give. That's where I recognize my introvert personality (would you've guessed??! - hehe).
As much as I LOOOOVE being with people, it does drain me.

What I love so much is that we've been having a REAL AFRICAN EXPERIENCE since we arrived - being immersed in the culture, getting to know it through the eyes of the beautiful African people!

By the way, just to set the record straight, what I mentioned in my last blog post about meeting "the best" was in no way intended as a comparison with other people/ministries we've visited!
They really ALL are BEAUTIFUL expressions of the Father's heart!
Guess I just can't hide my enthusiasm about what our YWAM-family is doing to make a difference...

Having this all-African introduction also includes regular hunger-pangs. Even though we have some nuts etc in our backpacks for times where we can't get to food, we wouldn't dare bring out the food as we're with our friends who pretty much don't eat and drink all day - except towards the evening - not even a word mentioned about being hungry or thirsty (and our nuts wouldn't be enough for everybody).

Never before have I felt guilty about drinking water ~ ~ ~

Rich and I have our water bottles and drink regularly throughout the day, but I also see that our local friends have no water bottles, and in most houses, we don't get offered drink or food.
African hospitality is VERY warm, though, sometimes I think they're not offering cuz they really don't have anything!

The daily struggle just for food and water is very real round here...

So, to get back to yesterday, after shopping for some stuff for games and a heap of candy/lollies (quite the experience again), we finally made it to the venue for the party with the orphans.
Prepared a bag with some goodies for each one of the 18 families in the Orphans kNOw more network, got ready for games.

Great program, including a time of worship, song/dance presentations and several testimonies from the children that are NO LONGER ORPHANS but adopted into beautiful families, with a mother and father who selflessly sacrifice their lives for all of the children.... VERY VERY TOUCHING!!!!

Tears the whole way through.... what an emotional wreck I am most of the time - - -

Find myself going to sleep often weeping - waking up weeping - got to admit that I've been taking medication every night to make sure I get some sleep. First it was for jet-lag, but I have continued as there is so much to "digest" at night that I can't sleep without some help... arggh
Feeling GREAT during the day, though! Thank you, Jesus!

So, back to yesterday: had great food - basically paid by our family eating rice and beans or lentils every Sunday for a year - made us so happy that by our tiny sacrifice we were able to bless 200 people with a feast! (had to top it up a bit) - VERY special (of course, nobody knew about that, which was even better!)

The games were the BLAST! O.MY.GOODNESS!!!

It was actually MADNESS!!!

These kids - and there were a lot from the local village that joined in - must have been well over 200 - are not used to getting attention in this way - TOTALLY different from anything we've ever experienced! It was wonderful and wild!

Trying to give out a candy/lolly to each child in the end almost ended up in a riot/stampede... crazy - - -

We had to cancel a few of the activities because of the madness, but still - everybody had lots of fun - including us!

After everybody had left and it was pitch-dark, Rich and I were sitting under a tree with some of the kids from the village, pulling out the glow-in-the-dark bracelets (our last treat that we'd held onto) and just enjoying being with the kids - doing some singing, just giving affection. We had to wait quite a while for our ride back, as there'd been a flat tyre and lots of things and people to transport - we were the last ones to leave - sooo enjoyed that winding down time with just some of the kids1

While Rich had been mostly leading the games for the OKM kids, I felt myself surrounded by the kids from the village - could tell by the extra layers of dirt on their skin and the rags - the OKM kids were dressed in their best clothes, as it was a special celebration for them.

By the way, one thing Rich and I have observed: men don't hardly EVER wear T-shirts around here - only dress-shirts - - - interesting! And I was the only woman yesterday in (long, shabby) shorts - all the ladies put on their best dresses etc - we both felt out of place as everybody else was much more dressed up... oh my.... learning....

In the end I was grateful for having worn those clothes, cuz we were so stinkin' dirty - - - with all the games etc...

'Nuf for today - bed's calling - night!

Day 4 - SUNDAY!

We were supposed to get picked up at 9am in order to be at church at 10am for the service.

First, our driver slept in and came late,

then we picked up Richard to come with us,

then we drove and drove until we were - - -

lost!

Thank God for cell phones - yes, it's the main means of communication here!

Arrived at church at 10:45am - the pastor even had to pick us up at the side of the road (almost 5 min. walking distance from the church) cuz our driver couldn't find the way...

Embarrassing ~ ~ ~ our very first Sunday in Uganda, we're the guest speakers, and we arrive almost an hour late ~ ~ ~

Oh well, at least I knew that in Africa being late is not as bad as it would be in some other countries - and they were still singing when we arrived. Good thing none of us got stressed...
After all - this is Africa!

It was an amazing service - I got to preach the message God had laid on my heart weeks ago - then Rich gave his testimony, leading into a time of ministry about the father heart of God.

Photos' order messed up but don't have time to fix it. the first photo is after service...


I had woken up in the morning, crying.... feeling the pain of the people (once again....) and having a strong sense that God wanted Rich to minister HIS father heart that day!

It was just BEAUTIFUL and very special to minister together like that - hand in hand - we haven't done that in a looooong time!!!

As we got introduced, we also invited Richard with us onto the stage as our son...
You could just feel him growing a few inches - hehe
We were surprised that he even took the microphone (when Rich offered it to him) and spoke to the whole church, sharing some of his testimony - WOW!!!

At the end of the service, we both ministered individually to pretty much every single person in the congregation. That was both fun and a work-out! I almost fainted towards the end, as I was very weak from hardly having eaten anything, standing up for so long, trying to speak over the VERY loud music ~ and the heat didn't help...

There must've been about 50 women and girls 20-30 men (Rich prayed for them), I didn't count, just guessing.... whew!

Got to the pastor's house after playing with little kids after the service - walking along red dirt roads - for "lunch" about 3:30pm.

Once again, very touching - there were at least 10 people there - the food was very little (maybe enough for what we would make for 3-4) - just a little juice, no water - but it didn't matter.
The fellowship was fantastic!!!

We shared and laughed together and were able to connect in such a way as I would've NEVER expected - in a totally new country, culture, new people - saweeeeet!

What a treat! Thank you Lord for that amazing connection with Pastor Lydia and her (church) family!!! It almost felt like we'd always been friends! WOW!!!

What was incredible too were how the children were acting. They hadn't eaten since breakfast - the service was from 10-3 - without anybody having any food - forget about morning and afternoon tea in this country! - in this case no lunch either - and NONE of the kids was grumpy, asking for food or anything - just content, happy...
I could tell that they really WERE hungry by the way they ate when there was food at 3:30pm.
Very obvious that they're used to eating very little...

On the way back, we had the same driver as on our first day, Joseph, a local pastor.
When he picked us up on our first day (with Pastor Lydia), I spontaneously had proposed that we fill up his gas tank when he stopped at a gas station. His small car was completely beat up and looked like it could collapse any time.

I figured that it couldn't cost too much to fill up the gas tank, since petrol prices are comparable with NZ prices. In the end though, it was way more than I had anticipated and we didn't even have enough cash to pay for it all (Pastor Lydia advanced some). It was pretty embarrassing and I had to admit to Rich later that I had messed up by proposing to fill it up. It blew our transport budget way out there... (it really was only about US$20 more than what it should have cost for him to drive us around all day)

Oh well, it was too late - and better to err on the side of being too generous, aye?!

So - on Sunday, Pastor Lydia told us HOW VERY VERY BLESSED Joseph was with our extra gift. She said he couldn't believe it and kept saying, "It's a miracle! It's a miracle!"

Well, as we were driving back to Kampala on Sunday evening, I asked him about his family - and there came another shocker - ready for this???

His first wife and 4 of 5 children all died of AIDS - - - imagine that for a minute - - -

Then he got re-married and had 4 more children.

On top of that, he and his wife took in 4 more children who were orphaned.

And he was raving about how grateful he is about the fact that he now has a job which permits him to provide for his family.

WHAT???? He only has this beat-up little car - kinda like a taxi - and he is able to support his family of 11 with THAT?????

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

It doesn't take a prophet to know that his car won't make it much longer, especially with the very bad roads here - - -

Oh, I wish I could just buy him a newer car - - - He and his wife also pastor a church of about 90.

As you can imagine, I now didn't feel bad any more AT ALL for blowing our budget and blessing him with another US$20 - which for him was HUGE!!!

That night, we moved from Kampala on to Mukono to have a day visiting "Vision for Africa".

Whata day again - LOVING EVERY BIT OF IT!!!

INDISCRIBABLE! Day 3

Our time here has been absolutely incredible! Every day, we feel that God is leading us in ways we could have never planned nor imagined! We are grateful beyond words, moved and shaken up to the core of our beings, NEVER the same – after what we’ve seen, heard, experienced! And we’ve been here not even a week. Here’s a recap:

Saturday – day 3:

Met Jennifer, a young Ugandan (26) who is heading up an orphanage of ex-child-soldiers from Uganda’s North together with her husband Cameron. We asked to have a look at the orphanage.

WOW!!!!!

Jennifer herself watched her parents beheaded and then cut into pieces before her eyes. Then she was abducted by the rebels and lived in the bush for 1 year until she got saved by World Vision. She has undergone tremendous healing since then and finished a University degree, thanks to sponsors from the USA. She’s AMAZiNG and got a HUGE heart for these traumatized children that she can relate to very well and she is able to help them in their journey to wholeness. There are 62 children. Long story…

BEAUTIFUL children, living in very crammed quarters, just sitting around, content, nothing to do, some braiding other’s hair, some singing worship songs – some you can tell they’re still struggling, others seem very free. What those young people (many are now teenagers) have gone through is indescribable! Yet, while they are receiving beautiful ministry they are already being taught to constantly reach out to others in the community. They go out and share the Gospel, minister, help other orphanages take care of little ones and share food with those who have none – IF they’ve got extra. They themselves struggle for their daily food. They had access to water but it was turned off because they couldn’t pay the bill. Now the boys get water at a near-by church that is partnering with the orphanage. One of the boys (17) was already used by God to raise a person from the dead!

Their motto: “Freely you have received, freely give”

The ministry was given a 35acre property with 8 houses. They now need water and a school before they can move the children – plus take in many more – their vision is big. Maybe more about that another time.

This was just the morning. Both Rich and I were VERY VERY touched and everything inside us is longing to find help for this beautiful beautiful ministry!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, together with Jennifer, who was our driver for the day (to earn some money for the orphanage she drives people places), we picked up our son Richard from his school where he had been sitting an exam in the morning. We went to a market to get some food to bring to his grandmother – also added food for Jennifer’s orphanage. That was an experience!!!!

Indescribable, too! I took some photos – AMAZING experience! Jennifer was such a help, as she was helping us barter and get the right prices for stuff! That was a LOT of fun for both of us, in the midst of the noise, crowd, dirt… just taking it all in – the sights, smells, sounds – and to be able to get food for really hungry people, WOW! We got the staples – rice, beans, a stock of bananas, some tea, sugar and salt.

Couldn't resist to put up this photo - at the market - look at that father/son bonding... awwww!

After also getting a mattress and mosquito net for Richard, we headed off to visit Richard’s grandma.

On the road, we saw an accident and stopped to help. Rich was able to provide first aid for a man who’d gotten hit by a truck. There was much blood, but he only had lacerations on his head and after about 30 minutes police came and took him away. Quite the experience again! The man didn’t want anybody to touch him except Rich. He was afraid people were going to strip him of all he owned (shoes etc) – seems to be common here. I was so proud of Rich and also VERY touched when I saw Rich, Richard (junior) and Jennifer come back to the van, Richard carrying Rich’s medical bag – just like a son – following behind Rich.

I stayed in the van as Jennifer had rushed away to translate for Rich with the van keys and windows down (it was across the street), so I couldn’t leave the van with our precious cargo…

Plus, I didn’t think that this “muzungo” (white person) really needed to be joining into the crowd of people that were on-looking the scene… J And I’m not a blood-kinda-person anyways – preferred to pray instead - hehe.

After a looooong drive through crazy traffic and roads that oftentimes look like what I imagine the surface of the moon – you can NOT imagine the pot holes – we finally saw Richard’s grandmother.

INDISCRIBABLE moment once again! To see the expression on her face and her reaction when she saw us with all the food – PRICELESS!!!! She was over-joyed and kept thanking us over and over again! Conditions are indescribable – the poverty - - - she rushed into her little shack and brought out photos of Richard’s mother (she died 12 years ago, his dad died before). It was SOOOO SPECIAL to look at the photos together!!!! It was quite clear that both really see us as Richard’s adoptive parents! We tried to talk a little but she didn’t speak any English. 3 little children were hanging around where she was – 2 sleeping on the dirt – seems they were somehow related.

FAMILY - reunited at last!!! The building in the background is NOT where the grandma lives, she spends her days in front of the empty house, cooking some things she's then trying to sell on the roadside (hardly anybody passing by)

Sooo precious, too, to feel Richard’s happiness and the pleasure he got out of blessing his grandmother! You just cannot find words to describe what goes on in your heart at these moments… It is soo deep and touching!!!

Before we left, we prayed for her – she kept making signs to thank God – not sure which God, as she’s a Muslim, but she sure was thankful!!!

Even on the way back, my heart just about melted away as I looked back and saw Richard leaning on Rich’s shoulder. This boy was SOOOOOOO savouring every moment with a Daddy – he’d never had one – all these years… He’s turning 20 on Dec.26^th.

This is getting long, I know, but WAIT – the day wasn’t finished!

We stopped at a roadside African “restaurant” to have some dinner on our way back home (Jennifer dropped us off there). The menu: Rice, sweet potatoes and a small piece of very tough chicken in some kind of tomato sauce. Believe it or not, we met a New Zealander there, very few white faces in Kampala - he joined us and we had a VERY interesting conversation – learning a lot about Africa and Uganda – he’s been living here for 40+ years… loving it!

While I ate the dinner and just left the chicken – it was way too tough for my taste, tasted like rubber – Richard mentioned that he was HOPING to have a dinner like that for Christmas with his family….

Another arrow straight into my heart – THIS meal? – and he is HOPING to have it for Christmas?!!! Whew!!!

After that, Rich and I were both tired and longing just for a quiet remainder of the evening, but we both picked up that Richard REALLY wanted to spend more time and so he came back with us to our guesthouse and we played UNO (card game) with him – mostly Rich did, cuz I needed to get some ironing done for the next morning (church).

Our time with Richard was so very very very special! We both have totally fallen in love with our new son! He’s a beautiful young man, inside and out! Tender heart, special laugh… we already miss him so much – as well as all of our other children in NZ!!! Love you, kids, if you read this!!! VERY MUCH!!!

got MANY more photos - maybe on facebook soon, just gonna meet a HIV+ widow to hear her story....