First Week

WARNING—this is going to be a hard one to read.

I have now been in Africa for a full week. During this week I think I have experienced every single emotion you can possibly think of. The day I get here I get stuck at a hotel in Entebbe because of the riots going on in Kampala. Some of the staff here at Amani got stuck in the middle of the riot and described it basically as a living hell. The next day I get up bright and early and head to Amani. I get to see two beautiful families meet their children for the first time! What a sweet picture. Then I got to go over to Katie Davis’s house for praise and worship. Oh how wonderful it is to see young children praising our Father! Then it’s off to work. I’ve been working with the youngest children here and they have all stolen my heart. It is so much work trying to keep 10 babies happy and fed but I love doing it! It does get stressful at times when you don’t have enough hands to calm everyone that is crying but once you get them laughing it is all worth it! Then I get the news about Josie Love. My heart just crumbles into pieces for her and her family. All of this is just within 3 or 4 days of me arriving at Amani. Wow! That’s a lot to take in. But guess what. That’s not all. This is where the hard stuff comes in. The day I find out about Josie is also the day that sweet Walter came home from the hospital. He had been in Kampala for a few days and was getting tests done on the tumor he had in his mouth. They found out that it was so much worse than they had expected. They sent him home from the hospital saying there is nothing we can do because treatment for this cancer doesn’t work well and since we have caught it so late it won’t work at all. They brought him back here so that he could be loved on and cared for. His little personality was so cute! This is the journal I wrote about him just a few hours ago.

This two year old boy is one of the most beautiful kids I have ever seen! But he has a horrible and ugly disease that is taking over his tiny little body. Cancer. Many would take one glance at him and turn away. But when I look at him I see the face of my sweet Savior. I will not turn my head and pretend as if I never saw him. I have welcomed him and shown him as much love as I can. This sweet boy has such a strong personality. He is very independent, strong willed, and a spunky little fella. He knows what he wants. Tonight I sit by his bed and try to comfort him as he struggles so hard to breathe. This cancer has come so close to blocking his throat. He is no longer able to swallow the medicine that will keep the pain away. He goes long seconds without taking a breath and then struggles to catch it again. As I have been sitting here for over an hour I grieve the pain he is going through and what a struggle it is for him. But there is hope! For when he takes that final breath here on earth, he is taking his very first breath in heaven with our Father. He will no longer endure the pain of his earthy body but be given a body that will run and not grow weary, that is able to soar on wings like eagles and fly, and that gets to sit with the One who created him! How amazing does that sound?! He will be relieved of everything here on earth and made new again. He gets to sit at the thrown of God and praise Him for what he has done for him. Although I have only known sweet Walter for a few days, I have learned a lot from him. He has taught me to be thankful for what I do have and the health that I have and how to serve the least of these. But most of all he has taught me what true struggle is. Many times I find myself thinking I am struggling when I can’t find this or that or when I am late for an appointment or a whole bunch of other meaningless things. But as I sit here and watch this boy who is so young struggling to breathe because something is blocking his throat I realize that all the things I complain about are so worthless and pointless to be worrying about. This morning at 1:15am I watched as Walter gasped for air and his tiny heart slowly stopped beating. As sad as it is to us, Walter is so much happier now than he ever was here. He is in the arms of our Lord and Savior!!! Thank you Jesus for bringing me here for such a time as this!

"A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest."~John 10:10

The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.” ~Zephaniah 3:17

Pictures from four wheeling

Just thought you all might like to see what four wheeling does to your skin...haha and we had bandannas around our nose and mouth and goggles on..

I'M FINALLY HERE!

This post I wrote on the plane to Amsterdam:

God truely is an amazing God! The entire week before I left for my trip I was nervous anxious scared afraid and worried about being gone for three months, and not knowing what to expect. I was reading crazy love earlier this week and it started talking about giving all your emotions to God. Every night before I went to bed I would pray this "Lord I am giving you all my fears anxieties worries and nerves please take them from me" You see if I was the one who was truely in charge of my life I would have to take these emotions and carry their burden all alone. If I was the one in control I don't think I would have the strength to pull myself together and get on a plane and be apart from my family for three months. But I have good news! I am not in control!!! God has complete control over everything in my life! And because of that I am able to let go of all my mixed emotions and go do gods work loving on his presouse and beautiful children! He is in control! Praise Jesus I'm not controling my life!
"lord I'm giving you my life. Turning over full control to your magestic hands! Your plans far surpass any plans that I would make!
Thank you for being in control!"


This is my second day in Africa and first morning to wake up at Amani. When I landed in Amsterdam I met up with the other families traveling. The first news that I get was that there is rioting in Kampala(where we are going). That was all we knew. We couldn't get a hold of anyone here and had little information on the riots. Just before we got on the plane we were finally able to get in touch with someone at Amani. They said that it was ok to travel through Kampala at night because the riots had stopped. When we landed in Entebbe we found out differently. We ended up staying in a hotel that anyone in America would consider dirty but was a very upscale hotel for Africa. We left the hotel at 5am to head to Jinja. God is watching over us and protecting us. He kept us safe traveling here and will continue to keep us safe.
My first days here have been crazy but have been so wonderful. I was able to go spend time at Katie's house yesterday and love on her girls. Now I am off to church and then maybe some four wheeling. Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Headed Out!!

I am getting ready to leave and picked up my Jesus Calling for the morning and the words were perfect! It was reasuring me that God is with me wherever I go!! This verse is perfect:

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you." Genesis 28:12

Thank you for all your prayers as I am traveling!!!

Getting Ready!

My emotions are all over the place. I am so excited about this journey that I am about to travel but at the same time I am a little nervous. I know I should not worry because God is walking on this journey with me and He is leading the way, but even though I tell myself that I still get nervous. I have never been away from my family for this long in my life so I don’t know what that will be like. I don’t know if I am going to want to come home after a few weeks or if I will love it so much that I want to stay longer. There are so many things unknown to me and unfamiliar that it gets a little overwhelming sometimes. But isn’t that what faith is about? Faith is not comfortable and familiar but hard at times and uncertain. The point of having faith is to trust Him in uncomfortable and unfamiliar places. You have to be willing to give up everything and trust that He will provide and that He will take care of you and that He is right next to you holding your hand when you get scared and comforting you when you grieve. You have to let go of yourself and let God take over. You have to let Him be in control, because if you are in control everything will fall apart. Even though you cannot see Him face to face on earth you have to trust that He is there. (You can see Him in everything around you. Take some time and walk outside and look around and everything you see is proof of Him.) If everything was easy all the time, who would need faith? You would live life with no worries, no fears, and nobody to trust. While all of that sounds like a good life, you would also have nobody to truly love you.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” ~Hebrews 11:6

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” ~1Corinthians 4:2

"Therefore i tell you, do not worry about your likfe, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not your life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:25-27

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." ~Matthew 2:34