Update

This is a post that I wrote last week after we visited the
only government run “home” for children in Uganda.

“Today we left early this morning to drive two hours to
Kampala to meet with a man who is working in four child prisons in Uganda. He
is there trying to help the horrible situation that these children are in. At
this point I have not seen what these prisons are like but I have heard the
horror stories of what we are about to witness. I honestly have no idea what to
expect or what we are about to see. This whole car ride I have been praying and
asking the Lord to let us see things with his eyes and to break our hearts for
what breaks His.

After meeting with Moses I really do feel like this
organization is doing all they can for now and as they build trust I think they
will be able to do more and more. We were able to visit one of the places they
are working in. This wasn't one of the prisons but is the only government run
homes in Uganda. They have close to 15 children with disabilities out of the
170 children that are there. Moses told us that we are the only people who have
come to see and interact with the disabled children. I feel like these children
are who Jesus talks about when he says to speak up for those who have no voice
(Proverbs 31:8), to care for the orphans (James 1:27), and to care for those
who are imprisoned (Isaiah 42:7). These are the ones who break God’s heart the
most. I'm sure that he physically feels pain and heart ache for these children.
We were not in even the worst place that this organization is working with and
I have literally felt like I am going to throw up since the moment we walked
through the gate. It baffles me so much that these children are in a place like
this when there are so many options that would be so much better than this
place. My heart is aching so much for the beautiful children and I really have
no idea how to process this right now. For now I am going to try and rest and
talk with God on the way home and probably bawl my eyes out the rest of the
night. You can be praying for the hearts of the rest of the girls who were with
me today and for the beautiful children that we saw today.”

Just to update ya’ll on a few things, we are getting two of
the kids from this home on Monday!!! We are all so excited! Please be praying
for a smooth transition for these two over the next few months.

Also, one of our little girls, Selina, got a G-Tube surgery!
She has been doing so well ever since she had the surgery. Every time she eats
now, instead of fighting it and crying the whole time, she smiles through her
whole feeding! We are so excited to see how this changes her growth and
development!

Thank you for your prayers! They are strongly felt here!

Daniel, Rachel, Arafat, and Debra

Staying

I guess I should let you guys know that I have decided to
stay in Uganda for longer than I originally planned. I was supposed to be
leaving Tuesday with my sister, but instead I have decided that the best thing
for me right now is to stay in Uganda until I have to start school.

I promised you guys I would try to give you a little
information about each of the kids… Jojo is probably one of the cutest kids
here. He is absolutely adorable and hysterical. He has Down syndrome and is
unbelievably flexible. Because he is so flexible, he is not able to walk (for
now anyway). He will sit in your lap for hours just making faces and noise and
having you copy what he is doing. He is pretty much always happy! Natasha is a
beautiful little girl! She has Cerebral Palsy, but that does not stop her from
letting you know she is in the room! She has an extremely loud cry. Most of the
time she just want to cuddle with someone and is very content with you holding
her. But every now and then she gets upset and lets everyone know. She doesn’t
move around much because she has very little control over her muscles. Selena
on the other hand move around so much! She cannot walk but she loves to move!
Her very favorite thing to do is dance! Anytime she hears music she gets this
enormous smile on her face and starts dancing. She loves it most when you hold
her up so that she is standing and can dance like that. She is so precious.

Yesterday we has another birthday party for two of our kids,
Walter and Zak. We had one for Debra a couple of weeks ago that I think I
mentioned but didn’t really post about. Parties in this house are so much fun!
There is always tons of dancing and cake and soda and just fun times. The kids’
absolute favorite song to dance to is Shaminamina. Every time that song comes
on the kids go crazy! It is so funny when all of the older kids start signing
it! I will try to post some more pictures but the internet at the house is too
slow to load pictures.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Ekisa

Sorry that I haven’t been keeping everyone updated on how
things are going. I am having such a wonderful experience that I just keep
forgetting to blog. I am in love with the children here! And all of the workers
are like my best friends and family! It is such a great place to be, but at
times it can be a little overwhelming.

Each day we have a little bit of a different schedule. Today
I had the morning shift, which is from 8am-1pm. The main things that we help
out with are the feeding times. There are 5 kids that cannot feed themselves or
have trouble eating. The morning shift has 3 feedings, breakfast, snack, and
lunch. I will be honest with y’all and tell you that feeding some of the
children is a very difficult task. It takes so much patience!! During the times
that we are not helping out with the food, we get to play with the kids and get
to know them better. Most of them can’t get up and walk around, so today we had
a dance party! It was so funny watching them trying to dance.

Some of the kids that I have spent the most time with are
Daniel, Rachel, Arafat, and Debra. Rachael is the most mobile out of these four
but she can’t walk because of polio. She is so beautiful! She always tries to
act shy but she really isn’t! She loves to dance and have you help her walk.
Daniel is one of the newest additions. He is about 2 or 3 and so tiny and has
microcephaly. He loves to cuddle, and today he loved dancing! He sat in a bumbo
seat and was dancing all morning with the biggest smile on his face! Arafat is
also a new addition. He can’t walk because he has hydrocephaly, but eventually
he will be able to. He is a little parrot. When he came he did not know any English,
and now he repeats everything you say! He talks in a really high voice and it
is so funny. Debra is a little girl that was at Amani when I volunteered there.
She is so smart, but trapped in a body consumed by Cerebral Palsy. She loves to
interact with us! She cannot talk but she can answer yes and no. She is also so
beautiful. All of the kids are so much fun to be around! I will try to tell you
a little bit about each one at some point on my blog. One of the many things I love about Uganda is the community
here. There are so many “mazungus” (white people) here that are serving a
ministry in Jinja, or are running one. Each week on Tuesday, we have a bible
study together. Last night we had it at our house and there were probably 25
people here! It was so crazy! Our times together are absolutely wonderful! Everyone
has similar hearts and passion for the Lord. The fellowship and support is like
nothing I have ever experienced back home.

I feel like this post is really long so I will blog about
more later! Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I am considering and
praying through extending my stay here and would really appreciate it if you
could pray! It is a really tough decision for me because I’m not sure where the
Lord wants me to be at this time. Thank you for your continued payers!

In Uganda

When I am in Uganda I feel so at home. I am completely in love with this place! I have been here a week and I am already dreading the day that I have to leave. So far on this trip I have really felt God’s presence. He has a way of always letting me know that He is right here with me. When we left Nashville we found out that someone we know would be on two of our three planes to Uganda. When we arrived at Ekisa, we found out that a girl we went to high school with was staying at Ekisa as well. So far since we have been in Uganda there have been about 7 people from Nashville, and there are still more to come. God has been letting me know now more than I have ever realized that He is right here with me and will not leave my side! It is such a powerful and overwhelming feeling!

Ekisa is an amazing place! The people working here are super
sweet and like family. I feel like I have known everyone here my whole life!
Each day we either work the morning shift, or the afternoon shift. I really enjoy
working with all of the beautiful children that God has placed here. They all
have such different personalities that just light up a room. I have never
worked with special needs people before, and to be honest wasn’t sure how I
would handle it. But I can tell you without a doubt that I love working with
these children!! Right now there are 12 children here, two of which came this
week. Tomorrow is one of the girls birthdays, so I will try to post more then. I cant get any pictures to upload so I will also work on that tomorrow.

Patiently Waiting

This post is basically all my thoughts thrown together, so bare with me as I ramble on.

My sister and I leave for Uganda on May 12. We are over the moon excited to see what God has in store for us! In just 10 days we will be getting on a plane headed across the world to be the Lord's hands and feet. There is so much to do between now and then! I am still working full time, and it is rare that I get a day off. But today I have had the full day off! And as I am writing this I am sitting in the middle of my room surrounded by 4 suitcases, clothes, many lists, toys, zip lock baggies, laundry detergent, toothpaste, bug spray, sunscreen, lists, medicine, and so much more. I can hardly walk into my room. I am very thankful for today so that I can get some things together so that I am not overwhelmed May 11 trying to get everything packed. My sister comes home from college this week and will be able to get last minute things while I am working.

I am so thankful to have a wonderful church family and many friends who have been so willing to help us get to Uganda. We have had many donations of clothes for the children, money, and medicines. God has truly blessed us.

I wanted to let all of you know that I now have a Tumblr account. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is basically the same thing as a blog, just a different website. To see my tumblr go to http://trustingalways.tumblr.com/. I will be posting pictures and hopefully videos on that site while we are in Uganda.

Thank you for all your prayers as we are getting ready for a long awaited trip!