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!

I'M GOING BACK TO UGANDA...

and one of the best parts is that my little sister/best friend is going with me!!! I can't tell you how excited I am! My sister had always told me that she would never come and visit me in Africa because she HATES airplanes. But a few months ago I took her to a fundraiser for Africa and that changed things for her. I was telling her about a girl that I know who was starting a special needs orphanage and she was sold. She has always had a huge passion for people with special needs (her two best friends in kindergarden both had down syndrom). We will be volunteering with Ekisa Ministries. I am beyond excited for my sister to experience my passion(Africa) first hand, along side of me. We will be going for about 6 weeks this summer. Please keep us in your prayers as we are figuring out travel dates and making all the arrangements.

This pretty much says it all...powerful stuff!

Amazima_Final

Just Some Thoughts

Don't worry bloggers, I haven't stopped blogging. I just have not had that many things to say lately. Right now I am still praying through where God wants me to be, and for the time being, it is being a nanny for the sweetest family of 5 kids. But at the end of everyday, this is where my heart is...

I have just started reading the book Radical by David Platt. Let me just say, if you have not picked this book up yet, I suggest you do. It has really put things in perspective for me. I am not very far in the book but I have come across something that I just have to share with you guys...

"But in the Bible is missions ever identified as an optional program in the
church?We have just seen that we were all created by God, saved from our sins,
and blessed by God to make his glory known in all the world. Indeed, Jesus
himself has not merely called us to go to all nations; he has created us and
commanded us to go to all nations. We have taken this command, though, and
reduced it to a calling--something that only a few people receive.

I find it interesting that we don't do this with other words from Jesus. We
take Jesus' command in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations, and we say,
'that means other people.' But we look at Jesus' command in Matthew 11:28, 'Come
to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,' and we say,
'Now, that means me.' We take Jesus' promise in Acts 1:8 that the Spirit will
lead us to the ends of the earth, and we say, 'That means some people.' But we
take Jesus' promise in John 10:10 that we will have abundant life, and we say,
'That means me.'

In the process we have unneccessarily (and unbiblically) drawn a line of
distinction, assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few while
keeping the privileges of Christianity for us all. In this way we
choose to send off other people to carry out the global purpose of Christianity
while the rest of us sit back because we're 'just not called to that.'

Now, we know that each of us has different gifts, different skills, different
passions, and different callings from God. God has gifted you and me in
different ways. This was undoubtedly the case with the disciples. Peter and Paul
had different callings. James and John had different callings. However, each
follower of Christ in the New Testament, regardless of his or her calling, was
intended to take up the mantle of proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the
earth. That's the reason why he gave each of them his Spirit and why he gave
them all the same plan: make disciples of all nations."

I hope that passage inspires you to read this book, if you haven't already read it.

Sixty Feet

My heart is crushed into a million pieces right now. I was reading a blog and came across this website. As soon as I read it I burst into tears. This is a place in Africa that is considered a modern day concentration camp for children. These children are left here because they are "stubborn children- street beggars, disobedient kids, unwanted orphans, handicapped or mentally disabled kids". I can't even find the words to write now. Please just go read this blog and do whatever you can to help!

Father,
These beautiful children need your help! Move mountains for them and save them from this hell on earth! And help us to be willing to do whatever it takes to help!