Falling Whistles

Please go and read the Story of these child soldiers in the Congo who are put on the front lines of the worlds biggest and deadliest war with a whistle as their only weapon.

More Reflections

Ok I know that I have been back from Africa for almost as long as I was there but sometimes these things take a long time to process…

I have been home since Thanksgiving and almost every day someone asks me, “How was Africa?” Usually they ask in passing and don’t really have the time to hear everything that went on, so my usual response is “Oh, it was so amazing” or “I had such a great time” or “It was life-changing”. But to be honest, I do not have a word in my vocabulary, and there is probably not a word in the dictionary, to describe what my time in Africa was like. I mean, how can you describe waking up to children singing worship songs every morning? Or making a premature baby who never made eye contact with anyone or even smiled, smile for the first time? Or being able to love someone in their last few days on Earth who had never experienced love before? You can’t. It’s impossible. But these are just a few of the things that happened to me while I was there. These are just a few of the things that have changed my life forever. And, these are just a few of the reasons that I can’t wait to go back to Uganda. Experiencing worship through the eyes and hearts of pre-school aged orphans is more than you can imagine. Falling in love with little Eric, even though he threw up on me numerous times each day, and being able to be responsible for causing his first smile touched me deeply. Seeing little Walter take his last breathe while being able to sing to him and read Scripture over him was transforming. God has taught me so much about unconditional love and service. But, I know that I have so much more to learn. As seems to always be the case when you are serving others, I was served much more than these children. These children that the world sees as poor and wretched gave me gifts that can never be taken from me. They are worth more money than I will ever have. And I know that they are just a small portion of what my Heavenly Father longs to give me.

“I love you, Lord! You answered my prayers. You paid attention to me, and so I will pray to you as long as I live. Death attacked from all sides, and I was captured by its painful chains. But when I was really hurting, I prayed and said, ‘Lord, please don’t let me die!’ You are kind, Lord, so good and merciful. You protect ordinary people, and when I was helpless, you saved me and treated me so kindly that I don’t need to worry anymore. You, Lord, have saved my life from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. Now I will walk at your side in this land of the living. I was faithful to you when I was suffering, though in my confusion I said, ‘I can't trust anyone!’ What must I give you, Lord, for being so good to me? I will pour out an offering of wine to you, and I will pray in your name because you have saved me. I will keep my promise to you when your people meet. You are deeply concerned when one of your loyal people faces death. I worship you, Lord, just as my mother did, and you have rescued me from the chains of death. I will offer you a sacrifice to show how grateful I am, and I will pray. I will keep my promise to you when your people gather at your temple in Jerusalem. Shout praises to the Lord!” ~Psalm 116

Please continue to pray with me as I wait patiently for God’s directions to wherever He leads me next.

Troubled Heart

I dont even know the words to describe how I feel. Tonight as I'm getting ready for bed I get an overwhelming feeling that this is not where I am supposed to be. As tears are streaming down my face I ask myself "If I know this is not where I am supposed to be then how do I know where I am supposed to be?" I feel sure that the Lord is calling me to Africa...but where do I go? There are so many places I could go.. but where to start? I feel like I should just get on a plane and go and let the Lord direct me from there...but am I that strong? I honestly wish my answer to that question was "Yes, I am strong enough to just get on a plane and have faith that the Lord will show me where to go." I want to have that much faith and that much trust...but to be honest it is hard!

As I am writing this I went to google to look up some verses (because I dont have my Bible next to me) and this is the first thing I read:

"My presence will go with you, and I will give you peace" Exodus 33:14

"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8

So if we know we are not where we are supposed to be, but dont know where we are supposed to go, what do we do? My answer is look to God, listen to His voice, and follow Him!

Passion 2010

This weekend was Passion 2010! There is so much to process that I'm not going to share it all right now but I do want to share one of my highlights from the week.

We went to the Hillsong United concert last night and left a little bit early so that we could catch the marta back to our hotel instead of being stranded in downtown Atl at 1 in the morning. When we got to the platform where our train was going to come there were about 100 other college students that had the same idea we had. We started riding down the escalator and heard everyone sing praise songs to our Savior! We joined in and had an amazing time waiting for our marta to come! It was such a wonderful thing to see! Heres a video of it!!

Let the Waters Rise by Mikeschair

Home

I have been home since Wednesday of last week. I have mixed emotions about being home. I love being with my family and friends but at the same time I really miss being in Uganda with those precious children. Being home for a week I feel like I've had a great time with my family and now am ready to go back. But I have to go to school and live here for awhile before I can go back.

I realize that I never posted anything about the Safari that I went on a few weeks before I left. The safari was a 4 day thing. Each night we camped out in different places. My favorite night was the night we camped out on the Delta. When we pulled up to our camp site there were about 10 giraffes surrounding us! The next morning we got up early to do a game drive and saw a lion like 100 yards away from our camp site. Everything about the safari was so much fun! Here are a few pictures..

Weekend Adventure

Yesterday we went to one of the Mama’s Kwanjula ceremony. This is like an introduction ceremony back home except completely different. We left the baby cottage around 11:30 this morning and drove in a Coaster for about two and a half hours to a village. The ceremony was supposed to begin at 1 pm but we are not on American time here so 1 pm really means 5:30 pm. We didn’t arrive until about 3. When we arrived we were sent down the road a little bit to greet all of the women taking part in the ceremony. All the men were back where the ceremony was taking place. We ate lunch with the women and mingled for a little while and then we all headed back to get ready for the Kwanjula. The way these things work is that the family of the husband comes to the village of the wife’s father. They all sit in a special place under a tent, and then the family is introduced. Sometimes they make it funny and go around and ask the people why they are there and other silly things. They introduce the brothers first and they greet their guests and tell them how happy they are that they are there. Next the sisters are introduced then the aunties and the uncles. After that they introduce the grandfathers and grandmothers. And last they introduce the father and the mother(s). All together there are about 30 people introduced. After all of this takes place the groom’s family presents the bride with gifts. And to close everything up they serve a big meal. This lasted about 3 hours.
On the way the landscape was breathtaking! We went through a lot of villages but we also traveled wide open fields. They were unbelievable to look at. Everything was so beautiful. On the way back I was thinking I wouldn’t be able to see any of this anymore because it would have been so dark. But I was wrong. I got into the Coaster and we started our journey back home and the first thing I noticed were the stars shining so brightly through the blackened night sky. In every direction, for as far as you could see, you saw billions of bright shining stars that lit up the wide open fields we came through on our way in. Then I look to my right at the fields and see hundreds of fireflies lighting the way, I look to my left and see the very same thing. I wish you guys could have been there to see this view! There is nothing that can capture its true beauty but your own eyes. When I looked up at the stars and found different constellations I thought about how you can see the very same stars in the very same patterns back home in Nashville. It is so hard to understand how you can see the exact same thing in Africa and in Tennessee. The only way to explain it is the One who created it. Looking up at the stars and seeing their beauty and vastness I don’t understand how people can say that there is no creator. If there was no creator then how is it possible that you see the same stars from opposite sides of the world? If there was no creator then how can there be land as far as I can see in any direction filled with fireflies dancing in the moonlight? All these things had to be created to exist. This world is so beautiful there is no way it just happened by chance. It had to be created. And I know the One who created it!