Africa: Part 8 "Return Day 2"

The day before, I hadn't known what to expect from Return Ministries, but now going into day two I was excited to see more.  I was still feeling under the weather but was determined to push on with everything I had and walk the entire way through the village.  I know you're not supposed to drink coffee AND have an energy drink, but today my energy couldn't have started much lower.  Between the two boosts of energy and the antibiotic, I am happy to say I stayed on my feet until bedtime.

We met Pastor Samuel at his church to get an idea of what we were going to do that day.  Today was a day filled with home visits.  Our purpose was to encourage the single moms and grandmothers, pray with/for them, and also deliver a bag of necessities for the house hold. 

Personally I was still okay with being present on these days but not connecting enough to have to do more in Uganda.  God had different plans... MUCH different plans.  I went to bed the night before not being able to stop thinking about Vanessa, so it was no surprise to me that the first home visit we did out of this whole village was Vanessa's home.  I STILL wasn't ready to give into the not so quiet messages God was sending me.  Let's just say I was being a bit of a petulant child and God was going to have to bring me kicking and screaming through my preconceived ideas about Uganda. 



Vanessa is in pink



Vanessa's family lives in this building owned by someone in the church.  It stores bricks (you can see some in the windows and door) and in the space left, there is a mom and four children.  The mom is HIV positive and is often sick, and that leaves Vanessa the oldest to care for the younger children.  (Vanessa is in the pink tank top)  It was hearing this families story where I saw my simple lap that was offered yesterday to Vanessa for a nap as a bigger deal than I first thought it was.  I know people have opinions about short term missions teams going into these villages and playing with the children and then leaving, but sometimes you don't know the whole story.  Today I got to see a bigger picture.  It wouldn't have mattered if I knew the whole story the day before, what mattered was that God knew that Vanessa needed a soft place to land that day.  A lap that she could curl up and rest without a care in the world if only for a little while.  Most of the time we just need to show up to be used by God.  I was only arms wrapped around her, but that time was God's gift meant for only Vanessa to give her a break from her overwhelming responsibilities and a chance to be a kid for a little while.  I'm thankful that God chose to reveal to me that my seemingly unimportant acts of the day before might have actually been some of the most important work I did.  You don't always have to preach, start a church, lead hundreds in worship, or be a long term missionary to do God's work.  That day, all He asked of me was to wrap my arms around His hurting child and love big.  I will never know all the stories of the children I spent time with, but my hope is that I was being used in their life the same way that I was in Vanessa's.

We traveled from house to house laying hands on the women and praying for their families. 

As we walked through the village the children would come and follow us calling out to the "mzungus" which means white people.  After a few minutes we would have to send them back to where they walked from.  They were little and even though their parents were not out with them, Pastor Samuel knew that they needed to stay close to their home. 



We walked a long way that day and saw most of the village.  We walked along the source of their water that wound through the houses.  It was dirty, had trash in it, and the animals used it just as much as the humans. 

This one house we visited, there were twelve people that lived in this small dwelling.  You can see along the wall were the water line is.  During the rainy season the water fills to that line... there is nowhere else for them to go. 

The house that hit home for me was one that I reached before the rest of the team.  Pastor Samuel and I had been walking and talking and so we reached this home first.  When we announced ourselves, it was quickly clear that the only one home was this sweet LITTLE baby.  The baby was less than four months old and resting peacefully alone at home but had obviously been lovingly tucked in.  Surprisingly, I felt no judgment of the mom for leaving the baby, but I felt sad that there aren't really any other options.  The mom would have been out trying to find food or work.  I was asked to pray for this home. We had been told not to cry in front of the women in the village, but in the absence of an adult my prayer was filled with the emotion in my voice and quieted by my desire to cry.

As we walked, I knew for sure that this was an amazing ministry, but again I was still in denial about getting involved.  Knowing that this ministry was something my in-laws would fall in love with, I decided to leave the money they had sent with me to donate with Return Ministry.  Foolishly, I thought this would totally appease the tugging at my heart for these people. 

An afternoon rain storm rolled through and we found shelter in town before heading back to Pastor Samuel's house where Sarah made us another AMAZING dinner.  I have been dreaming of those bean since my return home and wishing I could get some in the US. 

Pastor Samuel and Sarah were such wonderful hosts and I am happy to say that Neil and I have decided to partner with them and their ministry for the foreseeable future.  That's right, once I was back in the states I finally gave in to the Lord's call for me.  I no longer dread the idea of going back to Uganda but actually look forward to the day we get to spend time with our new friends. 

I am really focused on the feeding program for the village children and will be doing some creative things to raise money for it.  By the beginning of September I will be selling beautiful jewelry where 100% of what you all pay for it goes DIRECTLY to the feeding program.  I'm excited to see what we can do.  I'm excited to see loving and generous people that I know wearing stunning jewelry and each time remembering the children that ate until their bellies were as full as they could be. 

I am also happy to announce that my mother and her neighbor have started sewing dresses and shorts for the children in the village.  Their goal is 100 pieces by the beginning of November.  If you want to sew with them, let me know and I will get you in touch with their group "In My Mother's Honor". 

I am so excited to see where this new relationship is headed.  So little here goes SO FAR there.  Before I actually knew and trusted someone in Africa, I was skeptical that the money was being used appropriately or for the children at all.  I'm not saying there are not many organizations that are corrupt, but I'm just glad that I know of one that is not.  It gives me tangible goals to work towards and a connection to know how things are going. 

If any of you would like to help and never knew how just let me know.  Maybe there is a specific area of this ministry you would love to help with.  Of course there are children to sponsor, but if that's not a commitment you want to make, there are so many other areas of need that could use even one time donations. 

Okay, one last fun fact.  We thought Ethiopia was a culture shock with toilets, but when we got to Uganda we met a whole other experience.  When I saw my first "squatty potty" I was convinced I would hold it until we were always back at the guest house at night.  However, being sick forced me to drink tons of water throughout the day...

I am here to tell you they are not bad at all!  For those of you that know me well, you know that's a huge statement from me.  If you ever encounter one, do not be scared.  Go ahead and step right in :)

Africa: Part 7 "Return Ministry Day 1"

I woke up on our first morning that we were headed to Return Ministries with only a little more energy then the day before.  I was just thankful to not be getting worse.  I was gratful now for my basement room.  It had stone walls which kept it cooler than upstairs, it stayed dark in the morning so I could sleep later than five, and there were no mosquitoes or other bugs that seemed to be biting my fellow teammates.  We had our own bathroom with a shower room and I was starting to feel pretty comfortable down there.  As my roommate was in the shower I walked over to our side table where my flip flops where only to find a cockroach the size of a match box car IN MY SHOE!  I kicked my shoe and he ran UNDER MY BED.  When my brave roomy came out of the shower she tried to kill it, but I was no help and jumped like a little girl.  He ran into the sitting room and that was good enough for me.  At this point in the trip I was too tired to even care if there were more under my bed and had discovered that you should not look for things that you do not want to see. 

That morning, we headed to Return Ministries with Pastor Samuel.  This is an amazing organization and we were there today to do a program with the kids and also serve in the feeding program.  Because I was still not feeling great I decided to give our team photographer a break to be more hands on and I took over taking pictures of everyone today.  Why not?  I had already decided my heart was in Ethiopia and not Uganda so why not take a step back from some activities today. We were not there more then five minutes before my heart melted and I was not only in love with these children but with this organization as well.

 Return Ministry has a small house with fifteen true orphans that are taken care of by Pastor Samuel's parents, but the larger part of their ministry is in the community helping the fatherless. I wish I could recreate Pastor Samuel's speech to us about the importance of fathers and their authority, but I know I would not do it justice. What I do remember is him telling us to not be visitors today but to be mothers and fathers to these children. Hold them, cuddle them, play with them as if they were our own. I did not realize these were things not commonly present in their culture, but the children still desperately needed it. Most of them had mothers or grandmothers taking care of them, but not in the outwardly effectionate ways we thing of here in America.

 As we climbed off the bus we were amazed at the sight of these kids. They were dressed in there best clothes for us. Some looked like they could be flower girls and one was even in a red velvet dress on this hot day. The kids sang for us and then our group sang for them. We played, laughed, and broke the kids up into age groups to do different activities. It was busy while we all sang silly songs, colored, painted nails, and the older kids heard the same "gold" message from the other day.

 After all the fun, it was time for lunch. Before we arrived today, I assumed that we were feeding the kids today the meal they get everyday. It wasn't until we were handing the food out that I asked more questions. I was so pleased when I saw the large portions of rice, beans, and some veggies, and then my heart sank when I found out they only get this once a week and sometimes it's only porridge and other times not even that. These small children ate more food at that lunch than my "picky eaters" eat in a day. How their bellies must hurt before that food and how it must hurt some after all that food, too. If it was the only meal I could count on for the week I'm sure I wouldn't leave a grain of rice either. We helped do the dishes after which is a huge job itself. There were only about 150 kids there today because of school, but the feeding can get up to 300 kids. Can you imagine just doing all those dishes by hand with no running water?! My favorite part about this program is that it's not just for "sponsored" kids but for all the kids in the village. You want to know the crazy part? For this amount of food it's only $1/kid! I could feel my heart starting to stir as I watched these children eat.

 Some of the children were getting tired by this point in the day and after such a big meal. The smaller children climbed up into our laps for a nap, but I was surprised to find that the little girl I had been hanging out with, Vanesa, wanted to cuddle up for a rest as well. I figured she was around six or seven years old and was shocked to find out later that she is nine. I was happy to be a lap for her to rest in.

 After we fed the children lunch,we headed back to Pastor Samuel's house where his wife Sarah made us an amazing lunch! We had a chance to hear about Pastor Samuel's plans for the future with this community and finding self sustaining ways of bringing education and jobs to the struggling single mothers and their children. It's a beautiful vision and I can not wait to see where it goes! Back at the guest house, the team went for ice cream but I decided to stay behind and rest. I still didn't have full strength and the next day was our second day with Return Ministry where we would walk the village and do home visits. I knew that would take a lot, so I headed to bed early. Without my fearsome roommate with me, I enterd the sitting room outside our door only to find my cockroach waiting for me. I grabbed a shoe and held it over him. I must have had a good day, because I didn't even have it in me to kill him. I said good-night to my new friend and asked him politely to not come back in my room. A shower was a must before climbing into my sleep sac on top of the bed and getting a great nights sleep.