Because of one

Before leaving for the safari park yesterday, I had taken a moment to look around at all the things in the Village. I was struck with the realization that all that I saw at that moment was the result of one....one person who simply said "Jesus, what do you want me to do" and then simply abandoned all, not giving in to limitations based on what could rationally or humanly could be done but just followed His leading step by step. And He pared her (Cindy) up with another "one" (Rose) who had already been loving and counseling these children to do what could only be described as miraculous.

And now, because of one:

- there is a Village- with 6 homes, each with two "moms" to care for the children, 2 school buildings, acre upon acre of farming, clean latrines and shower areas, a "football" aka soccer field, two homes for the staff, several cement huts for staff and visitors, a solar powered well pump,....and so much more just in the past three years.

-154 children now live in safety and freedom, no longer having to scrounge for food...or love
-154 children have a school to attend and a hope for the future
- 300+ children still in the refugee camps have a hope of something better to come- and are reminded of this hope over and over again as visitors from America come to ensure them that they are indeed not forgotten
- these children who have suffered tremendous loss and abuse and have seen things with their innocent little eyes that no one should ever have to see much less experience first hand, now have joy and freedom
- these children who have been brainwashed and forced to kill, now are gentle , kind, and oh so loving.
- the children still in the refugee camps have not formed gangs, have not resorted to violence and stealing as is so common in the other camps with children who have not recieved the love of the Father through one of His humble servants

And because of one, my heart is no longer the same. As these children continue to capture more and more of my heart, there is less and less room for greed and selfishness and self-centeredness, and much more room for real joy and freedom and love.

I pray the same for each of you, whether your experience is first-hand or through the writings on this blog. May your heart also be changed, and may you become another "one" through whom the King works His great miracles as you step out and simply say "Lord, what do you want me to do".

A mixture

Pictures:

- apparently stickers and paper airplanes are universally enjoyed

-Donna hanging out with some of the kids

- me with Jacinda, a precious girl who suffers from eye pain of unknown origin. After praying for her, she's experienced relief of the pain in her right eye, so we are continuing to pray for full healing of the left eye too!

- "dress rehearsal" dance

- Abbie and Hannah painting the name of this newest house ... "Victory"!

Our last day at the Village!

Hard to believe the time with the children is coming to an end so quickly again. The last two days since I've blogged last have been full of fun and laughter. The children have a dance, song, and music competition next Saturday for which they have been practicing hard every day. On Saturday evening, they gave us a "sneak peak" dress rehearsal of their program and it was great! I preferred their singing the best- no music, no instruments, just a wonderful blend of voices. I wished they would have performed their whole song but they said they needed to practice more. After the dress rehearsal in which the dancing was east African type of dancing, they "kicked back" and started their Acholi dancing with which I'm familiar by now (and is by far better than the east African dancing!). I of course, showed off my rhythm-absent dancing skills to which the children laughed quite hysterically. Hannah caught a little on film- I do believe the word "blackmail" might be apt in the not too distant future :)

Yesterday (Sunday) we have church (or "prayer" as the children called it) and again, it was wonderful. The songs of the children were beautiful and the presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible. Our team led a short drama in which we used some of the children as characters in the story of Samuel hearing from God, but first mistaking God's voice with Eli callling him. I then gave a brief message on hearing from God, reminding these children that God has something to say to them every day, and that His voice is always kind and gentle and loving, never scary or unkind (as many of them have experienced fearful voices and visions from the enemy). I do believe that God's heart just delights in revealing Himself to these children and it was a blessing to lead the children in a time of listening.

After church, we rested and relaxed, and then played some more with the children- relay races, several rounds of London Bridge, and a time of guitar playing and teaching the kids some new songs (courtesy of Abbie who can actually play the guitar whereas I just pretend).

Today I'm working a lot in the medical clinic, trying to gain understanding of how things are done, why they are done that way, and attempting to help in some organization aspects- quite a large task to try and tackle in a day for sure!

Today is a mixture of emotions for me- part of me is ready to come home (what is up with the homesickness this year? Apparently many of you are swell enough to miss after being away for 2 weeks :) ) and part of me longs to stay longer in order to build more of a foundation of trust in the relationships with the children and to remind them of the great love the Father has for them, to encourage them in who they are as children of the Most High King, and to watch as they bring His Kingdom here. But this time has all been entrusted to the Lord and we are blessed to be a part of this piece of His plan here at the Village for this short time, knowing that we see only a fraction of what He is doing at this time.

Tomorrow we head to the safari park for a boat ride on the Nile and a drive through the safari park. Looking forward to seeing the majesty of the great animals again this year! And let's not forget actual showers...

Love you all and so grateful for all who have been praying and interceding for us. Will be excited to share more with you all when we return..but first we must get through this whole leaving thing tomorrow. Pretty sure tissues (or a t-shirt sleeve) will be needed upon our departure.

Cultural comments

Traffic:

-It is crazy beyond anything I’ve anything I’ve ever seen, in Kampala that is

-Riding in the back of a dump truck is a perfectly normal and acceptable mode of transportation

-vehicles are built with the driver’s side on the right and are meant to be driven on the left side of the road, but it is more a matter of personal choice

- there are no rules

-stop signs are placed along the side of the road and have nothing to do with intersections

- the one who avoids the most potholes and passes the most vehicles by driving in the “wrong” lane constitutes the best driver

- in the bush, the most common jams are caused by cows and goats

-turn signals are used by do not indicate that one is turning, but are rather used at night to signal that one is passing or that there are police up ahead

Bathroom:

As I (Hannah)just returned from a late night run to the pit latrines, I will take this opportunity to briefly discuss the bathroom situation. First, I must say that they are better than expected – I was anticipating a squat pot- aka a hole in the ground, but several of the stalls actually have toilet seats over the pit. Secondly, I shall say that despite the fearful walk to and from the latrines, I prefer going at night for two reasons- flies and smell, both of which are bad during the day and essentially non-existent at night. There is however, an element of hilarity (which seems to be present in everything Ugandan) in that once you cease “going” (whether peeing or pooping) there is about a 3 second gap until the sound ends (if peeing) or is heard (if pooping) due to the fact that the holes are 35 feet deep- definitely not a familiar phenomenon.

Benefits of pit latrines:

-no potential for splash back after dropping off some big kids

-plungers are never needed (for which Tanya is very grateful)

- explosion of gas does not result in echo due to the lack of parcelin dome

Surprises of pit latrines:

- sound delay is a surprisingly difficult nuance to which to adjust and may instill an element of fear or heightened anxiety in the novice latriners

- handwashing is actually an option as there is a “sink” (aka barrel of water with faucet) and soap, although shaking of the hands is the only drying option

Addendum to “The Art of the Bucket Bath”:

-Tip of the day: never look at the color of your water in the basin.

These thoughts and comments are brought to you by the combined mental geniuses of Hannah and Tanya

Recap of the days, and pictures to boot

Greetings again, American friends and family. Currently, I am typing this as I sit in Cindy's hut with Hannah, along with 6 very handsome boys :). They stopped by to visit and we are having a fun time of hanging out and reading (and maybe eating some peanut M&Ms that Mama Cindy has stashed here!).

Yesterday was a good day of varied non-scheduled activities. Our team dispersed into activities of their choosing. Donna spent a lot of time with "her" girls, being taught some using Ugandan songs and dances of which she was required to perform in their entirety in front of the girls. She will be performing shows upon request when she returns to America.

Abbie and Hannah painted the name of the newest house "Victory" on the side of the house. It took them 4 hours. If it were only Hannah the perfectionist performing this task, she would still be painting as I write.

I spent some time in the medical clinic, attempting to aide in the organization of the medical supplies and increasing the efficiency of the inventory keeping, a mighty task to be sure. It seems that there is a general sense of disorganization of when it comes to handling large numbers of things, likely as there really haven't been large items of things to compile and manage in the past.

This morning, our team and a few others took a ride in the back of the dump truck to the Nile river where we were blessed to experience a dugout canoe ride across the river, sitting just about eye level with any potential crocs (thankfully, we didn't run into any, literally). Mike, the missionary man here at the Village, took the task of scooping out the water with a plastic bowl as it trickled in via several holes in the wood.

This afternoon promises to be lots of fun as it is Saturday and the children do not have school. There is the potential of a "dress rehearsal" of the song and dance competition, and relay races are also being hinted at as well. My heart is so full right now. What beauty and joy surrounds me right now!

ps. note the glitter on the children's faces in the first picture with me above---a result of the object lesson on handwashing...very nice :)

Guest post from Abbie

Being the ‘newbie’ on this journey my eyes have been opened and my mouth has been shut. I feel as though I can empathize with Mary in many respects when she “cherished these things in her heart.” As I listen and watch all the children and events around me, I consume in order to take in deep the life found here. Everything is bigger here, even bigger than Texas. Just yesterday I attempted to catch a cricket, a menial task in the states- but I failed as I aimlessly swung my hands towards the red dirt. And as the cricket bounced away I believe it laughingly chirped at me.

My life up to this point has seemed so small, this I even knew before coming to Uganda. What caught me off guard was the smallness of my own eyes and heart. Joy and pain of this magnitude doesn’t give you much leeway. You either dive in or run for the hills. And I laugh as I remember; this is exactly how Jesus is to humanity. Accept Him or you deny Him-there is no room for fence sitting here in Uganda or with the Son of God.

Two days ago we traveled to one of the many IDP camps where a host of orphaned children still live meal by meal. Hundreds of faces with not so hidden pain look quickly at us in expectation. A few of these little ones are missing clothing, small portions of cassava root covered in flies and dirty from head to toe. And the thing which strikes me the most (or maybe the least?) are the missing families. No more are the parents to each of these children. And where is the help for the little boy with bowed legs and a broken foot? Just maybe I’m the answer to this prayer.

As the school children began singing for our team-the very small babies, not yet even speaking, held onto us. Never letting go, these infants’ hands gripped our legs, pants and hands. For it might have been weeks, months or even years since they have been held…

While the storm rolled in we quickly began to pack up in order to head home. Here most of the youth must walk for miles in order to go to school and tonight, walked miles simply to greet and sing to us. We began to head towards the van and as you walk away, the little ones holding onto me refused to let go. My heart tore in two, as I had to pry their tiny fingers away from mine. Stoic faces remained as we pulled away. In this moment my world grew bigger.