Expect A Change

God is calling. He is placing on my heart mighty things! EXPECT A CHANGE! Things that happen on a daily basis and that I see are so hard to describe but how I know it is shaping and changing my heart. I continue to seek after God and what He has. What a sweet sweet time this is with Him! So different than any other time in my life. Other cultures teach and show you so much at times it helps me to understand my own better. I feel this drive and desire but do not yet know what God is building in my heart! In time I know He will reveal it all to me. It is hard to wait, but I take courage in the meantime. “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” –Psalm 31:24 Cherishing and enjoying every moment in the mean time. There are things I experience to help shape for the future. What joy it is resting in the Lord. God is moving healing areas I did not even know that still hurt. They were areas I had suppressed. But He is doing mighty amazing things! And I know He will continue this good work which He has started in me.

the baby room during lunch time

I have been spending little time everyday with the kids in the baby room. Helping out but also just spending time with them. How quickly these kids have wrapped my heart up. They all are so special and have such personalities (already!). There is Olupot (5yrs), Sundae (4yrs), Able (4yrs), Moses (6yrs), Juma (5yrs), Joshua (5yrs), Adango and Apio (twins 3yrs), Gloria (4yrs), Eric (4yrs), Sam (1yr), and Christine (6mnths). Not for sure about age, but around that age. These are all the kids that live at Smile in the baby room. The day babies are all ones that come with their older siblings for the day. They are the ones we bath, feed and take care of for the day. All of these children are around 1 year old and younger, Philip, Richard, Paulo, Esther, Irene, Jessica, Blessing, and Allowu. And they are ALL so precious!

I witnessed Apio talking to JaJa Grace the other day and it was a whole little conversation about taking a nap and getting the other kids from outside to come in also. So cute and adorable to see them interact and talk in their language. I can not put into words exactly but was amazing to see JaJa talk to her. You could just see how much JaJa cares for her and all the other kids. She is so patient and sweet to them. A real JaJa (grandmother) to all the kids that live at Smile! You could also see just how Apio’s mind was working, she is such a curious and stubborn little girl and this personality was showing through her true colors in this conversation. I did not know exactly what they were saying but I could get from gestures and tones how it was going. Amazing to just sit there and watch. Such precious children of God!!!

Whenever I am near any and all of these kids I just feel such a heaviness to pray for their futures. Who knows what they will see, experience and deal with. But I know they are children of God and He holds them in the palm of His hand. I just can’t help myself not to pray for them still. They have captured such a special part of my heart and I so look forward to that moment in the day where I go visit. They look at me and just take all of me in while I am looking into their dark beautiful eyes. I love to hear them chant my name when they can see me coming from far off. Some of them run into my arms and I scoop them up one by one, smothering them with kisses and hugs. They just take it giggle and embrace me. How adorable these little ones are! Their minds are so bright and have such a future to be and or do anything they want. They are getting amazing care and given what they need by living at Smile. Or for those that come for the day, they receive such love and care the day while they are at Smile. They are just so cute; here are a few of them so you can just see for yourself…

JaJa Grace and Baby Sam. This baby is her very favorite and you can tell by the way she so cares for him, don’t get me wrong she loves all the babies but Sam is her favorite (we all have them!).

Sundae is one to always have a dirty face, but a huge silly cute smile! He is so fun to play with. He loves to be chased and laughs so adorable. He also has this walk that just makes me giggle every time!

Gloria is not sad, but when you try to take her picture usually makes this face. She is one to always be out playing and getting into trouble. She loves to be going and doing, very active little girl.

Moses is the oldest and brightest! He is also one to often be very silly. He always has a smile and just warms my heart! He is one to always give me a huge hug and be around to help or play.

Adongo is the taller of the twins. She is very silly and is always wearing this smile! She is one to just give you a look and then run off, come back and then run off again. She loves to cuddle but also play.

Apio is the smaller one of the twins. She is the one that is a bit sneaky. Adongo and Apio have grown so much since I have been here. They are now using the toilet by themselves and have graduated to outside the baby room for the day. They both love to play and be loved! Apio is one to always have something to say and just go on and on about anything, I do not always know what she is saying but will just talk to me anyways! Both of the twins are little and so cute!

Olupot is one of my favorites. I wrote about him in one of the earlier blogs. He is always into trouble. He is stubborn as they say here. He loves to smile that huge adorable cute smile. He and I hang out a lot just being together!

Baby Christine is just growing so much. She came in November as a new born baby, just days old. Now she is holding her head but and getting a little personality.

Some of the Day Babies! left to right. Richard, Jessica, Blessing, Allowu, Ester

Richard is the brother to Ruthie (one of my favorite little girls, she is in P1 and calls me momma). He has a big belly due to the amount of food this boy eats! He is very healthy and loves to eat everyone’s leftovers. He is almost always happy but doesn’t smile that much, but loves to play and giggle. It’s adorable to watch him and Ruthie interact. She takes great care of him and he loves her so very much.

Jessica is super smart. She also has a wonderful sister that takes great care of her. Jessica will help you wash/bath herself in the mornings. It is super cute. She is always happy but also does not often show it with smiling.

Jessica with a part smile!

Blessing is one of the babies that we care the most for. He is often sick and malnourished. He has a very big puss pocket on his head (looking here on the right side). This is something that is often treated, but the mother does not take care of him. He is becoming healthier and even starting to smile more, but he still goes up and down on the roller coaster of health. He has a sister that takes care of him, but she is also not very happy. I think they both just need to be shown so much love and care.

Allowu is often sick, but when she is not she is such a happy girl. She loves to play, giggle, and SMILE! She is one that just looks at me and warms my heart. She is getting older and not sleeping during nap time, so we have graduated her just recently to be outside all day with the nursery age kids. It is great for her and she loves to be playing with the other kids all day. She has two older brothers that take amazing care of her. All three have great big smiles and are very happy kids.

Esther is a very needy little girl, but I love her so much. When I first started helping out she did not want to come to any muzungus and would just cry and cry and cry. But now she has gotten use to me and will come to me and not cry. She has an older sister that is very protective of her and will not just leave her with anyone or by herself. So she has a wonderful sister that takes great care of her. Esther also has a brother that is super cute. All three of these kids are very happy and loving kids. They are such a joy to be around. Esther is one of the youngest day babies.

Irene is always very serious with this face. She is also very smart and older like Jessica. Irene will help you bath herself also. She is never really mad, upset, or happy. She just makes this face, which is quite cute!

Irene and Paulo on Christmas Eve day after getting their sweetie waiting for someone to help them get home. The older kids at Smile are very good at helping the littler ones make it to Smile and back home each day. It is quite a responsibility when it is not even their brother or sister, but I have learned that they all take care of each other here!

Paulo is a very funny boy! He is very spoiled and needy but adorable. Just look at that Smile! He is usually happy but often throws fits to get things his way. In the time I have been here he has learned to walk and is now walking everywhere. He is very close to graduating from the baby room also. What fun it will be for him to go play and socialize all day with the other kids.

Philip is a messy boy. He is older also but sometimes comes back to visit for the day. He is very sweet and smart. He does not cause much of any trouble, just curious so gets into everything. He is always happy and always smiling. He has an older sister that lives in the baby room, Gloria. It is always interesting to hear the stories of the families and how one of the kids will live at Smile and others will just come of the day. All have a story!

These are the little ones that bring joy to my life on some rough days, but they also just do it everyday. I miss them even when we are gone for a day. They have such precious, sweet smiles and the way they look at me just melts my heart. I love them dearly and pray for them often. Hope they have blessed your day with their sweetness…

Education and Support

IF YOU READ NO OTHERS, PLEASE READ THIS ONE AND PRAY ABOUT WHAT GOD IS CALLING YOU INTO…   I know it is long but take the time to really read this post!

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to bring something to mind and for you to pray about. Please really consider and pray about this ALL!!

From the book called Serving with Eyes wide open doing short-term missions with cultural intelligence by David A. Livermore. From the section on Poverty vs. Wealth. “There is a difference in “need” and “want”. “20% of the world live on $1 a day. Another 20%  live on $2 a day. 20% of USA live on more than $7 a day. The remaining 40% are somewhere in between. The combination income of the 447 wealthiest people in the world is more money than the combined assets of 3.25 billion people in the world! (These numbers might have changed a bit due to date and publication of the book.) Americans make up 5% of the world, but we consume 50% of the world’s resources. THINK ABOUT THAT!!! We consume half the world’s resources. The problem of hunger in the world is not the eath’s ability to produce food for 6.5 billion people; it’s the inequitable distribution of food. More than 2 billion children live in our world, half in poverty. 1 in every 4 children in the world has to work instead of going to school. 8% of people in the world own a car. PERSPECTIVE. Perspective on “need.” Perspective on “hunger.” Perspective on “money.” Do you feel as if you’re living paycheck to paycheck? You may well be, and my point is not to diminish the financial challenges facing many Americans. But it’s all about perspective. It’s about serving with eyes wide open.”

Now think about your own life, I do not know where you come from, what is going on, or exactly how you live. BUT there are children out there that need help, and more than likely you have something you can give. I am not asking just for money! I am asking for you to pray and consider your life and family. How often do you waste food? Waste could be due to going bad, cooking too much, not wanting to eat any more, etc. How often do you over eat? How often do you over buy food and things? You say you are poor, which you may be for American culture, but to so many other YOU have a lot and can offer so much!!!

These kids come from not very much to give so much. They all have such stories that will change your world. They have shown me such love and compassion! Most of them have “parents” that dig through the trash to make money, find food and provide some for the families. Most of these kids live with one parent or a relative. They are what is considered street children. Smile gives them a safe and healthy place to be for the day. But more than that most of them are receiving education for free. But unless they have a sponsor they are not able to go to school. Unlike America and a few other places around the World, education is a price here. They do not get free education; they must pay to go to any schooling. If a child has an education they have such opportunities and a chance at a better life, just like America! By being a supporter of a child you are able to build relationship and encourage them. You are investing in the future generations around the world. You are able to have a real relationship with the child! You are giving this child one of the most precious gifts in the world, a chance but also LOVE!

Meghann Greene who was formerly at Smile for 6 months has taken on the task of finding school sponsors for these children. I also would love to see them all continue on in school I am posting this and hope you jump on the chance to help out a child if you feel God is leading you in that direction.

We would love for all students to get sponsors but these are the most needed right now. There has been money that has been given for them to start school this term, but there is no money for them right now after that.

When you are considering sponsorship please remember that these kids go from P4-S6 so potentially your commitment could be, 10 years. If you need to stop sponsorship for some reason it is ok, however; it is difficult to find new sponsors for the kids. Just keep this in mind.

Meghann’s Post:

I pray that God will lead 10 individuals, families, couples, or even groups of employees to sponsor these children that I grew so close to during my time in Uganda.  I pray that these children will get the education they deserve.  I pray that more education will give them a chance they might not otherwise have.

With God working through Smile Africa Ministries, I know this is possible for these children.

Munama Dan. The quietest, most well-behaved boy in class. Very smart, and a very hard worker.

Mabonga Peter. As a perfectionist, Mabonga is very hard on himself. It was a challenge, but I quickly remembered how that was ME when I was in school. I loved figuring out ways to boost his confidence and help him to see how smart he really is.

Kirya James “Jimmy”.  Jimmy had perfect attendence the entire two months I taught at Smile. That is HUGE. He always made me laugh. He gave 100% every single day.

Ogillo Amos. I’ll be honest…I struggled with this boy at the beginning. But once I really got to know him, and his family (his mother works at Smile), I grew to love him very much. He progressed SO much academically just in the two months I was working in the classroom.

Amoo Anna (Ogillo Amos’ sister). Anna was the only girl in my class…and the boys definitely let her know that. Props to this girl for all she had to put up with. Yet throughout, she was always trying her hardest, and doing great at that.

Ojiambo Isaac. (Many of you might remember my post on Isaac and Ben a while back…if you forgot, you should take a look.) Isaac was by far the smartest boy in class…academically much further along than what I was teaching the other students. I always tried to do something a little special for Isaac to still challenge and teach him. I see a lot in Isaac’s future…he just needs someone to give him a chance.

Sanya Ben (Isaac’s brother). Sanya is such a sweet boy, and he actually was supposed to be in P2 rather than P3. Because his older brother was in my class, and after working with Sanya, I knew I wanted him in my class. Sanya gets very anxious very easily, and he needs a lot of one on one help. I wanted to be that one to do so. His English was not great, but he always tried so hard. And his math skills….awesome.

Teko Isako. Isako was the student I got to know the least, because of him not being able to come most of the time. But whenever he was around, I could always count on him being on the of the first students in my classroom.

Yusefu. Oh how Clark and I loved this boy. Yusef was also supposed to be in P2, but he constantly asked me if he could come join my class. Once Clark arrived, I let him, because I had more help in the classroom. I so wish I would have let him come sooner. Yusef gives everything 110% and is SUCH a kind boy. We taught this boy to read many basic words in less than two weeks, and he caught on so fast. Yusef can go very far in life…I know it.

Robert Okedi- 16 and has finished P5 and needs a sponsor to continue on in P6! He loves to play futbol, spend time with friends, listen to music, and he someday hopes to become a Doctor!

I know I can find a way to send all of them to school, and give them a chance to go so far in life.

So please pray about it.

Go with your heart.

Many of these children have lost parents to disease, have parents run out on them, face the temptation of alcohol at a young age, and have no food at home. All have seen things that no child should witness. Yet ALL have so much joy and such a craving to learn.

Around $80 will get the child supplies needed to start (uniform, school bag, shoes, mosquito net, and a mattress).

After that, it is $25 every 3 months.
And if the start-up fee is a little much, talk to me…and we can work something out. Like I said…I feel like these are my own children.

If you think about it in total it is only about $180 for a WHOLE year! This is little to nothing, honestly…

Talk to people you know, groups, churches, work, etc. Help me and these kids with a future by giving them support through school. School does give a child a future no matter where they are in the world!

Starfish story by Loren Eisley…

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…
“I made a difference for that one.”

Email me if you have questions: megh.greene@gmail.com

If you have any questions you can ask me or go directly to Meghann Greene. Either way we please prayerful consider your connection to these children! Blessings upon your day… And remember you can make differences all over, all the time, whenever, where ever, that is EVERY DAY!!! Just be you and let God’s light shine through your life!

cooking

 

Well we are about half way through my stay in Africa. A week ago I could count on one hand the amount of times that I have been able to cook food in Africa. The food we did cook was amazing. It was fun to all be together and try to fix a meal in Africa while changing things to how it has to be done in Africa! Oh what a new enjoyable experience! I really like to cook, and have honestly really missed it! I am so very thankful for having a kitchen where I can cook every single night in, now! WOW!! But back to before we had this house. We would go over to Rochelle and Jess house (they are white missionaries in Tororo connected with International House of Prayer). They have started an organization called Youth A Blaze here in Tororo Uganda. Marie and Anna lived at their house for a month while they were here in Africa. We cooked some good meals before we moved into this house. We had a Mexican girl’s night, spaghetti with sausage and skillet nights. On these nights we would come from Smile and go straight to the house and start cooking. We would spend some time just all together playing games or just talking after dinner and clean up. These were some good nights spent all together.

Now we can cook all the time! I have remembered what a stress reliever to cook is for me. It has been amazing to be able to cook at our house! I am so very thankful for this. Plus for me I am able to cook gluten free foods and feel so much healthier. We have mostly cooked veggies since we have lived in the house. We have made some good baked goods, sweet potato fries, mashed potatoes, sausage, scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, skillet veggies and potatoes, ah oh the possibilities in food now! I feel so blessed and it is amazing how food affects the whole body. Sorry to post again about food but this is huge here for us all. We all feel so much better from just the few days of being in the house and eating the foods we have been now. Thank you God for all these changes and amazing possibilities! What a blessing you have placed before us. Oh the joy of food and cooking! It is something I really love and so glad I am able to cook again! Some days it is the very small blessings that I count as the best and biggest!!!

Here are a few of the other meals we cooked with the different groups of girls over the past 4 months:

Spaghetti and sausages…

Sarah, Marie and Anna working away in the kitchen.

Anna, Leah, and Sarah putting the final touches on dinner.

ummm… spaghetti and sausages!!!

Skillet veggies and sausages mix

Holly and Sarah cooking away.

look at those amazing veggies and sausages!!!

Mexican night

Holly and Nadine working on the salsa

Rhonnie and Sarah working on the Cheese

Rhonnie and Hadassa hard at work. The orange bowl is SALSA!!!

Look we all work so hard to eat such yummy meals!

DINNER!

home made salsa and guacamole dip, fresh grated cheese, fresh chapatti, and seasoned taco meat!

YUMMY!!!!!

thank you for the soccer balls

Lee Hemming I wanted you to know just how much the kids love the soccer balls you sent for them. This is typical of any ball, mostly soccer balls, which are brought and given to the kids at Smile. They all chase after it in any hope to just kick it even just once! They all get so excited they trample over each other. It ends up being a huge mass of kids all chasing after each other and the ball. The slower and younger ones just follow them all around the Smile complex. It is fun, sad and cute to watch. The pure joy and excitement they get in playing with a new ball. These balls were amazing and a lot of fun. I do have to sadly say that they only lasted a few days before they ended up with a punch (hole) that results in it deflating while playing with it. But luckily there is a pump and we can pump it up while still playing! Oh how they love to play with balls! It brings such joy throughout the whole Smile complex! It is so much fun to play with them. I played some futbol with the boys a couple of different days last week. One day I was playing with all the younger kids when the older boys came out of class. They decided they wanted to play also, so we split up teams. All the older boys vs me and the younger ones! I do have to say and rub it in that me and the younger ones WON! The ending score at 4pm when they had to all go home was like 6-2. Never underestimate the number of kids vs the skill that is on the field. It was so much fun. The younger ones felt so good about themselves and the older boys just played! The little ones love to play too but usually get pushed away due to being younger. The older ones just want to play hard. But we figured it out and all had fun together playing soccer! What fun days! What amazing memories! I keep snapshots in my head of some of my favorite memories; this one is defiantly embedded in my mind! Thank you again Lee for sending them for the Smile kids! We all really appreciate it and have fun playing with them!

Transportation in Africa

One more story to add to this weekend in Jinja! It is funny now to us all due to it being after the fact, but at the time NOT FUNNY AT ALL!!! So when leaving Jinja we were trying to find a taxi going back to Tororo like always, by going to the taxi park. We found two different ones that said they were going to Tororo and they both were trying to get us to get on their taxi. We decided on one after they pretty much pushed us into it and then just waited for it to continue to fill. I was sitting next to Leah and she said to me I don’t think they are going to Tororo and I felt the same thing. We asked some people we were sitting by again if they were going to Tororo; we do not know if they didn’t understand us or they were just saying it to please us but they insisted yes Tororo. We have found several times that in Africa they just say things that they think you want to hear to make you happy. It is not bad just frustrating at moments! This is one of them!! Well we just went with the flow and hoped for the best, which is always the motto when using African transportation. It is always an adventure that most days I am totally up for. And for all of us after having such a restful weekend we were all on quite a high. This is how we brought in the New Years day…

We were all packed in this taxi just going along having the time of our lives and just enjoying the time together still. As always the taxi was packed and totally funny to us all this day for whatever reason. We are a good hour or so out from Tororo still and the conductor turns around and asks for money. Leah says no and we look at each other like what… We came upon the Busia Tororo split which is about 28 miles still from Tororo. The taxi turns right towards Busia and stops. The conductor looks at us and says Muzungos out! We are like what?! Are you kidding me?! NO really!!! The driver and conductor get out, they say ok pay us. This is where they were going to drop us off. We are like no way! There are no taxis around, and we are in an area where there are baboons in the woods and it’s coming to dusk. WHAT are we to do exactly… They say pay us and go wait, there will be more taxis coming. We are like no way are we paying you until we get another taxi. Then they were asking the full price we negotiated. At this point Leah is so mad, walks away to talk to a Boda Boda and discuss a price and talk to other people close by. At this point I step in to talk intensely with the two men. I am so mad, they  have lied to us, are asking too much money, and are just leaving us on the side of the road!!! Holly, Nadine, and Rhonnie are there with me too, we are all talking to the men. We are trying to talk them down to lower price or not to pay at all since they said they were going to Tororo and then just drop us at the side of the road. Then the conductor goes into the brush and grabs a big rock and says he is going to stone us if we do not pay. I am like no you will not! You will not touch us! We keep talking and we are all getting so frustrated. At this point I am think ok we just talk them down a price and will figure it out from there. I would rather them go and stop annoying us all. Plus we are still just a group of white girls in the middle of Africa at the mercy of African transportation! So we talk about a reasonable price of what it would be to get us to that point, I make it known again that they directly lied to us, we are not happy, paid and sent them on their way.

Once they have left, we say ok now what do we do… We go towards the road to wait and hope for another taxi to come by. After some time where there are NO taxis going to Tororo, we ask a man (that was on the taxi with us) if he thinks there will be any taxis. He says maybe hopefully, who knows. At this point we are like ok great, NOW what!?!?! So we decided to call Dennis our Ugandan friend to ask what he thinks. He says he will figure this out for us. In the mean time we also decided to call Pastor Ruth to ask her also. She says she will send the Smile van to get us right away. She found it a bit funny but also was very concerned for us. She said to stay there all together and the van would be there shortly. In the mean time Dennis calls back with a few options and we tell him we called Pastor. He says that was very good thinking, and prays for safe journeys the rest of the way to Tororo. We waited about 30 minutes and then we finally saw the amazing glorious Smile van coming down the road to pick us up! What a way to start a new year! Oh what joy the year of 2012 will bring. I can only imagine what the fun adventures Africa still has to offer us in the time we are here!! Well we defiantly learned our lesson; make VERY sure you are on the correct taxi going to the exact town you want! And also that God is good and will always take care and provide! What an amazing God we serve. Oh and what fun adventures in Africa!

A little bit of heaven

off we go in a Taxi for the new year weekend…

Sorry this is a very late post… HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! So this is what we did and how we spent the weekend and brought in the new year of 2012!!! By the way if you did not know this is the year of restoration and new beginnings, so get out there and make something special of this year. It is already February, so seriously get up and go out there and make some changes you only have 11 months left…

Holly, Leah, Rhonnie, Nadine and I went to Jinja. I was exactly what we all needed to get away for the weekend and just relax. It was a time of restoration for all our souls. It was what we needed to be able to go on with what God is calling us into this year of 2012! I think we were all feeling very exhausted and run down. We stayed at a place called Surjio’s that is a pizzeria and guesthouse. The girls said it was amazing pizza, the best they have had in Africa thus far! It was real pizza cooked in a brick oven. They also made Mexican food for us, and amazing dinners. The place was so peaceful and relaxing to be at. There was a pool that we all very much enjoyed, every single day! The scenery was just beautiful it was a little oasis. It was located right on Lake Victoria and the Source of the Nile was right around the corner. So of course we had to go see it. We went to the bottom of the hill, got a boat and went on a little ride to see the source of the Nile River! The Lake was beautiful and just great to see all the sights.

Walking down the hill to Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria

Waiting for the boat to pick us up

The boat

boat ride – Holly, Nadine, Sarah, Leah, Rhonnie and the boat driver in the back

looking up the Nile River from Lake Victoria

The “SPOT” the Source of the Nile River

Sarah, Rhonnie, Holly, Leah, Nadine

local fishermen

Lake Victoria

Sarah, Rhonnie, Holly, Nadine, Leah

Where we returned with the boat

We did not do too much other than just relax and take in a good weekend all together! We stayed up to bring in 2012. We had some chocolate, ice cream and Coca-Cola as a special treat to bring in the New Year. The most simple, basic, warmest New Year I have ever experienced thus far in my life. The best part was just being with friends. We talked about the last year, what goals we have in the New Year, and just reflected all together. I am so very thankful for this amazing group of women of God I am surrounded by. They really have helped shape me while in Africa. They are constantly challenging, uplifting and laughing with me. We just cherish life better together. Already thinking about leaving them all makes me a bit sad. They are amazing people! But then again what is most exciting is I now have really good friends around the WORLD! And I know they will be close in my life forever, we have shared so much together and it all connects us. God has such an amazing way to be our centers and connect us all no matter what our backgrounds are. It is so amazing to see how we all help each other. God has such a plan to have us all here together and I LOVE IT!!! So thankful for the Christ Family! What more could we ask for! We are all connected by the true amazing bottom love, GOD!

May this year bring such newness for all your lives! Step into what God has for you in this year. Don’t back down from anything. If you feel called then take the step. You are surrounded by Christ’s family and God will always walk with you! Just listen to what He has for you in this year! Take courage…

MY HOUSE!!!

Well I should say our house! And we move in tomorrow Wednesday morning!!! That is right! We are moving out of the Crystal hotel and into a HOUSE!!! What an amazing God! This is such a miracle and blessing to us. I do not even know where to start or how to explain it all. But this is AMAZING!!! (have you caught that yet…) We have been praying for this to happen since November. In all honesty, we stopped praying and just left it alone. And NOW God has placed this before us. It is one of those moments that I remember just how big the God I serve is, even though we stopped praying He was still working on it for us. It is always in God’s timing and NEVER when we think it should be. I feel so blessed and ecstatic to be moving into this house. We have already talked about all the possibilities this will bring us. We are already dreaming up what this will be like for us. I am so thankful to God for this house!

The front view, within the True Vine compound.

Let me tell you a bit about the house. It is HUGE! Well for us it is way too big but will be great for having lots of people over. It is called True Vine Guest House. It is located within a compound that has a school and church, all connected with True Vine Ministries. The Guest House has a wall that surrounds the house. When you walk in the front door you enter into a very big living room space. Immediately to your right there is the first room. This room is big, lots of space, with a very big bed (probably a Queen size bed) in the middle. There are two windows and a bathroom with toilet, sink and shower all in the room but in a little side room connected to the main room. Upon leaving this room and working around the furniture in the living room you come to the next room. This room is number two and is just like the first one, only also having a very big walk in almost closet. After leaving this room you come to a laundry little room. And guess what?!?! There is a washing machine and dryer, yes that is what I said a WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER!!!! Next you come to a big main bathroom. In this bathroom there is a sink, shower, toilet and also a TUB!!! After leaving the main bathroom, just around the corner is the kitchen and dining room area. There is a big wooden table located in front of the glass doors that look out the back side of the house. This area is big and all connected with the living room area. The kitchen has a sink, lots of counter space and food storage space, with dishes and such, a stove, a microwave, and a refrigerator! A real live kitchen where we can cook our on food and cook for others! Thank you God! Just around the next corner is another bedroom. This is bedroom number three. This bedroom has a bed (probably a full size bed) with a window. Nothing too special but it will work for us. The last room is just like this one and makes for four rooms in this house! This is the house. It has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a fully functional kitchen, dining room, and living room spaces! What a blessing!!! THANK YOU GOD!!!

Part of the living room area.

Bedroom number 1.

WASHER AND DRYER!!! (favorite room)

Main bathroom with a TUB!!!

Kitchen table looking out the back doors.

The kitchen, where we can cook!!!

Now your probably wondering how this just fell into our laps other than God can do anything… But True Vine is connected with Smile in a sort of way. We just started talking to the right people and Pastor Ruth helped us out and it just all came together, exactly how God had planned. That is the very shortened version. But at this point the details are not too important, just what a blessing this is! Thank you for your prayers through this process. I hope you feel what a blessing and what this all really means to us. We have thought up so much with this house and it is FINALLY HERE! Thank you…

(more pictures to come in time…)

Baby Room

The plain boring walls!

We have been working very hard all week on painting the baby room. Holly had this idea that it would be fun to make the room more kid friendly rather than the boring two color walls. So we took on the big task of painting the whole room. We thought it would be fun to paint animals, kids, letter, numbers, trees, and just all kinds of fun things on the ways to catch their attention. We did not realize what a big task this would be. For starters some days I forget I am in Africa and things are so different here. It was quite a day to find the paint, brushes, colors we wanted and all the supplies we thought we might need. Let me also add in here we did not think this entirely through and forgot lots of things but worked with what we had as we went along. Bottom line it looks AMAZING!!! Everyone and I seriously mean everyone loves it! It really just puts a bright spot at Smile. The workers, staff, kids all just stand amazed looking in at it. They would come and peak in to see what we were doing all week. And they all kept saying how smart it looked. (Here that means it is GREAT!) The kids just look and look and look at the walls. I know this has been something that is small but such a huge blessing to all at Smile. It warms my heart to know that it’s just something little we could do but means so very much to them all. They LOVE IT!!! Thank you God for putting the vision in Holly’s head and for giving us the ability to paint. I love being able to use what He has given me to help, share and bless those around me! Enough said here is our masterpiece. I will even break it down into days so you can witness the progress as if you are seeing just like the kids!

DAY 1:

This is sort of how the Baby room usually looks with the beds against the plain walls.

We first started with drawing on the wall a rough outline then started painting the sky.

Next we painted the grass.

By the end of day 1 these were the two walls we had finished.

DAY 2:

Day 2 was the day of big things. We added in Mountains.

Elephant

Lion

A better view of the whole wall. Elephant, Tree, Giraffe, Mountains.

On the opposite wall a tree, monkey and bananas.

Sunday (girl that lives at Smile) with Baby Jordan (nurse Grace son). Both so excited about the room!

DAY 3:

This was a details adding in day. Numbers on all 10 bananas. A cloud with moon and stars. (next day we will write a goodnight prayer in the cloud)

ABC’s on the wall, low enough where the kids can touch and trace them.

A bible verse about children, tree, and the start of some flowers in the grass.

God Bless this house over the door way, with a blue circle (what do you think this will be tomorrow?)

DAY 4:

The finalizing day. Adding in little details to finish out the room. More flowers on the grass.

The flowers were pretty once they dried, but they were annoying to paint, they kept dripping!

Closeup of the goodnight prayer.

The whole wall finished.

JaJa Grace’s Room. We even added some flowers and painting to her room, which is connected to the Baby room. She is the one that lives and takes care of all the babies that live at Smile.

Blue circle = the WORLD!

Sunshine and little kids, on the same wall as the ABC’s.

Doorway to the room. With a few kids looking in checking it all out!

close up of the Giraffe.

FINISHED ROOM!!!

Sarah and Baby Christine (one of the youngest babies at Smile). She has grown so much since the day they brought her in just about 2 months ago! She looks so big and healthy now…

Leah, Holly, JaJa Grace, and Sarah in the finished room!

Oh how they love the new room! Everyone just keeps saying how thankful they are, how smart it looks and what a blessing it is to all the kids at Smile! I am pretty sure that JaJa told us thank you every single day. And also each day she would just come in with a huge smile and look at what we had accomplished that day! We still have lots 0f work to do at Smile to keep blessing these amazing kids and workers. I pray we can just do little things like this around here to help out in any small way possible! I know that God will place it on our hearts and in our dreams!

Generosity

Today Nurse Grace taught me how to make paper beads! Just like the Chapatti there are several steps to these very cute beads. I have now learned a couple fun paper art projects. Leah and Holly also taught me how to make paper flowers. So over the relaxing weekend I did a little rearranging and decorating the room. I made some paper flowers and then used some pastels on them to color them. Here is the finished product. I then decided to hang them in our hall as if they were growing on a vine across the wall. I also included some encouraging words and phrases. So I had a very good Sarah craft ART day! But back to generosity… I am learning that no matter how little they have they love to share and give to you. They will do everything in their power to make you feel comfortable and to make sure you are taken care of. Nurse Grace is one that very much understands my Gluten thing; she is always making sure that if she serves something I can not eat that she will also make me something separate and special just for me! She is so sweet! Today she had all her kids with her. Around lunch time I came into the clinic to just sit and relax while the kids outside ate. She was serving up food for her kids. She said to me sit, then the next thing I know she is handing me a plate of food to eat! It was African potatoes (which are sweet like sweet potatoes, but white like Irish or Red potatoes), posho, and scrambled eggs. I said Grace, are you sure, and she insisted! I asked again are you sure your kids have enough food. And again she insisted I eat with them. She said I need food and she wanted to take care of me! So Adorable and sweet! She is quickly becoming my African momma!

So I ate with them and then made paper beads part of the afternoon while the heat beat down outside. These are the paper beads I made in a few hours. Like I said there are many steps to these! First you need good paper, paper that is strong and sturdy but not too much that you can not roll it. They have big wall calendars that they often use here. So the next step is to measure on one side all the way down (like hot dog fold) long ways marking every 1.5 cm. Then you flip the page around and do the same on the opposite side measuring and marking every 1.5 cm. The next part might be a bit confusing but what you do is make a line from the dot to the corner so it makes not a straight line but a very long triangle when you cut on the line. This is done all down the marks then cut on the lines. After cut you will have lots of pieces of paper with a fatter end coming to a very small point. Next you use a bigger needle to roll the paper starting at the large end to the small end on the needle. This is where it turns and looks like a bead. You put a little glue at the end to keep the paper together. The next step is to dip in varnish and then you string on with spacer beads to make a necklace or bracelet. The end! Basic simple African paper beads!

To make the paper flowers it is a few less steps. First start with an old well aged book. You rip out one page, and fold it up like an accordion. Then you for in half and tie a small string in the middle so you can later tie onto another project. You then cut the end of each side of the page into what edge design you want, kind of like cutting a snowflake but not exactly. Once you cut then you glue the edges together to make it round like a flower. At this point it is very useful to have paperclips to fasten till it dries. And there you have paper flowers. You can color or decorate them before you fold and cut or after the glue has dried. Then you add them to any art decoration, gift wrapping, or whatever you mind can think up! I love making art projects and always enjoy learning new ideas!

The African culture is very loving and giving. One of those cultures that strive to make you feel welcomed always! They are capturing my heart and showing me such amazing new ways. I feel they are showing me a new kind of LOVE and GENEROSITY! I only hope and pray that I can help show and share it with you all…

The beautiful tree by Smile that just keeps catching my attention through all of it’s season!

Look at it now, it is all green with big red flowers and a full canopy.

Prison Ministry

On several Fridays we have been going with Pastor Amos to the local women’s prison. We leave in the morning with little presents for all the women and travel to the edge of town. These roads are quite bumpy to ride along on. It does not take very long but just is not the best of road. The view on the way is amazing! Really makes you feel like you are not in Africa! It is green rolling hills, with sweet trees every once in a while, and a few round mud huts along the road. It is just cute and unique. (Sorry I have not taken any pictures) I still get car sick so this trip always makes my tummy feel a bit uneasy. But the experience it well worth it all! Once we arrive we walk through a gate, where we leave our cell phones (turned off). We then go into a big open room. We are seated at the front and then all the women file in and greet us all one by one. Some of them have their children with them. After they greet they take a seat on the floor in two rows. The number changes each time but there is usually around 20 women. Once they are all there, or the ones that want to be, we all stand and sing worship songs together. One of them usually leads; this is very powerful and amazing to experience in Africa! The female song leaders have amazing strong voices. They usually lead and we follow, it is usually in Swahili, and I have grown rather fond of this type of worship. Oh and there is always clapping, just depends on the beat of the song. Sometimes there are parts of the songs that are in English, or they will make sure to sing one song that is in English. Pastor Amos is very sweet, kind, and has an amazing heart to reach out the Gospel to all people. He often goes to all the different prisons in the area visiting the people and brings a word of God to them. During the songs, Pastor Amos will often tell us what they are singing about, just so that we can connect to the songs. He is always good about making us feel welcomed and comfortable in the situations. After the worship time, we go into someone sharing a word. It is usually one of us that just shares a bit from our heart, then we take the rest of the time to pray for all of them. Both times recently, this has been such a mighty powerful moments. We get the chance to pray for them, lay hands on them, and show them God still cares so much about and for them. We start by asking if there is anything we can pray for them, they usually share part of their story and what would be good to pray about. From there we all just lay hands and let the Spirit move within the room. We all get a chance to pray and say what is on our hearts! This last time was such a sweet and precious time. I am so very thankful for the mighty prayerful warriors I am surrounded by here within my friends. I feel that this group of young women for God can accomplish anything we put our minds, faith, and prayer life to! We are a mighty wind that blows through with the Spirit leading us always! I can not even put into words how amazing it is to pray for these women and feel so touched and blessed by them at the same moments. It has become a very special time in our weeks. It excites and encourages me to go and visit these women. The interesting thing is that they do not get many visitors, and they are starting to remember us! I am thankful for the moments I have to touch lives like these, but more importantly for these moments to happen that deepen my faith through them!!!

Little food for thought: section from the current book I am reading.

Not a fan. By Kyle Idleman

“I think Jesus has a lot of fans these days. Fans who cheer for him when things are going well, but who walk away when it’s a difficult season. Fans who sit safely in the stands cheering, but they know nothing of the sacrifice and pain of the field. Fans of Jesus who know al about him, but they don’t KNOW him. But Jesus was never interested in having fans. When he defines what kind of relationship he wants, ‘enthusiastic admirer’ isn’t an option. My concern is that many of our churches in America have gone from being sanctuaries to becoming stadiums. And every week all the fans come to the stadium where they cheer for Jesus but have no interest in truly following him. The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren’t actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them.”

So are you a FOLLOWER of Christ? Do you want all the benefits and to be close with it require some thing? Are you Not a fan? Where do you stand?