It Takes a Village

Well, we are back in the States after a long thirty hours of traveling. We are all tired, but happy to be back with our friends in family! I am still sad that I'm not back with the kids, but I know I will be back someday :)

The phrase "It takes a village" has been one of the phrases that has become incredibly real to me in the past 13 days. It was very visible when my mom and I, two days before the trip, were scrambling to find me shoes that we realized we forgot to grab for the trip. She texted a few people and minutes later, her phone wouldn't stop buzzing with tons of people offering me their shoes. It was amazing to see how much people cared to offer their, not cheap I should add, shoes for me to take to a village in Africa. The phrase started to become relatable to me when we were all sitting in the lobby in Jefferson City at the A1 boys basketball state tournament. It came out that I was saving money to go to Uganda right after they were talking about needing someone to wear the Charlie Charger mascot at the championship game. Long story short, I left for my hotel room that night with a horse costume and half of my trip paid for. I was beyond thankful and absolutely astonished that people could be that generous to help my dream come true. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. This phrase came especially real to me when I was in Uganda. As I watched women who were neighbors take care of the others children and watched Violet love on the kids like her own, I realized that "it takes a village" is a regular duty of the people of Kawete. They all take care of each other and except others as part of their family so easily. I realized that this is how the Church should be. With everyone taking care and supporting others, it really does take a "village" to raise a child in the way that they should go. 

Throughout this whole trip, I also learned that God is in control no matter what I do. He goes before us, with us, and after us and knows every thing that will happen in my life, and he does it all out of love for me. This was a big realization because I can be very controlling, so handing over everything completely to God was a whole new thing. The whole Uganda trip was an absolutely amazing experience. I am so thankful for my "village" that made it possible to happen and can not wait to go back!

Let Your Light Shine

Yesterday was another great day at CCLS-U! It was filled with lots of nail polishing, singing and dancing, and lots and lots of futbol! The guys were very surprised when I got out there in my floor length skirt and played... especially surprised when I scored!! :) We also managed to get all of the 103 sponsor kid videos done! It was super fun to get to talk to each of the kids and find out their stories. We also got to go see the Ugandan seminary that was newly built. It was cool to see it all still in progress and meet some of the students that were in class there.

Wednesday we went on a Nile River boat ride and got to see monkeys! It was awesome to see them in their natural habitat. We went out to dinner right on the Nile and Pastor Bameka gave us a lesson on how to eat the head of a fish correctly. It was interesting to see the Ugandan culture come out when he taught us just like we saw the kids get taught at CCLS-U. He would point at something and say, "And this is the meat." Then he would point to the same thing and say, "And what is this?" And he would expect us to say, "Meat," in unison. It was very intriguing to watch.

Something that is so cool about Africa is that it is so close to how God originally made it. Everything in the village, if you don't look at the buildings, looks like uninhabited land. It's absolutely incredible to see.

We had a big storm two nights ago and it was a very eyeopening experience for me. As we were all sitting in our warm, dry hotel rooms complaining about the lack of power that we had, the kids at CCLS-U and the other people in the village were shivering and trying to keep dry in their clay houses. Some had no windows and some had no doors. It kept me up thinking about them and it made me feel awful for how spoiled I am with things like this. It's not that big of a deal if I can't turn on a light for a few hours.

My main Bible verse from this trip is Matthew 5;16, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." It's super cool to see this verse come true here. When the kids smile and do things, you can see their faces light up and it truly radiates God's love. My dad was just saying how cool it is being here because it really feels like the Bible comes alive. One example that he was talking about was the woman at the well story. We started talking to a woman at a well the other day and it's cool because she was just there, just like the lady that Jesus talked to. I completely agree that the Bible comes alive when I am here. It's been absolutely incredible to see this all come true.

One of the funniest things about this trip is Violet and all of her "Violetnisms". Some of her favorite things to say are, "Oh, check you!", "No way! Yes way!", "Wow!", "Well that is very interesting". She always keeps us laughing and is so much fun to be around.

A woman was selling bananas on the street

"Oh, check you Violet"

"Make a picture, make a picure!"

"Myadisin"

Me holding a little baby after she visited the clinic. She even fell 

asleep on me!

Stuart enjoying lunch at his first day of school

He Provides

Yesterday was another awesome day in the village! It started with beautiful temperatures and ended with a warm rain drizzle and a gorgeous rainbow. To start our day, we went to the Pakistani market on the corner right before the village and grabbed some authentic Ugandan food and drinks. It was delicious! We got to the school and all the kids were in class so we started setting up the clinic for Dr. Killian and Mrs. Gordon's (nurse) first day of seeing people. Thankfully, the most severe thing that they saw yesterday was just one case of malaria out of 40 people! While some of the kids were in line so they could go to the clinic during lunch, I took some of the kids outside and blew bubbles with the kiddos! They were so happy and excited to have them that they were screaming and jumping up and down. I also played a game called "Blood" with some of the girls. In this game, you would stand in the middle of this rope circle and try and jump over it; it was very fun! Once the kids all went back to class, I saw this adorable child that I had seen a lot over the past few days. He had played with us, sat on our laps, grabbed our hands. But none of us knew who he was. I brought him over to Violet to see if she knew who he was, and she said no, she had no idea. Violet found out that he was five years old and his name was Stuart. She decided that we would go to his house to meet his family and see why he didn't go to school at CCLS-U. We wound around a dirt road for a few blocks until we got to his house. We met his mother and found out that Stuart was the youngest of five, and he always talked about wanting to go to school but because they have so many kids, that can't afford to pay for it. I immediately fell in love with him, so I offered for our family to sponsor him. They were so thankful, they got down on their knees and grabbed our hands thanking us. They showed us their house. It was so unbelievable that people lived in conditions like this. It brought me to tears to think that all of these people in houses like this in the village lived like this. Most of them also wear the same clothes every day. After we visited Stuart's house, we walked back and we got to pump water at the well! It was hard work. There were little kids over there doing it to, and I'm very impressed that they can pump the water and carry it far because of how much work it is. The wonderful day ended with kids asking us to "make a picture" and a gorgeous rainbow for the second day in a row!

There were so many God-sightings yesterday. The first one again was how joyful the kids were. They truly are happy to get the opportunity to go to school and they love the Lord, and it shows! Another one was visiting Stuart's home. They are so thankful that they have a place to sleep at night. Like we have all said, happiness is not measured by the amount of stuff people have. The last one was the rainbow again! During the nursery Bible study, we learned about how the rainbow was a reminder of how God continues to provide for us every day. This was a good thing for us to remember yesterday! We are all excited to go back today :)

God is Good

It was another absolutely incredible day today. We got to the village and sat down for our church service, which lasted 3 1/2 hours. At one point, my dad and I each had three kids sitting on each of our laps :). There were four baptisms today at the service which was amazing to witness! Everyone outwardly showed how genuinely excited they were that another child was able to become part of God's family! It's astonishing to see God radiate through the smiles of the children. When they smile, their whole face lights up! After the service, we were invited over to eat at the feast which consisted of beef stew (the beef was fresh), matoke, and fried rice. Then, we had a huge dance party in between the trees! Everyone was dancing and singing as it started to rain. There was a huge rainbow right behind the girls dormitory that was absolutely breathtaking. In the Ugandan culture, when it rains and brings a rainbow after visitors come, they say it's a sign from God that it is a blessing that they are there together. It was an awesome God-sighting! After it started pouring, the ladies went into the girls dormitory and started playing games, talking, and singing and dancing. It was so much fun! We are all very excited to go back tomorrow :)

One of the songs that the kids sang today was talking about how good God is! They listed all the things that God has made and talked about how blessed they are by God. It showed that just because someone doesn't have a lot of things doesn't mean that they aren't happy. This was another God sighting!

Day 1 in the village

Today was an absolutely amazing day. After a delicious breakfast, we loaded up on the bus and headed to the village! As we were a few blocks away from CCLS-U, the students came running up to our bus with palm branches and big smiles on their faces yelling, "Ya, ya!" and dancing up and down. Our windows were open and we each had at least a couple of kids attached to each of our hands. It was the most indescribable feeling that I have ever had. They were so genuinely excited that we were there. Getting off the bus was a whole experience of it's own! As we stepped off the bus, we were met by a huge sea of kids yelling and dancing and grabbing our hands. I had at least ten kids attached to my arms and skirt before I even was off the bus. After we said hello to everyone, the students did a welcoming dance for us! They even invited us to come dance with them! After the opening dance was done, all of the team got to go around and tour the school, followed by a large group of kids. Once I saw the school, I hung out with some of the girls in the girls' dormitory. They did my hair and we sang and danced and talked while looking at pictures of our family. I also played futbol with some of the kiddos. It was an amazingly fun day and I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

We Made It!!

We landed safely in Entebbe last night around 10:30 p.m. and arrived at the hotel around 3 a.m. this morning! Thankfully, we collected all 26 bags from baggage claim without a hitch! This morning,  my dad and I walked down to the Nile before breakfast and it was absolutely breathtaking. Breakfast consisted of plantains, eggs, french fries, and toast. I will upload more pictures tonight when we get back from the village! Thanks for your continued prayers.



a view of the Sahara Desert from the plane

a view of the Alps from the plane

Day 2 of traveling

We landed safely in Amsterdam after an uneventful 8 hour flight. It is a gorgeous day in Amsterdam! Our flight leaves in about an hour and a half. Thank you for your continued prayers!