Uganda

Uganda is a beautiful place located on the equator that makes the weather and vegetation perfect. There are countless types of plants with amazing scenery. The people are so nice always waving and smiling usually yelling mzungu mzungu which means white person. We stayed with missionaries Natalie,  who works at the orphanage where we worked and with Tiffany and Sarah who were from the UK. Sarah is a nurse and Tiffany does a lot of different projects and works with a lot of groups who come into Uganda. It was awesome being in a home and having meals around a table. It was great hearing the missionaries stories on why and how they came to Uganda and how the Lord is so good and faithful. 

We worked at Luwanda Orphanage in Mbale. We worked with the Thrasher team from Texas. It was so much fun having another Texas team with us. They are mostly teachers doing a teacher training for all of Luwanda teachers and staff. The girls on the team were in charge of filling in for the nursery school teachers while they were having training. I was helping a man named Mark with putting shelves together. We didn’t have very many resources so we used a variety of ways to make shelves. The lord is so good in working things out. We were able to make 12 shelves took about 3 days to complete, but I was signed up to just do construction. But God has ways of working things out and changing plans. There was a lady named Mary Jane from the Thrasher team that was in charge of doing science experiments with the 6th and 7th graders. She wasn’t a science teacher, but came up with many different activities to do with the kids. After the first day we were there Global Journey team was talking and sharing with the Thrasher team what we do back in the states. I shared that I was a science teacher for 5th grade and just finished my principal certification. The leader of the Thrasher team was so excited said that I could help Mary Jane with the teaching part of the experiments and investigations. I had so much fun teaching Ugandan students and knowing God had me here for a reason and seeing how things work out. God can use our talents and passions on the other side of the world. The students were not used to doing experiments and fun things that involve science. They usually just memorize facts and regurgitate those facts but never get to see it hands on. The kids were so excited and had a great time doing these activities. They just don’t have the resources to do these things, but the Thrasher team brought over lots of science equipment to help with this problem. I would love to help collect materials for the school and maybe send over to them when I get back. Above all the experience was all about God. It was so cool that everything we did centered around God. He has truly blessed these children and totally redeemed their lives. 
Natalie told us a story about one of the girls and how she was found in a bag abandoned and left for dead. A little old lady found her and tried to take care of her but was unable to for long because she was very poor. The little girl ended up at the orphanage and now is doing great. She is so in love with the Lord. It is so great seeing God work and how he loves these kids so much. He has taken something that satin meant for evil and made it into an incredible story about his love and redemption. 

I was able to also continue to help Mark with construction and we built book ends for the library and repaired things around the school. 

The people here in Uganda have been evangelized to, but discipleship is missing. Pray that God is raising up a generation that seeks his face and will change Uganda. You can see especially in the orphanage that God is doing this. You see how God has given people Hearts for Uganda and his people here. One of the days we were able to go into the village and deliver buckets full of food and materials that will supply there meals for a month. We delivered these buckets and were able to pray and share the love of Christ with these people. The people in the village live in mud huts and have very little. It was great to see the faith of some of these people. They could all teach us a few things about living and relying fully on God. It was a very humbling experience. 

My time in Uganda has come to an end but my heart will forever be here. I love the people and how God is changing this place. I hope to come back if the Lord wills. 

This is my last country and now I’m headed home. I had other commitments that the Lord has prepared for me to do. I am sad about leaving my team as they travel to France, but know it is God’s will. I am so excited about the next half of the summer and what He is going to do in the life of my youth at camp. I pray that walls will be broken down so the Lord can do work and change lives. 

My life is forever changed by this experience. I don’t know if I will ever be able to express all of the things I saw, did, and all the ways I encountered God. Pray for safe travel for the team as they go to France and pray for me as I travel back to Texas. I want to thank all the people who gave and supported me. God is so good in providing a way. 

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India

The time I had here in India will be a time I will never forget. We spent about 8 days at an orphanage here in India. We played, we sang, we worshiped, and did life with about 40 orphans. There are about 150 kids in the orphanage, but many of the kids this year went home for summer vacation.   The majority of the kids are not orphans that have lost their parents. Their parents want them to have a better life, so they are sent here to live. This place saves a lot of the kids from living on the streets. They get three meals a day, an education,  they are protected, and most important they learn about Jesus. The spirit is present here, and God truly has blessed this place. Out of the chaos of India where there is mass idle worshiping of statues and animals, God has made a safe haven for these kids who are considered the lowest class here in India. God is raising up a generation that will worship him and change India.

We arrived on the 13th and got to know the kids over the last 7 or 8 days. We were able to bless them by going to KFC. Something as simple as going to eat chicken blessed them so much. The kids do not get to eat meat very often, so they enjoyed it a lot. We were also able to take all the kids and staff to a water park one day. We had such a great time playing with all the kids. These kids enjoy the simple things that kids in America may get to do and enjoy all the time.

I loved how the kids do not have any video games and little TV. The kids play games that they make up and learn how to interact by playing games that are not on a screen. My favorite part which was my biggest struggle at first was not having any place to go or do but sit in his presence.  We had prayer 3 times a day where we sang songs and worshiped the Lord. We closed every prayer with the Lord’s Prayer which was really awesome to hear all of them saying it together. Seeing these kids who truly love God and understand real worship. I learned that we don’t need all the material items we have but all we need is Jesus. All of those material things are just distractions and the enemy uses those things to take our minds off of Jesus.

Having running water, AC, being able to eat meat, and having a comfortable mattress and pillow to sleep on are some of the things we take for granted in the USA. I realize how selfish I am in the fact that I complain about not being comfortable and not getting things my way when these kids have none of the things that we think we can not live without and are more satisfied than we ever could imagine. Have more joy than people in the USA could think of having and be so selfless and giving. It is still so hard to explain and process all God has taught me at this stop, but it was such a wonderful time of pure worship.

James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  This is what Emanuel Children’s Home does for so many kids. Their lives will never be the same, and my life will never be the same from meeting and getting to experience the love I felt while I was there.

check out those balloon hats and swords (wands)

Never easy saying bye.

at the Taj

So blessed by meeting up with blake and meeting this man here in Agra .

The Starfish

Sunday Church

The Team at the Harbor

The girls, plus one. (We have had a great time getting to know and hang out with you. Thank you for showing us around.)

What a great time we had in Hong Kong. I will never forget this experience. I was able to meet some awesome people and be apart of an incredible ministry. The Lord has his hand on this ministry, and great things are happening. While we were here over 12,000 bibles were taken over to China. So awesome to think that someone will get those, and the Lord will show his truths to them. We take the word for granted in the states, while people in other parts of the world would die to have just a piece of it. The enemy tries to prevent God’s people from having the word because he knows that the word is living and breathing and changes people’s lives.

The 12,000 bibles taken into China sounds like a lot, but compared to the millions who need the word it is a drop in a bucket. The missionary reminded us of the story of the man who was walking along the shore. And as he was walking thousands and thousands of starfish were being washed up on the shore and dying because they could not get back to the water. The man quickly began throwing the starfish back into the water. Another man said, “Why are you wasting your time? You will never be able to save them all.” The man replied, “No, but I can save this one, and threw it back into the water.” We made a difference to a few, and God will use that to make a difference to many more.

Now it’s time for the next part of the Journey. We are off to India in a few hours. Please be praying for us, and the ministry that we will be apart of.

Psalm 67: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.”

Hong Kong

Hong Kong, what a beautiful place full of fascinating people. The culture is rich and different than anything I have experienced. I have enjoyed every minute of it. The beauty is everywhere. I feel like at times I am in a giant greenhouse. You can imagine the lush vegetation.  The task that we have been entrusted to do is an important one being that the Chinese church is in great need of bibles. We make many trips a day taking loads of bibles across the border praying that we will be invisible as we cross. It is not illegal to take bibles into china, but the Chinese government only allows small amounts of anything through the borders at a time. I have been stopped twice in one day, and the first time they made me give up what I had. The second time I went through, I was stopped and the whole time as I was in line I prayed that they would just let me pass without unloading my cargo. The man looked at me and said, “only bible,” I nodded, and he said, “just go”. It was an awesome moment. I was so pumped as I walked very swiftly through the border thanking Jesus.

Be praying as God is doing work this week, and pray I will decrease and He will increase. So excited to see what else he has in store for us. Pray for strength as we are making many trips, and it can be exhausting.

The Count Down

Wow, ten more days until I join the rest of the team to go on a journey around the world. I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone, and all of the blessings God has poured out on me these last few months. I knew at the very beginning when I committed to on this trip that it was not going to be easy to get to this point. I knew I was going to have to trust God to provide the funds, and everything had to really fall into place.

The very first trial I had was when I went to send off my passport to get my visas for the trip, I had dropped it in the yard on my way to the truck, and my dog tore it up. I had to go get a new passport and pay extra, but that is where I saw the Lord work. It is awesome to see how God can work things out and provide in those times of discouragement and disperse. He provided the money even though at the time money was very scarce. He has taught through that experience that times on the trip will be difficult, and I will need to remember to always trust. In the word, it says that he never leaves us or forsakes us. He has started a good work and will continue it.

At that same time, my knee was giving me a lot of problems, so I went to the doctor. The doctor was a Christian, and I told him I was going on a mission trip and was nervous about my knee holding up throughout the entire trip. He prayed for me and it was such an encouragement. My knee is doing a lot better, but please continue to pray for my knee, and that it will be 100% when I leave.

God has provided in a way that I sometimes worried about the most, but should have known that he was going to provide. I am fully funded and was blessed with more than enough. I have been so blessed, and God is faithful.

I am ready to go now, and very excited about what God is going to show and teach me along the way. Please be praying for the team and me as I am leading them. Pray that I will be bold, and that I will decrease and He will increase. Pray that I will make wise decisions and be able to lead the team spiritually in the truth. Pray as a team, we will be a cohesive unit focused on one thing and that is bringing God Glory.

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