Obalanga- Mass Graves- May 16, 2010

After we left the IDP camp we were on our way to Obalanga where Team Beyond has brought some healing to the people who were affected by the Lord's Resistance Army. The people would try to leave the IDP camps and go back out into their villages, but as they would start to plant their gardens they would find bodies of family members and others. There were masses of people killed for years. It is so sad to think all this was going on. They LRA was finally forced out in 2007. Team Beyond has made this place for mass graves. Some have been identified and they are named, but most have around 15 to 20 bodies in them. This has helped them people to have a place to come and mourn and also it has cleaned up the area so they can go back to their villages and start rebuilding their lives. It was a very moving place to be. To know how many people were killed in this spot! So sad, why do these sufferings have to happen?
We then moved on to home. On the way we picked up a mom and her child in a small town. Steve didn't realize that she had asked if she could have a ride to Soroti, and he said yes with his eyes. He thought she had asked if we were going to Soroti. She wanted to take her little boy to the hospital. It was a lesson in being careful what you say or the expressions that you make. But it was great to be able to help this woman who would have had to walk until someone picked her up or carry her son in a large vehicle with many people to get him to Soroti. With us she had a ride, but she was crammed in the back of our already full van. We had two flat tires and it was late when we arrived at the hospital. She never complained once. These people endure soo much and they never complain! I feel so guilty that I complain so much about small irritations. I pray the Lord will give me more patience and endurance.
This day was a very long day, but so amazing! We were exhausted, but God speaks even when we are exhausted.

Visiting Apeitolim, Karamoja

On Sunday, May 15 we visited the Internally displaced People camp in Apeitolim. These people were part of the Karamajong tribe. Pastor John Wilberforce leads the church here. God has given him a heart for these people and he has endured many hardships in his life. I will continue to pray for God's unfailing love to consume him.
This day was a very long day. We were so thankful for Tim and I found myself in constant prayer for him. The driving on the way to Apeitolim is not easy at all. There are many potholes that we would consider dangerous here and we would immediately call the city to get them fixed. On this road you barrell through them and pray that you make it without destroying your vehicle in the process. As you can see by our pictures, we came across two trucks stuck in the road and people coming from I don't know where to help push the one out so we could try to pass. After they got the one truck out they laid down sticks for us to see if we could make it through. Once again I was praying for Tim( and all of us) to make it through. We made it through and as we were going through I was praying that we wouldn't tip on our side.
We made it to Apeitolim in about 2 hrs. When we arrived at the church, the people greeted us with singing. It was so wonderful to be with these people that were so thankful that you arrived. They had been in the church praying for our safety and that we would make it to worship with them. (they wouldn't have started without us) After we were greeted and then brought to our seats, we began by just singing and dancing and clapping. By the way, visitors get seats, men get benches and women and children get to sit on the floor which is made of cow dung. Amazingly, it does not smell! The service consisted of alot of prayer, Pastor John speaking, Tim speaking, Pastor James speaking, Steve giving a message, Moses(tim and angies neighbor) translating it all. Pastor John's wife Betty did all the worship leading and she also did some of the translating when she wasn't busy nursing her baby, Grace. At one point Pastor James shared with the people that Steve and I were married and that we had 3 children at home and we were thinking of returning. They all seemed so excited and very happy that we would consider returning. Another moment where we felt God very clearly confirming that he has a place for us in Uganda. We also had a choir sing, which to me was so beautiful. Very different music, but you could tell they were singing from their hearts and they had such joy on their faces. The service lasted about 2 hours and their were young kids that just sat on the ground and loved every minute of worshipping.
One of the things that really hit me in the service was when they took offering. This is one of the things that, I think, Josh Shaarda has been teaching in the Timothy training. They had two baskets up front, one for men and one for women, in which to put your offering. I can't remember if they prayed while people brought forth their offering or if they were singing, but I was so humbled. They hardly have clothes that aren't rags and they have empty stomachs and yet they were giving their coins. It reminded me of a sermon that Pastor Tom had before we left about the women who gave her one coin and how God loved her giving. I was so humbled. Words really can't describe what it was like being here with them.
After church we went to John and Betty's hut and chairs were once again set out for the visitors. We were sitting around a little table and I didn't really know what we were doing. I was then informed that they wanted to serve their visitors a meal. This made me a little nervous, knowing I had about 20 starving children sitting behind me waiting for me to eat food that they hardly ever get. And knowing it was rude to refuse. As I looked at the table they had set for us, I saw bowls that were full of dust and wondered if it was just dust. Their were glasses of water which we were not allowed to drink so they brought us each a bottle of pop. They served us rice and goat. The rice was very good and the goat broth had good flavor, but the goat was so tough and had a lot of fat on it. Steve did so good, but I just asked for broth. I did eat one piece of Steve's and that was plenty for me. We didn't finish our pops and Betty( our 11 year old Ugandan friend from Soroti) asked if she could pass them out. She then passed them out to the kids sitting behind us which was such a treat for them.
After our meal(and before) they walk around and bring you soap so you can wash your hands. For any of you who camp with Steve, this really reminded me of soap on a rope. He did really good, I think God is so working on him that it is hard to believe. He shared water bottles and did just fine with it. I know, this is hard to believe. God is amazing and is in all the details.
We then went for a walk through the camp. We walked to the school which during the school day will have 80 or so kids to a classroom with one teacher. On Sunday though they were dancing. To our understanding, the male that could jump the highest was the most attractive. Let me tell you, they really can jump and they jump straight up. It was very fun to watch and they really wanted us to join them, but I don't think that would have been a very pretty sight. When we were here some little boys came up to Steve and asked if he would play football. Of course he joined them and then I didn't know where Steve was. The little boys had taken him to a field behind the school and asked him to bring people to make them a football field. Steve responded in the way you are always supposed to respond. "I cannot promise"
As we walked through the village we kept a steady stream of followers. They all wanted a photo taken and then they would look at it and just laugh. In many of the pictures if you look closely you can see that they are all pushing eachother out of the way so they can be in the picture. They were all so beautiful and wished I could have communicated to them that they were beautiful and that Jesus loved them.
As we were leaving the IDP camp the kids were running after our vehicle. We had many asking us for money and begging. I can't wait to be there again and maybe not give money, but give them the hope of Jesus.
One girl really stuck out to me. Her name was Agnes and she was most likely a teenager. She could not speak much English, but we communicated somehow. Her face is one that will stick with me for a long time. I pray I can see her again when we return. She sang in the choir and then followed us on and off through the village. She was beautiful and I kept thinking about what her life is like and what will happen to her. I pray that she keeps Jesus in her heart no matter what her circumstances. It was sad to leave here, but we knew we had one more stop and we also knew we had a long ride home.
My hands are getting sore so I will have to stop for now and write about the rest of our day later.

Worship Time in Soroti

Everyother Saturday night the team gets together to worship and they invite their Ugandan friends. This was an amazing night for me. We worshipped there in a way that I crave to worship here. All nations joined to worship the One and Only God. We prayed to our glorious Father in Heaven. We thanked Him and we petitioned Him. We sang praises to Him. It made me feel so close to the team in Uganda, the Ugandans, and above all, I felt closer to my heavenly Father. At the worship service, Richard (a Ugandan friend) spoke about the battles that Jehosaphat was facing and how he inquired of God. He didn't inquire of his friends, but of God. I was thinking that night of all the battles that we may face as we go home. We face the battles preparing to return, battles to help family and friends understand our call, battles for our time. I pray that I can go to God alone. As we sat in this worship time, I sobbed through most of it. I just kept thinking about how this is one of the most wonderful times I have ever had and how it is one of the hardest times I had ever had. I kept picturing my children in that room and I was overwhelmed. I know that this is where they are supposed to be, but I also knew how hard it would be to leave the people I love back home. We ended in prayer after several people had shared what God had revealed to them through His Word. As we prayed, I just prayed that God would be preparing the hearts of my children and preparing the hearts of the people I love so much.
There are many trials in Soroti, but we know that God works in all things for the good of those who love Him. Even as missionaries there are alot of daily struggles, but we trust God to provide the way, to prepare our hearts. We serve a great and mighty God.

This is my journal post on May 15, 2010

I am sitting at the dining room table listening to the rain pour down on our house. It sounds so beautiful, but I wonder if the Ugandans love the rain or if it makes their houses wet. They live in much houses with brick. They have dirt floors and I wonder if it just causes mud. But it also gives relief from the heat. The heat is very oppressive. I feel sticky and dirty all the time. I just wonder?
Today we have done many things again. We helped Jennifer bring her car to get fixed, we also saw here house. We then went to a Hindu temple. The team have friends that are Indian and they have formed relationships with them. It was very odd to be in their temple and very sad to hear such a sad religion. They don't even know what they believe. Many prayers are needed for them.
At Jennifer's house I forgot to write about the neighbors. There was a little girl there who was maybe ten or eleven. She had one baby on her hip and one on a blanket and at least one more young girl to care for. She was the neighbors slave girl. She worked for food and shelter and the hope that someday her owners would send her to school. So young to be caring for all those children all day.
We had Betty and Abayla with us most of the day. They went to the market with us and out to eat with us. They love to be hugged. When they are in the vehicle with us they would lean against us and put their heads in our laps. They just need to be loved. At the restarant we didn't let them see the menu because Angie feared that if they would refuse to eat if they knew the cost. When they recieved their food first they refused to eat until we all had our food, even though they were weak with hunger. They ar so kind and grateful. It amazes me. I am so thankful to have met them.
Steve and I are both thinking that this is where God wants us to be. We really pray that He will give us the strenth to get through the next year or however long it takes to raise support and do training.
Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

We need to give this over to HIM, if he wants us here he will provide the way. I pray for patience as we wait on Him and His timing!

First Day in Soroti

The first morning we woke and had a leisurely morning drinking coffee and visiting. Life in Uganda is not a big rush. I expected with all the people life would be much more rushed.

After breakfast we had orientation. We talked about lots of things, mostly about giving up our rights and letting God use us as he pleases.

We then went for a short walk around their neighborhood. We met Martha and she asked us to sit. We sat on benches in a little school room that wasn't yet complete. As we sat on benches she laid out her mat and sat on that. He son Joshua was very scared of our white faces. It was sad to see his scared little face. Martha also has at least two more children, Lydia and Winnie. I am not sure if she has more or not. She lives in a little mud hut right outside Tim and Angie's gate.

We also visited a girls hostel. Sarah and her husband run it and they house about 85 girls during the school time. The rooms these girls stay in is very tiny and each room houses alot of girls. One of the girls was there and her job was to sort beans. They dry the beans on the sides of the roads here and that of course means there are rocks in the beans so they have to sort through the beans and take the rocks out. Sarah's life is feeding these many girls and sharing the love of Jesus with them! It is so wonderful when Ugandans help eachother.

We then walked and saw a building that I thought was abandoned. only to find out it was a school. We met a teacher who was coming in to teach kids to read during their break. We greeted each one and they told us their names. They are so soft spoken and it is hard to understand them. You want to understand them so you can love them more.

We then walked back to the compound where we were staying. We had about ten kids that were following us and holding our hands. They were just waiting for the opportunity to play inside the gate. They did all come in and they played and played. No fighting! They have no toys so to play with Avalien and Moses toys was a huge treat! At lunch, we have to close the gate and the kids leave. We told them they could return later. They sit at the gate all day long just waiting for a chance to play. After lunch, Avalien opened the gate and all her friends came back in to play. They played dress-up and they were so cute. They all had Avalien's frills on and they went for a walk around the yard and maybe even outside the gate.

We then went for a drive to Josh and Mandy's and Bobby and Rachel's(teammates). Rachel was doing kid's club and teaching them the story of the wise builder. There were so many kids!

As we go through the town of Soroti, I am still in a bit of amazement at all the people. There really are kids everywhere, just roaming the streets or dirt roads. I wonder where all there parents are and if they still have parents!

We then went to Amecet for the first time. Amecet is a place where babies or children come to heal. Most who come don't have a mother anymore. They are usually malnourished or they have aids. They are brought here to get them well fed and then they are placed back into their family. This could be a dad, grandma or uncle. Anyone that will take them in. Alot of these kids or babies die. On the wall in Amecet there are pictures of all the kids that have been there and there is a star on the pictures of the ones who have died. So many have stars! We just spent our time rocking, cuddling and loving these little ones. They need love and they need our prayers. They are the least of these! My arms still ache to hold these little precious children.

We then went to the market, which I already told you I loved. So many different sights, sounds and smells!

There is so much to do in Soroti and not enough time. Everything takes so much time too.

I was more overwhelmed today than I thought I would be. There is so much need. They live with so little and yet they live. They love to hold your hands and they love to be hugged. They really just love to be loved. What greater love can we give them than Christ's love!!

Finally Some Pictures!!

So these pictures are kind of out of order, but I didn't know if they would come up so I will just explain them and then later add pictures to the days as I go. These children are from the Karamoja tribe where we worshipped on the first Sunday. This tribe is a very poor tribe as you can see by there clothes. These children sat thru a 2 hour service and probably had been sitting there a while before we came.

This little boy was also at Karamoja, he came in because he heard the music. He came and sat down next to Steve and he was just so cute. Alot of these kids have hardly ever seen a white person.

This is David at Amecet, he is very tiny and has a broken collar bone and he also has a burn on the side of his head from being improperly treated for Malaria.

This is our friend Moses. On the way to Karamoja we had problems with our vehicle because we kept bottoming out. Moses was always so willing to help and he fixed it along with Tim. He also changed two flat tires on the way home. He also our translator at the church service. Great guy!

This is the beautiful market. I wish I could put all the sights and sounds on here too. The Avocados here are huge and they are soooo good. Pinapple is very sweet and not near as acidic as here! We loved being in the market!

This is how they carry everything in Soroti and really all over Uganda. I will show more pictures of all the things they put on thier bikes. It was quite amazing. I was just worried about riding a bike in a dress. I did it and it was fine.

I will try to post more, but for now this is all I have time for.

Getting to Soroti, Uganda

So since I can't get pictures up here or on Facebook I will try and write what we experience without pictures.
We dropped our kids off at Steve and Linda Snyders on Monday night. The kids were so excited and the Snyders made it so easy for us. Troy was very sick, he had a fever of 104 for two days before we left and he kept it until Friday morning. It was so sad to have him sick, but these are some of the things I wrote in my journal.

The last two days I've had opportunity to sit and hold him and love him. On Sunday he was sitting on my lap and we were looking at eachother and smiling. (He was very sick) He said, "You know what my favorite part about being sick is?" I said, "What honey?" He said, "I get to spend time with you." It was so precious! He hugged me and I love that kid.
As I thought about this and why this was happening, I was thinking. This is how we need to be with Jesus. We are sick and sinful people, but the best part of that is sitting in Jesus arms and letting him care for us and love us.


We kind of dropped the kids stuff off through out the day and then we went for dinner with the Snyders at the fundraiser for the Youth Group. I could tell already then that the kids were going to be fine. Ashley sat between her two new big brothers, Aaron and Jordan. They were just so excited. Troy stayed home with Steve and when we returned, we said our goodbyes and it went well. Ashley came and gave me a big hug and after she did Troy started to realize that we were leaving and he came from the floor and gave me a tight hug. He nestled his head in my neck and he let me know he would be OK. I gave Drew some tickle torture, which he loves. It was just great.
I know people were praying for us, because I had a peace that I don't understand. God had made me completely calm. I had no anxiety and I was so thankful. Our God is so huge and he had given me a peace that passes all understanding.

The next day we headed to Chicago to my cousins so she could drop us at the airport. We arrived at the O'Hare Airport at 12:30 and quickly relized that our flight had been delayed and we were going to miss our flight in Detroit so we got on standby for a flight that left at 2:00. We got on that flight and we made our flight from Detroit to Amsterdam. When we got on this flight we were told that the flight was delayed and that we would be having a longer flight due to the ash. We were two hours late for our flight to Entebbe. They then put us on a flight to Londan to Niarobi and then to Entebbe. We flew two nights straight and the time change was in there too. We arrived in Entebbe at 9am on Thursday morning. Through all of this God still gave me a peace that I didn't understand.
When we arrived in Entebbe, we arrived without 4 pieces of luggage. Thankfully, the piece that we needed did arrive. When we arrived in Entebbe, the Sliedrechts were waiting for us. We were extremely tired. We started driving in Kampala and it was really overwhelming. So many people and traffic is the craziest thing. Roads are full of cars, bikes, cows, motorcycles and people.
As we drove out of Kampala you could see things slowly change over the next 6 hours. There were less cars, but still people everywhere and animals everywhere. Little kids were just walking around on the sides of these busy roads. People were sitting around all over. I realize now that they are just sitting where it is cool. They don't sit in their houses, they sit under shade trees.
The land changed too. It was beautiful. We passed through a rain forest. We stopped in the town of Jin Jah. Here we ate at a little restarant named Ozzie's. I had a chicken and avocado Chapati. and a fresh fruit smoothie. It was all very good.
We then finished our drive to Soroti and the land changed again to less lush and more flat, but still beautiful in its own way. Again, here there were even less cars, but still lots of people.
When we arrived at Tim and Angies, the team mates had supper waiting for us. We recieved a warm welcome.
This is how our week began and through it all I had a peace that I could not explain! I just knew that people were praying for me and I was going to accept it.

Sorry this took so long!!

We are home from Uganda and are anxious to return! We felt that God confirmed our call to Uganda almost right away. Thank-you for praying for us, God answered your prayers and gave us clear direction! Now we just have to take one step at a time and pray that God works out all the details!

I will be blogging about our days, but we have been nonstop since we have been home and it is continuing thru this week so I am hoping to post more words next week, but I at least wanted to put a few pictures up! OK so I have tried 4 times to get pictures to come up and it is not working so you will have to wait longer!! Sorry!