2 Week Update / Our Personal Thoughts

Hellooo everyone! It's Beth (Auntie Butt) here!

 My favorite Lugandan word I've learned so far is "galibwa". It means beloved. I'm learning in a very new way what it means to be beloved by Jesus. We've been here only two weeks and I've seen so much. You can never "un-see" things. In America we often would say that Uganda is a poor nation or less developed. While that might be true economically, Uganda is not poor in what really matters. They understand love, joy, grace, peace, and kindness more than any Americans I've ever met. I say that that makes them one of the richest nations. My heart has been a complete wreck ever since I received that note from Miracle. I started asking myself questions like "Why shouldn't I be her mother?" "What am I doing back home that compares to this?" and "What really is my calling or purpose?". Though some of these are "cheesy" life questions, I've really found myself in Uganda and I now know exactly who I am. I've discovered that while Uganda continues to BREAK my heart every day, my heart is getting bigger and bigger. My purpose in this life is to love people. As I am discovering more and more my identity as Jesus' beloved, I am able to pour out so much more love on these people than I ever thought I was capable of. I cannot stay here and be a handful of children's mommy right now, but I can bring back what I've learned from this experience to my life in America. I know for a fact I will be coming back to Uganda. Right now I don't know if it will be for a visit, a year, or forever, but these beautiful people have stolen my heart and I will never be the same. 
Prayer requests: Health! We're all struggling with some sort of sickness whether its allergies or flus. 

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Hi everyone! It's Corinna! 

Lately, the Lord has been speaking to me and showing me so much since coming to Uganda. I am falling more and more in love with this missionary life every single day! I feel so blessed! The other day we experienced our first Ugandan rainstorm. It was amazing, especially since rainy weather is my favorite! But as I watched the rain pour down from the sky, I felt the Lord nudge me and tell me "be thankful." As I thought about it and prayed about it, I came to a few realizations. I am learning that it is so easy to be thankful when you have nothing. In America, we are constantly bombarded by many different things. I know that for me personally, I am almost always busy with something. I like being occupied, but sometimes it can really get in the way of me appreciating what's around me and/or spending time with the Lord. Here in Uganda, however, I feel almost completely opposite. I'm spending more time in the Word and talking with God than I normally do back home, and each day I find myself falling in love with God even more. I've come to appreciate that every small thing is a precious gift that shouldn't be taken for granted, as corny as that sounds. Things that we take for granted back home, such as toilets, paved roads, running water, toilet paper, food, and education, are huge blessings here. You can't really appreciate having a toilet until you find yourself peeing in a hole in the middle of nowhere! But here I am, in Uganda, thousands of miles away from what I know to be normal and comfortable, and I have never felt so richly blessed. I feel like I've been completely stripped of everything and completely humbled. I am able to see God so purely, and I am able to thank Him for everything, even the small things. Because if I can't be thankful with the small things that He gives me, how can I be thankful for the big things He wants to give me? 

Even more, I find myself completely humbled still by the man at church who gave me 1,000 shillings (equal to less than 50 cents in U.S. money), simply because he had been so blessed by my sermon on Tuesday night. (In Uganda, it is not uncommon for people to come up to you while you're preaching and hand you money if they feel really touched or blessed by what you're saying.) It completely blew me away. Here, these people have so little, and yet they are so rich in love in generosity. Their faith is unbelievable, and it could easily put many American Christians to shame. In all honesty, that man blessed me with his simple act of generosity far more than any sermon I could ever present. I am so thankful that God is teaching me so much about thankfulness and what it means to be a servant. He is so good!!

As for prayer, please pray that God will open doors for me to reach out to more of the women here. Ministering to women and girls has always been something I'm passionate about, and I'm hoping for opportunities to reach out to them here! Please also pray that our team stays healthy, as a few of us have gotten sick. Thank you so much, friends and family!

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Hey hey hey It's Missy! 

Mukama Yebazibwe (Praise God) my friends!  This is the typical Ugandan greeting. Yes, you read it correctly. They do greet each other here by saying praise God! WHAT?! That is just a sample of the faith the people here have. It is absolutely blowing my mind! They are so passionately in love with Jesus. It is just so infectious!

God has been teaching me A LOT these last two beautiful weeks! First, God is teaching me a lot about LOVE: to receive love, to give love, and to fall madly in love with Him. He has been revealing to me many areas in mu life that need Him, which has been so good! It is crazy that I have had to go to a foreign country to hear so clearly from Him, but as we were saying in our previous blogs, God  truly is so BIG here!

Next, God has been teaching me to be a vessel for Him. In order to be a vessel, I need to invite Him to walk with me each day so He can shine through me. Here,  since we mzungus are kind of treated like celebrities (especially to the children), people are constantly watching us!  I few do not choose Jesus every day and start our day off with His presence, we are doing a disservice to our King and not ministering to our brothers and sisters here. We are all learning to be bolder in our faith and that only comes when I invite Him to walk through the day with me. One thing I was not expecting on this trip was to have down time. In that time, we spend it in the Word or fellowshipping with one another, whereas at him I would typically spend it wasting our time on Facebook or Instagram. It has been such a healthy habit that has helped me to feel so mch more joy, peace, and boldness in Him.

Lastly, I am in love. I am in love with the beautiful people and the beautiful nature that surrounds us. As we have written about, these kids are the most joyful, loving, and precious human beings I have ever encountered. The best thing about it is they love Jesus, even at such a young age! They are so rich even though the world says they are poor. I wish you could all experience the love and joy these children have for Jesus and us crazy mzungus. It is unreal! They look at us with so much love in their eyes. It  feel like the way God looks at us when I stare into their eyes. There are three sisters at the orphanage that I have fallen in love with named Angel (age 5), Hajjarah (age 10), and Habiibah (age 13). The first time at Faith Children's Home, they showed me there room and all there stuff (which was not much at all) but they were so proud of it. The even crazier thing is, they offered some of what they had to me just on the first night of knowing them. I could not believe that they wanted to share the little they have with someone they just met. My new sister do not place there value in things like I do. Instead, they place it in Jesus and the joy He brings them! Anyways, these girls are stealing my heart. Sorry mom, they are coming home with me! 

Throughout my time though, I am struggling seeing all the poverty and pain surrounding us, and not being able to make an impact. It is easy to get overwhelmed, but God has been continually reminding me that we are here to love. It is the best thing we know to do and that is why God is teaching me so much about love, not just love but His unconditional love. Alright, I should stop, but I hope you guys can grasp how amazing it is here! God is doing some awesome things here and in all of us and we cannot wait to share more with you. 

Love you all!! 

-Missy 

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My Friends and Family, Chloe here!

I want to thank all of you who supported my trip to Uganda. It will never be possible to explain to you what is happening to my heart in this wonderful country, but none of this growth in me would be possible without all of your willingness to contribute your prayers and funds, as well as listen to /

the hearts God gave you for me. 

Never in my life have I felt more needed and loved. Although I have always felt loved by my God, I have never felt that He was going to use me in this big of a way. From the first day I got here I felt His presence in a different way than I have ever felt Him before. In the U.S. it is so easy to go about your day without letting Him lead you, and remembering that He has given you breath, and each day is a gift given to us. But here in Uganda it is hard to go a day without needing Him. Being thrown into a different culture so fast is a very hard thing to get used to. Although I have felt so welcomed by every person I have come across, there is still a difference between us. The color of our skin is the obvious difference, everywhere I go I am seen, we all are, we stick out like sore thumbs. The people yell "Mzungu!" (white person), all day long. You can imagine how this would feel; at first I am not going to lie I felt so special, but after thinking about it I wish I could blend in. I don't want to be loved because of the color of my skin, my different clothes, or my different hair. The first day we were here the kids were so welcoming; they were screaming when they saw us walking down the road to their school. I felt so loved, but as we were dragged into the school my heart immediately felt heavy. Because of the color of our skin the children wanted us to come into their classroom and teach them what we know, they were so in awe of us, yet we have not done ANYTHING for them. The teachers on the other hand, have sacrificed so much. They are there teaching these children a language they are not completely familiar with, in a small classroom with dirt floors with a salary of only 150,000 shillings a month; so about $70. These teachers are there every day from 6am to late at night, coming from all over Lugazi. You can only imagine the guilt I felt for being so loved for the color of my skin, and the teachers standing by watching. The next time we were there I felt that even though the kids were pulling us into classrooms, that we should ask permission from the teachers, and ask if they needed help. They told us that they didn't, but they were sweet enough to let some of us sit and watch. Beth and I then had the opportunity to help Hadidja, the mother of two wonderful little girls who works in the kitchen and makes lunch for the 200 kids at God's House of Miracles. Beth and I got to sit with her and wash 200 dishes in a bucket of water, and talk and hear some of her story. This, a small task and small help from us, made such a huge difference in her day. God revealed to me for the first time what it was to sacrifice your time for the means of others; even if it is what you call small, it is such a blessing to the other person!

What God has been tugging at in my heart is allowing Him in, allowing Him to lead me in my day; and to be BOLD. Today I got to give a message at church on the restoration of Uganda! This was such a blessing; God has revealed to me the huge passion I have for this beautiful place, and allowed me to share His word!

I cannot wait to see all of you and share my stories. Please pray for me as I continue my time here in Lugazi; that I would constantly be allowing Jesus to lead me in my day, and be bold in the way that I love the people here.

Love you passionately!

Chloe


P.S. We just got back from our African Safari Experience! We are all so amazed with everything God has created! 

If there is anyone reading this post who does not have a faith in Christ, I encourage you to take a look at your surroundings. God has given us a beautiful world full of amazing creations, that He gave for us to govern and enjoy. 

Friends and Family,

So sorry for the long delay for an update! We have been so busy, but it has been such a blessing.

So much has happened since our last post; visiting different areas of Africa and preaching, visiting orphanages, teaching in classrooms, and visiting churches. Basically, we are getting to experience all the pastoral duties of Pastor Hudson and his daily routine. We all were talking about how we never realized what being a pastor was all about. Here in Uganda, a pastor works so hard for his community, and the communities around him. There is a lot of driving from city to city, and a lot of unexpected preaching. You truly do always have to rely on God for the words He wants you to speak.

On Friday, the team woke up early to go to God's House of Miracles School and teach a Zumba class to the students, well Heather and Chloe taught, the rest followed along as best as they could. The joy this brought to the students faces is unexplainable. THEY LOVE TO DANCE, they shake, shimmy, and "twerk" their little hearts out! During class, a little girl named Miracle came up to Beth and gave her a note, which she tucked away to read later. We were all standing together about to leave when she decided to take it out and read it aloud. Our hearts melted when we heard the last two lines, "Mother and Father have died, will you be my new mother." This one note brought to life the realities of Uganda, and the many children who don't have families or homes. It made us think about how fortunate and blessed we were to have been born into a family, even if it is broken, most everyone is still healthy and a part of our lives. Each one of our hearts ached for this little girl and we started to cry over the life she had, but God has revealed to us that even though we are blessed in America by our families and the things we have, they are continuously in the presence of their Heavenly Father, and are more rich in love and kindness than we have ever known. Uganda is going to be in our hearts and lives far more than one month; the memories and what God has shown us will guide how we live for the rest of our lives. You always hear about lesser developed and impoverished countries, and you hear the stories of the children we are writing about; but we have SEEN it, and we will never be able to erase the pictures we have seen and words we have heard. They are engraved on our hearts.

Later that day, Pastor Hudson escorted "the ladies" to Ssezibwa falls in the town next to us, Mukono. We got a little history guide and scaled some rocks along the water fall in our long skirts and flip flops, but our favorite part was the High schoolers on their field trip who all wanted to take pictures with the Mzungus. :)

After the falls, we visited Faith Children's Home for the first time, and instantly fell in love! Beth and Missy got to experience Ugandan style volleyball with Papa Hudson and the boys in the orphanage, Corinna got her hair braided by the little girls, and Chloe sat and talked with the older women as they wove beautiful mats. This experience continued into the next day, Saturday, where we spent time with the kids in the early morning through the afternoon. There were many heart felt conversations with the older kids, jump roping, games, dancing, drumming, and acting as "human paper," and having the little ones give us many many tattoos. What was most shocking to us, again, was the love we experienced. Normally, when you think about orphanages, you picture kids angry and sad, but not here. The joy of the Lord really is their strength. They are a family, they take care of one another, and care for each other so immensely. We are merely visitors, but we already feel like we are a part of this wonderful family!

Sunday was such an amazing experience. We arrived at church, where we were honored guests, sitting in the very front (next to the loudest speakers we've ever heard in a church). If church in America was like church in Uganda , we're pretty sure everyone would be in church come Sunday. It's one big party! Worship is a dance party filled with body rolls, twerking, and booty shakes :) Ugandans know how to work it! Beth and then Corinna preached in the two services in front of the 300+ people who attend each service. After the 5 hours at church we headed to Jinja to meet The Suubi's oldest son, Godwin, who attends boarding school. While the Suubi's were in a parent meeting with his teachers, the Mzungus of course got into their typical trouble by starting an uproar with a HUGE game of duck duck goose, tag, and animal noises with a million little boys. We made the kids so excited that we were kindly asked to leave. OOPS. Bad mzungus… On the way back Hudson treated us to the best coffee milkshakes we have ever had at, surprisingly, a gas station. Starbucks doesn't know what its missing with this Ugandan coffee aka nectar of the gods!

Monday started off with heading to God's House of Miracles School where Chloe spoke at the assembly and then we all sang songs together with Mark and Heather. After, we headed to Hope Christian High School and ministered to the 420 kids attending there. Beth preached and we all sang songs again. There, we watched many kids choose to change from a Christian to a "born-again" believer. Still gives us goosebumps. God is so big here and we are so blessed to be a part of His plans for Uganda. We then started our road trip off through Kampala to visit one of Hudson's sister churches. He told us of how he sold his car to pay for the foundation of this church in a rural village past Kampala. It opened our eyes to the richer parts of Kampala and then to the very poor villages surrounding it including the slums. How grateful these people are for a building to worship God in! Corinna and Missy encouraged us all as they preached to the prayer meeting. After the veryyyy long trip back we crashed in bed and slept in the next morning.

Tuesday began with a short trip to a local high school where Chloe fired our hearts up with her message about the restoration of Uganda. "Can I get an Amen!?" After this short stop we headed to a village where a brand new baby home was being opened. We loved the beautiful ceremony and were blessed to meet fellow Mzungus from Minnesota helping open the home. The whole community came together to pray over the home and bless it. It is so neat to see how the people of Uganda come together to build up their community and support those without homes. We rushed home to make Tuesday night prayer church where Corinna ministered to the meeting about how following Jesus is not always comfortable. We experienced this first-hand as we found ourselves in a tiny little outhouse, trying not to breathe in the smell, shooing flies away, while simultaneously squatting/standing over a hole in the ground. Not gonna lie, we have bad aim… We'll wash our shoes when we get home ;) Even through there are very small trials we face here, it is nothing compared to the joy we have found living here. We really can't describe to you how much Uganda has stolen our hearts.

Both yesterday and today were adventures! 

Yesterday, we spent the day with Heather and Mark and their Indian friend Kumar, who own an Indian restaurant in town with amazing food. Kumar first took us to visit an orphanage and school in a village outside Lugazi. The area it was in was beautiful, and it was a school to almost 100 kids. It was run by an Indian man named "Dada," a great man who has dedicated his life to this school. In saying this however, this visit was a struggle for each of us. We have clearly declared our faith in Jesus Christ in this blog, and know that we have truth in our lives because of the love and joy we feel everyday. What the school and Dada taught was Spiritual Science, a mix of all religions; claiming that every God is the same, and we all believe the same thing. 

What was hard for us, was that we so badly wanted to speak our minds and debate with him about what we know is true. But we knew we were called to sit and be slow to speak and quick to listen, to show him the love of Christ by simply being his friends. 

After we visited the school, Kumar took us to a nearby village to try and show us some waterfalls, which was a fail, somewhat.

We hiked deep into the rainforest, which seemed endless, and never found the falls! But it was an adventure!

Later that night, we heard wonderful Heather share her testimony which touched all our hearts and let us really see her beautiful soul. 

Then....Missy got food poisoning!!!!

No need to be afraid, she is fine now! Corinna and her spent the day at home and rested while Beth and Chloe went with Hudson, Heather, and Mark to some more beautiful water falls in Jinja along the Nile River. Truly one of the most beautiful pictures we have ever seen! 

Now we are off on Safari at 4am, we are looking forward to updating you about our adventure!!! 

Love you all!

Missy, Beth, Chloe, and Corinna

Picture Post :)

 Grace and Christian

Source of the River Nile

 Our special Dan

Animal Noises!

Chloe and Grace :)

P.E. Time :)

 Dancing with "Inna"

 Team Team + Mamma Chivuvu

Hudson, Mercy and the Ladies

 In denial of "da-Nile"

WHATS GOOD MZUNGU

 Ssezibwa Falls

 House of Angels School

BOB the Baby

BUBBLES for Bob

Our beautiful Angel

Eunice and Miss!

"If you have long hair like this it means you are a celebrity" 

House of Angels

BOB

"BUTT" and her children

Marissa is here to PLAY

Da Gurls, Aisha and Kez

Momma BUTT

Joy

  

Mamma Mercy with our favorite food, Mango.

Alice and Missy MATCH

Appreciation Post

Friends and Family,

We love and miss you, but not too much because our love for Uganda continues to take over our hearts. :)

Yesterday we started our day off at 8am with teaching the children at Faith Children's Home P.E, or at least attempted..

The children are so hard to control around us, Muzungu! As we said in our last blog, there is never an arm or a leg that is free. They are always hanging on us and loving us, never does a moment go by when we don't receive a hug. So pretty much, we were the ones in Physical Education. 

At 10am our plan was to head off to Jinja, the source of the Nile; but because we are on Ugandan time, which means nothing is on time, we left at 11:30. The drive out Lugazi was INCREDIBLE. For the first time, we saw Africa. 

Driving in Africa is so different from the states, and quite frightening. There is no structure whatsoever; no speed limits, few lanes, and people who have no limits when it comes to driving crazy! You get used to it after a while, but at first you think you are going to die in a crash. The way to Jinja from Lugazi takes you through a forest with a name too hard to remember, honestly, but it was beautiful. Uganda is GREEN. Everywhere you look there is sugar cane, corn, beans, bananas, and various fruits being grown.

When we arrived in Jinja, we visited the Source of the Nile, where we saw monkeys, lizards, and lots of beautiful birds. We were treated to a boat ride by Hudson and Mercy, that took us on the Nile and to the underground springs that are at its source! It was so beautiful! Afterwards, Mercy took us girls shopping in town, where we found the most beautifully crafted beads and clothes!

When we got back, we had our quiet time and got ready for church, where we heard Missy speak. :)

Ugandans are so accepting and loving, they love to hear everything and anything you have to say, and are so thankful for every word we speak to them.

This church service was particularly special; each of us experienced one little boy who touched our hearts dramatically, Dan. He told each one of us his story: how his mom is about to have a baby, and he cannot afford school. He is 8 years old and never have we seen a child so faithful in asking for the two things that most take for granted; health and education. At one point; he came up to Chloe and said "I want someone to take me to their home." This broke us all. We are so fortunate for the lives we have. We were able to then sit and pray over 5 beautiful children. One of the most amazing experiences. God is so BIG here, because He is needed.

We are so thankful for the fact that God is allowing us to take part in the redemption of Uganda.

Next is Mark and Heather, the two missionaries staying with us in the Suubi home. AKA our new best friends. In only three days we have been able to share our hearts with the both of them, as well as them sharing their own wisdom with us. We are so inspired with what they are doing here in Uganda. As a team, they are teaching buisness management classes to the people here, helping organize church ministries, Mark is teaching guitar lessons to young men, and Heather has a baking class for the widowed women of our church. We had the amazing chance to hear Heathers testimony and what she had to say about our time here. As a team our current prayer is to find our passions in how we serve the people of Uganda, and being bold in Christ.  

Welcome to Uganda: Day 1

Hello Everyone!

Greetings from Lugazi, Uganda! 

Well, it only took one day for Uganda to steal our hearts. After a 26 hour trip, and making friends along the way (shout out to TREY), Corinna almost losing her wallet, Missy rapping for people at the Ethiopian airport, Beth cracked out on Ambien, and Chloe almost fainting in line at customs because of the heat; we have arrived safe and sound in the beautiful town of Lugazi. We were greeted at the airport by our new papa Pastor Hudson and two missionaries that are staying here for the summer, Heather and Mark,  whom we have also fallen deeply in love with! Hudson automatically shared his hospitality and treated us to lunch in the capitol of Uganda, Kampala (where we ate, American food). From there, we had about an hour drive to our new home in Lugazi. What we saw on the way certainly changed our perspective on the way we live at home. The clay colored, uneven roads, were full of ditches and bota botas (Ugandan motorcycles). There was constantly someone at our window shouting Muzungu (white person), or someone trying to sell us something. When we arrived at Hudson's home, we were then greeted with a warm welcome from Mercy, Hudson's wife, his two boys, and the women that work in the house. By that time, our jetlag set in, and we crawled into our mosquito netted beds and crashed. 

Now for our first real day in Uganda. Our first job was to visit God's House of Miracles, the school that Hudson and Mercy started. This is a day, none of us will ever forget. As we walked up to the school, the 200 children that were playing outside, instantly spotted the Muzungu (us), and stared for about five seconds before they broke out in loud cheers. They then RAN towards us, screaming and laughing with an overwhelming joy that we were there. As, we were each being tugged on and hugged by 30 children each, we looked over at each other in tears. We were then dragged (literally) into the classrooms and were thrown into teaching grades K-5 in every subject imaginable. Corinna, somehow ended up teaching Math to 4th graders, Beth was with the babies, Missy was with the five year olds teaching music, and Chloe was with the 8 year olds teaching Religious Studies and English. When we all got back to the house for lunch, we were in awe of how much love we received. At this point we were exhausted from the day, and sat at home with Hudsons children, Trinity (5) and Redeemer (2), who LOVE our attention and our cameras. They call Corinna "Inna", Missy "Massy", Chloe "Crowey", and best of all they call Beth, "BUTT." They wore us out, so, we went up to our room and had some quiet team time. We then headed to our first church meeting. Beth, volunteered to share her testimony, and TORE IT UP at the pulpet. The Lord truly gave her the words to speak, and she reached so many hearts, including her teammates. We all left with inspired and warmed hearts, in awe of this place, and the people we met. Hudson then took us to get special treats, a Pineapple drink called Nuvida, that honestly tastes better than American pineapple, but to our surprise there was absolutely no pineapple in it. We ended the day with dinner with the entire family, and a prayer. Tomorrow, we plan to wake up and teach PE at school, then we will adventure out to the source of the Nile, Jinja, and Thursday we will go to a hospital.

We are currently sitting out on our (balcony?), having killed a huge beetle that almost killed Corinna, and being attacked by Mosquitos and Gnats; writing to you, our family and friends. We look forward to updating you soon! Love you all dearly!

-Chloe, Corinna, Beth, Missy <3

"Be courageous, let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord's will be done." -2 Samuel 10:12

Children of God's House of Miracles

Team Team + Redeemer

 Beth JOY Missy Smooch

Beth and Joy