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.