i know.  i’ve been silent for so long.  this is one of those times… when i don’t write for too long, i have a hard time getting back to writing b/c i can’t figure out what stories to choose from such a long period of time!  so today you’re just gonna get some random thoughts. :)

the other day i was walking to church (about a 10-15 minute walk from my flat).  an absolute stranger came up to me, grasped my hand hard, and said (in Luganda), “eh!  you’re walking on your feet!  but the dust will strike you!”  i love being able to understand luganda a little more, its so interesting to me how they say things.  every sunday that i walk to church, i ask neighbors along they way, “tosaba lelo?” (literally “you’re not praying today?”).  some say yes, they will go after washing their clothes (which means they will arrive somewhere in the middle of the sermon, just in time to be able to say they went, but don’t have to waste too much time there).  others say no, they’re too busy.  one, on this particular sunday, told me it was too dusty.  its dry season right now.  the dust really is horrible.  and its hot.  i arrived at church almost muddy, sweaty and then covered with a layer of dust.  but how i wish that GOD was such a friend of these people that they would WANT to go to church – on time – no matter how much dust will strike them or how many clothes they have to wash!

at church, as i was walking in, the person leading the service was praying. the first line that i heard as i entered was “thank you for giving us meat sometimes”.  are you ever thankful for the meat on your table?

so it got me thinking about thankfulness.  the things we take for granted.  like meat.  and the fact is, sometimes even i don’t want to go to church.  i sometimes fall into these wee pity parties.  i miss church in america probably more than i miss anything else from that side of the ocean.  i miss being able to sing songs i know and understand in a comfortable atmosphere.  i miss deep teaching from the Word of GOD that challenges me and makes me think about things i’ve never thought about in my relationship with Jesus.  and yet here, i can go to church.  i can meet together with other people who believe in Jesus without a fear of being caught, arrested, or my church caught on fire while i’m in there.  i can walk to church, talking to everyone along the way about where i’m going, encouraging them to join me.  and in all that, i have the gall to have pity parties, to complain to GOD that i can’t worship in america and therefore want to stay home from church.  just some meat for thought. :)

its time for the story of tom.  i’ve talked to you about tom before.  tom is a challenging little fellow at the orphanage i work with in jinja.  he has been my friend ever since i started going there.  he’s the one that i was told had demons, because he is very strong.  everytime i visited the orphanage, i went and spent time just holding tom, praying for him, crying over him, napping with him so he would stay in his bed, trying to love him because i didn’t know what else to do.  i think he probably has autism, is nonverbal and responds to very little except being held tightly and whatever he can put in his mouth.  tom has a reputation at that orphanage.  word was that he eats everything in sight: shoes, plastic bags, toys, sticks, his clothes, even his own poop.  which was true.  but he WAS improving.  he is hard to control, runs whenever given a chance.  very strong, can overpower an adult.

although he’s probably about 6, tom has been in the babies’ house until now.  the orphanage leadership decided it was time to move him to a big boys’ house, mostly because he is a lot of work and the babies’ house is filling up with babies, who are also a lot of work.  so, we thought and prayed about which big boys’ house to put tom in.  all were in agreement of what would be the best house, and auntie rose (the housemom) was informed that she’d be getting a new “son”.  unfortunately, tom’s reputation preceded him.  auntie rose cried, begged for the leadership to change their minds, and when they didn’t, packed her bags and wrote her resignation letter.  auntie rose is one of the best “moms” there, tough on the boys, high expectations, but so loves them deeply.  it was going to be a big loss.  when i heard that she was leaving because of tom, i cried.  this is exactly what i’m working AGAINST… this attitude of fear towards kids with disabilities.  it was discouraging.  but i knew that the “heart” can only come from GOD, so we prayed.

that day, i was leaving to come back to kampala.  i was doing my rounds to say good-bye, and auntie rose later told me she heard my voice and came out of hiding to talk to me.  her eyes were puffy, i asked her how she was, and she shared her heart with me.  it was all i could do to hear her out, i was angry to hear her talk the way she did about my friend, tom.  i asked GOD for wisdom, patience, love, all of which i NEVER have in my own flesh for someone who is speaking badly of one of my kids.  HE gave it.  i talked to auntie rose for a couple hours, telling her stories of kids i’ve worked with that i haven’t known what to do, and have only made progress because of the wisdom of GOD.  we talked about the fruits that we are promised if we are living under the power of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, patience, long-suffering, etc…), and that our Father promises to provide wisdom if we ask.  i told her that we have no right to turn GOD down when He gives us a child to love.  and i told her that if she didn’t want tom, and didn’t want to seek GOD’s help, she NEEDED to leave because i love tom deeply, and i don’t want him to have a mom that doesn’t love him.  i was full of passion, as some of you know me to be when it comes to “my kiddos”, and the Holy Spirit brought so much Scripture into the conversation.  she seemed to remain hard and angry.  so i asked if i could pray with her, then would say good-bye.  she interrupted me mid-sentence, starting to cry.  “GOD has brought you”, she said.  she took me to her room, showed me her packed bags, and said that she had stayed up all night the night before, deciding finally that she would leave before she took tom into her home.  but somehow, somewhere in our conversation, the Holy Spirit worked.  she said she had never seen such passion, such love, in someone for a child who was not their own.  praise GOD for His love!  she promised me to try with tom, to love him, to ask GOD for wisdom, if i only promised to help her.  GLORY TO GOD!  i was so relieved, for no other reason but auntie rose’s promise to try to love.

so, my plans changed.  i popped back to kampala for a quick meeting (that’s when elijah, brian, and benji came with me for those of you who read the last post), and went right back to the orphanage.  the next morning, work started.  i picked up tom from the babies’ house and walked with him to his new house.  auntie rose was waiting for us.  she had carefully cleaned her house so that he wouldn’t have anything to eat.  we let him wander for awhile, auntie rose and i following.  he was clearly uncomfortable in this new place, with new people.  auntie rose tied some bed frames on the entrances so that tom couldn’t run away (see them in the background of the pics above).  the morning went well.  we ate lunch, he ate OK.  then i left for a minute, and while i was gone and auntie rose was washing dishes, tom managed to poop and eat about 1/2 of it, smearing it all over his body.  when i got back, auntie rose was unhappy, had cleaned him up, and he was back outside playing.  about 30 mins later, i got called away to another kid, so left quickly.  during this time, tom pooped again, but this time a lot more, and did a lot more smearing… all over the veranda, his body, etc…  one of the kids came and told me, and i went rushing.  by this time, auntie rose was done.  she was angry.  angry at tom, angry at me for getting her to agree to this, and angry at the world in general.  i helped her clean everything up, she had tears in her eyes, said she couldn’t do this.  i cried with her, it was frustrating, disgusting, and discouraging.  while cleaning tom, i prayed aloud, asking GOD to help us know what to do.  from that time on, until the end of the day, auntie rose ignored tom.  i sat with him and prayed.  lots.

that night, tom slept well, and auntie rose woke up again determined.  we decided to bite the bullet and provide diapers for auntie rose to use with tom to avoid the eating poop issue.  tom pooped in the potty both in the morning and at lunch, didn’t eat anything but food and his shirt, and everything was looking up.  i firmly believe that GOD did some serious intervention on tom’s behalf.  tom had a great day.  i lived there for the day, encouraging tom’s new “brothers” (7 boys ages 7-14ish) to play with him, teaching them how to keep him from eating their things, answering (or trying to answer) all their questions as they watched him settle into their home. “what is his problem?” “why does he eat everything?” “does he have demons?” “how did he become so strong?” “why will he only eat from a red plate?” “why does he eat that way?” “will he talk?” and so many more.  so many opportunities to share the love of Jesus, and to help them understand the truth that even tom is made in the image of GOD.  i’m crying just thinking about that day, watching that beautiful dance of typical kids getting to know one they don’t understand; first afraid, then trying to be nice, figuring out how to interact, and finally smiling and enjoying the differences. 

that afternoon is when my sickness hit in full force.  auntie rose told me to go and sleep, informed me that she would be just fine with tom.  she sent one of her boys that evening to say that tom was doing fine.  the next morning, i went and checked on them, and auntie rose was smiling, albeit a wee bit hesitantly.  one of tom’s new brothers was sitting beside tom, keeping him on the potty, while another brother did that one’s chores for him so that tom would poop in the potty.  i told auntie rose that i needed to leave, to come to a doctor in kampala, and to call me with any questions.

a couple days later, i got a phone call from auntie rose.  with a smile in her voice, she told me that tom was doing great.  she’d tell me more later.

i just popped in to visit the other day, just to let auntie rose know that i’m still around if i can help with anything.  as soon as i got to the orphanage, i started getting stories… from kids and staff alike.  “tom sat in church today!” “tom isn’t eating anything!” “tom adores auntie rose!”  i went to see tom, and found his brothers throwing a ball with him.  auntie rose was so proud, telling me that tom isn’t even eating his shirt anymore.  he sits at the table and eats with his brothers (as long as he has a red plate).  he poops in the potty, and when he poops off the potty he doesn’t eat it.  he sits calmly on the veranda, watching his auntie cook, or watching his brothers play.  i took the picture at the top of this post that day… can you see the slight smile on his face?  tom is happy, content, loved.  how i praise GOD for this story of redemption.  how i praise GOD that we can call on Him in times of distress, and He will answer.  He’ll answer with changed hearts, with love, with wisdom, patience, joy, kindness and gentleness.  He’ll answer by providing His people to do His work with His little image-bearers. 

pray for tom, auntie rose, and his new brothers.  pray that we’ll all have wisdom about how to help tom reach his full potential in the Kingdom of GOD.

can i just tell you what this handsome fellow has seen in the last couple weeks?  of course… with the help of my Father, who lives with me in the car… and your giving and prayers. :)

• transported “Flat Stanley” from a class in TN all over uganda, but here’s a picture of him in downtown Kampala, enjoying the “jam” (our word for traffic) with me.
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• carefully passed the many ladies paid about a dollar a day to sweep the roads.
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• transported very many people on many “impassable” roads, managing to avoid this situation completely!  this is a police car that skidded off the slippery tracks.
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• avoided bumping into the many “bodas”, or motorcycles, loaded with all sorts of unique loads.  this one seems to be the local paper shredding truck.
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• transported a grieving family and extended family members from a burial back to their home, stopping along the way to pick up the kilos of food that would be needed to entertain visiting mourners (sorry, no picture… but will try to bring the full story later).
• given these boys a “field trip” into the big city, and transported us home despite the driver having a not-so-happy fever.  i was at their orphanage in jinja, and had to come to kampala just for a meeting.  thought it would be a good opportunity to give some kiddos with disabilities an “outing”.  thankful the orphanage let me “steal” 3 boys for a few hours.  elijah is nonverbal and because he’s a little difficult very rarely leaves the compound of his orphanage.  brian and benji both struggle in school, so i asked them to come along to help with elijah.  they felt very responsible, and did a great job.  not only that, but for about 15 cents each i got to take them into the big national stadium.  they were so excited to see where the CRANES (uganda’s football (soccer) team) play!  elijah was a little scared of going down the steps once he got up, so scooted down the whole way on his hiney.  the meeting was at a school specifically for kids with disabilities, and when we got back in the car, brian and benji were for the first time impressed with how “good” elijah is!  they had a newfound respect for their orphanage-brother, having seen the behavior of others which was a lot worse!  but back to the car… brian and benji had their first lesson in cars: what do the red lights on the back of that truck mean?  how does the engine work?  how can pushing a button make the window go down?  where are all those people in those outside cars going?  why aren’t these cars moving?  what does that dial mean?  what are those numbers?  the questions didn’t stop for the entire 4 hours of driving.  except for the time i put on some music and they sang along.  and the whole time, elijah kept tapping me on the shoulder, saying, “mama” – and pointing to everything.  what a blessing it is to bless others, to give these kiddos opportunities to ask questions and learn.  we stopped along the way for snacks, ice cream at a petrol station, roasted bananas at a road-side grill.  brian thanked me for “wasting” my money on them, all 3 devoured their treats with such joy.  i told them it wasn’t a “waste” and it wasn’t my money.  it was GOD’s.  see how your money is being used to bless others?  total, each one cost me about $1.50 for the entire outing.  thank you for providing for me so that i can bless others.
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• maybe most importantly, provided ME with a place of refuge during tiring travels, between training sessions, the only place for me to be quiet and alone.  my car is a haven for me in so many ways.  i so look forward to driving to a new place, with an empty car, listening to music, air conditioning on, rejuvenating my soul for the next stop.  THANK YOU to those of you who GOD used to provide this haven of rest, and for those of you who pray for safety on the roads so that it can remain that haven.

hi, friends.  so many of you prayed for the doctors visit today that i figure i should update you.  there are some theories (if you’re medical and curious, ask!), still no real answers, but all the blood numbers are moving, albeit slowly, in the right direction… so for that we’re thankful.  keep praying.  he says i need to take it easy for a month, and then go back if still having these funny fevers.  so that’s what i’ll do.  i’m so very thankful that it is december, holiday time, and that things are slow right now here.  schools are out for the month, people are closing down for the holidays, so my calendar is also pretty empty.  isn’t GOD amazing the way He orchestrates things like that?  but… i’m not a sit-at-home kind of person, so you can pray that i don’t go crazy.  thankfully, i have lots of stories to tell you about… ;) once i start feeling strong.

while we’re talking of bodies, i can’t bypass this opportunity to mention the body of Christ.  i’m so thankful for my mission family, many of whom are calling to check on me, some providing meals, others company, etc…

and of course the community.  yesterday, when i didn’t leave my house for church, a couple neighbors came by to make sure i was ok.  i have so much to be thankful for.

thank you, thank you, thank you for praying.

hi, everyone!  i’m just taking a quick minute to let you know that i’ve had two weeks now without electricity.  thus the silence on this blog, and with most of your emails.  sorry.  i’ll be back once our electricity is back!!

quickly, for those of you praying, i have several trainings coming up that i’d love you to pray for.  saturday is the parents (the one last week went well i think… thanks for praying!).  sunday is a church in jinja.  and then the following saturday is the training of church of uganda teachers and sunday school teachers in the mbale area, to which 210 people have been invited.  that’s a lot of people, so u can pray that i’ll be brave. :)

thank you!

so… i’m seeing so many pictures of pumpkins on facebook… that i decided i’d show you the pumpkin part of my world!  knowing that thanksgiving and christmas are right around the corner, i decided it was time to start the pumpkin season myself.  so i bought a pumpkin:

… means your prayers were answered. :-) this was my thank you gift from the school after the second day of training.  it jumped around and clucked and pooped in the back seat of my car for the 30 min drive to where i was sleeping that night, then i kindly gave it to the people i was staying with to thank THEM for the free bed for 2 nights.  isn’t it cool how GOD provides? :)

thank you all so much for praying the other day.  the second day of training was very interesting but went OK.  only OK.  i didn’t feel like i taught it well.  only one of the gov’t officials came back, none of the ones that seemed bothered by all the talk of GOD.  we talked a lot more about disabilities and teaching those kiddos, since the spiritual stuff was somewhat “out of the way”.  i didn’t feel at all like i connected with the people like i did the day before.  BUT, all that being said, i definitely felt prayed for.  there was no spiritual animosity at all, all the people that were left were the ones with agreed with me the day before. :)  i’m so thankful that i can rest in the sovereignty of GOD in these times, trusting that He will bring AND remove who He wants to in trainings like this.  so thank you.

after that training, i went to tororo.  met with any gov’t official that had to do with education or disabilities, had lots of good meetings and made lots of good contacts and shared lots of “contacts” (that’s how we say contact info here… do you say that too?).  might tell you more about that later, but for now the electricity just went out and i need to post and get off the computer before it dies.  i just got home, so good to be here after a week on the road.  i praise GOD for a safe journey, and am so thankful for your prayers.  i never take a safe trip for granted.  and i hope you don’t either… b/c i need your prayers!  thank you.  here’s another pic of a chicken from my windshield while driving… can you find it?? :)  this one is to give you an idea of the roads here so you’ll keep praying for safe journies. :)

i know its unethical in the blogging world to blog two days in a row, but i’m going to do it anyway.  i desperately need you to pray.  today i had a workshop with a wee school out in the middle of nowhere.  i asked, as i always do, GOD to help me to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in what to talk about.  as i left, i realized that almost the entire day consisted of spiritual things.  there were lots of questions about the role curses and witchcraft play in disabilities.  i really laid it on hard that witchcraft is of satan, and GOD is stronger, and so on.  at the end, i found out that there were some pretty high political people there at the training as well.  i made some people uncomfortable today.  i am going back again tomorrow.  will you please pray for spiritual protection?  i know that satan doesn’t like this blatant speaking against him to happen, especially with political people.  i hope i never take for granted the freedom i have to speak here in uganda, and to make people think.  but i know that satan can be even more binding than a government in that area.  so please pray that as i go back tomorrow the participants will continue to ask good and heavy questions, that we’ll all be protected as so much darkness and fear is addressed through the Word of GOD.  and please pray that i will continue to be sensitive to the Spirit about what to talk about.

THANK YOU.

there have been so many days in the last week that i’ve thought to myself, “i should blog about today”.  but it hasn’t happened.  and so now i’m trying to figure out what to tell you about.  i’m in mbale tonight, close to the kenya border.  how about this:  i’ll tell you the first 3 things that come to mind from the last week…

1. another kiddo has left me.  martin was a 15-yr-old friend of mine at the gov’t school i train in.  apparently, he got pneumonia while i was in tanzania, and died shortly afterward.  martin was mentally disabled, but not severely.  so… again… my heart hurts for his soul.  these are the times that i am so thankful that GOD has taught me so deeply that He is sovereign.  because if i didn’t believe it deep down, i’d struggle at these times.  with guilt (did i make Jesus known to him?), with sadness (why so young?), with so much more.  i’m so thankful He protects me from that, and i can trust that He’s in charge and knows what He’s doing, and leave it at that.  you can pray about that… that GOD’ll continue to help me figure out the best way to mourn the kiddos that i lose… and that He’ll keep me focused on getting them ready to meet Him.
2. exciting really encouraging conference with all church leadership involved in children’s ministry, uganda-wide, for the church of uganda.  these people love GOD, are deeply burdened for children, have the authority and positions to really influence the work going on with children all over uganda, AND wanted to learn about children with special needs!  i’m so excited that my friend invited me, and that we could share with them about kids with disabilities, and that i got to meet another strong ugandan christian that is burdened for kids with disabilities, and that i could make these contacts and hand out my email address to so many who wanted to pull all the people under them together for training on these kiddos with special needs.  GOD is a brilliant GOD.  once again, i rest in His sovereignty as to when and if they follow through.  you can pray about that… that He’ll open and close doors where He sees fit.
3. brilliant meeting with the one university here that trains special needs teachers.  asked again to possibly be a guest “professor”.  what an incredible opportunity to witness to, disciple, and train the teachers who go out all over uganda.  what a brilliant time to instill a real passion in their hearts for kids with special needs based on the love of Jesus.  once again, resting in His sovereignty to see what kind of follow-up there will be.  you can pray about that… that He’ll open and close doors as He sees fit. ;)

and… i’m going to cheat and take another paragraph.  so… number 4 is… REST.  GOD was so good to allow me a couple days AT HOME after coming back from tanzania.  i had a lot to process, think thru, but i was also tired.  not only did i have time to rest, but i also had time with friends, both missionary and ugandan, who i could talk with, pray with, etc…  lots of cooking, feeding friends, and walking around the community to greet and catch up with friends was exactly what i needed to “recharge” before this next trip.

wow… been a long time.  i just got back from tanzania, and to be honest didn’t even think about my blog while i was gone.  so i’ll try to tell you a little bit and show you some pictures.  as you probably know, i spent my teenage years in tanzania, arusha to be exact.  this time, i went to dar es salaam.  it was so nice to be back in that environment, where i could talk in swahili without having to think like i do with luganda.  i also really enjoyed being back in a mslm environment.  the feel of the culture is so different… and i really like that “feel”. :)  so, first, i went to a conference called “sharpening your interpersonal skills”.  its a brilliant conference, teaching you how to be friendly… among lots of other things. :)  here’s the group of us:

after that, i went with 2 friends who came to the conference with me from uganda to zanzibar.  i went to zanzibar as a kid, so it was fun to compare my memories with real life.  zanzibar is just a cool place.  you ride a ferry for about 2 hours from the coast of tanzania, b/c zanzibar is an island.  here’s dar from the ferry.

when we arrived in zanzibar,

we got on a public “bus” – known as a daladala

and headed out to the east side of the island to the beach (about an hour ride).  we found a quite good place for a quite good deal thanks to bargaining

then we went back to stone town, the city on the west side of the island.  brilliant alleyways full of all sorts of cool stuff

amazing history

incredible fishing culture

resulting in brilliant food

were on the island for 4 days total, then headed back to work. :)  the two girls i was with came home to uganda, and i went and stayed with my cousin and his family.  had a brilliant time with them, but don’t have any pictures :(, and did some testing and visited a school.  so… there’s the brief rundown of tanzania!

i’m home now, amazingly, for 8 days!  am enjoying being home, taking advantage of being able to cook for myself and having my computer AND electricity (off and on!).  next week will head out on a trip to jinja, mbale, and tororo.  but will write before then i hope. :)