One for the ladies....

Alright ladies, this one is for you!

Have you ever found yourself in a situation when you were made to feel inferior as a woman for showing emotions? Have you ever willed yourself not to cry so you wouldn't lose face with someone? Have you ever secretly wished you could be more stoic like a man? Have you ever felt like crying made you appear to be unstable to others?

No more!

Remember one simple scripture with me - everyone's favorite memory verse as a kid - "Jesus wept." Let's say it together - "Jesus wept." Please notice with me that the author does not say, "Jesus cried" or "Jesus shed a tear" or "Jesus was moved" or "Jesus kept a stiff upper lip" - NO! Jesus wept.

The King of Glory, the one who has infinite hope because He is the Author of Hope, the Son of God, the promised one, the Messiah - WEPT!

Please remember with me that we are told in Genesis that we are made in the image of God. Well, the God whose image we bear is a God who wept. A God who didn't hold it all inside, a God who released emotion, a God who created emotions. Our God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus, wept.

Please make no apologies when a certain song touches your heart during worship and tears fill your eyes. Remember, Jesus wept.

When it's time to grieve, don't feel like you're being unfaithful and distrusting to/of God by crying in your sadness. Remember, Jesus wept.

Many Thoughts Beginning To Come Together

I'll post later about New Hope again. It really deserves a good write up, but my mind is somewhere else. Sort of. New Hope is part of what's on my mind, but it shares a lot of space.

I'm going to post some summary thoughts after coming back from Uganda a second time. They may sound challenging, but they are my thoughts, and you wouldn't be reading this if you weren't at least somewhat interested in my thoughts, so here I go.

I used to think that you couldn't come back from a mission trip to a third world country without being changed. I don't anymore. I think the last time I came back, I had been deeply affected by the trip, but I don't think I was changed. If I had changed, in time people would not have had to ask me about what I learned from my trip - they would have seen the change.

I think my first trip to Uganda taught me a lot about myself. That's probably because I was generally self-focused. How would I cope being away from Todd and the kids? Would I get sick? What would I be doing while there? Would I be safe? - Some questions were self-focused, but baptized a bit to sound more righteous - What would I say to these people to teach them about Jesus? How many people would I see receive Christ? How many miracles would I witness? (We all know miracles often occur in Africa....)

Don't get me wrong, I went the first time because I knew God wanted me to go, and I really believed I was there for Him and for all the right reasons, and who knows, maybe I was. But I came back the same me - affected by what I saw, smelled, experienced - but the same at the core.

I didn't really make any friends with the Ugandans we met. I had no one that I intended to stay in touch with. After all, when a Ugandan wants to be your friend, they just want your money. Someone told me that and I ran with it. After all, I don't have any money to give. Can't these people understand that even though my country is rich, I am not? I don't have "extra." We go without a lot of things that many of my friends consider essential because we live within our means and our means are limited. Can't these Ugandans understand that I'm poor too?

I missed out on so much last time.

I can remember telling people that Uganda was beautiful if you kept looking up. Just don't look down. When you look down you see garbage thrown randomly - haven't they heard of garbage cans? You see poverty, you see disease, you see sewage, etc. If only these people would do things like us! They don't have to live this way! We could help them so much if they would just be willing to make some small changes. And haven't these people learned about time? It's just courteous to arrive at least by 9:30 if you tell someone you'll pick them up at 9:00. Time is valuable. We have things to do for the Lord and only a week and half to get them done!

Okay, I'm making myself sound like a big jerk. I'm just telling you what was really going on in my mind. Yes, I had nice thoughts too, but you don't learn as much from the nice stuff. You learn in the mistakes - if you allow yourself to.....

This time around, I had no idea why I was going on this trip, and to be frank, I really didn't have the time to be pensive and try to "figure out" what God was up to. I was much more just along for the ride. I knew I would have a role in the women's conferences, but the Lord only put some very general themes on my heart. He didn't fill in the gaps stateside. I didn't know how often or long I would speak. I didn't know if I would sing at all. I didn't know if Todd and I would get any time to work together. The interesting thing was, this time, I didn't care. I really didn't care. I didn't go with expectations or fears. I just went.

So long story short (too late, I know) this time I was changed. This time I met people. I have made some lifelong friends. I found my soul sister from Botswana in Vivien. You have no idea how wonderful and scary it can be to find someone whose mind works exactly like yours. Someone who is wired the same. Someone who gets you and doesn't need any explanations about your words or emotions. Vivien and I met one morning at breakfast on Sunday and it felt like I had known her my whole life.

But Vivien wasn't the only friend. Todd and I came home with many addresses and emails. One of our Ugandan friends said at our last banquet "God has created a bond between our souls. You will remember us. You will come back." His words really struck me because they were right on target. We experienced God in such close, tangible ways together. We will remember our friends.

In the Bible, when scripture indicates that God remembers someone, He always follows through with an action. When God remembered Noah, he sent a wind and the flood waters receded. God remembers, and He acts. So, here's the challenge. If I have really been changed by this trip, how will that change be evident? When I remember my friends and my experiences, how will that remembrance cause me to act? If a remembrance is truly a call to action, what is God calling me to do when I remember Uganda and my friends?

Good questions..... I'll save some of the answers for another post. I'll pray that God continues to fill in the blanks as well. And maybe sometime, I'll share with you how I was changed- between trips, and during this one. That's personal - we'll see......Hopefully you'll see the changes before I have time to articulate!

New Hope Orphanage

I told you that I would save a post for the Orphanage. This is part one. I'm posting some photos and the link to the church/school website.

Todd and I have left Uganda with Pastors Chris, Agnes, and the Kids at New Hope firmly in our hearts.

A few more pics.....

Here are Winnie and the Praise Team worshipping God in Kampala at Salaama Full Gospel Church International. What an awesome Team! Enjoy the pictures of this amazing group!

Here is my friend Vivien that I have written about several times. She is the most amazing worship leader. When she begins to usher us into the presence of God, you feel like you can reach out and touch Him. I miss Vivien!

Here is a picture of London. Doesn't it look British?

Here is a monkey that greeted us at the airport in Entebbe.

We're Ba-ack!

Home sweet home! Boy it's great to see the kids! I woke up with one husband and three kids in my bed. It was nice to get up this morning and take care of the kids. We were always waited on hand and foot while we were in the hotel.

There is so much to tell about our trip. I really don't know where to begin. I'll be able to post pictures on my next post. They are all saved on my work computer which is not currently online.

I guess I'll start at the beginning and post a little at a time. God worked things out for us on our trip over. Todd and I were able to sit together on each flight. We made all of our connections. Our malaria pills did not make us sick. My asthma wasn't great, but resting for hours on end on the planes really did help. Rest is the best thing for me when I'm not breathing well.

We were able to go into London for a very short while. It was fun though! We didn't feel confident that we had enough time to tour around and see any major sites, so we just took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station and walked around town. We got a few pictures and sent the kids a post card. The dollar is very weak right now, so London was very expensive for us. It's not the best time financially to visit Europe!

We flew from Tampa to Chicago, Chicago to London, London to Nairobi, and Nairobi to Entebbe. Once we finally got to Entebbe we discovered we were short 3 out of 4 bags. I stood in line with about 20-30 Ugandans reporting our lost bags. As it turns out, the plane from Nairobi to Entebbe was very full. Not everyone's luggage could fit on the plane. There was another plane coming over a few hours later, so why not put some of the luggage on that plane? It's all going to the same place, right? So, a few hours later our bags arrived.

Pastor Ken and Pastor Chris (a Ugandan pastor in Kampala) were late picking us up. Since I spent so much time in line reporting our lost bags, we didn't actually wait outside too long. All of the Ugandan cab drivers were very helpful. We had at least 5 different drivers offer to call Pastor Ken for us. Uganda is a very friendly country! We saw several monkeys at the airport. That was very cool.

Our first 4 days were spent in Kampala. As I posted before, the air quality is very poor. It was extremely difficult for me to breathe well. I'm curious as to whether or not I would have done much better if I had not already been sick.

We loved Pastor Chris and his wife Pastor Agnes. Yes, Pastor Agnes. They were both wonderful! I'll post pictures of their church service later. The praise team/choir was incredible! The worship leader, Winnie (yes, another woman leader) did an amazing job. Worshipping in Uganda is so free and natural. The masks that we tend to wear at church do not exist in Uganda. No one tries to appear like "everything is fine." There is an unashamed dependency on the Lord that we don't often have here in the states. It's just something I hope each of you can experience for yourself someday.

We met Karen and Sandy Baird from Manna worldwide. Karen spoke along with me and Renate at the Women's Conference. Manna sponsers feeding centers all around the world. One of the newest feeding centers is Pastor Chris's orphanage in Kampala. I'll save a post for the orphanage. It was really amazing! We enjoyed Karen and Sandy. They will be coming to FishHawk in October for our missions celebration. I hope all of you FishHawk people will make it a point ot meet them!

Well, that's enough for now. I will post more later with pictures.

The Wild Nile!

We did it! We white water rafted the Nile River today, and I am still here to tell about it. Yes, I went swimming a lot. We went over two class 5 rapids. I'll admit, I was scared, but we had a really good time. Todd, my new friend Vivian from Botswana and I were the only ones to go today. The rest of the group will go on Tuesday or Wednesday after we are gone.

Our time in Iganga was very sweet. The women's conference there was amazing. The clinic was very busy, and many ladies had their hands full trying to do a VBS with the children. I am learning to speak Lungandan and am working on their traditional dance. I have a few songs now that I can sing in various African languages. I hope I can remember them at home!

We spent yesterday in Njeru which is in Jinja. Todd spent most of the day in the clinic. Vivian and I were in charge of the VBS, which turned into more of a school visit. Long story. It was fun though. Vivian, Lindsey (from Alabama) and I went over to town to see the soccer clinic going on. We got a tour through the villages and market. That was really nice. The soccer clinic went well, the tournament is going on right now. The last teams are playing and it's tied 2 to 2.

Yesterday afternoon Todd and I both had a chance to watch the Rally Team (made up of young adults/teens from Jinja) do some street evangelism with puppets and drama. They drew quite a crowd! They did an incredible job.

I'm only giving the very briefest thumbnail sketch of what has gone on here. We have seen many people accept Christ. We have seen many women blessed by Bibles, the spoken Word, and gifts. We have loved on children. (We have even had 2 girls ask us to take them home with us.) It has been an incredible experience for us. I hope to be able to share more detail later.

Keep my mom in your prayers - she has the kids now until we get home Monday night! We have a banquet tonight, church tomorrow, and then we begin our journey home on Sunday afternoon. See you soon!