My Sweet Ruth

When I wrote this post I had just left Rebecca Sorensen's house.  You should read her story.  She is another precious young American girl that lives in Uganda.  God is doing amazing things through her life.  She started a school that now has over 400 students.  We visited Royal Hope Academy that day, and then she invited our team to eat dinner at her house.  With her 17 kiddos that live there with her.  Seventeen children that have no one else to care for them.  She is their mother.

We arrived at the school to a HUGE welcome from the children.  They lined the walk and sang and danced as we walked to the place where we would gather for our time together.  They had plenty of songs and dances to show us.  It was wonderful!

When I got to the front of the room with the rest of our group and found a spot to sit down, Ruth appeared out of nowhere.  She attached herself to me and didn't really want much to do with anyone else.

Ruth is a tiny six year old.  She's a complete ham.  She sang and danced for my camera.  She hugged me and wouldn't let me put her down.  When our group went to the 'stage' to teach the students a few songs, she was right there with me singing at the top of her lungs.

After the children finished welcoming us and we were finished singing, it was time to play.  We went outside and had the best time, Ruth never getting too far from my side.  I was quite the hit when I took a Woot monkey out of my purse.  The kids thought that monkey was hilarious.  They chased it over and over and over again.

When it was time for the children's school day to be over, I didn't want to leave.  I took the monkey and gave it to Ruth.  I told her it was hers.  Maybe she wouldn't forget me?  I certainly would never forget her.  I was sad when I got on the bus.  I was excited to go to Rebecca's house for dinner and spend time with her and the children that live there with her though.  We had brought flip-flops and fingernail polish.  :-)  Rebecca and some of the little ones that were headed to her house climbed on the bus with us.  Pretty soon Ruthie was on my lap.  I was confused for a minute, but soon learned that she lives at Rebecca's.  I had no idea!  I was super excited that I didn't have to leave her yet and would get to spend the evening with her!

We had a wonderful dinner.  In true Africa fashion, we lost the electricity while we were eating.  No problem.  We just lit some candles and a lantern.  I was kinda nervous at first - candles on the living room floor and 17 children gathered 'round.  There were no accidents.  :-)  We visited with Rebecca while some of us polished fingernails and toenails on the back porch by candlelight.  All the children got a new pair of flip-flops.  Ruth never stayed far from me for long.  Ruth and her monkey.

When it was almost time for us to go, we gathered on the back porch to pray together.  Several prayed.  I stood holding Ruthie while she sobbed quietly on my shoulder through the entire prayer.  I couldn't breathe.  I didn't know how I was going to leave this precious child.  I would have stood there clutching her forever if I could have.  Everyone was leaving.  Everyone got on the bus out front.  I didn't move.  I couldn't move.  I was telling Ruth how much I love her and begging God to make her know it.  She knew I was crying too and I can't imagine that was making it easier on her.

I gave her to Rebecca and I walked away.  I knew I probably wouldn't see her again.  Brenda grabbed my hand and we walked to the bus together.  I knew this was going to be hard.  I thought I did.  I had no idea.   Sleeping was hard to do that night.  I wasn't sure how I would handle the rest of this trip.

The next day we left Kampala and traveled to Jinja.  We stayed there two night and days.  I'll tell you all about it in time.  It was wonderful.

After our time in Jinja, we travelled back to Kampala to spend the night before traveling to Kenya for the second week of our adventure.  At our 'hotel' that night I was sitting outside at a table trying to find some internet to jack so I could update you all, when I heard our bus driver say "Rebecca is coming."  We had a Rebecca on our team, and I was confused for a minute about where she was and what he meant.  He wasn't talking about our Rebecca.  That's when Rebecca Sorensen came around the bus.  I saw her and gave her an interesting welcome when I blurted out "Where is Ruth??"  She laughed and told me that she thought she was in the car (when you have 17, I guess you never can really keep up with all of them.)  I ran to her van and tapped on the window.  The man that helps her with the kiddos rolled down the window and I asked if Ruthie was inside.  He said yes and said something back to her that I didn't understand.  Ruth doesn't speak much English just yet.  She got out of the van and walked around to the side I was on.  It was dark and I could tell she was frightened.

When she realized it was me, she flew up into my arms.  She squeezed me so tight.  She kept pulling back and looking at me and then hugging me so tight.  She acted like she couldn't believe her eyes.  I was bawling.

It turns out that Rebecca needed one of our team leaders to bring something back to the States for her, so she was just stopping by to drop it off.  The kids didn't know we were there.  When they figured it out, they ALL piled out of the van and we had a little reunion there in the parking lot.  It. Was. AWESOME. I squeezed her until they had to leave.  I had asked Ruth where her monkey was.  She pointed to the van, but since her English is limited I wasn't sure she understood.  When she got on the van, I asked her again and she held him up for me to see.  Ruth very own Woot monkey.  She had piled into the van with all her brothers and sisters, but not without her monkey.  ;-)

Oh how I love that little girl.  I hope she knows.  My trip was made.

I have since learned a little about Ruth's story.  She and her 3 older sisters lived with their mother who was having a very hard time providing for her children.  One day she sent Ruth and two of her sisters to a neighboring village to look for food.  While they were walking to find food, all three of them were raped and infected with HIV.  Ruth was 4 years old and her twin sisters were 6.  This is not an unusual story in Africa.  Many African children share similar stories.

My heart is broken.  My heart is broken, and I can't wait until God sends me back.

I LOVE these children.  They are God's precious treasures.

If you made it all the way through this post, thanks.  I know it was long.  Thank you for praying me through this hard stuff.

Home

I'm so glad to be home!  Oh it was so good to love on my girl, get a diet coke from Sonic, and take a HOT shower.

I'm already missing these smiling faces though.

The trip was wonderful.  Heartbreaking.  Joyful.  So full of love.  Life-changing.  Scary at times.   Amazing.

After seeing what I have seen, I will never be the same.  After hearing some of these precious ones share their stories, I cannot forget.  Heart-wrenching stories of loss and abuse... and Jesus.  Absolutely amazing stories of redemption.  These children told of things they've lived through that I'm positive I would not have been able to endure, and they are so grateful to be alive.  So thankful for what they have; which, most times, was nothing more than the knowledge that they are not forgotten by their Heavenly Father.  These children have so little.  The only reason they are alive is because God is taking care of them.  They KNOW this.  I want to NEED Jesus like these little ones.  I cannot let myself believe that I can do anything without Him.

God was all over this trip.  I saw more miracles than I ever remember in any two weeks before.  Maybe it was because I was asking (begging) for them and expecting them.  We all were.

Our second day in Uganda we visited a prison (the second of two that we visited.)  This prison housed about 150 children ages 8-18.  The kids at this particular place were actually serving their sentence (they had already been to court and the children we'd seen the day before were awaiting court.)

When we arrived, we learned that the night before the police in Kampala had rounded up 220 street children (these are children that don't have parents - they literally live on the streets fending for themselves), some as young as 4 years old, and brought them to this prison.  We were told that we would not see these kids, because they had to be kept separate and screened to make sure they were healthy enough to interact with the other children.  Healthy does NOT have the same definition in Africa as it does here.

The plan was to let the kids decorate a t-shirt with fabric paint.  These kids had probably never had a shirt that no one else had worn before them, and we had a suitcase full of brand new t-shirts.  We had another suitcase full of bottles and bottles of fabric paint.  We brought some cookies and passed those out to the kids with their lunch.  We had a time of worship and prayer with the kids.  Then it was time to start the big art project.  :-)  We separated the shirts by size and the children began lining up so that we could take a look at them and give them a shirt that would fit them.

We handed out shirts and more shirts.  The line started dwindling so members of our team started to put bottles of paint on tables and helping the kids get started.  There were about 4 or 5 of us left handing out shirts.  This was when we realized that more children were appearing.  More children than we had shirts.  Apparently, some of the 220 that we were told we would not see were being allowed to participate after all.  We were running out of shirts.  I was beginning to panic.  Diana (one of our team leaders) passed by the table and I told her we were running out of shirts.  She looked at me and said "pray."  Oh I prayed.  I begged God to somehow make sure that every child had a shirt.  How was I going to look at those faces and tell them how sorry I was that they didn't get to have a new t-shirt decorated just the way they wanted it?  The last few boys got shirts that were way too big for them but better than nothing.  We ran out of shirts.  There was still a line of boys.  That was about the time that I closed the paint suitcase (not the t-shirt suitcase) and unzipped the front pocket.  I stuck my hands in there and pulled out about 15 t-shirts that no one knew were there.  The few of us that were standing there lost it.  We were laughing and crying at the same time.  Those boys must have thought we were crazy.  Everyone got a t-shirt, and we ended up with about 5 left over.  The first thing that every last one of those kids did was paint their name on their shirt.

After we finished with the shirts, we went outside and played.  We had soccer balls, bubbles, balloons, and sidewalk chalk.  The kids had a great time.  It was hard to leave.  Especially the little ones that had gotten there the night before.

We were told those little ones would only be there a day or two before they were farmed out to orphanages around the city.  I'm thinking it was no coincidence that they were brought there the night before we came to love the kids inside those walls.

I'm thinking it was no coincidence that we had more t-shirts than we thought we did.

I have lots of stories like this one.

It's good to be home.  Thank you for praying for us.

Amazing

I am in awe of the people here.  The way they live.  The way they worship.  We let so much get in the way of our relationship with the Father. 

The boys above are in prison.  It was amazing that just the night before we got there, the police had rounded up 220 street children and brought them to this prison.  Some as young as 3 or 4.  It was heartbreaking but wonderful that we were able to minister to them as well as the ones we were expecting to see.  We played, blew bubbles, through balls, and just had a great time loving on the kids.

We visited women of the Karamajong tribe.  These people are literally the least of the least.  They are shunned here.  We visited with widows and children.  Women widowed by AIDS.  The woman above is HIV+.  She still had such joy.  They are very creative and crafty.  They make crafts to sell and make $ for their families.  We took them tons of embroidery floss and taught them to make friendship bracelets to make and sell.  The were SO appreciative.  They showed us their homes.  Oh they were barely homes at all.  They were so proud to have us there.  Some of the children were afraid of us.  They had not seen white skin before.

I wish I could upload more pictures, but it's just not gonna work.

This is so hard.  The little ones that cry when we have to leave just break my heart.  I love their hugs.  I love the way the tops of their little heads feel.  I'm going to miss all of them.

So much has happened since we got here.  Some things that I can't even write about yet.  I try to journal, and I can't find the words.  I am so hot and dirty, and I don't care.  I LOVE loving on these kids.  Everywhere we go people line the streets.  There are so many people here.  When we drive by the children yell "Mzungu Mzungu!!!".  Yeah, that means white people.  We are an exciting sight! 

I'm going to have to sign off for now.  We are in a little cafe in Jinja and it's time to go.  There is no internet where we are staying.

Thank you for your prayers.  Please continue to pray.  Pray for the people here.  Pray that they will feel God's love through us.

Please Pray

First, I want to thank you for your prayers.  They are being felt and answered.

There is so much to say and no words.  I asked God to break my heart for what breaks His.  He has.  In a big way.  Please pray for me.  I don't know how I'm going to do this.

Thank you.

Remand Center

Today I met Doreen.  I met about 160 kids, but Doreen has a piece of my heart.  She's 16 years old, and she's in prison.  We spent quite a bit of time together today (she attached herself to me for a good part of the time we were there.)  She's a really bright girl.  Her English was awesome, and she can read.  She wants desperately to go back to school.  She'd like to be a lawyer.  She's been at this remand center for 2 months. She told me that tomorrow she may get to go to court (that's the way things go around here.)  She said she will probably be released.  To the streets.  She has nowhere to go.  That sweet girl... the one I was snuggled up with on a bench just a couple hours ago, will be homeless.  That breaks my heart.  There were many heartbreaking stories today.  There will be many more. 

The kids had a blast today and we did too!  We sang and danced and played with balls and balloons.  We even had a few Twister games going on.  I'm having a horrible time uploading pictures.  This internet connection is not very good.  I have so many pictures I want to show all of you!

I'd better get back to the group now.  We are still trying to sort the donations we brought with us.  Tomorrow we will go to another children's prison and then to a school/orphange.  It will be a full day starting very early.  I'll try to update again when I can.

Please pray.

I'm Here!!

I only have a minute.  I haven't been here very long, and I don't have any idea how to process what I've seen already.  It is different here.  Very different.  Hard.  This is a hard place.

I have a few pictures from our drive from the airport to the guest house yesterday.

I'm having trouble uploading pictures on this internet connection. 

Last night we drove for three hours traveling very few miles.  The traffic is horrendous.  Unbelievable, really.  When you aren't going very fast, it's easy to notice all of the little children begging on the side of the street.  Many people walking over and around them.  A little boy of maybe 4 or 5 caught sight of us in our van.  He was pleading with us to give him something.  The traffic moved and so did our driver.  I had gotten some food out of my purse.  We looked back and he was following us.  Where were his parents?  We got the window open and handed him a package of peanut butter crackers and some kind of peanut bar.  He ran away tearing into the packages with his teeth. 

This is heart-breaking.

In a few minutes we are off to a prison.  A children's prison.

I will try to write more later.

Please pray.

I Can't Wait!

There are only 10 days left until I leave.  TEN days.  I feel like there is so much to do.  I need to pack my clothes, but some of them I have to wear for the next 10 days.  I think I'm finished with vaccinations.  The CDC recommends another MMR booster.  The WHO does not.  I think I like the World Heath Organization best.  I could probably use a polio vaccine, but so far I've been injected 7 times and I think I'm just done.  I hate shots.  Especially the ones that make you feel bad.

You all have just been incredible with the whole donation thing.  We have more than we can take on this trip.  I feel sure that I will come back planning for my next trip, so no need to worry that what you have donated won't make it to Uganda/Kenya.  Last week I had a lady at work ask if there was anything else I felt I needed to take with me that she might be able to help with.  The only thing I could think of at the moment was toothbrushes (Doneva and I had talked about wanting some toothbrushes the night before.)  She said that she goes to church with her daughter's dentist and would ask her if she could possibly donate a few toothbrushes for me to take with me.  Her amazing dentist, Dr. Clark, donated 450 kids toothbrushes and 240 tubes of toothpaste.  What a blessing!  I have shipped books to several other states so that others on our team can fill their suitcases.  We have been given so many shoes and clothes.  It has been awesome to see God work all of this out.  I still need 18 more 4 oz bottles of school glue.  I'm completely out of money but have no doubt that someone will come through with the glue.

I cannot wait to be in the big middle of these children.  In just 2 and a half weeks, we will get to spend the day with Katie Davis and her 400 sponsored children of Amazima.  I'm so excited to see all of the ministries we will be working with.  Some really incredible people God is using to do His work in Uganda and Kenya.  I'm excited to meet them. 

Please pray that our team will be exactly what we need to be for these children we will be working with.  I don't want to let the hot, the no electricity, the no hair dryer :-), strange food, and whatever else I'm not used to get in the way of what I'm there to do.  I really don't think it will.  I'm ready to work.  I'm ready to serve.  I'm ready to LOVE babies.  Sweet, sweet children that don't have families and some that do but struggle desperately to survive.  Thank you God for sending ME.  Little me that surely cannot make a difference.  Oh but I can.  I already have, and I'm going to over and over again.

Thank you all for your prayers.  Thank you for caring and for sending me with your love and support. 

Just 10 more days!