A Beautiful Ugandan sunset!!

Praise and Worship time!

Jess, Laura and Sarah at the market.

A produce market. So beautiful!

Beautiful feet!

Laura doing Carol's feet.

Jess doing Sumaya's feet.

Sarah doing Eva's feet!

A gorgeous Ugandan sunrise!!

The market...

Week 5!!

Hello to all my dear friends and family!!!!

We are in our 5th week here in the beautiful country of Uganda. Time is flying by so quickly. It is hard to believe!! Sarah and I have grown to love the people here so so much. They have been such a blessing to us, more than we could ever bless them.

Tomorrow we are going to go on a trip to Western Uganda and visit a game park. We are excited to camp a couple of nights at Queen Elizabeth National Park. Hopefully we will be able to see some elephants, giraffes, lions and other big animals. Although we are very excited for this experience we are also very sad to leave our kids. We absolutely love to just spend time with them.

Some of the leaders of New Hope decided to give Jess, Jon, Sarah and I new African names. Jessica’s new name is Kwagala, which means Love. Jon’s is Mukisa, which means Blessing. Sarah’s new name is Mirembe, which means Peace. And my new name is Sanyu, which means Joy. The kids at New Hope love calling us by our new names. It is taking awhile to get used to our new names when they call. They call me Auntie Sanyu. It’s precious!

Saturdays are very full days. It is the day that all the children are there because there is no school. We try to make Saturdays especially fun for the kids with songs, color pages, dance and games. We have learned about love and the love that God had for us to give us His only Son. Also, we have taught about not being afraid and trusting God when we go through hard times. We have learned about the Armor of God as well. These kids have been like little sponges, just soaking up as much as they can about the Bible and Jesus. I am constantly amazed at their eagerness to learn.

Sunday was a very special day for us. We got to help plant a church called New Hope Christian Mission. It is a church that meets at New Hope because it is very hard for them to transport all the children to church on Sundays. We were blessed to be able to pray for the church leaders that the Lord would continue to bless them and grow many people up in the Lord. I love worshipping here in Ugandan churches. They really know how to worship Jesus with their whole bodies. There is a really big excitement that comes when praising Jesus.

Last night we all decided to go to New Hope to have a sleep over with the kids. We brought them all cookies and juice. Then we had a time of praise and worship. We all danced around and praised Jesus. The boys all went with Jon and played capture the flag late into the night. Jon said that they were really good and they were really hard to see. But Jon stood out like a beacon of light. :) Jess, Sarah and I took the girls and told them the story of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. We told them that Jesus was a servant and that He put others above Himself. We told them that we wanted to serve them by washing their feet and doing their nails. Each one of us had a basin of water, soap, nail polish, and lotion to give the girls pedicures with. After finishing their nails we prayed with them a prayer of blessing and encouragement. It was a great night. Many of the girls came up and told us that we had done a good thing and they thanked us for serving them. It was a very special time for all of us.

Thank you so much for your prayers. You are all wonderful! May the Lord bless you greatly for all that you have done to make this trip a possibility. Love you!!

In His Hands,
Laura (Sanyu)

Praise the Lord!

Hello Friends and Family!
Oh my goodness I am so excited and overjoyed to be sharing this with all of you. We wanted to do something special with the children so some of them suggested that we have a sleepover and we thought it was a great idea. Last night we went to the store and bought lotion, nail polish, soap, cookies, and some juice and we got ready to have an amazing night with the girls in their dorm. We praised God for a while with everyone and we danced around and shouted with joy and then we broke up into boys and girls to have our night. Jonathan took the boys and played capture the flag in the dark with them which they really enjoyed, and me, Laura, and Jess took the girls to do a feet washing with them. We explained to them how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and that we were so excited to be able to serve them that night just as Jesus did in the New Testament. I cannot explain to you the overwhelming amount of joy I felt as each of the beautiful girls sat in the chair in front of me and I had the opportunity to serve them. To be able to love them like Jesus and scrub their feet no matter how dirty, they were still precious. I had the opportunity to pray with each of them after washing their feet and encourage them, let them know that they are loved, and spur them on in their race of faith. We had such a good time with them and I know that each one of them felt special. It was so amazing to see the light in each of their eyes and hear them thank us for serving them. It could not have been more wonderful!
The Bible teaching and other lessons have also been going very well with all of the girls and children. Just recently we taught on the armor of God and they understood so well. It is so encouraging that they have such a hunger and a passion to read God’s word and learn more and more about him. They have no idea how big of a blessing they are to us and how much we can see Jesus in them everyday. Each and every one of the kids has gone through so so much and in spite of it all they shine the love of Jesus like no one I have ever seen. Everyday when we praise Jesus with them I get chills all over my body because I know that God is moving incredibly in them and in that place and I get overwhelmed with joy.
Recently we let Ken know that we had two digital cameras for him to keep and use at New Hope. He said that he is so incredibly humbled, that he has been praying to God for a camera for years and that he never expected to get one soon or at this time. He could not believe he just jumped for joy so thank you for blessing him and this place so much! God has really been showing me lately that you don’t have to build a house, or do a VBS to impact lives. Simply being around the kids, loving them, talking to them, and serving them has been a blessing. Everything here is about the relationships and spending time with someone can mean so much more than anything else. Even though we may not be able to see what God is doing through us physically, he has given me a peace that he is doing a mighty work. I thank him everyday for what he is done, doing, and is going to do. I was given an African name by Ken and the New Hope staff it means peace and in Lugandan you say it Mirembe. God has a funny way of teaching us things and even before I was given the name I was struggling with getting peace about some things. God has been teaching and helping me to have a peace that he has everything under control, I am just his vessel and it is only through him that I can do his will! Peace was truly the perfect name for me to remember everyday not to worry but to put my trust, hope, and all in Jesus!
Thank you all so much for everything I cannot say it enough and I cannot express to you what you have done here in Uganda and at New Hope. God Bless all you!
In Christ,
Sarah (Mirembe)