Monday, June 16, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Bunches of Bananas!! (Matooke!)
Hi Everyone!!!!
I hope you are all enjoying this first month of summer!! You are all probably pretty busy, because that’s the way summers normally are.
Things are going really well here. Everyday is a full, event-filled day. We are either teaching English, Bible, Life Skills, doing counseling, getting involved in the community or just loving on the kids at New Hope. But we absolutely love it! God has been so good to us by letting us be His hands and feet in this wonderful place. I can’t begin to describe to you how beautiful this country is and how beautiful the people are. They put America to shame when it comes to hospitality and friendliness. They also are pretty laid back when it comes to time. When Sarah and I first arrived Ken would tell us that we walk so so fast. He said that we walked like Americans. Isn’t it funny that even the way that we walk portrays our busy American nature? Ugandans walk at a slow pace and when they greet someone they take a couple of minutes to do so. He laughed how we would greet as we were walking by someone at a fast pace. Ken still has to remind me to walk Ugandan sometimes but I actually really appreciate the laid back nature of the Ugandan people.
Wednesdays are our community outreach days. We have set aside these days to go out into the community and reach out to the hurting in hospitals, prisons, poor sections of town, and anything else were we might need to bring encouragement. This past Wednesday we went to visit an orphanage in Jinja. It was sad to see how an orphanage operates without very much financial help from the outside. The orphanage is actually supported by a group of widows. We sang some songs with them and we hope that we were able to bring some encouragement to them. Then we went to a hospital that was also located in Jinja. Talk about heart wrenching! My heart ached for those people. We visited bed after bed, ward after ward and laid hands on people and prayed for them. Everyone was so glad to have a visitor. I could tell that even a simple smile brought some hope to them. There was this one lady who was in the corner of the ward with her back to the wall. I have never ever seen someone who was just skin and bones like that. Her eyes were so full of fear. She was just waiting to die. How do you bring comfort to someone like that? When we got to the babies ward there was a little child whose body had been burned. The mother said that a candle had fallen onto the baby’s bed. How do you bring comfort to the mother? For most of the patients I had no idea what to tell them. I pray that Jesus used us to bring encouragement to His precious children. There was a big miracle that happened however. There was a man who Jess had prayed with who asked for a Bible. For some reason before we left Busia I felt the Lord tell me to bring my Bible with me. So as soon as Jess told me that this man wanted a Bible I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to give him the one in my bag. I told the man that I would give him my Bible if he promised to actually read it. Then the Holy Spirit nudged me again to tell Him about Jesus. So with Ken interpreting and Jesus speaking through me we were able to lead this precious soul to Christ. He is now our brother in Christ. I told him to start with the book of John. He was so filled with joy and later when I went to check on him I found him diligently reading the Bible. I thank the Lord so much for that opportunity that He blessed me with.
I love you all so much and can’t wait to talk with you personally about all of these experiences. Continue to pray for increased health care and education for the Ugandan people. Also, pray for Christ to raise up servants to serve at New Hope in a more permanent way. Lift up the people in the hospital to the Lord. Pray that they will find hope and comfort in Christ. Thanks once again for all of your prayers, they mean so much. May the Lord bless you all!
Laura
I hope you are all enjoying this first month of summer!! You are all probably pretty busy, because that’s the way summers normally are.
Things are going really well here. Everyday is a full, event-filled day. We are either teaching English, Bible, Life Skills, doing counseling, getting involved in the community or just loving on the kids at New Hope. But we absolutely love it! God has been so good to us by letting us be His hands and feet in this wonderful place. I can’t begin to describe to you how beautiful this country is and how beautiful the people are. They put America to shame when it comes to hospitality and friendliness. They also are pretty laid back when it comes to time. When Sarah and I first arrived Ken would tell us that we walk so so fast. He said that we walked like Americans. Isn’t it funny that even the way that we walk portrays our busy American nature? Ugandans walk at a slow pace and when they greet someone they take a couple of minutes to do so. He laughed how we would greet as we were walking by someone at a fast pace. Ken still has to remind me to walk Ugandan sometimes but I actually really appreciate the laid back nature of the Ugandan people.
Wednesdays are our community outreach days. We have set aside these days to go out into the community and reach out to the hurting in hospitals, prisons, poor sections of town, and anything else were we might need to bring encouragement. This past Wednesday we went to visit an orphanage in Jinja. It was sad to see how an orphanage operates without very much financial help from the outside. The orphanage is actually supported by a group of widows. We sang some songs with them and we hope that we were able to bring some encouragement to them. Then we went to a hospital that was also located in Jinja. Talk about heart wrenching! My heart ached for those people. We visited bed after bed, ward after ward and laid hands on people and prayed for them. Everyone was so glad to have a visitor. I could tell that even a simple smile brought some hope to them. There was this one lady who was in the corner of the ward with her back to the wall. I have never ever seen someone who was just skin and bones like that. Her eyes were so full of fear. She was just waiting to die. How do you bring comfort to someone like that? When we got to the babies ward there was a little child whose body had been burned. The mother said that a candle had fallen onto the baby’s bed. How do you bring comfort to the mother? For most of the patients I had no idea what to tell them. I pray that Jesus used us to bring encouragement to His precious children. There was a big miracle that happened however. There was a man who Jess had prayed with who asked for a Bible. For some reason before we left Busia I felt the Lord tell me to bring my Bible with me. So as soon as Jess told me that this man wanted a Bible I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to give him the one in my bag. I told the man that I would give him my Bible if he promised to actually read it. Then the Holy Spirit nudged me again to tell Him about Jesus. So with Ken interpreting and Jesus speaking through me we were able to lead this precious soul to Christ. He is now our brother in Christ. I told him to start with the book of John. He was so filled with joy and later when I went to check on him I found him diligently reading the Bible. I thank the Lord so much for that opportunity that He blessed me with.
I love you all so much and can’t wait to talk with you personally about all of these experiences. Continue to pray for increased health care and education for the Ugandan people. Also, pray for Christ to raise up servants to serve at New Hope in a more permanent way. Lift up the people in the hospital to the Lord. Pray that they will find hope and comfort in Christ. Thanks once again for all of your prayers, they mean so much. May the Lord bless you all!
Laura
Jon being his amazing self!
Me, Sarah and Jess at the Jinja Orphanage.
Praise and Worship
One of the baboons that we saw on the way to Jinja.
Teacher Sarah. :)
Hi from Sarah!
Hey Everyone!
I hope that all of you are doing well. We are having such a wonderful time here in Africa playing with the children and teaching them English. I have also had the opportunity to do some counseling with the teenage girls and that has been really enjoyable. On Sunday we had the opportunity to go to an awesome church in Tororo and the people were so friendly and we were dancing and singing throughout the entire service. Just recently we visited some of the larger hospitals in the area and I was absolutely appalled at the conditions. The patients had no IVs or monitors and the entire time we were there I saw only two nurses. Some of the HIV patients were just bones lying in there beds, it was so heartbreaking. We were blessed to have the opportunity to pray with each of the patients and talk to some of them about Jesus. We also prayed with the mothers of some babies who had been burned quite extensively. On the way back we rode in a taxi and there were 25 of us in a 16 passenger van! That is just Uganda for you as many can fit in the car the better, some people even hang on outside the door the entire way. I was sitting on Laura’s lap going over every bump and we were just laughing hysterically because the car was so full that the back end of it was dragging. Yesterday we went to a house of an American missionary family and we got to help cook American food with our Ugandan hosts so it was really a wonderful time of fellowship and fun! God has been blessing us with so many opportunities here from talking to street workers to everything that we have been able to do with the children. Each and every one of them is so precious and we have been so blessed to just be able to love on them and be there big sisters for a couple months. With your support and prayers we have already blessed the orphanage so much through you. We were able to get them Bibles, a guitar, some teaching materials, games, and a couple of other random items that they needed. Thank you so much for partnering with us on this trip and for all of your prayers and support. Everything we do here is God doing it through us because we are completely incapable of doing any of this on our own. Mom and dad I love you so much and thank you for everything that you do and have done for me.
~ Sarah
I hope that all of you are doing well. We are having such a wonderful time here in Africa playing with the children and teaching them English. I have also had the opportunity to do some counseling with the teenage girls and that has been really enjoyable. On Sunday we had the opportunity to go to an awesome church in Tororo and the people were so friendly and we were dancing and singing throughout the entire service. Just recently we visited some of the larger hospitals in the area and I was absolutely appalled at the conditions. The patients had no IVs or monitors and the entire time we were there I saw only two nurses. Some of the HIV patients were just bones lying in there beds, it was so heartbreaking. We were blessed to have the opportunity to pray with each of the patients and talk to some of them about Jesus. We also prayed with the mothers of some babies who had been burned quite extensively. On the way back we rode in a taxi and there were 25 of us in a 16 passenger van! That is just Uganda for you as many can fit in the car the better, some people even hang on outside the door the entire way. I was sitting on Laura’s lap going over every bump and we were just laughing hysterically because the car was so full that the back end of it was dragging. Yesterday we went to a house of an American missionary family and we got to help cook American food with our Ugandan hosts so it was really a wonderful time of fellowship and fun! God has been blessing us with so many opportunities here from talking to street workers to everything that we have been able to do with the children. Each and every one of them is so precious and we have been so blessed to just be able to love on them and be there big sisters for a couple months. With your support and prayers we have already blessed the orphanage so much through you. We were able to get them Bibles, a guitar, some teaching materials, games, and a couple of other random items that they needed. Thank you so much for partnering with us on this trip and for all of your prayers and support. Everything we do here is God doing it through us because we are completely incapable of doing any of this on our own. Mom and dad I love you so much and thank you for everything that you do and have done for me.
~ Sarah
Friday, June 6, 2008
Hello Everyone!!!
As I am writing this it is pouring rain outside. The people here fear the rain because they think that it causes malaria.
Everything has been going really good here on our end. God is so amazing and faithful to help us when we feel completely inadequate. I feel that He works best when we feel the most inadequate.
Two new volunteers came to join us in ministry. They are really nice and friendly. I love them already. :) Their names are Jessica and Jon. They are our age. Last night the rats were running all over our room. One ran across Jessica in her bed! So the three of us slept together in Sarah's and my bed. It was cozy. :) It is so great to have them with us!
A couple of days ago we did a lot of counseling with some of the children. I was almost brought to tears knowing what some of them have been through. Jesus spoke through me when I had no words. I thank Him for that. They would ask me why there parents have died. Three of the girls just lost their dad. He drowned while he was working as a fisherman. They told me that almost every night they have horrible dreams of their dad drowning and them falling into the water. Another girl wants to be a nurse but can't afford schooling. She needs money for next term which equals about $6 US dollars. I prayed with her and told her that God is the Father to the fatherless and that He cares about everything that she is going through. I also told her that Jesus asks us not to worry and to cast our cares upon Him. When we were done praying she was crying but somehow she seemed relieved. I pray that the Lord brought comfort to her broken heart.
I am falling in love with the precious people here in Uganda. They are constantly amazing me with their kindness and hospitality.
Sorry that I can't write long. I'll try to write more later. :)
Much love,
Laura
As I am writing this it is pouring rain outside. The people here fear the rain because they think that it causes malaria.
Everything has been going really good here on our end. God is so amazing and faithful to help us when we feel completely inadequate. I feel that He works best when we feel the most inadequate.
Two new volunteers came to join us in ministry. They are really nice and friendly. I love them already. :) Their names are Jessica and Jon. They are our age. Last night the rats were running all over our room. One ran across Jessica in her bed! So the three of us slept together in Sarah's and my bed. It was cozy. :) It is so great to have them with us!
A couple of days ago we did a lot of counseling with some of the children. I was almost brought to tears knowing what some of them have been through. Jesus spoke through me when I had no words. I thank Him for that. They would ask me why there parents have died. Three of the girls just lost their dad. He drowned while he was working as a fisherman. They told me that almost every night they have horrible dreams of their dad drowning and them falling into the water. Another girl wants to be a nurse but can't afford schooling. She needs money for next term which equals about $6 US dollars. I prayed with her and told her that God is the Father to the fatherless and that He cares about everything that she is going through. I also told her that Jesus asks us not to worry and to cast our cares upon Him. When we were done praying she was crying but somehow she seemed relieved. I pray that the Lord brought comfort to her broken heart.
I am falling in love with the precious people here in Uganda. They are constantly amazing me with their kindness and hospitality.
Sorry that I can't write long. I'll try to write more later. :)
Much love,
Laura
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Hello to Our Dear Friends and Family!!!
Today marks our 2nd week here in Uganda. We love it here so much!! Our days have been very busy and filled with lots of activities. Last week Sarah and I started teaching English at New Hope. We really enjoy it! Also we have been doing a lot of Bible teaching as well. It is so amazing for us to see how much the children love learning about the Bible. We really were not very aware that we would be doing so much Bible teaching so we didn’t bring very many materials. Last Wednesday we were able to go to Kampala to buy some supplies. We bought all the children Bibles as well as some soccer balls, a guitar, color books, crayons, and some crafts. They were all so excited to receive them! :)
Saturday we taught them all about the love of God and the love we should have for our friends and neighbors. Then we helped them to make bracelets that tell the salvation message. We used five different colored beads. Black represented our hearts before we accepted Jesus as our Savior. Red represented Jesus’ blood that covers all sin. White represented our hearts after Jesus’ blood makes our hearts as white snow. Green represented growing in the Lord by reading our Bibles, praying, and going to church. And finally, gold represents the streets of gold that are awaiting us in heaven with Jesus. They were so happy to have the bracelets as a way to remind them of the salvation message.
The people here are all so friendly to us. Everywhere we go we hear children call out, “Muzungu! Muzungu! How are you?” It is really cute how the little children run after us as fast as they can, just wanting to touch our skin. :) We either walk or ride booda boodas wherever we go. We are a lot better at riding them now. We don’t get quite as scared anymore. :) I even tried riding on it sideways, which is what all the ladies are supposed to do. I almost fell off and died when we went over the bumps. :)
It is kind of Uganda’s winter season now but it is really hot!! There is a lot of humidity too.
I love the food here! There main food is called Matooke. It is made from green bananas. They peel them, boil and cook them until they are like the consistency of mashed potatoes. I really enjoy it. They also have a lot of beans and meat that they serve with it. Everything is fresh in Uganda, because they don’t have refrigerators. You just go and buy fresh food before each meal. For example, today they wanted to have chicken for lunch so they bought a live chicken and slaughtered it and cooked it. When they were going to slaughter it Sarah and I couldn’t watch so we went for a little walk. :) After they cut it’s head off and plucked out the feathers I helped Harriet clean and prepare it for cooking. Oh! I almost forgot! I ate bugs!!! They are called white ants and they come up from the ground in the early morning and you can go catch them. Then you take off their wings and fry them with some salt. Then they are ready for eating. :) I actually really enjoyed them besides the fact that they were a little bit crunchy. Tea is a big thing here. Every morning and evening we are brought hot cow’s milk with some tea bags. We love our teatimes!
Last week when we were in Kampala we had a great time. They drive crazy in the city! We almost got hit like ten times! Then if we thought bicycle booda boodas were hard to ride, try riding a motorbike booda booda!! Talk about scary! They weave in and out of traffic, on and off of sidewalks, and they swerve around the people crossing the roads. When I was riding them I just put my hand over my eyes so that I couldn’t see. That way I didn’t scream. Everyone just pointed and laughed at me including the driver. We barely made the taxi to go back to Busia. By the time we got there, there were only two seats left. But there were three of us plus all of the Bibles, books, balls and the guitar. So we squeezed in and piled all the stuff on top of us. The road from Kampala to Busia is extremely bumpy and bouncy. So for five hours we were bouncing up and down trying not to squish into the people next to us. We were laughing so hard. About half way through we stopped for a bathroom break. Everyone piled out and lined up on the side of the road. All except for Sarah and me, who were left in the taxi bus laughing our heads off as quietly as we could. :)
Wednesdays are our community outreach days. Ken said that we will be going to prisons, hospitals, really poor sections of town, and just sharing the love of Christ with hurting souls. Please be praying for us, especially on those days.
Sarah and I want to thank you so much for you prayerful support. We can really feel it. Today we are expecting two new volunteers from New York to work alongside us. We are excited to meet them and pray that God would use us as His vessels to do His work.
Sarah and I with two Ugandans
Sarah and I with the directors son, Jordan.
Saturday we taught them all about the love of God and the love we should have for our friends and neighbors. Then we helped them to make bracelets that tell the salvation message. We used five different colored beads. Black represented our hearts before we accepted Jesus as our Savior. Red represented Jesus’ blood that covers all sin. White represented our hearts after Jesus’ blood makes our hearts as white snow. Green represented growing in the Lord by reading our Bibles, praying, and going to church. And finally, gold represents the streets of gold that are awaiting us in heaven with Jesus. They were so happy to have the bracelets as a way to remind them of the salvation message.
The people here are all so friendly to us. Everywhere we go we hear children call out, “Muzungu! Muzungu! How are you?” It is really cute how the little children run after us as fast as they can, just wanting to touch our skin. :) We either walk or ride booda boodas wherever we go. We are a lot better at riding them now. We don’t get quite as scared anymore. :) I even tried riding on it sideways, which is what all the ladies are supposed to do. I almost fell off and died when we went over the bumps. :)
It is kind of Uganda’s winter season now but it is really hot!! There is a lot of humidity too.
I love the food here! There main food is called Matooke. It is made from green bananas. They peel them, boil and cook them until they are like the consistency of mashed potatoes. I really enjoy it. They also have a lot of beans and meat that they serve with it. Everything is fresh in Uganda, because they don’t have refrigerators. You just go and buy fresh food before each meal. For example, today they wanted to have chicken for lunch so they bought a live chicken and slaughtered it and cooked it. When they were going to slaughter it Sarah and I couldn’t watch so we went for a little walk. :) After they cut it’s head off and plucked out the feathers I helped Harriet clean and prepare it for cooking. Oh! I almost forgot! I ate bugs!!! They are called white ants and they come up from the ground in the early morning and you can go catch them. Then you take off their wings and fry them with some salt. Then they are ready for eating. :) I actually really enjoyed them besides the fact that they were a little bit crunchy. Tea is a big thing here. Every morning and evening we are brought hot cow’s milk with some tea bags. We love our teatimes!
Last week when we were in Kampala we had a great time. They drive crazy in the city! We almost got hit like ten times! Then if we thought bicycle booda boodas were hard to ride, try riding a motorbike booda booda!! Talk about scary! They weave in and out of traffic, on and off of sidewalks, and they swerve around the people crossing the roads. When I was riding them I just put my hand over my eyes so that I couldn’t see. That way I didn’t scream. Everyone just pointed and laughed at me including the driver. We barely made the taxi to go back to Busia. By the time we got there, there were only two seats left. But there were three of us plus all of the Bibles, books, balls and the guitar. So we squeezed in and piled all the stuff on top of us. The road from Kampala to Busia is extremely bumpy and bouncy. So for five hours we were bouncing up and down trying not to squish into the people next to us. We were laughing so hard. About half way through we stopped for a bathroom break. Everyone piled out and lined up on the side of the road. All except for Sarah and me, who were left in the taxi bus laughing our heads off as quietly as we could. :)
Wednesdays are our community outreach days. Ken said that we will be going to prisons, hospitals, really poor sections of town, and just sharing the love of Christ with hurting souls. Please be praying for us, especially on those days.
Sarah and I want to thank you so much for you prayerful support. We can really feel it. Today we are expecting two new volunteers from New York to work alongside us. We are excited to meet them and pray that God would use us as His vessels to do His work.
Sarah and I with two Ugandans
Sarah and I with the directors son, Jordan.
Monday, May 26, 2008
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