This morning was a bittersweet morning. We had spent a week in Uganda and it was time for us to move onto Kenya. I had such a great time in Uganda…I met so many great people and so many children stole my heart—Especially one Little Boy!:) I knew we had to move on with our agenda and that it was time to go to Kenya…But it still just felt weird that our time in Uganda was coming to an end. I was getting used to Uganda and loved everything about this country, but I was also excited to know that we still had a whole other country to go love orphans in!
So this morning, we woke up early…had breakfast…loaded our entire luggage…and we were headed to church with Pastor Samuel and to visit the children through Return Ministries. I was very excited about this because I was sort of curious to see what church in Africa consisted of and how they worshiped God. Below are a few pictures from our church service.
After the church service we had time to go shopping at their little store that they had set up. This was such a cute and neat little shop! It had a ton of Acacia Beads, bracelets, shirts, dresses, skits and a TON of other Africa souvenirs! There is where Shelby and I bought our Mzungo t-shirts, along with 2 skirts and I bought a dress! :)
Here are some pictures of Pastoer Samuels two little kids--Israel and Pearl. These kids were so stinking precious and SO happy! :) Ahh...and yes, look at little Pearl. Don't you just want to SQUEEZE her? We all commented on how she was the sweetest...AND fattest little baby in Africa! :) And when you are "fat" in Africa that is a GREAT thing! :) It made us all smile!!
After we did our shopping Pastor Samuel’s wife made us a meal—which was very good! Then we had time to just hang out with the children for a while before we had to catch our flight to Kenya. All of these children were SOOO sweet. There were just a TON of them and as always, they all seemed so content and well behaved!
The picture below is a very common view for Mzungos! All the children would run up, wrap their arms around our legs and look up at us like this...Oh My--Melt My HEART!:)
I stood and talked with these kids for a long time. They had so many questions about America. They told me how they want so badly to come to America and that they hope one day they will be blessed enough to come here—This broke my heart, because really…Unless someone specifically from America helps and reaches out to them…I don’t think they will ever make it to America. The cost is just too expensive…But it was so great to see the light and hope that they had in their eyes. We talked about if it was God’s will…He would provide and He would help get them there.
The older girl in the white shirt on the left—holding the little girl, was who I talked the most to. Her English was so GREAT and her faith was unbelievable. She told me she would be praying for me when I went back to America and she said she prays that I’ll come back to visit her. Are you kidding me--These children are the ones that need MY prayers and they tell me they are going to pray for me!! ...I also asked her about her family…She had 3 or 4 younger siblings whom she helped care for. It was just so weird to me as I was standing there because she really did look and act so much older than what she was!! I could tell that she had been a motherly figure to her siblings for a very long time just by her actions and words. I told her that my sister was here too—I pointed to Shelby and she thought that was SO neat!! Below is one of the many older kids I saw that were having to look after their younger siblings.
It was so hot out this day and these precious kids looked so tired…They sat in the shade while the littlest one rested. These kids shouldn’t have to grow up this fast—They should be able to enjoy being a kid and act like they are a kid!!! ….All they want is a mommy and a daddy…This is all they truly yearn for…As Katie Davis said in her video that I posted on my last blog… “Jesus does not ASK that we care for the less fortunate—He DEMANDS it!!” Really, friends, we ALL need to step up and do our part. There is such a HUGE orphan crisis in today’s world…We can no longer pretend and act like the world is one big happy place full of rainbows and butterflies…These children…Children that I have met in person…children that I know the names of…Children that I have touched with my own hands…Children that I have LOVED with my OWN HEART….are HURTING. They are BROKEN…They feel ALONE… They feel HOPELESS—Day after day they wonder and wonder….Will life ever get easier for them? Could they really end up with their forever families? Doesn’t anyone care about them? Doesn’t anyone know that they need food and water…and LOVE? …………….Can’t anyone hear their broken cry? I have met them and I know them and I truly do LOVE THEM ALL. I know that might sound crazy—But they are all my younger brothers and sisters in Christ and I don’t plan on just going over to Africa to visit for 2 weeks and then that’s it—No, I hope and pray that I can continue to help them with whatever God puts on my heart. Before going on the trip I strongly felt that God was leading and guiding me to go in this direction…And so I listened and I followed His ways. After returning back to America I still feel like God is working at my heart and that He isn’t finished with me yet…So I will continue to pray and continue to listen. I just want SO badly to help these children. They are NOT INVISIBLE—They didn’t have a say or a choice on where they were going to live. They were simply born in this country and so they have to deal with these issues and problems—Issues and problems that NO ONE should have to deal with…let alone young, lonely and precious children. Let’s STEP UP and make a DECISION to DO SOMETHING…To MOVE and to TAKE ACTION that can literally SAVE A LIFE!
These twins were a year and a half--But they were SO TINY!!! Oh my goodness, just tiny! I couldn't get over it...And I have a feeling that this mom is all alone to care and provide for them both.
Below, Shelby and I are on the plane headed to Kenya! This flight was only about 2 hours and compared to riding on a 12 hour flight--It felt like 10 MINUTES!! :) It went by SO fast!
You may be wondering how you can help these lonely and precious children…so I’d like to share with you ways that I believe you can truly make a difference. I know I have shared these ideas before—But I feel like they are so important so I’d like to share them again…. First, PRAY. Pray for these children—Prayer is SO POWERFUL and really does make a difference. Second, DONATE. Find a Christian-based organization to donate to that will take your money and send it DIRECTLY to these children! Need specific ideas? Contact me and I can share more with you—But any of these organizations are GREAT ministries that are living out God’s Word and are making a difference in the lives of children and orphans in need. I would encourage you to youtube/google any or all of these ministries to learn more about them: Katie Davis’s Ministry—Amazima http://www.amazima.org/ Visiting Orphans—The organization from Tennessee that I went to Africa with…here is their website: http://www.visitingorphans.org/ 147 Million Orphans—Two Stay at Home Moms created this organization after going through the adoption process and seeing how much of a NEED these orphans are in! They also partner with Katie Davis! Here is their website: http://www.147millionorphans.com/ ….Fiwagoh Orphange & School—One location we went to in Kenya—I’ll be sharing more details about this! Here is their website: http://www.fiwagoh.org/ …His Little Feet—A choir and ministry that supports the orphans and children in Haiti—I just ordered their CD Yesterday! :) Here is their website: http://www.hislittlefeet.org/ My Father’s House in Uganda started by Rebecca Sorenson. Her website is: http://myfathershouseintl.org/ Ordinary Hero—Another non-profit organization that helps children and orphans around the world—they have a great website, store and blog to follow as well! http://www.ordinaryhero.org/ These are just a few and some of my favorites!! :) Just contact me if you want to learn more about one of these specific organizations or just take a look at their websites!! :) I strongly encourage you to take a look into them and see what they are doing to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ! You will find many ways that you can help support them! Next, I’d encourage you to sign up for a mission trip where you can see for yourself how great this orphan crisis is and how many children are in need of food…water…medicine and love! Seriously, think about it!! I hope to go on many, many MORE trips to LOVE on ORPHANS—Maybe it’d work out to go on a trip together?! No matter what--If you go on a trip I can say with confidence that it WILL change your life forever! Check out Visiting Orphans for trip dates and locations—Maybe one will spark interest to you! Here is their website again: www.visitingorphans.org Lastly, …and this is a BIG one...but such an IMPORTANT one! ….Are you ready? …ADOPT! Yes—Adopt!! Do you know HOW many kids would LOVE to have you be their mommy and daddy? Who would love to feel your LOVE and COMPASSION for them? Who would love to have you be their FOREVER FAMILY? You can do it—Why can’t you do it? And please don’t say you don’t have money to do it—I’ve heard that excuse way too many times…There are SO many organizations out there that are willing to help and support you...there are fundraisers you can do…In America, we are SO SPOILED and we have WAY TO MUCH! We spend our money way to carelessly...If we just started to cut back and pray about what we spend our money on--I strongly feel like we'd be able to save a lot more money for a much BIGGER purpose! Plus—It’s GODS MONEY anyway. He WILL provide! Do you know how I know this? Because HE DID IT FOR ME! Shelby and I were on a very tight budget before we signed up for this trip and I started to doubt myself thinking I couldn’t do it…I could never find, earn or come up with the money—especially both of us! I had too many expenses at the time...We didn’t have the money—But YET, God DID…and we ended up getting EXACTLY what we needed just before we left! Put your Faith in HIM—Don’t let this world bring you down…don’t be negative…Don't give in to useless spending...Just BELIEVE and put your TRUST in HIM—The ONE who CREATED HEAVEN & EARTH! Surely He WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU!
I’d like to leave you with a quote that Katie Davis shared on Facebook the other day and I pray that you let it soak into your heart and that you make a decision to live by this quote. It’s a quote that I think about each and every day—Which is why I am not letting money stand in my way of helping to change the world for God’s Precious Children…
“There will never be a day when I stand before God and He says, ‘I wish you would have kept more for yourself.’ I’m confident that God will take care of me.” —David Platt
No comments:
Post a Comment