Uganda Day 4-6

Day Four

I woke up with the roosters to prepare my heart to say goodbye to my three Ugandan daughters.  Tough. Stuff.  It's always a very emotional goodbye! My driver was already sitting in the car waiting on me and I just didn't want to let them out of my arms.  We just sat in silence holding each other tightly, as we always do on departing day.  The driver finally got a little inpatient, and told me it was time. I looked down into Caroline's eyes, that were starting to fill with tears, and I lost it!  These girls...have my heart!  And I have theirs!  I quickly tore my self away and waved my final goodbye and blew a "mom loves you" kiss and they were out of sight. 

How can children that I get to see once a year have such a big piece of my heart?  I can't put it into words.  It is a true divine appointment!  We have a deep connection, a deep love.  I get to be "Mom" to them from afar, even if just a few days a year.  They know that I will always come back, I am their one constant.  It is an honor!

We arrived at Return Ministries just hours after a Man Up team.  I could tell that Pastor Samuel and Sarah were tired. So we offered to treat them to lunch.  It was just a simple mall food court type of place, and they were so impressed.  It was an honor to give them the an opportunity to be pampered a little.  Their kids attached to me and Hannah rather quickly, and by the end of the day we had been upgraded to "Aunties." 

Our driver arrived at 9pm to take us to the airport to pick up our team.  Their flight was supposed to arrive at midnight.  Hannah and I were so excited, we were having a difficult time containing ourselves.  The time had already passed 1am, and we still hadn't seen our team!  Finally, around 1:00am , Brittany had came over to tell me that 13 bags had not arrived and two team members would be arriving the next day.  The team waited in line for another hour and a half to fill out forms for their missing luggage.  When we were all finally on the bus, we played two truths and a lie to get to know each other.  It was a great start to our next two weeks!

Day five

After just a few hours of sleep, it was time Tories and give God the glory.  I was anxious to share the African church experience with my team, and they were anxious to love on some kids!  We walked up to the compound that houses the children's home and they church and the kids went crazy! They pulled and grabbed us from every limb and direction.  I had warned my team of this, but I'm not sure they thought it would be that warm of a welcome.  It's as if we're were celebrities.  With two kids on my lap, and two under each arm, I sat down ready to worship. The music was lively, and the word was given by Lan, one of my team members.

At Return Ministries, the children are fed lunch after church.  They cooks brought out giant pots of rice and beads for us to feed them.  We served about 300 kids. They didn't have enough bowls or plates, so we waited for some kids to be done, washed the plates and used them again.  It seems like we did that about 4 or 5 times.  After lunch was served, our team was escorted my our new friends back to the guest house.  When we closed the gate, many children laid on the ground continuing to call for us through the 6 inch space between the gate and the ground.

A few of the team members joined me for a trip to market. I love taking Mzungus to market inUganda! We negotiated for fresh produce and rice. 

That evening, when we returned, we went back to the church for the Coffee Time with the youth and young adults.  They preformed some lively songs and then it was our teams turn.  Dani, a young girl on our team, is a B-Girl! The Ugandans went crazy watching her BreakDance! It was awesome!

I finished my night with a little FaceTime with my family.  Brandon got to meet Pastor Samuel and his wife Sarah, and my kids got to chat with their kids.  When Marley and Pearl were talking, Marley said, " are you coming to my house?"  And Pearl responded with "tomorrow morning!" So freaking adorable!

Day six

Waking up with the roosters seems to becoming a pattern. I woke up at five am to take another group to the market to buy meat. It was crowded!  I think Chloe, our 10 year old team member, was a little grossed out by the rural Ugandan meat markets! While walking thru the market I heard a scream.  I turned around, and Hannah, our Missouri babysitter was catching her breath after an attempted pick pocketing. Nothing was taken, but she was a little shaken up.

Back at Return Ministries, it was time to start preparing the feast for the kids.  Our team was divided into about half.  My group worked on cutting up meat, vegetables and fruit, while the other half worked on games, crafts and sports with the 200-300 kids outside.

Preparing a feast for over three hundred kids and the adult workers was work!  We started the fires and continually added coals to keep the heat going.  We started with oil, onions, garlic and carrots. We browned the meat, then added tomatoes, tomato paste, seasonings and water. I'm sure I'm making this sound pretty easy, but can assure you, it was one of the most tiresome meals I've ever prepared.  Try cutting about 60 onions and about 20 kilos of meat with a two dull knives! It definitely made for a good story! 

The men on my team were amazing!  They all had such a servants heart and were ready to serve wherever and whenever I needed them.  They continually lifted the giant pots filled with boiling soup to add coals, and fan the fires.  Chloe became our master chipati roller!  When it came time to serve, we realized that we were going to run out of rice and chipati.  I quickly had the team start preparing more.  We thinking that children from the community heard that Mzungus were preparing a feast of meat, soup, rice, fruits and sodas and they wanted in on the fun! There had to be closer to 500 plates served! I expected that, but didn't expect to run out of food! The older children waited patiently as we waited for the rice to be done. The team had skipped lunch, and it was starting to show.  I had one girl almost faint, and passed out with a baby on a sofa, one with a bad burn from cooking, and many many with exhaustion starting to set in.  That's where the Mama in me set it and I called it a day!  We walked back up to Return Guest House, ate dinner, had some worship and passed out!

Uganda Days 1-3

Day One
After many trains and planes, we made it to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to connect to Uganda.  I was napping and woke up to Hannah telling me that she saw a Man Up team  I started searching for familiar faces, and found Mitch from Missouri!  What a crazy small world!

We arrived in Uganda and were greeted by some new faces and driven to Jinja.  As we drove up to the children's home, I could see the kids walking back from school in their familiar orange uniforms.  I walked around waiting to see one of my girls' beautiful faces.
Caroline saw me first!  She was walking with tow other girls when she spotted me.   She dropped her backpack and came running up to me with a giant smile that showed off her beautiful smile. It has almost been one year since Ive seen the girls and she seems to have grown a whole foot!  At 12 years old, she is to my shoulder!










Next, we waited for Sharon.  I could see the secondary school uniforms start coming thru the gate, and knew it would be soon.  Sharon repeated eh same welcome as Caroline!  She dropped her bag and came running to me!  At around 15, she has stopped growing, but is still my sweet girl.  Both girls had thought I was join to be here tomorrow, so I surprised them!  We held each other tightly for the rest of the night.  The other children would mock them for holding so tightly.  I am their mom, and love them like my own.  Neither of us minded!

Day Two
I woke up early to see the girls off to school.  I packed them a snack and kissed them goodbye.  I was heading back up to my room and tripped on a stair. It was like slow motion.  I tried to catch my fall, but wasn't fast enough.  My mouth hit the cement stair and I heard a crack and felt a foreign object moving around in my mouth.  I tasted blood.  I instantly knewI had either broken or lost a tooth.  When I pull amy hand from my mouth, I felt the broken tooth.  I went for help and almost passed out before reaching the clinic.  They cleaned me up and after I rested a bit, I was overwhelmed with concerned visitors.  What a way to get started!  I learned to eat slowly and to one side.  Maybe I can loose a couple of pounds!

I woke from a nap to someone knocking on the door.  It was a staff member brining Hellen to visit.  What a surprise!  She lost her little brother just two weeks ago and still managed to show me her smile. We talked and she held me tight.  And an hour later, I hearted that her mother was newer.  She came to meet me.  She was a woman that wore her worries.  I could see the tole a hard like had on her.  Hellen translated for us.  She told me how happy she was that I loved her daughter.  I told her how sad I was to hear of her loosing a child.  She invited me to her home, and of course I accepted!

Day Three
Where do i start?  My morning started with sending Sharon and Caroline off to school.  I packed them snacks again and slipped it into their bags.  Hannah and I then caught a bod a to Sangalo Baby Home to love on some babies and bring her some infant formula.  We were shown a brand new baby that weighed about 3 pounds.  Damalie asked me to name him.  I named him Brandon.  Being so small, he needed a big, strong name to grown into!  I prayed over him for protection, health and for provision.  I look forward to watching this little man grow!

We then got back on the boda and headed to Hellen's home.  Is as so special to see her home and experience a little of her life.  As we drove thru the rural village, I could see a red brick clay home.  I saw a bright smiling excited girl running towards us.  We got for the bod a and were greeted with the only tow stools in the home.  As is customary, her mother kneeled down before me, to show me respect while she sat on the red dirt while holding my hand tightly.  I knew that declining these seats would be offensive and that she wanted to please me, so we accepted our seats.  We talked thru a translator and she again thanked me for loving her daughter.  I told her it was an honor!

Life in Germany - The first Three Months

After three months in Germany, we have gotten settled and even gotten our feet wet a little. While we will have the opportunity for many more travels and experiences, here is what we have learned so far.

1. ALWAYS carry Euro on you, coins and bills. You may need to use a restroom, and the restroom attendant will give you an ugly German stare down if you don't put a coin in her bowl. And nowhere takes our coveted Visa check card!

2. While I'm talking about Euro…the conversion of Dollars to Euro is NOT 1:1! I'm still learning this lesson!

3. Build up your walking endurance. Seriously! The first few weeks here, I seriously thought I was going to die! Germans walk everywhere! Parking and traffic can be horrific, so walk walk walk!

4. Stairwell Apartment living has its benefits and disadvantages. We like living on base because of the huge convenience for all of us. It allows us to only have one vehicle, Brandon can walk to and from work and come home for lunch. Miles can walk to school. And I can drive, uh walk….lol, Marley to school. We have access to all the U.S. luxuries that others living off base don't.

Now we also get to hear all the things that are going on above us, and I've already been told that our downstairs neighbor can hear us. :) And hiking up three flights of stairs with a screaming child and 14 bags of groceries is not fun!

5. Layers are a necessity! I'm Texan, okay Texican! I'm from the part of Texas that used to be Mexico…I'm FREEZING here! I'm not used to dressing in 5 layers and wearing wool socks. Burr!

6. Run down or get run down! Brandon hates it when I say that, but it's so true. There are no lines or common curtesy. You have to push your way through trains, airport lines, coffee shops and bakeries. If you don't, you'll be there for hours as young and old push you out of the way!

7. Ausfart means exit, very important!

8. Children aren't always allowed or appreciated. My first experience with this was in Ikea. A little girl was sliding down the bunk bed slide of a display. A woman quickly ran over and told the family to take the girl to the kinderzimmen.

9. Kinderzimmens are your friend! Most large shopping malls or stores have FREE childcare while you shop. LOVELY!

10. iTranslate can be your friend. I almost ordered Haggis (a pudding of sheep blood, and organ meat), thankfully I figured out what it was before ordering.

11. Packing snacks, water and meals is a must. Fast food is not available like it is in America.

12. Germans like their rules.

, they are very serious about them! For instance, Germans will stand at a cross walk forever until the light changes. Their standard for rule following can also be a great thing. I left my purse in a changing room, went home and realized it. I drove back, to find several people in the changing area and my purse left untouched. Nice!

13. Warming up your car is a no no. It's actually against the law. A car cannot be running and parked for more than 3 minutes. I DON'T LIKE THIS LAW!

14. Sundays are fun days! Literally, all stores are closed. The Craigslist equivalent is shut down. Sundays are meant for family time. We are adjusting.

15. Personal space. Hmmmmm, how do I explain? There is no personal space. Thats that!


We are loving our new home. Lessons have been learned and I'm sure there will be more to come! For now, Auf Wiedersehen!

Referral DAY! at OneTrueMedia.com

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

2013 Mission Trip Dates!!!

You have thought about it, you know you have. You have watched the videos, seen the pictures and thought, "I would like to do that one day!". Well now is your opportunity!

I will be leading not one, but TWO teams next year! And they will be filling up fast! There are only 25 spots available on each team!

May 31-June 14 Uganda/Kenya
Check out:
http://www.visitingorphans.org/mission_trips/events/uganda/2013/05-31/hyman-team---may-uganda--kenya

November 17-29 Uganda
(celebrate my birthday with me in Uganda!)
Check out:
http://www.visitingorphans.org/mission_trips/events/uganda/2013/11-17/hyman-team---november-uganda

Trip Video

There will be more journal entries to come.  Our packers are starting the essential pack out today, so my computer gets put in that pack out!  After two takes on the trip video, its done…just in time for me to disconnect my desktop Mac and trust it in the hands of movers until we arrive in Germany!

I will continue with the rest of the journal entries!  But for now…here it it!

Uganda Day 3

Cooking at Kerith Children's Home

What a day!  Our team woke up, eager to serve and love at Kerith Children's Home.  Seven of us, along with Abus and Mama Loy, drove to the Market, while the rest of the team went to play with the children.

I have to say going to market had to be one of the most exciting times yet!  The Market is very large.  It is made up of many small shanty type booths, with many varieties of produce, meat, hot food, and staples for the home.

We arrived with our its for the feast we were preparing for the children and the staff.  Of course, we were quite the scene, but we proceeded anyways!  We were followed by children mesmerized by the Mzungus.  Many of the vendors jacked the prices up with what I like to call the Mzungu tax.  Abus, our driver, and Loy, the teacher at Kerith, negotiated for us.  Negotiating was quite a long process, so to keep ourselves entertained, we danced with the children and we watched local chapati vendors get down of that skillet.

We bought rice, pineapple, bananas, carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic, soda, pots, knives, plates and last but not least…meat.  Ah, the meat.  This is a story in its self!  In Uganada, meat means…meat.  It could be cow, goat, sheep, etc..  Meat is meat!   We purchased beef and somehow, part of a goat got involved.  It was quite an adventure!

We loaded the van up and head back to get started. It was so awesome to see my team step up to cook!  Everyone was eager to help, no complaints!  We cooked over fires.  As the stew team cut and cleaned all the items for the stew, the chapati team mixed dough and rolled out circles that would later become a local favorite similar to a tortilla.  Our produce team sliced pineapples, and tomatoes. And our rice team sorted out the stones from the rice.  It all went surprisingly well!

  

The staff were not allowed to do anything but watch, and give their input when needed.  The women were pampered and had their nails painted.

When it came time to serve, the children lined up from youngest to oldest.  We loaded their new bowls up with rice, stew, chapati, tomato and pineapple.  And each child got a soda.  The children devoured it!

Pastor Samuel pulled me aside and we talked for sometime.  He told me that we created Christmas for these children.  They eat porridge everyday, and rice only comes once a year on Christmas.  He teared up as he told me how moved he was to see our team love his children and serve them.  It gave him hope and gave him confirmation that he was in the right place.  I can't count how many times he thanked me.  He told me that I am a great leader, and that I did an excellent job organizing my team.  That felt so good to hear!  Although,
it has nothing to do with me, it game me reassurance.  I love leading, and I know I will make poor decisions or mistakes, but i aspire to build teams that have a servants heart and to love as Jesus loves.  By him complimenting my leadership skills, it made me feel like, thru God's guidance,  I have accomplished that.

After dinner, we had a clean up crew wash dishes, and clean up the space we used to prepare the food. We walked back to The Country Inn and sat on the grass to reconnect.  I wanted to see where everyone was.  They seemed to enjoy Kerith, and even inquired about supporting them in the future.  We talked about our next few days.

We travel to The Haven tomorrow…I can't wait for my team to see this little peace of Heaven!

Uganda Day 2

We started our journey to Palissa, Uganda around 8:00 a.m..  Because of our large team, we have a bus for us and a van four our luggage.  WE stopped in Jinja for lunch and for the Internet cafe.  Internet has been down 95% of the time we've been hearer.  Unfortunately, it wasn't working very well today either.  I want to see my family so bad, I miss my kids!
Back on the bus, our worship team helped us to get back into Him.  It was awesome to have that!  As we started to drive thru Palissa, it started looking very rural. Lots of holes in the small dirt roads, huts everywhere, and beautiful Ugandans surprised to see our big bus in their village.  I'm sure that our big bus full of Mzungus had something to do with it.

At the Country Inn, literally in the sticks, our luggage was being searched…one bag at a time, for explosives.  Explosives…really?!  Yes, they were looking in every bag for explosives!  Our team had approximately 70 bags, and one guy was searching our bags after we were squished into a tight bus for 6 hours.  We were not very happy!  So being the great example of spiritual leadership that I am, I began hiding bags behind me and creating a scene to distract our bag searcher.  Then I proceeded to invite my fellow team members to also partake in my deceiving scheme of sneaking bags past the bag searcher and into our rooms.  Hilarious…I must say, but it did the job!
After sorting out that mess, and getting settled into our rooms, we headed to Kerith Children's Home.  There were not many children there initially, but it didn't take long before the children in the community were watching us.

I was shown the "kitchen" were we will be cooking.  This is going to be an interesting adventure!  I watched the ladies cooking chapati, and gathered some of the other team members to learn as well.  Mercy, Pastor Samuel's wife, was so much fun.  She is full of personality.  They showed us how to form the dough and cook it on a small charcoal fueled skillet.  Chipati is very similar to a tortilla.  It was a lot of fun preparing the dough and watching the Ugandan women laugh at us. In the end, we mastered it.

The feast we are preparing for the staff and the children is going to b e such a special treat.  I will be taking a few of the team members to market to buy food in the morning.  Just talking about our menu and how we will be preparing it makes me laugh.

We started out talking about buying two goats, and having tow of our team members kill and clean it.  Then they started talking about buying a slab of beef from the market…oh boy!

The day before, we were in Jinja.  I had used my coleader's phone to text Brandon.  I said, "Hey Boo, get on FaceTime.  I have internet access.  Don't text back unless it's an emergency."  Well apparently, all Brandon just replied.  All he received was, "Emergency!"  I about wet my pants, I couldn't stop laughing!

As we were about to call it a night, a hotel staff person approached me with a sheet of paper asking about 20 personal questions.  Including name, address, passport number, our tribe, etc..  I told him I could complete on form for the whole team.  He kept insisting everyone needed on.  So again, I do what any spiritual leader would do…lol!  I take the whole stack and hand them over to another team member and have her fill out all of our teams "personal information."  Or at least, her interpretation of everyones information!  Fun times!  I hope to get asked to lead another team soon!

Uganda 2012 Day 1

Why do I do this?  What makes me want to travel all the way to Africa to spend two weeks serving?

I do it because if fuels me.  I love seeing little brown faces with deep brown eyes looking up to me.  I see Him in those eyes.  When I squeeze those tiny bodies, I feel full.  I go thinking I'm going to do something big…make a difference.  But what happens is that the difference that is made, is in me.  I am changed.  Without knowing it, they are the ones that show me what true love is.  They show me how to be completely content in what they have.  They show me how to be in crazy love with Him.  

They. Change. Me.

Day 1

Today was the first day to really get dirty, so to speak.  Our team was scheduled to spend the entered day at My Father's House and Royal Hope Academy. I was very excited to share this awesome experience with my team.  

We pulled up, and they hurried into position to welcome us.  They didn't have enough time to fully welcome us down the path that leads to their school, but it still overwhelmed my team.  Its very emotional to see children with so little be so grateful for us.  Our bus doors open, and its as if we are celebrities.  

Their worship and praise is out of this world.  It truly is my favorite place to worship.  Talk about putting us to shame.  They love Jesus and raise their hands, kneels on the hard red dirt and praise him. I had to leave early and drive with Abus to pick up the team members that didn't make our original flight the day before, and pick up the missing luggage.  

Abus, our driver, and I had a lot of fun learning about each others cultures.  He said that I am good because I talk to thin.  I can't imagine not making conversation with the an who drives, translates and meets all of our crazy needs.   I learned that he has five children and has been married for 15 years.  His wife goes to University for accounting.  He supports this family by driving teams when their are in town.  

When we arrived at the airport, I caught the three team members just as they were about to exit the luggage claim area.  Once you go thru, you can't go back.  I quickly handed them the missing luggage tags, and had them go to find our missing bags.  Thank God for that!  Others were waiting for hours to have an airport worker look for one bag at a time.  We quirky snook out of there before any other delay.  They were so tired, I can imagine!  At dinner, George from Ekubo, came to speak to our team about his love story to his wife Christy (an American), and about his ministry, Ekubo.  HE was hilarious!  He has an obvious passion for bettering his village.  It was such an honor to get to meet him. The team was very tired, but did their best to stay us.  He was very appreciative of the formula we had collected.

Uganda 2012

As you may know, I'm leading my first short term mission team to Uganda this summer!  We leave in just three weeks!  My team is a large one.  We have 30 people on the team. Our team has some big things planned and we would LOVE your help!
How can you help:

• Formula - We will be working with various ministries that have a huge need for formula.  When a child is orphaned or abandoned, a mother's breast milk is no longer an option.  That is where formula comes in.  It is very expensive and difficult to find at times.  You can either purchase it and one of our team members can bring it in their luggage, or you can donate money for us to purchase it.  

• Monetary Support - We have two big projects that we need help funding.  Since food is such a huge need, our team will be preparing and serving a feast for the children and staff at Kerith Children's Home and Canaan's Children's Home.  We will need to purchase animals for meat, fruit and vegetables, drinks and other supplies for this to happen.  Most children eat posho       (rice/porridge) and beans everyday.  Meat, fruits and vegetables are a luxury.  Our prayer is that God allows us so much provision, that the children and staff feel His love thru us serving them and feeding them well.

• There are many needs, as you can assume, in the various Ugandan ministries.  From land, to vehicles, self sustainable projects and teachers salaries. You name it, there is probably a need for it.    

• You can donate directly through Visiting Orphan's website.  This will get you a tax deduction.  Please go here and choose the fund category as Uganda July 21 Waiting List.  Then give away!  That's it!  The money collected through our team will be used for formula, food and whatever the Lord leads our team to do.  

Our team will be working with:

• Return Ministries
• Kerith Children's Home
• Sangaalo Baby Cottage
• Ekisa Special Needs Orphange
• Amani Baby Cottage
• My Father's House 
• Canaan's Children's Home

Last year, I was blown away by how God provided!  He uses people to get stuff done and He used so many of you last year.  I hope that you would consider joining me on a team one day!