Why Go?

Why do I go? Is it for them or for me? I promise it's not why you think. A lot of times I hear people tell me that what I do is admirable. That they wish they could do something so profound, or that they had the desire to make a difference.

Why am I so on fire for missions? Why do I travel twice a year to Africa to love on kids and serve communities and ministries? For me. Yes, the "selfless" Christian woman that some of you see when you see the videos or pictures of my trips is not who you think she is.

I love missions because they help me to become more of the woman I desire to be. They show me that my life is okay. I learn to have more faith by watching those with nothing have more faith than I'll ever know. I love how I am challenged to grow deeper. Advocating for the fatherless and ministries that are getting it right makes me smile. I never knew that cooking a feast for 500 kids could be so rewarding! I love how fast a team becomes a team! I LOVE watching team members experience this all for the first time.

I recall my first trip to Uganda. I thought I was going to change the world with my hair bows. Granted, the kids loved them. But It's really my world that was changed. God uses short term mission trips to open the eyes and hearts of people to build His kingdom! We don't change the world. We change our hearts. We build relationships.

Right before every trip, I feel inadequate. I feel like I am in no position to be leading a team spiritually, or that I am "good enough" to be called a missionary. And every time, God shows up. He gives me the skills and abilities that I need just when I need them.

I believe that God gives us James 1:27 for us. He wants us to grow closer to Him. By being obedient when He says "Go," we open up the flood gates for His blessing on our lives!

Go.Be.Love.

www.visitingorphans.org

Why I Don't Walk My Kids to School

Living within walking distance to my children's school has always been a dream.  Living within walking distance of my children's school on a military base is more than a dream.  I have memories of walking to school ever since I can remember.  I grew up on military installations and walking is just what you do.

Miles, being in third grade, is more than capable to walk the almost quarter miles walk to school.  As his parents, we feel that it teaches him responsibility.  He is old enough to wake up on his own, dress and groom himself and fix a simple breakfast.  He is old enough to walk himself to school.  Now granted, we do live in a safe community.  He walks on a side walk and only crosses two neighborhood crosswalks on his way.

Marley, on the other hand, is a different child.  She can not be trusted to walk to school on her own, for obvious reasons.  She is four.   Not only that, but she has Sensory Processing Disorder.  Marley seems like a "normal" four year old.  And in many many ways she is.  She loves to go to school, play, sing and dance.  She is almost on target academically.  She interacts good with her peers…most of the time.
Marley also wakes up some days disregulated or just stresses out during the day.  In other words, imagine your are having a panic attack.  You wake up with it.   Your day is not going to be smooth.  But you usually know what is going on, what is causing it and how to cope with it.  Marley does not.

Marley has made tremendous progress since we identified the culprit when she was about 2 years old.  She still has tough days.  Simply breaking a routine can set her off.  Large crowds are a NO NO!  Grocery shopping is out of the question.  I know my limits!  It has taken me years to figure it out.

We live blocks away from her school, and I drive to pick her up.  Yes, I drive a few blocks down the road to pick my child up from school and drive her home.  Why?  Because it is what is best for her and for me.  She is completely exhausted by a full time schedule which includes speech therapy, occupational therapy, a bus ride and two different classrooms.  The rush of a few hundred kids going to buses and walking with friends, parents, strollers and pets is too stimulating for her.  She wants to touch every stick on the sidewalk, pet every pet.  She impulsively runs into the street without looking for cars.  She will pick up someone else's chewed up gum and put it in her mouth.  Sounds like every four year old?  Possibly.  But, I know her limits and I know my limits.  So I drive her!  It's what works for us.

Four Years Ago

It's crazy to think that four years have past since we saw Marley's face for the first time!  I remember that day like it was yesterday!  I had programmed my cell phone to ring like a slot machine when our adoption agency called.  I heard that special ring and it didn't really set in.  I was on pins and needles for almost a year.  Seriously!  I carried my camcorder with me everywhere for months hoping to catch the call on camera.
The phone rang, and I heard our adoption worker say hello and then acknowledge that Brandon was on  the call as well.  I knew what that meant…we were about to be matched with a little girl!  She told us her name and that she was just six weeks old.  She emailed us some pictures and said, "Congratulations, It's a Girl!"  Brandon and I had planned this day out ahead of time.  So I waited what seemed like an eternity for him to get home and we opened the email together.  That was it!  Our perfect little girl starred at us in those pictures.  We were butter!
Four years later, that little tiny girl with no hair has blossomed into a spicy young girl full of personality!  And OH…does she have hair!  I love adoption and am so thankful that it gets to be a part of our families story!

Marley Referral Anniversary 4 years from elisa hyman on Vimeo.

NEW T-shirt Fundraiser

 

Shirts are Unisex fit

I'll be selling these shirts to fundraise for my November Uganda Team.  We will be providing a feast to over 500 children and will be buying food in Uganda to help with that!  We also buy needed supplies for the work we will be doing!  Check out my Missions Page to see a few of my past teams!

FREE SHIPPING!!!

Sizes

Youth Small $15.00 USD Youth Medium $15.00 USD Youth Large $15.00 USD Small $20.00 USD Medium $20.00 USD Large $20.00 USD XLarge $20.00 USD XXLarge $20.00 USD

Join Me in Uganda this Thanksgiving!

Uganda has become my second home. This will be my fourth trip to Uganda!  I love traveling there, and not only is my heart there, but a little tiny piece of my tooth resides there!

I will be leading another Visiting Orphans team over Thanksgiving. Here a few of the details:

• November 24-December 4
• We will be working with Return Ministries, My Father's House, Healing Faith and Sangalo Baby Home.  I have traveled to all but Healing Faith and am super excited to share these ministries with you! 
• Follow THIS LINK to get the details of this trip
• If you are leaving from Germany, please contact me!  I have some information for you before you submit your application!

I truly believe that God has placed a passion and calling for missions in me.  And if you are drawn towards missions or think you'd like to go with me, I know that He is calling you too!  That's how my story started!  I was just intrigued by a friend who led teams.  I'd watch her blog and Facebook posts and trip videos and always thought that it would be a cool experience.  It took me about a year until I finally committed to going.  Wow…did that trip change my life!  Here I am now, just a little over two years later and I'm leading two teams a year!

All that to say, join me!  I LOVE THIS STUFF!  Anyone will tell you that!

If money is keeping you from going, PLEASE hear me!  God will provide!  Check out one of my personal stories with fundraising!

I'm super excited to see who God brings to this team!  I hope you will join me!

Submit your application HERE!

Uganda & Kenya Trip Video 2013

Uganda & Kenya May-June 2013 from elisa hyman on Vimeo.

Kenya Days 13-14

Day Thirteen

This morning, Brittany and I woke up around 5:00 a.m. to fill Hannah's room with balloons and sing Happy Birthday.  Her mother had sent me a birthday care package almost two months ago and I was anxious to share it with her! 

The kids were dismissed from school today so we took a nature walk to the nearby lake.    It is so beautiful in Kenya!  As we got closer to the water, there was a sign that said "Beware of Hippo!"  What?!  Thankfully, we did not have any encounters!  As we walked, the kids grabbed wild cactus fruit and carefully ate them.  What a beautiful land these kids get to explore.

At evening worship, I realize that I've been claimed by a little girl named Milcah.  She placed her bible on a chair next to hers and doesn't move it until I walk in.  Just like my Ugandan girls, she doesn't say much.  But holds my hand tightly and likes to be held in my arms.  So that's what we do!  I put my arm around her during worship, I put her face in my hands and tell her how beautiful she is when I say good night, and we walk hand in hand.  That's how I play Mama to these kids.  That's all they want, to be someone's undivided attention.  She waits patiently for me at the bottom of the stairs during our teams mealtime and she saves my seat in worship time.  She wrote me letters everyday and today she wrote it to Mom! 

We went to Amazing Grace Ministry today, which houses about 30 children ages 4 and up.  They truly have very little, but are full of joy!  The ministry director has a calling to love on these kids in a family setting, not like an orphanage. The kids are full of love and spirit.  They very proudly showed us their individual gardens, their rabbits, ducks and cows.  They had two puppies that are supposed to be guard dogs, but are slowly turning into pets, after the kids had watched an American kids movie introducing them to pets living in a home.  They keep asking if their dogs can sleep inside with them, but to Africans, that is silly!

One of our team members got to preach tonight at evening worship.  Kristi did an amazing job.  I'm so glad she stepped up, I was worried about having to do it myself...lol!  After the kids had their evening worship, our team spent some time in our devotional and worship time.  Naomi, made a special birthday song for Hannah, which was hilarious! And Brittany and I introduced the warm fuzzy books I had made for each team member.  We began writing about our memories together.

Day Fourteen

This is our last full day together.  We had some of our team working in the Fiwagoh clinic, some playing with kids, and some teaching at the school.  Most of the teachers handed over their classrooms to our team.  Our team taught science, social studies, math,and English.  We dipped out when it came to Swahili, ha! 

In the afternoon, we visited Haven of Hope again.  The team really seemed to enjoy spending time with the kids there.  We unloaded donations of clothes, crafts and sports equipment.  The kids sang a few songs for us and we preformed a few for them.  What a beautiful ministry! 

After dinner and Fiwagoh worship, it was time for our team to process and come to a close.  We gave the opportunity for anyone to share any talent, or scripture.  Hannah showed us how she can lick her elbow, and Brittany and I preformed a reenactment of Praise Him, a hilariously bad performance from some young adults in Kampala.  We got serious and talked about what is next?  Many shared how God worked thru them during this trip.  It was awesome!  We had our final team worship and we belted it out!  We cried out to God and praised Him for brining us together. 

Kenya Days 10-12

Day ten

We said our goodbyes to Ekubo and got on the road to County Lake Resort. 

This was our respite.  A day of relaxing and recouping before another week of ministry.  We processed a little on the road.  I was super excited to take the team to this Resort because it it simply beautiful!  We were eating lunch watching the waves crash on Lake Victoria when I remembered a team member telling me she wanted to get baptized.   Brittany and I were honored to be a part of this!  We scouted out a good spot, and got it done!  What an experience!

The shower I took at the resort was one of the most fulfilling showers I have had!  The water trickled out slowly, but it was warm and I was clean!  Brittany and I reclined on our private patio talking and giggling! After dinner, we had our team devotional and worship time.  Wow, it was powerful!  Rest and a nice hot shower can do wonders for a team!  We all piled into one of our teams rooms.  It was a tight fit, but I think the coziness made for better worship.  Once again, our worship leader rocked it! 

At bed time, Brittany and I had the great idea of checking up on our team members with a little humor.  We snook up to one of the room windows and not even 5 seconds later, we had two hysterical young girls!  It was actually very funny, and they took it very well considering!  So we thought we'd try scaring some more rooms.  What a bad idea!  At the next room, there was no window, so we went to the back porch.  I couldn't reach over the fence, so I pushed a chair into their back door, expecting a scream or some kind of reaction.  Instead, there was just silence.  So I kept doing it.  The lights went out.  Brittany and I were about to pee our pants with laughter!  We went to the front door and Brittany opened it.  It was unlocked!  I lost it!  I couldn't stop laughing!  Well out came two very very frightened team members that were on their knees praying, thinking that someone was trying to break into their room.   Uh...mission team leader fail!  Brittany and I felt awful!  Awful!  I wasn't sure those girls would ever forgive us, so we retreated to our room and locked our own doors!

Day eleven

Another day waking before sunrise.  We boarded our bus to the airport to fly to Kenya.  A few days ago Brittany had introduced a game I like to call The Stupid iPod Game. Basically, you put your headphones in and cover your ears as you sing to music and everyone laughs.  Well, I wasn't done having fun, so we played this game on the way to Kenya...on the plane!  Too funny!  Good times!

Once we landed in Kenya, our driver told us that we couldn't arrive to Fiwagoh Ministries until sundown.  They are a Seventh Day Adventist ministry and observe the Sabbath.  So we improvised and took the opportunity to shop.  Our driver took us to various small shops overlooking the Great Rift Valley.  Simply breath taking!   I can't believe this is my life!  The shop owners were very aggressive and Brittany and I had to give our team some tips on how to deal with them.  This is not my first rodeo, and I know how much these tourist type items are jacked up in price for white people.  When I shop in these stores, I rarely make eye contact, I don't touch an item unless I truly am interested, I never act interested, even if it is an item I've been searching for.  I offer 1/3 to half of what they are asking for.  If they don't come down to my asking price, I walk away.  It sounds harsh, but it works!  Almost every single time I walk away, they chase me down and say, "okay, you bring," meaning that they are accepting my offer.  This was one of the most aggressive spots I have ever been to and there items were not high quality, so I was roothless in my negotiating skills. 

It was starting to get dark, and almost time for us to arrive at Fiwagoh and we saw our first set of wild zebras!  I can't believe that I get to do this stuff! We pulled over and snapped a few pictures. 

When we pulled up to Fiwagoh, we were greeted with an overwhelmingly warm welcome.  It was dark, the sun had just set, and the Sabbath was over.  The 200 kids chased the bus until it reached its stopping point.  When the doors opened there was a sea of brown arms reaching in grabbing every team member exiting as if to claim them before anyone else could.  I was claimed by three teenage girls, my favorite age!  We were escorted into a courtyard where the tiny Pastor Benson introduced himself and welcomed us.  He was the first I saw to have a megaphone.  What a great idea!  I'm putting that on my wish list for my next team!  It came time for me to introduce the team, and he handed me the megaphone.  With 200 kids sitting quietly, I got a little stage fright.  My coleader had no desire to help a sister out, so I quickly told them we were excited to be there and love on them and then I introduced each team member.  I handed the megaphone back to Pastor Benson and his response was "that's it?"  Lol! 

Our team settled into their rooms filled with bunk beds and rested.

Day twelve

Fiwagoh ministry has morning worship at 6:00 a.m. And evening worship at 7:00 p.m..  Watching the sunrise is going to get old...lol!  None of us had been to Fiwagoh before, so we didn't really know what to expect.  I really don't have any experience with Seventh Day Adventists so I couldn't really prepare my team.  All i knew was that they practice the sabbath, are vegan and are not charismatic. Flexibility and grace have been our teams theme, so we just went with the flow.  The worship was organized and carried out by the children.  that amazed me! It started with two hymns, which the children all knew from heart...all 10 verses...lol!  And then a word from Nash, a fifteen year old boy.  They pray on their knees and then worship is done. 

Today we organized our field day activities during the morning and visited Haven of Hope in the afternoon. What an amazing woman of God Nelly is.  She started Haven of Hope because of a huge desire she had to love on orphaned babies.  She considers every child her own, and it shows.  Many of my team members were drawn to her enthusiasm.  I loved watching that!

Just a few days ago, a team member had mentioned to me that she would like to keep some of her donated formula for another ministry.  She didn't know who, but felt like it was something that she was supposed to do.  I was a witness to this team member asking Nelly if she needed formula.  Oh how God works!  Nelly teared up and raised her hands in the air and thanked God!  She had been praying for formula for the last week, and little did we know that He was going to meet that need thru us!  God is so freaking good!  We look forward o coming back to Haven of hope in two days.

It was late and I was just about asleep, when I hear Brittany screaming!  She said that there was poo on her bed!  I didn't believe her and thought that maybe she was plunking me.  S I got up to investigate and their was indeed some kind of poo looking dropping!  Her jaw was wide open in disbelief and I was on the floor in tears!  I couldn't stop laughing!  We eventually found out it was a prank!  I'm so glad to have a team that can joke and a coleader that can take a joke!