Want to help?

(if you haven't already, i strongly recommend reading the post titled "A Beacon of Hope" which is just previous to this one, either before or after reading this post.)

I have some visions.

First off, as I’ve mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve been praying every single day for the Lord to provide ceilings, a water tank, and a safer kitchen for the Alma house, in which I reside.

Somewhere along the way, I began to add to my prayer, “Lord if you want to use me and the people in my life to be the answer to these prayers, will you show me how?”

After praying for a while, I think I am supposed to be part of the answer, and I have a feeling that some of you are too.

Many of you have asked how you can help, “what can I do?”
“I want to send money there, how can I do it?”

Well I’ve found some ways.

Check out the different options and let me know if you’re interested.

Option 1.You can help by bringing equality and an easier life to 12 orphans and a caring mother—who I now consider part of my family—The Alma house.

Water Tank--$1300
Safer Kitchen—$550
Ceilings—$2000

** I believe I am going to have extra money that I raised for my trip, so I will be giving that money directly to the Alma house for these specific needs. But that will only cover maybe ¼ of these current needs. SOOO feel free to join me in this! I plan on continuing to save my own money and raise funds from anyone interested until these things are installed in their house.


Also, it costs $900 a month for each home to “operate.” The Alma House’s sponsor is only giving $600 a month right now, like most of the other house’s sponsors are also doing. The global economic crisis leads to people giving less money which means less for those who already have less. Anyways, I am praying about giving a monthly contribution to the house in addition to those three extra needs listed above. That may come at a later date for me though. Right now they are not getting as much food as they normally would or a variety. They are just getting the basic necessities right now.
I have personally experience the frustration of not having water to boil, bath with, wash things with, cook with, etc. because this house doesn’t have a water tank. They can get water in other ways but its not as easy nor as sanitary as the other houses that have tanks.
The kitchen they use right now is a little shack. They make a fire with firewood, and cook on that. So you can imagine the smoke in this place. I can not stay in there for more than 5 minutes. They pretty much live in there. The “safer kitchen” means they will have a chimney and they will not use firewood.
And the ceiling will provide more privacy, a much quieter house, insulation, and all those other things we take for granted with ceilings.


Option 2.Donate to Bethany Village to help support one of the other homes that has similar needs as the Alma house, or the random needs that come up for the village as a whole, like clothes shortages, food shortages, a new home which will be needed soon, staff housing, etc.

Option 3. You can sponsor one of the children I described in the previous blog post (titled “A Beacon of Hope”) for only $30 a month. I know many of you are already doing something like that, so that’s great—move along! (Unless you want another one or something)
But for those of you that are not, and feel a desire to legitimately give a child a completely different future than what he/she has at this moment, please consider this.

I’m not using fluffy words. I’m not exaggerating. I’m not choosing every word carefully so that it truly represents things the best way I see it.

THIS IS NOT AN INFOMERCIAL ABOUT THE STARVING CHILDREN IN AFRICA.

This is about me, Juliette, being here in Uganda, working intimately with people who are truly giving children a future and working intimately with those actual real children.

This is about you wondering how you can be a part of it.

This is about you wondering how you can share the IMMENSE blessings you have in your life.

I only share this for 2 reasons.

1.When I was telling my mom about the GREAT work this ministry is doing and the real, live impact I am witnessing, she said that I need to tell people about this because its hard to know who you can actually trust when you hear about the places that you can “send your money and change lives.” This was a good point she made. So if you trust me, you can trust this.

2.The other reason I share it is because you have no idea how overwhelming it is to live life with these people and every day hear about another need that the children need or Bethany Village needs or ARMs needs. And then I hear that it would really only cost a hundred dollars or a few hundred dollars or even a thousand dollars to alleviate the need. And then, I know how small of an amount of money that really is. Yet it is SO huge here. And then to know about all the money I have access to personally and through all my friends and family. . . .its overwhelming!

So I am compelled to share!

If you want to help with the Alma house, please email me.
If you want to help with the TONS of needs of Bethany Village in general, please email me.
If you want to know more about ARMs and sponsor a child you can email me or go directly to

africarenewalministries.com

and do it yourself!

Don’t feel guilty or overwhelmed or burdened by any of this. I just share it for those of you who said you are interested in helping.

Some of my favorite pictures. . .

Can't wait to actually show these with much better picture quality. . .

A Beacon of Hope

Africa Renewal Ministries is the ministry that Bethany Village was birthed from. This ministry is operating all over Uganda.

They are educating orphans.

They are providing food, shelter, medicine, and other basic needs to many.

They are providing homes for orphans.

They are training pastors.

They are training youth to be leaders.

They are teaching youth about AIDS and other concerns.

They are giving kids the opportunity to go to university.

They are being Jesus to a hurting country. It is quite beautiful.

There is this group of believers that make up a church community in a certain town in Uganda. They thought, “how can we be a part of bringing the Kingdom of Jesus here to the broken people around us?”This group of people discovered what Jesus said for us to do, in order to be a light, or to be a beacon of hope, is to love the hurting, to restore the broken.

They discovered what Jesus meant about the Body of Christ when he said “be as one so that the world will come to know me.”These believers depend on one another, encourage one another, admonish one another, and simply love one another. And the hurting people around them have seen it. And the hurting people around them said, “I don’t know what to do with this child. Who will take care of it?. . . Let’s bring it to the church.”“I cannot afford to get my child food or an education and I don’t know anyone who can help me—Let’s talk to the church.”“I don’t know what to do with my life. I have no education. I have nothing. What can I do? I will go to the church.”“I have a disease. . .I am sick. . . There is nowhere to go to make me better. What will I do? I will go to the church.”

And so they come to Ggaba community church. And the people that make up the church give orphans homes. They transform the lives that these kids could have. Literally. They transform them.I’ve seen it with my own eyes. These people find other people who have lots of money (called “sponsors”) who will give just $30 a month to pay for one of those kids who’s parents have no money so that they can go to school and get a couple of meals a day. Five-thousand children are going to school, getting food and a future because 5000 people around the world give them $30 a month.

And because a group of Believers said, “I’ll stand up for the weak. I’ll seek justice for the helpless. I’ll stand in the gap. I’ll be the middle man. I’ll raise awareness. I’ll use my voice for the voiceless. I’ll do whatever it takes.” These people help pay for young adults to go to university so they can further transform Ugandan society. These people give hurting people a “future and a hope.”

These people are God’s plan of salvation--in action.

Ggaba Community church, the primary and secondary school here, the ARMs offices, the day care, the Clinic—this all makes up the compound of hope.

And this place is literally on the same street as complete poverty. Like, one second you are surround by children learning, people working hard to care for others, Christians singing and praying—and then the next step you take, you are surrounded by poverty, shacks, brokenness.

This is what the church is meant to be.

A place where hurting people go for a future and a hope.

Success!

Some say success is making lots of money.

Some define success as getting a certain job promotion, or just having a certain job.

Some say it is just being happy.

I SAY it is. . . . drum roll please. . ..

getting 3 infants to sleep back, to back, to back.

And then soaking in the silence.

But seriously, taking care of babies is my calling in life, I believe.

So here are my precious Ugandan babies:

Meet Daniel. 10 months??? (no one really knows the exact ages of any of them)
Another post just on Daniel coming soon.
I started to write about him but realized I was writing like 3 paragraphs on his story.

Meet Rachael. 2-3 months??

In close running for best baby also. Sleeps. Cries to eat. Eats. Sleeps. Smiles. Repeat.

Meet Joshua. 4-5 months?

Not so good baby. But obviosuly adorable. He cries a lot. A lot. And very, very loud. He always needs attention. (reminds me of another josh i know. =) )

I think he has issues with the formula . . .but there's not really any other options for him.

Meet Aiden. 3-4 months??

This is a boy, don't be mistaken. Isn't he precious?

He also cries loud and often. And I think he has issues with the formula too. . .but what can you do about it here? He's a smiley man!

It's hard to say, but if I do have a favorite it is probably Rachael.
It could be because she is the smallest.
It could be because she is a girl.
It could be because she is such a good, easy baby.
It could be because she reminds me of Emma Tillery.
Or it could be for some unknown reason!

I am starting to spend lots of time at Loving Heart's Baby Home in Gaba (across the lake from bethany village). Right now there are only these 4 babies, but hopefully in a couple of months the final paper work will be done and tons more babies will be filling this home.

They have had to turn away some babies already because the government told them they can't get anymore babies until they finish this paper work. Amy, the director, told me that a couple of babies have already passed away because they had no one to take care of them.

How horrible is that?

Please pray for the paper work to be finished quickly so that dying babies may be saved and have a completely different future!!

All of the babies accepted in this home are "abandoned" babies. Meaning their parents are no where to be found--just left em at the hospital or somewhere worse.

I must admit, though, I have enjoyed having just 4 babies. It is enough to keep you busy but you also have enough time to have a personal relationship with each of them. There are 3 "care taker/mothers" who work different 12 hour shifts throughout the week. They are Uganda women who speak pretty good English, love Jesus, and are pretty good at what they do. I have enjoyed my time with them.

I'm pretty sure there are some families (Ugandan and American) that are in the works to maybe adopt these 4 babies. I pray for those families and for a speedy process almost every time I'm rocking these babies to sleep.

I pray for those parents right there in that moment that they will feel connected to this little heart I'm holding. I pray that that little heart will feel comforted and loved and safe in my arms until their parents can come for them. I pray that I can prepare these little hearts at least a little bit for the wonderful love and future that the Lord has in store for them. And I KNOW it is a good one.

It is seriously incredibly overwhelming to be holding this beautiful little babies and think about the life they would have had if they were not in this home. They could be dead. They would DEFINITELY be sick, underdeveloped physically, emotionally, psychologically, and mentally, lacking love, possibly not raised to know the Lord, and the list goes on and on.

But here, though they are not with their parents yet, which is a big deal, they are at least being loved, fed, given good health, protected, and taught.

All of these babies came here very malnourished and underdeveloped but they are doing so well now!! In just 3 months! Its amazing!

If you want one of these babies or the ones we will be getting soon, talk to Generations Adoptions in Waco, Texas!!!

Here's some fun extras. . .

Irene

This girl. She’s an interesting one.

She has been to Uncle Francis office twice for “misbehavior.” The misbehavior has been for not taking care of the expensive milk they buy for her because she has HIV. (she throws it out, wastes it, doesn’t drink it, etc) and for hurting the little 2 year old. (she is very physical and sometimes goes overboard)

So she is labeled as “bad.”

And I just don’t know if I see it that way.

I just don’t think she is rebellious. I do not sense a rebellious spirit from her. If any of the kids in my house has one, its maybe Anita, but I don’t think any of them really do. (now in the preschool, that’s a different story. . .)

Irene is obviously developmentally behind emotionally, mentally, and socially.

She is 12 but functions more like a 7-8 year old.

And she definitely has one of those personalities that likes to play more than work, according to African standards-- not American.

She likes to laugh, have fun, be silly, sing, dance. She is out-going. She likes attention. But not TOO much attention.

I don’t know if she would be at the top of her class even if she was developmentally up-to-speed mentally. She’s not a “book worm.” She seems to try hard in school—they all do. But I don’t think academics is really her gifting.

And that’s okay.

BUT academics is really prized here.

Francis told me that when Irene first got here, Mama Jane was giving her lots of attention because of the hard situation she was coming from. She kind of treated her extra special. Mama thought maybe that’s all Irene needed in order to correct her behavior.

But is seems that Irene took advantage of that special attention and did not use it well, so Mama Jane backed off, and she behaved a little better.

So I’ve been asking these kinds of questions:

Is she just absent-minded? Just a forgetful child? Or is it really rebellion? Is she just seeking attention?

One day in the office, I was categorizing all the kids according to who has a parent/relative that could take them back one day and those that have no relative to ever take them back.

Irene is the only one in my house that has absolutely no one.

The moment I heard Francis say this, my complete natural instinct was, “oh, well I’ll take her back with me, then.”

Hah. Of course I did not say this out loud, but that is seriously what went through my mind the rest of the time.

And I am completely serious about this.

But then I had to ask myself the question that I’ve been wondering. . . forget all the legal and logistical things that would make that improbable—would she be better off taken out of this culture that she has been raised in for 12 years to America with me or would she be better off in this village, with this house mom, with Uncle Francis as her father, in the culture she has been in for 12 years, in a home that is raising her to be a wonderful, hard working woman of God, that IS providing the ARV medication she needs, and all of the other of her very basic needs?

And I honestly do not know the answer to this.

Just for curiosity’s sake, I asked Uncle Francis, “What if someone like me—single, 22 yrs old, etc—wanted to adopt one of the kids who has no relatives to take care of them? Would that even be considered or what?”

He said that the last he had heard about Uganda law, you have to be at least 25 yrs older than the kid, you have to be married, and some other qualifications that excluded me. The law could be different now, but either way, I should probably stop thinking about it, eh? =)

___________________________________________________________________

I wrote all of that about a month ago, and then last week, I got more to add to the story of "Irene."

Sam works at the Baby Home. He asked me about my time at Bethany and then Irene got brought him. He told me that he was the one that "found" her and then proceeded to tell me her story. . .

Sam used to work for the Child Sponsorship office where they go into villages and find the kids that need sponsors to go to school and eat and all of those things we take for granted. He was visiting a house one day, while the kids were at school, just talking to the grand mother. He noticed one girl was still at home so he began talking to her. He said "her face was so bright and happy. . .but when i looked in her eyes, they were so sad."

He asked her why she wasn't at school.

She said because she did not have money for books.
He said, 'ok well i'll get you money for books.'
She continued to have excuses about why she couldn't go.

So then he asked her grandmother.
She dismissively said, "Oh that one is HIV+"
End of story.
No more information needed.

HIV + children are done for, useless, no hope for future.

Unless a man like Sam, who works for an incredible organization walks into your home and starts talking to you. Sam immediately started sponsoring Irene--getting her to school and getting her proper medical treatment.
But when he came to check up on her over time, he found out she still was not being take cared of properly. And her family really did not want her.

So he brought her to Bethany Village. And got her medication that is probably going to save her life. And he takes her home with him during the holidays. And he comes to visit her at Bethany from time to time. He said he would have pretty much adopted her, but he is a single man, so that is unacceptable.

Coryn asked him that when he gets married, would he take her home with him. He said,

"yes, she is my child."

Tears welled up in me as I heard this story.
As i heard the pain and injustice that my precious Irene has experienced.
As I heard the beautiful redemption that the Lord has brought her.
As I heard the love expressed in this wonderful man's voice as he talked about my precious Irene.
As I heard that she does have the hope I long for her--for her to have parents. Here in her culture.

I was overjoyed.

Random pics (Josh, mainly for you!!)

This is the bathroom you wanted to see. Here's the inside. It looks like it flushes, but don't be decieved. That bucket of water is how it flushes. Its really not that big of a deal, but its just annoying having to fill it up so slowly, then carry it to the toilet, then empty it in the toilet and get the water all over you. Ya know, not what this little American girl is used to!

This is from the outside.

This is the children's toilet.

And this is where they bath.

These are the boys fishing with their handmade fishing rods!!

They are so cute. But i dont know how they balance on that thing!!

Well-behaved Children

(this doesnt really have to do with the post. . .but it IS some well-behaved children, haha. This is Anita and Carrol doing homework. I LOVE how the kids are always helping each other eevery night with homework. Its beautiful.)


One day Sharif was asking me questions about America and one of them went like this, “In America, do they beat you? Who beats the children?”


After I laughed a little, I figured out that he was asking, “when a child misbehaves at school, do they get spankings?” The English word they use for anything like “hit,” “slap,” “tap,” or “spank,” is “beat.”

This proved to be rather confusing to my mind at first.

I would hear “she beat me.” Or “I’m going to have to beat them.” And I was a little appalled. I soon learned that is the only English word they know for a variety of physical abuses and corrections. =)

I told Sharif that, no, children do not get “beat” at school, but there are some parents who “beat” their children for discipline. Though it was hard for me to even USE this word in reference to disciplining a child with spankings, it was the only way he could understand so I conceded.

So perhaps my hypothesis of why the children are so well-behaved--even under little adult-supervision-- could be correct.

My hypothesis was perhaps it is because they receive spankings for misbehavior. The adults here do not “spare the rod.” Don’t get me wrong, the children are not “beaten” for any misbehavior.




They receive lots of warnings, talking-tos, questions, and explanations for the discipline. And they do not “beat” them in the way in which we understand that word. It is more like spankings and swats. I witnessed it one day from Mama Jane. She gave Anita some slaps on the arm because Anita had hit Christine. Not a “beating,” but I think she learned her lesson. . . .

And Uncle Francis and I have talked a great deal about parenting/disciplining children. He has 177 kids to parent and, from my perspective, he does it well.

He has a lot of wisdom.

So I listen a lot. =)

He knows everything there is to know about every single one of the 177 kids in each home.
It’s amazing.

He said that the first 2 years he was here, he had to do a lot of discipline, and a lot of disciplining with “the rod” (spankings). That is because they were trying to teach these children how to work hard, be obedient, have good hygiene, etc. and these kids were coming from homes that usual did not do much of any of that.

So it took time to teach them. But he said that the past 2 years he has rarely had to do any discipline like that.
The kids learn.

He has lots of conversations about misbehavior—as opposed to “beatings.” And of course there’s the newer kids that take some time, but for the most part, the kids learn what is expected.

One day in the classroom, I was trying to get the kids to be quite and do their work. They would listen for like 3 seconds. Well someone had a stick in their hands so I took it away from them and began carrying it around absent-mindly in my hands.

Well something happened.

The kids actually listened to me when I spoke. They were quite.
They looked at me with much more respect. (possibly fear?)

It took me a second to realize it was because I had a stick in my hands!
And I didn’t even use it or move it around!

Oh and just so you know these kids aren’t perfect: there was an incident one day during recess where some boys were kicking another boy and the teacher yelled at them. And then a little later a boy was hitting another little boy and I had the honor of intervening on that one.




Sorry to all of you that disagree with this kind of discipline for children. Though I have no children of my own to testify for, all of the American and African children that I have met that are disciplined in this manner have led me to believe it is the best. Of course, I do not completely agree with the way I have seen (and heard) these spankings executed, like doing it in front of people, or not explaining it in a loving manner, and sometimes it’s REALLY hard for me to witness, but I agree with the basic principle.

Being “the missionary”

Oh how strange it is to be on the other side.

On all of my short-term mission trips, I was wondered what it was like to be the long-term missionaries that I met there, and I longed to be them.

I couldn’t wait for that day where I would go home after a week, but I would actually live there.

I couldn’t wait for the day when the cute little kids that attacked me with hugs would not just be cute little kids I played with for a week, but would be my friends, my children, who’s personalities I know so well.

I couldn’t wait to not just be one of the hundreds of westerners who come over and are so excited about anything and everything and just think “everything is so great,” but to truly know what is great and what isn’t so great and to experience more than just excitement with the national people.

I couldn’t wait to be the one that didn’t just come to bring lots of nice things, but the one who stayed.

Well that day has come. At least I’m staying for longer than the typical 2 weeks. (I can’t say that I’m “the one who lived the rest of her life there,” which would be quite a goal.)

What made me think about all this was a team that came from North Carolina one day. They came to Bethany one day just to get a tour and see some of the kids—and to give them lots of stickers and take lots of pictures of course. And then the next day they did a Vacation Bible School with the kids.

They were really nice and it was great to have some muzungus to talk to, if only briefly!
(And almost all of them have internationally adopted children of their own so that was also really cool)

But it was so weird for me to be on the other side. . . .

it was so weird for them to ask ME questions about how things work.. . . .

it was so weird for the lady who was a nurse to tell ME how to take care of Christine because her leg was sprained. . . .

it was so weird to watch them take picture after picture and be in awe of these precious children and for me to sit there and just watch—because I’m with these children every day .. . . ..

it was so weird to watch them tour around the village, with their backpacks and matching t-shirts, while I washed dishes outside my house. . . .

it was so weird for me to watch them leave, while I stayed.

My favorite part about that group was that there was only one college age girl. All the rest were 25 and up—people with careers, people with families, people with children at home.

But their vacation time this year was spent coming to Uganda for a week to see how they can further help orphans.

Do you have a rubber?. . . or an ass?

(this doesnt have anything to do with the post. I just had to share it! doesn't t look fake??? This was at 7 am as i was standing on the dock, about to take a boat ride to Gaba. Isn't it just breath taking???)

Oh how humorous words can be when you are across the world. . . .

One day in the office, Uncle Francis said,

“Do you have a rubber?”

I stopped.

And stared at him.

Think quick Juliette.

He is not asking you for what you think he’s asking you for.

You’ve heard about how the British call something “a rubber”—but what is it???

Well you do not have anything rubber with you so just say no.

I shook my head, ‘no,’ rather slowly.

“Oh ok, I just thought we might want erase some of these things.”

AN ERASER

DUH!

Phew. . .i hope he could not read the awkwardness on my face. =)

Another day, in the kindergarten room, I noticed a poster on the wall.

It was titled, “Sentences with ‘a’ sound”

And one sentence written read like this,

“A fat man has an ass.”

And yes, I am immature enough to give a little snicker.

My mind is just not used to seeing sentences like that in Kindergarten classrooms.

White Girl

(these pics dont really have to do with the post. . .except for the fact that is shows me as a typical white girl. =) )

The Trick
As I have mentioned, the children simply cannot help but stare at me. All the time. Try as you may to get used to it, it is hard to get used to. So I’ve figured out a bit of a trick.

Staring back. =)

This is not a full-proof trick, as there are many children (the real little ones) who have not yet developed a level of self-consciousness that makes them squirm when someone stares back at them. But the older ones--if I can get over my self-consciousness and just stare back for a little while, they tend to look away!

It always gives me a bit of a laugh too so that’s fun.

Typical Muzungu Girl
I went on a walk to take pictures one day. There were some kids from a nearby village on the road playing. Of course they kept staring at me, laughing, and yelling ‘muzungu.’ I smiled back and kept along my way. Well as I was crouching to take a picture near them, I heard something ‘thump’ next to me. Being a little startled, I looked around. To my horror, there was a lizard about a foot from me. No, not a little ghekko—a lizard. In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, I am a typical creeped-out girl when it comes to these sort of critters.

So I looked up and all the kids where laughing.

Oh how hilarious.

Throw a lizard on the nice muzungu lady taking pictures.

Praise God it did not land on me because they certainly would have gotten the show they were desiring—the muzungu running around frantically slapping herself and screaming at the top of her lungs. Instead, I calmly walked away from the site and looked disapprovingly at them. I wish I was the type of girl that could have picked up the lizard and done something funny with it to make friends with the kids. Unfortunately, the Lord has not wired me that way.

On my way back by them, I managed to say ‘hi, how are you’ in Luganda to them—probably more out of fear than love—and that did the trick of getting them to be nicer.

So I am just learning how to PRETEND to be fearless. That’s the trick with kids. When they come up to you with a worms and bugs and hold it close to you, what they are hoping is that you will freak out and run. In which case they will continue to try to scare you more. But if you say, ‘oh neat. We call that a worm in English. How about in Luganda?’ Then walk away like you don’t care—all is well.

I've resorted to running

Though I hate running AND though I hate all of the attention I get because of my attention-screaming skin color AND though I try to stay as clean as I can for as long as I can, my body was simply begging me for some sort of cardio activity.

So I’ve started running.

If you call it that.

It’s not much, but it’s something to burn off at least a LITTLE of the bajillion carbs I’m constantly eating. And perhaps do all the other things that exercise is supposed to do for you like help me sleep better and lift my spirits n such.

Francis made a comment about how it is good for me to gain weight while I am here because it makes them feel like they are taking care of me well, but when I go back to America it will not be good and everyone will say, ‘Juliette what happened to you?’

Great.

Cheli, I think about you while I run since the village is on a slope so I’m constantly running up and down hills. And Shannon, again, I am reminded of PNG—my very few runs and your very many runs up and down the slopes!

Just in case you were wondering, they do not “go for runs or jogs” here. I suppose they get enough activity from their day to day life. . .and they eat differently. . .and being “bigger” here is considered a blessing.

Mama Jane is always telling me she wants me to “expand my territories” as she heaps loads of food onto my plate. And at church last Sunday, a woman got up to give a testimony about the Lord and she said, “I used to be a skinny little girl, but now that Lord has blessed me!” She would definitely be what we would consider “heavier.” Everyone is always talking about how they want me to go back fatter or they will feel like they have not taken care of me well and the Lord has not blessed me.

They all think that Americans care so much about what they look like and work so hard to stay skinny. I told them this is true for most people, but the reason I want to run and watch what I eat is truly because I consider being healthy as part of my relationship with the Lord. If I have the knowledge of what is good for my body, I think, as a good steward of my body, I should live out that knowledge. I simply want to use what the Lord gave me as best I can, regardless of what it looks like to any culture. I must admit though, I do a minimal job of it!

Anyways, I found the most deserted area I could find around the village, to minimize the amount of staring I get from such a strange sight—a muzungu running around, in a large circle, in a skirt.

Oh and then I stop in the middle of my circle, down by the lake shore and do some stretches and other exercises.

I’m sure that’s an even better sight.

And then there is the entertaining sight when lots of children decide to join me in my run and stretches.

Home Alone--Party!

Mama Jane had to go into town 2 weekends ago to do some things for her older children.

So, me and the 12 children were home alone! Whoo!

Of course this doesn’t really mean much as everything runs about the same whether there is an adult present or not.

Except for the fact that the children felt compelled to have a birthday party.

But who to have a birthday party for?
For we do not know anyone’s birthday!

The stuffed animal of course!

Sharif (the boy who is a little feminine and a very good home-maker) was the host and coordinator. He came outside earlier in the evening and said, “Auntie Juliette, we are going to have a birthday party tonight! We will sing, we will eat, we will drink! I am going to start preparing!”

And prepare he did.
He cut up some (non ripe) mangoes beautifully (which they eat all the time).
They put “jolly jus” on the mango as well as in some water (Jolly jus is like kool-aid, but they eat it plain).
They brought out all of their little toys and special prizes and pictures and set them up on the table.

I had been wondering what I could do with the balloons, stickers, and candy I had brought and was just waiting for a good occasion. The occasion arose!

So I gave them some balloons to blow up and stickers to decorate.

Then one of them brought me a note “inviting me to the party.”

Precious.

So after devotional, we sat around in a circle, ate mango, drank jus, and of course, Sharif prayed and told us a story from the bible, because you cannot have a party without the Word! =)

Then they did some traditional dancing for me.

Then I played some music on my computer.

Then I gave them each a piece of candy!

What a fun party!

Thank you! Thank you!

From Mama Jane! (this is a GOOD story, PLEASE read!!)

I must thank every single one of you that supported my trip financially (and in other ways). As you know, I received more than I needed to live on.

So I said, “Lord show me how to use this extra money while I’m there!”

Well, as you can imagine, there has been lots of things I could use it on here at Bethany Village surrounded by 177 orphans.

Last week, most of the Bethany kids were sent home from school because they did not have socks on. And socks are part of the dress code. (it was just one of those days that the teachers decided to crack down.) Well Uncle Francis sorted it out with them, so that they could go back the next day.

He told me that, yes of course he knew they needed socks—they also need underwear, and have for a little while now. But it cost about $500 to by socks and underwear for 177 kids and they just haven’t had the money. Currently, they were about $175 short, so he was going to see what he could do to scrounge that up in order to get the needed items next week.

Well of course I hear this number and I think, ‘uhhh is this something to use the money on, Lord?’

Well the next day, a mission team came here to do a VBS. I was talking to one of the ladies about how amazing this orphanage is and how there are so many specific needs that I learn about every week and its so overwhelming because all I do is think about all the money I have and all the money my friends and family have and how just a few hundred dollars can make SUCH a difference here.

And I said, “Like the kids need socks. That’s only $175. I have that in my account. Should I give it to them?”

And she says, “Wait, is this like a legit need they need right now? Because my dad gave me $200 to give away while I’m here and I’ve just been looking for something particular to give it to. . . .Can you find out if I can just give that to Uncle Francis or what?”

BOOM! DONE!

This was incredible to me.

Okay so, how to use my money, Lord?

Well Mama Jane has a son named Raymond who has gotten accepted into University. This is huge here. But what is even more huge is the cost of university. It is only like $450 U.S. dollars, but that is a ginormous amount to an African, especially a single-mother African. About 3 weeks ago, upon being asked, I started praying that the Lord would provide government assistance for Raymond (which is very rare here). Last week, we found out he got it!!!!!!!!!!! It was incredible for me to see the Lord answer the specific prayer.

Mama Jane was exuberant.

Well on Thursday I came home and Mama looked distraught. This woman is the type that wears her emotions on her sleeve. So when she is happy, she is REALLY happy. And when she is, she is really sad. It broke my heart to see her like this. She finally found enough strength to tell me that Raymond’s government assistance was only covering some of the costs of school. And he had to have $200 the nedt day in order to enroll.

She had planned on going into town that day to enroll her precious son in a bright future. To give him a chance at a real career. To allow him to fulfill his desire to LEARN, LEARN, and LEARN. To give him a chance to “do something more.”

But now her hopes were crushed. There was no way she could provide for him. She already owed her employer money for paying her other daughter’s high school fees. And her other daughter is “sponsored” by Africa Renewal Ministries to go to high school cause she can’t afford those fees. . .

She just can’t make it.

So I prayed. Then I talked to Uncle Francis about if I could help. (they will still need to find a way to pay a smaller fee every semester, but at least the big bulk of it will be taken cared of)

Just as sad as that woman was earlier in the day was as happy as she was when I handed her the $220 to bring to her son the next day. I told her the Lord gave me extra money through all my friends and family to bless someone with and this seemed to be the time.

I did gave it to her right before devotional that night, so you can imagine the sounds of praise that were coming from the Alma house that night. The children didn’t even know what was going on, but even they were praising louder simply because they could feel the change in their mother.

It was beautiful.

“God really brought you here for a reason, mwande wange!” (“my daughter”—she likes to call me this)

Going to university in Uganda is not like going to university in America. Raymond will have a completely different future. And so will his mother and sisters now.

I felt like my life was different now too.

I felt like the Lord had provided for me.

I feel connected to Raymond very deeply, though I have never met him, simply because the Lord brought me to live with his mother for a while.

I couldn’t help but praise the Lord for the opportunity to not just send some money to an organization for a child to go to school, but to be right there in the heart of it.

My friend and mother needed something. And I had it. So I gave it.

If someone needs, and you have, you give. So simple.

Yet so many times, we just don’t know what people actually need. Or we don’t actually know the people who need a bunch of things so it feels weird to give what we do have.

Real, live people with real, live stories need things every moment. But if you’re not next to them, it’s hard to know what they need or how you can help.

But if you move yourself closer to those in need, it’s AMAZING how you can be used.

How can you can be blown away.

How you can be truly and deeply, beyond words, blessed—like I was tonight.

If you feel like you want more. If you feel like you need more blessings. . . .

Move your body, your heart, your mind to those that have less and let yourself be a blessing.

You will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams.

But if you don’t move, in some way, you may never know.

(thank you again to all of you for providing this opportunity for us—you, me, and them!)

Some random cute pics of kids!

Yesama, lookin good!! This little boy is so precious. They think he's "bad" but i don't quite get it. I think he's just 4. . .

Sassy Christine, look at her work it! This pretty much describes Christine right here

My kids at the pre-school!! yay for finger painting!

Yay for bubbles! i brought two bottles and of course they LOVED it.

Its so funny how such a simple thing can bring SO much joy. . . .

I finally caught the chickens in the house when there was good enough lighting to take a picture! These little guys are always in here. And here he is just making himself comfortable on the couch!

He just squeezed himself right on through the bars! Look at his friends watching him through the window!

Sorry. . .

I’ve realized I’ve probably overwhelmed most of you with too much information on here.


I’m trying to slow down. That's why I've done a couple of only picture posts. . .


So I hope those of you that really did want to stay updated, but can’t keep up with me, are able to catch up on all the past blogs right now before too much more comes. . . .

Typical Sunday

This is how the kids iron their church clothes if they forget to do so the night before when we have 2 hours of the generator to use the electric iron.

Crazy, huh?

Sharif cutting do-do.

Mmmmmmm. . . .


Everyone wakes up early on sundays and gets to work! so much cooking to do! food must be almost ready by sunday school at 9ish

Everyone has a part!

i love cabbage!

We even have to have two stoves going!!

SOme food covered in banana leaves which is REALLY special and you mainly only get on sundays!

My plate of food. Cabbage. Cassava. Sweet potato. Cooked banana with ground nut sauce (which they aboslutely love, and i do not. . ..)

The 4 year old's plate of good. Yep, just grab a fish from the lake and throw it in the pot, then throw it inyourmouth. NOtice how huge this plate is for a 4 year old. and he its every last bit.

Lunch time!! Notice how many of them are hiding. Many of them are SO shy from pictures! Its hilarious

The lighting isnt great, but i hope you can see something. . . . .

Yay for sundays!