Sunday (Goodbye :*( )

Our driver scheduled our pick up from our guest house at 1:00.  After giving our heartfelt thanks to the staff at Greenfield Gardens, we headed for the house.  Recho arrived around 2 pm.  We encouraged her to stay on with Andrew, but she insisted that she spend our last day together.  After we had a final staff meeting with Recho to wrap up loose ends, it was suddenly time to say our farewells.  How do you say goodbye to 22 girls that call you mummy and who you know wjthout a shadow of a doubt, that even though they just met you face to face, that they love you? Often, people who are actually supposed to love you in this life choose not to, so to experience this kind of outpouring of sweet emotion and vulnerability was almost more than I could bare.
This has definitely been a journey of love and faith and trust.  Authentic love doesn't have to always come from the places that we would most expect.  Sometimes it comes in very surprising ways and it can come boldly and pure if even for the briefest moments in your life.  But love is love and it always comes from God and it is always a gift and it can be beautiful and devastating at the same time. I am so grateful for this this gift.  It has blessed me in indescribable ways too numerous to count.

Saturday (The Wedding)

Recho and Andrew were married on Saturday.  The ceremony was to begin at 11:00.  Our driver picked us up around 10:30 and it took about an hour to get there.  It actually didn't get started until around 1:00.  Africa time...  Nobody is ever in a hurry to get anywhere or begin anything so everything just kind of happens when it happens and there are no worries.  We are always like, "When? Where? How?" and they are always answering, "It's fine Tehda and Mahthew."  (This is how they pronounce our names.)  I am constantly reminded of my need to know all details of what is happening and when.  It is how I try to stay in control of my life.  It is such a good lesson for me to be in Africa where I have to hand over almost all control at all times.

We arrived at a small brick chapel in the middle of a village.  There were plastic chairs in rows and a small choir up front.  We were ushered to the front, as we were considered special guests of the bride.  Apart from being able to watch my dear sister Recho marry her love, the best part about the day was that we took all of the girls and the staff with us to the ceremony and reception.  What an experience for our girls!!!  To witness this union between two people who love and serve the Lord.  They sang the praise and worship songs louder than anyone else in the church  They are soooo full of love and joy and hope in Jesus that they could not hide it if they tried.   It pours out of them.

After the ceremony, we went outside for pictures with Recho, her family, and the girls.  Then off to the reception which was to begin at 3:00 with dinner at 4:00.  Recho and Andrew arrived at 5 and dinner was at 6. Africa time.
The reception was beautiful and so was Recho.  The girls enjoyed a wonderful meal which concluded with cake as they danced and sang.  They were so polite and well-behaved and just thrilled to be there.  They had never experienced a celebration like this, and having the chance to dress in their prettiest clothes and help one another fix their hair just right, made for a sweet time for them to always remember.

We were home by 9:30 and everyone was exhausted.  The girls that rode with me slept most of the way home - dreaming happy dreams and sensing new found hope.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.  This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Though you have not seen Him, you love him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter  1:3-9

Jinja!

Today is Friday and we (Matt, Barnabas, Emmanuel and I) left for Jinja.  It was a long drive there and we could not stay long because Matt had to be back for a staff meeting, but we had a great time.  We got to see the Nile River, giant river lizards (which we thought were crocodiles), a crazy fun South African man bungee jumping above the Nile, a for sure crocodile, monkeys swinging and  jumping from trees and I loved it all!!!
Once back to Kampala, we went to a local shopping center to purchase a wedding gift for recho and Andrew, and then back to the 91four house for dinner. Prossy served a meal of rice, radishes, cassava, beans and cabbage.  Very good!  I actually think I have gained weight here - so much rice!!!!!!
Now it is 9pm and we are back at the guest house.  Barnabas will pick us up somewhere between 10-1 for the wedding.  It starts at 11.  I know..... Africa time.  It can make you a little crazy if you let it! :)
I realized today that I am weary.  But, I feel so blessed - so at peace.  I love Jesus so much and am learning so much more about Him every day.  About His great love, and about what trusting Him is supposed to look like and what obedience really means.  I am so grateful to Him for His unfailing love and kindness.  He ALWAYS brings hope.

Do not merely listen to the Word,
and so deceive yourselves.
Do what it says.
James 1:22

The Nile River!

Thursday

It is almost 7 am Friday morning.  The power is out again.  It seems to go off each morning around the same time.
We had a long day yesterday with many stops. We started by going to the 91four house to visit with the girls.  They were busy sewing and so happy to see us.  We then left for Bright School.  This is a school where Recho works with young Karamojong children who have been abandoned.  There are about 15-20 Karamojong living there and they are provided with a bed, food, and an education.  Similar to 91four, but for primary age children.  The school already existed for orphaned children of Kampala, but agreed to take on these children as well.  Recho oversees that portion of the program.  She tried many, many schools but all of them turned her away because these children are Karamojong - all but Bright School.  Praise God for their willingness to accept these precious children.  One of the youngest boys there, Matthew, was orphaned when his mother died on Christmas day in 2013.  She was laying on the dirt in the middle of Katwe (one of the slum districts) when Recho found her.  Matthew was in her arms as well as another small infant.  When I arrived in January, we searched for an orphanage to take the infant - again, a problem because they are Karamojong - but while we were searching -  the child died as well.  Matthew was then taken to Bright School to live until secondary school.

We then drove to Andrew's house, Recho's fiance.  They will be married tomorrow and we are invited to the wedding.  We ate a meal of posha (sp?) which is a type of mashed corn which tasted similar to Cream of Wheat, spaghetti, and cabbage and veggies.  It was very good.  Then Barnabas (our driver and now friend) took us to his home and then on to see Recho's house.  We finished our day at the home of Recho's pastor where we were served another meal of watermelon, pineapple, rice, veggies, fish, and potatoes.  It is Ugandan culture to give you a meal when you visit, so needless to say we were very full at the end of the day!

Today. Matt and I will be traveling to Jinja - a city about 1 1/2 hours away.  We want to see more of Uganda while we are here and since Recho is busy with wedding plans today, we figured today would be the day to do that.

I miss my family.  I was struggling last night - feeling very sad.  Matt came to my room and we talked until midnight and that helped me feel better.  When I am here, I miss Ryan and Maggie and my dad.  I ALWAYS miss Brittany because she lives so far away.  When I am at home, my heart aches to see my friends here and to be with the girls.  But right now I am here - so I am missing there.

Thank you to everyone who is following along on this blog as we are here.  It warms my heart and comforts me to know that I am not alone on this journey but that there are so many loving people back home that genuinely care about what God is doing here.  Your support and prayers means so much to me that it makes me tear up as I write these words.

Matt updated our 91four Facebook page yesterday with additional pictures and videos.  The videos would not load on my blog but they are worth watching.  He apologizes for the cinematography ;) but at least you can get a better idea of Kisenyi.  Katwe was such nightmarish mayhem, that videoing there became impossible.  It may be the worst place on earth.

I love you all.

These things I have spoken to you,
that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation;
but be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world.
John 16:33

h

Videos

We have posted 2 videos of where the girls came from (the slum districts) on our 91four facebook page  Please go there to view because I could not get them posted here.  :)

Facebook
91four

There Are No Words....

Today Recho, Prossy (the house matron) Matt and I went into the slum districts where the girls were found over one year ago.  It was as awful as I remembered.  As we entered Katwe, we navigated our way down slippery slopes with what was probably human waste mixed with mud squished between my toes, I realized that we were about to witness suffering, poverty and injustice like few will ever experience.  The little children immediately began to take our hands and the adults just stared and then began to follow us.  We were with Recho so they knew we were not hostile and so they remained calm.  They gathered around us in a kind of mob-like circle and spoke at one time in Karamojong.  Recho was passing out clothes to the small children that the girls had made with extra material from tailoring classes.  the children were filthy and half naked with runny noses.  Some were covered in scabs. They seemed very happy just to hold our hands.   Next we headed for Kisenyi which is more women  and small children than men and where most of our girls were found. This is also where Prossy (our house matron) has lived for the past 22 years.  Please allow that to resonate.  22 years of her life spent in this nightmarish existence.  One of the girls, Ruth, I interviewed today told me she was born in kisenyi.  She is 17 years old.  I could not even finish concentrating after she told me that.  Most of the girls have been there 5 years or less.  Ruth is a beautiful, well-spoken, responsible, hard worker who loves to do hair and is one of the top seamstresses in the group.  And yet when I asked her if she ever thought she would ever have a life outside of Kisenyi, she looked gently at me and whispered, "No."
I asked Matt what his reaction was to what he witnessed today, and he said he was emotionally exhausted.  That nothing he has ever seen or imagined was anywhere near what he saw today.  I told him that the pictures I took last year and all of my explanations could not even begin to describe.  That you will never understand unless you go there, and I hope none of you ever do without first having a very strong faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Otherwise it would just be too much.
After leaving these places we went to Sanyu Babies Home, at my request! :)  I bathed, dressed and held babies for an hour before Recho and Matt had to drag me out.  I got to see Allen, the baby I loved on last year.  I was so happy to see him and yet so sad because he still doesnt have a family. I love this place.  Holding those babies brings me great joy mixed with grief at the same time, but to just love on these little innocent ones is more than I could ask for.  
On a happier note, when we got back to the house, the girls were busy sewing uniforms.  They were laughing and singing and I was so relieved to know they were safe there.
I gave Esther (5years) and Paska (10 years) sock monkeys when I got home and they were sooo happy!  They carried them around the rest of the evening!  These 2 girls were brought to live in the house as emergency cases.  They are young for the program, but we are keeping them.

Hailey and Hannah:  The girls loved the gifts from you.  I read your letters to the and they cheered.  I explained everything in the plastic box (they were confused about the slinky so I explained how it worked and they laughed.)  They also loved the music box and listened to it over and over and over.

Tomorrow we are going to Bright School.  This is a place where much younger Karamojong are housed and educated.  Recho is in charge of this program  too through another non-profit.  I met these children last year.  For those of you who watched my videos, these were the children singing in a classroom at their desks.

I delight to do your will, O my God,
And Your law is written in my heart.
Psalm 40:8

Passing out clothes in Kisenyi

Karamojong girl sweeping for beans.  This is what most of our girls did before coming to the house.  When I stopped to take her picture a drunk man (you can see part of him here) was taunting her.

Recho passing out clothes in Katwe

Katwe housing  (This is the good housing)

Our girls sewing

Monday & Tuesday

Sorry I did not post yesterday but I was so tired when I got in that I went to sleep.  Matt did finally get his luggage yesterday.  We drove an hour to the airport to be told to wait...and wait,,,and wait and we were not even sure the entire time that we would end up receiving it.  But we did and all is well in Matthew land now.  Other than that we spent the last 2 days at the 91four house with the girls.  We interviewed most of them and will finish up with that tomorrow.  Their stories are so sad but all so very similar.  They all go something like this:  They left Karamoja (their homeland in northern Uganda) due to extreme poverty and lack of food and education, some as orphans but all searching for survival.  It is a 15 hour drive so you can only imagine how long it took them to walk/ride etc.  When they arrived they were sent to Katwe and Kisenyi, the 2 slum districts to live in the streets.  There they slept on the ground and dug through garbage eating old meat and the innards of chickens that had been discarded in trash bins.  They also tried to eat the rotten fruit and vegetables in the market, but were beaten for trying to do so.  Beaten for trying to eat someones trash.  Unimaginable. This is how they were existing until Recho, our Ugandan coordinator came to take them to the 91four home to live.  Now they say they are so happy and feel safe and know they will eat and sleep in  a bed.  They thank God for remembering them and for choosing us to help them.  They were all so soft spoken and gracious.  They felt that they now have hope for a future.
It was truly heartbreaking and holding their hands and looking into their big brown eyes just trying to imagine the nightmare they have been through and it is all too much.  It's too much but I need to know.  I need to try to understand how a person (a child) can have the will to withstand so much pain and suffering and yet hang on to the hope that their Savior gives freely.  Such strength and courage is foreign to most people and yet I get to sit among it while I am here.
Tomorrow we will travel to Katwe and Kinsenyi to visit the areas they were rescued from.  It can be dangerous but mostly it is heart wrenching.  It can not be put into words adequately and all I can say is that it impacts your very being in a way that you can never reverse.  We definitely need your prayers for tomorrow.
For now I will leave you with some pictures from the last 2  days.  Enjoy!

Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
He will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
He will come to save you."

Mary Banks - This is your Rebecca!

Lori Johnson - Here is Jenifer!

Happy Faces

Terra, Recho, Matt

Posing in their uniforms

Georgia S. - She is holding your picture you drew!

Sunday

It is Monday morning and I am getting ready to start another day.  First, a few highlights from yesterday.  We left at 10 am to head back to the airport (an hours drive one way) to pick up Matt's luggage which we were told would be there.  It wasn't.  Very frustrating because of the lack of urgency or answers on their part. I finally got in touch with Delta (because we flew with them) and they were able to track it to Amsterdam.  Supposedly it was to arrive late last night on a flight into Entebbe so we will try to retrieve it again today.  :/
We ate in a small restaurant on the way back.  The menu was:  liver and chips, sausage and chips, or chicken and chips.  I decided on just chips (french fries) and a coke.
We arrived back at the project house around 4:00 and listened to the girls sing praise and worship songs for about an hour as we waited for the pastor arrive.  The pastor and his team/friends arrived around 6:00 and we had an hour long service.  The visitors (the men) ate a meal and talked while Matt and I spent time with the staff and the girls, and then we ate dinner around 9:00.  Our meal consisted of: white rice, 3 kinds of potatoes (sweet, yam, cassava), spinach, chopped vegetables, chapati (fried bread) and ground nuts with fish mixed in.  Everyone is so kind and hospitable.
There is a 2 year old girl who has been abandoned there named Esther.  I took pictures of her and showed her what she looked like and painted her nails bright pink.  She is precious and my heart breaks for her.
We arrived back to our hotel around 11:00 and after sharing some insights with one another, Matt and I headed off to our rooms for some much needed sleep.
I feel a sense of safety and comfort because my brother has traveled with me this time.  It doesn't seem quite as traumatizing because I have him to share this experience with, whereas last time I had to keep all of my feelings and thoughts inside and this blog was my only outlet.  There is so so so much suffering here.  Matt has not witnessed the worst of it yet - that will come Wednesday when we travel into the Karamojong slum areas.  But, he is certainly getting a very clear picture of the immense poverty in Uganda and the conditions in which people are forced to exist under.  And yet there is hope among them and they worship Him and give Him praise and realize that every good thing comes from Him.  They love Jesus in a way that is deep and unashamed and it is a beautiful testimony of their faith.  I am so blessed and grateful to be able to spend my time learning and growing because of them.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
Psalm 5:11

Matt and I in front of the project house

(Read the sign :)  )

The girls 

Baby Esther

Passing out supplies from donors
(Patty, that's the nail polish in my hand.  They cheered loudest over that!)

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We Have Arrived

It is Saturday night at 11:26 Uganda time.  We finally have internet...weak and possibly temporary, but I am connected.
I am tired.  We arrived in Entebbe around midnight after 24 hours of flying... without luggage...so we waited until around 2:30 am for the next flight to arrive with it.  When it came, it had 5 of the 6 bags.  Matt's was missing.  Still is.  :/
Got to bed around 5:30 and up at 8:30.
I finally got to meet the girls today!!!!  I can not put into words what that experience was like except to say that it ranks up there with one of the best moments of my life.
Beautiful, smiling, hugging girls with voices that sounded like angels as they sang their greeting and praise and worship songs. They squealed with happiness and everyone of them hugged and held on to me. They kept saying, "Bless you mommy Terra."  But I explained to them that this is not from me but from God.  That they are there because Jesus loves them.  All glory and honor to Him and Him alone!  I in and of myself am not capable of this level of love and charity, but He is.  I remember praying a couple of years ago that I would be submissive enough to allow Him to work through me. To allow me the chance to be His eyes and His hands and His feet.  I wanted to learn how to surrender and obey Him in the way that He has commanded and I am now so humbled to be able to walk along side of Him.  I also explained to them that we have a team of people working to support them and better their lives...people they will never meet... our board of directors, donors, sponsors, volunteers, prayer warriors, adults as well as children.  That is love.  Selfless love - giving so freely to someone who will never be able to pay you back and I so thank all of you on their behalf.    
 I could not stop thinking that just last year these precious girls were living on the streets alone, afraid and without hope.  They were shown their profile pictures that were taken the day they were chosen for the project, and some said in disbelief, "No, that girl is not me.  She can't be me."  From sad faces to happy faces, from despair to hope, from lost to found.  Through God's great love and mercy they have been rescued and not just placed in a comfortable earthly home, but have come to know their Heavenly Father in whose home they will reside for eternity.
 Well, I washed the red dirt from my feet and I think it is time  for me to crawl under my mosquito net and get some rest.  Matt and our driver just removed a lizard from my room (which obviously was a super lizard seeing as how it could run about 80 miles per hour.)      Life in Uganda...
Good night!

Learn to do right: seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 1:17

On Our Way!

Ok...So, here I go.  Here we go.  My brother Matt and I will be leaving for Uganda on Thursday July 23rd. We have many purposes for going. Most of which revolve around our ministry,  91four. We need to learn as much as we can from this trip about the girls, the program, discuss goals and visions etc. We need to learn more about ourselves, life, and our relationship with Jesus Christ.  May we have eyes opened wide to the Truth and a heart brave enough to move forward in obedience. Father, we pray for your strength, your humility, your heart, your courage.  May only Your will be accomplished during this journey.

Update...
It is now Friday at 11:00 am (here) and we are in Amsterdam airport.  We missed our connecting flight to Entebbe due to delays in New York, and will be rerouted.  We are scheduled to arrive in Uganda at 11:15 tonight.  The flights to JFK and Amsterdam were fine.  About 6.5 hours from New York to Amsterdam.  The plane seats were cramped and it was fine for me but poor Matt was super cramped.  Needless to say, he is not looking  forward to this next flight which is approx. 10 hours.
I can not tell you how much your prayers mean to me.  I can honestly tell you I feel a calm over me that can only be from Him.  I look forward to reading your messages back to me.  I realize that many people had problems posting last time but just give it a try.
I will post again either late tonight but most likely on Saturday.  Remember, i will be 7 hours ahead of you.

I love you all... <3
"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9