Pictures

I posted the best of my pictures on facebook...it's easier to put them there than on here. So, if you want to see them you can check them out on FB :)

more Musana pictures

the shoes of one of the Musana farmers...made from tire treads.

a boy from the village hanging out with us at the farm house.
one thing that stands out to me is how the kids at Musana were so much
more healthy, clean and happy compared to other kids we met.

Jim hanging with some kids, watching the welcome show at Musana

Sweet little girl with one of the teachers watching the welcome show

I didn't take tons of pictures...because we had a pro with us doing that.
here is a link to his pictures on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.2310671445259.2119132.1203540045&type=3

I'm Back

I flew in last night...ate a salad, took a hot shower and slept for 12 hours. Ahhhh! Right now I'm feeling a little bit of the afternoon sleepy jet lag feeling. It was a wonderful trip! Thanks for your prayers! I want to write some stories...but for now I'm going to post some pictures.

Me with a new friend at Musana Children's Home in Uganda.

Some kids in the village by the Musana Farm.

The Musana Farm House...where some of the guys live and some crops are stored.

Andrea harvesting cabbage.

Ladies in the village making paper beads for necklaces.
Then they are sold to help make Musana a sustainable project.

Back from South Sudan

We just got back to the guest house in Kenya from our trip to South Sudan. It's late...we got stuck in a crazy traffic jam, 5 hours to go 15 miles...crazy! I'm tired and can't write much now.

We had a good time in S. Sudan...not an easy trip but good. :) It was hot and humid with lots of bugs and a scorpion near my bed and a rat in Jim's bed. We ate every meal outside and even showered outside. Amazing people...the tallest I've ever seen...very happy and kind. This new country needs lots of help!

We are healthy and have one more day of going to a slum in Nairobi, Kenya and then leave here just before midnight Saturday/tomorrow to fly home. I have to admit...I'm ready for a hot bath and cooler temperatures. :)

Thanks for praying!

What a Sunday!

Today we went to church in Mathare slum. I didn't end up preaching...which was fine with me :) They only needed two preachers so Ron and Jim were the guest preachers. I went with Ron and our host Gus to a small newer church. They met in a metal shanty that they had to expand a few months ago because of growth. There were about about 50 people there (that includes kids...lots of kids). The service was long...not because of Ron's preaching :) Oh there was also a baby dedication at the end, and Ron had the honors of praying for each child as they came up. Then they bought us cokes after wards and we sat to chat a bit.

We all met back together and went to lunch with the LIA host and some of the pastors. We were on a hunt for roasted goat (because Andrea said it was her favorite). We found a place that was a bar that had people roasting goat. They brought about a fourth of a goat to our table and some posho to go with it (that's cornmeal) all served to us on a cutting board in the middle of the table. As I recall the meal a few things stand out to me...I am not a big meat eater so the amount of meat right on the bone was a bit much for me. And the number of flies made me a bit crazy. The company was great until the restaurant filled with men there to watch the soccer game and they got excited. Then we took the pastors back home and headed to the market. What a Sunday...church, food and football (soccer). :)

Now we are back a the guest house and I'm tired! It's been a long couple of days...but very GOOD!

We are leaving for S. Sudan at 5am tomorrow (monday) so I better get packed and get some sleep. Pray for Ron he has a cold and Jim got a cut on his ear. Pray for us all to have wisdom as we look at these projects. We won't get to have internet again until Friday.

Thanks for praying!

Ugandan Baby Doll

We saw this precious little girl at the farm outside Iganga, Uganda. She had a baby doll made out of Sugar Cane and had a little clothe around it....I knew it was her baby doll because of how she kept holding it and taking care of it.

So much to say...but hard to find the words

Sorry I haven't been able to write very much/often. We have been totally on the go all the time and without much internet access.

This has been an amazing experience.

We left Uganda yesterday...let me share a bit about the end of our time there.

We only had three days there and we saw tons in that little time. I can't wait to go back again! Our last day we spent much of our time seeing the projects they have going that help sustain the children's home and school. We left in the morning and went outside the city to the farm land they have purchased and began to farm. The area we were in is quit humid and has very tropical vegetation (reminded me of Hawaii), so the farm was lush! We we stopped by a house in a village to park the van because we couldn't drive any farther. Then we walked over to the property. The head farmer took us on a tour of the farm, corn, tomatoes, and lots of other stuff we ended at the cabbage area. He explained that he was experimenting with organic fertilizer and with a laugh he said in our language we call it manure. It was cool to see that the area they had used the fancy ;) fertilizer the cabbage was ready to harvest and the others were still small...he was very proud and asked us to help him harvest some. So, we each picked some cabbage and carried it back to the little storage building they have. Two silly things...I was a bit scared of snakes while we were there...after hearing stories about cobras. Also, I got sunburned...if I was a farmer I would definitely need to wear a hat!

Then we went back to the school/children's home and then walked to lunch. Then we found out they had hired motorcycles to drive us out to the village. :) I was a bit nervous but also excited. I rode with my new friend Haril and it was fun! We went out to a village where they have a ladies project...the ladies are making bead necklaces and learning to sew bags etc that are all being sold to help Musana. I bought some and you can buy some too :) The ladies had prepared two songs for us...specifically for us, the words were about Musana and about our visit and they thanked Andrea and God. Then they took us on a tour to meet some of the mothers of children that are at Musana. It's interesting in their culture there are many children in one family and often the parent can't take care of them all so they send them to orphanages. Part of Musana's goal is to educate and strengthen families so that children can stay with their them.

Then for dinner we went to the Sol Cafe. This is a cafe they started that also gives all proceeds to Musana. They were having Trivia night...it was packed. The next day we headed back to the airport...taking Andrea and Haril with us to Kenya and S. Sudan. We stopped and saw the Source of the Nile! And I saw a monkey off in the distance. :)

Today in Kenya...

We spent the day in a slum. It was not an easy day and it is hard for me to even think of what to tell you about it. The gist is that LIA has connected with some pastors that are in the slum and we spent the day with them doing a prayer walk through the whole area. One of their goals is that in two years there will be no drug or alcohol problems in their slum! We ate lunch with the pastors in one of the church buildings...about 25 kids got to come in and eat too...I had fun with them. Then we split up into groups and went to do home visits. Andrea and I went with two pastors to a lady's home...she is a mother and her oldest daughter died of AIDS and she took in her granddaughters and has some of her own kids at home too. There were 6 of them living in a tiny place and some of the kids are HIV+ and one girl is very sick. We prayed for them....now we are back at the nice guest house with full bellies and it's hard for me to reconcile the fact that I was born into such comfort and others were born into such struggle.

Here's a link to LIA's video that was mostly shot in the slum we were in today.

http://vimeo.com/16181404

Tomorrow we go back...we will split into groups to go to churches. I'm preaching at one of them...crazy! So, I better get going to prepare something. :)

Monday we leave for South Sudan...and won't have internet access till we get back on Friday.

Thanks for praying! We are all healthy and doing well! Pray for our health and safety and for wisdom!

Musana!

Musana is the word for Sunshine in Lusoga. The girls came up with the name because they always sang "you are my sunshine" with the kids. Three years ago three american girls started this children's home with the help of a handful of Ugandans. And now it has grown to be so much more than just a safe good home for children. They have a farm, a cafe, school, chapel....and lots of property and lots of potential! It is amazing!

When we arrived yesterday we were greeted in an amazing ceremony...they were lined up at the entrance singing and hugging us etc. Then we went into the chapel and they gave us an amazing show...the choir sang and the dancers danced and I cried...it was so wonderful! Today we got an official tour of all of Musana. I am so amazed at what God has done here through Andrea and her staff. The kids are full of joy and super sweet.

I will write more to describe it when I have more time. And I have lots of pictures and video that I will upload too. For now I have to share the internet time with everyone else so I better pass the computer on. :)

For now you can check out their website...they have some great videos and stories!

http://www.musana.org/videos.html

Thanks for praying! We are all healthy and having a wonderful time!

Headed out!

I'm headed to the airport in just an hour. My bags are FULL...I try to pack light but it's not easy. My kids had the idea to buy some stuff for the kids over there...so we got some suckers and bouncy balls to give away. I love it when the kids are excited and want to connect with people in other parts of the world.
We fly for about 9 hrs then a 8 hour layover in London (hopefully we will get into the city to see some stuff) then 9 more hours to Uganda....then a long drive to the Children's Home.
Pray my back doesn't hurt and that I am able to sleep on the plane!
Also, want to say a thank you to my kind husband for letting me take his precious ipod with me on this trip. Babe, U Rock!
Thanks to everyone for Praying! I will update as soon as I can from Uganda.

Look for updates here...

I'm heading to Africa for two weeks and when I get a chance i will post updates here. Thanks for reading and praying!!