October 29 - Heading home

Today we got a new breakfast! After 2 weeks of eggs and toast, we got pancakes!  Everyone was so excited!  And that is all my journal says.  LOL  We had to say goodbye to the interns first, they were heading out for a short vacation to Jinja.  Lots of hugs and tears as we said farewell to this amazing group of ladies.  : (

We left at 11 to go to the airport, had some odd food as we waited.  The airport is where we first heard about Sandy, so there was some wondering if we'd make it home.  One of our team was from New Jersey, so we weren't sure if she would be able to make it or not.   The guys were still up for ministry and had opportunity to pray for this UN soldier from Ghana.  We had to say goodbye to 3 more of our team here who had later flights.

Finally boarded and flew to Ethiopia.  It seems that our last stop there landed us in the ghetto section of the airport, cuz where we were this time was really nice.  As we headed to our gate, we suddenly heard a familiar voice!  Chris O!!  His flight the day before had been cancelled because of the hurricane I guess, so he had been put on our flight.  That was fun running into him.  This was the long flight, so it was awesome that it wasn't full and a few of us had the chance to stretch out across 3 seats and get some rest.  We touched down in Rome for a re-fuel, so I can sort of say I've been there.  : )  Not quite the way I wanted though. There was an autistic kid a few rows back that kept vocalizing loudly, so that was hard, but I understand.  I had headphones to help me sleep.

Landed in Toronto finally and a number of us didn't get our bags.  A guy took our luggage tags and went and found most of them, so we headed on through the US Customs (in Canada?)  and got some "real food" - The final flight to San Fran and we were almost home.  Our ride was waiting for us, so we hopped the Bethel van and headed north.  We stopped in Vacaville and ate at In-n-Out.  I'm not a huge fan, but a real cheeseburger was wonderful after 2 weeks of Ugandan food!  I finished my double burger before the boys, but then they went back for seconds, and I did not.  They were sick after that.  : )  Here is a pic of the aftermath.  We fell asleep in the van after that, arrived at the church after 8 and went our separate ways.

It was a beautiful trip, sad to see it end, but I know it won't be my last.  I know without a doubt that God has built me for Uganda, everything makes sense there and it feels like home to me.  I will be back.  Thank you Papa for this amazing opportunity, what a precious gift You have given to me!

October 28, 2012 - Sunday

Sunday's crusade was a morning and evening session.  Chris preached again this morning, more to the church this time, not to the unsaved.  I remembered to bring my earplugs this time, so I was able to handle the noise much better.  After the meeting, a few of our team had to leave.  It got pretty sad from here on out.  This group has become such good friends, it's hard to start saying goodbye.  Chris and Stefanie had to head out to get back to Bethel for a conference, and Maggie, Karen, and Kristy left us as well, and then Ruby.  So before everyone left, we got team photos of our 3 smaller teams.  That was a lot of fun.

Team Richard / Sarah

Team Jacob / Juho

Team Michael / Charlie

What a fun group!!  So, with our fearless leader headed to the airport, someone else had to speak at the evening crusade meeting.  Richard led the meeting, and Jacob, Juho, and Brittany spoke.  They all did so awesome!!  Jacob was funny as he started yelling like Chris.  He shared his testimony and we just all had a lot of fun!  That's a cool thing about Jacob, he's all about having fun with Holy Spirit!  The crowd was loving it, joining him in jumping around and having a blast!  Poor Pastor Bob finally lost his voice and had to be replaced as translator in the middle of Juho's speech.  He was the best translator we had, so it was sad to see him have to step down.  After we finished we headed back to the Field of Dreams and just had a fun last night.  

October 27, 2012

Today we did Say No to Hunger again.  Last time they had combined two groups into one for the day, but this time we just had the one, a small group of about 10 kids.  Some of our team did a lesson on the armor of God for the kids, it was pretty funny.  The interns have been teaching this group things like - I am special, I am valuable...  It's neat to see them so eager to learn, and so excited to hear that they are worth so much to God, and to us.  This picture shows the makeshift armor.  It was funny, but you use what you can.  I personally liked the baseball bat sword.  :)  We fed the kids again and then headed out.

In the afternoon, half the team went back to Kampala for more street ministry, and I stayed back at the base and our group met with the teens again from last week.  We wanted to do a follow up and see how things were going since their experience with Holy Spirit last time.  A couple people from our team shared some thoughts, then we briefly took them into small groups to talk more.  The first girl who shared with us was very talkative and told us all sorts of awesome stories about her week!  She told us she used to be a problem kid (which was later confirmed by the interns who know her) and how now she is doing good and being nicer to everyone!  The finniest part was when she said, "I used to only be able to pray for 2 hours, now I can pray for 5!!"  We were blown away by that, not too many of us can even pray for 2 hours!  She was so thrilled with her new relationship to Holy Spirit, it was awesome to see her excitement and passion.  I think that girl could be a preacher!

Another Crusade night.  I went into this one with a dehydration style headache coming on, so I was pretty miserable with all the loudness.  This was the night of the biggest most tangible miracle we saw though.  A crippled girl crawled up on stage, she seemed to walk on her hands and feet, totally doubled over.  I looked and saw that her foot was twisted up and curled inward.  Chris prayed for her and told her to stand up and walk across the stage.  She did it!  She was staggering, but what do you expect for someone who has never walked upright?  I watched her feet and saw that twisted foot straighten out!!  That was crazy amazing!! The smile on her face was so big as she walked back and forth, back and forth!  The crowd was going wild, obviously they knew this girl, knew her handicap, and were seeing an awesome miracle!

October 26, 2012 - Crusade

In the morning we went out into the local village with our list of needy individuals again.  We had a little 7 yr old boy named Joshua as a guide this time.  He took us to the home of an elderly woman who was caring for her grandsons.  We were taking a mosquito net to her.  She told us her hands hurt all the time, and her knuckles were all swollen, so we were guessing it was arthritis.  Lori asked me to pray for her, and I did.  Some others prayed as well, and as the time passed, she said her hands were getting better!  Richard gave her the gospel story, she had not heard about Jesus, only His name before.  She liked what he was telling her, but she said she was afraid to make the choice because others in the village might hurt her.  (the Muslim neighbors)  Her two grandsons were there too, listening, and they decided to give their lives to Jesus.  (See before and after pictures)  

Later that day, the Crusade began.  They started worship around 3 or 4 I think, we could hear it back at our place.  We showed up around 6 in time for Chris O to preach.  We walked in through the crowd like a pack of celebrities, it's a very strange feeling - all eyes on us, kids rushing in to grab our hands and be the ones to walk us in...  We got up on the stage and took our seats behind the worship dancers.  I love African worship so much!!  It's so filled with joy!  I was kinda bummed we only got to be there for a couple songs.  Chris preaches like an African preacher, screaming the whole time.  Add the translator working at the same intensity, it's comical, but I don't handle the loudness too well.  Chris preached an awesome gospel message and many people came forward to get saved at the end!  

October 25, 2012 - Kampala

Today we headed into Kampala to do street ministry.  That's another new one for me.  It's a super crowded city, a little overwhelming to the senses.  I was on a team with Michael and Judy and Paul came along as our translator.  We didn't get very far before Paul spotted someone he knew and we stopped.  Michael started talking to the people sitting there on the street corner and we ended up just praying for a bunch of them right there.  One man got his back healed and that was a lot of fun to see the huge smile on his face when it happened.  The weird thing about praying for healing here is that the people often just walk off after the prayer without saying anything.  When you ask, they just say they're fine now.  I wonder if they're just being nice, or if they are so used to the supernatural here that it isn't a big deal.  It's strange.  But at least there are those that get really excited, so it's easy to tell that it really did happen.  :)

Walking back to the bus, Jennie and Jordan and I went into a restaurant to get a soda.  Jennie asked at the counter for a bottle of Coke.  A lady led us down a dark hallway, it felt like we were being taken to a back alley or something weird.  Finally she motioned toward a door.  Jordan went over and opened it to find a squatty potty!!  We were laughing so hard, and when the lady caught on that she had misheard, she was laughing too.  We got our sodas and headed back out to the group.

We had dropped half our team off at a hospital, so we went to pick them up.  We parked at a car wash while we waited for them to come out.  The team jumped off the bus and just started talking to people.  At least a couple ended up getting saved and at least one was healed!!   This guy (left) got his knee healed and he just started jumping up and down and shouting "Jesus healed me!" and telling everyone around.  It was really fun!  Then after he settled down, Richard told him the gospel and he gave his life to Christ.

October 24, 2012

This trip has been so incredible!  So much is happening in my heart that I'm not sharing on this blog.  He is teaching me so much about His love, not just for these Ugandan people, but for me.  It's been an awesome growing trip!  Today's journal entry starts off with my awe at this amazing group of people who God brought together for this mission trip.  Very few of us knew anyone else, we just all signed up and were chosen to go.    I have never been a part of such a group.  I am writing about this because the assembly of this team was a miracle too, not just all the healings we saw.  We've all been in groups of people before, and it is inevitable that there is at least one that you can't stand.  That was not true here.

We were 30+ people and every time we came together for a meal, there was no high school lunchroom style table choosing.  We were all commenting on it.  We could each just set our stuff down at any table and it was great, it didn't matter who we sat with.  The only answer to how this was possible is that God was our focus.  It says in Galatians 5:16 - "walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."  I have never seen that verse so clearly as I did with this group.  Every bit of our time was following the Holy Spirit, so there was no sin present among us.  We all chose to love one another and look out for one another.  If anyone was down, there was a whole team of people to come around and lift them up.  It was like being in Heaven I think.  A Kingdom community of people is the best place to be!  So much freedom and safety to just be who we are.

Today we hosted a Pastor's Conference at the compound.  That meant I didn't have much to do until later in the day.  We did prophetic booths again that day.  I had gotten a word from 2 different people prior to this that I would give out of what I knew, the Word.  So I brought my Kindle to the booth and God helped me to find verses to give to the pastors that came to our booth.  It was interesting because only one of the verses I got was a familiar one.  The rest were totally random.  The first one I read to a man made him cry, so I would say God was really speaking to me because that verse didn't seem all that profound to me, but the pastor sure got something from it.  ;)

This picture is Pastor Bob - I thought he was the most adorable man ever!  Such a huge smile all the time, so much joy!!

Oct 23, 2012

Tuesday - This week started out easier.  We are hosting a pastor's conference here at Field of Dreams.  We split up into 2 groups to go to either a school or a clinic in shifts while Chris and some of his leaders were speaking to the pastors.  I chose the school of course.  This time we took the kids to the big field down the street and played some games with them.  Duck duck goose with that big a group, and not speaking the language turned out to be pretty funny.  We just ended up with a lot of kids running in a circle, being chased by mzungus.

I watched a group of teachers sitting on a termite hill suddenly jump up all at once and run away from the hill.  I wandered over to them to see what the commotion was all about.  This is what I found.
I walked over and picked it up, which isn't something I'd normally do.  That really freaked them out!  One man asked me, "aren't they poisonous?"  to which I responded, "I don't know."  : )  Check out the brave mzungu!  LOL  I don't know why they're so scared of lizards.

Oct 22, 2012

Monday - Day off after a super busy week.  We drove into Kampala (capital city) and went to the craft market for souvenirs.  I didn't have much to spend, but I had fun seeing what all they had and I did get a Uganda Cranes jersey.  Adidas brand, only $10 basically.  : )  We stopped at a big mall and went to a restaurant that had internet access for those with phones.  I had a burger that was just a little odd, and a heavenly fresh pineapple juice to go with it!

Back at the compound that night we watched Father of Lights.  I'd seen it when they premiered it at Bethel a few months ago, but watching it here in this setting was just extra powerful.  I was happy to see Bill and Kris when they popped up for their moments on screen.  They are amazing!  It was also cool that our team leader, Chris Overstreet, is actually in the movie.  : )
http://fatheroflights.wpfilm.com/

After the movie, we were just instantly moved to worship, so we plugged in an iPod and went at it for an hour and a half until our quiet time curfew and Chris had to shut us down.  It was an incredible night!  God's amazing goodness is so worth celebrating!!

Oct 21, 2012

Sunday - Today we were split into teams of 3-4 people and spread out to a bunch of little churches in the area.  I went with Lance and Brittany to Pastor Bob's church.  We were met by Sylvia, his wife, and led on a walk that took us out into the middle of nowhere where we found a "church" made up of sticks covered with tarps.

I had a chance to speak briefly here.  I gave them a word of encouragement.  I don't really look forward to public speaking, but of all the times I've done it, I'd say that this one came the easiest.  No worries.  After Lance gave his message, we prayed for people.  This time I didn't have a big team to hide in and I had to step up and be brave.  I had a line up of people asking for prayer and I went for it.  Thankfully a young man stepped in and translated for each of them so I at least knew what they were needing prayer for.  It's a strange thing here, they are so in tune with the spiritual realm that it doesn't seem odd to them when a prayer brings a healing.  There isn't always the same excitement that we would see here.  So when I would pray, the person would just turn and walk away.  I asked the translator and he would say "yes, they're healed." and just move on.  So I don't really know what to think.  Sometimes there is no doubt, when you see a person's face just light up, you really know that they got healed.  I was blown away during this prayer time when most of the children that came to me asked for wisdom or knowledge.  How cool is that?  Kids that really understand the importance of such things.

After we finished, we walked back to the place where we would meet up with the rest of our team, the same building we were at yesterday for the feeding of the kids.  Suddenly, that same little girl was standing next to me.  I guess she goes to that church.  I picked her up and sat down inside while another team finished praying for people at that church.  I was just trying to show her love again, and this time she fell asleep on my lap and drooled all over me.  : )  I'm glad she at least felt the peace.  I felt bad when it was time to leave and I had to wake her up and deposit her on the ground.  I just pray that God will continue to minister to her heart and heal whatever it is that makes her so sad.

In the evening, we went back again to meet with the teenagers of the village.  Jacob shared his testimony with them (with this really funny translator who copied his every move) and then did some healing and taught the kids to pray for each other as well.  Then we fed them each a really yummy bread roll and some tea/milk drink.  We were only planning to feed the teens, but there were so many little ones running around as well, we were glad that we ended up having enough for everyone!  

Oct 20, 2012

This group I am traveling with is so amazing!!  We are about 30 people - very few knew each other prior, and we have come together and had an instant connection!  Everyone here is so Kingdom minded and Holy Spirit led, there are no conflicts, no issues at all among us.  This is a beautiful and unique thing.  I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing team!  I can only imagine what kind of impact this kind of a team could have on a community if given more time.   hmmm...  :)

Today we went to "Say No to Hunger" - Show Mercy's program for feeding needy children.  We got to hang out and play with the kids for awhile, then we brought them inside the building and began handing out bowls of food.  The food came in large quantities, bowls full of rice, cabbage, and meat, piping hot and these little kids were eating it with bare hands.  The toddler sized kids ate so much more food than even I could pack away!  I guess when you don't know when your next meal is, you make it work.  : (

In this place, I met a little girl that really touched my heart.  I don't know her name, she appeared to be about 4 yrs old, she didn't speak, didn't show any kind of emotion whatsoever.  I sat her in my lap and she just stared off into space.  I just held her, trying to love on her with the love of God the best I know how.  I have no idea what she's been through, maybe she has lost her parents, maybe she's been abused.  I just sat with her and prayed over her heart, asking God to bring healing and comfort to whatever is going on inside of her.  I set her down when it was  time to go serve the food, but she followed me, so I ended up just holding her until she got her bowl of food.  So sad.  So many precious little ones with no one to care for them.  The need here is so great.  

If anyone wants to help with this awesome program, you can donate to the Say No to Hunger program over at Show Mercy International.  This is such a great opportunity to partner with this wonderful group of people and make a difference in the life of children.  Right now they can only feed a handful of children, but with more donations, they will be able to expand that program and touch more lives.  

http://www.showmercy.org/donations/cart.php?m=product_list&c=15

In the afternoon, we hosted the teenaged kids from the Hope Children's Home.  During this meeting, we prayed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit to come on these kids and we were treated to a life changing time of Holy Spirit fun!!  He showed up in a big way and these kids were changed forever!  (We got to meet with them the next week and find out how much life had changed!)  After the big event, we set up prophetic booths and were able to give each kid some encouragement and words of identity and purpose.  We had prophetic art and transcribed the words that were given, so each teen got to take home something to remember this day.

Today was a day that I started to see myself doing new things.  I began to discover my place in the team.  I realized that I don't have to do things the way everyone else does, God has created me unique, and has given me my own special way of relating to Him and to others.  I began to feel comfortable doing things in my own way and not having to copy everyone else.  During the prayer time, I am never comfortable just praying for people in the traditional sense.  Today I stepped back and remembered that I am a Worship Warrior, so instead of praying, I began to sing praises over what was happening.  To give glory to God and see how He shows up, that is my gift.  It was awesome and empowering to do what I was created to do!!

Oct 19, 2012

Friday - Today started with a trip to a clinic in Wakiso.  We were told it was an HIV screening clinic, but it turned out to be a dentist. We just started chatting with different people and praying for those who wanted it.    The funniest incident was when this big lady walked up and Ruby approached her.  She was there with a toothache and was planning to have the tooth pulled.  (Without novacaine I might add)  Ruby offered to pray, and the lady kept insisting that it wouldn't work.  But after some time, she let us pray anyway.  When asked if the pain was gone, she was unwilling to answer, she just kept going on and on about whatever.  Finally we heard the answer.... "you're deceiving me, when you go, the pain will come back."  :)  So she was healed!  She was still not going to acknowledge it, so we left her, but it was pretty funny.  Wonder if she went through with the tooth pulling?

Alex picked me up right after that, so I didn't do any more at the clinic.  I got to go back to Masulita and spend the day with my brother and his family.  :)  When we reached Alex's new house, baby Elijah woke up and I held him.  If you know me at all, you know I don't hold babies normally.  Elijah is 4 months old.  For some reason, I was excited to meet him, more than any other baby I can remember.










Violet prepared a wonderful meal for us, traditional, but better than any other I've had there.  :)  And Alex remembered I like Mirinda Fruity, so he had bought one of those for me, and pineapple!!  What a perfect lunch!!








We wandered around Masulita for a bit, seeing all the growth and construction that is happening.  I was sad that I didn't get to see any of the kids that I met last time.  Some had moved away and others were on a field trip to the city.  I got to say hi to Robina, the pastor's wife who I met last time.  She is such a sweetheart.  Then Alex and I took a long walk out to see the land that has been purchased for his soccer team.  It was a beautiful spot, and Alex shared his dreams with me about what he wants to see happen here.

While I was gone, my team went to a mental hospital.  I think I am kind of glad I didn't go there, the things they saw were very disturbing.  I think something I am learning on this trip is that I'm not meant to do everything.  Situationally, God can equip me to do anything as needed, but in general, not all things are my calling.  I have always been drawn more toward ministry within the church instead of outreach / evangelism toward strangers.  I'm more relationship based I think.  Kids are easy, strangers or not, that is part of my heart for sure.  Maybe I just have more growing to do, but for now, that 's where I'm at.  I appreciated that there was no pressure, only opportunity with this group.  I had the chance to step out and sometimes I took it and sometimes I didn't.  No guilt, no condemnation.

October 18, 2012

Today we started actual ministry time.  Our big team is split into 3 small teams, and I am on Jacob and Juho's team. (Team Ja-ho)  We were sent to God's Mercy Primary / Nursery School today.  I love that kind of thing!  As soon as we showed up, we each had about 4 kids hanging off our arms.  The kids are so hungry for love, they fight each other for the right to hang onto the arm of a mzungu (white person).

Show Mercy - the base where we are staying - hosts interns for 3-4 months, and these girls go regularly to the places we visited.  They are doing amazing things, building relationships at schools, clinics, and in the village.  We got to tag along and join them at their ministries.  At this school, we watched as Sarah led the kids in fun action songs.  We had a blast!  The kids are just so excited to see us.  

Later in the day we headed back to the village.  The local leaders had provided us with a list of some elderly people who were especially needy and we went specifically to those on the list and gave them blankets or mosquito nets.  It was so fun to see the smiles light up the faces of these amazing people.  They've worked so hard, and their bodies are bent over permanently now it seems.  It was a blessing to be able to bless them with something as simple as a blanket.  One lady asked us to pray for her leg.  Later in the day we bumped into her again, now walking, and we asked how it felt and she responded "I'm walking!" Yay Jesus!  

As we walked, kids came out of everywhere to join us.  It's so fun to just gather a crowd of cuties like that.  I saw at one point that one of the interns, Sarah, had gathered the kids and was teaching them to pray for each other.  That was so sweet.  It's not just us that can pray for the sick, everyone can do it!  

Oct 14-16 2012

Travel has been long and hard.  I woke up early Sunday to go out with my 2 best friends before I left.  I was nervous waiting to get in the van for the drive to San Fran airport.  I don't know anyone on this trip.

After my friends left, the team gathered and took communion together and loaded up for the drive. On the drive I began chatting with some of the people in the van and we all just hit it off.  Michael, Judith, Juho, Jacob, Richard, and our leaders, Chris and Stefanie Overstreet.  This was the small crew we started the journey with.  At each airport we added more members until we were a team of 23.

At the airport, we had some trouble getting our boarding passes, they'd somehow gotten voided.  Eventually that was straightened out and we headed in.  Met Sarah, Katrina, and Candy at this airport.  I ate one last cheeseburger at the airport and then we sat around and waited for our 11:00 pm flight.

Landed in Washington DC to a beautiful sunrise.  Added Charlie and Lance to the team.  I got to have a couple Auntie Anne's garlic pretzels here, I love those things!  We loaded up for the 13 hr flight to Ethiopia which was just no fun at all.  I couldn't sleep, there were no good movies to watch...  Landed at Addis Ababa to find a really ghetto airport where I laid on the floor and tried to nap, didn't work. When we started heading down to get on the plane, we passed a lady in a wheelchair being pushed by airport staff.  Chris stopped and asked if he could pray for her, and she ended up walking away from the wheelchair totally healed of her back pain!!  It has begun.

 Finally we loaded up and flew out to Entebbe, which meant I got excited and hyper because I was returning "home."  As I recognized the Ugandan landscape beneath me, I totally had that feeling that I was home.  :)

At the airport we met a few more team members and the Show Mercy staff members who took us to the coaster to drive to the HQ.  Driving down the Entebbe - Kampala road I was amazed at how different it is in just 2 years.  This is their 50 yr jubilee, the celebration of their independence from Britain.  They have been doing major cleanup and also I saw a lot of new buildings.  This is a nation on the rise!

Arrived at the Show Mercy base and were amazed at how nice it is!  They have created a beautiful haven for missionary teams to be able to rest up so that they can go out and serve.  They had an awesome team of intern girls here to help us out and show us the ropes.  We are so blessed to be in this place!  After we settled in a little, we walked a little ways down the road and met some local kids.  It was a short outing, but it felt so good to be back with the Ugandan people that I love so much!!

Back to Uganda

I got to see my Ugandan family!!!  This is Violet and Alex Kalema and their new son Elijah!!  I am so grateful that my team leader allowed me to leave with Alex and go visit Masulita for a day.  We had a wonderful time catching up and sharing our visions again for our future in ministry together.  God is doing great things in this area and I can't wait to get back here and be involved.

Another opportunity?

I have recently relocated to Redding, CA to attend Bethel Church.  As soon as I arrived I saw in the bulletin that they were planning a trip to Uganda in October!  I have felt like God is leading me to go after this one, so I have taken a step of faith and begun asking my friends and family for financial support.  There is not enough time for me to raise the money myself this time, so if God is truly pushing me to go, I am trusting that He will provide the funds.

I am excited about this possibility because it will be with a group that walks in the supernatural Holy Spirit led way.  These people have seen God move in crazy cool ways, and I'd like to learn how to be like that.  I want to receive training to access everything that God has for me in order to better serve the people of Uganda.  This trip would be a hands on crash course in living that way.