Pinkie Promises and Investments

Daphne! 

Yesterday God whacked me in the face again with this idea: that the building of relationships with people is the biggest impact one can have on the world. No matter how much money or how many gifts you pour into a child, they will remember the love and time you pour into them much, much more.

Here's the story: I spent pretty much the whole day hanging out down at the compound where all the Okoa kids stay. We had our own church service, played tag, ate lunch, and ran around like kids do. (This must be why I'm SO tired!!!) But when I was getting ready to leave, I was attacked my the munchkins! Ok, I say that, but I was literally dragged by two of the boys to the wall where I was told I had to stay and couldn't leave. After I tried to leave twice, they pulled me over and sat down on either side of me, locked the door going out of the compound, and even sat another little guy on my lap so I couldn't move. I told them I'd come back in just a little bit; that I just needed to go back to the house for a while, but they still wouldn't let me leave. So, I did the only logical thing, "pinkie promise?" As a kid, a pinkie promise was the absolute strictest promise - you could not, under ANY circumstances, break a pinkie promise. It's pretty much social suicide in Kindergarten. But anyways, when one of the boys turned away from me and wouldn't accept the pinkie promise, I knew something was wrong. When I finally got him to look at me, he was on the brink of tears. I realized that it was way bigger than me just leaving for an hour to go back to the house. Finally, he answered my questions, "You said on Monday you would come back, but you didn't." Wow. Punched in the gut. Suddenly, it didn't matter any more that I had been "detained" at a Christmas Eve party, it didn't matter that I was tired and needed to rest - what mattered was this boy's hurting spirit when I failed his trust. You can bet that I felt like a jerk. But I also knew that I had to start rebuilding his trust immediately. Thus, after apologizing for not coming back on Monday, and explaining that this time I really would come back, we pinkie promised. About an hour later, I came back. His smile was the biggest!

I'm sure there are tons of life applications you could spin off this story, but all I'm going to say is to realize how much of an effect you have on people's lives. I've been in Masaka for 10 days, and I've got to admit that I was shocked that I had that much of an impact in this boy's life. I just assumed, since I haven't been here for very long, that to the kids I was just someone who comes and goes; they're happy when I come, but it doesn't really matter to them either way. You'd think I'd know better by now! Obviously that's not how they feel about me.


Proverbs 22:6 says, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." So how do you start children off in the right way? You don't just give them a rule book and say, "Alright, follow these rules. Bye!" No, sir; you spend time with them, enforcing the rules, and planting the seeds of truth, righteousness, obedience, and godliness in them. It's the same way when you're sharing the good news. You don't just give someone a Bible and say, "Just do what this book says. Bye!" (Please don't misunderstand me here. The Bible is the living, breathing Word of God, and definitely doesn't need us to plant and grow seeds, but it does call us to.) But anyways, if you really want to be someone that makes Jesus famous and spreads His gospel, you've got to invest in lives, and every now and then, you might have to make some pinkie promises!

 

Hello, Masaka!!

Hello, from Masaka, Uganda! I finally arrived on Tuesday, December 18th after a full day of packing and a three hour taxi drive to the Workman household. Being here has been a huge blessing to me already. Tyler and Liv have two little girls, Judah (1) and Shamila (5), and another girl, Esther (9), is considered part of the family and also stays at the house with us. The day after I arrived here, we had another little guy join us, Gideon (somewhere around 3, although he likes to claim 5!). So, I went from living in a household of 18-27 year olds to living with a 1,3,5, and 9 year old! Talk about a change! But it's been great; I didn't realize how much I missed living in a family setting! And that's not the only thing that's been wonderful here, there's also been just an overwhelming calm that's permeated everything I've done. Now I know, all you mothers are out there saying, "A 1,3,5, and 9 year old and you're talking about "calm?" Yeah, you really are going crazy over there!" But hang with me for a second. 

Gideon and I!

Before I arrived here, I was stressed and worried to say the least. Simply put, I like it when God "lights up all the lights of the hallway" rather than just one or two sets at a time, and currently He's only turned on a few of the lights for what my future holds. Currently I don't know where I'll stay after January 2nd, and I know I want to go back to Empower A Child for a while, but I don't know when or for how long. It just seems like my life is full of questions and completely lacking in answers. In my few days here, however, He's given me a peace about everything. Psalm 46:1-3 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging" ... and though you don't know what you're doing or where you're going after January 2nd, DO NOT FEAR. God's got everything under control, and what good does it do me to worry about it? "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:14 ..."And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). So, really, that's all I have to say for now, but Merry Christmas to you all!!

Goofing off!! 

With some kids at Okoa Refuge.

Emmanuel and Moses! 

Blessings! 

Disheveled Trust

The church is HUGE!! 

You wanna know something? I don't really want to write this blog post....and originally this ended with "so, i'm not going to, goodnight!" but, considering the unsaid rule that blog posts have to be longer than two sentences, I thought I should come back and add a bit on. Honestly though, I'm not so keen on writing currently because I feel like I have to have a point, an organized thought in order to write - which seems to be quite impossible at the moment. Isn't it funny how when you're mind is going "100 miles an hour," you're always more confused?! You would think, with it working that much faster than normal, you'd have every issue worked out with time to spare!

Charles and I - my last Sunday in Zirobwe for a while.

Anyways, let's get to the heart of it: disheveled trust. Several years ago, I was in Chihuahua, Mexico with my church on a mission trip. I had woken up early to do my personal devotions, and God was very clearly laying  down this question, "Do you trust me?" (Yep, like in Aladdin!) Sitting there in the peace of His presence, it seemed easy to say, "Yes! I have complete trust in You!" Unfortunately, what was waiting for me wasn't a magic carpet ride; it was a call from back home with bad news: Soldier had been hit by a tornado. Because we were in Mexico, information was slow in coming. I had a lot of family back home, and those seconds and minutes waiting for news were some of the slowest and scariest of my life, but the whole time in the back of my mind was trust. And that was the real start of God teaching what it means to trust.

Peter! 

Those lessons continue to come up in my life, and they're hard, but in the end, it's SO worth it. Currently, I feel as though I'm going through a season where I'm called to trust, and it's not fun. I feel like my mind is constantly going 100 miles an hour, but there isn't a "solution" out there for me to find, I just have to trust. Can I share something with you that sometimes I think was a completely dumb thing to do? I prayed before I came here that God would bring me to the end of myself so there would be nothing left of me - to the point where I had to absolutely, completely trust Him - where He becomes greater and I become less. I think He's brought me to that point - again. During this journey, He's brought me there over and over again, in different ways. It's always hard, but it's always good in the end. So, I'm choosing to trust Him, but don't get me wrong, my trust is not perfect. Trust is messy, hard; it's a struggle and a fight. But as Jeremiah 17:7-8 says,

 "Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

With the Sunday School kiddos! 

So now, despite the messiness and struggle of trusting Him, I hold onto the knowledge that He is the Potter and I am the clay. He is continually perfecting me and refining me, and "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

NEW NEWS!

First of all, I'd like to let you all know about a change coming up in my time here in Uganda. I had originally come to Africa planning on working with the organization, Empower A Child, for my entire time here. However, God seems to be working out some slightly different plans than mine (yeah, big surprise, I know!). Recently He's been opening doors for me to work with a missionary family in a town called Masaka that is a couple hours away from Kampala. The EAC "base" here in Kampala is closing down for the second part of December and the first part of January; the option the organization provided was for me to fly to Kenya and stay with the Kenyan branch of EAC there. However, I've felt all along that God had something different planned for me than going to Kenya. Now I know what it is! One of the girls that I worked with and became close to in the first month or so I was here told me about this family who had gone to her church when they lived in America. From there, everything just fell into place (although, I must admit, it was much slower than I would've liked). So, now, by God's guidance and provision, I'll be heading to Masaka, Uganda on December 18th to work with this family and the organization they head up, Okoa Refuge. 

Joseph, me, Shakira, and Luke at the Sponsorship Christmas

Now a little about Okoa Refuge so you'll have an idea of what I'll be doing: they currently have two children's homes (one girls and one boys), they're working on a babies' home, they do some church planting, prayer and evangelism at a prison and hospital, a once-a-month, week-long Bible School, and they're working on handing out water filters. So, in my time there, I will be working alongside them in their life there. Honestly, I'm not completely sure of the exact time I'll be spending with them. I'm just trusting God to lead me, but I do know that I'd love to come back with EAC for a few weeks before I leave to see my kids again, and I believe God's worked that into His plan. 

I'd really appreciate your prayers right now; particularly for guidance in this transition, the extension of my visa (PLEASE!), and peace to rest in His will and His presence. And with that, I do think I'm going to sign off. I apologize for the lack of brilliantly composed thoughts and the blandness of this post..... I'd add more, or edit away, but seeing as I've got to be up for church in a few hours, I'm just going to leave it at this! 

CHARLES!

The Zirobwe kids at the sponsorship Christmas!

Bukenya & I at his house!

Little Francis!! 

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you. Your encouragement, support, and prayers mean the world to me! Blessings! 

A Great Hope

The church has windows & doors!

The inside of the church - our new campsite! 

Well.... First of all, my apologies to those of you who were expecting a blog post last week; we were out of power from Thursday through Monday! While not having power wasn't exactly convenient, it ended up being a really good time of team bonding, resting, and refocusing. But definitely the highlight of the last two weeks was getting to go back to the village of Zirobwe!!

On Wednesday afternoon I found myself walking on the red dirt roads of Zirobwe with a fellow worker who was translating for me. Two of the girls from Sunday School were with me, one on each hand, and their mother was just ahead of us. The younger of the two girls was 5 years old and had a skin rash all over her body, and their mother had come to me for help at church. So, we walked together to the doctor - miles. When we arrived at the doctor's and the young girl went through her examination in the tiniest doctor's office I've ever seen, we were told that not only did she have a skin rash, but she also had recurring malaria. The doctor gathered together skin cream for her rash and several different pills both for the rash and malaria and totaled the cost. As I watched, a tiny fear crept into me - what if I didn't have enough money to pay for all of that? Then I heard the total: 8,000 UGX - that's about $3. My heart sighed and cried out at the same time; I had plenty of money to pay for the medication, but how poor could these people be to bring themselves to ask for help with what seemed like such a small amount. Three dollars. Three.  If people can't even afford to pay that much, where is the hope in their lives? 

It's HUGE!!

But these people do have hope. More hope than many people in America. They have the hope that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has given them. Rather than turn to it only in times of struggle, they cling to it with everything they have, all the time. "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40:31). They are renewed and strengthened by Christ; through Him they are able to press on in joy. Mark 10:31 says, "But many who are first will be last, and the last first." I cannot hide the fact that I envy these people. Despite their poverty and struggles here on earth, how much greater will their reward be when they're finally with God in heaven? Yes. The least of these have a great hope. 

Trevor! What a sweetheart!

Joann and Winnie... Sisters!! 

Jophaz, Siminu, and Marvin goofing off at sports day

Winnie playing frizbee!

Yes, I have a camera again!!