Intro to Musana

Intro to Musana

 

We started this morning with our morning devotion and prayer.  Then we were off to Musana to hear the story of how this ministry began and the vision of the future of Musana.  We learned that Musana believes in empowering their community to create sustainability. They have created a craft room to teach local women the art of sewing, and using a knitting machine.  They have recently opened a small bakery to serve in their community.  We toured the students' dormitories and how they are teaching the children order and respect of property and also the importance of good hygiene to improve their lives.  There is so much more and too much to write about all of it.  So we encourage you to look on their website for the full story.

 

While we were in waiting, we sat on a porch with elementary aged children who were shading (we call it coloring) from coloring books.  We joined in on their fun and made many new friends.  It wasn't long before paint was introduced and the children began to paint one another, then us, and then they began to paint our toe nails and finger nails, smiling from ear to ear!  They were so happy to paint on us as well as themselves.  From there we went to observe a team of photographers and videographers here doing a project for Musana.  They placed tape on one of the buildings spelling out Musana, and with their logo, then the students splattered paint on the building over the tape, creating a beautiful arrangement of color.  The kids had such a great time with this project.  We even were able to participate.

 

We were served lunch with the teacher and the women from the craft ministry.  We were served rice, chicken and fresh avocado.  Before lunch we did see our chefs carrying several chickens and Sue asked for them to stop so she could get a picture of their chickens, little did we know that they were carrying our lunch.  What?!  We did get to eat in the teacher lounge, that was a sweet time of fellowship.  After lunch we were blessed to play with the nursery (what we consider preschool) aged children.  This was a real opportunity to stretch our imaginations.  We played duck, duck, goose, sang songs,  Julie taught them a new games, "Red light, Green light" all of this with a slight language barrier.  However, love has no barrier and fun was had by all! 

 

Then we were invited to join all of the Musana students and teachers into their church for a warm welcome from the school choir.  It was such an honor to receive such a warm welcome.  Then the kids wanted to build relationships with us and came to greet us, then some took us by the hand to give us their grand tour of their school with much pride.

 

Shalom,

Vicki

A Never Ending Journey

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

 

Today our journey finally started. This trip has been in the planning stages since December, a few short months after I returned from my last trip to Uganda. It seems like forever ago since we had our first team meeting in which nine other women expressed interest in going. This is the first time in our churches history we have sent a team of only women and as our Pastor described us we are a strong and mighty group, topped with compassion and gentleness. I'm very interested in seeing what we do in a male dominated country where women don't even qualify for second-class citizenship. Our day started very early as we had to be at the airport at 4 am. Because the summer rates are so much more expensive then other times of the year we opted for the least expensive flight, which started by sending us to LA! We then flew back over the US on our way to Amsterdam. Before we started the second leg of the journey we had almost left behind one suitcase, I'd taken the wrong carry-on off the plane (fortunately it belonged to a team member), two team members got turned around in the LA terminal and had to go back through security and we'd eaten enough food to feed a Roman army! I had started a book on the flight from SA to LA, just gotten into it and left it on the plane! The good news is that we all got on the plane and are now four hours into our nine and a half flight! I am so excited to be going back. I can't wait to see all the people I know. Each one of them holds a special place in my heart and I really look forward to reuniting with them. I also am very excited to see who God places in our path and who I will come to know during this visit that I don't know now. One of the college girls on our team, who lives in the next town over from me, I met for the first time in Uganda five years ago. We both knew the other looked familiar and couldn't figure out where we had met before. To realize it was half the world away is always amazing to me.

 

In the words of Judy Howitt, "After flying to LA (a 2 hour flight), a five hour layover, a ten hour flight to Amsterdam, an eight hour flight to Kigali and an hour flight to Entebbe, with all of our luggage, we are finally here. Here being Musana! That after Kyemba forgot to pick us up at the airport, Banana Village didn't answer their phone, and we found the three nicest cab drivers in all of Uganda to take us to our hotel for the night. So after getting up early, watching the monkeys play like little children, we ate breakfast, packed the car to the brim, drove to Kampala where we ate lunch with Haji (our former driver), exchanged money, and 2-1/2 hours later ended up in Iganga. We are so thankful to be here safely with all our luggage. It was great to see both Kyemba and Haji again and then to see Andrea, Haril, Yvonne and Sarah at Musana. Haji hasn't changed at all. He was as excited to see us as we were to see him!! He is just an awesome man! We hope to see him again on our way out of town.

 

On a personal note Judy has decided that Dave is not getting a t-shirt. Instead she is bringing him back a puppy and a goat! (Dave you might want to have words with her; from her talk and her expression she is mighty serious!) Sarah's little boy (a real chunck) is named Evan. Evans you can take that any way you want to! We spent the afternoon passing him around. Not a one of us wanted to give him up. Now we are at Sol Café waiting for Trivia to begin (Liz and Vicki have put together the questions) and Andrea and Haril just walked in with Dezi. Cody and Sam you will be glad to know that no one even acknowledged the adults!! But the baby drew an abundance of attention! And yes, we love the parents as well!! But the baby is so darn cute!

 

Julie's perception of the day, which is how we started the day with Tamara leading us in devotion is wonder and freedom. I've been here six times before and every time I look out I see something new to find wonder in. The beauty of the country. The hills and hills of tea growing in a beautiful shade of green. The sense of community. And then to arrive at Musana and see little Grace on the steps. It was like time had stood still. The children waving and yelling "Mzungu, Bye". The red dirt. The sights, the sounds, the smells. And the team has already jelled so well.

 

In closing, again in Judy's words, "Thank you Jesus, for safe travel, getting our luggage, the opportunity to partner with Musana, to love on the kids here, to help the staff and to see our friends and spiritual family across the world. We look forward to the days ahead and what God has in store for us.

Fwd: Ready to Go

Hello everyone! Tomorrow our Uganda mission team heads to the airport to begin our service! Our team is so happy to be going to Uganda this year, many of whom are going back! We will spend most of tomorrow and Wednesday traveling and will arrive there Wednesday evening. This year we have a mission group made up entirely of women, which will be a fun adventure! I am very blessed and excited to be going with this group. Both Julie Page and I (Samantha Dickey) have never been to Uganda, so this will be a new experience for us! Thankfully we have such a wonderful and supportive team to help us along the way. I cannot wait to see how G-d uses our team in Uganda. While our team has been more than helpful in preparing us for this journey, I know that there is still so much that can only be experienced. Although I'm filled with some nerves for what's ahead, I am extremely ready for this life-changing event that G-d has for us. We will be doing a lot of great work with Musana and Phil's kids, along with spending time in the community. I am happy and anxious to serve in whatever way G-d leads me, although I am hoping for plenty of time with the kids! I've had the chance the past few weeks to hear more stories from my teammates, who have been to Uganda before, about the wonderful people they have met and worked with there. Hearing these stories and learning about the different people I will meet and all of the kids I will get to spend time with makes me ready to go! Yesterday after the 11 service at Riverside, our team spent some time packing supplies and doing several checks between ourselves to ensure that everything is ready. Since then all the packing has been finished and there isn't much to do except get some rest before our early morning (4 AM!!) Thank you all for your prayers and we will keep you posted with what G-d does with us!! 

~Samantha

Sent from my iPhone

Haiti - Reflections as we send home.

It has been an amazing seven days here in Haiti. Throughout the week, it was very humbling to see the hope and joy in the Haitians and the way the Lord has been working through them.  

When we arrived on Sunday, locals were gathered by the doorway as we walked out. After we moved through the crowd, we immediately met up with our translators and crammed into the tap-taps. It was about a 30-45 minute ride from the airport to the guest house. Driving through the streets of Haiti really opened my eyes to the struggles that Haiti has gone through since the earthquake as well as the hope that they still have. Pulling up to the guest house, we saw Pastor Moise's wife and daughter there ready to greet us. The overwhelming happiness and excitement that came from the Vaval family made us all so happy. 

Waking up Monday, we headed out early to go to the museum In Petionville. The knowledge that the Haitians have about the history of Haiti and the significance of its leaders and accomplishments is unexplainable. Every single thing in the museum is treasured deeply. While we were walking around the museum, we got to see two different groups of kids from school that had come to see the museum. Even though we didn't directly talk to them and only waved from a distance, it was so sweet to see how happy they were to wave back and exchange smiles. After the museum, we went to eat pizza at a place in Petionville. Once there, the two founders talked to us on how the pizza shop began. They explained that while they were in New York, they had pizza and really enjoyed it. They then continued to explain that because they really loved the pizza in New York, they wanted to bring it back to Haiti so the Haitians could have the same experience that they both did. It was really cool to be able to hear about the different things the Lord has called individuals to do and how much those two gentlemen care about their hometown and want the best for the people in Haiti. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we spent the day at the Source de la Grace orphanage with the children. When we arrived at the orphanage, the kids ran right up to us and gave the hugs that just melt your heart. From that moment on, the language barrier was no longer there and right then, I felt as if we were all one family. The kids walked us into the gates and right away asked us to sit down. The children absolutely love to take pictures and they sure do have many poses! It's so humbling to see them have no problem with sitting down right next to us, not being able to carry on a conversation, and for them to be so happy. I would definitely say that seeing them so content with the little that the have completely opens my eyes to the overflow of love from the Lord along with the overflowing of love from them. On Wednesday, we painted the beginnings of what would be a beautiful mural. Before we started, the wall was grey cinder blocks stacked up. We started by painting a base coat of white and then painted a beige color as the background. On Thursday, one of our translators PG, and his brother Wesley, got to the orphanage early to begin drawing the design part of the mural. Instead of going straight to painting, PG and hist brother drew the picture out with chalk. They then handed us some paint and brushes and as a team we finished the mural. Looking back at the wall before we painted it and seeing what it looks like once finished, amazing to see how a little paint on the wall can make such a difference in the feel of the place. 

On Wednesday and Thursday, we had the opportunity to spend time with the Source de la Grace youth group. On the first day of meeting with them, both them and us were pretty shy to begin with. We broke the ice with a game where we went around and said our name, age, and either a fun fact about ourselves or we had to do a dance move. Of course I couldn't think of a fun fact, so I had to dance (and also John was wanting us to). I am definitely not a dancer, so it was pretty interesting. For the rest of the time, it was just smiles and laughter. After the meeting on Thursday, we had ice cream and talked and played games. The excitement and joy that comes from the youth group is so contagious. On Saturday, we got to hang out with them for one last time. We met about two hours before the actual meeting to jump rope and hang out. Those two hours sure did go by really fast. Saying good-bye to them was rough, but it was hopeful knowing that we could still possibly talk to them through Facebook.

Today is Sunday, which means that today is the day where we head home. It is bittersweet leaving- I am going to really miss Haiti and the kids, but at the same time i am happy to see my family. It's been amazing seeing how the Lord provides for everyone and how his love for everyone is so evident. I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to come to Haiti this year, and I am hopeful that I will have many more.

~ Lindsay 

Day 6 in Haiti - Leaving Our New Friends

It is way past my bed time. These crazy church people have really been pushing the limits on the proper eight hours and fifteen minutes of rest that was basically the first thing that happened to be important in Genesis- just putting that out there. Today was Saturday, which in the world of running, where I spend most of my time, means the hard day where you pour out every ounce you have left. Saturdays are big tipping temporal points in which anything can happen. I really feel that as a team we showed the last of our hard work and preparation that got us here. 

This morning we woke up to the sound of children playing outside on the streets. This is different than it has been from most of the week because they do not get out of  school until the middle of June. Breakfast was a different type of cereal that turns your milk a very unsettling pink. The milk that was left looked like something you would see in an elementary school cafeteria. Since we already finished the mural, we didn't have much to do in the morning. Lauren and Kalyn planned out their testimonies to tell the youth group at Source de la Grace about metaphorical rebirth. The beautiful and talented Anjian choreographed her own dance that was absolutely amazing. The coolest part was watching her come up with it from scratch (with a little song help from Lindsay, of course). It was amazing to see the beauty of God in her grace filled expression of love.

PG arrived mid morning with his art. It was also stinking amazing and creative. He had fabulous stone carvings as well as paintings. Unfortunately, he did not have any wooden machetes like I purchased the day before at the beach which I honestly felt everyone was very jealous of.

Sandro arrived after lunch and we went to the orphanage. It was a lot more chaotic than it had been. Banllee, the munchkin I had been spending most of my time with immediately embraced me. You could feel the anticipation; the kids as well as us wanted to juice out every possible second we could have. There was once again a dance party on the front porch. It was really great to see the joy of the house mamas when they were watching. They were filled with just as much excitement as the kids. 

Leaving was rough. As the kids started to realize what was happening, most of them started crying, which made most of our team cry. Banllee was in complete denial. She started playing soccer with me as soon as Liz announced that we were leaving. It was so hard to see them and wonder how many times they had been left. I just pray that the joy of us being there outweighs any of the pain suffered by us leaving.

We went to go hang out with Kristie's youth group after that. We played jump rope with a real rope- very new and very difficult. It was strange to jump into so much joy after seeing so much hurt. The service was beautiful. Lauren and Kalyn were fantastic. The older kids were still emotional, but a lot more hopeful. They hugged everyone and asked for their Facebook. They were so sweet. I think leaving the Vavals and the translators tomorrow will be the hardest part. 

During our devotional this evening we talked about what we wanted to take from Haiti and what we wanted to leave behind. While I'm sad to leave this beautiful and wonderful country, I'm excited to apply the things I have learned and let the Lord work through me at home. 

Ironically, with the theme of rebirth, Delany Jane Borden joined this world yesterday (Friday)! 

-Mac 

Day 5 in Haiti - Beauty

Wow, what a treat to be on the beaches in Haiti! It's an overwhelming beauty that I've truly come to appreciate the second time being here. We went a whole 24+ hours without any electricity, so today was a rough, sweaty morning. We ate a breakfast consisting of cereal, and did our morning devotional. This morning we discussed the full beauty of Haiti, and how it's important to not just limit ourselves to just the poverty here in Port Au Prince. Haiti has so much to offer, and I think we constantly forget that. We drove a whopping 3 1/2 hours to the beach, even though it was only supposed to take 2...(we may have forgotten our translators by accident). Well, not knowing that the usual resort we go to would be closed due to renovations, we had to improvise and go to a different resort. Little did we know that this one would be bombarded with American missionaries serving in Haiti. We were fortunate to have a huge trampoline jumpy blow-up thingie tin the ocean that was included with the resort, so we kicked off the not as cool missionaries from the other churches and proceeded to play on them. Kalyn and I, (the former professional tumblers) did flips off the bouncing thing and taught all the girls how to do back flips off of it. Yes, Mrs. Amie, Lindsay did one too so you should be proud ;) 

Walking back to the tap-taps, we encountered many Haitian vendors. They were extremely proud and excited to share with us the beautiful, unique gifts and souvenirs that were handmade by them. Although they can be persistent, it's humbling to know how proud they are of their possessions because it's a big part of what they have left. After we finished looking and purchasing those items, we gathered in our tap-taps and headed back home. On the way back, we stopped by the memorial for the earthquake victims who had lost their lives. Over 200,000 bodies were buried in loving memory of the tragic event on January 12, 2010. It was such a convicting time because it really opened my eyes of what this beautiful country really went through, yet they still have so much love and hope for Haiti.

We eventually got back to the guest house and ate sandwiches and chips for dinner, and ice cream for dessert. After that, we did our night-time devotional. We shared our favorite memories and where we saw God today. We then were encouraged to talk about how God can work through our struggles that we vulnerably talked about on the second night. It was really sweet to see how God can make such love and beauty out of hard times. He always has a special plan, and I'm really staring to see that. If you couldn't already tell, we had such a blessed day spent on the beach and at the memorial, and I wouldn't trade the memories for anything.

I love you mom and dad! miss y'all a lot. -Abby

Day 5 - The Beauty of Haiti

Wow, what a treat to be on the beaches in Haiti! It's an overwhelming beauty that I've truly come to appreciate the second time being here. We went a whole 24+ hours without any electricity, so today was a rough, sweaty morning. We ate a breakfast consisting of cereal, and did our morning devotional. This morning we discussed the full beauty of Haiti, and how it's important to not just limit ourselves to just the poverty here in Port Au Prince. Haiti has so much to offer, and I think we constantly forget that. We drove a whopping 3 1/2 hours to the beach, even though it was only supposed to take 2...(we may have forgotten our translators by accident). Well, not knowing that the usual resort we go to would be closed due to renovations, we had to improvise and go to a different resort. Little did we know that this one would be bombarded with American missionaries serving in Haiti. We were fortunate to have a huge trampoline jumpy blow-up thingie tin the ocean that was included with the resort, so we kicked off the not as cool missionaries from the other churches and proceeded to play on them. Kalyn and I, (the former professional tumblers) did flips off the bouncing thing and taught all the girls how to do back flips off of it. Yes, Mrs. Amie, Lindsay did one too so you should be proud ;) 

Walking back to the tap-taps, we encountered many Haitian vendors. They were extremely proud and excited to share with us the beautiful, unique gifts and souvenirs that were handmade by them. Although they can be persistent, it's humbling to know how proud they are of their possessions because it's a big part of what they have left. After we finished looking and purchasing those items, we gathered in our tap-taps and headed back home. On the way back, we stopped by the memorial for the earthquake victims who had lost their lives. Over 200,000 bodies were buried in loving memory of the tragic event on January 12, 2010. It was such a convicting time because it really opened my eyes of what this beautiful country really went through, yet they still have so much love and hope for Haiti.

We eventually got back to the guest house and ate sandwiches and chips for dinner, and ice cream for dessert. After that, we did our night-time devotional. We shared our favorite memories and where we saw God today. We then were encouraged to talk about how God can work through our struggles that we vulnerably talked about on the second night. It was really sweet to see how God can make such love and beauty out of hard times. He always has a special plan, and I'm really staring to see that. If you couldn't already tell, we had such a blessed day spent on the beach and at the memorial, and I wouldn't trade the memories for anything.

I love you mom and dad! miss y'all a lot. -Abby