Jesus made time for kids and His job was to save the world

Hello Everyone! It's Hannah here J

Today was, like every other day, AMAZING. However today was especially special for me. While the whole team was here at Musana, Jen, Liz, Emily, and I were asked to do a mural on the outside of the nursery kid's building. Apparently, the staff at Musana was quite nervous to see how good our painting skills were. However, they were pleased with our skills and even asked if I would like to do more after the team had left. I think they got nervous all over again as I set out to paint the front of their small clinic by myself. I love painting. It is my favorite medium and my number one peaceful activity. They ended up loving it and asked me to paint the entire outside of the dining hall. I have always dreamed of getting to go crazy painting an entire building. God is really good. He knew that I love Africa, kids, and painting, and I was able to live inside those three loves today. I started painting around 10 this morning and didn't stop until 3. The kids at Musana LOVE to watch people paint. They also enjoy finger painting on the walls you just finished. Usually, that would really bother me. However, God was really faithful and sweet and gave me the patience and joy I needed to have fun with the kids while I painted. Jesus made time for kids and His job was to save the world. I thought I should too, considering my job was just painting a wall. So when the kids snuck up and drew on the walls when they thought I wasn't looking, I was able to smile. I let some of the older kids who looked interested help me paint some birds and flowers. I was reminded that when you make time to love people throughout your day, your heart is calmed and healed and loved in return. I would have missed out on building relationships with beautiful people today if I had been too concerned with my task at hand. Sue, Samantha, and Musana's interns went to watch the students' volleyball game during the day, and Musana won! Samantha said she was so impressed by the way Ishmael, the volleyball coach, interacted with his team. She said he was always patient, encouraging, and uplifting. The staff here at Musana is seriously the best. Sue and Samantha also got the chance to visit our beloved friend and bus driver Kymba's grandkids at their primary school. After the day's events, Sue and Samantha returned to Musana along with some very happy volleyball players. Samantha then helped me add detail to the mural after which she and Sue painted some more motivational signs that will be placed all throughout the campus. Afterwards, we had a nice visit with Andrea, her husband Haril, Leah, and the Interns. Sarah then made us all "burritos" with chipati, rice, and guacamole for dinner, and we finished the day off around a campfire with s'mores. I always love to look at the stars here in Uganda during our campfires. They are so much brighter in the night sky. We are all happy and healthy here in Uganda and are loving every second of our time here. Thanks for reading and we will see you in a about a week!

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Music, Art and Trivia

Today we got up all prepared to head out to watch the choir perform. Kyemba was not only on time he was 30 minutes early. So we packed up the car and got as far as the front gate when we realized the choir was still here and had not even loaded up their instruments yet. So we all got out of the van and proceeded to do our thing. I'm not sure what the interns did but the three of us immediately settled in to paint the signs that Musana has posted in front of their dining area. Instead of painting the letters in different colors we decided to paint the backgrounds all different colors and then paint the words in white. Overnight the backgrounds had dried (with a few bugs and twigs permanently attached) so today we set about writing the words. I may have no art skills but my penmanship always got me A's in school! I decided to start with the longest since we've only been able to remove two of the signs from the ground. The others we are going to writing on two feet off the ground. That in itself will be a challenge. So we did that for a while and when we were sure the choir had gotten loaded and taken off we climbed back into the bus and headed for the same school where the netball and soccer tournaments had taken place. That school and one other school were in the competition and the second school really had some talent. All the schools were a huge blessing to listen to and Musana far outdid their performance on Sunday. Kids were sitting in the windows and the doorway was jammed from the children trying to get a glimpse of what was taking place. The costumes were great and the dancing was out of this world. I'm telling you the hip action is phenomenal. Both the boys and girls can move their hips in ways I can't even begin to imagine. The theme this year was early marriage, pregnancy and nutrition. Each school had to do a poem, dance and skit related to the theme. We stayed for most of the competition only leaving when the judges pulled each school into a private setting and didn't allow any audience. I'm not sure why that was done but we decided it was a good time to head back to Musana and finish up our painting.

 

As we were painting we heard drumming coming from the distance. The noise got louder and we started to hear muffled sounds that became clearer the closer they got. As they entered the school gate we realized the students were yelling, "We're number 1". It was so awesome. They had practiced hard and certainly deserved the award. They were all so excited and all the school children here dropped everything and ran to the bus to greet them. I love the enthusiasm and support they show for each other. It was great to see the camaraderie among the kids. Hannah leaned over at one point and said she felt the competition was a little unfair. The other schools had limited instruments. Everyone in the musana choir had an instrument and played. Andrea assures me by the time they get to District all the schools will be equally matched. I was just so proud of the kids and so excited for their accomplishment. Tomorrow we will head out to watch the volleyball team compete. It will be the first time to see them play in a match, though if they play any where near as good as they practice a win is inevitable! 

 

Tonight was trivia night, which meant a good dinner at Sol Café. On our way we had a flat tire. Kyemba wouldn't even let us out of the van as he jacked the car up and changed the tire. I will say we attracted a little attention, but once again he proved what a sweet and gentle man he is. I led Trivia tonight so for once I knew all the answers. There were three teams, the categories were soccer, mosquitos and general. Yvonne missed the one Canada question (not without a little haggling) and in the end Andrea, Jamie, Leah, Hannah, Yvonne and Dezi won. Dezi, of course, added the most knowledge!! She rocked the night away. We also got to try their new banana bread and it was awesome. All of you on our team that left early, you really missed a treat! 

 

So tomorrow we are heading out to see the Jamie and Josh at their school. Kyemba is so excited that we are doing this. Then we are on to the competition and then back to Musana to paint. They have asked us (meaning Hannah) to paint the walls surrounding the kid's dining area. They also have quotes they would like added so the three of us will be kept busy. We also still have plans to paint a mural in the hospital. Saturday we hope to visit Phil's kids again and then on Sunday spend the day at Kokombo worshipping and working with Wilson. The days are just flying by. Each day our relationships are developing into lasting friendships and we are seeing more and more of the personalities on the ground. Each day gets better than the one before. 

 

Please continue to pray for health and wisdom as we move forward. Tonight in trivia I learned that there are over 100 trillion mosquitos in the world and each one bites over five humans a day. I think they have all gotten together and decided I should be there target. Never have I been bitten so many times in so many places! 

I am attaching a picture of Hannah's mural on the clinic wall. It is awesome!! And a picture from the competition.

 

May God bless you all.  Sue

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Creativity

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2015

 

Today was a good, calm day. We had a chance to sleep in a bit before breakfast, and later went down to Florence's office to get the paint supplies. I would say that we did a lot, but really the artistic abilities fell on Hannah. She began working on painting a mural for Musana's clinic while Sue and I went with our boda boda driver, Richard, to buy more paint, brushes, and sodas. We looked like locals carrying our paint cans and bags while riding effortlessly on a boda. Meanwhile, Hannah had begun creating a masterpiece on the wall of the clinic, which she finished later that day. Sue and I set out on our art project, meaning we had to straighten out and repaint several motivational/signs around the cafeteria. We were able to get the signs repainted with a couple of coats, so that we can finish the writing tomorrow. Sue and I helped tutor some of the students for about an hour, working on their spelling. In case you are wondering where Hannah was during all of this, she was being Hannah and creating beautiful art! Around 5 o'clock it began to rain, so we put away the paints and headed back up. 

 

During the day we had several fun moments with our friends here at Musana. At one point, Denis came up to Sue, Edward, and I with a scale and made all of us weigh ourselves…apparently Ugandans don't aim for small numbers like Americans tend to do, so Denis and Edward's compliments weren't as flattering as they hoped. Since Hannah wasn't there, we convinced Denis to bring the scale to her so that she could share in the fun. Don't worry, Sue explained to Denis and Edward that they shouldn't pull out the scale for Mzungus next time. There was a small moment where I got a small cut from the metal signs, quite a bit of blood gushed out, and got my wound cleaned up by sweet Florence in the clinic. Unfortunately I have a tendency to feel lightheaded at my own blood, so I took a short rest in the clinic before getting back to work. Before you ask Mom, I am up to date on my shots, was fine within fifteen minutes, and have been taking care of the cut since. Thankfully G-d gave us a cloudy sky and cool breeze while work. Throughout our painting, several students would hang around to watch us paint or, in Hannah's case, try to paint themselves whenever she wasn't looking. Overall it was a very fun day filled with paint, joy, some rain, and G-d's beauty in Hannah's creativity and the children's enjoyment of the variety of colors to put on each other. 

 

Since I haven't had a chance to blog since the first night of our trip, I'll add a small update from my perspective here. G-d has been really good to our team and is very present here in Uganda. The people are amazing and so loving to us, whether we are friends or strangers to them. We have had some incredible opportunities to serve and to continue/build relationships we have established here. I feel extremely blessed that G-d chose to call me here to such a beautiful country. It has been amazing getting to experience Him through these wonderful people and witness their passion and devotion to G-d. I'm excited for whatever He has next! 

 

~Samantha

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The Team Departs

Today started with the team packing up and getting ready to go. Kyemba came by in a regular size van and packed the trunk to the max. Suitcases were hanging out the rear, but fear not, he tied the trunk down and assured us that nothing would fall out. He is a master at this skill so I am not concerned that they all to the airport in one piece. The remainder of the luggage ended up tied to the roof. In typical Ugandan style the team crammed into the van and off they went, but not before a few tearful goodbyes. Leah and Yvonne came by later and were very sad to see that they had already left. They were hoping for a few hugs before you all left. Instead the two of them went down to the women's ministry room and started pairing fabric for new bags. It was great fun watching Leah trying new "weird" patterns and hearing Yvonne say that Theresa (the older sister in China) wouldn't like it. Then they would look at it again and both nod in approvement! Big sister may rule, but then again big sister is not present to make the decisions! I saw a little bit of glee. Hannah and Sam made some pairing decisions too and are anxious to hear if their choices are the number one seller in China!!!!

 

Afterwards the three of us hopped on two boda bodas with brooms, squeegees, buckets and soap and headed to Musana's new hospital. We are truly becoming Ugandan. Our intention was to continue cleaning the building but it appeared someone had beat us to the punch. There wasn't much point in cleaning any more as the windows were open, the red dirt was flying in and construction was still taking place. The top floor where the red clay was has all been removed but there is now a thick layer of dirt in all the rooms we cleaned. We decided except for the dust (which is inevitable) the whole building looked really pretty good. We will see what the status is before we go back and then will clean again if necessary. So we called the lead boda boda driver back (Richard), they returned for us and we returned to Musana where we ate a quick snack. Then we assisted Jamie in tutoring the kids in spelling and reading before school was dismissed. What a joy it was to see when they got something right. They were so excited! 

 

I then went and sat with the school cook and helped her and another woman sort through beans pulling the good from the bad. I actually found this quite refreshing after a day of running from one activity to another. It is quite therapeutic and I had a chance to talk with her and get to know her a little better. We then found out that Musana's Netball team was having a friendly match against another school so we went to the back forty and with all the Musana students cheered them on. It was awesome to see the students supporting their team and jumping up and down and yelling every time they scored. Rashida came by and her school uniform had a huge tear down the seam so I asked her to go change and bring it to me. I then proceeded to stitch it back together for her. Sadly, Musana lost todays match, but they were playing the best team in the area. This team really hustled and jumped and scraped for every ball. They weren't afraid to throw their bodies to the ground for a ball. Still Musana never gave up and their fans never stopped cheering. It was fun to watch. There is nothing better than faithful fans!

 

We are all moved into our new digs. Hannah and Sam are now sharing the room that Judy and I shared and I now have a room all to myself. We are in a two-bedroom suite (I use that word very loosely). We have two suitcases filled with snacks (we body searched the leaving team members to ensure they weren't trying to sneak any out) and are very happy. We did mourn our fellow team members for a while today and then got caught up in the activities of Musana. We are so thankful we are still here and have more time to spend with the teachers and staff. They are an amazing crew. We will spend the next ten days working with nursery kids, tutoring, doing some artwork at Sol Café, painting another mural and loving on the kids and staff. 

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Our last adventure here in Uganda...

20 July 2015

 

Let me begin by saying HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Todd!  God blessed me beyond measure with reconnecting us in His perfect timing. Love you!!! 

I cannot believe that we are packing up tonight and leaving Uganda tomorrow. I know that I will be changed forever from the time I've spent here. Every morning we were sweetly greeted by Sarah, volunteer caretaker.  She has such a joyful heart and is a great cook, as well. 

This morning Kyemba arrived at 8:00 to drive us to Lake Victoria, with the 3 current Musana interns. The trip was very dusty and bumpy but more importantly, beautiful! We drove through villages that looked quite similar to Iganga and countryside that reminded me of Texas, lantana bushes, bougainvillea, piney woods and red dirt. Words don't do the scenery justice.  We made a quick stop for a restroom break just before the lake. I was told it was the nicest in the area…let me just say I would not want to see the others by that description! We all survived and loaded the Jesus boat without incident. More breathtaking scenery. Once ashore, boda bodas were gathered and the fun began. 

We arrived at a sweet village church, receiving the warmest of welcomes from the community.  We met the lead Pastor Charles and his wife, Sarah, his extended family and another local Pastor who was a muslim and converted to Christianity. After the choir performed for us, both adult and children, we listened to a sermon about being the salt of the earth. Jesus is the perfect teacher as he taught lessons that everyone could understand during his time on earth. He is still teaching them 2000+ years later. He loves us all and wants us to open our hearts to Him for a personal relationship, regardless of where on this beautiful planet we live.

Please pray for our new friends that live on islands in Uganda as well as all Ugandans to be strengthened by His love.

Love,

Julie

Worship and the Reality that Mzungu’s really CAN’T dance!

First off, I want to wish my sweet, sweet husband Happy Birthday! I am so glad you are finally a speed limit. Today we started our day at Kokombo going to church there with Pastor Wilson. I love Pastor Wilson and his heart. He is truly a male version of Mother Theresa. The women's choir performed for us and they have the most beautiful voices. Of course this is coming from the woman who can't carry a tune in a bucket. But they are such a joy to listen to. Every song comes with dancing and hip movements which no white person can begin to do. Then Wilson treated us to a sermon, in his usual animated style, and he reminded me so much of Scott. The hands were flowing and his voice raised and lowered as his expressions changed. Agnes, who works with Wilson, translated for us Mzungu's. One of the choir singers had a little girl who was three-ish. All the time the mama was dancing the little girl kept coming up and trying to hug on her. The mother just kept on dancing. After the service Wilson took all the books we had brought and dedicated them to his library. He was so thankful to be able to add to the books he already has. Then he prayed over the books. Wilson just glowed over Judy's thoughtfulness in providing him new books for his people to read and learn from.

 

Then the team, minus Tamara and myself, climbed the mountain (or should I say steep hill). They came back and said it was really overgrown this year and each member brought back a bunch of sticker burrs. Must have felt a lot like hiking in Texas! Tamara and I in the meantime met with Wilson and Agnes regarding the feeding program. We sat in the shade not exercising at all except our mouths. Both of us were quite content. During the time we were there two new children came in to add to the program. They patiently sat waiting for Wilson while we talked and finally I noticed they were there and asked Wilson to please take care of them. He and Agnes immediately jumped into action and did all that they needed to do to ensure they will be cared for appropriately. Agnes acts as the secretary and takes incredible notes on each child tracking their progress. Each child has its own individual file with pictures from the first day they came into the program to the day they are released.

 

Upon returning from their hike we went to Stephen Waiswa's house for a musical presentation from Rhythm Africa. The performance was incredible. The movements and endurance was overwhelming. The hip movements were phenomenal. I would have thrown out my hips in no time at all. They can shimmy and move their hips in such fast motion. I tried to demonstrate my dancing skills and all they did was laugh. I am always happy to entertain! There was one young boy that I remembered from last year. He was so cute and so enthusiastic! He moved his body until I was physically exhausted. The energy was something I am still amazed at!

 

Tomorrow we are headed to the Island. We are leaving at 8:30 and Kyemba has already assured us that the potholes can lead us to China. I love the drive and I love the boat ride. I hope the team enjoys it as much as I do. May God bless you all!

-Sue

The day we spent with our Ugandan family...

Guess what today is?!? It's my baby sister's birthday. Mary, I am so glad Mom tried once more for the perfect child. Happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy 28th birthday baby seeeester. I Love you. 

Setting the alarm last night for our 6:30am run was both scary and exciting. Today we were set to run the farthest so far in this training, and the thought of doing it here in the red dirt was almost too much to sleep through. Liz and I were up and at 'em, and hit the ground running. 8 miles is far in Texas, and I swear is even farther here in Uganda. It is a lot higher altitude and is more like trail running. The experience is so hard to put into words. The Lord sure does have an extra soft spot for this place. My 3 favorites from this morning's training were running with my sweet and amazing friend Liz (she's a rock star), seeing one of the biggest turkeys I've ever seen, and the sweet little toddler walking with her mother, carrying her own teeny tiny jerry cans. That, and being done!

After breakfast, we headed to Hope Africa. Hope Africa is a children's home here in Iganga, where a few of us have sponsored kids. Driving onto the compound is like driving home. All the kiddos are so excited to see you, and the waves and smiles just melt your heart. My sweet sponsored son, Moses, is very very tall, much like my son Camron is, and Brandon is becoming. He sticks out among all the other kids. As soon as we stopped, I yelled his name and went running to him. I figured he knew we were coming, but it was a big 'ol surprise! He just kept saying, "I did not know you were coming" over and over again. I hugged on that boy just as I hug on Camron and Brandon. He has the sweetest heart and is such a strong and compassionate young man. I then moved to shaking hands and hugging on all of the other kiddos, until I was given the biggest hug. I looked down and noticed is was sweet Massiat! Massiat is the Page's sponsored daughter, who I was able to connect with last time I was here. It was one of the highlights of my day to introduce those two. They were able to spend some sweet time together. We all had a great time connecting with new kids and reconnecting with our family there. Mama Jessica had such a big smile to see all of us again. It is such a sweet day to see all of our kids, but also a sad reminder for those of us who have kids that are no longer there. We have grown deep bonds with these kids, and it's very hard when we don't see them. Even though our time was short, we all very grateful for the time we did have there.

We then moved on down the street to Kyemba's house. He had invited us all over for lunch. We were welcomed with running and excitement from his family. When his wife, 

Namaganga, decides to prepare a meal, she REALLY prepares a meal. They even broke out a big 'ol shade tent, like something you would see at a wedding. Kyeamba went around and introduced us to his family, as Namaganga finished up our spread. Their family is the perfect picture of radical hospitality. He not only fed our team of 10, had his whole family come into town for us, they fed all the neighborhood kids first, before we had our first bite! There is a Joshua, twins Jack and Jamie, and now a new addition of Sue in Kyeamba's family. There was so much joy at their house, it was contagious. 

We made it back to Musana's guest house for another yummy dinner prepared by Sara. After dinner we were able to go back down to Musana for another movie night, this time for "The Little Rascals". Honestly, I was not really looking forward to it. We woke up early, ran, had a pretty emotional day, and I was just kind of done. But, in Uganda, you just power through. You know what happens at those kind of moments? God shows you something sweet. We got to movie night a little later than last time, and it was already dark. You couldn't see much in there, but one of the sweet girls came up to me to show me her seat that she was giving up. I sat down and she sat right nestled against me on the arm rest. I found out it was a little girl names Jessica. She leaned up agains me and held my hand the whole movie. It was so precious. It was the first time I had really been close to any of the kids here @ Musana. Sweet Jessica even leaned over a couple of times to scratch my back and play with my hair, one of my love languages. :)

Hi to Blake and my boys. I miss you.

Blessings, Jen