more laughs and adventures...as promised!

So I was looking through my pictures and realized I need to back track for two quick stories that happened during our time in Atlanta...

The day before the team arrived in ATL I was out running errands for SaraBeth in Cheryl's car and got pulled over by the police. I truly was baffled as to why I was being pulled over because I knew I wasn't speeding. When the cop appeared at the window and asked if I knew why I was being stopped I could with all honesty say, "I have no idea." Come to find out Cheryl's registration on her jeep was expired and lucky for me it is the operator of the vehicle who gets the ticket. What a way to start a trip, huh?

Second back tracking story...during our first day together we did a blindfold walk as a team. As you can guess I was the only one who could see where we were going as I led the team through a parking lot and field in search of orange cones. This was just the first insight the team got into realizing that I was going to be leading them blind into a lot of adventures. I was struggling in giving them directions. I would tell them left when I really meant right. I realized that I can't flip directions in my head when I am facing them. The funniest is when we started down a hill and for some reason I told them we were about to go up a hill. Jimmy was in the front of the line and took a large step up to find the hill and almost hit the ground face first. Luckily I was there to block the fall. Again, just the start of realizing that even though I was the leader I didn't know much more than they did about what was ahead of us. In fact they would ask me all kinds of questions on a daily basis and I would just start making up answers. I would usually preface my answer with "well the last time I was here...." and they would just laugh and remember that I had never been to Uganda either. Here are some pics of our blindfold walk through the field.





okay now back to Uganda adventures.

So after landing in Entebbe and waiting in line to get our visas I had a small nervous breakdown...all internally of course. We had to have documentation of getting a yellow fever shot in order to enter the country. I told the team no less than 10 times the day before we left to make sure that the documentation was with their passport. In fact I kept reminding them and told them that the only part of Uganda they would see would be the airport if they forgot it. Guess who got to the airport and didn't have their yellow fever documentation? Yours truly. I knew exactly where it was..in the ziplock bag in my luggage with my allergy shots. Glory. Only by the grace of God did we make it through customs without having to show proof of vaccination and man was I relieved that it wasn't my luggage that was still in Amsterdam. As soon as I got my luggage I dug out that piece of paper and I had it with me at all times from then on out. Needless to say the team got a good laugh at my expense.

Morning one in Kampala we wake up and Geoffrey is nowhere to be found. No worries...at least that is what I kept telling myself. When I asked the lady at the desk if she knew where he was she told me he had not been here all night. A little confused I just said okay and walked out of the office. I knew Geoffrey has stayed with the boys so I figured he must have gone into town for something. We ate breakfast and got our bags ready for the trip to Gulu. As we loaded up the vehicle that was going to take us to the bus we quickly realized it was only by God's sovereignty that the boys bags didn't arrive. You see what happened is that the five of us, plus Geoffrey, plus the driver and all of our luggage (5 duffle bags and 3 big plastic containers with supplies) now had to fit into a toyota 4 runner. Yep that's right...a 4 runner. This was just the first of many times I would be told to sit in the front seat so that everyone could fit in the vehicle. The joys of being the chubby kid. Not too far from this day I would start affectionately be called big big momma. I am okay with the new name because being big in Uganda is a honor. I've been living in the wrong place my whole life, apparently. So here is just a glimpse into how packed the car was as we headed to the bus station.



Nothing like forced closeness?

Then came the six hour bus ride to Gulu. Just a warning this next part is not politically correct so if you are easily offended browse down to the next paragraph. For those of you who know me well this will not be shocking at all. I have grown up knowing and using the phrase "they were packed in like a bunch of mexicans" which is a reference to putting too many people in a little space. I have a new phrase now because Africans can pack in just as tight as Mexicans can. We were packed in like Africans on a six hour bus ride to Gulu. Matt, Maggie and I were crammed on the backseat of the bus with three African guys. The guy I was sitting by was named Stephen and he was a believer. He told us lots of stories of the rebel army and how he had escaped on three different occassions. The two most memorable things about sitting by Stephen were him using big big momma as a pillow. More times than I could count he would fall asleep and find himself sleeping on my arm, shoulder..wherever he landed. The other thing I remember was him buying us so much food. The bus would stop about every 45 minutes and people in the town would rush the side of the bus to sell their items. Every stop Stephen would buy us food...chapatte, corn, goat on a stick, kazava, grilled bananas, mangos, mango juice...you name it. I even got some boiled peanuts which made me feel like I was back in Alabama. The food was so good but we were all about to pop if he didn't stop buying us food. Stephen just wanted to make sure we got to experience true African food. CHECK!





The absolute funniest part of the bus ride...I heard a child start throwing up and looked up to see his father catching the throw up in his hand. Here we are in a close, confined space and this kid is hurling his cookies all over the bus. I was a little grossed out as I began digging in my bag for a napkin or wetones...something to pass up to the man. It was about that time that I looked up and realized that Jimmy was sitting right across the aisle from where all this is happening. I about died laughing...what are the odds that one of the two team members who doesn't have a change of clothes would get thrown up on. Classic. Luckily he dodged the bullet and only got a little splatter but I am still laughing about it as I write this post.

So that gets us to Gulu where our first days of ministry started. I will have to sort through pictures and see where to go from here. Stay tuned....

We Never Lacked for Laughter...

I guess following team introductions and then telling about how my spiritual drought came to an end...the next step is telling of our adventures. To say we never lacked for laughter seems like an understatment. We laughed with each other and at each other from day one. I certainly can't keep track of all the things we laughed at but I will try to document enough for me to always be able to look back on and for you to get a glimpse of the nuts I spent three weeks with.

Day One of training camp...Heather arrived from Blountsville, AL and I was anxious to meet my Alabama soul sister. We discovered early that we were living in a small world when we found out she had dated one of my cousins. Couldn't wait to meet the girl that was so excited about going to Uganda that it oozed over the phone whenever we talked. She arrived in Atlanta and was meeting with SaraBeth to pay off her trip and take care of all her paperwork. I need to preface that Heather got to expereience the Lord's faithfulness in raising money for the trip because she had her trip paid for and then almost double. The Sunday before coming to ATL her church took up a love offering and so she had an envelope with cash in it to turn in...when it came time to give the money to SaraBeth...she couldn't find it. I watched that girl tear her bag to pieces looking for the envelope. I knew at that moment that #1 I loved her already and #2 I needed to keep up with her passport if I was going to take this kid to Uganda and bring her back. Luckily I took a tour through her bag and found the envelope tucked safely in her bible.

Day Two of training camp...discovering that none of us had soccer skills. All I knew when I signed up to lead the trip was that we were going to Africa and that we would be working with orphans...all the other details were just fine print. I discovered when arriving in ATL that we were a soccer team, oh glory. Our first practice was a trip to say the least. Not only were we all exhausted after 30 minutes of play, we didn't know jack about soccer and we were about to head to the land of futbol. The Lord has a sense of humor. Here are just a few pics of our first soccer practice. The boys taught the three girls how to head the ball and let me be the first to tell you that if you don't hit the ball in just the right spot on your head you will have a killer headache.



After soccer practice came our next challenge....balloon animals. Who knew those things were so hard to blow up and even harder to make into something recognizable? We learned really quick that Jimmy would not be the balloon animal MVP. SaraBeth had blown up about 30 balloons to teach us how to make swords, hats and dogs...and in a matter of 5 minutes our boy Jimmy had popped 20 of them trying to make a dog. I saw yet another glimpse of the Lord's faithfulness becuase I was able to make balloon animals like a champ...no soccer for me! Before we left Atlanta I learned how to make a dog, a lion, a teddy bear, a sword, a hat and how to make Jonah in the whale...impressive, huh? Here are just a few pics of our balloon making lesson:






I knew it was going to be a great trip from the beginning because we laughed a lot together and genuinely enjoyed one another's company. Who knew that training camp was just a foretast of the laughs we would share.

Day one of travel...we went to check in at the ATL airport and Jimmy and Matt didn't show up on my e-ticket. Oops! I got the girls checked in and then began the process of trying to get the boys checked in. Matt's check in went smoothly and off he went. Then there was Jimmy...oh Jimmy. I will have to upload the pic from my iphone soon but Jimmy was being checked in by a lady who spoke very little English and I knew at that moment we were in trouble. When she took the two bags Jimmy was checking in and put them on the belt I knew in my gut we wouldn't be seeing those bags again. I asked her four different times if they were checked to Entebbe, Uganda (our final destination) and she told me yes. NOT SO MUCH! When we arrived in Uganda those two bags were no where to be found. The girls were relieved to know that the two bags Jimmy checked in were his and Matt's. We had to go through an hour long process of filing a claims report and of course the lady didn't give Jimmy a baggage claim ticket. It wasn't until four days later that we finally got the boys luggage. In the mean time we did laundry in a bucket because I had packed detergent. The girls loaned the boys some atheletic shorts...which was funny because they were sporting the daisy dukes on the soccer field. And poor Matt didn't pack any clothes in his carry-on despite his mom's instructions so he had to wash his undies every night...Jimmy had a spare. We loaned the boys shampoo and soap and Jimmy even used my deodorant. Talk about getting close really quick?!?! Needless to say the boys were great sports about the whole thing and were relieved when their luggage finally arrived after spending days in Amsterdam. Here are just a few pics of the boys in Heather's shorts:



I think in the Message the verse might would read..."greater love has no Heather...than to let Jimmy wear two pair of her shorts, one as shorts and the other as underwear." What a trooper!

And then there were CANKLES...yep, that's right. After two days of air travel four of the five of us discovered we no longer had ankles. Needless to say Matt got some laughs at our expense and eagerly volunteered to take a picture. I'll take cankles over wearing a bright green shirt for five days in a row any day. (sorry that was probably too soon.)



...more stories to come.

A New Stone

This is probably the best way to start a journal entry about my trip. This story is the beginning and the end of this chapter and with time I will post the in between stories. First let me start by explaining that I have always loved the story of Joshua in the Old Testament. For some reason his story just resonates with me. I found myself going back to his story in preparation for the trip. If you're familiar with Joshua you know that Moses sent Joshua, Caleb and 10 others to spy out the promised land, Canaan. This was the land the Lord had set apart for the Israelites and the place they were longing for as they wondered 40 years in the wilderness. The time was soon approaching and Moses sent the 12 to go ahead and scout out the land. When the 12 returned the other ten reported that there were giants and going into this land that God had promised was impossible...they wanted to just return to Egypt where they were captives. Ironically enough the Lord struck those 10 dead. Joshua and Caleb had a different perspective however. They saw what the other 10 saw but more importantly they saw a land flowing with milk and honey. Their focus was on a land their God had promised them and nothing would deter them from that land.

I shared with me team that I felt like we were being sent as scouts to Uganda. Geoffrey is in the process of building an orphanage and has a passion and a vision for orphan care there. The Lord just impressed on my heart that the five of us were being sent as scouts to catch a glimpse of that vision and return here to report and help gather the resources. My prayer as I challenged the team is that our perspective in coming back would be to report what God allowed us to see...not the obstacles. I know Satan would love to get a foothold and have our attitude be one of "thank God I am back in America and I could care less if I ever go back." Oh how the Lord was faithful to allow all five us to see the promises and the hope that awaits in Uganda.

Further on in the story of Joshua you'll remember that Moses never got to lead the people into the promised land...Joshua was their leader when the promise was fulfilled. As the people crossed through the Jordan River on dry land the Lord instructed Joshua to have the leader of each of the 12 tribes take a stone from the water's bed. Once they reached dry ground they were instructed to build a memorial with the 12 stones so that they would always be able to come back to this place and remember God's faithfulness. The memorial would also serve as a way of telling their children and grandchildren about this season/chapter of their lives.

Like I said...this story has always resonated with me. In 1998 I got my first tattoo and it served as one of "my stones" that I could always look at and remember how I saw experienced God's faithfulness and knew his nearness. In 2000 I got my second stone. For two years I have known I wanted a third tattoo but I didn't know where I wanted it and I didn't have an experience to connect it with. That was important to me.

As I went back and read the story of Joshua again the day before we left for Uganda I saw a part of the story I had never seen before. Just a few verses past where the 12 stones were placed by the 12 tribes it says the Joshua took another 12 stones and put them in the river. I had never noticed this part of the passage...but wow how it gripped me. You see those 12 stones were just for Joshua...no one else could see them, no one knew they were there, but they were just between him and the Lord. Not only were they for him and his God but the only time Joshua would ever see those stones again was if the Jordan River dried up...only in a drought would he see that reminder...just when he would need the reminder the most. Even as a type that my eyes are welling up with tears. For those of you who have journeyed with me for a while you know, or maybe you don't...the last four years of life have been a drought for me. I feel like I have been in the wilderness and have the bumps, bruises and scars on my spirit to show it. Everything in me was hoping that my trip to Africa was going to be the start of a chapter of restoration and joy. When I read that passage the day before I left it was as if the Lord just leaned in and whispered sweetly in my ear that the river was coming...but I've allowed you to see the stones in the drought.

From the minute my feet touched the ground in Uganda there was a mighty river. I haven't felt that alive in a long time, actually probably never. I couldn't soak in enough of hearing the Lord and seeing him at work around me. His promises and blessings were bursting at the seams for me. And here is why I adore my heavenly Father...He was faithful to daily remind me that is was ALL HIM...and not becuase I was Africa that the restoration had begun. I didn't have to return to Louisiana and dread that the wilderness was waiting because it wasn't about a place, but about God, my sustainer.Dont' get me wrong, I left a huge part of my heart in Uganda and honestly think the Lord will have me back there for an extended period of time one day...but I came home renewed, restored and soaking in the river.

So with that experience (deep breath)...I knew it was time for a new stone. I knew two years ago that I wanted the word "redeemed" but I didn't know where on my body or in what script. As we were sharing the gospel one day using the evangecube which walks through the gospel using pictures, it became quite clear where the next stone was going. There was a picture on the cube of Jesus reaching his hand out to receive you and the nail scars were still fresh and very visible on his wrist. That picture was magnified in my heart...his suffering and death are the reason, the only reason, why I am REDEEMED. What better place than on my wrist to remind me that Christ has redeemed me. Christ has redeemed my mistakes, my sin, my past, my future and the day is coming when all that is broken will be made right...REDEEMED. I finally decided to get the tattoo in Hebrew because in the Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew, redemption was only a promise...but the promise was fulfilled in the New Testament through Christ. I wanted a reminder that even though I am redeemed now and have been since I professed Christ as my savior...there is still a great promise of redemption coming when I don't have to thirst through a drought, walk the road alone, grow weary from working or experience heartbreak.

The thing I loved about the people of Uganda was their simplicity. Because they have so little, they have an unbelievable joy and hope when they have Christ as their Savior. I feel like they know what it means to yearn for Heaven...to yearn for what has been promised. Too often I find myself so satisfied with the things of this world that I am content to wait and wait for the Lord's return. This new "stone" is a reminder to me not only that God was and is faithful in the drought of the last four years, but there is a time coming that all things will be redeemed and I want a spirit that yearns for His return. Come Lord Jesus, Come!

So, that was quite a long post but is the reason for the new tattoo and the bookends to my first trip to Africa. A word from the Lord, his restoring touch and a way to always be reminded. Now that the bookends are in place I will begin writing the in between stories soon, there is just still so much to process.

The Lord is Faithful....

To say that the Lord is faithful seems like an understatement....but it is the only way I know to start this blog. I shared that our team verse was Ephesians 3:18-21 and wow did the Lord ever keep his promise to do exceedingly and abundantly more than all we could have asked or imagined during our time in Uganda.


I mentioned in the last post and on several other occassions that I have been trying to get to Africa for 1o years. My biggest fear is that it would either be all that imagined and more and I wouldn't want to come home or that it wouldn't be what I expected and I would be disappointed. Let me just clear it up right now...I was not disappointed. I feel like my heart found it's rightful home in Africa. I have never felt so alive. I am already praying that the Lord would fling the door open wide for me to go back for a longer period of time...even permanently. Enough about that though...let me share stories.

First let me introduce you to the team officially now that I can add pictures to the blog.

from left to right: Maggie, KB, Heather, Jimmy and Matt
I couldn't have asked for a better team to travel Uganda with. The Lord kept us laughing with and at each other for two and half weeks. The more I was with them the more I loved them. I was like a proud mom sitting back taking thousands of pics and watching them play soccer and lead songs and love on kids. I beamed with pride every time I got to hear one of them share the gospel and my heart beat out of my chest every time I children would raise their hands...ready to follow Jesus. As we traveled from school to school, from district to district in Northern Uganda..I am proud to tell you that we have over 6000 new brothers and sisters in Christ. Every night we would sit together in utter astonishment at the way the Lord was working. The apostle Paul was right when he wrote "At the NAME of JESUS every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!" All we had to do was be faithful to share and Christ made himself irristable the people we shared with.

My mom asked me why I loved Uganda so much and all I can really say is that the people were simple. When you met a believe you knew without a doubt that their hope nad their joy was Christ alone. Jimmy and I were talking one day in the van and the best I could muster up was that these people knew what it meant to yearn for heaven. They don't have the busyness and the distractions that keep them satisfied here on earth...they work and exist longing for a new day...to be one day closer to "home". And even in that explanation it doesn't do them justice. I took thousands of pictures just capturing the love, hope and courage you see in each face.

The trip wouldn't have been possible without our Paul and Timothy...otherwise known in Uganda as Geoffrey and Stanley. These guys made our trip absolutely incredible. They have both local pastors who have taken the Great Commission seriously...they host teams and spend most of their time traveling around sharing the gospel wherever they are permitted. Geoffrey has started an orphan care ministry and is in the process of raising the money to open an orphanage and school. Right now he has currently placed 50 orphans in foster homes with familiers who are believers. To say these guys are amazing is truly an understatement. They treated our team like family and when it came time to leave them we felt we were leaving a huge part of ourselves behind.

Geoffrey

Stanley

I'm honestly not really sure where to start or what to tell and if you've seen my facebook page then you know that choosing which pics to post is an impossible task. This will be a long process and will take many many blog entries so stay tuned. I will try to slowing walk through the days slowly but surely.

For now I hear a nap calling my name. I have had a terrible cough for the majority of the trip. I have affectionately called it my "black lung" and every time I start coughing my teammates tell me to stay with them..not to go towards the light. Well I made it to the doctor this morning only to discover that the "black lung" is a case of pneumonia. I feel much better knowing that...I really thought that jet lag was whooping my tail more than ever before. Now I feel justified in how tired I am. Keep me in your prayers as I ease back into life...work is calling tomorrow.

More posts coming soon.

Leaving on a jet plane...

....don't know when I'll be back again!

Only kidding. I'm leaving today for Uganda after months of anticipation and ten years of longing to go to Africa. Please keep "the fab five" in your prayers as we travel for the next 48 hours. Several of my teammates have a fearof flying and I am so proud of their courage to follow God's call even when it means facing their fears. Pray for our protection both traveling and as we spend two weeks ministering in Northern Uganda.

You can also pray that the Lord gives us supernatural strength as we play soccer in the heat everyday. We played for less than an hour yesterday and it wiped us all out pretty good. The Lord is faithful!

I've tried uploading a team picture but blogging from my phone isn't ideal. Check out my facebook page for a picture of my team. I love them all dearly already and pray that the Lord binds Satan from causing any dissection or disunity among us. We laugh a lot together but have already become open and transparent with each other...the Lord is good.

Thank you for your prayers and I will keep you updated the best I can.