She's Twelve Years Old Today

Today is her birthday.  Twelve years ago today she was born.  I can only wonder what that day was like.  Were her parents happy to see her?  Or was her mother worried about being able to take care of another child? 

All I know is that five years ago, her mother contacted Canaan's Childrens Home for help.  Her father died of AIDS and her mother was very sick with AIDS and could no longer work to help support the family.  There were older siblings that were left to fend for themselves, but she was too little.  She was seven then.

I met her in April when I stepped off the bus in the dark of night at Canaan's.  She grabbed my hand and informed me that she would be my friend.  She also grabbed ahold of my heart.  Over the course of the days that followed, I got to know this sweet girl a little better, the simple purity of her love and trust in her heavenly father, how she could be quiet and gentle and yet bold and beautiful, and how she cares for the younger children.  She is very intelligent.  She was 11 at that time and is attending 7th grade.  She wants to be a nurse.   She loves to sing and dance...oh, how I loved listening to her and watching her.  She even sang some of my favorite songs with me!  Of which I'd love to share the video, but I can't get it to load...   :-(

We had some good times together while I was there.  She was right beside me every possible moment.  On this afternoon I painted hundreds of fingernails and we sang songs.  If boys came up and wanted me to paint their nails, she was very quick to inform them, "You are a boy.  It isn't allowed." 

She was so sad the day I left.  There was no way to love her enough to combat her sadness in that short time.  Does she have a special friend every time a team comes?  Maybe, but I won't let go of her tender heart.  I can't.  She needs to have someone continually send her love and encouragement.  She needs to know how very special she is. 

On Friday I sent an ecard to Annet, one of the administrators at Canaan's, and asked if she might be able to show it to her for her birthday.  I received this email back from Annet:

Thank you so much for the card you sent. I looked at it together with Bridget. Ohh Shelli can you imagine Bridget didn't know her birthday. I hope this doesn't break your heart. I dont blame her since they never have anything special here.I am glad she now knows it. Tomorrow I want to challenge her to tell me what special thing she has done for her birthday. In that she will get to remember that day...

It did break my heart.  She didn't know it was her birthday! This sweet, joyful girl, with a cloud of sadness over her heart did not know her birthday.  I remembered she had told me she was born in 2000 and she told me she was 12, but when I got home and looked at her profile I realized she wasn't 12 yet.  Now I understand why she told me that.  Canaan's Childrens Home has 120 orphans that they are caring for.  They are doing well, but priorities lie with feeding and clothing and schooling these children.  As you can well imagine, there are no cupcakes for their birthdays.

hApPy BiRtHdAy

BRIDGET NABAKALU!

 

I call her my beautiful Ugandan daughter.  She calls me "mum."  Today, I will celebrate her birthday.  I will remember and relive our time together and pray again, as I do everyday, that God will open doors and make a way for me to go to Uganda again.  Relationships are being strengthened through our ability to email, fundraising is underway for helping Home Again Ministries with their current needs.  I feel so blessed to be any part of what is happending there.  I long to go back and see what more can be done for my friends and special kids in Uganda.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us,

that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  

The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  

Beloved, we are God's children now, 

and what we will be has not yet appeared;

but we know that when he appears we shall be like him,

because we shall see him as he is.

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

I John 3:1-4

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Happy Birthday Bridget!  Your mama Shelli in Kansas loves you!

Shelli

P.S.  If you have ever considered sponsoring a child but haven't done it because you'd like to know more and be invovled to a greater degree than just sending a check every month, please let me know.  I have taken on three girls at Canaan.  Two were my special girls I met while there and then I added a third when I got home, but it was a hard choice.  They all need our love and support.  I don't want any to be left out, but I can't support them all! Soon we will have hundreds of Karimojong children needing sponsors to support them attending their newly built school.  More about that later....

Busega and the Rainy Village

It is May 10 and I'm still recovering from this trip.  I found out Monday night that I have parasites.  Oh thank goodness they are microscopic and I can't see them!  I took medicine for it, three pills all at once, on Tuesday, had terrible side effects on Wednesday, while out of town for a crop insurance training.  It was one of the worst days ever!  I could not concentrate.  I was dizzy.  It was really embarrassing.  Brian asked if this was deterring me in any way from wanting to go back.  Absolutely not!  I felt better today until I ate supper.  Everyday starts out pretty good, but I've learned that starting the day I never know for sure how I will feel.  I'm not really horrible sick, just annoying symptoms that come and go with no warning. 

Without further ado, Day 2.  I warn you, the day was long, the story is long and I packed in a ton of pictures.  Please forgive if I repeated myself somewhere and the odd changes in font.  I typed some of the story while in Uganda and filled in the blanks when I got back. 

When we arrive at Return Ministries the next morning, the first order of business was to meet under the church tent and watch as each of the children living at the home received a set of clothing items from the clothes we had given Pastor Samuel and Sarah the night before.  They were so proud and all smiles when they each went forward as their names were called to get their new clothes. 

From there, Pastor Samuel led us on foot all around Busega.  It is government owned wetlands.  We visited 12 families in the village. 

We gave each family a bag of food consisting of beans, rice and posho, toothbrushes, toothpaste, vitamins, and over the counter medicines, and clothes for their children.  They were all families that live close enough that their children participate in Return Ministries programs, some were sponsored children, or they attend the Return Ministries church.  The village sites walking thru were unbelievable.  Even though I had seen similar pictures online, this was me walking through the village, seeing it firsthand. 

These mothers and grandmothers caring for their children are trying to support their families by such things as selling fried cassava, doing laundry, selling a few  small fruits and vegetables.  Every household down the paths through the village had a small business selling something.   The mothers and grandmothers were so grateful for the bags we delivered.  

I felt very strange when we were walking through this village.  I can’t really describe what was going on with me.  I felt a little detached.  It was hard for me to let go and be involved in what was going on.   But the last home we stopped at I was so touched by the mother’s gratefulness.  I stepped forward to shake her hand and greet her.  She was so genuine.  I was just so moved by the whole experience and what we were seeing.  

It is just so hard to process the fact that these beautiful mothers love their children and want to do the best they can for them, just like we do.  But for them is looks so much different.  The have dirt floors, no running water, no beds for their children to sleep in.  They don't know from one day to the next if they will have food to feed their children.  Life is so hard for them.  We have everything we need and more.  Our children complain when we won't buy them pop tarts.  They have no idea what it would be like to not know for sure when they would get to eat again.  Or what its like to only ever have beans, rice or posho for every meal, if you get to eat at all.  Our children don't think twice about leaving food on their plates if its something they don't like or they get full and just don't want any more.  These children ate every morsel when we fed them their beans and rice the day before.  Our children have plenty of clothes, more than they even need most of the time and these children dress in rags and many have no underwear or shoes.

We probably walked for 3 hours through this community.   It was hard emotionally, but amazing as well.   When we got back, we went to Pastor Samuel's house for lunch again.  As we were eating our beans, rice, potatoes and chapita bread, I just couldn't hold back the tears.  I think that is when I started to have this overwhelming feeling of how can I ever leave this place.  There is so much need.  So many wonderful children who are worthy to be loved and held.  So many mothers who need a helping hand, an encouraging word, someone to care, who need Jesus.  Did you see any men in the village pictures?  Did you see any dads?  Where are they?  This same story repeats itself several more times throughout my trip.  As for me, I'm falling in love with a people, with a country, far away from my own. 

Next, and yes, this was a full day....next we went to another village where Pastor Samuel has resued several of the children living at his orphanage.  It was pouring down rain when we arrived late afternoon.  It was so late, we couldn't stay long.  We still had to make the journey to Jinja.  These dear mothers and children knew we would be coming and they had gathered at this central meeting place at 8:00 a.m. that morning and had waited for us all day. 

When we arrived, these were the people we could see....

and then a few more....

and then alot....they were all waiting in this building....

There was a mama holding a very small baby.  I asked to see her baby and she showed me her sweet little baby under the blanket nursing.  The children were all so cold.  I wanted to wrap each one in a warm blanket.  A small girl stood beside me shivering and I couldn't resist.  I scooped her up and we kept each other warm.  We brought them vitamins, feminine pads and some other supplies. But other than that, all we could do was pray with them. Again, the need is so great...and where are the men?

This a Ugandan umbrella...

Kristen is a fast learner....

As I was heading to the bus, a beautiful young women stopped me and asked if I had a phone number, which seemed like a strange question. She had a baby tied to her back. Her name was Prose and her 6 month old baby was named Michelle. She is 17. She wondered if I was from Canada. She said she learned her English at a school from a Canadian pastor. I asked her if this pastor had told her about Jesus and she said yes, she know Jesus. I asked her if she had food for her and the baby. She said she did not. I felt so bad. There was nothing I could do for her but pray. I am grateful that Pastor Samuel is in that area often to minister. I pray that Prose and baby Michelle will be cared for and have their needs met.

 

Michael shared with us after we left that a mother literally came up to him and wanted him to take her baby. With the language barrier, at first he did not understand what she was wanting, but other mothers helped translate and made it clear that the mother of the baby has mental problems and wanted Michael to take her baby. Again, so glad Pastor Samuel is ministering in this village and can keep an eye on that situation to make sure that baby is cared for.

Lest you think the day was overwhelmed by sadness and need.  We did have a bright spot in our afternoon with the beautiful children that live at Return Ministries before we left for the rainy village.  This little sweetheart is Irene.  She is nine years old and lovely in every way.

After their haircuts, we gave them headbands.  Some more sweet girls....

and some fun with balloons...

We all fell in love with Pastor Samuel.  He is very sincere and has a great love for God and the people God has led him to minister too.  We were able to bless them with some funds to help in their ministry.  We had a wonderful time with them.  It was hard to say goodbye, but at the same time I was really looking forward to getting to Jinja.

W e made the 3 hour journey to Jinja, arriving after dark.  When we pulled into Canaan Children’s Home, we could hear the children yelling happy at our arrival.  They couldn’t wait to meet us.  We could hardly even get off of the bus.  As soon as I stepped off the bus, Bridget grabbed my hand and told me she would be my friend….and she was from that moment on, by my side at every possible moment.   She showed us where the restrooms were and  when I returned she was waiting for me with a baby!  She immediately handed me this adorable child named Jesse.  Jesse is a chunk.   Every time I reappeared outside our guest house for the rest of the week, Bridget was right there waiting for me.  She is 11 and in the 7^th grade, a little small for her age, and young for 7th grade.  But I found out she is very smart and speaks very good English. 

Pastor Isaac and Mama Rebecca also greeted us when we arrived at Canaan.  What an honor to shake Pastor Isaac’s hand in person.  Mama Rebecca is the kindest, most loving person I have ever met.  You just instantly know that you are loved and how easy to love her right back.

This area where Canaan is, is more densely populated than I had envisioned.  Everywhere I’ve been has been more densely populated that I envisioned.  There are people everywhere.  When you drive down the highway, besides cars and buses, there are motorcycles, bicycles and people walking on both sides of the narrow highway.   The highway from Kampala to Jinja is sprinkled with towns all along the way.  There were very few areas where you felt like you were really out in the country on the highway. 

People here do not spend time in their houses.  During the day, they are outside.   Just people everywhere.  The construction is very crude, rafters are left showing, windows are sometimes wooden shutters that are opened during the day and closed at night.  Sometimes there are no windows.  If there are glass windows or screens, they have bars over them.  Floors are sometimes cement or wood, but for many, just dirt.  They have small hand brooms that they sweep the dirt with. 

Wow, a packed full day, and at this point I still had not had a good night's sleep.  Luckily, there was so much going on during the day, I didn't have time to think about being tired yet.

Stay tuned, there is more....

Trusting in Him,

Shelli

P.S.  I'd also like to give credit for these pictures to our team photographers. Kelvin Kim was everywhere with his camera.  If it happened, he caught it for us on camera.  Kylie was amazing too.  I don't know how she managed to love on kids, get pictures, face time with her family everyday and even post blogs.  I want to be just like her when I grow up!  Thank you so much Kelvin and Kylie!
(Ha! I'm still really new to this blogging thing so forgive me...Did you know if you click on a pic you can view a slide show of all the pictures I posted on this blog full screen?  Ok, surely I'm not the only one who didn't know that until now!  But isn't that helpful.  The pictures as posted are small and hard to see.  :- )

Let the Stories Begin!

"Better late than never."  Isn't that what they say?  I don't think I realized that a 10-day trip could take a whole month out of your life.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers while I was gone.  It truly was a life changing experience just as you all predicted.  I managed to get through the trip on very little sleep and without getting sick.  As you can imagine, when I got home I was exhausted, and after a few days of catching up on sleep, I got sick.  A few more days of sleep and a round of antibiotics later, I'm feeling much better.

I'm going to dive right in to stories and pictures of each day.  Hopefully, I can get through this a little quicker so that we can get to current events sooner rather than later.  God is still working and confirming His purpose for this trip and I'm excited to get to the punch line! 

So without further ado, here is Day 1:

We arrived at Entebbe Airport late at night, but I was surprised as were driving from the airport to the Adonai Guesthouse in Kampala that we were in the city the entire time.  Ha, I guess you just can't tell that by looking at a map!  And even though it was late at night there were people out on the street, walking, riding bikes, hanging out.  Kristen and I were so excited to be in Uganda finally.

It was amazing to me the next day as we drove through Kampala that even though I had no idea what to expect coming to this place and even though I was surrounded by such a different culture and people, I absolutely loved it.  The sites and smells, the people....I can only explain this new love as God given.  It was all very strange, but I just loved it.

Our first day was with Return Ministries. When we pulled up we could hear the drums and the children singing. They sang for us and danced.  

We divided them into groups and did crafts, older kids played soccer and jumped rope. 

I quickly snagged a beautiful baby girl when we started dividing the kids into groups for crafts. 

Her name was Princess. She had white beads braided into her hair in a circle around her crown. She was precious. She sat on my lap while I worked on crafts with the kids and she would touch my arm and give a little squeeze. After a while a felt her soft cheek touching my arm and realized she had fallen asleep. So very sweet.   A little girl named Bridget helped me with the bracelets we were making. She was probably 7 yrs old.   She spoke very good English and could talk to the other kids for me if they couldn’t understand. She was very smart.

 After crafts, some of the team did a puppet show. I sat with Olivia, Sarah and Raymond. They could not get close enough to me. I finally scooped Olivia into my lap and held her. They were all about 4 to 5 ish years old.

After the puppet show they had the kids move their chairs into three large circle areas and we formed an assembly line of sorts to pass plates of food to serve them lunch.  All the little ones sat on the concrete floor so they wouldn’t have to hold their plates in their laps while they ate.  Someone went around to all the children with a wash basin of water so they could each wash their hands.  They would continually poor more clean water for each child.  Then we handed them their plates.  Rice with  some beans.  The children would hold their plate with one hand and each with the other.  No forks.  Once we passed plates to all the children some of the helpers went around with a pitcher and gave them cups to drink.

After they ate they really descended on us…  We all ended up on the concrete floor of their church tent.  Michael drummed with some of the boys and the rest of us started dancing with the children.   We danced in patterns and holding hands in circles.  The children couldn’t get enough.  

   We broke to get a group picture.  And then we prayed... Kelvin went around with his camera all day getting pictures.  Thank you Kelvin!

After we prayed, we began the process of saying goodbye.  One of the children had brought me this sweet baby boy and I wasn't sure who he belonged to.  I was relieved to find that he belonged to one of the women helping.

When Michael told us to head to the bus, all the children were saying goodbye and thanking us.  The older kids were so kind and gracious and the workers.  The little ones just wanted attention  and love.  Lots of hugs and goodbyes on the way to the bus.  At one point we were almost to the bus and I looked back and saw Kristen surrounded by the teenage girls she had befriended and I lost it.  It was so touching.  She even met a deaf girl and was able to communicate with her.  It was very special.  I don’t think the deaf girl was used to be able to interact with someone on that level very often.

 Then we went to Pastor Samuel’s house.  His wife, Sarah, served us lunch.  She was a very good cook and gracious hostess.  They also had all of their crafts out for us to shop.   I bought a lot my souveniers from them because I wanted to help their ministry.

Pastor Samuel talked to me about his ministry and the plans he has for the future.  He is really reaching out to the community where he ministers.  He has about 15 orphans living on grounds and reaches out to the children in the community and their families.  He has a dream of buying land for an orphanage and church.  He would like to see a school and clinic in the community also which would help provide jobs for the parents.

Steve and Malinda (the guy I’ve been emailing that lives in Kampala) were waiting at Adonai when we returned.  They ended up getting to meet Pastor Samuel.  Pastor Samuel and his family came and ate supper with us and we divided up all the things we brought him from the list he provided.

Having no idea what to expect this trip to be like, this first day was really wonderful.  Emotional, fun, hard, strange but truly wonderful.  I loved every minute.  Beautiful children, beautiful people.  I wish you could see what I saw and experience it too.  The streets of Kampala are crazy.  There are people everywhere.   I'm not sure what the “rules of the road” are.  It seems to be every man for himself whether you are in a bus, a car, on a motorcycle or walking.  We had a very skilled bus driver for which we were very thankful on many occassions.

Here are a few more random photos of the first day.

Stay tuned for Day 2.....

Trusting in Him,

Shelli