The Last 4 Months

It’s been a long time since I last wrote. I’ve thought about writing a lot of times, but something always stopped me. I think I felt that I couldn’t write about a lot of things that were going on.

My parents got divorced in February. This is something that rocked my world and flipped it upside down. I’m 25 years old but I think it’s even worse now than it would have been when I was younger. How could two people who love each other, who raised me together happily my entire life, suddenly no longer want to be together?

I have always wanted to get married. I believe that somewhere, God is preparing a man who will be my husband and I will be his wife. But then when I look at my parents, it makes me question if it is worth it. And I hate that. I know marriage isn’t easy. I’ve witnessed enough of them fall apart to know. And statistics show us that about a third of every marriage in the United States ends in divorce. The CDC shows that in 2015, over 2.2 million people got married and over 800,000 were divorced. Why? Why would people get married if they’re not serious in their commitment to each other?

I want a man who loves God more than he loves me. I want a man who will push me and challenge me to grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord. I want a man who will fight for me and I for him, even when the times get tough. I want a man who is true to his words when he says, “Until death do us part.” I believe that God has a man like that somewhere out there for me. And if not, He is still good. 

In February, I went to Zanzibar, Tanzania. It was my first time traveling to another African country outside of Uganda. I ended up getting food poisoning right before getting on the first plane, and I honestly almost didn’t make it onto the plane. Besides that though, everything else on the trip was incredible. We got to go snorkeling in the Indian Ocean, explore Prison Island where there are Aldabra Giant Tortoises, the second largest land tortoise in the world (which we got to feed by hand), eat delicious seafood, and stay at a private house on the beach. I have never seen such clear water in my entire life. It was simply stunning.

Things at HEAL have been pretty busy. We’ve had a ton of project going on at HEAL, such as the construction of the artisan shelter for the women and the new treehouse that was rebuilt. We started a new line of jewelry and the women have been hard at work getting those pieces ready. We’ve hired even more staff. We have 48 now! And I’ve been doing a ton of website work as well as creating different campaigns, newsletters, and videos for the ministry.

One of the saddest things that has happened since I last wrote was the passing of Joshua. My sweet, dear Joshua lost his battle to sickle cell right before Easter. It came as a complete shock because he had been doing relatively well health wise recently. While my heart broke, the Lord gave me peace over his death because I know he is no longer in pain and he is complete and whole with Christ. I’m beyond grateful that I got to know this little man so well during the last 3 years of his short life. Please continue to pray for his mama Harriet, as well as the rest of his family.

This past Friday was also a pretty exciting day for the ministry. In January, we had seven people in our program graduate from our three-year sewing curriculum. It took us three months to get the seven sewing machines we ordered, but we finally got them and were able to distribute them to the graduates on Friday. While our program is for women, one of the seven that graduated was actually a man. His story is special and he has been involved with the ministry since day one. When Tina was doing Bible study in Masese in 2012, building relationships with the women who would become the first in the ministry, one of the women fell deathly ill. Her husband started attending the Bible study because she was so ill that she couldn’t attend. After the Bible study, he would go back to her and relay whatever it was that was taught during that time. Miraculously, his wife pulled through and is still alive and well today. When we acquired the James Place in the beginning of 2013, all of the people involved in the Bible study came to the property and prayed around it, including him. And when our gates opened for the first day of class, he walked through with the rest of the women and Tina didn’t have the heart to tell him no. While he doesn’t apply directly to what our vision is now, he is a great asset to the ministry because he now leads a men’s Bible study in Masese and teaches them everything that he learns in our gates.

Watching the seven graduates receive their sewing machines so that they can launch their own business was such an exciting moment. There was so much joy and happiness from everyone as we celebrated the success of the graduates. Soon, these seven will no longer need our help. They will build a clientele and have their own business that will sustain them and their families. That’s the whole point of what we do.  

I guess the last thing to update you on is that I'm currently doing the Daniel Fast. I'm two weeks in and have about two more to go. This is the first fast that I have ever done in my life I've been feeling called to fast for a while but I didn't know when or what for. God revealed to me a couple weeks ago that I was supposed to be doing it while Tina was in America, fundraising for the ministry. Funds have been pretty tight so it makes sense that I was called to do my fast during this time. The Daniel Fast is based on one of the fasts that Daniel did in the Bible. You can have fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and quality oil (olive oil). Nothing but water to drink and you have to avoid all dairy, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol. It's been going well so far and I'm enjoying the extra time I've been having with the Lord.