Daughter of the King

For the past two weeks, HEAL Ministries has been on holiday. That means no staff, no kids, and nothing to do here at The James Place.  Last week, a few of us went on safari together. We went through Red Chilli Hideaways, and with that company, we got three days on safari in Murchison Falls, and they gave us a free night at their Red Chilli Kampala the night before we left. So, we packed up our backpacks and went to Kampala for the day before the safari. We ate at Cafesserie, a restaurant that has delicious food. We got to see Mockingjay Part 1 in a theatre that's nicer than the one I go to at home. And we were able to just hang out and not worry about anything. We then got a free bus ride out to Red Chilli Kampala where we ate dinner together and talked a little before going to sleep.  Sunrise morning of departure  The next morning we woke up bright and early before the sun was up, ate some breakfast, and then got in the van that was going to be our vehicle ...

Life here is constantly in flux. People come. People go. God has allowed so many awesome people to cross my path and for that, I am grateful. I have friends from Australia, the UK, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Canada, as well as the US and Uganda. Coming here, I knew I'd be going from being with 10 other interns to just being by myself. I was able to prepare my heart for that. What I didn't really expect was finding two different Bible study groups that I've become close to and then losing those people that I've come to love so much so quickly. The one Bible study I'm involved with is with a group of slightly older women. One other girl was about my age and she just went home last week. She had been here for a year. All I could think about was how that is going to be me in about six and a half months. Having to leave a country that I've fallen in love with, but more importantly, having to leave all of the people that I have fallen in love with. And the...

Christian music fills me. No matter where I'm at, Christian music allows me to worship my God and pour out my heart to Him. These are some songs that have recently been on my heart.  These words were on my heart during the worship and prayer time at the end of one of the Bible studies that we have for the women on Fridays. All of the women were praying out loud in Lugandan or Lusoga and these words were heavy on my heart so I just started to quietly sing them to Him. Our God is great. In the midst of struggle or self-doubt, our God is always great. He is always sure. And he is worthy of all of our praise, no matter what is going on around us.  Life isn't always easy. We lost that life when Adam and Eve sinned and got us kicked out of the garden. Jesus never promised us an easy life. But he did promise us salvation and life everlasting if we believe in him. Evil happens in this world because of Satan, but God will use that evil in his ulti...

This past week, many of our babies were sick. Blessing and Mukisa have hardly been here at all. The one day when they were here, I was holding Mukisa when Godfrey came over and started talking to him. I put Mukisa into his arms and as I did, I told him that he was sick. Godfrey then said four words that were so simple but heartfelt that it took me by surprise and truly touched my heart. He simply said, “Lord, heal my friend.” They were only four words, but to see him pray out loud for the little man in his arms was a truly beautiful sight. Please continue praying for Mukisa because we just found out the treatment for whatever he had didn’t work and he had to be admitted to the hospital. Godfrey and Mukisa right after he prayed for him Then one day this week dear Faimah woke up from naptime with a 102 degree fever. We took her to Dr. Charles where they did a blood test and found out she has malaria. We were able to get her medicine and she is doing much better. Faimah smilin...

So I was asked to write a bit about what it's like here. I was asked some questions and have done my best to answer them.  I was asked: is it hot?  Here's a screenshot of my weather app as of when I started writing this blog. It's been consistently around 80 every day and mid to upper 60's at night. If you're directly in the sun, it's very, very hot. Luckily, there is a lot of shade on our property and I find myself sticking to the shade when I can. I miss fall. Everyone is posting pictures of all of the leaves changing color and people from LVC are on fall break...It's hard to imagine that because it's nothing like fall here.  I was told I don't look tan. I guess I'm not really tan. If you look at my arms compared to my legs though I do have some color. But because I'm in the shade a lot, I never really put sunscreen on unless I know I'm going to be going somewhere where I'm in direct sunlight for a ...

Something that has been on my heart lately is how much our kids love each other here at The James Place.   Yes, they are kids and sometimes they hit each other or take each other's toys. Yes, some are brothers and sisters by blood. But most of our 50 kids are not related. And the love they have for each other is something special. I get to watch 3 and 4 year olds try and console the younger ones when they are crying or upset. I watch these little children pick each other up and carry each other around. I see them hug and kiss each other and hold hands as they run around the compound. I see them smile and laugh and play together, simply loving one another and doing life together.  Our kids are growing up getting to know the love of Jesus. The ones who are old enough for preschool get to learn about God everyday. The younger ones are taught a Bible story weekly. All of the kids are loved on by the staff daily and are learning Jesus' love through them. I get to...

Time here is a strange thing. So much happens in each day; sometimes at the end of the day I look back and think, “Wow, I can’t believe I did that this morning.” The days are long, but the weeks are so short. It feels like I got here last week but I have been with HEAL Ministries for six weeks now. So much has happened in those six weeks: I have fallen in love with Uganda. But more importantly, I have fallen even more in love with her people. I get to love on 50 children every day here at The James Place. I am “Auntie Betty” to them and I love each and every one of them so much. The days are filled with playing, laughing, feeding, cleaning, naps, snacks, runny noses, drool, teaching, and growing. Our kids get to actually be kids. It’s easy to forget that that isn’t reality for most of the kids here in Uganda. Besides the kids, I also get to love on all of the staff and the women involved in our programs. Most of our staff is made up of women who have been abandoned, but their li...