Daughter of the King

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...

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." ~ 1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV God's timing is so incredible. Everything that happens, happens at the time it is meant to. God knows what each of us needs and gives it to us in due time. We often try to rush God and complain when things don't happen the way we want them too. We forget that our master and creator has everything in control, and we try to take the reign from his hands and control everything ourselves.  Tina had said that the timing of me being here was a blessing. I grasped that concept before coming, but it really wasn't until the other night that I fully understood what she meant by that. I also had no idea that I was HEAL's first year long intern ever. That's pretty cool.  Then the other day, a mother kit was found in our supplies. Here in Uganda, you have to either pay for or bring wi...

I can’t believe I have been in Uganda for three weeks already. These weeks have flown by but the strange thing is that each day is filled with more activities than I can remember sometimes. Let me start from the beginning... I left for Africa on June 30th. My journey started in the Newark Airport and it was the first time I have ever flown alone. It was hard to say goodbye to my family but I knew that we would talk to soon and that we would be together again and that I was doing the right thing. I flew from Newark to London and then from London to Entebbe. I was picked up around midnight on July 1st and got to The James Place shortly after 2am. I was greeted by Trey and some of the interns and team because they had just gotten back from watching America play in the World Cup. I was shown my bed and told to sleep in. I tried getting up with everyone in the morning but was told by many to get back in bed so I did as I was told. I was staying with the team and many of them wer...