A little red dirt

As we left the village, I looked at my kids and every one of them was covered in red dirt.  Their clothes, their shoes, their bodies and faces, all covered in red dirt…..

Driving into the Wakisi village, we planned to stop and check on the kids and make sure their Jaja had returned from Kenya (Blog post: Break my heart for what breaks Yours) After visiting for awhile we got ready to get back in the van and drive further into the village to the school, where we do the children’s outreach.  Just before we left, the ladies told Kari about a baby that had just been born across the road.  Never missing a chance to see a baby and check on a new mother, Kari and Hadlee went over to the new momma’s house. The lady greeted them in the front yard while doing all her laundry by hand.  She had just had the baby the day before with no assistance.  No hospital bed, no nurse, no doctor and definitely no epidural.  Just like so many other women in the village, she had her baby right there on the dirt floor of her hut.  Life goes on; the next day there was laundry to do and meals to cook.  As I saw this woman washing her clothes by hand I realized what strength and what resolve the people of the village have.  They have to, there is no choice.

These last few months God has been working on my heart, He has shown me that I do not have to have some program or well laid out plans to show His love.  I saw firsthand His love that day as my 5 year old daughter washed clothes in a basin and hung them out to dry.  I saw His love as my children ran through the village, through the banana plants having fun and just being kids. I saw His love as the village kids taught our kids to play a game with sticks and a tire.  I saw His love as Pierce played in the red dirt with his friends. I saw His love in a mother working hard to keep her family going only one day after having a baby.

James 1:22  “But prove yourself doers of the Word, and not merely hearers……

Know it, show it, live it!

As the title says, the kids were covered in “A little (ok a lot of) red dirt.  I could not have been happier and my heart could not have been fuller. 

New Logo!!

Healing Faith has gone thru so many exciting changes in the last year!

-We are officially a 501c3 in the US and we have our NGO in Uganda

-The Malaria program has come to fruition!

-We added a US Staff member

And so many many more and meaningful blessings!

With all of these new changes, it was time to work hard at finding our logo.  After many months of ideas, and trial and error, we have finally found it.We love it and hope you do too!!!

To celebrate our new logo, we are having a T-Shirt GIVEAWAY!!!

Enter below for a chance to win one of our brand new Healing Faith T-Shirts pictured below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Break my heart for what breaks Your

Tuesday as we were packing up to leave the village, Kari saw a young   girl kneeling in the dirt with her young brother.  She was trying to get jiggers out of his feet because they were paining him so much he could not walk.  She was so small herself and she was doing her best to carry her little brother so his feet wouldn't

hurt.  As Kari approached she saw they were dirty and in tattered clothing. Dirty and worn clothing is common in the village, but these were different.  As she talked with them she noticed they were unusually dirt and had sores all over their little bodies.  The youngest had a sunken look to his eyes and he did not look “well.” 

As Kari talked to them she asked if we could take them tp their home, she wanted to meet their mother.  The children told her they live with their Jaja (grandmother)  We loaded them up in the van and drove them down the dirt road to their home.  When we arrived, there was no one there. Kari began talking to neighbors and found out more to the story. The children in fact lived with their Jaja, but she had gone to Kenya for a burial.  She was not scheduled to return until the next day.  The kids had no food in the house and no water. The oldest was 7 and the youngest was 2-3.  They did have an older sibling that we could not find, he was out gathering fire wood, but he too was just a child himself.

It broke our hearts.  Here were these young kids left to fend for themselves. This world is a tough place, especially village life. I can’t imagine leaving for a few days and turning to Everett to say “take care of Hadlee, Pierce and Joseph while I am gone.” Anyone that knows Everett knows what a scary thought that would be!  Tressie, the 7 year old girl, was doing her very best to care for her younger siblings, but she is a child.  Unfortunately, it is a harsh reality here in Uganda.

We were torn as to what to do.  The best thing we could think was to take them down the road and get them something to eat.  We wanted to get some protein in their little bodies, but all we could find was bread and water.  As I sat and watched them eating bread and drinking water, my heart broke all over again.  Kari was able to get them enough bread for the evening as well, hardly a meal for 3 hungry kids. When I skip a meal or have lunch late and my stomach is growling, I think I am so hungry.  I have never known hunger like these kids before. It is hard for us to know true hunger, we always know at some point our next meal is coming.  It might not be exactly at the time we expect or exactly what we want to eat, but we always know food is coming.  I cannot imagine being 7 years old and wondering when and if I am going to eat again.

Hunger and suffering is happening each and every day here and all around the world. You don’t have to be in the village or even in Uganda to see true hunger and suffering all around you. As you are reading this the underlying thought is probably “How could you just leave these kids there?  Why didn’t you take them into town to get a better meal?  Why didn’t you take these kids home until their Jaja returned?” 

While all these thoughts came into our minds and our hearts, they are not practical.  We could easily be accused of stealing children. There could also be 50 other kids in the same scenario within the village. That is just life here. These are the harsh realities some kids face on a daily basis.

“Break my heart for what breaks Yours” 

My Heart is Full

It is February, Valentine's Day has past and my heart is full.  Not because I got flowers or chocolate on the 14th, but because life is good!

I am starting to see so much progress with the children's outreach in the village. Our village team is amazing and is really reaching the children.  On Valentine's Day we went for a regularly scheduled village

day and the kids made my whole day.  They were singing loudly, dancing and they are starting to remember some of the new songs we are teaching them.   They have really had a lot of fun lately teaching me how to say different phrases in Luganda, the local language for this particular village.   Last week we talked about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life.  Ekubo, Amazima, Obulamu (The way the truth and the life).  The kids are really hungry for the word.  For two weeks I have been talking with them about a relationship with Jesus Christ and that no one gets to the Father unless through the Son. This week I was totally unprepared to talk to them, to be honest I really meant to take the Jesus Story Book Bible, and I forgot it.  After singing, dancing and praise and worship, William asked me what I had prepared to for them.  I started talking and the words kept flowing and came directly from God.  I told them when I first starting coming to their village I had no idea how to get there, somebody had to show me the way.  The same way we were lost and didn't know the way, God sent his one and only Son to show us the way.

I also tried to explain to them Valentine's Day. Can you imagine a group of village kids trying to grasp the concept of showering each other with candy, flowers and gifts because we love each other?  I used it as a way to tell the kids that Jesus doesn't have a calendar to look at the days and say "Today is special and I love you"  I used it as an example to show them Jesus loves them every single day!  His love never ends and it never gives up on us. Bulijo, bulijo, bulijo, bulisawa (Every day, every day, every day, every time). They really love when I say these things in Luganda, even when I say them correctly they laugh and giggle.  They think it is hilarious when a big tall American speaks in Luganda.

I got to see Ali, who was back in the village after a successful surgery.  We got to follow up on a couple of kids who had malaria the previous week and showed no signs.  We got to fight against three new cases of malaria #MalariaBites.  We got to dress the wounds of a man suffering through chronic wounds.  Most of all we got to spread the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

 

My heart was full when I left Wakisi, it was a good end to the week.  It made me anxious and ready to get back to the village this week.  I am excited to see what God has in store for this week.

Gravity

Interesting fact….gravity has the same affect in Uganda as it does in the rest of the world.

Case & point, meet Kiyingi Ali. Ali is like most 10 year old boys, running around playing futbol and climbing trees. On the day we met Ali he had been craving some jackfruit, the only problem on this day was gravity won. Ali fell from the jackfruit tree and inured his wrist. When I examined it, his hand and fingers were swollen and it was painful to the touch. 

I put it in a splint; I used a SAM splint for all my EMS people out there! I decided we would leave it splinted and I would re-evaluate in two days when we returned to the village.

When we came back his wrist still had swelling, although it had gone done a bit, and it was still painful to the touch. We decided it was time to take him into town and get it X-rayed. The only problem was his mom was working in the fields and could not leave her work to go with us into town. This is where the Chairman of the Village stepped in. The Chairmen is the elected official in each village that is in charge of all things within the village. Unfortunately many of the Chairman and other elected officials are corrupt and only looking out for themselves and their wallets. Luckily there are a few exceptions. This Chairman is a very good man and truly cares about his village. Since Ali’s mother could not leave work, the Chairman loaded up in the vehicle with us to take Ali into town for an X-ray.

When we arrived at the clinic it took about 20 minutes and cost $8 to get an X-ray and an evaluation. $8!! That makes me question the high cost of medical care in the US (but that is a whole other blog). The good news is there was no break! I was very surprised, but relieved. What 10-year-old wants to be in a cast for 4-6 weeks?

After his X-ray we were able to get some lunch for Ali and the Chairman and arranged for transport back to the village. Seeing the compassion of the chairman is just one of the many reasons that we are thankful and blessed to work in this village. Hopefully we can share more stories with happy endings like this one. 

Twas the Night Before Christmas in Uganda

Twas the Night Before Christmas in Uganda

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the village,

Mosquitos were swarming and getting ready to pillage.

The nets were hung over the beds with care,

In hopes that malaria would no longer be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While fears of malaria danced in their heads.

With I in my boots and her in her skirt,

We had just settled in amongst Uganda’s red dirt.

When out in the village there arouse such a clatter

I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter.

Out in the village I went on the run,

Because a bout with malaria is not so much fun.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a mom with her baby showing such fear.

With a fear in her eyes, she came to us quick,

I knew in a moment her child was sick.

With headache and nausea fever and chills,

I knew it was time to get out the malaria pills.

Healing Faith’s plan is to stop the hysteria

We pray for the day there is a no more malaria

We hope you will join us in fight

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Can an 8 year old change the world?

Can an 8 year old change the world?  Absolutely!  Meet Abby Stark, she is changing the world one mosquito net at a time.   Abby is the founder of Nickels for Nets, a program designed to get kids involved in the battle against malaria.

Malaria is a preventable and treatable mosquito-borne disease, whose main victims are children under five years of age. Africa is the most affected continent worldwide: about 90% of all malaria deaths occur in Africa. Did you know that every 60 seconds, just one minute, a child in Africa dies from malaria?  

Every child in the world deserves the chance at a healthy life.  They deserve a fighting chance against malaria.  Pastor Will Lewis said it is just a matter of latitude and longitude as to where we are born; we were blessed to be born in the USA.  Not every child is so blessed as to be born in an area free from malaria.  These children are born into a region where malaria is a burden.  No child should have to suffer based upon where they were born.  They are all God’s children.

 

Abby is doing her part to make a difference by raising money to buy nets for a malaria-burdened area of Uganda.  Through her efforts and the efforts of all the kids involved with Nickels for Nets they will make a difference.  The money they raise will be used by Healing Faith to purchase long lasting insecticide treated nets.  These nets recommended by the World Health Organization provide protection from mosquitos while sleeping. These nets can drastically reduce the transmission of malaria.

I am very proud of Abby Stark for starting this movement.  It is exciting to see all the children involved in making the world they live in a safer place for other kids just like them.

If  you would like more info about Nickels for Nets you can follow it on Facebook: Nickels for Nets

You can also watch Abby’s video and see her featured on the news at KBTX.

8 Year olds big donation to Missionaries in Uganda saves lives

Join the fight!