Another Team arrives and brings JOY with them!

Team 2 arrived and I must say they have had the worst start of any team that I can remember.  They were delayed the first 24 hours - having to stay in the airport for hours and then leave the airport, arriving the next day........re-routed to a different city in the U.S.........then added an extended layover in London......causing them to arrive two days later than originally planned......ALL because of a tropical storm that created cancellations in NYC.  So......they arrived Monday instead of last Saturday and to make things worst........their luggage was lost.  Not some of their luggage......all 18 bags!  16 of the bags arrived Tuesday and the remaining two are supposed to arrive tomorrow.

Most people would be so tired, so jet lagged, full of complaints and ready to point fingers and blame.....but not this group.  The leader of the team is so positive and all 10 members have not once complained.  They are all well traveled and realize that things happen when one travels.  Weather causes problems, delays happen, luggage gets misplaced......BUT...God's plans can not be harmed.  No matter what happens along the journey, God still gets the final word on the outcome.

The team has had two full days and have already been so touched and moved by the Lord's work in Uganda.  They have fallen in love with Amani Baby Cottage and I might be trying to push "Tina Marie" on to some of them permanently:)  They cannot stop talking about how moved they are watching preschool, or the kids clubs in Masese or the women's outreach Bible Study program HEAL has in Masese.  They love the children at Canaan Children's Orphanage and the Canaan Primary School.  They fell in love with the ministry "Serving His Children".  Since Monday, they have experienced a passion so deep and so quickly that can only come from above.  Unconditional love.  Here, it just seems easier to see people through the eyes of Jesus.  Here, the children yearn for attention and and a hug.  Here, the women look deeply into your eyes and hang onto every word.  And, here, this team is reminded how God created us all to be in relationship with each other.  Even across the world, across oceans and with language barriers.  Here, we are reminded that even though we don't speak the same languages, that love is universal.

So we will do things together.....(Woody, Molly, Sam, Braxton, Pam, Austin, Patrick, Jenn, Lynley and Graham)....we'll make crafts, we'll pass out shoes and vitamins, we'll serve and play, laugh and cry.......but the one thing that we will all remember is the love learned never leaves our hearts.  That God alone stirs up passion for His people.  We are a thankful team for learning this so early during the trip!  And we are learning to see beauty everywhere....in the slums, the people, in the red beautiful dirt of Uganda, in the hundreds of diapers hanging on a line, in everything.

I see Jesus through the eyes of the children here.....through the laughter and hugs of the members of the team.......through the smiles shared that says "everything is going to be okay"........through praise and worship in two different languages........through a 14 year old girl with a baby that smiles now and when I first met her was void of joy.......through a former Muslim (now Christian) single mother that smiles and hugs me and lives in a mud hut with six children.......through the team playing with hundreds of kids in a slum and giving them a glimpse of hope..........through the team painting a room where a lame new mother lives to give her encouragement and to build her up......through the "i love you's" from the children we serve........and seeing Heaven when we praise the Lord together.

This is going to be a great team experience!

"What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."  St. Augustine

Team 1 wraps up their Uganda experience.....

It is always sad to me when a team comes to an end.  If you have never experienced being on a mission trip with team members, you have missed a spiritual bonding that can never be broken.  The teams spend two weeks together, share serving in the field, testamonies, encouraging each other, building each other up and share a love for the people that they have served.  When the team bonds spiritually (and this team did), they are closer than just being friends.  They form a common bond that cannot be separated.

Team 1 fell in love with Amani Baby Cottage, Canaan Children's Home, Serving His Children, Ekisa, Amazima, the Crisis Pregnancy Center, and the Bujagli and Masese Outreach programs that HEAL is involved with.   Each team member has his own favorite place but everyone loved all the programs.  I think what was enjoyable to me as Trey, Lynley and I observed and assisted this particular team, was the joy and excitement that sincerely came from them.  They laughed, cried, painted, cleaned, taught, danced, sang, played games with kids, served women and children by teaching crafts, handed out shoes, handed out sweeties, and just sat and talked and built relationships.  And they fell in love with God's people in Uganda.

So when people ask me "What are the benefits of a short term missions trip?"  I smile and say that I cannot possibly name all the benefits but here are just a few......
the local people are encouraged and feel loved.....
the ones serving are lifted up and grow closer to Christ....
children get to laugh and play for a while when they sometimes don't get the chance....
awareness is raised of the needs.....
the name of Jesus Christ shines brightly for all to see from those serving AND from those being served...
and God gets to use HIS plan as he changes the lives forever for those serving.

Team 1 is flying home as I write.  They will process their experience for months and maybe even years to come.  They saw God's glory in the people and in His creation through the animals and landscapes observed on Safari.  For many, this is a once in a lifetime experience.  I have asked a couple of the team members to write a blog and I'm hoping to share that soon.  I'm sad to see them go but I'm thrilled to see God's plans at work.  I, too, get a once in a lifetime experience by seeing first hand God moving His people to complete His plans in Uganda.  The front row seat is pretty amazing and I"m enjoying the ride that God has allowed.  Team 1, Trey, Lynley (HEAL intern) and I give God all the praise and glory for being allowed to be on this journey together.

Lynley's view...

This last week Heaven has been heavy on my heart. So much so, that I see a little glimpse of Heaven almost everywhere we work. The first team of the summer has been here for about a week now and the villages Tina works in have made them feel more than welcomed. Two times this week the team has been welcomed into the village with a village dance. 

My writing will not be able to adequately give full testament to the incredibleness of these dances! 
I am amazed at how the women and young girls here can dance! It is the most joyful, uplifting experience I have ever encountered. The drumming, the singing, the yelling, all of it is overflowing with happiness and praise for the Lord. It is by far one of the most humbling moments I have had since I have been here. 

No, I cannot understand the women as they sing and cannot even begin to understand the pastor as he prays, but all together it is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Yet, while I listen and watch these people worship, I have never been more sure that their is a God. I love to think that here, while these women are singing and dancing, is a little taste of what Heaven will be like. Except in Heaven, we will all be singing in a language that all people can understand. In a dance that all people will partake in. In a prayer that will never cease.

While I am here, I find myself praying that Heaven will be a little bit sweeter for the people here. The faith they have is something so strong, that even their desperate conditions cannot break them. They KNOW that they are saved and they KNOW that God is good! They know their time here is just a fleeting moment and their time in Heaven is a moment they long for. Heaven will be crazy and I cannot wait until we are all dancing together again one day.

Servant's Hearts

I get the pure pleasure of seeing a team transform from willing servants to hearts full of love and joy because of serving.  The team here now has been so busy:  They helped the mamas learn to make key chains at Serving His Children (a malnutrition program training mothers to care for their children), painting Amani Baby Cottage's new site, taking the children from Ekisa swimming, assisting with the kids' club and women's bible studies at Masese, and talking to the children in the classrooms at Canaan Primary School.

I was amazed at how the team just took charge and owned the crafts for the mamas at Serving His Children.  They were so willing to serve and help and their love of teaching and getting to know the mamas was a dose of encouragement that they needed.  Serving His Children is an incredible organization that reaches out to those that need education in caring for their children.  I love that they assists the poor in learning how to take care of their own.  It is astonishing to see the children's before and after pictures.  To see a child so malnourished that he cannot hold his cup to drink is so sad and then to see just a few weeks later the amazing difference this program makes in a child that can begin to hold his cup.  For more information about this program go to:

www.servinghischildren.org 

Ekisa is another organization that HEAL loves to work with.  They have disabled children that have special needs and today was one of those days that placed a forever smile in our hearts.  We were able to assists the staff in taking 14 of the children swimming.  The laughter and fun in the pool was so contagious that hotel guests were smiling and taking photos.  One lady from an organization that was meeting and eating there came up to the group and simply said "Thank you so much for loving these children well."  The two young lady's that started the organization started at Amani Baby Cottage and are doing an amazing work for the Lord.  To find out more information about this organization go to:

http://www.ekisa.org

Amani Baby Cottage is moving locations.  They haved purchased land and a building.  The existing building is being remodeled and three new baby cottages are being built.  They are in need of about $50,000 to finish the location.  The team is working on painting the cottages right now and we have a couple of artists on the team that will paint scriptures on the walls of each cottage.  To find out more about this wonderful organization please go to: 

http://amanibabycottage.org

HEAL Ministries has always been about TEAMS - and part of being a team in God's kingdom is working with others.  The team here now is seeing first hand the importance of building relationships with other like-minded organizations in the Jinja area.  I am thankful that they are here helping to strengthen these relationships and to show the love of Christ through a servant's heart.

Roman 15:1-3  "As for us who are strong, our duty is to bear with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not seek our own pleasure. Let each of us endeavor to please his fellow Christian, aiming at a blessing calculated to build him up. For even the Christ did not seek His own pleasure..."

Team 1 is happy to be in Uganda!

Team 1 arrived a few days ago and it already seems like they have been here for a while.  They are eager, ready to serve and they are HAPPY to be here.  I love seeing JOY everywhere I go in Uganda.  It makes life so much fun when a team shows up just HAPPY to serve and HAPPY to be here.  That is how I would define this special first summer team of nine HAPPY members:  Lisa, Jodi, Brian, Lisa, Claire, Sarah, Cate, Shelby, and Paige.  A team of happy servants.

They have been challenged in many ways so just arriving makes them happy.  There have been many obstacles that would make most team members develop a negative attitude.  But not this team.  They are strong and ready to see what the Lord has in store for them.

Their eagerness to serve in any capacity with a smile on their face has planted a permanent smile in my heart.  They have held babies, helped with preschool and crafts, served and loved on mamas, run a kids club in Masese village, visited village dances, rode with Moses on the the Nile River (seriously), led an African church's Sunday School, AND it has just been three days.  They have a busy two weeks ahead of them and they have already captured the love and passion that captured my heart a few years ago.

I see the joy on their faces as they serve.  I also see the joy on the faces they are serving.  Short term teams  are so wonderful and valuable.  I wish that we could see this side of Heaven all that God will do with this HAPPY team, but we know that we will not.  What we will see is JOY that is contagious spread among people that often cannot communicate.  They have learned in three short days that LOVE is a universal language and that even if words cannot be shared, a smile, laughter, dance and hug is understood loud and clear.  The team brought bags of goodies and purses to deliver to all the staff at Amani Baby Cottage and sheer JOY was seen everywhere.  What a blessing it is to give and to see the love and joy that comes from it.

Seeing Jesus through the eyes of the people we are serving is easy.  Today, the women in the Bible Study at Masese partnered up with another woman to have an accountability partner.  They were told to encourage each other and as I looked around:  I saw women hugging each other, women encouraging each other, laughter everywhere, the teens in a large circle with hundreds of children laughing and playing, and I realized that this team with this group of people is much bigger than all of us.  God is at work and revival is happening and we are humbled to be in the middle of it.  I looked behind the group and a lady was encouraging a sweet, older man.  Pastor Andrew interpreted for me and we learned that the man had lost his wife.  She drowned a few months back and her friend was encouraging this sad man.  She was telling him that God would provide and through tears he thanked us for telling him about God.  Sometimes when we think we are doing something for a group, we don't even realize who all is involved with what God is accomplishing.

The team gives devotions, testimonies and shares the most joyous moments throughout the day.  I listened to all nine and I am reminded of God over and over through their words, their actions and their happy, serving hearts.  Team 1 is here and HAPPPY to be in Uganda!

A message from Lynley - HEAL'S summer 2012 intern

 It is amazing to see what a ministry can do in just 6 months. I am taken back by the relationships Tina has made with the people here in Jinja. The children at Amani absolutely love going to her preschool every morning and the improvement they are making is unbelievable. They are able to read and spell their own names and they are beginning to learn to read different words. The children at Canaan look forward to the crafts each week that Tina will bring. The women in Masese trust Tina with their lives and open up to her like they have known her their whole lives. Just seeing her walk up, makes their day. The teenagers at the Pregnancy Crisis Center love showing their new babies to Tina and Tina cares for them just like they are her own children. The vision that HEAL has for the permanent plans in Uganda, combines everything that is close to Tina's heart.
      
 Many times people say, "Oh, going there will make you realize all that you have." I have come to realize that is so wrong. When I am here, I realize all I lack. I lack the faith and trust that the people here have in the Lord. I lack the heart felt kind of relationships that the children and adults hold with each other.  I lack the way they cherish every day and all it has to offer. I lack the sincerity in their smiles. I lack the understanding they have of the love of the Lord. Yes, I have more material things that  the children here do, but really what does that matter? When the Lord sees us, we are all the exact same: helpless and in utter need of a Savior. I think that is what humbles me most when I am here is that I am just the same as the people here.      

 While I am here, I truly see the heart our God has for His children. The children here are so happy and thankful for whatever attention they can be given. All the songs they sing whether in the village or in the orphanages are all glorifying God. Many times I feel like God is the only thing they are sure of. I am jealous of this kind of faith. Often times, I am sure of everything but the Lord's providence in my life. Coming here, truly puts everything in order for me.
       HEAL Ministries is doing incredible things here and there are so many people who are and will be blessed by what this Ministry continues to do! God is so good and the evidence here is proof of that.

“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”

Saint Augustine