That's what LOVE looks like

Our Team 1 of 2013 had a joyful AND sad last day in Jinja.  It was so joyful because the girls had the opportunity to pass out clothes and shoes in the village and to the children at Canaan Children's Home. It was sad because they have fallen in love with God's people here and they do not want to leave. Passing out the clothes and shoes proved to be passing out HOPE and ENCOURAGEMENT also.  That's what LOVE looks like.

The first stop was Canaan Children's Home.  The older girls (which are also the same age as the Harpeth Hall girls on the team) were so excited to meet girls their own age across the world.  Across the world, they are different and, yet, very much the same.  It was very humbling for the team to see the excitement on the Canaan girls' faces when they received their sanitary pads.  To be a teenager and not have these necessities is hard to comprehend.  The Harpeth Hall Team organized a school drive and collected sanitary pads and children's vitamins.  What a joy to see the results of such hard work:  happiness and excitement.  When the team members each passed out a skirt to every teenage girl at Canaan, the room was full of smiles and hugs.  That's what LOVE looks like.
We also passed out letters from the Christ Presbyterian Church (Nashville, TN) youth.  The girls could not wait to open the letters and read them.  Many of them immediately began writing a letter back to the teenager that wrote them so that they could be delivered back to America.  We are so appreciative of teenagers taking the time to write a letter..........taking the time to send a message of LOVE to an orphan across the world.  That's what LOVE looks like.

Our next stop was to Fazirra's home.  Fazirra is a name familiar to most that read this blog but for those that do not know her:  She is a single mom that HEAL has been working with the last year:  mother of six, poorest of the poor, converted from Islam to Christianity, JOY to know and serve.  The sweetest moment was when Shariffe (her oldest boy) opened the suitcase full of clothes and shoes for the entire family.

His excitement brought tears to my eyes.  And that is the moment that makes us all realize that every hot and dusty day is worth it.  Every drive, every dress sewn, every suitcase filled with shoes is worth it.  Every moment like that (and there are lots of those moments here) reminds us what LOVE looks like.


Fazirra worked hard with us to make sure every child had shoes and clothes.  Dee Anne presented her with a Luganda Bible and she was so excited.  Out of all the gifts that the team passed out, the Bible is the most important.  And not just because it is the Bible and the right thing to say:  because it is the hardest thing to find and purchase here in Uganda for most of the people that live in the villages.  They can somehow sew and make an outfit, find a pair of OLD shoes.....but the Bible is the most coveted item by new believers.  Dee Anne saw this first hand last year and helped HEAL with a program to sponsor women with Bibles in Uganda.  That's what LOVE looks like.

The team said good bye to the babies at Amani Baby Cottage after dropping off a suitcase full of children's vitamins and floppy hats for all the mamas.   When they got back to the Surjios's Guest House, there were tears.  There were tears because the relationships built in such a short time are very real.  There were tears because God takes a teenage girl and sends her across the world to spread HIS hope and love to a girl that needs it in Uganda.  There were tears because those girls have become friends with not only people their age but with the babies and mamas at Amani.  They saw first hand the impact that HEAL Ministries is making and they want to go back and have more drives.  They saw the need for backpacks and the team is going to organize a backpack project.   That's what LOVE looks like.

The team is now on a 2 day safari after working and serving for the past two weeks.  They are enjoying a well deserved break before returning to the U.S.  There are many here that will be sad to see them leave.  There will be some that will return one day.  All of them will forever have a special place in their heart for God's people of Uganda.  They will always remember a smile on a girl's face when receiving a new skirt.  They will always remember Shariffe's face when he opened the suitcase and joyfully clapped.  They will always remember the baby they fell in love with.  They will always remember Magdalene that joyfully washed their clothes.  They will always remember the importance of spreading HOPE.  They will always remember that they were present when HEAL Ministries had the first prayer walk at the James Place.  And they will always remember Uganda and spread awareness to others.  That's what LOVE looks like.

"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