Servants Hearts

We have a great team experience with the current mission team here in Uganda.  HEAL Ministries is making a HUGE impact on the villages and communities in the Jinja area.  One way, is through the service of our short term mission trips.  Team 1 and Team 2 both worked on the new Amani Baby Cottage and it is looking awesome........I can now visualize the babies living there in their brightly painted cottages.

They also got to brighten up the boys' dorm at the Canaan Children's Home.  The older boys received new blue sheets and they were so excited!  The boys blessed our hearts by saying "thank you mama" over and over.  Appreciation is something here that is seen immediately.  One little boy named Henry kept sitting on his bed with his new sheets and just kept smiling and feeling of the new sheets.  Small things to us are huge things to them and even bigger things in the Kingdom.

I shared about a lame lady with a newborn baby that I met through the Crisis Pregnancy Center.  She has become a joy to me and I have enjoyed getting to know her.  She teaches me about endurance through her daily walk.  Her son, John Jacob, is now 2 months old.  Even one month ago, she was struggling with the decision to give her son up for adoption.  Now, when telling her that her son is beautiful, she smiles and says "Of course because he is created in God's image."  Two months ago she was living under a cardboard box.  My friend, Carolyn, from the Crisis Center helped to find her a sponsor and a room.  Team 2 just blessed her and painted her room.  I'm not sure who received the greater blessing, the team members or the proud new mama.  The team CHOSE to do this project on Saturday instead of having a 1/2 free day.  When the project was finished, we truly understood that giving is much better and more fun than receiving.

The women in the HEAL program at Masese have become my friends.  So, it is a joy when friends from America come over and meet my friends here.  I meet with one group on Mondays and the other groups on Wednesdays.  Both groups have a women's Bible study and a Kid's Club Program.  The team got to share in the joy of Masese on both days.  We write scripture cards together, share in the word and a lesson for the day, take prayer requests, have praise and worship and just laugh together. Today's prayer praises were:  healing physically, fear removed, a better attitude, acceptance of neighbors and God taking away anger for those that steal.  WOW - God is at work in a HUGE way and it literally gets more and more exciting each week.  The ladies are now holding each other accountable and having their own small groups get together to read the Bible together.  When I think about just five months ago:  there were women that would not even sit by certain women if they belonged to certain tribes.  There were only about 5 to 10 regular women in each group.  Today, they are forgiving each other, learning to love each other and sitting next to each other giving each other encouragement and smiles.  God is at work in a VERY HUGE way.

When the teams finish at the end of the day, they get one to two hours of rest and free time.  Most days, they choose to continue to serve......to visit the babies at Amani is one way.  I'm amazed at the love that God shows me through the eyes and hearts of the people that come here to serve AND in the people that we are serving here.




After living here five months, I realize that the people I serve have become friends.  I love them dearly and strongly desire to continue to strengthen our relationships with each other and in Christ.  We are growing together in many ways.  In many ways, they teach me more than I could ever teach them.  And, in many ways, the teams encourage me and give me renewed excitement as well as the people of Uganda.

I see a servant's heart everywhere I turn.  In the HEAL board, women that I work with, in the teams that come over,  in my sweet summer intern, Lynley Voges, in the children that I work with and in the various missionaries and organizations here.  I even see it in the drivers that assists our teams, taking the time to hold a mama's baby while the mama and team prep and paint.   Uganda is a very special place today full of servants ready to serve.

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..."