We are now in Uganda serving in Lwamata (65 KM outside of Kampala-an hour and 45 minute drive by public transit). While our skin color drew a little bit of attention in Central America and our color along with our size and shape drew attention in Asia, in Africa our skin color is a big hit. Last month in Nairobi it wasn't as big of a deal. We still had plenty of children calling out to us "Mzungu, Mzungu" (Swahili for white person or foreigner). Here in Lwamata, Uganda, we are an odd speciman.

Two years ago an Austrailian couple came to the area to serve orphans here. They are here perodically, sometimes for months at a time. Until they showed up, no white people had been in the area for at least a decade. I'm pretty sure not every single person in town has seen the Australian couple since they've spent the majority of their time specificially with the orphanage they committed to help. So for some of the kids and maybe even some of the adults, we very well could be the first white people they are seeing. Even Rachel is carefully examined since she is part black, part white. People here are not sure what to make of that.

This week the blessings became obvious when we went to teach Sunday school. On a normal Sunday, there are about 90 adults and 80 children in church. This week the Sunday school classes were bursting at the seams. Some of the children admitted to coming to class only because they followed the Mzungus to the building. We were blessed with the opportunity to teach God's word and to pray with the children. Some said they had never before prayed and hadn't heard about Jesus before that lesson.

In another class this week, all the kids asked if they could come on our trip with us as missionaries. We had the chance to ask them if they had ever talked about Jesus with their family or friends. For those who had, we told them they were already missionaries right here in Uganda! The truth is God can use you anytime, anywhere to share His love, His truth, His message. The children were excited about the truth that God has a plan and a purpose for them here in Uganda. The truth is we all have a purpose wherever we go; we are to constantly shine His light. It's so beautiful to rest in that truth.

Every day Monday through Friday we host a one hour prayer meeting during the lunch hour at the church building in the marketplace. Two or three days a week we teach moral lessons in the public and private schools. The government of Kenya requires moral lessons which allows us to teach Bible lessons to the children. We work with children from the age of 7 to the age of 14. When the gather the children together for moral lessons, each class I've taught has had about 70-75 students crammed into the classroom. At the conclusion of Friday's class I learned a new VBS style song that includes He's Got the Whole World in His Hands mixed in along with another song about how wonderful God is to the Macarena motions. It was hilarious!

We are meeting people in the streets as they travel home from work to invite them to church Sunday. It seems that Mzungus (Swahili term for white foreigners) are a big hit and we've had several visitors come to services to see what is happening. We have had some wonderful home visitations and some door to door opportunities as well. People here are very open to hearing more about the gospel. We have loved having so many chances to teach Bible lessons to people of all ages and to meet so many wonderful people. Kenyans are such hospitable people!

We have a tremendous blessing of such varied ministry this month. We are busy and loving it! Due to some security concerns, we try to be discreet when choosing to carry around a camera. I'm hoping we can take more photos in the coming weeks that will more clearly share the experience with you. There's so much more to share-this only scratches the surface.

The sweetest, happiest girl in all of Kenya and we get to live with her (and her parents too)!

Thank you for how you've shown up in the eleventh hour to help get me to India on my World Race mission trip!! It seems you've made a number of donations to my account & I truly thank you! It's cool to see how God has provided through so many people; I truly feel a network of love and support. Thank you for being a part of that!! If you ever want to "out" yourself, feel free. If not, know that I THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!!

Love,
Jessica

So...the verdict is in. God IS still faithful!! He provided exactly what I needed and then some from a ton of people. In fact, there were about equal numbers of people who I did know who helped reach the goal as people that I didn't know. I am STILL writing thank you notes and am finally finishing up that process (for those I can't find on email or Facebook, yours will be coming snail mail courtesy of my family who will print and mail what I email to them).

I have been totally bombarded with love and support and it feels amazing! It definitely reminds me that I am exactly where God wants me to be. It also reminds me that we do live in a world where people get excited about hope and change and the love of the Lord being shared throughout all nations. It brings me such joy to share love around the world. It's not only my love or the love of the Savior I can share; I can share the love from SO many people around the world who have chosen to give gifts of love to make this trip possible (some financially, some in prayer support). It is amazing what God can do to open doors when you don't see a way but you know He's called you to continue to walk.

If you want to hear some stories (no names or identifying details) about some of the specific ways God has poured out His blessing, email me (click on the link on the left). I've got too many stories to share here, but I'm glad to share actual stories from my life with you if you would like to hear them.

WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW???

So, we have arrived in sunny, dusty Cambodia. We are working this month in the capital city of Phnom Penh with New Life Fellowship. Our ministry month is broken up a little bit by the Khmer New Year which is officially April 14-16 but many people head to their home provinces for a week or two during this time.

While we are here, we have some English classes to teach. In this setting (where students are driving to church for the lessons), we are allowed to use the Bible as our textbook. There are often impromptu further study classes on the Bible even after the English lessons are finished. The teenagers who attend class and come to youth services are HUNGRY for the word of the Lord. It's tremendous to see the fire in these young people! We are having quite a blessed month already.

Here are a couple of preliminary pictures of Cambodia for you to enjoy. Thanks again for making this month possible with your gifts of love; none of this trip would have materialized without support from family, friends and new friends who I have yet to meet. God bless you all!!

                  

   

P.S. To help get me to fully funded and to be a part of God's answer to my prayer, please click on "Support Me" on the left. I just need a few more of these...THANKS!!

This month, we were originally due to go to an HIV/AIDS clinic to share God's good news with the patients & to love on them in their time of sickness. However, since we are not strictly a team of men, they decided it wasn't safe and wise to send us to that facility. So, our plans changed and we were worked into another plan. Instead, we went to KT for the first week of ministry (see the previous blog) and now we are just outside of KL working on a farm for the next 2 weeks.

The organic farm we've been assigned to work at was created to help those living in the jungle to have a means to produce crops for themselves as well as a way to earn a living. It's moved out of the jungle a bit towards the city but it still helps the workers learn to farm and earn a living for their families. There are workers from Malaysia, Indonesia & Bangladesh. Many workers are Islamic and we are partnered up with them to share our stories & our faith with them. We enjoy working along side of them and there is a mutual interest to share our histories and beliefs with one another. There is definitely an openness and receptiveness that is somewhat unusual for Malaysia.

The work is long and tough, but it is good to be humbled yet again to appreciate the small things in life. We are following behind another team who was here last week cutting down the bamboo from the heart of the jungle. As we walk down the muddy slopes, we walk through patches that are full of leeches and scorpions and all sorts of ugly, buggy creatures. The leeches move like slinkys-it's pretty fascinating. I've had the first one attach itself to me briefly today and without thinking about it, I yanked it off. Fortunately, it didn't have a good clamp on me & it was through a thick sock, so it didn't really leave a mark like it did for a couple of my other teammates. We are praying for no more leech bites in the coming days.

As we work to move the bamboo from the heart of the jungle to the fields, we have a time to practice joy and contentment in all circumstances. We saw and heard monkeys nearby this morning and we kept a close eye on the few things we did bring into the jungle with us. It's good to reflect on how much we have to be grateful for. We choose to be joyful or miserable. It really comes down to what we focus on, and for me, for today, I choose (once again) to focus on the Lord and the joy He is to me. He loves me through it all and I lean completely on Him. It certainly helps to have a team of loving, supportive friends with me on this journey. I do pray our words and our example will be a blessing to the workers we are with for the next 2 weeks. I know God has brought us to this place at this time for a purpose. We are learning to honor Him in all we do and say. It's a great lesson to continue to learn! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the next couple of weeks. Some of the richest lessons are learned during times of manual labor and I'm glad to be re-learning plenty of them.

Prayer update:
My brother should be coming home from the hospital today to finish recovering from pneumonia from the comfort of his own bed. Thanks for the immediate prayers!

Finance updates:
I'm now just under the $2K mark for donations to get me to the 3/31 deadline. If you would like to help out, please click on "Support Me" on the left. You're also welcome to post something on Facebook with a link to the blog if others would like to help out.

Cool fact about finances-I have had total strangers bless me with help for this trip. There is a future World Racer who is working on raising his own funds for a trip this fall, but he felt led to donate something towards my trip. Another person has a couple of mutual friends on my squad but I've never met them. One of my sister's friends helped me out in a big way and I've never even met her. I've had friends help me out who aren't Christian or even necessarily on board with a mission trip concept but who recognize that I'm helping do my part to make the world a better place and they've helped donate as well. It's been a tremendous blessing to be so loved and supported by such a diverse group of people. THANK YOU again to all who have helped financially and prayerfully. I am SO grateful!!!

Pics-where we live & the jungle (a.k.a. "the farm"):

 

It's a joy to meet the church world-wide and to hear stories of how God has provided & grown the church through trials and joys. We have been surrounded with love and joy and blessing. We are encouraged and the local church is encouraged by having missionaries who love the Lord and who desire nothing more but to serve Him. I feel like sometimes our true ministry is giving an injection of joy, hope, etc. to the local church more so than any other project or work effort. The local church is here to continue to invest in the community & win souls for God's kingdom. We are here to help even if the best help comes in the form of building them up to continue their long term efforts.

While we were supposed to be serving at an HIV/AIDS clinic this month, our plans changed at the last minute. We are spending a week in one part of town tearing down parts of the old children's ministry (to give the leased space back to the owners). Portions will be relocated to a new campus ministry 6 hours up the road. Other portions will go to the church building located across the street. Then we are spending 2 weeks on an organic farm that was built to help the locals who were living in the jungle with little or no means of income or healthy food.

I am sure each momma would vote for her own, but there are some real cuties here in the Philippines. We left Central America on New Year's Eve and after 5 flights, multiple hours of layovers, taxis and busses, we finally arrived in Malayblay, Philippines. We are on Mindanao Island working with Kids International Ministries (K.I.M.) at the New Faith Family Children's Home and Mt. Moriah Camp.  There are 23 children living at the children's home from babies to teenagers.

Working alongside the Filipinos here, we are invited to share daily life with the children. Each morning and each evening, we can help prepare the children either for the day or for bed. They participate in daily devotionals and chores. We have opportunities to help tutor them after school if they need help with homework. We also have a 24 hour baby rotation broken up into 8 hour shifts working with the 2 babies and 4 toddlers.

To be eligible to live at the children's home, each child must be considered by the government to be unable to receive the necessities of food or shelter from their family. After that determination, the government embarks upon a searching process for a relative willing and able to provide those 2 things to the children. During the searching process, they are welcome to live at the children's home. If the government determines there are no available relatives to care for the children, the children then become eligible for potential adoption. There are some children adopted from time to time, but as is the case with many places, some children recognize they will grow up here.

I am impressed with how intentional the workers here are about infusing the love of the Lord into the children's lives. They hear praise and worship music quite a bit (sometimes all day in the babies' area), they participate in devotionals each morning and each night, they are part of a weekly church service and Bible study on the campus. When the children are going around and doing their chores, I hear them singing or humming worship tunes. I think that's almost all they know outside of some of the basic ABC type of songs. The memory verse that I see posted everwhere is a great reminder for us all "Do all things without complaining or murmuring" - Philippians 2:14.

Of course, kids are kids. They will fight and talk back and try to stay up too late, but they will also run and laugh and kiss and hug and say whatever is on their mind. There is a real joy in the community here and it is obvious how much the workers here love each of the kids. It is priceless.

Out of respect for the Filipino government and the policies of K.I.M. and the privacy of the children, we are asked to only post pictures of the backs of children's heads but not to show any faces (side profiles are OK). So, I'm sorry you can't see in full the joy of these beautiful children, but trust me-they are precious and wonderful! Oh, and the names are changed as well for their protection.

Here are a couple of pieces of some of their stories to give you an idea of who they are and what they have been through. Eric came to the children's home after his mom made him sniff superglue to curb his appetite so she wouldn't have to feed him. Charity's dad is in the local prison and used to visit her once a month in the early days (I have no idea how that worked). One of the children not currently here was a born with multiple and severe issues and disorders since his mom took pills to abort her fetus (obviously unsuccessfully). Although the child is now about 2-3 years old, he is still unable to hold his head up on his own. He is starting to learn how to do it. Although there are pieces of stories that may be shared with us, other stories are not verbalized but seem apparent with the behaviors exhibited. There has definitely been abuse that has done long term damage to many of these children. Others have suffered through neglect. Regardless of where they've been, they are here now for me to love on and to help tutor. It's a great month!

Also-for a little more information, check out this link to the K.I.M. website and the Relevant article written by a World Racer just a few months ago. http://www.kidsinternationalministries.org/2010/11/from-concrete-to-custody-relevantmagazine-com/

 

                               Children's Home - Working in the Soccor Field - Baby Care

 

Playing with the toddlers & babies.

 

 

 

Costa Rica:

*The best cup of coffee. Ever.
*An amazing traditional Venezualan breakfast prepared for 21 American World Racers & 6 others

*The best and cleanest shower in 3 months courtesy of an 18 year old boy's bathroom. (Does that tell you how we've lived on the race so far?)
*The best mattress/night's sleep in 3 months.
*A clear connection to talk with family at home.
*Beautiful beaches and wildlife on the drive into Panama.
*Insisting that the bus driver take me with all our packs across the border. I was just sure he wasn't leaving without someone coming along for the ride. It was only a 5 minute walk but we had all our big packs still on the bus with most of our stuff.
*Receiving a package from home that went through Panama City, David-Panama, then through the Postal Mail system to Costa Rica-quite the involved process, but  the Christmas goodies were such a fun treat!
*Watching The Chronicles of Narnia in reclining movie theater seats for $3 on team bonding day.

Panama:

*Meeting Ruth Santos, a sister in the Lord leaving to serve on Logos Hope for 2 years. A mighty woman of God. (Ruth is the one in the middle)

*Albin, our initial mission's contact. Easily the most organized, spirited man in all of Central America.

*One of the best cups of tea I've ever had.
*Using banana cables to haul our packs and a porta potty (previously used...please note my pack is the red one...oh my) throuth the banana fields.

*Crossing the stream to enter the banana fields on only a small plank with our HEAVY packs on our back and hiking down and up slippery, muddy slopes to  get to the plank. It was risky business, let me tell you. The gate to walk in was padlocked shut and surrounded by razor wire, so we found an alternate route to get the job done.
                                  (seeing the route) - (the razor gate) - (living through the adventure)

*Our amazing friends and squad mates who donated some of their favorite treats to help us survive our jungle experience. Others who loaned us multiple items.  You know who you are. THANK YOU!! And precious Angela who gave me a lovely pedicure so I could remember that once upon a time, I was cute. LOL.
*Sharing a single bathroom with 26+ people and the water cutting off for part of each day. BTW bathroom=toilet and bucket of cold water for shower.
*Frozen duro (like fruit with a touch of milk-like ice cream) in a plastic bag sold 3 houses down for 10 cents each. Both the coconut and the Guanabana are amazing.
*Shoving 5 of us on the public bus (squeezed beyond capacity). The bus breaks down 5 minutes later, but friends from church pull up behind and we hitch a free ride from them.
*Squishing 2 people side by side in a truck bucket front seat and cramming 6 people on the back seat bench is less illegal than riding in the truck bed.  Curious.
*Taking a truck taxi where we COULD ride in the back and cramming 12 people in it. This truck bed is MUCH smaller than even a Ford Ranger's bed...oh my. Talk about getting to know your neighbor.

*Enjoying the slight breeze while using the plastic tented greenhouse like bathroom until the breeze blows the sheets a little too far. Oh well. And of course there is a billy goat tied up right next to the bathroom; this is the world race.

*Remembering to check for men gardening the groves behind the open side of the restroom before going.
*Playing tag with a million kids.
*Giggling and making funny faces with kids.
*Having a 19 year old flirt when he thought I was 23...when he found out he had the wrong decade, I think his story changed a bit.
*Finding my Panamanian boyfriend, Ramone, who I think is 7. He likes to hug and kiss my cheek a LOT. He is precious!
*Scuba diving for $50 for Rachel's birthday...seeing a live shark under a sunken ship off Bocas del Toro island...AMAZING

*Open Hands 401. Graduated with honors. :)
*Playing volleyball with the teens of the church as an advertisement for the evening services held on the volleyball court in the middle of town.
*Taking motorized canoes where the seats were cut from a 2x4 with a machete as we were climbing in the wobbly ride.
*Tamales at midnight on Christmas Eve-along with hot chocolate, fruit cake and fireworks.
*Winning an ink pen, $1, a Snickers bar and a couple of Oreos made in the US from our team's Dirty Santa Christmas game (White Elephant with 'real' gifts)
*Celebrating Rachel's birthday on the island in the most mall like cafeteria I've seen yet. Nothing says bday like a corndog!
*Celebrating Krystle's birthday with scrumptious chocolate cake.
*The turkey who chased Matt through feedback-hilarious! Mwahhahahaha.

We have been to the jungle and back and it was much more than I thought it would be!  We had the best of all worlds. We got to use our tents to keep out the bugs, but we got to do it inside a house of wood. We went ot the bathroom outdoors but there was a gigantic tarp like structure to provide some privacy and they brought in a seat of sorts for us. We ate off the fruit of the land and it was delicious! Fresh bananas, oragnes, plantains, yuka-delightful! We also had eggs, lentils and rice along with some delicious hot sauce and ketchup (yes, we brought in the condiments).

 

Here is the bathroom and the billy goat tied up next door!

We were able to bathe in the Changinola River which was cold but not the coldest place we've been and it certainly was much cleaner than many showers we've had. We laughed about our team bath time in our bathing suits. It was quite the bonding experience as we took turns holding the soap and shampoo for others so they could rinse off. And we had a beautiful 30 minute hike each way to and from the bathing hole.

 

 

Our contact Octavio and his wife Sarah along with their family (3 kids, his brother's family including 6 kids, the grandad and any others living there) were such amazing, gracious hosts. They gave up their rooms for us. Some slept on the floor downstairs and the rest shared the other 2 bedrooms of the house. There were people everywhere! Matt shared his tent with one of the boys each night because they fought over who had the privilege of sleeping in the nice tent. Precious. They worked to make sure all of our needs were provided and they were willing to share anything. There is true joy and love here. There is a real commitment to the Lord and to family.

 

 

Even though we are living off Cable 52 in the Chiquita Banana Fields in Changinola, Panama, the  people here are from the Bogle trive and have been here long before Chiquita arrived. The people of this tribe marry very early in life and ask me every day if I have a spouse and/or kids. It's the same peole who ask
every day and I laugh that they just don't believe I'm still single. I tell them one day in the future God will provide and I guess each day they ask, maybe they think that could be the day God provides.

Octavio has a heart to evangelize the people of his land, his family and his tribe. We have shared the good news with others who live in the banana fields and with his extended family and their friends just across the river. People live in the kind of homes you see on TV commercials for Feel the Hungry. But there is
a real sense of love and community and a trust that somehow God will provide. And He does. There is joy enough to go around as well as plenty of love and hope. I am grateful to see men and women of God living in obedience in all circumstances.