"His faithfulness continues through all generations"

Sitting on our roof the other day, I was thinking a lot about the amount of money I have to raise before I can go back to Uganda (and ya, I was stressing a bit). After a little, I reminded myself that the reason I had gone up to the roof was to do my devotions.... not to stress about the future. So, I opened up my bible to my next reading... and this is what I read.

Psalm 100: 2, 3 and 5
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture... For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

I then felt stupid for stressing.

So, basically, I am prayerfully considering sticking around here a little longer and helping out with Hope for Home and Hogar de la Esperanza to get some very helpful basic knowledge.

Prayer requests:
1. Knowledge for the next step(s)
2. Financial support as he sees fit.
3. Peace for the future.

Thank you all for the prayers. I will try to do a bit better at keeping you all updated (its just a little hard when I don't have anything to update you on :P )

No longer a Mzungu

So sorry, this is long over due.

First things first..... No longer a Mzungu (thats what Ugandans calls white people). I have learned to sit sideways on the back of a motorcycle (for when I wear dresses or skirts), I am working on learning a little bit of Luganda (one of the more common languages there), I carry kids wrapped up on my back, and I got my hair done.

African braids.... fun experience, terribly look. (this picture was taken here in Guatemala, but its the best picture)

Since I last updated, most of my time was spent with Ekisa.... but I also spent one week with Doors Ministry (for those of you who dont know, Teisha and I spent a few weeks ago with them back in the fall). Doors Ministry has 2 main parts to in, a slum school and a home for street boys. Each day I would spend some time each day at the school, then later I would go back to the home and help some of the boys practice their reading.

I got to teach an art class at the school.

Here are a few more pictures from my time at Ekisa...

We took some of the kids swimming :)

I left Uganda Monday morning (the 10th). I had about a 9 hour flight to London where I met my cousin, Angelina, and got to spend the night there with her. 

(picture of us on the tube)

The next day we went to the airport, got checked in, and had some coffee together while waiting for the flight. After that, I had about a 9 1/2 hour flight to Miami, 5 hour layover (where I watched a movie and ate american Wendy's!!!!! Twas a big day), then only a 2 1/2 hour flight to Guatemala... where I got to see my family!!!!! It is so good to be home but I sure do miss Uganda.

So, I started out by saying that I was no longer a Mzungu.... that is a lie. As a white person in an African country I will always be a mzungu.... and I think I am ok with that :)

Let's throw in a few long days...

On Tuesdays, at 8:15 am all of the mamas, volunteers, kids, strollers  wheelchairs, backpacks, diaper bags and lunches piled in a bus and a van and pulled out of Ekisa. We set out on a 3 hour drive on our way to the Zoo (each adult with a child on their lap). It was a really fun day, but also very stressful. 

But first, the kids all had to get ready... which means their smart clothes :)

Everyone was paired up and divided into groups. One child to each adult... and everyone was assigned a group (each with a leader). Josh was my buddy. He is a very interesting little boy.... he often fears white people (that's the way the Ugandans say it).... but he is improving. Josh often likes me, but not always. He is defiantly my boy, I love that boy like crazy!

When we got to the zoo, the first thing we did was sat down and had a snack (after the long drive the kids needed it). Some of the milk that was lugged that far was bad, so we put it aside.... and the monkeys got a hold of it. There were a LOT of monkeys... and they were NOT afraid of humans. At one point, Luke (one of the other volunteers) took some of the boys to the bathroom. On his way back he heard Jason yell "Zeke!", and when he (Luke) looked over, he saw Zeke laying on the ground and a couple monkeys jumping off of him. 

Now, here are a bunch of other pictures....

This monkey totally looked like a Dr Seuss character...

So, that was Tuesday....
on Wednesday... 1 Ekisa nurse, 4 volunteers, 1 driver, and 7 kids piled back in a van and headed to an appointment at the hospital..... another 3 hour drive. This day was super stressful. We had 3 kids that couldn't walk (one of which cried if you put him down, or handed him to Luke) and we had 4 kids who could walk but ether had autism or were mentally disabled.  Normally that would be fine, but when you have kids that are really hungry cause its way passed lunch time, who are super sleepy and grumpy, you don't have the amazing ladies that know how to properly keep the autistic children calm, and you are in a hospital hallway.... it gets difficult. Luckily we all made it out alive :P It was quite the adventure :)

After a long day, Zak was wiped out.

On the final leg of the last trip, I took a minute to figure it out.... over those 36 hours, I spent about 14 hours traveling back and forth... and about 11 of those hours I had a child on my lap. Oh, what fun :)

The one advantage of having to get up super early, is seeing the amazing sunrise! God is amazing!