Just a warning – this post has A LOT of pictures! Some are mine, some are from others who were on the trip but there are hundreds more out there. I tried to pick enough to show all the different things the group got to see and do.

This group was the first big group we’ve had – eighteen in total. I was so nervous in the time leading up to them coming. Would we have enough for them to do? Too much for them to do? My biggest fear was that they would be disappointed or bored! My prayers were always that they see God’s glory here, the beauty of Uganda and it’s people and experience a taste of the life we live. They got a big taste on the second day – the solar went out for the first time since we got it! (That’s the one thing I didn’t pray about!) And we couldn’t get in touch with the man who put it in. So the entire time they were here there was no power, no internet, no fans in the hot apartments! They got to see a little of what we experienced when we first moved here. And to see that most things (like getting it fixed quickly!) don’t come easy here. They were great about it and I am so thankful God brought such a happy, easy going group! They were such a blessing to us and those around us.

I learned a lot – it’s hard to cook for that many people! But I see things I can do differently for the next time to make things a little easier on me and the group. I learned that you can make real connections in a short amount of time. I got to see some things through their eyes that in the daily, sometimes stressful life here I had forgotten.

They got to see some of the daily life of the people in our community – some made bricks and I think found it’s harder than the guys make it look! I know it’s harder than I first thought it would be. Some worked on a latrine for the school across the way. I think it was hard for them because of the distraction of beautiful little children! They learned that there is always an audience with everything we do! I am so thankful for the women that helped me in my first endeavor with the Hope For Girls project. And the children – they are the biggest part of our life here. They spent a day at OVU school with the kids. I know OVU has over four hundred students! Then we had kids day here with two schools – I would estimate four to five hundred students were on our grounds that day. I was very skeptical when I was told they would do crafts at each place but it worked out very well and the kids loved it. I think they lucked out because one school here came after the crafts were over! And as always EVERYONE loves Mr. Donny’s magic! They are all still talking about it and I get asked frequently if I know his secrets. I tell them I know only one but I am sworn to secrecy by the magicians code! They think that is funny.

¹Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14

I am so thankful for the sacrifices of time, money and separation from their families. I think that each of them took away a different perspective and were able to see and understand how blessed they are in their lives. I thank God for them and pray that the desire to help others that they felt here will grow everyday, not just for Africa but all around them. The scripture above makes me think above all else about this group, there was so much compassion, kindness and patience. I know that they didn’t all know each other well before they came but an experience like this will bind many different personalities forever and I think they had to have unity to get along in close quarters! I pray that they visit again, I can tell you four days isn’t enough, for us or for them! But even in that short time we were able to have meaningful talks with some of them. We don’t often get to have conversations with people who have things in common so it was a great blessing! We had praise and worship and a different person had a devotion each night, sharing this time with our workers and families. The last two nights we had it outside and I think I liked that more than in the building. The last night was a crazy one! I still don’t know who started the dancing with chairs on their heads but there was so much joy! Our workers and friends got to sing and show off for the visitors and they took full advantage of it!

I think our first time hosting such a big group was a success even with the challenges and definitely will make me better prepared for the next group that comes, and to better prepare them for life here! We have been here long enough that we have forgotten how important and how hard the little things can be, like keeping mosquito nets closed ALL of the time! We laughed a little at some things but then remembered we were once them and it wasn’t funny when we were learning about life here!

I am working on putting some of the videos I have together for another post. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we have!

And thank you Celebration Church for the joy you brought us and this little village in Uganda!

Making bricks!

I think this and the other boda pics are my favorite!

I love you Morgan – a girl after my own heart!

Morgan and Kitty. Kitty, you are a tough woman, sickness didn’t slow you down!

Working on the latrine

Getting ready to teach the girls!

The children loved having visitors!

He had four fighting to hold his hand!

The football teams!

Being silly with my sisters!

Making bricks

We had a great time in America, so happy to see family and friends but sad that as busy as we were we didn’t get to see everyone we would have liked to. We visited churches to talk about our life here in Uganda. Since coming back we have been quite busy! We are preparing for a pretty big group from America that are coming soon, that’s exciting and a little nerve-wracking! First time hosting that many people and praying they will see just a small part of our life, and daily life of our community. We plan on keeping them busy with construction, learning how to make bricks, entertaining children and educating girls about puberty. All in four days! Pray for us all!

I have been preparing The Mandate Newsletter so over the next week I will be posting some of those stories to update you on what is going on here. You can always go to themandate.com to check out what The Mandate does to help alleviate poverty and sign up for the newsletter.

Preaching the Gospel.

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”
1 Timothy 4:13

We have seen God’s hand on our ministry mightily moving the past two months. Many youth are giving their lives to Jesus Christ. We have seen Him adding people hungry to study His word on Sunday mornings, and this month we added a preaching service on Sunday evenings. Last Sunday there were 65 people – over half were men. Some of the men that have just started attending study or preaching are muslim and are not accustomed to worshipping side by side with women so it has been a great encouragement to see them and hear them ask deep meaningful questions about God, His Word and His Son. We have also been seeing growth in some of the people who have been attending for a long time.

Every week Christian has been going to the men’s prison near us. There are three hundred sixty men imprisoned there and about half have attended for the message. Christian spent some time with the warden and had opportunity to answer some of his questions about verses in the Bible. Many of the men have no-one to visit them and a lot of them have had very little education. There are requests for soap and toiletries but also books and pens for a literacy program they offer. If the men don’t have anyone to help them with the cost, they aren’t able to participate. There are also many requests for Bibles. We are thankful we are able to help and bless them with some of these material things, but mostly that we are able to minister the Word of God.

The newsletter will be going out in the next week so if you’d like to receive it there is a newsletter sign up here themandate.com at the bottom of the page.

There are many requests for Bibles in our village and in the prison. We would love for you to partner with us in donating a Bible – the cost of one Bible is $10. I would like to make them personal so if you would like, we can inscribe your name and/or a short word of encouragement/scripture inside of the Bible. Together we are making a difference.

To learn more or donate to the Bible fund biblesforbusowobi

As we get ready to go back to the States for a visit, many have asked us if we are happy and excited to go “home”. I am happy to be able to see family and friends we haven’t seen in two years and seven months! But for us it is a visit, we are home and the thought of leaving home for six weeks has brought tremendous stress and anxiety for me. You think about leaving your home for six weeks and you will understand. I pray that those we are coming to visit can be patient and understand that just as we had to get used to the culture here, it will be in reverse when we go back. We have learned a new way of life, have different routines here. Life is much slower here than in America and living in a third world country is so different.. There is a different president since we left and as we can watch from afar, we see so many changes in America. So yes, I’m excited but also anxious! The first part will be the hardest, happy to see loved ones but feeling overwhelmed and bombarded – dealing with jet lag (we will travel close to thirty hours) and time change. There is a seven to eight hour difference so getting used to it at first will be hard. And then we will have to do it all again when we get back! This is our time of the year to have a break and relax and all of the visiting with family and friends will be joyful but tiring so I pray everyone will understand that the last part of our trip will just be for us three. To have quiet and rest and be refreshed and ready to come back with a new outlook and strength.

We went to visit our kids today, we haven’t seen them since taking them to school. I have worried about them adjusting and missed them so much. There’s a hole in Sunday School now where Naomi used to be. I didn’t realize until I saw her just how much I missed her. She came running as soon as she saw the car and it didn’t take long for the rest of them to come to us. Plus about fifty other students! They were all just finishing morning break and porridge so we got to talk with them before they went back to class. The first pictures was my attempt to only get our five – but as you can see I didn’t succeed! The next thing I know all kids dropped to their knees and there was quiet. The bell had rung and everyone got back up and went to class. The head master called our kids over so that we could have a few minutes with just them. They say they are adjusting well, they like their classes. The only problem they are having with the older three is that they can’t read. It is sad, but very few schools out in the villages teach reading. They learn everything by rote and memorization. There are no textbooks. And if they are taught to read it is English or Luganda but they speak Lusoga. It is quite confusing.

The two little ones had no stockings on, one didn’t have shoestrings – they were “lost” and they had lost their key to their metal locker that they keep their things in. Apparently there was a matron that was maybe not able to keep up with the little ones. We were told there is a new matron. Their stockings may be in there, but Jenifer warned them and us that they have to keep everything locked up because if not, everything will be stolen. We were prepared for that since they have never been away to school. So, I brought back a small list of things they need and Jenifer will take it to them (along with the spare keys we kept!) on Saturday.

The first thing the girls said to me was the school was having their party on Saturday, are we going to be there. Children that board stay for approximately two and a half months a term/three terms. Most parents don’t see them until holidays or on visitation day – which is Saturday. They come to visit and bring the kids food and candy and such. So I know they didn’t want to be left out not having family there. I had to break the news that we wouldn’t be there and I could see their happy expressions just fall. But I told them Jenifer is cooking for them and going to brings all kinds of good stuff and spend the day with them and they were happy again! We brought them cookies, fruit, juice and pocket money for the cantina today. We also told Jenifer that she needs to tell their father to go visit. He promised us he would go visit the first week but has not. I doubt he ever does. It’s shameful to just send your children away and not even know if they are taken care of or being abused. He knows nothing except our reputation so he I’m sure he is just relieved they are not his responsibility. Not that he felt that way when they were here, or do much to contribute to them. He was mostly living with his other wives and leaving five small children to fend for themselves.

God is good, all the time and I am thankful everyday that he brought them into our lives. That they have grown healthier, happier and now with the opportunity given them will gain knowledge. Not just reading and writing but also they are in a Christian community where they will learn everyday about Jesus – not just on Sunday! I believe with all my heart that God’s mission for us here is the children all around us. I believe that having relationship and teaching them God’s ways at a young age will give them a chance for a better life, a chance to change their community and eventually bring change to a country. What we put into our hearts and minds is what will come out so everyday I ask God for opportunities to love one more child!

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

The past two weeks have been back to school around here. Banks are full of people paying school fees, town is packed with people buying supplies and taxi’s full of people and stuff hurrying to take kids back to school. Our children were given a great opportunity from the school that our organization helps to support. The offer was to board the three children we have been supporting into their school. We’ve been asked previously but I had been hesitant to take the older girls away and leave the young ones to fend for themselves. This year there is one more starting school, our friend at the school didn’t know there were actually seven children but only five that live here, the look on his face was a little shock because he was counting on supporting three! We told him that there were four ready for school, and a little one around 4. We worked it out so that the three are paid for by them and we will support the two little ones. Cost wise it will work out about the same or less than what we spend in a year for schooling, clothing and food. But the opportunity for these kids to have supervision, love, and a great education is awesome. We are so thankful to OVU for the offer and thankful that the father let them go. The kids were beyond excited!

Because the kids have not had education on the level of the new school they could not pass the interview examinations for their grades. So each one will be put back a couple of grades. The main problem is they don’t know English and the school teaches, speaks and reads in English. All government schools are supposed to teach the kids English but don’t. They don’t even really know how to read in their own language. We were so worried about how they would feel about being put back – Phiona is fourteen and will be put back to a grade that will have more ten year olds. But, because of the problem of parents abilities to pay school fees and kids starting later and missing a lot of school it is very common to find twenty year olds still in secondary school. We went and talked to our friend who counseled them and said they are okay with it, they are so happy to be there.

The youngest one is a handful! He has never been in school, he hasn’t had a mother that he remembers. The older kids are very well behaved and the father told us that is due to their mother’s upbringing. But the little one – he’s a mess! When we went back a couple days after taking them, Raelee went to play on the playground when all the little ones were at recess. We didn’t pay attention that all the kids had gone back to their classes, except for little man. He was still out on the playground with Raelee! I had to shoo him back to class.

Of course, I cried. I have been Mama to them for over two years, especially the younger girl. I’ve held her when she was sick and crying. Fed them, tried to watch out for them. I am going to miss them so much, but I am so thankful especially for the girls that they will be in a safe, loving christian environment. And, we can go visit them as much as we want to. We pray every day that with this opportunity they will have a chance at a better life!

I have tried unsuccessfully to get video of Raelee and Sula playing. I wanted to get her speaking in her Ugandan accent. She has to translate for me many times – in English – but in their accent. They don’t understand my accent I guess! And I haven’t gotten theirs down yet. I asked Salima if she was going to intern when she was home and she had me repeat three times and still didn’t get it. I said “You know, what you do on your breaks with the NGO”. She said “You mean intern?”. That’s what I said! So, ignore please the way my daughter sits, she is supposed to wear leggings at all times (which doesn’t make it a whole lot better) and I am constantly having to tell her to keep her legs together. She and Sula were the only ones on the property, playing right outside my bedroom window. She doesn’t know I recorded them, she heard my camera when I took the picture so Sula posed for me. (She starts speaking to him in his accent towards the five minute mark. And she does know quite a bit of Lusoga but mostly with him speaks English. His mother and Raelee converse quite a bit. But don’t ask her to tell you any words, she probably won’t!) By the way, that is chalk.

She will say one phrase to us in Lusoga, “Come here, I am going to beat you”. The boys taught her to say “You have the face of a dog” and she was yelling it as Christian was driving with her and the boys through the village. At people! He asked the boys what she was saying and they didn’t want to tell him. Finally one of them told him and he told them not to teach her those kind of things.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”      Jeremiah1:5

Today we had a visitor! Sophia brought the baby to see us, I thought Raelee was not going to be able to contain herself! Tenwa left early today so that they could go visiting a little bit since this is the first day for her to leave her house. She is tiny! Her name is Shefa (I’m sure that is not correct spelling!) Pronounced Shee/fa. Sophia says Shakim loves his little sister, he is around two and a half, was a newborn when we moved here. I will be so excited when Sophia comes back to work so I will have to take care of the baby while she is working! I’m not excited about Sophia coming back to work with the baby and having to fight Raelee over taking the baby off to her room to dress her and play with her like a doll!

While Salima was home from college for Christmas she made liquid soap. It costs so much less than the powdered soap I buy in the supermarkets. I know there are a lot of things I could get for so much less but don’t know where to get it, can’t get it for the Ugandan price because the color of my skin. Two and a half years now and we still find out things that we could get here and say “Why did we not know that?”! Salima left me with the supplies for the soap and we just finished off what she made. It so happens the young man that taught her was around today and Jennifer brought him here so that he could teach them how to make it. But he told them you have to buy the ingredients in Kampala. I know we can get them here, Salima will just have to tell her mother where! This young man goes around teaching liquid and bar soap making, candle making, mosquito repellent and some kind of jelly. I know how to make most of these things, just can’t find the ingredients. Part of the problem in us finding things is what we call them is not what they call them! So when we ask about something, they may actually have it here but they have no idea what we are talking about! He is teaching two days at a school in town, he just travels around and charges groups of people to teach and for the materials. The ingredients from them cost the same as what Salima bought. It costs under $10 to make thirty liters. Then people sell a small water bottle worth for about twenty five cents so they can profit around $15 on each batch. That’s pretty good for someone out here in the village. They all just laughed when I told them that and said that was a lot of money. But I doubt any of them will pursue it. Very hard to understand why they wouldn’t. They had a lot of fun, Sharifu was embarrassed to stir it because he was afraid someone might think he was cooking porridge for everyone. (Not man’s work!)

We’ve had bad news this week, really praying for a solution. Our kids we feed and send to school got their exam results this week. The new year will start the first week of February, I don’t know why they have to wait until two weeks before the new school year to see if they passed. The two in second and third grade always have excellent grades. Fiona was in her last year of primary school, she would go on to secondary (which I guess is junior and senior high for us). She has always tried hard but struggled to get good grades. Not failing grades but we have asked if there was anything we could do to help her. She has always gone during holidays, stayed late and really given her all to it. We have been praying about where she will go to school for secondary. It would probably be best for her to board in town for her physical safety but haven’t been sure about her leaving all the younger ones on their own. Naomi is around twelve now so she can take care of all. And one more younger one is going to school this year. But, Fiona failed the exam. And the teachers told her that her only two options in life are to become a seamstress or child care. How sad is that, to be told it’s pointless to repeat school and you won’t amount to anything more that two options? We talked to the head master today and he said most times they don’t have children repeat grades but they don’t feel it will do Fiona any good to repeat. We wonder if it is because for the first five years she went to the inferior government school and didn’t get a good foundation or help soon enough. Now, if she stays home she will feel shame. She is at high risk at being taken advantage of and to be married off – she is fourteen or fifteen now, marrying age. We are going tomorrow to talk to a good Ugandan friend to see what we can do and then our plan is to take her to a female Ugandan friend to try and have a conversation with her away from the village. That is the biggest struggle for us, to get the whole story, to get true feelings about something, to get the true interpretation. I’m asking prayer for this situation and for Fiona. She is a beautiful shy girl that has no mother and really no one but us to help her with life. And doesn’t speak English! I hate that, because she isn’t going to talk openly through anyone here interpreting. It is extremely hard to have heart to heart talks with someone through an interpreter, especially one that is local because gossip is rampant here and no one wants to be talked about. Being motherless is hard enough for her. I believe with all my heart God put us in Fiona and her siblings’ lives for a reason so He has a plan for her. Our God is a miracle worker. He can part waters, move mountains, bring the dead back to life, save, bless and care for. He can do anything, everything, things beyond our comprehension.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” -Jeremiah 29:11

I was sick soon after Christmas and very sick New Year’s until the first of last week so I haven’t been with the children until yesterday in this new year. I missed them! (Even though for close to two weeks I was pretty out of it) We had a very good day, learning more about Jesus and all the names He has been called and has called Himself. When I asked if anyone would like to color there was almost pandemonium! It is certainly humbling to see children get excited over getting to color – that is not something most of them get to do often or have ever done. And I was very impressed at how artistic some were in their coloring, I guess their use of color combinations shouldn’t be surprising when I consider all the colorful clothes they wear! I didn’t take the pictures, I am thankful Derrick did. I was busy losing my mind over marker caps not being put back on them! Constantly going round and round the tables looking for caps and markers without caps! They have no concept that the markers will not work anymore if they dry out! I was also very impressed at how many remembered names of Jesus that we had learned a while ago. I am so thankful to be back among the land of the living and blessed to be with the kids again!

Isaiah 44:6, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.”