Week Two

So much is happening so fast i cant even process it let alone write it all down. I apologize for it taking so long to write another update. Recently the Oklahoma team left and so now things have calmed down a bit. We are cleaning the house, doing laundry, and fully settling into everyday life. relationships have grown so strongly so quickly it would be impossible to forget or lose. ill give and update of recent events. This last weekend was the busiest I have yet experienced. Friday night the Dove Voice Band came for dinner which is a group of about 20 guys who are refugees from the Congo. We had such a fun night. The shared their music and love with us. After a long night of intense praying and worship we sent them off into the night. The next morning they came for breakfast and we spent some good quality time with them. We worshiped some more and heard a word from their group paster Boris. After the boys left, the team, Robyn and I went on a boat ride the the source of the Nile. Beauty and diversity surrounded us. That night was somewhat relaxed and we spent the time with each other going over what we have seen and experienced. Just as dinner was served Momm arrived from shopping in Kampala with a girl named Maureen. Now, a while back I got a newsletter from Papa about this lady. Maureen worked at a shoe shop, and one day she found a baby boy in the alleyway abandoned. The boy was deathly ill. She took him to many doctors and found that he had TB. Here they say if you have TB then most likely you have HIV. Luckily this little one did not have HIV. Maureen took him everywhere to revive this child from sickness but all doctors would turn her down and tell her "this boy is going to die". She didnt give up and with that little faith she found a doctor to treat him. The doctor told her the boy was just starved and needed nourishment and give him to weeks to make him better. During those two weeks Maureen went on a search for the mother who left her son to die. After some time and with luck she found her in the village of Musese (muh-se-see). The thing about this village is that it is the poorest of poor in Jinja area. The women work little and bring home the food. The men sleep and drink and chat all day. The children make the beer for the men. She brought the boy whose name is Michael, back to his mother and the was so grateful to Maureen. The mother had left her son because she knew he would die and did not want to witness it. Maureen regularly goes to Musese and brings food or clothes or medicine, whatever she can to Michael and the people. Saturday night she told us her story and that she was going up there on Sunday and we were invited. The team came with medications and antibiotics that they gave to Maureen to give to this village. Sunday was or most fun filled day ever (slight sarcasm). We arrived at David and Sarah's church in Bugembe (boo-gem-bee) at 10:30. When we got into the van to leave church it was 2 o'clock. I will never complain about a long church service again! Mind you it was quite a blast to be there and see what a village church is like. When we got home about one hour later Maureen arrived and we went with her to Musese. For the past couple days i had been feeling sick and not really up for going out and doing much. When we got there my body went into an internal panic. The children come running up and hang on you, pull you to the ground, stick their hands in your pockets, rub your hands on their faces. I love kids and i was happy to see them, but the feeling of death and pain easily found its way into me. Instantly I wanted to leave and not go back. I felt my body hit a state of breaking into pieces by all forces that were pulling me. An old lady who was small and could be mistaken for a kid was going around and hugging everyone saying something to them in her own language. As soon as she latched onto Robyn, I saw her start pushing her off but trying to be somewhat polite. I watched as the old lady headed for me and i felt my mind start to blur. she was blind in one eye and walked crooked. She wrapped her arms around my stomach and bowing her head to my waist. i had no reaction strangely, i mean i didn't even hug her back. She back away but not far, and in my peripheral vision i saw her hands going for my pockets while she was still smiling and talking to my face, and when i saw that unconsciously I slapped her hand away and grabbed her shoulders and moved her back from me. She looked at me and started laughing nervously and then went to the next person. All this time tons of kids are all over me. I stood there for a second trying to think about why i did that, and how i did it without even thinking about it. I thought about what was in my pockets and reminded myself that nothing was in there. I stuck my hand in the pocket she was reaching for, which was one down by my knee, and i was reminded that i put my ipod in that pocket and i found it still there. I thought about how could she ever know it was there? or see it because she was partially blind and she was looking at my face? As we kept walking up the hill through all these small pathways by peoples mud homes you notice that your walking on their toilets, stepping on all kinds of messy things that would make a person like me mentally throw up and start gagging but i felt like i wasn't even conscious of what I was thinking or feeling. We stopped where Maureen went to look for Michael. There was a little baby boy probably only 1yr if that, who was laying on the ground and people crowding around him because he was sick and had an injury on his head or neck, im not sure. There was an older lady sitting in the doorway of the house right next to this little baby. I could feel eyes on me and when i looked at her she looked to be in her 50's maybe. I noticed she was starring at me and for some reason i couldn't look away, not that it was impossible but i didn't want to. I smiled at her and she smiled at me so i decided to walk over where she was, as hard as it was with all the kids i went over to her and held her hand for a short second then got on my knees and hugged her. I felt a wave of emotion wash over me and it felt like it was coming from her. Once i hugged her i felt her body relax and she hugged so tight. I was so content there with her. When i pulled away she looked to be on the edge of crying. Neither one of us said anything. I held her hand as long as I could before the kids ere begging for my attention. When i got up to leave I smiled at her and she was grinning right back. It seemed like gradually there were tons of kids showing up the more time we stayed there. My panic was back in motion and when I looked back at the doorway the woman was gone and I thought as many happy thoughts and prayers as I could for her. On our way down the hill i could feel myself wanting to run into the van but i tried staying as calm as possible. So many dirty hands were touching me and i started to feel extreme amounts more sick then before. When we got to the bottom and waited for the van to turn around i noticed the one girl who stayed by my side the whole time (at least i think it was a girl) and she grabbed my hand and held it so tight and surprisingly she said "me come" like 3 times. I ended up having to pull her hand of mine, strong little kid. I thought she was going to cry, and when we started to drive away she did, and they were all sticking their hands in the windows and shaking our hands. It was SO strange how much i needed to leave that place but a part of me wanted to stay or at least bring some people with me. When we were away i felt my mind and body completely relax and I didn't feel sick anymore. That night we went out for dinner at 2 Friends and it was good to relax and eat and laugh with the team, Robyn, and Momm and Papa, and Peter our other teammate/driver/language teacher. The next couple days we all worked hard on our project of cleaning the house, painting the school in Bukeeka, and building desks. Wednesday the girls went to the childrens hospital. Then we went to a baby cottage orphanage. The team left Thursday night and we had a wonderful time with them :D The past few days we have been taking things slow and cleaning the house. I feel blessed to be where I am, even though sometimes I struggle with some things. Right now I am missing my siblings Ricky, Quint, and Hunter LOTS and obviously I miss mommy and daddy ha. I have never been good at being gone from those people for long periods of time. Truth is being here with Momm and Papa has been AMAZING and they have made it much easier to gone from home because they are apart of our home. God has blessed for sure. If at some point you feel like you can i would ask that you pray for it to be a little easier for Robyn and I to be away from at such a time in our lives. Thanks :D

I love you ALL SSOOOOO much you don't even know!