Wednesday, November 27, 2013

A heart of thanks.


:: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…and be thankful.:: Colossians 3:15

With it being Thanksgiving I find it only appropriate to list somethings I am thankful for.

1. I am thankful for a great community of support not only back in the States but here in Uganda as well.

2. I am thankful for all the kids I have been able to meet the last 4 months. Thankful for all the joy they bring to my day even on my toughest days.

3. I am thankful for the caregivers here and the friendships we have built. For their willingness to spend months upon months here taking care of the children they came with. For their willingness to share their hearts with us each day. 

4. I am thankful for the staff that I work with. For their heart to see God's healing and their dedication to working with these children. For the laughter and joy we have outside of work.

5. I am thankful for roommates who help me through the tough days here. I am thankful for their laughter and love.

6. I am thankful for all the struggles I have witnessed here. They have allowed me to see God's work and love through some of the toughest environments and situations.

7. I am thankful for God's protection. His unconditional love. His willingness to let me question Him in all things. 

I could go on an on for what I am thankful for but this post would never end. 


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This year for Thanksgiving my two American roommates and I decided to make a Thanksgiving dinner for the staff, children, and caregivers here at Acheru. We bought 9 chickens to cook, 3 crates of soda, 12 kilos of rice, 2 pumpkins, 3 bags of pasta and 30 eggs to complete our meal. We made pasta salad, deviled eggs, pumpkin crumble, rice, and chicken for dinner. We tried to find turkeys but the turkey man in Kabembe was no where to be found.

We explained to everyone what Thanksgiving meant to us and how we were excited to share this holiday with our Ugandan family. All 60 of us gathered in the school room to share a meal. There is something special about sharing a meal with someone, and even more important here. In Ugandan sharing a meal is very important for relationships. We were honored that they allowed us to share this special meal with them. 

After the meal everyone broke out into dancing. Each different region shared a traditional dance. They even had us Americans share a dance. We didn't know what to do so we all broke out into the chicken dance. 

It was the perfect celebration, full of love and joyfulness. Just what Thanksgiving should be! We even had some Ugandans tell us how stuffed they felt after dinner. That's quite impressive considering they eat like champs!


Mashing 2 pumpkins!

Part of our food.

Let the dancing begin! (Moses and Fred)

Odong, Fred, Esther, Kevin, Aaron, Okello, Moses, Scovia

Martin and Peter cleaning the chickens!

The rest of the food!

Tony and Okello

Serving up some food!

Patience and Mama Patience

Blessing likes it!

Tom and Aaron

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