Welbe Back! (The Ugandan way of saying "welcome back!")
I just came back home to Acheru after a week of traveling around the Kampala/Jinja area with Julie, Aaron, and Emmy. What a week of traveling. So many stories to tell, but I will try to only focus on a few of the more impactful ones. If I didn't, I would be writing for days!
This was my first time traveling around and doing village/home/church visits with Julie. We had quite the busy schedule, and I really got a small glimpse of what Julie does as a living by herself most of the time. I was amazed at the courage she has to enter into some of the places we went. She has such confidence in God's protection as she drives around trying to remember what landmarks (or rock piles) to turn at, and then venture around by foot in slums to find the homes.
Anyways, we started our traveling with being dropped off in Kampala to meet Julie. We spent the first night just resting up before our big week ahead. The first stop in our travels: Word of Life church. Word of Life is a small church in a small village outside Kampala. The roads were so rough that I couldn't believe the car could make it through. We arrived to the church without knowing what to expect. There waiting for us was about 7/8 people who really want to develop a ministry for children with special needs. I have come to learn to ALWAYS have some message prepared when going to a church. Sure enough, this church asked all four of us to share a message with them. Aaron started us off with speaking from Matthew 24 where God speaks to us about loving the least of these. Julie followed with talking about the body of Christ and how we are each a part of it. Emmy went next and talked about how we need to heal spirituality not just physical. I ended the message with talking about how each one of us is made in Christ image. I thought it went pretty well considering it was on the spot preaching!
We later went to meet a mother and son in the slums of Kampala. The family has since moved but since we did not know where to we met the mother in their old two room house. It was a family of 10 and they had spent the past 14 years living in a 2 room house that was smaller than my living room here at Acheru. Yet this was the most loving mother I have met. She is the most beautiful person inside and out that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Mama Raymond had a son named Raymond who is 17 years old and has Cerebral Palsy. The love that Mama Raymond has for her son was such a blessing to see. Julie explained to us that it is rare to find a mother here in Uganda who has really realized what a blessing their child can be to them. Mama Raymond had complete faith that God will provide and has provided for her by giving her Raymond. They were just recently blessed to be told of a house that was much bigger and much cheaper to move too. We got to see their new home. Mama Raymond was so excited to have us in her home.
We later went on to visit my old stomping grounds at Good Shepherds Fold. It was so great to be there, but I also really realized how Acheru is my new home and I couldn't wait to be back. I am so grateful that I got to see all my friends at GSF and hold my dear Kenny again! We were able to provide 2 new wheelchairs for Matthew and Sam! After GSF we headed to a church in Jinja where Aaron was asked to deliver the message, and then we were invited to the Pastors house for lunch. A lunch of 5 hours haha.
The next day we headed to our big adventure. James, the tailor here at Acheru, asked if we could come and do assessments in his village as there are many children with disabilities there. He promised he would mobilize them all to one meeting spot where we could come and meet them. So with Julie, we drove about 2 hours out into the village (all on dirt roads of course), slid through the mud, and arrived to his village. What a welcoming we received! His entire village and neighboring villages had come singing and dancing when we arrived. They had a long welcoming party for us including more singing/dancing, skits, food, and messages. To make it a long story short, we eventually divided the kids into a physical disabilities group and a mental disability group. I went with Julie to asses the children with more mental disabilities.
I'm still trying to process my time in that room with Julie. So many children came to us with their parents. Their parents looked to us to solve their child's problems, but we can't. These things can't be "fixed". The only things we could really do was show them exercises to do with their children who had Cerebral Palsy or try to explain as best as we could that their child who has not spoken, probably won't ever speak. Still the parents wanted us to do something. Each time Julie spoke with the parents I would sit in the back in my little wooden chair and just pray for their child. Pray for the parent that they may continue to love their child and know that God made them in his own image and that they would know just how important that is. Three of the children we saw really spoke to my heart. Two of them were boys with Autism. To try and explain to their mothers that this is the way God made him and they could not be "fixed" was so hard. In the states when I have had to be in the middle of the "autism conversation" parents at least know a little about Autism. Here…there is no knowledge. They don't understand why their kid is the way they are, and to try and explain it was so difficult to watch. There was another girl who was 17 years old and had Cerebral Palsy. She was so severely malnourished that her mother could carry her on her back like a baby. I was in shock when they told me she was 17 years old. How has this child lived so long? Clearly by the grace of God. Again the mother came looking for answers, but all we could do was refer her to a nutrition hospital. We were going to bring her there ourselves, but there were over 60 kids left to asses. It was so heartbreaking to not be able to do anything.
It's at these times where I really understand what Emmy means when she talks about how feeding them spiritually. Because there is nothing we can physically do to "fix" these children. We have to rely and truly believe that God is going to take care of them, and if we can tell that to the parents then maybe they will begin to believe that too. All I can do here is tell these kids how loved they are, and tell their parents how loved they are. It's so hard as a westerner who wants to "fix" and to "solve" things, but I just can't.
Clearly there is so much more I could write about, but like I said, I'd be writing forever. I am excited to be able to do more traveling with Julie and to continue showing the love of Christ. It's all we can do here. For now, it is good to be back at Acheru and begin my routine of working with Teacher Juliet. We have received many new kids while gone.
Prayer Points:
1. The children in James' village. Specifically the mothers of the two boys with Autism and the mother of the daughter with cerebral palsy. That they would continue to love their children and see them as blessings from God.
2. Our week here at Acheru as we continue to build relationships. Specifically we are trying to begin bible studies/praise times for the caregivers here. We are having a hard time getting staff to be more motivated to take charge. We could be in charge, but we aren't the ones who are here in the long run. That we would have wisdom on how to go about this.
3. Praise- I'm still healthy! No sickness thus far! Even after eating White Ants!
Emmy hopped right into the dancing.
