A GSF Christmas

December 25, 2012 - the first Christmas that I spent away from family. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, and I didn't anticipate it being difficult...but holidays definitely make the "sacrifice" of missionary life that much harder. But it served as a wonderful reminder of the great sacrifice that Christ made when he left his Father in heaven to come to earth. I'm so thankful that Jesus was obedient to God's will for Him!

 

He made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness. 

 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name, 

 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:6-11

Christ made the greatest display of sacrifice when he humbled himself, leaving all behind, and coming to earth as our Savior. Suddenly celebrating a Christmas away from my family doesn't seem so bad. Talk about perspective!

That said, celebrating Christmas here at GSF really was so special. Our GSF celebration started the evening of Christmas eve when we had a little gathering with the children. Most of the GSF kids are away with their relatives for the holiday, but a handful of the kids (including all of the babies, toddlers, and special needs children) remained. So, we got together in the "youth room," sang some songs (no, not "O Holy Night" - picture more like "Jesus Loves Me" songs) and Claudia read a Christmas story to all of the children. After the story, we did a candlelit song time and handed out stockings. Each child received his/her own stocking filled with things such as flavored water, chips, popcorn, crackers, and a few candies - they were thrilled! It was really special to see their excitement over (in American standards) sub-par stocking fillers. 

Have you ever seen such excitement over a bag of chips??

We then filed out to the pavilion where we lit a few floating lanterns. Although only one lantern actually floated (we were experiencing some pretty heavy winds - haha), it was still so special and exciting! 

Claudia reading the Christmas story

Floating lantern!

Christmas morning I finally got to open the presents that mom had packed for me six months in advance! I'm blessed with a mother who knows how to make Christmas special from the other side of the world. Then the missionaries had a brunch and gift exchange before we geared up for the lunch and gift time with all of the GSF children. 

A roommate Christmas picture!

Mid-afternoon, we were all ready the Christmas feast and gift time with the children. Just as it was time for the kids to come, the African rains showed up. We gathered the soggy kids and had a full spread feast, including matoke, rice, potatoes, chicken, beef, and pork topped off with a birthday cake for Jesus. We closed off the Christmas time with presents for each of the kids. 

Enjoying the Christmas feast

Meal time

Truck stop =)

Hard at play

Showing off the loot

Nothing beats a pair of Christmas undies!

Please pray for all of the GSF children who are home for the holidays. I'm so thankful that some of these children have relatives who are willing to take them, but most of them are in living situations that are less than comfortable. Some of the kids enjoy visiting their relatives, but some of them absolutely dread it. Pray that God would make His presence so strong to them during this time! 

Also pray for Daniel as he raises funds for his missions trip to Uganda! He arrives in Uganda on January 22. You are welcome to read about his preparation at www.danielinuganda.blogspot.com!

Thank you for your continued prayer support! May none of us ever take for granted the great sacrifice that Jesus Christ made when coming to earth and becoming our Savior. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Good News of Great Joy

As we finish up this last week before Christmas, I look forward to celebrating the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - as the prophets foretold:

          For to us a child is born,
              to us a son is given,
              and the government will be on his shoulders.
          And he will be called
              Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
              Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
          Of the greatness of his government and peace
              there will be no end.
          He will reign on David’s throne
              and over his kingdom,
          establishing and upholding it
              with justice and righteousness
              from that time on and forever.
          The zeal of the Lord Almighty
              will accomplish this.

          Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)

I also look forward to sharing this message of hope through my semester of service with Engineering Ministries International. The internship is now 3.5 weeks away! By God's grace I was able to finish up finals and the semester well last week. Now I am in full preparation for the upcoming trip to Uganda.

Please pray along with me for the following requests:

          1. Wisdom in setting things in order and packing for orientation and the internship
          2. Spiritual preparation for ministering to those with whom I will be building relationships
          3. Provision for the remaining financial support to be raised

Thank you for your continued support through prayer and giving! There is still, however, much funding that needs to be raised for the internship. I will update support raising progress using the thermometer on the right side of this page. If you feel led to make a donation, please do so online at https://emisecure.org/donate.html.

Have a blessed and merry Christmas!

A Piece of Richard's Story

Richard.

Richard is a precious and sweet little boy that arrived at GSF on August - the same day that I arrived at Good Shepherds Fold. I have since fallen in love with Richard. Over the last 3 1/2 months, Richard has thrived...emotionally. Physically, not so much. You see, Richard struggles with sickle cell and has been battling crisis and blood infections. He's been in out of clinics ever since he arrived with his condition only worsening. So, I took him to a clinic in Kampala for additional blood work and a second opinion. A week later, I scheduled a consultation and follow up appointment with the doctor. It turned out that, after over a month of battling crisis and infection, the day of this follow up appointment was also the day that his little body had had enough. By the time we arrived at the clinic, Richard was inconsolable and the doctor took him back immediately. After a pain killers and a quick assessment, the doctor told us that his body was going into failure. I was devastated and so scared. How could this sweet little boy be dying? What followed was four of the most intense days of my life. Richard's body did in fact start failing, including renal failure, intestine inactivity, and an acute chest infection. I sat in the hospital, along with Elijah (another little boy who I brought for surgery - his surgery went well and has had a full recovery) and Julie (a nurse who had arrived at GSF just days before), and prayed...and cried... How can you sleep next to a boy who is literally dying?  What do you do when there is nothing left to do? I called on my prayer warriors in America, and surely enough, our Healer God started reviving little Richard's body. After almost a day of inactivity, his kidneys and intestines began working. Here is a portion of an email that I sent to my family during that time: 

When the doctor told me yesterday that Richard was going in failure, when another doctor came in last night and said that he was going in renal failure and didn't come back for five hours to follow up on his diagnosis (leaving us to assume he didn't know what to do...in reality he really didn't and had "gone to call another doctor"), when Richards body just shook from pain and screamed unless drugged so heavily with a hallucination pain killer that he was asleep, and when another missionary with many years of experience told me that Richard's body was shutting down and that I needed to prepare myself for the worst and just love on him while I could, I was devastated and so helpless. Nobody knew what to do besides pray. And so its what everyone did - all of GSF, all of you, churches in America.... And now I really do still feel so hopeful. The fact that they're even throwing days around about when we may be able to go home is so huge. I know there is still a lot to work through and we are not at the end of the tunnel, but I at least feel there is an end of the tunnel. So thank you thank you for praying!! It is still so intense and so exhausting, physically and emotionally, but I wouldn't wish to be anywhere or doing anything else in the whole world. God knew what he was doing when he brought me and Richard to GSF on the same day.

I've never watched a miracle unfold the way that I saw God heal Richard that week. Richard's body was literally shutting down...and God put His hand on Richard and revived each of his little organs. Just days later, he was singing and talking. Below is a video that I took of him while at the hospital:


 

God's power was revealed through little Richard. I'm so thankful that He chose to spare the life of that sweet boy. Although Richard's body has had a month to heal since this traumatic time, it is still fighting the blood infection and chest infection. He has been back to the clinic twice and will continue to go for regular check ups. Sickle cell will be a life-long battle for this little guy. But, I know that battling sickle cell is just a piece of the full story that God has in store for him.

Please pray that God would continue to sustain and protect sweet Richard. And most of all, praise God for such a amazing healing!

Richard (on the left) and Elijah (on the right) staying entertained at the clinic

I'm currently at Word Of Life camp with 25 teenagers from Good Shepherd's Fold. The camp started on Sunday and runs until this Saturday. Please pray that God would be moving in the hearts of these teenagers as they are offered the gospel throughout the week! There's nothing more wonderful than expanding the family of God.

Ever Thankful

Hello all! I hope that last weekend was one of reflection and gratitude for everything God has provided and of remembrance that we can (and should) give thanks every day.

Time is quickly approaching! The start of my internship with EMI is about six weeks away. I now know the ministry project I will be working on while in Uganda. Good Shepherd's Fold Orphanage - where my girlfriend Corinne Stoltzfus is serving - is planning to build a secondary school near Jinja, Uganda in partnership with Amazima Ministries. They have asked EMI to complete the Master Planning and Building Design for this school. For more information on each of these ministries, please visit their websites at the following links:

You can also check out Corinne's blog by following the "Corinne in Uganda" link on the right.

Thank you for your prayer and support! I have started receiving financial contributions, and I will keep you updated on support raising progress. If you would like to make a donation, the easiest way to do so is online at https://emisecure.org/donate.html. My EMI intern account number is 2997.

Please continue to pray along with me and all the other interns as we continue preparing to serve. God bless you!

The Body

We walk into the mud structure, voices of three languages filling the air. The voices are strong, but not in an angry way. These voices are full of passion. There is a man standing up front, tall and clothed in a full dark blue suit. His eyes are full of energy as he speaks from his heart. He speaks in English, but has a man on his right side and a woman on his left side repeating his words in Luganda and Swahili simultaneously. Casia and I are ushered to the front of the building where they have two plastic chairs set aside for the "visitors." Along the way, congregation members pull us aside to shake our hands and say, "You are most welcome." And we feel most welcome. This is the church: the body of Christ. Worship begins and the music starts, but it is only the music of voices and clapping. But just voices? It almost sounds too full to be only voices. These are the voices of Africans, full, deep, and loud. They are jumping and clapping as they worship. Their hands create a rhythm that resembles a full percussion orchestra. Sweat falls from their faces, their hair, their arms, drenching their clothes as they "shake the devil," "jump on the devil," and "dance like a winner in the Lord." The songs almost sound childish, but then again, these people are children of the Lord. They are the body of Christ, worshipping and praising the same God as Community Evangelical Free Church worshipped and praised just 8 hours later. Worship time finishes, and the pastor proceeds to preach (with his two interpreters alongside him) of Daniel and his devotion prayer. "God's network is always clear." God hears our prayers, whether we are in a remote village in Uganda or in a mega church in America. Following a prayer service and a full spread for lunch, they give us a tour of the new church that they are building around the current church. Until it is complete, they will worship in their current building. However, the current building is weak and crumbling. So, the congregation has been tithing to build a new building on the same grounds (the old structure is literally within the walls of the new structure; they will just knock the current building down when the new one is complete). THIS is the body of Christ. In the middle of Katunda, a remote village out in sugar cane fields, a small body of believers are scrapping together tithe from their small salaries to build a house of God with no outside funding. Praise God. Casia and I hop on a boda with Sarah, a Ugandan who works at the GSF baby house, and her husband, Herbert (yes, that is four grown adults on one small motorcycle). They drive us to their home about 10 minutes away. Sarah and Herbert have two children as well as three orphans living at their house. You read that correctly - they have taken it upon themselves to raise three orphans because they saw a need and stepped up to the plate. What another beautiful picture of the body of Christ functioning well. We spend the next few hours fellowshipping with Sarah and Herbert, exploring each others cultures and sharing our hearts.

There are two GSF employees, Sam and David, who felt a calling to start a church in our next door village, Buundo. After a great deal of training and orchestrating, Sam and David are stepping out in faith this Sunday for their first church service. God provided a nearby unkempt building that Sam and David can rent each week for a small fee. This week Sam, the teenagers of GSF, and a handful of other workers went to the building to begin preparing it for church (whoever started building it ran out of money, so it is not in very good condition). It is a mud brick building with a loose, dirt, uneven floor. The teenagers worked on collecting scattered bricks and slashing the grounds while the other men hoed the dirt to level the inside. This is a start, a new seed that will, with prayer, grow to be a body of believers that function as the church in Katunda does. It may be a shaky old mud building at this point, but God does not see the building - He sees the people. And as they gather this Sunday to worship Him, hear truth, and fellowship, I pray that God's spirit would fill that little mud structure with His glory and presence.

I ask you this week to please pray alongside me for God's hand in this new beginning.

The future church!

Future head pastor, Sam!

The teenagers slashing the grounds

Organizing the bricks

Designing a World of Hope

Greetings, from Tyler, Texas! I am excited to share with you what God is doing in my life. In the pursuit of the Lord’s call for me to use my passions, skills, and education to minister to those in need, God has opened up a wonderful opportunity for me to serve with Engineering Ministries International (EMI).

EMI is an organization whose vision is to design a world of hope for the physically and spiritually poor while proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. The staff is comprised of professional architects and engineers from around the world who volunteer their services to overseas ministries. Examples of projects include churches, hospitals, orphanages, schools, and wastewater treatment. EMI’s head office is in Colorado Springs, CO, and it also operates overseas offices in Canada, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, Uganda, and India.

UGANDA

I will be volunteering as an engineering intern at the Kampala, Uganda office from January until July 2013. During this time, I will complete a project trip to initiate the design of a needed ministry facility in the region. I will then return to Kampala to help complete the design for the project.

I would like for you to be involved in sending for this ministry work. The most important thing that I need is your support though the power of prayer! At this time, please pray for spiritual preparation for myself and for the other interns that will be serving in ministry at EMI.

The total expenses for the internship will be approximately $9500, which I will need to raise in support by December 20^th, 2012. If you feel led to make a financial contribution (tax deductible) to this opportunity, donations can be made online at https://emisecure.org/donate.html.

Thank you for considering being part of my team in what God has called me to! If you have any questions or are interested in receiving prayer updates via email, feel free to email me at the address listed on my complete profile. For more information on EMI, please visit the website at www.emiworld.org. Take care, and God bless you!

The More The Merrier

Has it already been over three months since I left America? Time is such a weird thing. Sometimes I feel as though it has been three years, and other times I feel like it's just been three weeks. Does it sometimes feel like a long time because of all the new experiences I've encountered? Does it sometimes feel like a short time because I still have so much to learn and experience? Thinking about it blows my mind, so I just go on taking one day at a time. And God fills each day with enough excitement of its own. Some days (ok, most days) it's chasing a lizard out of my room and other days it's welcoming new kids into GSF.

We had an especially exciting past few weeks welcoming five new boys into GSF. Whenever children are brought into GSF, I can't help but think of how much their life is changed. Abraham, Elijah, Godfrey, Joseph, and Pesto all made GSF their new home this week. Abraham and Elijah, ages 4 and (almost) 2, are brothers. They are attached at the hip, which makes me so glad that they have each other! Godfrey, Joseph, and Festo (ages 2 weeks, 2 years, and 5 years) are another sibling set of all brothers. It's been a delight to have all of these new boys around! But my heart aches knowing why they had to come in the first place.

Abraham and Elijah

Joseph and Festo

Godfrey

Thank you for your prayers concerning the toddler house. God has definitely been blessing the efforts to improve the house. With the increase of new GSF kids, we've jumped from 16 toddlers to 20 toddlers in this short amount of time. The house definitely feels maxed out, but the more the merrier....right? We also made some changes such as rearranging the bedrooms and playroom to improve interaction. However, I know that lasting change will only come as I come alongside of the Ugandan caregivers who log the real time with the children. For those who don't know, circle time refers to sitting in a circle (haha, just as the name implies), and doing group interactions, such as reading stories, singing, dialogue, and any other little activities. I modeled "circle time" on one day, and the caregivers caught on quickly. When I walked into the toddler house the other morning, two of the caregivers had all of the children in a (sort of) circle and were singing, reading a book, and encouraging call and response with the children. It was so precious and exciting to watch them interact with the children in such a nurturing way!

Leticia and Elijah

Speaking of toddlers, two of the little boys, Richard and Elijah, are in the clinic right now. Richard (you can see some pictures and read about him here!) is a little boy with sickle cell who is also fighting a blood infection. He's been in the clinic since Sunday as the doctor treats him to get rid of the infection. Elijah (one of the new boys! You can also read about him here) is struggling with a polyp and has to undergo a procedure to get it removed. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon in the clinic with the two boys. Health care is just so different here.. and I've never had a greater appreciation for the facilities and care that we get in America. But no matter the hospital or facility, I know God is in control and can heal His children. So please keep Richard and Elijah in your prayers!

Passing the time at the clinic with Richard

If you are from the Community Evangelical Free Church area in Elverson, PA you may remember me teaching missions emphasis at Vacation Bible School back in July. I taught about Uganda and focused on GSF. The last night of VBS each child made two crafts: one to take home as a reminder to pray for the GSF children, and one for me to take to GSF to encourage the children by letting them know they are being prayed for. I had been praying about a good time to give these out to the GSF children in a at least semi-orderly and meaningful way. I was given the opportunity to teach "junior church" for all of the GSF children on Sunday, and it ended up being a great time to go ahead and hand out the Africa cut-out crafts! The kids were so excited to receive the gift as well as look at the pictures of all of the "mzungu" (white) kids. I had the GSF kids sing "Higher Higher" as a thank you. Daniel had taught this African praise song to the children at Vacation Bible School, so I'm hoping that the kids who attended VBS still remember it! I included (at the end of this post) pictures of the kids receiving the Africa cut-outs as well as two "thank you" videos from the GSF kids, one being the "Higher Higher" song. I hope you enjoy!

In other news, I started taking Luganda language lessons last week. We will see how that goes =) Also, Daniel Iya, my boyfriends, just got accepted into the internship program for eMi (Engineering Ministries International). You can read more about the organization on their website, http://www.emiusa.org/. I'm very excited for Daniel; God is fulfilling Daniel's passion to use his gifts and education in missions work. I'm also VERY excited because it means that Daniel will be in Uganda for 6 months starting this January...!! It's awesome to see God working in Daniel and me, leading us both into missions work individually and in a way that brings our futures together.

Thank you for continuing to support me through your prayers - I really appreciate it! I have some updated requests to help guide your prayers.

- Pray for the five new boys who have joined GSF. Please pray that their transition would continue to go well and that they would feel comforted by the presence of God during this difficult time.

- Pray for Richard and Elijah, that God would give the doctors wisdom on how to best care for the children.

- Pray that God would continue to give me wisdom on how to expand and improve the sponsorship program.

- Pray for Daniel as he prepares for and raises money for his internship with eMi.

- Praise God that Casia has fully recovered from Malaria!

- Praise God for His work in the toddler house. Please pray that He would continue to have His hand in that house and that the children may experience God's love through their caregivers.

Here are the thank you videos!

His Strength

God has blessed me with a strong sense of His presence this week. I feel like He is overflowing my cup with His grace, strength, and joy. I am constantly reminded of the way that He is using me as His vessel. All that I do is through and because of Him; without Him, my work is ineffective. It's about relying on God and not on my own strength. Isn't this how I should always feel? Well, yeah. But IS it how I always feel? Definitely not. In my own pride, I often lose sight of that. But this week it has been easier for me to let God's spirit move in my life. I don't take this for granted. I know it's because of your prayers for my work here in Uganda, and I want to thank you for faithfully praying for my time in Uganda. 

That said, this past week has been a bit of a challenge because my wonderful friend and roommate, Casia, got malaria. She recounts her experience in her blog http://singlelife.posterous.com/. Since past Monday she has been in bed sick. It's been physically and emotionally draining for her as well as for her "caregivers", me and Bekah (not gonna lie, Bekah definitely took the brunt of the work). Being a "man down" is always difficult, but I think it was especially difficult for me as she's my best friend here in Uganda. We're basically side-kicks for each other. It's a blessing of a friendship, and it was a loss to not have that uplifting friendship this week. But as I said earlier, God blessed me with a strong sense of His presence. He was constantly redirecting my focus to Him, letting me know that my relationship with Him is enough. What He's given me is enough, and I can rest in the joy of that. But really, I can do more than rest - I can be energized and invigorated to serve others with the peace of knowing I have God to lead me.

I hope this energy and invigoration continues as I begin my latest ministry of the toddler's house. I've just barely gotten the sponsorship program under control and started the scholarship program, but God is tugging on my heart to work on transforming the toddler house. The toddler house is home to 16 toddlers (and 2 more coming soon!) ages 1-5. Because the toddler house is conveniently located next door to my house and I constantly hear the sounds of the kids through my bedroom window, I've always been very aware of the disorganization and, to be blunt, chaos of the toddler house. I have spent the past two weeks "hanging out" in the toddler house to observe and get to know the "aunties" (caregivers) and children a bit. This time was very helpful for me. It opened my eyes to strengths and weaknesses of the house. There are definitely necessary changes that need to take place, including appropriate discipline, hygiene, and schedule/activities. However, it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to be a process of training and investment. It's easy to become overwhelmed at this daunting task. Many of the aunties have been working at GSF years before I even knew what "GSF" meant. They've been raising children for their entire lives; who I am to go in and start making changes? However, I know that God is going to continue to strengthen and lead me in this endeavor. It's about serving Him through serving His children.

Some of the wonderful toddlers! Faziri, Leticia, and Gerald.

Best buds, Richard and Joel

I had the joy of going to the Passion World Tour in Kampala on Saturday night! I've heard so much about Passion, but have never attended the conference. Well, I'm glad I held off because I got to experience it here in Uganda! And one of the best parts is that tickets were only $4 =) The concert was essentially a 4 hour worship service led by Chris Tomlin. Louie Giglio also gave a sermon, which was a blessing to hear. It was overwhelming (in a good way) to worship with 30,000 Ugandans! GSF took a team from Wisconsin who was here to serve last week, the missionaries, a handful of GSF staff, a couple university students, and all of the teenagers along. The whole experience was spiritually refreshing!

Me with some of the GSF teenagers ready for the concert to start!

Chris Tomlin + band

Louie Giglio preaching

Because little Mark has been doing so well in school, I rewarded him with a trip to King Fisher on Friday. King Fisher is a pool/resort that is about 30 minutes from GSF. Mark frequently brings up King Fisher, so I knew he'd be up for a day at the pool! It was so fun to spend time with him off campus. I let him pack a backpack of activities to take along (I didn't want him to get bored of the pool after an hour and want to go home!) and he ended up filling the whole thing with crayons, coloring books, and little books to read. His bag ended up being twice the weight of my own! Even though he was extremely excited about the pool (over excitement = potential for disaster with little Mark!), he was on great behavior the entire day. It was so fun swimming with him, reading, and just spending relaxed time together. He even learned how to go underwater without swallowing a mouthful of chlorine and how to drink with a straw. 

This is how Mark spent most of the day, in both the rain and the shine.

Successfully drinking using a straw

Full backpack

 

It's hard to believe that it is already October! I would like to leave you with these prayer requests. Thank you again for praying for me!

1. The Wisconsin team that was serving here this week is currently flying back to the states. Please pray for God's grace as they reintegrate back into their daily lives. 

2. Pray for Casia's recovery from Malaria.

3. Pray for God's guidance for the toddler house.

4. Pray that the sponsorship and scholarship program would continue to grow. GSF's financial situation is currently very tight, and these programs help bring some relief.

5. Please pray that I would take comfort in the grace of God in the difficult times when I miss Daniel, family, and friends.