Sunday the 26th

Hi,
I know you are probably wondering how my Christmas was. Well I will spare you the gorry details, but lets just say I woke up sick and stayed close to my bed and bathroom all day. Kind of a bummer. I guess I just was not supposed to eat holiday food this year. That is okay though, for it gave me many hours in bed to read and rest.

Today however has been great. I woke up feeling much better and well rested. Then I was granted the privelage of taking my young neighbor girl to chuch once again. She is 15 and a muslim and has been showing great intrest in knowing more about Jesus. This was her third time at church with me. We had a great time. I also had the joy of giving her an English Bible that she had requested. A friend help me to find one that was just perfect for a 15 year old girl. It is pink and black and small enough to fit in a very small bag. Please join me in prayer that the words in that book will bring forth truth and light in her life. And the lives of her family. It could very well be that she alone is the reason that the Lord has brought me to Africa for this time. I dont even pretend to know, but I am thrilled to get to be part of her getting to know about Jesus.

The afternoon was quiet. Most of the babies here were napping and we have several gone visiting home for the holiday. Once the babies were up we played on the veranda and just spent time hanging out with the kids. Now we are waiting for supper to be ready, then it will be bath time and bedtime. The days pass so quickly here. It is amazing how fast time goes. One minute it is 8 in the morning and you are trying to finish breakfast and the next minute it is bedtime and you are hanging mosquito nets over the cribs and saying prayers with all the babies.

I hope you had a wonderful white Christmas. I am guessing from the church notices I got that you in fact did. Stay warm and keep in touch.

Feeling good,
Jennifer

December 18 - Grace

Hi there,
It has been difficult for me to imagine or even wrap my brain around the fact that this is the week before Christmas. Thanks to many of you I actually know it is winter and that snow is in fact falling somewhere in the world. I regret to inform you ( well not really) that it is still right around 80 degrees here and the rain left and the sun has once again become our friend. Life is good. :)
Okay, enough gloating. I do want to wish all of you the best Christmas possible. I pray it is filled with family and friends and all of you are focused on the coming of Christ and why he came. Praise God for His Son!!!!

It has been a challenging week for me indeed. I have treated 5 cases of Malaria, all which presented looking just a bit different than another. 4 were babies and one was our night guard Joseph. Please pray for there continued recovery. All are doing much better now and I thank you for your prayers so far. Most I treated here at the house but spent one very interesting night at a local hospital with one of the babies. I must admit I hope to never do that again. Hospitals here are VERY different than America. (that is a huge understatement). It is usually but not always a nurse making the diagnosis and then once a treatment plan is made things get wild. I went to a private, you pay for hospital rather than a public your get seen for free government hospital. Dont be confused though, you get seen for free but still must pay for bed sheets, medications, and anything else you need. So anyway, I went with the private hospital. So I called a driver at 1am and had him come pick me and the baby up. Meanwhile I am praying hard because it is my first adventure out that late, by myself in, well you know...Africa! So the driver comes and drives FAST to the hospital because he knows I have a very sick baby, her fever was around 103 or 104.  We get there and she is seen pretty quickly. Malaria! Oh how I am learning to hate that word! So we make the decision to admit her and I ask for a private room rather than the general ward where we would have to share a room with anywhere from 2 to six people who could be ill with just about anything. The first room we are given has no light bulb so the nurse can not see anything so we are moved to a different room. It is a small concrete room about 10x12 with two twin beds and an IV pole. It also had, much to my joy and thanks to God, a mosquito net. We get an IV started on the baby and then i am told, when it gets to this mark you come get us. It should take about 4 hours. Then the nurse went back to bed. Good thing I have some idea of what to do with an IV and what to watch for. So there I was on the bed next to my baby, her name is Grace by the way, watching her IV drip ever so slowly. The room was lit by a single bare light bulb, which did allow for me to see the shadow of an occasional mosquito buzzing about the room. I dropped the net over us and we snuggled up together on the one sheet we had to cover the bed. Fortunately I had brought an extra fairly large baby blanket which I used to cover the bottom half of me and had a sweatshirt for the top half. Grace was snuggled up in the blanket and sheet I carried her in. So anyway for the next 4 hours we listened to various sounds of Jinja town coming through the small window at the top of the wall. Various gangs of dogs barking and fighting in the street outside. People walking about in the night. And of course at 4am the call to worship from the Mosque which I can only assume was located just outside my window based on the volume of the speaker. WOW! So we tried to sleep some and I had my cell phone ring ever 30 minutes to make sure her drip was running right and had not gone past the intended mark. Needless to say it was a long night. In the end it was well worth it however. Grace is over her Malaria and cuter than ever. She was reunited with her mom and twin brother by 3 the next afternoon. And by the time you get this I will have fully recovered from my lack of sleep. It sure takes longer now than when I was twenty! That is for sure! ( the picture attached is Grace)

Today I realized that I am nearly half way through my time here and I just cant really believe it. Time is passing so quickly and then at times it seems very slow. I am trying hard to savor every moment for all that it has and learn all that God is wanting to teach me while I am here. I try not to dwell on missing my family and friends but it happens more frequently than I care to admit. I think of my Mimi and how I am missing holidays with her and my close friends back in the burg. I think of talking on the phone with my Mom nearly everyday, and the freedom of jumping in my car and going to town for whatever I want whenever i want it. I cant really do those things right now. I count it all the cost to follow. I heard a great sermon this week on my i pod about how my life should be spent following Jesus and if I am doing in right then i should be covered in his dust. That is my prayer this week. That I would follow him so closely that I would be covered in His dust. I pray that for each of you as well. After all, in the end that is all that really matters.

Counting it all loss,
Jennifer

Rainy Days in Masese

Today has been a really good day. We have four 20 somethings here for three days. They are wonderful and love the Lord. The have been working in the North in the villages near the refugee camps and Sudan border. They are really amazing kids. So that gave me the chance to go to town and get some shopping done. I also finally found a bank that accepts my ATM card so once again I have money. I did well stretching what I brought with me so I have not been broke, but it was getting close. Leave it to the Lord to help me find it when I really needed it. The market was fun, I bought mostly produce. It is kind of like a giant swap meet. I got 2 kg of cow peas, which are some kind of green hard bean, 2 kg of green beans, 1 kg onions, and 1 kg of carrots. I also bought a plastic pitcher, some steel wool for cleaning pots, and a loaf of bread. I got all that for 22,500 shillings which is a little less than 10 dollars. Not too bad for a white girl in the market! :)

All my babies are doing well. Most of them are getting really fat and just about ready to go home. Renee has been in the states for 6 weeks so we have not sent any of the kids home. She will be back on Wednesday and then we will likely do some discharges. One of the girls has Malaria. I diagnosed her last night and started her on medication and she is doing much better today. Another is recovering from Meningitis and was really sick. She is 7 and got down to 11kg. Which is roughly 25 pounds. She has a long road ahead of her. She could use your prayers. I am doing pretty well. I was sick for about 4 weeks with a nagging cold that just would not go away but I am doing much better now.

I would love to hear from you. You can send me email here or you can try and send it regular mail. I got one letter from my landlord here. It only took about a week to get here. I was really surprised. My address is
Jennifer Ward
C/O Serving His Children
PO BOX 552
Jinja, Uganda
East Africa

I would love to hear how everyone is doing. What is happening in everyday life there. Are you healthy. How is work. How is church. What is new? It is nice to jump on here from time to time and have news from home. It actually helps me not be homesick to much. Especially when I hear about the weather. ;) Wednesday the rains came and boy did they come. It rained hard for most of the afternoon and all of the night. It did not stop until about 10am on Thursday. Talk about a muddy mess. There was mud everywhere. Not so much here at the house although there was some, but in the village and everywhere between here and town was just one giant mud hole. I had to take one of the kids to the clinic on that morning so I really got to see what it was like. Fortunately  I was able to hire a car to take me and not have to ride a motorcycle in that mess. I am very thankful for that. I say many people who were not that lucky. The good news is despite the fact that the rain put out the fire for most of the night, somehow by God's grace the ladies were able to finish cooking the beans and rice ( which they usually do overnight) and feeding program went on as scheduled. The kids were not about to let a little mud stop them from getting a hot meal. When I got home from the clinic they were all lined up in the yard in strategic lines around the mud puddles getting there beans, rice and bananas.

Well I better go. I am kind of being anti-social and taking advantage of the fact there are others here to watch the babies. I took a shower and did email for a bit. Dinner is almost ready. They are having meat and rice. No I am still clinging to the vegetarian thing. I gotta go figure out what I am going to eat. Know I am missing you and love you very much.

Jennifer

what is that smell?

So a funny thing happened yesterday. Our day guard Charles comes to me and says.."Auntie, I have a problem". Turns out the problem is his 5 year old son. He says he has a bean in his nose. So I calmly have him sit on out kitchen table which puts him a little more than waist high for me and I grab a penlight. I look in his nostril but dont see anything. So I tell Charles that. He talks to his son a bit and then says, it is there, just higher. So again I take my handy dandy penlight and look in his nose. This time pushing the end of his nose up a bit tword his forehead. BEHOLD THE BEAN. Just beyond the small opening at the top of his nostril I can see the bottom of a red and white kidney bean just sitting there hanging out. A few minutes and a few giggles later I was able to painlessly extract the bean using my tweezers. I must say he was a very good patient who did not move when told to be still and not one tear was shed. I wish everyday could be so easy! Thank the Lord I brought my tweezers!
Love and miss you
Jennifer

Manic Monday

So today was just a manic Monday. It was busy from the time my feet hit the floor until about 10 minutes ago. It is now about 8:30. Breakfast went fairly well with the exception of two of the kids who seem to have some artistic style trapped in their little bodies. Every morning they pour their porridge out on the floor if they are not watched constantly. Then they proceed to smear it around with the hands and feet and make all kinds of crazy designs. They seem to think it is great fun.

After that it was a battle with Betty to get her to take her medicine. It is not bad tasting, other kids take it willingly, she is just stubborn and seems to choose this as something she can control. I may be able to pour it in her mouth, but she is in control on weather or not it gets swallowed. It is a challenge everyday! Right now due to her severe ear infection it is a challenge four times a day. So far I am winning but not without a good fight.

Robert has progressed to real baths now. So that came next. I fill a pink plastic baby bath with warm water and a soft flannel sheet. Then we remove all his bandages. Any that are stuck to his wounds just go in the bath with him to soak and then come off pretty easy. We have been doing it this way for four days now and it seems to be going well. Then it is time to reapply his bandages. All in all it takes about two hours. Fortunately I was able to do most of it while the other kids were napping. Can I just say PRAISE THE LORD for naps!

While I was doing all this Danielle was at the hospital on day 10 of what is supposed to be a 14 day vigil. She has been taking medication and food daily to a young patient with bacterial meningitis. She has been sick for months and nearly died. She is so thin it is frightening and will be coming to stay here soon. But she had to stay in the hospital until we were sure she was not contagious and that she got the treatment she needed. So Danielle has been on vigil. Every morning she gets up passes out breakfast, and then jumps on a boda and goes to children's hospital. She takes food for the Mom and the patient and also the medications that she will be given for that day. It has been a long ten days but the patient is beginning to show signs of improvement.

The rest of the day was filled with more medicine battles, ear washes, many poopy diapers, meals, a trip to town for market and pharmacy, two momma's that came for help, a visit to see the night guards new house that he is building, and making new bandages for Robert for tomorrow. It has been a full day.

Now I am laying in my bed ready to crash for the day. Although Danielle just said something about making popcorn so I might have to force myself to stay awake a bit longer. :)

That's all I have for now. I would love to hear from home. Know I am praying for many of you. Oh, and the picture is of the two ladies that live next door to us, just on the other side of our yard wall. Just a little glimpse of the village.

In His Service,
Jennifer

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I cant believe it is already Thanksgiving! Here is is feeling more like fourth of July. The sun is shining and there are afternoon thunderstorms almost everyday. I am writing this a day early because I don't know if I will be able to tomorrow. It has been a busy week. We received two new kids this week. One on Monday and one yesterday, and expecting another this afternoon. The first girl, Shakira, is 5 years old and was in the hospital for Malaria. She is very small and thin. She has already shown signs of improvement and this morning was smiling and playing with her sister. It is always a good sign when the kids begin to play. It is usually a sign that they have turned a corner. The second child, Isma is very ill and breaks your heart. He is very weak and sometimes has trouble standing on his own. He has to be encouraged to eat and is challenging me to come up with creative ways to get him to take his nasty tasting medicines. He is on several that have to be taking many times a day. Poor little guy. The one we are expecting today is the worst of the three. He is 7 months old and the brother of Isma. He is in need of much prayer. He is very thin and his immune system is in bad shape. He is very sick and dangerously thin. We have been trying to get him here for several days and hope that today is the day.

The rest of the children are improving day by day. Some of them are getting close to going home, but we are waiting for Renee to get home before we release anyone. The house is very full indeed and we are beginning to get creative on the sleeping arrangments. All nine cribs are full and some of them are doubling up. So far everyone is getting along and we are grateful for that. I have not posted any new pics because my camera battery died. I am hoping Renee will be able to bring me a few from the states as they are hard to fine. Cant believe I did not think of that before I left! Duh! Josephine has recovered well from here eye surgery and her eyes are just beautiful! Mazafalu has adjusted well to his glass eye but still hates having it taken out to clean it I really can not blame him for that. I don't particularly enjoy it either! :)

Thanksgiving for Danielle and I will be nice. We are invited to a fellow missionary's house along with many others. We are having a traditional Turkey dinner with most of the trimmings. We are looking forward to it very much. Katie went to kill the turkey this morning. ( A better woman than I!) If you want to know more about Katie and who this amazing women is you can check out her blog at www.kissesfromKatie.blogspot.com
The short version is she is a 21 year old American who came here and has taken in 13 children and is being just an amazing Mom to them while running a ministry in one of the slums here in Jinja. We are in a bible study together as well. The more I get to know this young women, the more I like her.

This afternoon I am off to a village called Kikira to try and obtain some food supplements for one of our kids. We have been able to get plumpy nut from them in the past. In case you don't know what plumpy nut is, it is a mixture of peanut butter, dry milk, fat, and vitamins that most kids love and helps them to recover from Malnutrition. It has made a real difference in many of the kids in our program.

Well, I will close for now. Know that I love and miss you all. I hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving where ever you are in the world. I pray that as you take time to remember what you are thankful for this year, that Jesus is at the top of your list. There really is nothing that is more valuable than the gift he offers us.

In His Service,
Jennifer

Renee in America

Well, both Renee and Selah have arrived here in America!  It was a long trip (48 hours!) for a little girl, but Selah did really well and we are all super excited to have her here with us!  I have attached Renee's speaking schedule and am hoping that we will see many of you at at least one of these events. Even if you attend another church in our area and will not be able to hear Renee speak at the Radford morning service, please plan to bring a dish and enjoy lunch with us after church - we would love to see you!! 

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

Lauri

Renee’s Fall 2010 Speaking Schedule

Nov. 14 – Moneta, VA – Radford Baptist Church, 10:30 Worship Service, potluck lunch to follow  www.radfordbaptist.com

Nov. 17 –  Roanoke, VA – Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, Dinner at 6:00 (reservation required),     Program at 6:45 www.rcpres.org

Nov. 20 – Chattanooga, TN – Ethos Church, Fundraiser to include finger food, silent auction and program, $5 at the door www.ethoschattanooga.com

Nov. 21 – Ooltawah, TN, Crossroads Baptist Church, 10:30 Worship Service www.crossroadsconnection.org

Dec. 3 – Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada – location and time TBA!

Dec. 5. – Muskogee, OK, Southeast Baptist Church, 10:45 Worship Service (918)913-2010

Dec. 5 – Muskogee, OK, Southeast Baptist Church, Meet & Greet with Renee, time TBA!

Dec. 8 – Moneta, VA, Eastlake Community Church, 6:00 evening program www.elcchurch.com

November 18th

Hello to all,
Sorry it has been so long since I have written. I am doing well. I just had some prolonged issues with the internet. I apparently also had some issues with my email list because some of you were not getting my updates. I hope that has been resolved as well. Time here is passing quickly. Renee has already been in the states for 3 weeks and Danielle and I have settled into a pretty good routine. We are so grateful for the local ladies that come to work everyday. Without them this would be so much more difficult if not impossible. We have much to be thankful this week as we think of all of you back home preparing for Thanksgiving. Just a few of them are:
1) So far everything has been peaceful as the country prepares for the upcoming election.
2) with the exception of a cold, I am healthy and the kids are all improving day by day.
3) We have amazing help in the local community that come and work with us everyday
4) we have had opportunities to share the gospel and plant many seeds
5)Internet is back up
6) a bible study has been formed by many of the missionaries working in the area. We are meeting every Tuesday.
7) Church has been AMAZING!
8) I have had tremendous support, encouragement and love from home.
9) Just in the short time we have been here, we have already sent 4 kids back to their homes in good health, and brought another 6 here with 3 more expected in the next few days.
10)Although we will not be eating Turkey with you all on Thursday, we will have plenty to eat, a very comfortable place to stay, and the chance to share God's love with 10 lovely kids and two Moms.
Oh yes, and one more thing I am really thankful for is WARM WEATHER!!! I am truly sorry for any of you who might be cold as you are reading this. But I must tell you I am warm and even on the days it rains it is still warm enough to run around in short sleeves!
I would love to hear from you and know how things are going back in the states. Many of you have big things happening in your lives and I am dying for some details! To everyone back at VBC know that I am missing worshiping with you.
If you did not get any of my previous updates let me know and I will try to resend them.
Love to all,
Jennifer

What a mighty God we serve!

Today has been a good day! My day started at 5:30 this morning. The sky was still dark and I was sleeping very well, when I awoke to a VERY LOUD speaker playing the Muslim call to worship, and then I think reading the Koran. For a moment I laid there in my warm bed and began to get angry and then a verse came to my head. Ephesians 6:12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Suddenly my anger melted and I began to pray. I began to pray for the speaker to quit working, I prayed for the darkness to be overcome by light, and for the word of God to be proclaimed in this village. I prayed for the lies to be stopped and for THE TRUTH to be known. What happened next could be explained away by many as coincidence or chance, but I BELIEVE it was a direct answer to my prayer. Within two minutes, the loud speaker began to cut in and out. In the same few moments a radio in the next house began to play praise and worship music very LOUD. Only a few moments later the outside speaker fell completely silent leaving only the sound of the Amazing Grace echoing in the sunrise. It was simply amazing to me and I was left on my bed for quite a while thanking God and praising him for his Faithfulness.

The next thing that happened is I took two of our children to see a visiting eye specialist. It was an adventure as all things in Africa seem to be. The three of us piled onto a boda behind the driver and the four of us were off to the clinic just a few miles away. I spent the first ninety minutes sitting in the wrong building,but eventually made it where I needed to be. Both kids were seen and the Dr was so nice. One of the children came home with a badly needed glass eye. It not only improves his appearance, but will save the integrity of the eye socket for the rest of his life. The second child a young girl of nearly 3, is scheduled for surgery tommorrow morning. She basically has two lazy eyes and has difficulty focusing on nearly anything. Tomorrow the world will look very different for this little girl. I am praising God for both of these children and the favor that they recieved today. The odds of them both getting seen and treatment in this village are pretty small. Please pray for the young girl as she goes to surgery in the morning.

It is nearly 6 weeks here now and life is getting a little easier. I am learning a routine, learning to tune out the screaming babies when nessasary, and making time to get filled back up. It is still hard to be away from those I love, but I know I am here serving where I am called and that makes the difficult times much easier to bare. I miss you all and will be thinking of you eating turkey and pumpkin pie,and watching it snow. I will be here thinking of you , thankful for your friendship and enjoying the African sun. Know that you are in my prayers.
Serving til he comes or takes me home,
Jennifer

Nov. 3

November 3
Well I have survived my first month in Africa and have not been hit by a car, washed away in a flood, mugged in a dark village or eaten by a crocodile, lion or bitten by a venomous snake. All in all I would have to say I am doing pretty well! Praise the Lord!!! Especially for the snake one eh?? It has been an interesting month. Babies have come and gone, Renee ventured to the North leaving Danielle and I to learn how to do this thing called Serving His Children, and now Renee is in the States and we are doing it for real! Life is pretty mind blowing and there are moments when I just have to stop and ask myself if this is all real or am I having some crazy dream. Then there are moments that are so beautiful and tender I think my heart my burst. And then there are moments, had one just today in fact, where I find myself saying "tell me again why I don't want to live in America and work in a hospital and make lots of money?" Fortunately those moments are usually very short lived. It is difficult to really convey what it is like here. I know that this blog just gives snippets of life and I am sorry for not doing a better job of sharing what is happening. It is just so hard and then time is hard to steal away to write well.

I ventured to town today. It was a nice day, not too hot, warm but there were big fluffy Grey clouds in the sky and I worried a little that I might get caught in the rain. I did not so once again time wasted worrying for nothing. Sorry God...When will I learn. Anyway back to my adventure. We need some things so I walked through the village down to the boda station. It is about a five minute walk. It is ALWAYS interesting.  As I walk between the homes made of various materials, some mud, some wood planks, some tin sheeting, some cardboard, many things occur at once. There is always a multitude of children running about and towards me yelling : Hey Muzungu, how are you" It is one of the only English phrases they know and they love it when I respond to them. There are many chickens, ducks, goats and cattle with huge and I mean huge horns just wandering about. Sometime they get out of your way and sometime you have to get out of theirs. You also have to watch closely where you are stepping or you will get a wet sloppy surprise. Down at the bottom of the hill you have a great view of lake Victoria directly across the road. Often you can see small boats out fishing and lots of birds flying about. There are usually a dozen or more boda's at the bottom waiting for a fare and most are eager to have you choose to ride with them.The ride to town take about 10 minutes and is very pleasant with the exception of about 40 seconds as you pass the fish market. All I can say about that is you should really hold your breath if you value your breakfast. The rest of the ride is nice. Gorgeous views of the lake, green tropical landscape, interesting people all on their way somewhere and cultures clashing in all directions. You can see kids in a variety of school uniforms, some yellow and blue, others in red gingham, still others in purple jumpsuits, all on their way to different schools. You see men in business suits riding on the back of bodas and ladies in long dresses riding side saddle on them as well. You see men in long white robes and little round hats usually on their way to work or a mosque and others in dirty rags wandering aimlessly. There are trucks and cars and bodas and bikes and all sharing the same road which is not marked with lines and everyone honks to let each other no they need to scoot over and make room. It is just wild!

So my first stop was at an gift shop. Renee had bought some beads to take to America but did not have enough cash with her, but here that is never a problem and they tell you to just bring it later. So I was bringing it now. Then it was off on foot about 3 blocks to the grocery store. I got some pineapple-passion fruit juice and something that says its cheese but the taste does not convince me. Then outside back on a boda. This time I got a guy who speaks English really well and turns out to know Renee and is very helpful. I decided to hold on to this guy. So he takes me to my next three stops and even waits outside for me while i do my shopping. First stop was the pharmacy where you can walk in and buy pretty much anything you want. No prescription needed. I got scalpel blades, malaria medication and anti-fungal cream. Then back to the Boda and on to central market. I will have to save the description of this place for another blog, but it is amazing. I picked up carrots, green beans, onions, and pineapple. Well actually Moses my Boda driver got the pineapple while i went and got the other items. I just handed this guy I met five minutes ago 3 thousand shillings (about 1.50) and asked him if he could get two pineapple for me while I got the other items. 10 minutes later I met up with him and two beautiful pineapples! The people here are really nice and most of them are very trust worthy. He could have just rode off with my money and I never could have done a thing, but there he sat waiting patiently for me. So then it was off to home. As I walked through the gate to our compound I hear" welcome back from shopping auntie" which is how you will usually be greeted when you return from nearly anything. So a successful trip to market and the veggies taste great! Cant wait to see what tomorrow holds. Missing you all and welcome your emails. Just know my internet is occasional so if it takes me a while to respond, just be patient...I hear it is a virtue!

Pictures!

Supplies

Everyone asked before I went what was needed here and I had no clue. Well now I have a bit of a clue. The interesting part is getting it here. The answer to that is not easy. For things that can be bought here or in Kampala that is usually the better route because shipping is expensive and not always reliable. If there are teams coming or one of us is traveling back and forth ( like Renee is in December) then it is best to get with her Mom Lauri in Bedford, VA and try to pay to have an extra suitcase sent with a traveler. It is expensive - around 100 dollars or so, but usually the most reliable way to be sure something arrives. So, all that being said, here is a list of some of the things I have noticed in the few weeks I have been here.

Flour sack towels
Kitchen towels
bath towels
single flat sheets and pillow cases
duct tape
Clorox wipes
diaper rash cream
simethicone drops
disposable gloves
BABY WIPES (they run about 4-6 bucks a pack here)
cloth diapers
fuzzy buns diapers in ex small and size 1
infant and toddler clothes especially onesies and sleepers
empty spray bottles for cleaning
a few small squeegees
alcohol swabs
triple antibiotic cream like neosporin
kitchen stick matches
paring knives
hand sanitizer (a small bottle here is about 6 dollars)
cheap sunglasses are a neat thing that can be given out to local motor scooter drivers as a gift. It really blesses them and helps protect their eyes. I really don't know how they live without them, but few have them.
large candles for when the power goes out - which can happen frequently.

I am sure that there are a great many things she could use but these are just a few of the things that I have noticed since I have arrived.

Thanks for your prayers. I am missing you all.
Love Jennifer

Two weeks

Today was two weeks of life in Africa! How do I describe what this two weeks has been like so far? It has been wonderful and exciting, adventurous, difficult, stretching, better than I could have imagined, and just the tip of the iceberg to come I am sure. I have experienced the joy of going to church with a beautiful yet sick baby strapped to me African style, having the church pray for his healing, and the wonder of it all. I have been awoken in the middle of the night, despite my earplugs, by the most amazing thunderstorm and unbelievable amount of rain coming down. I live on the bottom of two stories and it sounded so LOUD!! The wind and the lightning we pretty amazing as well. I have ventured to the market to buy food for our babies, and learned how to bargain and not get charged more because I am a muzungu. I have participated in some glorious worship with people from all walks of life. Both at home with Danielle and Auntie Night with an acoustic guitar, and at church, with believers from all over Uganda and the world. All of us worshiping the same God in spirit and truth. I have experience new foods that have been really yummy, some cooked in places I would never have thought in a million years I would eat. I have ridden on the back of a boda(motor scooter) to get to town and go to the real market where the local people shop and been in wonder at the aisles and aisles of produce, hardware,clothing, tools, baskets,soaps, shoes and just about anything else you can think of.I have on our hill and looked out at the beauty of lake Victoria and been just stunned. I have begun new friendships that I am sure will last into eternity, and missed the ones I have left behind at least for now. I have been blessed literally to tears at the love of a few close friends who have cared enough to send me a word from the Lord at just the right time, even one that might be hard to hear. The will never know just how God has used them to speak to me in my moments of brokenness. Yes, there have been those moments too. I could write of many. It seems every day here is a new chance to be completely broken and feel useless and then allow God to come and do something in that moment. I pray that it will continue, but only if he gives me the strength to endure. I have had much of what I have been taught challenged and so much I never learned. Pray the Lord will give me wisdom each day. Pray for these babies, and pray for these people. Just a few steps from our front gate there is a mosque and many people lost in a dark and desperate land. There is tribal fighting to the degree that they are willing to kill a 12 day old child for the sake of a feud. (God intervened)The one thing that has become clearer to me each and every day that I have been here is this:
JESUS is the only answer!!! Every where I look and every problem I see, Jesus is the only long term, sustainable answer to the problems we see. He is the ONLY solution. So thank you for praying for me, but PLEASE, PLEASE, remember to pray for them too.
Every day this place gets a little more amazing,and steals away a little more of my heart. Miss you all....Jennifer

another try at pics

here is another. I LOVE this girl...I think she is just beautiful and has a joy to match!

pictures

Here are the pictures mentioned in the previous blog

From Saturday the 9th

I am glad to know that there are people praying. Here is a glimpse of my schedule. Usually by 7 or 730 in the morning there are many babies crying and you know it is time to be up. We have a night "nanny" that is here and she is usually already getting them up and has breakfast started before I make it out of my room. After breakfast there are a great many number of diapers to change and then we usually take the babies out on the porch to get some sun. At 10 they all get a snack of some sort and go down for naps. That is the time when I try to get a few things done. If I can ( like now) I will write emails and then send them later when I can get internet. I share a room with Danielle. We have two sets of bunk beds. We are both sleeping on the bottom bunks and have some stuff stored on the top bunks. We have our own bathroom which is very nice, although no hot water. Please pray that I will get better at dealing with that. Danielle seems to be doing ok but I think she misses her own bed that she can sleep in without always banging her head on the top bunk when she gets up in the morning. The food is pretty good, I can deal with the rice and beans, a few of the local dishes have been a challenge. I am thankful for my pray time at night with Danielle. Last night we were talking about starting a bible study with some of the missionaries in the area.
So back to the schedule. The kids (12 at present, all under 2) Get up and then we play with them or try to get them to walk and make their legs strong. Then it is lunch. In the meantime,people come and go and there are a variety of things to do. After lunch the kids will have another nap and then more porch time. Then dinner must be prepared and served. Then all the kids are bathed and put to bed around 8. Then cleanup, and try to have a little reading time or such. and then you fall into bed very tired. I will be trying to begin record keeping for the kids. Beginning with the two new ones that came a couple of days ago. They are a very cute set of twins. Two and a half years old and both around 6 pounds. The are so small and sweet and love to be held and cuddled. I can see how easy it is to fall in love with these children.
Yesterday we went to a village far from here. It was an adventure. We drove the new land cruiser and Renee impressed us with her off road driving skills. At the village the children followed us all over and just wanted to hold our hands. It was a very African village on the shore of Lake Victoria. We took care of a little boy who had a severe wound of his ankle from being caught in the spokes of a bicycle. We cleaned and dressed it and gave him something to prevent infection. I pray he will recover well. On the way back it rained. A LOT! Then we really got to see how well Renee could drive and what the car could do! Neither disappointed! There were several places in the road where the rain created small streams that we needed to cross. I only wish I had taken a picture.
So tomorrow will make one week here. I can say so far so good and God is faithful! If you want to call me you may do so. I now have a phone. I recommend using a calling card as it can be expensive! My number is 011 256 788 030 322. you can also send a text. Or if you want to communicate for free, just drop me an email. I will get back to you as soon as possible! Love to all...

improving communication

Hello to all,
Communication has been a challenge so far. I am still working on internet solutions, but was able to get connected at my new friends Tonya's today. She is from Arizona and has been here since July. She is fast becoming a good friend, and not just because of her internet! :) I have now been her just over a week. It has been wonderful and heartbreaking. Fulfilling and frustrating. The needs are so great and resources so small. And often, even if you have money, what you want can not be bought here. Some of the wonderful....babies sleeping on your chest, looking into your eyes and finding love, a baby waving like a princess, and church in the open African air. Heartbreaking, babies that are 2 1/2 smaller than an American 6 month old, sicknesses that can not be treated with medicine, kids who often live in fear, street kids, and so many lost souls. Fulfilling...going to a far away village and being able to help some, meeting the Lord in a quiet place, meeting others who share this burden for the lost, a sleeping baby with a full tummy, a wall full of after pictures hanging in the kitchen. Pictures of kids whose lives have been changed and touched by the love of Christ. Frustrating....not always knowing the answer, knowing the answer and not being able to get to it, feeling inadequate, having a child poop or vomit on the floor you just cleaned. All of it........Worth every second and every sacrifice. I am missing you all and thank you for your prayers. This place is amazing and right where I am supposed to be. Thank you for your support, your love, your encouragement, and for the strength that all of those things help to give me.
Jennifer
One photo is from our porch and the other was taken during feeding program.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

This is Lori, posting for Jennifer. Internet service has been intermittent in Masese - I have had a few brief emails (and phone text!) throughout the week to let me know Jennifer is well and she feels your prayers. On Friday they drove to a faraway village to check on previous patients. The patients were doing well but Jennifer was deluged with people needing medical attention and the nearest doctor is many miles away so it was a bit overwhelming. She would like to return with a medical team at some point in the future.

I haven't heard what Jennifer's schedule is like but I know that she finds time to pray every night with her roommate, Danielle. Please keep this in your prayers because we know how important time in the Word and prayer are and how easily busy schedules interfere. Also keep in prayer the internet issues so that we can hear firsthand from Jennifer what is on her heart, what the needs are, and so we can encourage her in the Lord.

In His Service,

Lori

Mondat, Oct. 4th

It is Monday here in Masese. I am pleasantly surprised that I got a
good nights sleep. Special thanks to my girls for talking me into
bringing an air mattress! What can I tell you about this place so
far...it is a bit overwhelming! There are 8 children here many of whom
are crying at any given time. They are being well cared for and loved.
It is amazing to look at the before pictures and see them now. It is
wonderful to see everyone working together toward a common goal.
Beyond the gates it is a different world. Everything is red dirt and
mud huts, roaming livestock and children running about. This is
AFRICA! It is a complete assault on the senses. It overwhelms you and
can make you feel completely overstimulated. Today is better than
yesterday with less jet lag, but it will take time to adjust.

Yesterday driving in to town my senses could not take it all in. So
many things to see, people and animals and the landscape and culture
and cliches come to life. The thing that hit me the most was the
smell. I had forgotten how Africa smelled. It is difficult to
describe, but it is the smell of heat, and fish and smoke and food and
sickness and human and animal waste all hitting you together at once.
It confuses the mind and leaves you not knowing how to respond. And
that is just one of the five senses.

Renee is simply amazing. She seems to have no fear, maybe not a good
thing, maybe so, time will tell. What she does have is FAITH, and
compassion. She sees a need and tries to meet it. I was so touched
just watching her feed Betty. Betty is the young girl you can read
about on the Renee's blog. Fourteen with CP and the size of a thin 6
or 7 year old. It breaks your heart to look at her, and then she looks
up into Renee's eyes as she is eating and you see a connection,
understanding, and love. It fills the heart and you know that you are
witnessing the heart of Christ lived out before your eyes. An
abundance of imput and it is just the first full day here.

Continue to pray for all of us in the days to come. I hope to get the
communication thing worked out soon. For now I am writing from Renee's
laptop and have no phone.

October 1st

Hello all,
It is Friday night when I am writing this, not sure when it will get
sent. I am sitting at the airport in DC waiting to get on a plane and
fly off into a new season of life. I can not believe the favor God
has shown in just getting me this far. I had a wonderful drive up today
with all the Utopia girls. They decided to come with me and send me
off as a family. I will miss them so much and wish I were taking them
all with me along with Duke. Checking in went so much better than I
could have asked for. Not only did the wonderful woman behind the
counter allow me to move things from bag to bag to avoid being charged
for overweight bags, she put them all directly on the conyeyor and
let me skip dragging my six bags by myself over to TSA. ( the girls were
gone by this time) So then I breezed right though security and was at
my gate with plenty of time to spare. my only complaint at this point
is internet is not free here at Dulles like it is in Charlotte. Pretty
small gripe list. so I hope to send this when I get to London.
On another note, I found out yesterday that all of my prayer cards
that I gave out have a typo on the address that needs correction. So
far they have got though anyway but it needs to be corrected in the
future. The correct address to mail donations is :
1124 Stratford drive.
Everything else is the same. Don't ask me how that happened...all I can
do is blame the enemy and perhaps a really busy multi-tasker who did
not verify all her infor enough. So any of you who have one of my
cards hanging on your fridge or somewhere else need to correct that on
the back. Well, bye for now, thanks for your prayers,
Jennifer

mixed emotions

So today was my last Sunday at VBC for a while. I am filled with mixed emotions. I am so excited to be stepping out into something new and can not wait to see what God has in store for me. I really can not begin to even guess. But saying goodbye, even for a while is never easy. It makes me sad to think of the sunday morning set ups I will miss. All the new families that are beginning to come that I wont really get to know, small groups I shall miss being a part of, and friends I wont get to see each week and share in what is going on in our lives. Yes, I know we will have email, but I also know from experience that it is never quite the same. So that is where I am today...happy and sad, excited and maybe a little nervous, and completely and totally overwelmed at how God has provided so far...only 5 more days stateside!

T minus 11 days

So it really hit me tonight. I was sitting outside at the picnic table with my girls and it hit me. I am really leaving. 11 days from now I will be on a plane flying over the ocean on my way to Africa. I am so excited and yet my emotions are very mixed. The last almost 5 years here in Blacksburg have been an amazing season in my life. It has been filled with hard work and studying, but also with the best of friends, great neighbors and fun time on the river and trail. The best times have been right here in what we girls call Utopia. No we never read the book, just heard somewhere that Utopia is supposed to be just wonderful and filled with happiness and goodness, and that is exactly what this place is. It has truely been a gift from God. So back to the picnic table. I am sitting there watching the almost full moon rise in the sky, feeling the cool fall breeze, and listening to my girls fill the evening air with laughter, and it hit me. This is one of the last times this will happen just like this. I have to admit I got just a little melancholy at the thought. Even though I know as I step into the next season God has for me, it is hard to close the page on this one. I cant thank the Lord for the wonderful girls he has had in my life during my time here.Special hugs and farewell tears to Debi,Danette,Janna, Kippin,Lindsay,and Lori. I will miss you more than you know!

Need Prayer

I am T-minus 22 days and I feel so not ready..still many things I am waiting for the Lord to show me. I cant believe I am moving to Uganga. It still does not quite seem real. The enemy is already stirring up trouble and attempting to discourage me. Pray that I will be strong in my armor, and recieve wisdom from the Lord. I am also getting reflective and so grateful for the season I have had here in Blacksburg and the wonderful friends and family in the body I have been a part of. So for now I keep walking by faith, trusting the Lord knows better than I, and trying hard to listen.

Stateside!

Hello to all! We have made it back stateside. It has been a very long day and for some of the team it is not over yet. Our day began at 4ish this morning in Managua. We walked across the road ( a few went by car ) to the international airport and checked in for our flight at 5am. Our first flight left at 7:15 ( i think ) We arrived at Atlanta and made a fairly smooth transition through customs and immigration. We had a tight connection and the flight was boarding as we walked up to the gate. We made the flight and a lot of hungry travelers arrived in Washington DC at 4:40 this afternoon. From there we split up into smaller groups to make a journeys home. All in all in was a very good day, long but good. If you have not yet seen your loved ones they should be there shortly! It was a great trip with a wonderful team of people. We are all thankful for your prayers and God's faithfulness to take care of all of us. Please continue to pray for the ministry taking place in Nicaragua that will continue long after we are home. Pray also that each member of the team will hear all that God is speaking to them and be obedient to all that he asks.
Happy to be home again,if only for a while,
Jennifer

Viernes...Our Last Day In Puerto Cabezas

Buenos Familia y Amigos!

I was given the duty of writing Fridays blog and with a combination of inhaling Deet, oil based paint and turpentine, I managed to forget to write it!
Friday was our last day spent at the Puerto Cabezas orphanage and we were busy doing all kinds of things.

After yet another delicious breakfast full of eggs, fresh pineapple and pancakes, we headed out to finish painting the Verbo churchs sanctuary. We had one back wall left to do and a few areas to touch up. We were a little more than half way finished and someone told us that it was already 11:45am so we rushed to finish before lunch. We arrive back at our rooms to find out that someone apparently misread the time and it was only 10:30! Oops! I think it was a blessing in disguise because the fumes were stronger that morning since there wasnt much of a breeze. So we took a bit to relax before lunch.

After lunch we headed up to the Orpha, the girls building, to have our last day of Vacation Bible School with the kids! Mimi and Jennifer did a great job of telling the kids their Bible lesson about how we need to take the good news of Christ and share it with their friends. Meanwhile Danni and Heather had a very successful craft in which the kids made prayer journals. They loved them!! The rest of us were chaos control! After they put them together they got to write names of friends to pray for and also write prayers to God. It was truly amazing to see the tenderness in the hearts of these children.

In addition to the VBS, Thomas and Bret went over to the baseball field and played baseball with the guys. Some were from the orphanage but some street kids came as well! It was a great opportunity for them to reach out to the guys.
Our last night together was spent sharing what God had revealed to us and what we had learned while being in Nicaragua. God has and will be doing amazing things with the people on this trip. It will be exciting to see what happens!
I also wanted to let you know that the minor illnesses we had earlier are all better! We thank you all for each one of your prayers this week and we will all see you soon!

Buenos dias,
LAURA HERALD

Sabado a.k.a. Saturday

Today we left the orphanage.

The local men had a bible study this morning at 5:30am. When we got up to go to the meeting we found that several kids were already sitting outside our doorstep waiting to say goodbye. It was very touching. Assuring them we would say goodbye in a few hours we went ahead to our meeting.

There were many men at the bible study and not knowing very much Spanish, I was totally lost as to what was going on, but Eric and Bret led part of the group and I was very impressed at how involved the men were in the discussion and how many spoke up during the meeting. The men here have definitely accepted Gods calling to be leaders in their community.

We said goodbye to the orphans after many, many hugs and adioses. A lot of the kids signed our shirts and gave us notes to take home, making it even more difficult to leave.

But we did leave on time and have made it safely to the other side of the country, in Managua, safely. We are staying the night at a hotel and will be on the first flight to Atlanta, Ga at 7 am.

We are all sad to be leaving but are excited to see all of our friends and family and share how God has grown us and what wonderful things He is doing in Nicaragua.

Buenos Noches.

Thomas

august 5th

today some of us repainted the sanctuary of the church,and also painted the church office yesterday, others are working on building the transition house for the girls.A few of the team members are not feeling well so we ask you to keep them in your prayers. Yesterday we drove around the town in the back of Earls truck, seeing what the town looks like and how some of the people here live. It was heartbreaking to see just how little these people have.Please keep us in your prayers.
Hannah Richardson

The sun makes an apperance

Hello to all at home. Today is e Wednesday August the 3rd. The sun deceided to make an apperance this morning. I think the highlight of each day so far has been playing with the orphans. There is this little girl named Gatia, she is so cute. I have been spending a lot of time with her at the orpha. The first day we played tag and took lots of pictures. Yesterday I taught the craft lesson and taught most of the children at the orpha how to make gimp. They seemed to have a really good time playing with the gimp. There is this one little girl who loved having her picture taken. She would pose for each picture. smiling in one, then swiping her hair to the side for the next, then putting her hand on her hip for the next. She Really loved having her picture taken! The hardest part so far has been the rain. I slipped in a big puddle while walking to my room and landed with a big splash. I had to change my clothes which was not a problem. My bag was the only big bag that came on the small plane with us. They had put books for the pastors conference in my bag so it had to come on the plane so it would be here for Monday. That just shows that God was looking out for me. The rest of the luggage arrived late last night so now everyone has there bags. Thank you for praying. My Dad and my brother Owen are leaving for Jamica today. Please keep them and their team in your prayers as well.( I am praying for them too!) The food so far has been yummy! Last night we had fresh shrimp and rice. It was the best so far! Everyone is staying healthy and sends their love to those at home.
Hannah Patterson

day 2, tuesday!

So we woke up again this morning to rain, I'm really getting tired of it. It wasnt until right before lunch today that it finally stopped, and now were getting a taste of true Central American weather. We all are just about to go crazy without our baggage, we've been without it since Sunday.Living out of your carry on bag gets really old. Really old. Because the rain has been so bad, the roads are a muddy mess. They've had to take our luggage out of the orginail van, put them in canoes to cross the river, and now the bags are in another van, hopefully coming today. I think you can only wear an outfit so many times. Otherwise the trip so far has been exicting, today will be the first Bible lesson we do with the kiddies, hopefully they'll have enough attention. After we play with them for a while we can look forward to rice and beans at dinner. You can never have enough rice and beans. Hopefully by that time it will be getting dark and we'll cool off during porch time and hear about everyone's day. I guess that's all for now. Adios!
-Lacy

Just Another Managua Monday

I've been told to preface this entry by saying that We are all safe, No one has died, been kidnapped or gotten malaria. . . yet. My mother knows if it were up to me you would all be under the impression that we had been kidnapped and were the primary hostages in a spontaneous civil war. She's dealt with my sadistic humor for 20 years and for that I say, thank you mother dearest, if I were you I would have shipped me to a Nicaraguan orphanage for a whole other reason than missions.

Today concludes the first full day in Nicaragua. After spending the night in the Managua Best Western we awoke at 4 AM to hurry up and wait for our flight to Puerto Cavezas. While waiting, our source of entertainment were two televisions, one selling what appeared to be holy olive oil and the other playing a compilation of music videos from a man we concluded was Screech from "Saved by the Bell" if he had grown up hispanic. . and with talent.

We had to split the group between two planes since each plane only fit 12 people plus the two pilots. Scratch that, one pilot and one student with notepad and textbook in tow, a real confidence booster when flying to the other side of the country. Despite my hesitation to take my eye off the cockpit for fear of imminent deadness, once I did I didn't look back. The country is beautiful. Rich green farmland, rolling hills, sprawling mountains and a sky bluer than a blue M & M (seriously, look at one, they're really blue)

Unfortunately that all changed once we got to Puerto Cavezas. You don't know rain until you've seen Central America in the rainy season. After testing the limits of our 18 passenger van's 4-wheeling capability we got our soaked luggage and took a school bus through the soaked streets of Puerto Cavezas. It was an eye opener, most of the houses were one room supported on stilts. There were giant holes in the street and starving dogs everywhere. Once we got to the Verbo Church however it was a totally different atmosphere than outside. The houses were well built and sprawling green grass covered everything but the paths.

After settling in, we got a tour of the church grounds and interacted with the orphans. I played Uno with three girls who apparently were the only girls not hanging on Thomas and being thrown in the air, squeals of otra vez filled the courtyard.

Once we had exhausted ourselves we had dinner and settled in for the night, falling asleep to the torrential downpour on the tin roof.

Roxy

Arrived

Hello to all at home. We have arrived in managua with all our team members and luggage acounted for and in one piece. We are tired and ready for a short sleep. We travel again early tommorrow. Please continue to pray for us. We will try to blog again tommorrow. Flights went well with minimun layovers.

Ready....

Tomorrow the Nicaragua team meets for it's last team meeting before departing. We are all getting excited and running around trying to take care of all the little details. Please pray that during this time we will not loose focus of what is really important, taking the love of Christ and the message of hope to those that are still lost. We will try to update this blog while we are traveling so keep checking back.

Let the dentistry begin!

Today was the frist day on the construction/medical/vbs sites. Craziness all around! Dr Dee, Janet, and Eric worked so hard peoples teeth fell out! Medical team had a lot of stomach aches, but most of the people today had fillings, cleanings, and hundreds of extractions.
Pradeepa

voices lifted up

The construction site was hot as Haiti...literally! But we seemed to form some good relationships with the masons and workers (some of whom aren't believers). Most of us are picking up Creole words that are helping us get by and getting laughed at in the process.
The VBS started out with 9 kids and by the end of the... day had 200 it was awesome, because we could here them singing from the construction site that was half a mile away!
Pradeepa

Pray

Please be praying for our physical stregnth that we would rely and be sustained by God and not solely rely on our own capabilities. We are doing our devotions from James so be praying that our individual and group time would be guided by the Holy Spirit. Also please pray for opportunities to present the Gospel to the... lost and have the Gospel root deeper in our own hearts. Lastly for continued unity in Christ for our team.

Arrived in the Dominican Republic

We had a great day of travel yesterday and we only lost one small bag of aerosols and were pleasantly surprised by one more night in an airconditioned hotel room in Santiago D.R.. Dinner came at 10 pm from a local restauraunt.. Yaroa is amazing! We leave on a 6 hour bus ride. rumored to be AC, into Haiti at 10 am. ...We should arive around 4pm. Please be praying for unity and group cohesion as we are merging the personalities of CFC and VBC.
Pradeepa

Team in Haiti

This is the first official post on our new blog. The Haiti team should be in country now and I hope to post an update from them shortly. They left on Sunday from Radford and from DC on Monday. Please continue to pray that God will give them opportunities to share the light they carry in such a dark place. Pray also that the team would be an encouragement to the believers there in Haiti that they will be working with. Thank to all who helped make this trip possible.