I'm giving all back to Him!

Spending time with & unconditionally loving on these same kids everyday for the last three months, we have formed an attachment to them or a sort of ownership over them. You’ll here us refer to the 12 boys that we work with everyday as “my boys” or we refer to that one child we develop a very special bond with as “my baby”. So, the thought of having to leave my boys has been weighing very heavy on my heart and has raised a lot of questions that were unsettled within me, like who’s going to take my place and make sure my boys get enough love everyday when I’m gone. Or how will I ever be at peace not knowing how each and every one of those kids is doing everyday? Then, I was reminded of this verse in the bible, John 14:18, which says this, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” God made it very clear to me in that verse that they are not “my boys”, they are His children. He called us here to love on and take care of His boys for some time and He will be there when we are no longer. Now that our time here is nearing the end, I’m preparing to give it all back to Him, to turn it back over to the Almighty God who called us here and who has a plan for each and everyone of the children here, just like He has a plan for you and me.  And to think that I thought God didn’t have it all under control, ha! Our pastor said this about God during one of his sermons, “God doesn’t ever need to hire a consultant.” This is so true. God knows everything, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. There is nothing that God cannot handle and through God all things are possible. How incredible is that! God never ceases to amaze me.

There is no doubt that our hearts will be breaking when we have to say goodbye to the kids, but we know that God will take care of and provide for each and every child that is brought here, just like he has faithfully provided for us. It will take time for our hearts to heal and recover, but God will be there every step of the way, helping us heal.

Prayer Requests:

-Emotionally: please, continue to pray for us as we prepare our hearts for leaving. We are down to only two weeks now! Please, keep us in your prayers even after we have returned home, and are adjusting back to life at home.

-Health: please, pray that we continue to stay healthy for the rest of our stay here and during our travels back home.
-Travel: we leave here on December 9^th, in just two weeks! Please, pray for a safe journey back home.


We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving ,surrounded by friends and family! We had a great Thanksgiving here in Uganda. It made us miss our family back home a lot, but we were so thankful to have such a wonderful family of volunteers and other missionaries here to spend it with and the food tasted just like home too!

Many blessings to you,

Melanie

 This is the sweet boy that I have formed an extra special relationship with. He makes my heart happy, I just adore him! He's my favorite snuggle bug. Photo taken by: Hannah Coen.

Here is the cute boy Megan has formed a very special relationship with since we've been here. He is too cute for his own good! He's always making us laugh.

Trusting Him

We started a piece of paper with "God is..." on it & then each of us volunteers would write one word each day that represented who God is to us. We thought it turned out so cool that we had paintings made out of them. So, we had the backgrounds painted by a local painter in town and then I painted all the words we had written on the paper, onto each one of our paintings.
 


As I lay here awake listening to babies scream, and dogs howl at each other I start really thinking about what God has taught me while being here, and this may sound so cliché and scripted but the biggest lesson learned has been trusting in Him with anything and everything I do. I am reading this book called Extraordinary by John Bevere and one chapter talks about how instead of fearing man we should be in fear of God. Meaning we should fear life without God. How amazing is that, God just is that awesome that no matter what, he is Abba Father, Healer, Protector and the list can go on and on! But being in a different country, at times can be scary, and uncomfortable. Being away from your normal everyday life can put you out of your comfort zone. God has given me so much peace and comfort being here. When I first arrived, I was praying constantly that God would keep my family back home safe and healthy while I was gone. It was so hard for me to trust God with that, like I thought He couldn’t handle it, ha! Finally, He got it through my thick head, I am not in control and never had any control over that in the first place. He is in control! Man, what was I thinking!?

I have gotten sick while being here, I feel like I am never this sick at home. Satan is attacking me in that way for sure. Being sick is bringing me down and I have found myself really discouraged. Before coming over, I felt God was being very clear that he was calling me back to Uganda. When we got here I was thinking, maybe I was hearing God wrong, surely I shouldn't be here. But after two months being here, and seeing how God has used me in so many different ways, the biggest way, showing His love to my 12 boys I have been placed with at Amani. Being sick or not, God wanted me here. I couldn't be more thrilled that this is where I ended up!

So, please pray for us, we are down to only three weeks left, it is so bittersweet! Imagining life at home right now breaks our hearts. We have both gotten really attached to our families here, but at the same time we are starting to miss everything back home.

This is what we do on a typical afternoon, spending time, loving on & playing with all the kids!

We need prayer for:

-Mostly, for God to prepare our hearts for what kind of emotions we are going to experience after we leave this place and return home, after all the excitement of seeing everyone and eating all the food we have missed is over!

-Staying as healthy as can be! Mel really hasn’t gotten sick, Pray she doesn’t!!:)

-Safe travels home in only three weeks!

Blessings,

Megan

"Family Night"

When people hear that this is my second time here I quite often get asked what’s been different about my experience this time as opposed to the last time I was here. There are some obvious reasons, like the fact that we’re here for three months instead of only three weeks, but the one thing that has stood out the most is the friendships we have made with the other volunteers here. The last time we were here there were so many volunteers at the time, that we had to stay with one of the Amani staff members, who was a long-term volunteer, serving as their nurse at the time. So, sure, we met and got to know the other volunteers somewhat, but we didn’t live with them; therefore we didn’t really get to know them that well. We all know that when you’re living with someone and sharing the same bedroom and bathroom, that you get to know that person pretty well and on a very different level. We started doing family meals once a week, where all the volunteers gather together and choose a meal to cook together and then sit down and eat as a family, which ends up being tacos most of the time because one of the mamas here makes fabulous homemade tortillas and someone was nice enough to send us a bunch of taco seasoning packets. And with fresh avocados for guacamole, what could go wrong? It’s become an awesome time to fellowship with the other volunteers and we have all become a family here, which makes us feel at home. Coming here, I never thought that I would make friendships I would want to maintain even when I’m home. It’s crazy to think that I have met and become good friends with people from the states, who may not actually live that far away from me, but yet I met them in Africa of all places.

Now one of our fellow volunteers has returned home, but at one time there were six girls in one room and one of them was a 62 year old woman. She was definitely a trooper, having to live with 5 others girls, all in their twenties. But, even so, she became like a grandma to all of us during her two months stay here. We all called her “Jaaja”, which means grandmother in Lugandan.  When she left we were all full of tears and we all felt like a part of us was missing. I think all of us got a little homesick after she left as well because it all made us miss our mothers without her here. With other volunteers starting to leave and knowing that we only have a month left here the reality of leaving is really starting to sink in. It’s a hard concept to grasp as we ponder the thought of leaving these kids that we have loved on for the past two months and have completely fallen in love with. I can’t imagine waking up in the morning or going to bed at night knowing that I can’t tuck my boys into bed or give them a hug and kiss when I want to. It will be a very bittersweet goodbye because I will be happy to see my family and be home for Christmas, but a part of me will always be here. And we’re so very excited to keep in touch with the fellow volunteers we have met here once we’re home and we know that they’re friendships we have made to last for a lifetime because we have shared such an awesome experience with them, in Africa! It’s been such a blessing!

So, please, pray for us as we start preparing our hearts and minds for the reality of leaving in a month. Please, pray for the volunteers, kids, and the mamas as well. There has been a lot of sickness going around here, so pray for health! Thank you for all your support and prayers!

Blessings,

Melanie