saving lives. literally.

In review of my 3rd week here, I found a recurring theme. We were starting to save lives. And yes, I realize that God saves lives. But we are his co-workers. We can sit back and do nothing, or we can fight for our brothers and sisters. We can donate to the work being done, or we can use the money to buy ourselves another material thing does nothing to better the life of someone else.

Dec 13th – is blessed to have a man who will get up with me at 2am and drive me to to the hospital in Kampala. Never thought we'd make it here but I'm feeling much beetah now!

Dec 13th – ‎"What hurts you hurts me, too. Thank you for allowing me to take the lead and get us the help we needed. You're easy to care for when you're not stubborn." - George

Dec 13th – is in love with a Man who could wipe out the pain & hopelessness I see on a daily basis, but He chose ME to help Him. That's LOVE, people!

Found this on the porch of my new home :)

Dec 13th – never knew what I was REALLY made of until I survived a 2.5 day stomach virus in the village. I did cave and ask God why He chose a pit latrine as my only restroom. For real.


Dec 13th – doesn't mind the bats but I'm asking Messach for a refund if he don't kill that rat I hear in the rafters. I'm hiding under my net, as if it's made of steel. The last thing I need right now is Malaria!

Dec 13th – EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Just had a friend match another friend's $300 donation for new tires on the truck. So tomorrow, if the stomach virus is gone, we'll go get tires and de-worming medicine. There might be slick tires and worms in the village, but tonight there's rejoicing as well :)

I spent yesterday on the couch but grabbed my camera when

the kids gathered to see what I was doing today :)

George's daughter Linda is here for a couple days!

She has him wrapped around her finger. No doubt.

Look what we ran into on our walk up to the school! Right after I took this, he took
off running through the field. It was hilarious but scary at the same time. George
reassured me that it had nothing to do with the flash on my camera :)

Dec 14th – is doing administrative work today. You know, the work most big time orgs pay people to do. But I'm doing it for free so there's no overhead. I'm praising God that He's bigger than all the people that told me NO ONE would sponsor one of these kids without me first having a 501(c)3. Yet God has sent 151 sponsors so far. The attacks are still coming. But that means He's about to do some GREAT things through me :)

Dec 14th – has NEW TIRES on the truck & even had enough money left over for an alignment. Even this girl knows how important THAT is to a new set of tires. Praising God for the 2 sweet friends that donated so that our truck can be a vehicle for Him. Pun intended. George is also checking on the de-worming meds. As for me, I'm finding some VERY encouraging info as I match sponsors with their children. God is good. Period. When I go with George, we get the "Mzungu price" but when he goes alone, they give him the "Ugandan price" and we save enough money to get other much-needed work done. Happy sigh...

Dec 14th – EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Although we haven't profiled ALL the children yet, as it stands now we have more sponsors than children. This doesn't include the partial and/or promised payments. We are still selecting the "new ones" (attending for the 1st time), and getting at least ONE child from each of the 168 homes. NO HOME should have several children in school while the next home has NONE.



Dec 14th – is sitting beside Irene and she's saying (in Luganda), "there is Irene" as she looks at my profile picture. Can't wait to get these kids de-wormed. Every time I hug her and her swollen belly, I cry out to Jesus in my mind. He hears me. He has BIG plans. Bigger plans than all of us could ever dream.

Dec 14th – found a $250 donation in my Paypal acct but only one child was chosen. I contacted her & found out that she sold her doll collection & sent us ALL the proceeds. I'm certain this extra $150 was sent by God to finish paying for ALL the kids to be de-wormed. And HER sponsored child just happened to be the one who sat in my lap that night prompting my plea for de-worming donations. I LOVE how God is in every detail!

Dec 14th – EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! George just got home w/not only 4 new tires but they threw in a brand new spare! And that's not even the GOOD PART! He surprised me w/2 boxes packed FULL of meds! We can now treat EVERY kid for worms! He bought in bulk so we had enough money for Malaria tabs for about 150 kids. We also have meds to treat coughs, colds, wounds (pain & dressing), and stomach upsets! God is good to us :)

meds,

meds,

and MORE meds! best. surprise. EVER.

so long, WORMS!

Dec 14th – Me: Thank you for surprising me with meds today. George: You have to really study you to figure out what it takes to make you happy. The normal things, you don't even look at. Me: What do you mean? Like what? George (pointing to the dried up flowers he brought to the airport): Like those.

Dec 14th – picked an old lady that needed a ride. She got into the truck bed & just stood there. George told her to sit. She asked how much he was going to charge & he said, "do you want to pay me money?" She said no & he said, "Why did you ask? Sit down so we can go." When we dropped her in the next village she took her time getting out & he said, "Oh, man! Leave in the same speed with which you got in!" Bahahahaha!

Dec 15th – is in Jinja for the morning. Breakfast at The Source Cafe & lunch at 2 Friends. Wish I had time to visit with my friends here but it was a last min decision to get away for the morning. George said that we've done more in 2 weeks than he has in 3 years to improve the lives in the village. That's encouraging, seeing as I was down for a few days. Praising Him for his healing power. I feel so much better today!!!

Dec 15th – George: We should call your Mom and thank her. Me: For what? George: For giving birth to you. Me: Whatever. George: Seriously. She could have decided not to have you. But she did. That decision alone is worth thanking her.

Dec 15th – found out today that there's a home with 6 children that are NOT in school. 6 children. The father won't bring any of them to us to profile. Please pray that God will move him to open his heart to Him and to let us at least help the oldest child, if not several of them. I hate to see any home with NO children in school. They are Muslim. The last thing the father wants is for his kids to go to a Christian School. Please continue to pray. Praying that there aren't more out there that feel the way he does.

Dec 16th – woke to the screams of some child that was being beaten for stealing something. Seeing as they burn you alive if you are caught as an adult, a little beating should be for your own best interest. But it really makes me furious. I know kids back home are spoiled but there should be a medium. Period.

Dec 16th – gave Mathias (the child I sponsored in July) new clothes a week ago. He's had them on every single day since. I just had Eugene ask if the clothes have been washed (as if I couldn't tell) and he said no. He says his grandmother is too busy. When we got home yesterday, George said "I look at her & wonder how she does it." Part of me wants him to come live with me when I get in my home. The other part gets it.

Dec 16th – was trying to blog and was overwhelmed with some raw emotions that I'd tucked away. I felt the tears coming so I went to my room to lie down. About 5 mins later, Joviah & Irene's Mom came in and said, "Auntie Christie? You are sleeping?" I said, "No, I'm not sleeping. I'm just a little sick." She said, "I have prepared lunch for you." Reminds me that I have to keep going. Even during the hard parts.

Dec 16th – is looking out the window where two children with swollen bellies have just been bathed from a basin with about a gallon worth of water and now the 4 yr old is washing her shoes from the same water. Thinking about the tubs full of water that are wasted every day on baths when hundreds of people would be well if we had clean water. Wishing George would get home soon. But if he didn't work, we wouldn't make it.

George's son Messach is profiling the kids since he's not here today.
He did a great job :)

Dec 16th – looked on as George profiled a child today. He said, "Ah ha! His last name is Waiswa. Do you remember what that means?" I said, "YES! He's a twin." We asked where his twin was & was told that he died. Heartbreaking. It was easy to sit in the States & talk about how much fun this profiling would be when I got here. It's NOT fun. These kids are hurting. But I'm here to let them know they are not alone.


Dec 16th – just found Joviah asleep with half her body on the sofa and the other half in a chair. I woke her up to reposition her and she's burning up with a fever. In one week we've treated 3 kids with Malaria. If we took a day and stopped by each home, there's no telling what we'd find. Jesus, we need you. Pour out Your mercy on us.

Dec 16th – was barely hanging on when George got home. I told him that Mathias' clothes haven't been washed since I gave them to him. He called him over & asked who did his laundry. He said he did. George asked where the clothes were that he had on when I gave him the new ones. He said he washed them and put them aside. George told him to go put them on & wash the new ones. I broke down as soon as he walked off. George has this rule that when you receive something new, you give "the old one" away. Since those were probably the only clothes Mathias had, so he didn't exactly do what George said. I think he'd been wearing the new clothes the whole time so George wouldn't know he didn't give the others away. Heartbreaking.

Dec 16th – needed to get away, so we took the neighbor to pick something in Bombo. It's very rare that the neighboring villages see a woman driving, much less a white woman. And since George says I am "too white", they saw me coming for miles. A couple of cows got away from some boys and I almost took one of them out. The dirt road to Bombo is quite bumpy so I had to keep apologizing to our neighbor in the truck bed.

Amazing view in Bombo town :)

Dec 16th – can ask George's son Messach to cook me some water for a shower in Luganda. I found out the hard way that mispronouncing the word water in that sentence asks him to cook me some poop instead. I should practice more before asking in front of the whole family. I will also be firing George as my teacher. He had me say "You are my boss" in front of his family. They erupted in laughter! I'm soooo done with him :)

Dec 17th – had George try a dill pickle for the first time. Not sure what he thought it was supposed to taste like but the look on his face was priceless!

Dec 17th – had a boda pull up beside us with a girl on the back who had just been discharged from the hospital from giving birth. The baby's a couple hours old & on a boda with only its Mom's arms for protection. Life is hard here.

Dec 17th – ‎"I don't want to be part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution." - George . . . said about the Karamojong kids banging on my window begging for money.

Dec 17th – just passed through a presidential candidate parade and George said, "they can start rioting RIGHT NOW. RIGHT NOW!!!" Glad we will be tucked away in the village during elections.

Dec 18th – was teaching Messach how to drive a manual while sitting in the yard. George told me to just show him how without actually driving anywhere, since it was about to get dark. I felt he was learning quickly (and George walked up to the school), so we took off down the road. We ran up on a gazillion people gathered around where one guy was beating (with a thick rope) another guy. Reminded me of Passion of the Christ. Messach got out to see what was going on and he said "he tried to ruin the guy's bike and they're trying to kill him." I quickly turned around, got back to the house and wind-sprinted up to the school. When I saw George, I lost it. I talked him into going to check on the boy, so we walked back to the house. George left and his sister tried to tell me how common it is here and how it's best to just keep walking when you see that. She said there was nothing to it and that George would be back soon because he couldn't do anything. I just shook my head and tried not to cry. 10 mins later, someone said George went by and was either taking someone to the police or taking the bike to get it fixed. I'm blessed that he stands when others sit and watch. I will never understand the parents that allow their children to stand and watch that sort of thing happen. The guy might have stolen the bike, but no one deserves to be beaten in the way that I saw him being beaten. No one.

** We saved his life. No doubt about it. He said he was beaten so badly. He said that because I had already been by and turned around quickly, they were expecting him so they had lightened up on him. George took the guy to jail. That's the best place for him tonight. Praising God that I went down that way instead of staying in the yard like George told me. Also praising Him that George is so respected that his going there didn't cause more problems. That guy had really caused some trouble and was about to set peoples' homes on fire because he was so drunk. But still, no one deserves to be beaten within an inch of their lives. No one. Period.

Giving Mathias a hug after we gave him the 4 outfits we bought yesterday for $7.

He didn't even know how to hug me back. Bless his heart. I sooo love this boy
and am blessed that he spends his days here in the yard.

George's Mom, Mathias, Joviah & Irene

When I posted this next picture, the caption with it read:
We went to one of the "other parts of the village" where I've never been
and we ran into Sharon, one of the sponsored girls that lives there :)

The TRUTH is that Gary Hines, a friend from my hometown, contacted
me and said that his wife, Lauren, had just lost her grandmother and he
was sponsoring Sharon as a Christmas gift for his family. He wanted
some additional pictures so he could create something for them to open
on Christmas morning. Praise God for men that not only care for the
things He cared for, but who love their families that much.

George with Sharon & her family :)

When we finished visiting Sharon, we went to a Christmas party
in Pastor Henry's village. One of George's adopted sons, Brian, was staying
with Pastor Henry while George was in school in Mukono.

Brian playing one of the games :)George on the drums. He's actually pretty good :)

Good on the drums but not so much on the dancing!

He might not be any good, but he broke it down for 'em :)

I need a tan. Seriously.