Tomorrow I leave my family here to fly home to my family in the States. This past week has been challenging in a lot of ways. Our kids have been learning what it means to be obedient to the Lord and to their parents, while we mommies and uncles have been learning what it looks like to guide and discipline them in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Some days it can feel like we’re getting nowhere- they keep disobeying and we keep disciplining, and on and on and on. With forty-five kids, that can get discouraging.

But as I get ready to go, God is reminding me that it is all worth. Each one of our kids here are so special and uniquely pieced together by God with a specific purpose in mind. The Bible says that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made and that the Lord knit each one of us together in our mother’s womb before we were born. And no matter how disobedient or disrespectful we can be at times- to Him or to our earthly parents- He is CRAZY in love with us. With only a day left here, I’ve been looking at each of our kids here with that kind of crazy love, seeing them for the wonderful little creations that they are.

Rachel is a leader by nature. Sometimes she abuses her power and bosses the younger girls around a little too much, but she has a good heart and a beautiful smile. She can also dance and beat a drum like nobody’s business.

Kevin is quiet, but funny in his own way. He likes to braid hair and he loves to read books. He taught me how to catch dragonflies by their wings and then throw them into the air.

Small Daphine is an itty bitty little girl with a lot of personality. She has a great laugh and can leap into your arms like a spider monkey.

Fatuma is my little lion. She’s really sassy and acts older than her six years (I think I relate to her because I was apparently the same way when I was her age). She likes to say things in Luganda to me and then laugh when I can’t understand her.

Letticia is a trip. At six, she has the biceps of a body builder, and she loves to jump on my back. She has a lot of energy, which can get her into trouble sometimes. She also has an “I’m sorry” face that will melts my heart every time.

Josiah is eight, but looks like he’s about four. He’s pretty scrappy and can hold his own playing soccer with the big boys.

Aligaya has been my shadow for most of my two months here. She is the queen of stating the obvious, which is either annoying or really entertaining, depending on my mood. She has told me multiple times every day for the past week that she is going to cry when I leave.

Moses steals the heart of everyone he meets. At four years old, he weighs just over twenty pounds. He has an infectious laugh and a goofy-looking smile. His belly sticks out way farther than his skinny little legs, giving him the appearance of a frog. He also gets really annoyed if any of the other children invade his personal space.



They are all so different and so incredibly special. And that’s only a few of them. As I think about each of them- their laughs, their hearts, their funny little personalities- it all seems so worth it. They are worth flying half-way across the world and getting up early every morning and working long days and missing Mexican food and being frustrated and exhausted at times. They are so incredibly worth it all.


These little people that I’ve grown to love so much have shown me Christ’s love. He gave everything- sacrificed His life- even though His children disobeyed and dishonored Him. He could have left us on our own, but at the end of the day, He saw my smile and He heard your laugh and He remembered the way you looked at Him when you were afraid, and He decided that we were worth it.

What a crazy, incredible love.

I promise to put tons of pictures up on facebook as soon as I get home so that you can all put some faces with the names. Thank you again for your thoughts, prayers and words of encouragement. God is so good to me. Please continue to pray for Holly and William and the kids. If you’d like to find out more about Our Own Home, how to support them or sponsor a child, you can visit their website at http://www.africaourownhome.org/.

People: I come home in ONE WEEK. Crazy, i know! I still have a lot of mixed feelings about leaving. We have the best kids in the world, and, as excited as I am about going home, I really don't know how I'm going to say good-bye to all forty-five of them. 

As one of my final blog entries, I would like to introduce you all to Elijah- probably the most entertaining child I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. 

He can frequently be found running around, screaming at the the top of his lungs or singing some version of "Mighty to Save."

As you can see, he's pretty much a fashion guru. He's in the process of learning how to use the potty, but he rarely lets an "accident" cramp his style. 

He also weighs more than any two-year-old should, so my arms have become really toned from lifting him into a double-stacked crib. And he's hands down the best tooth-brusher out of all of our babies. 

I can honestly say that I'm going to miss this little tub of love and his sloppy kisses. 

Also, get excited, because there are many, many more pictures to come as soon as I get back in the States.  :) 

I love you guys! Thank you for all of your prayers and support. 

If any of you have been following the news lately, I'm sure you heard about the bombings in Kampala this past week. From what I know, there were two bombs that successfully went off in two separate locations, but with added security they have managed to stop a few attempts since then.

Everyone here in Jinja is fine- all of our kids are okay (Praise God for that!).

Please be praying for the families of the people who were killed and injured. The hospitals in Kampala are still overwhelmed trying to treat all of the victims. And pray for safety here- that God would bring peace to Uganda and Burundi, which appear to be the target countries.



This past week, Morgan and I stayed at a home that serves as a care center for children with cancer and their families. The kids stay at the home while they are receiving treatment or awaiting test results in Kampala. We helped with some administration work while we were there and were able to spend some time with the children and their families, which was a blessing. Most of the families we met cannot afford the tests, let alone the treatment, needed to heal their children. They rely mostly on God to provide healing or to bring in the financial support they need. It was really inspiring to see the faith and the joy these people display while battling such an aggressive disease.

One of the boys at the home is named Dennis. They told us when we arrived that he had been diagnosed with Leukemia and couldn't afford treatment. Just two weeks ago, they had thought he was going to die because he was so sick. They prayed and asked God to heal his body, and God was faithful to answer. He is now healthy and his blood count is back to normal- just TWO weeks later. They are praying every day for more miracles like that one.

I feel really blessed to have been able to spend time with the families in Kampala, but I really missed our kids here. It's SO great to be back in Jinja. It's starting to sink in now that I only have two weeks left before I head back to the states. Please pray that God would work in and through me during that time and that I would make the most of it.

God has still been teaching me so much about what it means to trust that He is good- always. He doesn't guarantee that we will be safe or comfortable or healthy at all times, but He does guarantee His unending love and promises to never leave us.

Jesus says in Matthew 10: "Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's consent. But even the hairs of your head have been counted. Don't be afraid, therefore; you are worth more than many sparrows."

God is always good and He never leaves us.

Well, friends, you heard right. I got malaria.

Thank you for all of your prayers- I appreciate that so much, and I’m feeling better every day. I think I’m now well on my way to becoming a true African, which is really exciting.

More importantly, please be praying for the rest of our family here. Lydia, our oldest girl, has been sick pretty consistently for many months. She has been put on an IV again to keep fluids in her system, and she could really use prayer for strength. Kevin also is being treated for pneumonia, so pray for his recovery.

As I was lying in bed last week trying really hard not to throw up the biscuits William kept insisting that I eat, I kept thinking mainly about two things: 1. How much I hate mosquitoes and 2. How good God is.

Because even though God doesn’t always take away our pain, I find so much comfort in the fact that He is right there in the midst of it all. No matter what, He never leaves us and He is always good.

In the gospel of John, before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, scripture says that Jesus saw Mary and the people crying and that He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved. Then, when they took Jesus to see Lazarus’ body, He wept. My Bible has a footnote saying that the Greek word used here for angry is very strong and probably indicates Jesus’ anger against sin’s tyranny and death.

Sickness and death anger God. Sin angers God. The pain that we feel as a result angers God. Because it’s not the way things were created to be. Something along the way broke down and so we experience the repercussions every day.

HIV happens. Malaria happens. Death happens.

Jesus wept with the people as they mourned the death of Lazarus. And He weeps with us still.

That’s the beauty of it all. He never leaves us. Not when we’re facing illness or death or brokenness or loneliness. Max Lucado writes that “Jesus doesn’t give hope by changing the jungle; He restores our hope by giving us Himself. And He has promised to stay until the very end.”

How incredible is that? That GOD who made the universe sits by my bed when I’m sick and mourns with us when we lose someone we love.

If you do one thing today, please tell Him how good He is.  

Children are endlessly entertaining.

Here are some things my children have said to me since I've been here:


"If you eat a lot of food, your stomach will get really big and you'll have a baby."

"Mommy, I love you so much... can I please write in your hair?"

"Mommy, why do you have hair on your arms like a man?"

"If I move to America, will I become a mzungu (white person) like Michael Jackson?"

Me: "Kevin, what rhymes with the word dog?"
Kevin: "Purple!"


Gotta love 'em :)

"Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD cares for me." (Psalm 27:10)

Meet Angelina.

She is a sweet, giggly little girl who will talk your ear off, even though she speaks very little English. She's six years old but looks more like a three- or four-year-old. Like many of our girls, she can be pretty stubborn sometimes, but she has a contagious and very chubby little smile. 

I was shocked when I found out that less than a year ago, when Angelina came to Holly and William, she looked like this:

Each of our children has a story. Some are sad and unfortunate; others are unbelievable. Some of our kids have families that love them and visit when they can. Others have been abandoned. 

But they are all loved- by God and by their new earthly family. And they are all blessed beyond measure. 

PRAISE GOD. 

He reached down from on high and took hold of me. 
-Psalm 18


This verse describes my life so well. God, the creator of the universe and the Father of all people, reached down from on high and took hold of me. And He continues to take hold of me every day.

Sometimes I forget how absolutely helpless I am without Him, and then, so quickly, everything is put back into perspective. Here, with children banging drums at 5am and arguments to settle and fevers to monitor and diapers to change, I need my God.

I don't need Him like I need a shower (necessary, but it can wait a day or two). I need Him like I need air.

I realized really quickly that without my Father dwelling within in me, without His love filling my heart, without His Word running through my thoughts, I grow tired before the day has even begun. But somehow, when I meet him in the morning and I allow Him to speak to my heart throughout the day, I have more energy than I ever thought possible. I have patience in situations that would normally drive me crazy. I am able to laugh and hug and play soccer with my children when I would normally be in desperate need of a nap.

He reaches down from on high and takes hold of me.

And I pray that He would do the same for every one of the children here.

These kids are blessed- SO blessed- to have parents who pray for them daily and understand the importance of God's Word in their lives. Every night before bed we have a time of worship with the children when we sing songs of praise to the Lord. And every night the children are read a section of scripture and walked through the meaning of God's Word to them. They are told how much the God of the universe loves them and wants to know their hearts.

God is reaching down from on high and taking hold of them.

Thank you so much for your prayers- for me and for the kids here.

We feel them.

        

“For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ… They are focused on earthly things, but our homeland is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.” (PHIL 3:18-21) 

This world is not our home.

Max Lucado writes that “homesickness is one of the burdens God doesn’t mind if we carry” and that “the greatest calamity is not to feel far from home when you are, but to feel right at home when you are not.”

In a home for children with HIV/AIDS, sickness is a part of daily life. Every day I hear, “Mommy, I need a plaster (bandaid),” “Mommy, my stomach is paining me,” “Mommy, my head is paining me,” “Mommy, so-and-so is not well.” There are frequent trips to the clinic for malaria tests and check ups. There are meds to be taken every morning and every night just to ensure that the children’s little bodies can have a chance at fighting off infection.

For the most part, the kids here seem healthy and energetic, running around and getting into trouble like all children do. But there is always something to remind me that these children’s bodies are weak. And what is difficult is that there is often not much we can do to help. We have Tylenol for pain and plasters for cuts-- and Holly and William have been blessed with ARVs for all of the children. But sometimes we are simply unable to ease their pain—at least not as quickly or as completely as we would like.

Lydia, one of our older girls, has been continually sick with one thing after another for months. She is often throwing up, getting chills, and feeling weak.

Aligaya, one of our younger girls, recently broke out in blisters and cold soars all over her lips and inside her mouth- so much so that she can hardly open her mouth at times. We have Listerine to kill the bacteria and pain meds to make her more comfortable, but not much else.

And the truth is that their bodies, like ours, are temporary. They break, they grow weak, they grow old, and they fail us.

But to those who fear Him, God promises to transform our bodies to reflect His glory-- perfect and eternal. He promises us a real home in eternity with Him where there will be no sickness or pain.

While it’s hard for me to see the kids here in pain and to feel so helpless, it brings me so much hope to know that this is not our home. Our imperfect bodies remind us that we have something so much greater waiting for us. These children have something so much greater waiting for them.

In the meantime, they have a God who understands their pain and catches their tears-- so much better than I or the other mommies ever could. 

A rat pooped on my bed. Twice.

We know there are rats in the ceiling, so we try and keep the doors to our rooms shut as much as possible. I left it open for a few minutes while I took a shower and came back to rat poop. On my bed. Where I sleep. Awesome. I’m banking on the fact that rats aren’t smart enough to know how to hide from humans for long periods of time. And I’m really hoping that I don’t find a dead rat in my suitcase, because I wasn't about to dig through it directly following the poop incident. 

A few of the kids came down with what we think is pink eye. Amazingly, it hasn’t spread to all of the 45 children by now.

The other night during our Bible study with the older children, I learned how to beat an African drum… more or less. There was a lot of laughing during my turn :)

I have been reading Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

I like that David says the Lord makes us lie down in green pastures. He forces us to rest. I thought that was an odd thing to say when I read it the other day. Why would God need to make me rest? I would love to go chill in a green pasture for a while, have a picnic. That sounds great to me.

But it makes sense.

I don’t always like to slow down and often I refuse to do so. Sometimes it’s more comfortable to keep moving. A fast-paced life requires little reflection or contemplation. If we just keep moving, we don’t have to ask ourselves the difficult questions or look deeper into our heart.

For me, being in Uganda this time around has been more difficult. I miss home, I miss my people, and part of me would be more comfortable having a typical summer back in the States.

But the longer I am here, the more my heart is beginning to rest. Uganda is my green pasture. The Lord is forcing me lie down and slow down. Because rest is not always a physical rest (I am working harder here than I would have back home). What I needed was a spiritual rest.

He knows what I need better than I do, and He knew that I needed this time to slow down and just be for a while.

He is restoring my soul.

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever. 

Hey friends!

I arrived in Jinja Friday evening. The flight was good- long, but no major problems. It was so great to finally get here and meet the children. There are so many of them and SO many names to learn! I’m doing my best, but I’ve never been great with names, so it’s taking me a while. We have 44 children altogether- more girls than boys. There are five babies and the oldest girl is 16, I believe. They are all wonderful and full of energy, especially the younger girls.

I’m still getting into the routine of things, but a day here starts around 7am, when we give the children their meds. Then the big kids go to school until around 5 or 6 pm. The little ones play during the day, and we do a short school session around 10am, helping them to learn their letters and numbers. The babies sleep from about 12-3pm. At 7pm, we give the children their medicine again and lead them in a time of worship, followed by a bible study. 

On Saturday nights, William leads the older children in something they call Straight Talk. During this time the children have the freedom to ask any questions they may have about anything and everything- HIV/AIDS, the Bible, Martin Luther King Jr.- it's all fair game. On Sundays, we get pancakes for breakfast and then go to church at Calvary chapel, the church I stayed at the last time I was here. Then the kids have movie time and play all day. 

The children refer to the volunteers as “mommies,” so I am Mommy Jordan. Some of them were confused by my name at first and said things like, “Mommy, that is a boy’s name!” My driver who picked me up from the airport experienced similar confusion. The whole way home he kept laughing and saying, “Jordan! I thought you were a man!” I told them all that my parents were confused when they named me :) 

It is so great to be back here, seeing so many familiar faces- and meeting so many new ones. My goal is to have all the names down by the end of the week… we’ll see how that goes. Please pray that God would build my relationships with the children and other volunteers while I’m here and that He would fill me with so much love for them.

Here are some pictures of the little ones! 

Pius :) Falling in love with this boy right here^

Gloria and Moses^

Gloria and Aligaya^

Gloria and Whinny^

Ninjas. ^

Not sure how to rotate this... I'll work on that. Sharon, Locira and Diana. ^

Lydia, Prossy and Gloria^

Love and miss you all!!
Jordan

Hey people!

I leave for the airport around 3am tomorrow morning- SO excited! I can't wait to squeeze each one of those beautiful little girls.

If any of you would like to write to me while I'm there (do it!), the address is PO Box 1648 Jinja, Uganda, East Africa. Send it airmail, otherwise it will arrive in Jinja around February. And please don't call or text me while I'm there- I'm already poor as it is.

LOVE, love, love you guys!

Getting There

“Love consists in the this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another…

We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:10-11, 19)

I leave for Jinja, Uganda in THREE days!! :) I’m getting more and more excited as it gets closer, but it all still seems sort of surreal. I can’t believe I’m actually going to be back in this place that I love with these kids that I love doing the type of work that I love.

Let’s be real- I didn’t love all of it. I didn’t love the food (for the most part). I didn’t love showering and never really feeling clean. I didn’t love finding a dead lizard in my toaster after just having finished my morning peanut butter toast (yes, that really happened).

But I did love being in Jinja. And even now, thinking about going back, I have all kinds of wonderful excited feelings going on inside my stomach, because I really can’t wait.

And I'm so thankful that God has given me love for His children in this particular place. Yes, there are people in need all over the world- even here in the United States, as people love to bring to my attention ;) But God has led me to these people, to love and be loved, for reasons that I can’t understand.

Through them He has shown me more of who He is: the God of the fatherless and the widow, the God who rescues, the God whose love is eternal, the God who provides, the God who feeds the hungry, the God who is faithful, Father-God. And my hope is that by God sending a girl from the other side of the world just to spend time with them and play with them and rock them to sleep and paint their toe nails and pray over them, these children will see more of who God is: the God who has counted every hair on their head (Matthew 10:30).

I think this is what it’s all about. Being loved by God and then sharing that love with one another- wherever we are, in whatever we’re doing.

We love because He first loved us.

I'm really looking forward to sharing my time in Jinja with all (three or four) of you :) Hopefully I'll do a better job of updating my blog this time around. Please be praying for my heart as I get ready to leave- that God would prepare me for all that He is going to do in and around me this summer.

LOVE you guys!

Jordan