Cold Water

Friday, November 11, 2011

2011-11-12T02:35:00.000-08:00

HOME SWEET HOME! After many hours of travel we arrived home about 5:30 pm. How blessed we are. I cried to see my beautiful children. The hardest part of a missions trip is being away from them. I just want to hug them all night.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

2011-11-12T02:17:00.000-08:00

Hung out with Drea & Bryan most of the morning. Paul came to get us and we went to lunch with Him at the mall, picked up a few more gifts & went to an internet cafe to print our boarding passes. Rode in a rickshaw again. Went back to the hotel to get packed.

Paul's dad came to see us at the hotel. How can I describe this godly man? He is soft spoken, but his presence is powerful, but he is incredibly gentle. Just like I imagine our heavenly Father. He prayed a blessing over us.

Apparently when Paul was younger he wanted to go his own way. His father would pray over him and all of his children every night. Jaisee said sometimes he would wake up in the night or even at 4 am and his dad would be praying over them. He prayed over Paul every night for 2 years and then Paul had a change of heart.

Molly has a bad earache and Paul had to take her to the doctor tonight, so Jaicee took us to the airport. We left our hotel about 8:00pm. The drive was about 1 hour. Starting from 8pm our travel time home was about 33 hours.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

2011-11-12T02:15:00.002-08:00

Tim ran a fever last night. I’m not sure why. He is taking Cipro (an antibiotic for travelers stomach problems.) I emailed Mary and she sent out a prayer request to our prayer team. This morning the fever was gone and he was fine. Thank you Jesus!

I finally broke down and started taking Cipro. If you know me well, you know I hate to take medicine. I can’t afford to be sick when I go home.

Today we will teach to leaders in Paul’s community in his church in the slums. We don’t know who will be there, if anyone because it is in the middle of the week and people have to work. Paul is expecting it to be mostly or all women.

Here is a driving lesson for India:

Inch your way slowly out of the driveway honking loudly. As soon as you see a space almost big enough for your vehicle accelerate quickly. Accelerate until you almost reach the car in front of you then put on your brakes. One inch is more than enough room between you and any vehicle on the road. Swerve around any vehicle on the road where there is space. Even if there is not enough room for you, don’t worry. You can honk at the car next to you and they will move over. The exception to this is buses. Don’t drive between buses that don’t have room for at least half of your vehicle between them. Traffic signs and lanes are nice suggestions, but usually impractical. Don’t hit the people running in front of your car, instead swerve around them and tap your horn to let them know you see them. Beep beep means “I’m next to you and there is less than one inch between our cars” Long beep means there’s not room but I’m moving in anyway. Accelerate quickly then let off the gas over and over to produce a jolting feeling for your passengers. Otherwise they might feel too safe and stop praying. Eventually they will get sick but don’t worry because then they will roll down the window to spit or vomit, and everyone will be able to see the only white people in the area are with you. If you hit someone just keep going. They won’t mind as long as they aren’t bleeding. If they are bleeding and you are white keep going because you don’t want to go to jail or get mobbed. If there are 2 lanes, 4 cars can fit side by side, along with people, motorbikes, animals, and bicycles swerving in and out. Rickshaws don’t go as fast so always drive around them. They know to get out of your way, but occasionally you will get behind one or two that won’t move. Don’t worry, just keep honking and eventually they will move over. When you get further back into the neighborhood the streets will be very small and congested with people. Keep honking. Drive slowly so that you don’t knock anyone down because they will be right next to your car. It is up to them to move their feet and arms out of the way. If there is an animal you might have to honk a lot. If it feels like it, it will move. No one will move it for you and you can’t hit it but if you get very close to it, it will usually move. Keep honking. Always keep honking. If you don’t, others won’t know what you are doing. There is a honking language and all the honks mean something. You need to learn it. There is a method to the madness of it all, and you actually get used to it.

***

John picked us up about 10:00 and we took rickshaws to the church. Because they are open and smaller, it felt different driving through the slums. There is less of a barrier separating us.

We taught Sanctity of Life, Parenting, Natural Family Planning, Marriage & Birth Kits to about 30 families. We gave each family a hand towel, birth kit & soap. Each man was given a necktie.

I was overwhelmed by the ride to church and the closeness of the suffering we saw. I just wanted to cry. I wouldn’t have had it any other way, because I want to understand the people we are here to help. But it was really difficult for me to teach this morning. When I am upset sometimes I lose my voice, and I was really fighting that as we began. I just cried out to the Lord and told Him I had no strength, and that nothing I could give was good enough, but to I was a willing vessel. I asked Him to work through me however He wanted, but I that I am completely inadequate.

This was the feedback…and we didn’t even hear it all because of lack of time:

“I was always beating my child in front of everyone and I’m going to stop now.”

“You taught us how to treat our children and wives, and how to make decisions together as husband and wife. This teaching is very unusual for us. You gave us scientific facts that we didn’t know. We didn’t understand the differences between men and women.”

“We always disciplined without allowing for repentance. We would just leave our child alone and not reconcile for up to a month. You taught us to love unconditionally and to make sure we teach our children to repent. This is not how our culture is, but we want to obey the bible, not our culture.”

“We don’t allow our children freedom after they marry. We want to obey the bible and free them after they marry for the couple to make their own decisions . I didn’t know that abortion was wrong. I’m going to teach this and Natural Family Planning to the women I work with in women’s ministry. I’m going to be a midwife. You taught us how to be clean.”

“I am a businessman but I am illiterate. I didn’t take any calls to go to work today, but I came here instead. Even though I can’t read I learned so much and it was so helpful. I want to do all that you taught us.”

“My wife took my role as husband, but no more. I’m going to take care to do it now.”

“I was so convicted about the teaching on kids. I hit my kids in the face and pinch them until blood comes. I’m not going to do that anymore.”

“I was so convicted by the teaching. I used to be very very poor. I had 2 girls already and I got pregnant with another girl. I had multiple shots to abort the baby, but she lived and did not have any problems. Now she is in 12^th grade and she is the smartest of all my children.”

“This teaching was very hard for me. I didn’t want to come, but my friend came and I like her so I came with her. I have been hitting my kid bad in the face. I was so convicted. Also I try to control my husband and I want to stop doing that.

Paul’s mom:” I heard this teaching at the other conference and I was sad because my people weren’t there to hear it. I wanted to have this teaching here and I didn’t know you were going to come here. I prayed that God would bring it here, and this was really God’s plan. It’s a big blessing to us. When Paul left to go to America before, I cried out to God because I was so upset that he left us. He was the best teacher here and our pastor. I thought the ministry would fall apart because he was gone. I was in bed sick for one month because I was so upset. I didn’t know who was going to take care of the ministry. God showed me a vision after 1 month. He asked me why I was putting my trust in a man (Paul) who is only human and putting everything on him. Now I see why God took Paul to America and that God is taking the ministry to the next level and that this is just the beginning. I learned to trust in God and not man.”

Many people came to ask us for prayer and for blessings. A hindu lady came who was not a believer and asked for prayer for her 5 year old daughter who is having seizures. It was very joyful to be able to pray for these precious people.

After this most of the people left and I taught about 10-15 people how to listen to the heartbeat and breath sounds with a stethoscope and how to take blood pressures. One of the ladies had a masters degree, and one had a women’s ministry. They were all leaders somehow in their communities. They learned very quickly. I was impressed.

Paul’s mom made a meal for us that wasn’t spicy. What a priceless experience. I just adore this family. I told Paul’s mom how wonderful and amazing she is and what a good job she has done raising her children to serve the Lord. She told me to eat and talk about it later. The reason really is she is so humble. She just kept adding food to everyone’s plates. She doesn’t listen if you say no, she just keeps adding more anyway.

Paul’s dad asked us to come back again next year. We all feel like we should, so we are going to pray about it. So much fruit was seen already on this trip, and we have established meaningful relationships. We all want to continue working with the people here and help equip them for the work they are doing.

Back at the hotel, a fun night playing cards and drinking Indian coffee. Indian coffee is very different. It is thick, and then boiling milk is added to it. It’s so thick that you couldn’t really drink it without the milk. It tastes different too. It is very good.

We talked about the highlights of the trip for each of us. For Tim: St Thomas mount and the cave where he died, (Bryan brought up that the cave was probably similar to the ones that David hid in from Saul.) & praying for the people after the church services. For Bryan: The unexpected time of answering bible questions and sharing with Jaycee during our time shopping at the mall & participating in the Indian Wedding Ceremony.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

2011-11-12T02:15:00.001-08:00

I woke up at 5 am. I want to sleep! I hear the muslim morning calls to prayer and constant horns honking on the street below. The room is thick with humidity and everything feels wet. The rains stopped yesterday.

There are open troughs of sewage on the sides of the road. When it rains they overflow into the streets. It’s not just a little bit of water, it’s flooded. People are wading thru this water up to their knees. I cannot wrap my mind around this. It’s horrible. I see it, but it makes no sense to me. How can people live like this?

The homes in the slums…how can I describe them? From the outside some look somewhat orderly. Others look like there are filled with garbage.

And their eyes. Some are hollow. Some look like you are looking into the face of death. Some look like you are looking into the face of a demon. Some are searching for hope. Sorrow abounds. Suffering is the way of life. And it is endless. Massive amounts of people in crowded streets. Things you’ve never seen before. People laying on the sidewalk writhing in pain. Starving, emaciated people. Faces of sad children. All mixed with beautiful colorful clothing and beautiful people. So many contrasts.

We had breakfast in the hotel and then had a fun time playing hearts and waiting for our friends to come get us. The 4 of us made a pact to stay friends forever and prayed that God would use our friendship to bring glory to Himself. We are so compatible and we all get along so well.

John came to get us about 11 & we stopped and picked up Jaycee from the university. (Paul’s brothers) We went to St Thomas Mount. It was amazing to hear the story of Thomas coming to India to spread the gospel, and see the place where he died. He was persecuted by hindus who shot him with an arrow. He went into a cave to hide from them, and died in the cave. Then we went to St Thomas Church where he was originally buried. Our hearts were very heavy for all we saw.

We went to a new mall that was very westernized. Many of the stores were stores we have in the USA. We ate lunch at a Pizza Hut, which was pretty good. My stomach has been bothering me, but I think it is because of the massive amounts of curry and chilis in the food. I like spicy food, but everything is so spicy and hot. I think I need a couple of days of bland, so that is what I am trying to do today.

Today is Paul and Molly’s anniversary. While we were eating lunch we found out that they were at the mall where we were. They came and found us, and they went shopping with us. Paul is a good bargainer and knows what the prices should be for everything so he works out the deals for everything we buy. (Callie you will appreciate this: I only chimed in a couple of times to get the price I wanted.)

Tonight we had dinner in the hotel. Here was part of the conversation.

Me: I want butter naan with garlic.

Waiter: You want garlic naan and butter naan?

Me: No, I only want one naan with both garlic and butter.

Waiter: You want garlic naan?

Me: Yes but I want it with butter.

Waiter: Garlic naan?

Me: Yes can I get naan with both butter and garlic?

Waiter: You want butter naan?

Me: I want naan with both butter and garlic. Can I get both?

Waiter: You want garlic naan?

Me: Yes, with butter.

Waiter: So you want garlic naan?

Me: yes, both garlic and butter.

Waiter: ok, ok, yes. (head nodding side to side) Garlic naan.

The people at this hotel are so nice to us and the service has been good. It is just funny trying to communicate. I wonder if the waiter is thinking when I’m ordering “This crazy American lady” I have no idea why, but obviously something must be wrong with ordering garlic naan with butter. I’ve ordered garlic naan before and it didn’t come with butter…it was very dry…so it’s not because it has butter on it already. I like both butter and garlic.

They work very hard to please us, and I always thing about how little they probably get paid. One of our servers for dinner tonight was young and very thin. I hope they treat him good, but I know that in some way he is suffering. I could tell he was working hard. My heart was moved with compassion and sadness for him, but I have no idea anything about him except for what I can see in his appearance.

Monday, November 7, 2011

2011-11-12T02:12:00.002-08:00

We went to a different hotel last night because Paul and Molly wanted us to get good rest. We were truly exhausted. No exaggeration. The hotel we stayed in was not really that much better, but it was much more expensive, so we went back to our first hotel and decided to stay there the rest of the time.

Tonight we got invited to an Indian wedding and Bryan was asked to speak about marriage. It was an amazing night!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

2011-11-12T02:12:00.001-08:00

I woke up at 2am and couldn’t go back to sleep. Jet lag isn’t relenting yet. So after about an hour or two, I got up and worked on writing this blog.

We brought a little hot water heater, but when we tried to use it the first day it quit working. Bryan ordered hot water last night from the hotel to make top ramen but when the water arrived it was luke warm at best. They ordered more, but it never arrived, so he gave up and made it with cold water eventually. There has to be something wrong with noodles that don’t have to be cooked. I’m pretty sure they aren’t real food J But we rejoice in whatever we can eat.

Bryan and Drea went to Xavier’s (Paul’s brother) church this morning. Bryan taught and Drea gave a word of exhortation.

Tim and I went to Paul’s church, which his dad pastors. The story of his family is totally amazing.

Tim preached for the first service at 8:00. He did a great job. The message was wonderful. He taught about the leper in Mark 1 who came to Jesus and said “if you are willing, you can make me clean” and Jesus said “I am willing!” I was very proud of him. He taught barefoot. J They take their shoes off here when they enter a building.

Paul’s brother John and his wife dedicated their baby this morning and Tim and I got to be part of the ceremony by praying for them during the dedication. What a blessing for us.

All the married women cover their heads with their shawls. I haven’t covered my head here until this day, but Paul’s brother John asked me to cover. It’s especially important to them during prayer.

The 2^nd service was at 10:00 and Paul asked me to preach. It was the service for the young people. This was really a stretch for me, but God equipped me and I was so blessed. I taught from Col 3 to do everything we do as unto the Lord, and then expounded on how to live in love and shine Christ’s light wherever we are. At the end I had them shout out “I will let my light shine for Jesus!” As they shouted they raised their bibles and looked me in the eye and I could see the sincere commitment in their eyes. I felt like they were making me a promise. I can’t describe it, but the look said it all. I was utterly humbled as I saw their commitment knowing the hardships and persecutions they face.

Bryan and Andrea got to the church we were at just in time to hear me teach. I looked up into the balcony and my sweet Molly was there raising her hands interceding for me.

After both services many people came forward and asked us to pray for them.

After church we all went up to Paul and Molly’s little house above the church. Oh, did I mention that this church is in the slums? Paul’s parents live downstairs and have lived here 60, yes SIXTY years sharing Christ in this community. The stories about what they have done are powerful and transforming. These are the hidden heroes of our faith.

The house they live in has been rebuilt and remodeled and added on to many times. The original house was made from mud and leaves. The church has had their sound equipment stolen many times. There is a hindu across the street that is demanding $10,000 from them to have church there and since they won’t pay he plays loud hindu music during all of their church services and works to disrupt and frustrate them during every service. The whole street signed a petition to try to make them stop having church here.

Still their ministry grows. They have produced many many quality Christian leaders here that have now gone out to work for Christ, some with Campus Crusade and other large ministries.

All 4 of their sons are amazing men of God. 3 are pastors, and one is a teacher at the university. Each of their ministries are powerful. We have had a wonderful time getting to know each of them, and they have blessed us immensely. They have a beautiful daughter too that we have met, but have not had much time to get to know her. She has a new baby who is beautiful.

This morning a blind woman came from a village 6 kilometers away because Paul led her to Christ. She doesn’t want to go to any other church except his, so she walks 1 km and takes a bus 5 km to come here. 15 people in her village have come to Christ because of her. She gave a testimony in church today about how Jesus loves the poor and needy. Oh how poor she looks, but her love for Jesus shines.

Paul’s mother was not literate, but she begged God to be able to read His word. Miraculously He gave her that gift, but that is the only thing she can read. She cannot read anything else except the bible.

Their neighborhood has been burned down 5 times and many people have died in each fire.

Chennai is known for criminals and murderers. This is the place where people hire assassins from. It is a very hard slum with a lot of crime and murders every day. Of all the people that Paul grew up with in this area, only 2 are not dead or in jail.

Just a couple of weeks ago Paul’s next door neighbor, a 16 year old hindu girl, committed suicide by catching herself on fire because she was in love with a young man and for 6 months her parents would not give her permission to be with him.

Molly cannot go out on the street here because she is white and will not be safe. Paul is also in danger for marrying Molly. The people here are angry that he married a white person. God has been faithful in protecting their family. Paul’s father is a government employee and is like the mayor here in this area.

Paul and Molly’s story of how God brought them together is also full of miracles…over 20 true miracles to confirm that He wanted them to be together. They both work so hard to honor Christ and to serve Him.

Paul took us shopping in the evening to get souvenirs.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

2011-11-12T02:11:00.001-08:00

Tim was up most of the night with stomach problems, so he wasn’t able to stay for the conference this morning.

Today I taught Natural Family Planning. We taught both the men and the women together, because if the men don’t understand the wife’s cycle, they will not support the times of abstinence needed to make it effective. This culture is not used to discussing things like this, and to bring men and women together during the class was obviously uncomfortable to them, but they were very gracious and received it. They had so many questions but they came and asked them quietly to the translator, and then we would answer the question for everyone.

We discussed the story of Onan who was supposed to give his brother’s wife a child but instead spilled his seed. (Genesis 38:6-10). I had Bryan come and explain how what Onan had done to Tamar was abuse because he had sex with her, but didn’t allow her to conceive. The sin that God killed him for was abusing her and dishonoring his brother by not raising up an heir for him. We also had a question from the Old Testament about not having sex during a woman’s monthly cycle, because the NFP beads show that time as a time when you can have sex without getting pregnant. We explained that we are not under the law anymore, and we do not live by the

law. Medically it ok for sex at that time, even though most people will abstain during their cycle.

Andrea taught about Shame (from Mending the Soul). She has such a beautiful countenance and sweet spirit. This was not an easy lesson to teach because it is difficult to talk about abuse, especially in a culture where most are abused in some way, and no one talks about it. She did a great job and the people appreciated what she taught them.

We gave out birth kits and explained what each item it contained was for.

Bryan taught on Leadership. While he was teaching I was signing “Certificates of Attendance” to hand out to everyone at the end of the conference. I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying. I found myself thinking “Wow, he sounds just like Joel Madson!” Then I realized he was teaching Joel’s material on Leadership. It was awesome! Bryan is a wonderful teacher. He demonstrates his commitment to serve Christ, and his commitment to serve the body of Christ. It was powerful to hear the pastors shouting out their commitment to live by God’s word as Bryan guided them.

At the end of the conference we had a time for feedback where people came up and shared with us how what we taught them affected them.

These are some of the stories that were told:

A pastor said he was being persecuted the day before he came to the conference. He was too tired and thought he would not go, but then he pushed through and went. He did not have enough money. He came on the bus from the mountains. He did not have enough money to get back home after he came to the conference. On the way a lady saw him on the bus and she had just gotten 2000 rupees and she gave him 500 rupees because she knew he was a pastor. (The pastors wear white shirts and don’t have the hindu markings.)

A blind pastor came who was recently married. He heard what God said and now he has a base for what to do with his family. “No other book will give you these ideas and tell you how to be happy. Thank God I know what women need so now I will know how to behave towards my wife!”

A pastor talked how we taught them to pray scripture. He said he will teach this in the villages. The Word of God will change people. This is the highlight of his life. We think always about the spiritual but we didn’t know how the healthcare goes along with this. It was a new thing to hear how the husband and wife should be. He hopes this will change his ministry. In the villages where he teaches there are a lot of cobras.

A pastor told us that he knew we spent a lot of money and time to come here to teach them. These teachings are a treasure that money cannot buy. It is not simply sitting and listening that we want them to do, we included family and health, and we want them to reach large numbers of people for Christ. This shows that we care about their people. He encouraged us to always give the baby (fetal model) when we teach sanctity of life because this helped them to understand. He said he would have been a better parent if he had heard this lesson 14 years ago. We made things easy for them to learn for example the beads we used to teach Natural Family Planning. They can hang these on the wall and that way the husband will know what day they are ok. The shame talk really helped them because in the beginning when we talked about Sanctity of Life they really clashed. He did abortion 2x with his wife and they were very sorry about it. They had never heard this before that they should not have abortion and the government told them they needed to do it because they already had 2 children and they should not have any more. They wanted us to pray for them so that their ministry would not be cursed. In the shame talk we said that they needed to admit their faults with each other and pray for healing so they asked us to pray for them.

This pastor is the pastor of a very large church in India, and for him to publically admit abortion was a very big deal. The other Indian leaders were very surprised. Please pray for him and his wife that God will bless them for their true repentance and example.

At the very end of the conference the people honored us with a garland they hung around our necks and by praying for us. It is difficult to explain the gratitude they have for what we have given them. The honor they show us and the appreciation is truly overwhelming and humbling. All the people who helped make this trip possible by praying for us and supporting us, THANKYOU!

Late in the afternoon, we walked down to the beach with Molly. This beach was clean and there were no people there. The water was so warm! Molly convinced me to get in the water and swim with her. It was such a wonderful experience, completely impulsive and unplanned. The water was warm and clean, there were no people, no seaweed, and easy waves. I was thoroughly exhausted from teaching and sensory overload. It was relaxing, warm, clean and I was with my beautiful friend Molly laughing and rejoicing in the ocean that our Creator made. It will be one of the most favorite memories in my life.

Of course that meant that I had swam in my clothes. I just put them all in a plastic bag and had them laundered at the hotel.

We left to go back to Chennai that evening. The ride back was difficult. I don’t really know why it was harder than the ride there. Probably because we were so tired. Tim was not feeling good before we started so that made it hard for him. I started getting car sick about an hour before we got to our hotel. I kept having to roll down my window and spit out the window. Not exactly what I wanted to do on the streets of India. Stick my white face out the window and call attention to myself. Of course no one here would think anything about me spitting…it was just the fact that I was putting my white or maybe green face out the window. It was hot and smelled bad outside so I felt bad for everyone else in our car. I thought I was going to lose it out the window, but somehow I didn’t. I’m sure it was God’s grace. My friends were so sweet. Thanks Drea and Bryan for not complaining about me.

We arrived to our hotel at night. No one wanted dinner and we went to bed right away. I think it was about 10.

Friday, November 4, 2011

2011-11-12T02:07:00.000-08:00

I had made a tentative teaching schedule for us, knowing that it would probably be changed. That is one thing you can count on a missions trip. I wrote on the bottom of our schedule: Expect the unexpected!!! I actually love to see how God changes things around and how it turns out better and more interesting that we could have ever planned.

We woke up about 5:15am and worked on our t

eaching schedule again, and found the supplies to be given out for today’s lessons.

We ate breakfast at about 730am.

The conference started about 8:00am. This is what we taught today:

Tim & I taught:

Sanctity of Life

Prayer

Parenting

Bryan & Drea taught:

Marriage (2 Sessions)

Salvation Bracelets

After we taught about prayer (early in the day) some of the pastors told the leaders here that they wanted more specific teaching about how husbands and wives should live. They said they pray so much, 6 hours a day and they have long fasting prayers. They know how to pray but they don’t know how to live. We all reworked our lessons to include lots of practical application for family life.

It was really good for the couples to see how Tim & I, and Bryan & Andrea interacted with each other. We were told that after a few months of marriage most couples do not communicate with each other and show love towards each other. They were very impacted by how we interacted with each other. As we taught our lessons together as couples we would occasionally touch each other on the shoulder or look into each other’s eyes as we spoke about something. As we walked we would occasionally hold hands. The husbands demonstrated servanthood by taking the wives plates after the meal or helping them in other ways. Paul told us this body language that we were using toward each other was teaching them.

As we taught our classes as couples, we took turns talking. It was so wonderful for me to teach with Tim. This was the first time we had done something like this together and it flowed very well.

Bryan and Andrea did amazing teaching together too. I loved watching them interact. Their teaching on marriage was so amazing and powerful. They taught twice because it was such an important subject to these people. They asked for help in this area, but because of lack of teaching and disrespect of women in this culture, they really had no idea what they were going to get. A lot of the teaching surprised them, and the concepts were very new to them. Two different pastors told us that he had no idea that their wives needed anything from them except food and clothing.

We had questions at the end of the session on Sanctity of Life about if the government tells you to get an abortion what should you do? What should you do if it is an ectopic pregnancy? Is it ok to get a D&C after an incomplete miscarriage? Some people were crying after this talk because culturally they do not discuss these things, and they have nowhere to ask these questions. They were so grateful to have a safe place to ask and to know that they were getting truthful answers.

After a long first day, I am amazed at how all of our lessons came together today and what God is doing in the people here. We are teaching some difficult things, and they are responding and interacting well with us. I am so blessed to have Tim here teaching with me, and so proud of how well he is doing. Bryan and Andrea are both doing amazing too. Their material is so solid and practical. I extremely blessed as I look at the classes today at how God has worked, and how well everyone did.

It is still the rainy season here, so we are having a lot of rain. It is very humid. It’s pretty hot, but most of the time we have electricity. The conference center has fans, and we are blessed to have A/C in the rooms we are staying in.

This is some of the feedback we had tonight:

"It was a blessing to the the differences between men and women." (Older woman)

"I came from a hindu background. I went to church and started slowly started to learn. Now I am a pastor to small villages and I am seeing people come to Christ."

"I was a hindu and accepted Christ at 15 years old. My family sent me away. For one year I slept on the temple floor. I have been a Christian for 50 years now. I have a ministry in the villages teaching Christ. I live in the village Hatu."

"I am from a traditional hindu background. I live in Chinni salam village. They persecuted me because I converted to Christian. But God will use me. Those who convert get more persecution than those who are born into Christian homes."

"I am from a hindu background. I am a pastor in a village. Gangsters keep coming and beating us up and causing problems."

"I have a ministry to fishermen. They have a lot of problems with alcohol, drugs, and adultery. They ferment rice in the ground to make beer. They have many abortions going on there so the teaching was very helpful. The hindu people were angry with me. My wife wanted to move away from were we were living because our house kept getting flooded. This teaching was very good because I thought all my wife needed from me was food."

"Marriage is holy. We want to share this message and the other messages you taught us in our churches."

Thursday November 3, 2011

2011-11-12T02:06:00.000-08:00

We changed planes in Washington DC, and again in Frankfurt, Germany. Our total traveling time was 28.5 hours. We arrived in Chennai, India on Thursday November 3 @ about 12am. Paul Yuvaraj was there to greet us, and some of his helpers were there also. They took us to our hotel about 2am. I have to say that Paul is a wonderful host, and has thought of everything we will need ahead of time. He has been wonderful about watching out for all of our needs and protecting us from differences here that could get us into trouble if we didn’t understand.

We traveled forward in time 12.5 hours, but it felt like we lost a whole day. After we arrived, it took us about half the next day to figure out what day it was. We all thought it Wednesday when it was actually Thursday.

As soon as we settled into our hotel, we met together to pray before we went to sleep.

We only slept a few hours. Because of jet lag we woke up at 6am. We went to breakfast about 8am. The food was very good at the hotel. It is very spicy. We rested and talked until Paul came to the hotel about 1:00 with his brother Xavier. We had a meeting about the conference schedule and what the needs are of the people here, and ideas about what would be helpful for us to teach.

We left our hotel about 230 pm and went to exchange our money into rupees, and went to eat at a restaurant that Paul knew would be safe for us. Then he took us to a store to buy clothing (punjab’s) to teach in.

The Pastor’s Conference is in a radio station facility about 2.5 hours outside of Chennai. Pastors from southern India are traveling here and will be staying here also.

The drive to the conference center was relatively uneventful in the beginning, except for the typical Indian roads. It looks like you are going to have a head on collision multiple times, but the drivers know the dance of the road. Lots of horns blowing, flashing lights, and swerving, we didn’t see any car accidents. We did see someone fall off his motorcycle in the middle of the street but no one seemed to think this was any big deal. I don’t know if he got hit to make him fall off. No one took notice and the traffic continued around him, so I guess he was ok.

We were exhausted and the drive was long, so we all fell asleep. When I woke up I noticed our car was going much slower than the other cars on the road. Paul said the driver said there was a problem with the brakes, so he told him drive much slower than normal. We arrived at road where the conference was and because it was dark, drove past the conference center. We drove a distance down the road and then the driver realized we had pasted it. As he was driving very slowly, I said “Well at least we didn’t break down on the way here” (On the way to a village in Uganda we broke down 3 or 4 times) No sooner than the words came out of my mouth did the car swerve almost off the road into a ditch, and the driver told us the steering had gone out and we had to get out of the car. We later learned that he was having trouble with it the whole time, and it wasn’t the brakes he was having trouble with, but the steering wheel. The guys went and looked at it and the steering wheel had completely detached. God did a miracle in protecting us and getting us to our destination safely. Paul was very overwhelmed with what had happened.

Another car was sent for us and we arrived at the conference center about 10pm.

Chennai, India: Tuesday, November 1, 2011

2011-11-12T02:04:00.000-08:00

Today we departed for Chennai India!!!! Our team is Tim, me, Bryan and Andrea Thiele. Bryan and Drea arrived at our house at 5:55am. After some shuffling of goods between suitcases and reweighing all of our luggage, we were off. Bryan showed us his race car driving skills on the way to the airport. This made me laugh knowing what was in store for us with driving on the roads in India.

Amazing Quilt for Raffle

2011-09-21T15:42:00.001-07:00

This Amazing Quilt was made by Jamie Bearden. Each square is a masterly hand-crafted cross-stitch picture of quilts representing every month of the year. Jamie's has amazing cross-stitching skill and these intricate squares are incredible.

The quilt was taken to a Mennonite family in Summersville, Kentucky to be hand-quilted. These ladies labored to make sure the quilting was done to perfection. This beautiful quilting adds to the personality and uniqueness of this quilt.

Jamie's time, talent, and effort have touched my heart, and the heart of many others. While making this quilt, she has been going through a difficult trial of nurturing her son through treatment for leukemia. Her devotion to him, her family, and most of all the Lord is both inspiring and humbling.

This quilt is truly a masterpiece. The winner of this quilt will have a life time treasure. Please go to Jamie's blog to hear her story, and buy raffle tickets. www.withaneedleandthread.blogspot.com

Jamie with Mary Jane

Finishing Quilt

Mary Jane's daughters

Quilting around edge

Finished Quilt

Women's Prayer Conference

2011-06-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the privilege of attending Harvest Bible Chapel's Women's Prayer Conference in Prescott. The speaker was Mary Ann Bridgwater. It was planned last minute with two very sweet friends, Lisa and Theresa, who are as busy as I am, so the fact that we could all work it out and go spontaneously was very fun.

The first session was Friday night, and I was so happy to see an old friend, Doug Garrett, leading worship. His wife Kim was there too, and it was wonderful to see them again. That made the conference even more special.

All of the lessons were very powerful. The teaching was entirely scripture based. The first night laid a foundation through scripture about God's love for us and His desire to have a deep relationship with us. It's so easy for us to allow obstacles to hinder us from having a close relationship with God, to become complacent, and to allow our enemy to deter us from God's plan. The second day Mary Ann taught us about praying God's word. I love praying the Word! She read so much scripture and the conference moved so fast that sometimes while I was writing down a verse, she had already said another one before I could get to writing it. I could say so much about everything I learned, but it would take a long time. One of my favorite points that she made was out of Isaiah 55:8-11. God says that His Word will not return void, but that it will accomplish the purpose for which He sent it. That was so encouraging to me! When I pray His word, whether I see immediate results or not, His word cannot and will not return void. I came away from the conference very inspired and motivated!

We had a wonderful Saturday afternoon sitting outside on the deck at Dale and Theresa's house listening to the wind blow through the mountain trees and enjoying each other's company.

We also had the privilege of hearing Phil Wickham lead worship Saturday night at Heights Church and hear Tyler Woods testimony.

A wonderful weekend indeed.

Mexico

2010-04-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

I went to Puerto Penasco, Mexico yesterday to see my parents. My mom met me on the american side of the border, and I left my car locked up in gas station lot.

My dad, Monroe, works at a ministry there called 2 Fish. They serve food every day Monday through Friday to schools, a rehabilitation center, and people on the street. They serve about 12,000 meals a month.

They have a kitchen where about 70 people from their church and community volunteer. They start cooking in the morning. Their first task is to take lunches to all the schools in town. (There is no funding from the government for school lunches.) They take lunch to a rehab center. Then they serve lunch from 1 to 2 pm in a corner lot to hungry people. My dad works serving lunches every day.

We arrived at about 12:45 and there were about 40 people waiting. At 1:00 a pastor started preaching and gave a small sermon for about 10 minutes. A woman that I think was demon possessed came in as he began and was yelling obsenities and flipping him off. She walked up in front of him and cursed and yelled, then stood behind him. The men that were waiting for their lunch were sushing her, but that seemed to encourage her more. She enjoyed mocking him. At one point he turned around and asked her to stop but of course she didn't. As soon as he started to pray, she headed out. She made commotion on her way out, and you could hear her yelling on the street, but she left.

I got to help serve lunch to about 225 people. We served them tortillas, rice, beans, and ham. It was mostly men who came. Some looked like they had been working, some looked homeless, some had been traveling. Many of them looked truly "hungry". I tried to greet each person. Some men would accept a blessing and smile. Some would try to make a small conversation. Some did not look up as they took their food.

There were a few women who came. There was a pregnant woman and a woman with a baby. I brought some baby clothes, blankets, and diapers for the ministry and I was so happy to be able to give them some things. After I did a few other women appeared out of no where with babies. I had been in the kitchen and around the building for over an hour and there were no other women there with babies. I have no idea where they came from. But I was happy to give them some things too.

I got to spend a couple of hours on the beach with my mom in the afternoon relaxing and talking. We had a great time.

We went to dinner at their good friend Eddie's house. He hired someone to come make carne asada tacos for dinner for his family that was there visiting him. It was delicious.

This morning my dad made breakfast for me. If Monroe has never made breakfast for you, then you don't know what you are missing. He makes you feel so special, like you are the most important person in the world. Most of my kids have gotten to enjoy this treat, and they love to talk about it.

Then my mom and I went to see a family that we have been friends with for many years. I always try to go see them when I go to see my mom. She used to live next door to them in the bario before they moved to their condo. Socorro and Eduardo have 3 daughters that were young when my parents first met them. Now all of their daughters have children.

Many years ago they came to visit my mom when she lived in Phoenix. My niece translated a letter that I wrote to them explaining the gospel. My mom had been talking to them about God. I took the letter to them with a bible, and they spent the entire afternoon in the back yard reading it. They told me they accepted the Lord that day. It has been interesting to watch the growth, the marriages, births, and trials of this family. I went many years ago and taught one of the daughters a childbirth class. Since then, when I go they have lots of questions for me about their health care.

They were actually probably the first really poor people I'd ever known. The first time we went to see them, they had prepared dinner for us. At that time their little one room house was about 8x10. The walls had gaps in them that you could see through to the outside. Inside was a bunk bed that the whole family slept in. There was a little table. All of their belongings were stacked up around the sides of the house. Outside there was a rustic little table with different kinds of old chairs that different match. They had an outhouse. There was a rustic old sink outside. Every thing they had was so broken down and old. (Their house is actually much improved since that time.)

Our kids were pretty young then. They served us dinner, and they were so hospitable. They were so happy to give to us. I remember how humbled I felt by their generosity. They were so loving and kind. It made a huge impression on me. They won my heart.

When I go to see them now, they ask about all of my children by name, and they remember everything about them. It brings me joy to see them all.

I was very happy for the time I was able to spend with my mom. She drove me back to the border and I was home this afternoon. It was a quick trip, but we fit a lot in.

India Summary

2010-04-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

It has taken me awhile to collect my thoughts about India. I was so blessed to have the experience to meet Christians who are living on the front lines, working tirelessly and facing great danger to share their faith in Christ with the lost. I was amazed at their commitment. I loved hearing the stories of healings, of conversions, of determination to go back into the village and face death in the hopes of leading others to Christ. After being so lost and hurt, when they find the joy that comes with knowing Christ they are unashamed. Willing to give up family, jobs, education for their children, these Christians are making sacrifices that we only have read about.

About a week after I came back from India I learned that a pastors conference with the same organization we had been with was attacked by a mob of hindus in a place not very far from where we were. The young men had all of their belongings burned, including their bibles and their clothing. 3 of the men were severely injured and required hospitalization, but the local hospital would not accept them because they were Christians and didn't want trouble with the Hindus. They had to go to another part of India, and the last I heard one of the pastors was fight for his life in ICU. The next week a mob attacked a christian funeral, dumped the body of the dead christian out of the casket and refused to let him be buried because they said his body would polute the ground. When I was there I talked to leaders who trained a pastor who had been arrested recently and accused of being a terrorist. He was severely beaten. Even though he had been released from jail a couple of weeks before, he was still in much pain from the beatings.

It is hard to believe that people can be so cruel and awful. I know that the evil source that compels people to act so wickedly is demonic. Why do people prefer to hate? It is utterly awful.

I look to the future though and see great rewards for these believers. Their faith, devotion, sacrifice is going to bring them eternal rewards. Those who have been so desperately poor will be rich. What will our rewards look like in comparison? What have we had to give up? What dangers have we faced? If things got tough for us would we act like spoiled brats? I'm guessing there might be a lot less people who would call themselves Christians under such circumstances.

India was by far the most oppressed, difficult, smelly, dirty, polluted, challenging, desperate, poor place I've ever been. The Christians were some of the most devoted I've ever known. I am completely humbled and honored to have been given the priviledge to have served them and taught them. If anything that I said or did can make life better for them or help them in their ministries, Praise the Lord. I am so happy to have been able to do anything that would bring help or encouragement to them.

jet-lag

2010-03-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

I'm still recovering from jet-lag. One of the fun things about it this time is that Callie also has it, and she gets up and makes breakfast early in the morning. She has cooked something nice almost every morning. No one else is up, so the house is pretty quiet. It's been fun. I wake up about 4am every day and go see if her light is on. I'm really not minding the jet-lag this time. My clock slowly turning around.

Today, however, was different. I had a birth this morning at 3am. A perfect lovely waterbirth for a sweet family. I got to see 2 former clients that were there to lend support. That was special. It couldn't have been any nicer. Beautiful baby.

I still have laryngitis, so it was my first "silent" birth. :) It has been very amusing that because I am whispering the people I talk to often whisper back. My kids said if feels like we are telling secrets. I've never had laryngitis like this before. I think it is viral. When I have had it in the past it hasn't hurt. This time it hurts to talk, and my throat still hurts. I had my voice back a little bit today, but it's completely gone again tonight.

Talking on the phone is the worst. It takes so much effort to be heard. My client has sweetly been texting me instead of calling.

My friend Debbie told me about persecution that happened a couple of days ago near where we were in India. I read the report and was so sad. Hindus attacked young men at a training center, took all the bibles and school notes, and all of their personal possessions and clothes and burned everything. They severely beat some of the men, and one of them is in ICU. 3 of the pastors have been arrested. They had trouble finding a hospital that would take care of them for fear of more violence and retaliation and they had to travel to another region to find care. Some of the men are in hiding now. Their dedication to Christ is a powerful and amazing testimony.

Now that I have been there and seen what they face, it is so much more real. It could have been us that faced that last week had the Hindus decided to stop our conference. I think of the day they played loud music by loudspeaker on a truck and kept driving back and forth by where we were. I don't know if it was because of us, but it sure seemed like it. We were told if anyone came to see what we were doing that we would put all the bible teaching away and talk about the healthcare training.

I'm motivated to serve Christ with more dedication and sincerely. Life if quickly passing us by. We have to make the most of it.

March 20

2010-03-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Emily!!!!

After 32.5 hours of travel, we arrived safely home. We were so happy to have clean air to breathe. The air in India is so full of smoke and pollution that you can see the brown in the air. When our airplane took off and rose above it in the sky it looked like a dark brown cloud. Even the pollution in New York looked good in comparison. Callie and I both looked at that dark cloud and thought of the spiritual darkness that covers India. When I looked into the eyes of people there I saw emptiness, lonliness, a void, a lostness and unhappiness like I haven't seen before. The sewage running down the steets in deep trenches, the pollution, the trash everywhere, the poverty, the caste system, all are symptoms of the spiritual devastation.

This was by far the hardest trip I've done. I'm collecting my thoughts and will write more about it later. I've lost my voice, and jet lag has begun.

I felt a renewed devotion and commitment to seek God with all my heart. Hearing the testimonies of the Christians was inspiring and life changing. They are truly committed, and they make sacrifices we have never had to make. They've suffered so much, and to watch them worship is beautiful. I can imagine how the Lord must take such pleasure in them.

March 19

2010-03-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't slept well the last 2 nights. I woke up in the night was awake for several hours.

It was hard to get up this morning. We got up at 6:30, got ready and packed. We took our suitcases to the conference with us this morning. The rest of the team doesn't leave until tomorrow. We packed our carry on luggage into our bigger luggage. 2 of our big bags were duffle bags, so they fit inside the luggage. We left with 6 bags, but we are able to fit it all into 2 coming home, which will make things easier.

We started out the morning at the conference with Patricia encouraging the ladies and reviewing leadership skills. She is very exhuberant and cheerful. She has a joyful attitude that is very refreshing. It is fun to wash her teach. She has lots of personality. She always has a big smile. I wish I could be more like that...I tend to be more serious.

Debbie taught in Ephesians 6, and then later she taught about discipling children. Her teaching was awesome and powerful. She clearly explained the biblical principles and I think it was great material for the ladies to take and teach in their leadership positions.

Betty is a physical therapist, and she gave me a wonderful treatment this morning. Wow...I wish I could hire her full time! She is amazing.
She has a huge heart. Any time anyone has shared, or she sees anyone in pain, she is right there to comfort. She is so loving and caring. She loves the people of India.

I reviewed fertility beads and answered questions. I have a sore throat today, and I have mostly lost my voice. It was good I didn't have a full session to teach.

Callie has been very helpful. I'm excited to see where God is going to take her from here. She is maturing in her faith and it is wonderful to see her hearing from the Lord.

Betty taught exercise and stretching. Then we gave brooches, and ended the conference. We said our goodbyes to everyone and then went downstairs and ate the lunch they had prepared for today.

We left for the airport and James went with us in the taxi. It went smoothly in the airport checking in. It was a very small airport, and very crowded. Callie asked me to find a place where the men wouldn't be staring at her, but sorry Callie, there is no such place in India.

The system of boarding the plane is fun. You have watch for the bus that will take you to board the plane, and guess which line to get in. I asked someone where she was flying to. You kind of get the hang of it if you are watching. There was no announcement of the boarding of our flight.

March 18

2010-03-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today was our last full day. Tomorrow we leave after lunch.

Patricia shared Matthew 17:20 and then gave the ladies a bracelet with a mustard seed on it. She encouraged them that when God calls you to something you don't feel like you can do, have the faith of a mustard seed and let God do His work through you.

Debbie did Ephesians 4. Walk in the knowledge of you are in Christ, and instructions of how to live.

We have tea every day at 11:00.

Callie did a role play again with the salvation bracelets, but she chose 2 of the ladies to demonstrate it and practice with each other.

Patricia taught about leadership. The women here are not allowed to serve the Lord's supper, do baptisms, weddings, or funerals. There were some questions about that issue.

After lunch Patricia had a craft for the women to do. They really enjoyed that.

Betty taught exercise and how to take a pulse.

At the end of the day we heard some testimonies from the women.

Paranjeed was born to a pentecostal family. She came to Christ through sunday school and became a sunday school teacher and youth leader. Se is praying that she will carry on God's will.

Rikhas is from a Hindu background. When she was 10 years old she went to a church in the neighborhood secretly. Her dad found out and told her that if she didn't worship idols it would give a bad impression and that she was not allowed to go to church anymore. One day she went again and he found out and beat her. She had to decide between her family and Christ. When she was a little bit older she decided to leave home. She left home with no one. She got a job and struggled with money for school fees. She finally went to a preacher and he gave her money for school. The school closed down and she went to her aunts house. Another aunt said she could go their and go to school and look after her children. She went and finished 10th grade. A lady from the school gave her a job. She got baptized. She married a good Christian husband and now they run a training center for pastors. Her mother died and her father blamed her for the death because she is a Christian.

Esther is from a Hindu background. Her family was very strong in idol worship. She became sick at 3 yrs old with demon possession. She would twist her eyes, her hands and her feet. She was the only child of her parents and so they put everything into her. They took her to many doctors and any thing that anyone told them to do they tried. There was no cure for her. She suffered for 13 years. Her father met a christian one day who told invited him to church and said they would pray for her to be healed. They went the next sunday. Her father said they had prayed to many gods, why not try one more. The pastors prayed for her and told the parents that she was healed. They stayed up all night waiting for her to get sick again, but she never did. They started going to church and got baptized 2 months later. The neighbors found out they had converted and they became low caste people. (Christians are low caste) They broke all their relationships with them and talked bad about them. She went to bible school for 2 years. She married a Christian husband and now they run a training center for pastors. Last year when her husband was at a training here she was pregnant. She had severe bleeding and almost died. She went into a coma and they told her family that she would die. They did a c-section and then a hysterectomy to save her life. Her baby girl was premature. They did not have enough money to pay for the hospital for the baby, so the baby girl stopped recieving care and died. Her husband has comforted her by telling her that God will make her a mother to many daughters. She has struggled with wondering what she did wrong that God let this happen to her, but God showed her that His grace is sufficient for her. She is still grieving, but trusting Him.

If the Hindus find out that a baptism is scheduled they will come and stop it. So the Christians have to change the location sometimes if their plans are discovered. By the time the Hindus get there, they say they are done and their is nothing they can do.

This is the state that Hinduism originated from. All of the original gods were from here. The spiritual heaviness here is hard to describe. Patricia and I were talking about it at dinner. Heaviness, oppression, dark, difficult. Yet the Lord is bringing light and the Christians here are amazing. The miracles are awesome. I think it must be very much like Ephesus was.

When we were shopping, at one of the shops a hindu priest came in and made sacrifices in the corner while we were there. He blew his trumpet and chanted. It was so difficult to concentrate. The employees were all worshiping. They passed out some holy drink, and they were blessing everyone. It is so sad to see the irony of it all. They are working so hard, but putting all of their hope in the wrong god. How useless and disappointing.

Women are not as good as men in the hindu religion. The caste system is so sad.

Driving on these roads continues to be a daily surprise. You'd think we'd be used to it, and mostly we are. But whoever sits in the front seat always gasps at some point during the ride. It's a daily occurance to miss death by 1/4 of a second. I'll be glad for roads with rules.

March 17

2010-03-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

When we arrive at the confernce each morning the ladies are worshiping and they worship at the beginning of each session. Their worship is so precious. We have set the room up so that the ladies are in a large circle. The stand and sing loudly and clap. It is beautiful. I just think about what their lives are like here and think about how pleased the Lord is with their worship.

The women here fasted and prayed for us and for the conference. That just amazes me...such dedication and sincerity. The travel here was so difficult for some of them. I wonder if any of us would go through what they went through to get here. They are so precious. Their smiles are beautiful. They are so attentive, and taking in as much info as we give. They are taking notes, asking questions, and participating in all the activities. 2 of the ladies Patricia has taught before told her they took the notes from her classes and taught them to many women.

I feel so much responsibility to these ladies, and so inadequate and humbled. God is amazing though because this is His work, and each day He continues to equip each of us and use us to help these sisters in Christ who are so anxious for any and every bit of teaching they can get.

Patricia let the ladies in SOAP this morning. She had them get into groups and pray together and discuss what the Lord was showing them.

Isaiah 40:28-31
vs 31 Yet those who wait on for the Lord will gain strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and notget tired, they will walk and not become weary.

Debbie, Betty, Patricia and I joined each other. We all had picked different verses and it was awesome to hear what God was showing each of us. These verses were so good for us today because we are in the second week of teaching and we are getting very tired. We are all looking to the Lord to renew us and to do His work.

Patricia taught about leadership, Betty taught about diabetes and blood pressure, Debbie taught Ephesians 2 in the morning and Ephesians 3 in the afternoon. Callie did a role play with the salvation bracelets.

I taught today about preventing infection, and HIV. I did a quick review on the fertility cycle beads.

During the morning sessions James took Callie and I shopping for Chikan work. Chikan is a type of embroidery that originated in Lucknow during the times of the kings that ruled here. The royalty wore exquisite embroidered clothing. After the time of the kings was over, chikan work was opened up to the common people. You can only find it in Lucknow. It is very beautiful.

We went to the first shop and they had us come sit down in front of a man. He was sitting down in front of us, indian style. They asked what we wanted and another girl would bring things for us to look at. I found a white long shirt for Tim like the pastors here wear. They brought about 20 for us to choose from. We looked at the ladies shirts their too, but James said we should go to another store.

The selection was better at the next store. While they were bringing things for us to look at a hindu priest came in right next to where we were sitting and sat down in the corner by an altar. He blew a horn and then started chanting. All the employees were given a drink of some kind that was part of the worship and they were giving blessings to each other. It was very difficult to concentrate. I found that everywhere we went they did religious things while we were shopping.

I did not feel well yesterday. I had a terrible headache and felt like I was getting a fever. I felt like I was in a fog. Patricia said I looked pale. I felt much better today.

Our team ate dinner together tonight in the hotel restraunt. We have a language barrier with the workers so ordering is very interesting. The order is usually repeated back and forth several times. "I'll have a cucumber and tomato sandwich" "You want a vegetarian sandwich?" "Yes but I just want cucumber and tomatos on it" "You want cucumbers?" "Yes and tomatoes." "You want tomatoes?" "Yes cucumber and tomatoes." "You want both cucumbers and tomatoes?" "Yes" "You want vegetarian sandwich?" "Yes, but only cucumbers and tomotoes, no patty." "No patty?" "Yes, no patty" "You don't want the patty?" "No, I only want cucumbers and tomatoes" "You want cucumbers and tomatoes?" "Yes" I won't go on to explain the discussion of mayonaise. You get the point. It's funny too to hear everyone on our team each day order the food with no spice. "No spice?" My team members do not like the spicy food. Every day this is a surprise to them. It's all quite funny. Our poor waiters. Not only do they not understand us, but we laugh a lot. I can't tell you how many times Betty has said "We aren't laughing at you, we are laughing at ourselves." That mostly came after we ordered Tutty Fruities in the last hotel almost every night. By the way, the food is very cheap (by our standards). A week of lunches and dinners was $32 each.

Some descriptions of our hotel room:

One night callie woke up complaining about the terrible smell. About 3 hours later, it woke me up. I don't know what it was. It smelled rancid, like vomit.

Sometimes there is loud music in the hall. I don't know what that is all about. I think sometimes it is Hindu worship. Often the smell of incense comes in through the vents, although I haven't noticed that yesterday or today.

In the bathroom there is a vent that apparently vents into 4 other bathrooms. You can hear everything that is going on in the other bathrooms. That means they can also hear everything that is going on in ours. Nice. So much for being shy.

The water heater is over the bathtub. The shower curtain...ewww...don't touch it. And don't look around too much in there. It might upset you.
The toilet is hooked to the wall and so high off the ground your feet barely reach the floor. The seat is loose, so hold on or you will fall off. Use all of your strength to flush the toilet and hold the flusher down for a full minute or nothing will go down. There are moth balls in the drains. The toilet leaks. Other than that, we are happy to have hot running water.

Aren't we soooo spoiled???? Really, compared to what everyone else here has, this is luxury.

Callie very graciously checked out the beds and before I even knew it, gave me the one with a little padding for a mattress. Her bed is super hard.

Dark green velvet curtains and dark green carpet. 2 green chairs, and 2 twin beds. I would guess the furnishings and carpet to be from the 70's.

Every time we go into a restraunt, they turn the TV on and turn it up loud. In Gopolpur we could ask them to turn it down or off, but here we haven't been able to. I think the employees like to watch it, but aren't supposed to if their aren't any customers in the room, so they take us coming in as the opportunity to turn it on.

I may sound like I'm whining, but I'm not really. Just trying to paint an accurate picture of what we are doing, and writing down things for my own memory. I know how much we have, and I am grateful for what God has provided. It's just different from what we are used to. I think the most difficult thing is that their concept of clean and mine is very different. I have to let go of my standards and function in what is here, and do the best I can.

If you want to go on a missions trip...make sure you leave any expectations at home. Daily our plans have changed, and that's ok with us. This is God's work, not ours, and we are submitted to His plans.

I talked with James again today about the ministry here. He oversees about 300 pastors who run about 900 churches. He has personally trained all of them. Most of them are Hindu converts. He said that many people come to Christ here in India because of healings. The people have no money to go to the doctor or to get medical care. It is not available to the people in the villages. They suffer from many kinds of illnesses and diseases. When they get very sick they go to Christians to pray for them and they receive healings. Many people come to Christ because of the healings. He said that when Hindus come to Christ they believe what they are told. They have been told that Jesus can heal, and they believe it without question.

He often has the new believers pray for healings because their faith is so strong to them there is no other option than that God will answer. He said their faith is stronger than his, so he can pray and nothing will happen, but they pray and healings occur. In his church their was a woman who could not talk, they prayed for her and now she can talk. There was a woman who fell down during worship one day. Because everyone was worshipping no one saw her fall. When they noticed her, she was unresponsive. They thought she was dead. They prayed for her, and she was healed.

He runs a home for 10 boys. They cannot take girls because the places they house the boys are rented and the owners can tell them at any time that they must vacate. This would not be safe for girls. The boys sometimes when this happens sleep outside until they find another place to rent. In 2 years they have moved 7 times. They want to get their own place so they don't have to move and so they can take girls.

Some of the boys are orphans. Some have come because their parents cannot feed them. Some have come because they are from families that have converted from Hindu. After they converted the community would not let the children go to school anymore because they were Christians. The parents brought them here so they could go to school.

He has young men that he is training to be pastors. He is teaching them to serve. They are preparing the meals and serving the women this week. That is so unusual in this culture. He is a gentle quiet man, and the boys obviously respect him so much. He trains them for 1 year. When they start planting churches, they often plant several churches in the first year. He continues to oversee them.

He said persecution has lessened here in the last year. The catholics and protestants have become friends and have worked together this year because of the common persecution, and they are happy about that.

March 16

2010-03-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

We went to the conference today at 8:30. I was able to talk to Cody this morning before we left online. TJ has a blackberry so we were able to do blackberry chat. That was nice.

Patricia taught SOAP.
Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
The way we should respond is by looking at who really matters...God. No one can compare to Him. He is the one we should be concerned about.
I need to not worry about what others think about me. I need to listen to God and stay focused on Him. What does it matter what others say of me if God is for me? Be courageous knowing who is behind me.

Debbie taught Ephesians 1: Who we are in Christ. He chose us before the creation of the world. We didn't do anything to deserve being chosen.

Betty taught nutrition and how to eat a balanced meal.

Patrica taught on Leadership. A leader is a person who has influence over others and may or maynot have a title. (example: mothers) She shared 9 principles of leadership that Jesus followed.

Callie taught salvation bracelets.

Betty taught about blood pressure and introduced how to take a bp.

I taught Sanctity of Life and Cycle Beads. I had some interesting questions about abortion. Minni had a woman come to her who'd had an abortion one month ago. She was deeply distressed afterwards, and Minni lead her to Christ. But it has been a month and she is still bleeding. I told her she needed to go back to the doctor.

Another question was about young girls who get pregnant. Their parents and families will reject them if they don't get an abortion. They will not be able to get married if they have a child. A woman asked me about what she should do if she knows a girl like this. I told her the Christians should take her into their homes and help her. She asked what she should tell a girl whose parents are forcing her to get an abortion. I told her we have to obey God's laws first before we obey any one else. I said a lot more, but that sums it up.

Debbie taught the 2nd half of Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul's prayer as a model of how to pray for others.

These ladies have had lots of info given to them today. We will be reviewing much of it during the week.

The ladies from Shandagar got here today. They left their homes on Sunday and just got here at 12 today. They traveled 24 hours on a train. I've seen the trains, and that would be miserable. They have to be exhausted. They are so committed and dedicated to God's work. I am amazed by them.

We had a Hindu woman sit in on the afternoon classes. She is the wife of the owner of the building. She was their long enough to hear a lot of the gospel. Her face was expressionless, but I wonder what was going on in her heart. She stayed through Debbie's teaching in Ephesians. I was praying for her the whole time.

I've had a headache all day. I'm going to eat dinner in my room. I hope that sleep will cure it.

Every day I feel that I am watching as God answers the prayers of all of our friends and family who are praying for us. I wish you could see for yourselves what God is doing through you. I hope I am describing in well enough that you understand. I am amazed by how powerful prayer is.

March 15

2010-03-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

This morning we got up later than usual...7:30 I think. I got online and talked to Tim and then to my kids. That made me happy. We met with the team for breakfast about 9:30, then met with them again at 2:00 for lunch. After breakfast I got all the supplies sorted and put into bags to take to the conference.

I don't think the men who work at this hotel like us. They just don't treat us very nice. I think that not having a man with our team is a big part of this. There have been no other women in this hotel or restraunt so far. At breakfast some other guests were staring at Callie and talking about her. It made her very uncomfortable. I was facing the other direction, and our team didn't see them.

Callie was up in the night with an upset stomach and isn't feeling well today. I started her on cipro. She hasn't felt very good all day.

After lunch we met back in our room for prayer.

We got picked up at 4:30 and went to the conference center. We started the conference at 5:00 pm. 5 women from _____ are not here yet because they delayed their travel by a day for safety. They will arrive tomorrow morning at 8:30 am.

These are the women we met tonight:

Esther: She and her husband run a CFI training center. She teaches women's classes and children's ministry. She has one child.

Primvata: from _____. She and her husband run a children's center and plant churches. They have 3 children.

Gunja: from _____. She and her husband look after a CFI training center. She has 2 children.

Pusha: She and her husband run a children's center. She has 4 chilren.

Muda: Her husband is a church planter. She teaches sunday school.

Mina: She and her husband run a children's home in _____. She has 5 children.

Patuti: Her husband is a pastor and they run a children's home. She has 3 chilren.

Asha Masih: from _____. She is a student in the CFI training center.

Tulsira: from _____. She is in the CFI training center.

Minni: She is running the women's training center. They have 24 women who are graduating this week. She has 2 children.

Susan: from _____. She is a warden of the women's training center and she is studying there also.

Pria: She is a student in the CFI women's training center.

Kabina: Her husband is on staff with the CFI training center. They look after a children's home.

Rika: from _____. She and her husband run 2 bible centers. She has one child.

Jeekamali: She and her husband run a children's home. She has 3 children.

Patricia talked about the training we would be doing this week. We all introduced ourselves. Debbie did an overview of Ephesians. I gave out the supplies we brought (stethoscopes, bp cuffs, scissors, birth kits, and notebooks with handouts), and Betty did an introduction to nutrition.

We ended at 7:30 and a group of young men led by Pastor James cooked and served us dinner. This is very unusual in this culture. James and Minni are wonderful leaders and you can see the Lord shining brightly in them.

Patricia said that she thinks that the leaders who are running children's homes are pastors also.

The conference went well today. We have a wonderful translator. That will make out teaching much easier.

The drive to the conference center didn't have as much traffic as we have seen lately. A few businesses were open on the way to the conference, but on the way back many were open.

March 14

2010-03-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

The money exchange today was 44.5 rupies for 1 dollar. We traded it here at the hotel even though the rate was not as good because it wasn't worth trying to find a money exchange vender on the street and worry about the safety.

We had a nice breakfast in our hotel. Our bed was so comfortable. We took a taxi back to the underground shopping. I thought is was a lot of fun, but it overwhelmed Callie. It is very overwhelming. It is very crowded and them men in the booths are very aggressive to get you to come into the booth and buy. If you don't see something that interests you, you must not make eye contact or act like you can hear them.
If you find something you like, and you want to buy it this is how you do it. They tell you how wonderful it is, you ask how much, they tell you 1500 rupies, you offer 200 (I learned from Thomas), they say you have insulted them, these are fine goods, they say you are their first customer so they will give you a better price, they say 1300, you say 200, they say ok 1200 is my best price, you say ok fine and start to leave, they say ok give me 1000, you say no thanks, they follow you out of the store, they say how much you give me, you say 200, they say 800, you say no, they say really how much, you say 300, they say maam these are fine goods, you say ok and turn around, they say how much you give me, you say 300, they say 500, you start to walk away, they say ok, give me your price, you buy the goods and they are very happy.

I'm great at bargaining. I figure out pretty quickly what price is the real price. My friends pay the higher prices. I come up and whisper that they are paying too much and to say no and leave and they'll get a better price. Callie pulls out all her money and says what do I owe you. That is not the way to get a good price.

Today when I was bargaining one man got mad when I wouldn't buy his goods and threw them into the booth in anger. His partner ran and got them and came right back and kept trying to get me to buy.

I could have stayed all day. Callie said she's happy to never go back. She told people to stop talking to her and leave her alone. It was so funny.

One thing I like about this team is how much we laugh. There are so many things we could stress about, but instead we laugh. It works well.

We came to the airport to go on to our next destination. When we got here we discovered that the schedule I had from Patricia that I had made our reservations from had been changed. Their travel agent changed their travel from one airline to another, and I had the original itinerary. We are flying out an hour later on a different airline and will meet up with them at the next airport.

While waiting we found a coffee place "Costa". I ordered an iced mocha. I got something like a chocolate milk.

In the first shop we went into today they told us we were their god because we were their first customer. We said no, we won't be your god, and the man said yes you are my god because you are the first customer. We said no we won't be your god. He told us this is business talk.

We shopped for about 3 hours and then went back to our hotel for lunch. We had a misunderstanding about what we ordered. It is very hard to order from the menus because of the language barrier. So I ate something different than what I ordered but it was ok.

The five of us have a lot of luggage. Especially me because of all of the supplies that I have brought. Every time we travel is interesting to see how we are goingt to get all of our luggage and us to where we are going. We usually need 2 taxis when traveling with our luggage. What is especially fun is watching the men stand around and figure out how to arrange the luggage to make it all fit. If they would let us tell them how to do it, we'd have it arranged quickly. We just stand back and watch. They arrange and rearrange several times. They always figure it out in the end and they are happy with themselves. It takes about 30 minutes to load our luggage, so we have to figure that in when planning what time to leave.

Callie has a great new trick and I wish I could do it. She wears a scarf and puts tea tree, soap, or perfume and holds it over her face to help with the smells. There is really no way to describe the smells. Curry, BO, sewage, filth, smoke, incense, rotten trash, cows, polution, dust, and I don't what else fills the air.

Callie has decided she can't take the anti-malaria medicine malarone because of how sick it makes her feel. I got attacked by mosquitos a few days ago on one leg and have about 20 bites. They look terrible. I have a strange reaction to bites.

I have been very glad to reconnect with Debbie on this trip. In Uganda I was so happy to get to know her. She is very real and easy for me to talk to.

Our flight to the next city was easy. We arrived safely and checked into our hotel room. On the way I got to ride with James and this is what I learned from him.

He worked with Gospel for Asia for 15 years and he has been working with CFI since 2004. He has been in ministry for 15 years. He came to Christ as a child. His family was Christian and his mother sent him to sunday school and encouraged him to be in ministry. When he started with CFI the first year he trained 22 pastors and every year he trains 25 more. He has trained over 300 pastors now and planted many churches. He oversees all of those pastors still. He also has his own church that he has started and his heart is to be a pastor himself also.

Many of the women that will be at the conference this week are coordinators wives. The coordinators each oversee many churches. This is the first time that they have been trained in leadership. There are 20 women coming to the conference, and their is a waiting list of others who want to come if anyone can't make it. They have limited it to 20 because they want to make sure the group is small enough that the women will thoroughly understand the material. These women especially will be teaching hundreds of others what we teach them.

One of the biggest problems for the women is that here it is 99% Hindu. When the women come to Christ they have to stop doing many of the things they did before like worshiping other gods. The Hindu women put a mark on their head when they are married. If they stop doing that, it means their husband has died. When Christian women stop doing it, the other women ask them why they are not putting the mark on their head. Then the neighbors stop talking to them and inviting them to events like weddings.

The chief minister in the state has scheduled a Hindu festival tomorrow. The last one was 2 years ago. The current government is getting ready for new elections so this is a political move. All of the people get paid to go to the festival. The women get paid 30 rupies, and the men get paid 80 rupies. Every one gets fed. The streets will all be closed and there will be hundreds of thousands of people in the streets. No businesses in the city will be open. It will be very crowded. The last time they did this 40 people died from being stepped on by stampedes in the crowds.

This festival was recently planned. The leaders here would not have scheduled our conference for this time had they known about it. The women coming to the conference are traveling overnight to get here. When they arrive in the morning the roads will all be closed and they will have to walk 6-7 kilometers to get to the conference center. I asked James if this would be dangerous for them and he said yes because it will be very difficult to get through the crowds. I asked if it would be dangerous because they don't have the marks on their heads and he said yes they will be asked about it. I am concerned for the safety of those women.

He is not sure that he will be able to come here tomorrow because of the crowds, but he will try to come late in the day if he can. If not, we will see him on Tuesday. We will start the conference a day late.

The celebrations have already started and their are many people out in the streets and playing music. In the courtyard of our hotel which is outside of our hotel room their is loud music and celebrating.

It will not be safe for us to leave our hotel until the celebrations are over.

March 13

2010-03-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

We got up early and left our hotel at 8am. We went to say goodbye to Jaisy and Johnson, Angel, and Evangeline. We drove 4 hours to Bhubaneswar in a taxi with Thomas. The drive was much better than last time. We saw much of the countryside. We flew back to Dehli and took a taxi to our hotel. Thomas stayed with us through this whole day and evening.

God really answered our prayers because the travel back to here was so much better. There was such a contrast and I am grateful for the people who are praying for us.

Driving in Dehli is a unique experience. There is a constant flow of traffic going both directions in both lanes. Add cows, people, carts, dogs, bikes, motorcycles, and anything else that moves into the mix with honking from every thing that can honk and you have a slight picture of what it is like. It's best not too look I think, but you can't really help yourself. Most of the cars have lots of dents in them.

Tonight after we arrived at our hotel, Patricia, Debbie and I went to the underground market. We drove in a little 3 wheeled open taxi called an auto rickshaw. We got bumped on the side while on the way by another car and neither drive seemed to notice. The way to the market 4 of us sat in a backseat made for 3. Debbie sat on my lap with her head bent over and bouncing off the top of the car every time we went over a bump. We had a great time because everytime something terrifying was about to happen we laughed. We laughed the whole way because something terrifying was happening most of the time. The thought of streets where roads have lanes and traffic only goes one direction would be a great concept to teach here. They also might like to know about seatbelts. But the seatbelts would only be for the rich people because the poor people aren't important enough.

The city is filthy The sewer runs down the side of the street in a deep ditch. There is trash every where, and so many people. They are doing construction and you see women making cement to pave the roads and sidewalks out of rocks and sand. Today I noticed 2 little babies about 1 year old sitting on the cement next to their working mothers. The women carry sand and rocks on their heads in large baskets, make the cement and then pave the road while a male task master stands there and watches and instructs them.

I told Johnson that one of the women by our hotel who was paving the road was pregnant and he said they will work up to 8 months doing that kind of work. I don't know how they do it. I asked about it and they said they start practicing when they are very young. They are incredibly strong.

It is so sad to see the workers and the separation of the classes. It's sad to see the hard work they are doing and know how little they are being paid.

Men here don't have any problem with urinating in public. If they need to go, they just go. Doesn't seem to matter where they are. On the side of a busy street, on a wall, next to a buiding. Any where seems to be ok. If you gotta go, you gotta go. I've only seen one man eliminating the other body waste (if you know what I mean.) He was a little off the road in a field. From what I saw at the beach, there doesn't seem to be too much embarrassment about that either. I know we don't normally speak of such things, but we also normally don't have to watch our step to not step in it either.

We had fun at the underground market. We are going back there tomorrow. Thomas taught us how to bargain with them. If they say something is 1000 rupies you offer 200. They get mad and say you have insulted them. You say it's ok you will leave. Then they start offering you a lower price and you start bargaining. While we were shopping tonight I was asking him to help me to know what to offer and they were telling him in hindi that they would give him a cut if he would stop helping me. They offered him a pair of shoes. I guess I learned well, because Thomas declared me a good bargainer. My first purchases he told me I paid too much for. The trick is to leave if they won't go down or take the offer. They follow after you if you really leave and tell you they will take the price you offered. The advantage of going with Thomas is he knows how much things should really cost.

The hotel in Dehli is very nice. It is treat. We are all tired and this is nice to be here for a day before heading to the next city. It is such a strange and extreme contrast from what is on the street outside. It is a new hotel and very luxurious. Everything is high tech. I've never seen a hotel with these kinds of electronics.

We ate dinner in the restraunt on the top floor and the food was good. I had a vegetable platter that was cooked in a clay oven.

March 12th

2010-03-12T20:10:00.001-08:00

March 12

I woke up at 2am today with a headache and upset stomach. I felt like I was getting a fever. I tried to sleep but couldn't. I finally fell back to sleep about 4:30-5 and woke up at 6. It turns out that Patricia was awakened by large ants crawling on her and all over her room at 2am, and Betty had a dream and fell out of bed at 2am. Patricia got an email from Julianna this morning that she was praying for her.

Patricia started with SOAP again today. Today she had the ladies chose their own verse. I chose Romans 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
In ALL tribulations we excessively win because of Jesus.
I don't need to be discouraged by tribulations because no matter what happens Jesus with us wins the battle.

Patricia taught on leadership, Debbie taught Ephesians 6, about spiritual warfare. I committed to pray for her, and when she started teaching I got bit by a bug that stung several times. There were so many distractions and then a truck blaring music and talking kept driving by. I was praying silently but finally went out and really prayed. These ladies face witch craft in their villages. This was an important message for them.

We did a question and answer time for the ladies this morning. We had questions about monthly cycles, pains people were having, delivering the placenta, fertility, and why a woman's baby didn't have teeth yet.

At the end of the morning our team all gave closing words of encouragement to the ladies and gave them brooches and scarves. They told us (through Jaisy) what the classes meant to them, gave us each a pashmina, and then prayed for us. They cried when they prayed for us. This was the first time they had been given such a priviledge as this conference. They said the people in their villages will be amazed when they go back with the supplies we gave them and they will be like celebrities.

The owners of the church center made a huge lunch for us. We came back to the hotel to rest about 2:30.

I asked Johnson about the cost and availability of medical care here. He said to go to the government hospital for birth would cost about $100. Most people cannot afford to go. A private hospital would cost about $1000 so that is only for the very rich. There is no health insurance here. He told me that Jaisy had 3 c-sections. Their first baby was born by c-section for placental abruption and died the day after the birth. For all three births he paid about 100,000 rupies.

I talked to Jaisy about her baby girl that died. They named her a name that means God's will be done.

At 4 we left to go to an orphanage. We took soap and towels, markers, colored pencils, and construction paper to them. When we arrived we found out that it was also a training center for pastors. There were 21 young men in training there. Callie and Betty went and played with the boys.

Debbie, Patricia and I went and spoke to the young men. They were ages 18 - 40. 9 of them had suffered during the persecution. 5 were Hindu converts. We each shared with them words of encouragement. We asked them to tell us about themselves and what they wanted to do. One of them told us that he had been hindu. He broke his arm and a pastor came and prayed for him and he was healed. Because of this he accepted Jesus as his saviour. He is the only Christian in his village and the people there don't want him in the village because he is Christian. He wants to go back after he finishes training and preach the gospel to them. Another young man told us a similar story. He is the only Christian in his family and in his village and the village people don't want him there. He wants to learn how share the gospel with them. It was so amazing to hear their hearts and their desire to share Christ with their villages. Johnson told us that when they leave here many of them will plant 3 churches within one year. These young men were eager to hear from us. We did not even know that we were going to be speaking to them, but God is faithful. He gave each of us words and scriptures to encourage them and we spoke to them for over an hour. The looks on their faces was priceless. They were listening so intently to every word. Then we prayed for them.

This unexpected opportunity will be one of my favorite memories. What an awesome priviledge today. I felt humbled and so unworthy to speak to such suffering as they have endured. We didn't even have our bibles with us. When we walked in the room they were all sitting attentively with their bibles waiting for us. Romans 8 was fresh in my heart from reading it several times this week, and I had one of them read verses 32-39. It was amazing how God gave each of us the right words to say to them.

Tonight all the women from the conference are traveling back to their villages. They will take buses all night and day tomorrow to get home. I can't imagine what that must be like.

We travel back tomorrow by taxi and then fly back to ______ We are all somewhat apprehensive and hoping it will be easier than the way here.

March 11th

2010-03-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I decided to walk down to the beach. I had no idea we were so close! The polution is so bad that I couldn't tell. I went and asked the other ladies if they wanted to go with us, and Debbie and Patricia went. As we walked over the little hill there was a little community of houses there. The houses are all connected to each other. I'm calling them houses, but they are little shacks. This is were I see the people coming from each day to get water and bathe. I could hear animals (goats I think) in one of the huts.

One lady this morning balanced 3 pots of water on her head.

The beach was filthy with trash on the walk over and as we got close to the water their was human feces on the beach all over the place. Disgusting. It's hard to understand. Their was a row of fishing boats out in the sea, and a group of fisherman on the shore. If you can get past the trash and the filth, it is very pretty.

SOAP: Mathew 17:20 And He said to them"Because of the littleness f your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain 'move from here to there', and it will move, and nothing will be impossible to you."
Jesus said if we have faith anything is possible. The faith can be extremely small and still move mountains.
Jesus has told ME that I should believe. If I have little faith HE will do great things. I have let circumstances cause me to doubt and have forgotten who my God is and what He is able to do.

Debbie taught Ephesians 4 today. Callie did another exercise today with the salvation bracelets. I taught natural family planning and cycle beads, and labor and birth.

At the end of the day we asked the ladies to share testimonies of what they had been through during the persecution. These are some of the stories:

Drabuni: (She is the sister of an area coordinator) The Hindus came with weapons and said they would kill them so they all ran into the jungle. They destroyed their church. They were in the jungle for 4 days without food. When asked about how she reacted to the persecution she said she wailed.

Chandra: She was the first christian in her village, and then her family also became christian. The whole village was against her family because they are the only christians. They called the radical hindus to come and destroy them. 11 Hindus knocked on the door and she went outside by herself. Her parents stayed inside and prayed. They asked for her father. They left without hurting her.

Mahima (her name means glorious): They were in church celebrating Christmas when a hindu came and threw a stone. There were 8 churches in the village, but they were all together celebrating Christmas. They ran away. They destroyed one church, but came back later and destroyed all 8 churches. She was running away to hide. There was no food while they were hiding. She was hiding near her grandfather who was deaf. They found him and pulled him out of his hiding place. They told him to deny Jesus, but he would not so they killed him with an ax as she watched. Some more people in her village have come to Christ since the persecution.

Babita: Her family are the only christians in the village. During the violence people in her village started to hate them. They would not allow them any drinking water. They were chased away and when they returned all their belongings were destroyed.

Lali: During the persecution her children were 2 months old and 3 years old. They were hiding in the jungle and she could not feed them, and they were crying. They stayed away from their village for 6 months. Now they are home again.

4 of the ladies converted from hindu. We heard Chandras story, but we have not heard the others. (She was bit by the scorpian and was extremely ill. The pastor was passing by and prayed for her and she was healed.)

We had a time of prayer with them for healing from the trauma. Most of them were weeping. (They always cover their heads when they pray.)

We got back late and we were too tired and hot to eat dinner. Tomorrow is our last day here, and I think it will be hard to leave.

It was very challenging to teach these young women to respond and interact with us. They have really done well. We have poured so much information into them in one week, and I am amazed by how bright they are. They are taking blood pressures and pulses, and doing a good job of it. We had them role playing, explaining things, and summarizing lessons to prepare them for teaching these things to others. I am excited to hear the stories from the years to come of how God is going to use them.

march 10th B

2010-03-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

SOAP verse: Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
I can trust the Holy Spirit to pray for me when I don't know how to pray or what I need. He doesn't pray lightly, He prays with deep heartfelt emotion telling God what I need. All of this is done to help me in my weakness.
I can trust Him because He knows all and His prayers are sperfect and effective even if mine aren't.

Debbie taught Ephesians 3 in the afternoon, Betty taught nutrition, and I taught How to Prevent Infections and HIV. Betty had the ladies draw on a paper plate a healthy meal with the portion size for each food. At the end of our session about preventing infection we went downstairs and outside to teach handwashing techniques using a bucket and pitcher like they would have to do in many of their villages.

Each night at dinner we plan what we are doing the next day and make adaptions as needed. Our original plan has changed so many times that we are past plan Z. We all get along great and it's nice that everyone is so flexible.

It's too hot to eat much at dinner time. I had fruit salad and garlic non tonight.

March 10th

2010-03-10T07:01:00.000-08:00

Callie has figured out the honking system here for the drivers and she explained it all to us. They honk when they go around a corner, they honk when the come up next to another car, they honk if they see a person or animal, they honk if a car is coming towards them, they honk if they feel like it, and they honk if they are moving. But they don't have to honk unless they want to, so sometimes they don't. I think that sums it up pretty nicely. Constant honking. Tim would love it here. ;)

Yesterday they were working on a ditch in the road by our hotel and our taxi could not get to the hotel, so we had to walk out to the taxi. We had to step over a deep gutter and Callie was helping all of us. I looked down into the gutter and it was filth. Just down the street there is raw sewage that runs across the street like a small stream...it smells terrible.

They put moth balls on top of the drains to keep bugs from coming through the drains. The smell of them is strong in our rooms.

The women here carry huge loads on their heads. I see them through our window coming each morning to a spigot next to the hotel. Families come and bathe. The women fill up their water pots and carry a very large one on their head, and a smaller one with one arm. They are barefoot, and have to walk through rocks. How do they do it? Yesterday I watched a woman decide to switch her smaller pot from one arm to the other and balance the one on her head while she did the switch.

There is a group of women who come every day from the direction of the beach with huge loads of sticks or straw on their heads. Where are they going and what are those for?

Our taxi driver yesterday had no shoes. His teeth were rotting and had huge spaces between them.

The lady who cleans our room each day looks at me and watches me carefully as we come and go from here. Yesterday she cleaned our room in the morning and again in the afternoon. She is extremely thin, and I wish I could hear the stories that I can see in her face. She knows that I have noticed her. She waits for me to smile at her. She is anxious to speak to me. I know she is from the lower caste. I wish I could speak her language and talk to her. I am praying that she will see Christ in me without words and understand that He loves her.

An old man in the street started talking to me yesterday as we walked to the hotel from the taxi at lunch time. I wanted to stay and talk with him, but I was first in line on our little path, and the ladies were telling me I must move on. Our time is so limited and so full. I wanted to share with him, and he was so anxious to talk to me. I felt terrible telling him I had to go.

The room where we are teaching is outside (PTL) and has a wonderful breeze that blows through it. That means it brings terrible smells. There are so many smells. In the afternoons their has been smoke. Maybe someone is burning trash, but I don't know because trash is every where and no one seems to care.

There is a small street just underneath us, and children pass by on their way to school. They stop and stare at us. When we take their picture they giggle and run off.

Music from the hindu temple blares throughout the village much of the day. They are singing to different gods.

In the restaurant here all the workers are men. I like to try the Indian food, but I'm the only one of our group who likes spicy food. I can't understand the menu, so I ask our waiter each day to explain what things are. I always order vegetarian Indian food. Yesterday for breakfast I ordered an Indian breakfast. I had a flat bread that had potatoes inside it, with a yogurt and some other sauce. I wanted everyone to try the bread, and I cut pieces and gave them to everyone. The waiter was standing by me (to see if I liked it I think) and said "This is only for one". He was worried that I was giving them my food. When we came back at lunch the waiter said "You want Indian food, yes?" and immediately helped me order. He ask if I want it spicy and I always say yes. He asks me several times. When he brings my food about 3 men stand and watch me as I take my first bite to see what I will do. I can tell they think it will be too hot for me. It's funny as I have seen this play out every time. The first time our waiter actually came and stood near me. Maybe he thought he might have to get me some water or something. I think they like it now.

I heard some yelling going on last night in the managers office. I looked down and saw about 5 sets of shoes outside the door and one person standing at attention in the doorway.

I went to the lobby last night to get online, and a policeman came in to the hotel. He talked to the manager, and to the front desk. I was trying not to look at them. Some of the time they were whispering (no need for that because I don't understand them anyway). I was so curious, but I also felt awkward. The policeman never looked directly at me, and I felt something very negative. I felt like they were talking about me, but I seriously doubt that.

The morning sessions went well. Debbie taught Ephesians 2, Patricia taught leadership, and we reviewed blood pressure and taught how to take a heart rate. The women are doing very well with learning these skills. Callie did a role playing skit with 2 women acting like she was not a christian and asked them about their salvation bracelets, and then she and I did one. 3 women shared stories about events or people that had an on their lives.

The first to share was Sunimimia. She went to a catholic church where the father invited her to preach. People gave their offerings and he gave her some rupies. She thought it was a donation. She is baptist and she had no opportunity to preach. She went back and the father gave her another opportunity to preach. His intention was different than she thought and he tried to capture her mind to have a relationship with her. Her heart and mind was broken so she did not visit again, and she was very disappointed. She broke down and cried and it was obvious that the priest had taken advantage of her. Patricia taught about how to handle difficult situations like this, how to work through forgiveness, and how as women leaders to support our sisters through things like this. We all gathered around her and prayed for her.

Ribika shared that 2 coordinators encouraged her and told her she could be an evangelist and sent her to 2 conferences and now she is doing the work.

Mahima share that she was living in town and not serving the Lord even though she was a Christian, she was not living like one. She went home and her mother and brother became angry because of how she was living. One day she was cooking tea and fainted. They took her to the doctor and he said she had fits (epilpsy). The doctor gave her prescriptions. She started living like a christian and stopped taking the medicine and she has been well since.

March 9th

2010-03-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

March 9

Callie and I were struggling with whether or not we should take the malarone on this trip. The lady we sat by on the plane said she wasn't taking it because of the side effects.

Last year when we got back from Uganda Callie had an unexplained illness where all of her joints swelled and she had a terrible rash. In her labs, her liver enzymes were elevated. It all resolved and the doctors didn't know what she'd had. This year when I got back from Uganda I got very sick with a fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. Both of us felt that the malarone had contributed to how sick we got. Plus, malarone makes me dizzy.

When we where driving to _______ with Thomas, he told us the biggest problem in this area is malaria and that we should take our medicine. Callie and I took heed to his advice and starting taking it after we arrived. It has to be taken with food. Since we were sick when we arrived and went to bed without eating Callie didn't take hers until the next morning. We've been diligent about the bug spray, but the mosquitos here are biting. Debbie and Betty seem to be getting bit the most.

Yesterday morning I went to Debbie's room and she had been bitten in the night. She thought it was bed bugs. Callie got bites the first night (at the first hotel) and she thought it might be bed bugs. I looked at Debbie's sheets and didn't see any signs of them. I hadn't slept in my bed. I slept ontop of the covers in my travel silk bag that I always use on trips. I had seen what looked like blood stains on my sheets from bed bugs.

The beds are not as bad as I expected, but the are little more than a board covered with a blanket. We are staying in the nicest place in ___________.

The Women's conference started yesterday at 2:00. We are meeting in an outside room, which is good because it is so hot. It is on the second floor and there is a breeze. Gideon is our translator and he is very good. I asked him if he would be embarrassed to translate for me about birth and other sensitive issues. He said it would not be a problem for him if it was not a problem for me. He said it was all for the glory of God.

We met the women yesterday. Most of them are from the the highly persecuted areas and have been affected. We each introduced ourselves and what we would be teaching. Then Patricia had them introduce themselves, and asked what they wanted to learn.

Jaisy: Johnson's wife (coordinator over 250 churches), has 2 children, 35 years old, born in south India, speaks hindi and english, born into a christian family, wants to learn from the bible and how to love one another

Jeebita: from _________ (96 km away), single, 23 yrs, wants to gain knowledge

Lali: from _______(250 km) married w 2 children, 25 yrs, wants to learn about health issues and more about life.

Mahima: from _________ (250 km), single, 17 yrs, wants to do ministry and know more of the word of God

Drabuni: from __________ (250 km), single, 24 yrs, has been in ministry for 6 years in her village, wants to learn health, hygiene, nutrition

Rutama: from _______ (250 km) single, 20 yrs, wants to learn Ephesians and whatever we teach to go home and teach her village

Babita: from ________ (300 km) single, 18 yrs, wants to learn more because mostly everyone around her is hindu

Rinki: from ________ (250 km) married 21 yrs, wants to learn how to speak to others the word of God, her husband is a pastor but his family is hindu

Sheholota: from ________ (150 km) 19 yrs, wants to learn the word of God to share with her neighbors

Ribi: from ____________ 18 yrs, wants to learn the word of God to deliver it to non-christians and convince them that Jesus is the Saviour

Chandranadana: from __________ 18 yrs, she and her husband are the only christian family in the village and she wants to share the gospel and make other christians. a few years ago she was bit by a scorpion. right afterwards a christian pastor came by where she was and prayed for her. because of his prayers she became a christian.

Kuni, 31 yrs, married w 2 children. In her village everyone is taking the sick people to the witch doctor, she wants to teach them that witchcraft is not the way and that the word of God can heal.

Ribika: from ________, 21 yrs, working as an evangelist. wants to learn more about the word of God

Susanit: from _________, 18 yrs, wants to learn more of the word of God so she can share

Sunimimia: 28 yrs, wants to do more evangelism work and learn Ephesians

Bravati: from ___________, 19 yrs, many christians don't live like christians here and she wants to teach them

Jiranti: from ______ 18 yrs

Mami: married (coordinators wife, over 10 churches), 2 children, 22 yrs, wants to learn more to help her husband

Pandhya: from ____________, 21 yrs, in her village many are hindu, they take sick people to the witch doctor, she wants to learn health and hygiene.

We are amazed at how young most of them are.

Jaisy told us more of the persecution and about the pastor who was arrested last month. His name is Patrick. He is a humble gentle man. He was accused of being a terrorist but he told them he is not that he is a christian. He was in jail for 8 days. For 6 days they beat him on his back. Then they released him to his parents. He is 22 years old. Johnson talked to him yesterday. He is still in very much pain from the beatings.

This area we are in __________ has more christians and they are not persecuted here in this village.

Yesterday Debbie did an overview of the book of Ephesians, Patricia taught SOAP (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer) as a tool to study God's word, Betty taught about diabetes, and I taught nutrition and sanctity of life. Betty gave them a tshirt with the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, and small intestine painted on it. She also gave them a packet with pens, a tape measure and other things in it. I gave the little 12 week babies.

Today Debbie taught Ephesians 1, Patricia taught about Leadership, Betty taught about diabetes and high blood pressure, Callie taught Salvation Bracelets, and I taught how to take blood pressure. Today we gave soap, stethoscopes and bp cuffs, aprons, medical scissors. It was a really full day. We had thought we would eat lunch with the ladies, but Johnson was afraid we would get sick from the food and asked us to eat all of our meals at the hotel. As we drive to the conference each day there is a place that has raw sewage running through the street. The smell is very bad.

This is the very first conference most of the women have ever been too. For many of them it is the first time they have ever left their village.

We are all working very hard. Our schedule is very intense. At dinner tonight our team was saying that today felt like two days. I can only imagine how it must feel for the ladies we are teaching.
The ladies are being challenged in ways that they never have been before. So much of this is very new for them.

It is so hot here. It reaches 50 degrees celcius in the summer and I honestly don't know how they survive it. The streets come alive at night when it starts cooling down.

March 7th, 2010

2010-03-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

March 7 am.
Our flight was long and hard, and it smelled like exhaust or smoke around us in the back row. The person sitting next to Callie told the flight attendant, who came and said she smelled it too and they'd have it checked.

We landed late, went through customs, got our luggage (which took a long time), went out and found Debbie waiting for us outside customs. We met Patricia and Betty (both very nice) and then Patricia started trying to call our guide/security gaurd. We couldn't get any of our phones to work. Debbie got texting, and started communication with Dan and Patricia's got her text to work to her husband. They got ahold of Thomas, and he had been in another city and was at the train station. He said he would send taxi's for us. We tried to figure out how to get our phones to work...they finally got calls from Dan and Roland. Thomas's wife came to meet us, and got 2 taxis, and by then it was probably about 1am. We loaded our luggage and left for the hotel. Then they started driving down alleys looking for the hotel. They stopped the cars and started walking around back street asking people if they knew where the Hotel was. There were people sleeping on the sides of the road, and some in make shift tents. I had the hotel address and phone # and when I realized they didn't know where to go I told Errianna (Thomas' wife who was with us). We were not in a good place. In the meantime, I posted to facebook asking for prayer. She started trying to call the number to get directions but she said there was no answer. The drivers got back in the cars and we took off and found the hotel very quickly. We are only here for a few hours. It was about 2 am when we arrived at the hotel. They will send taxi's again for us in the morning and we go back to the airport and fly to the first city.

8am

We woke up to honking in the street below us at 6am. We got ready and went to breakfast. I really like the food. It is very spicy.

I sorted out the bags and separated everything for the 2 different conferences. We are going to leave 2 of the 4 bags here at the hotel because we will be back here next weekend on our way to the next city.

We left for the airport at 9:30am. Got a thorough pat downs in security and they took Callie's bag apart because they said there was something metal in it. I think it was really because they wanted to see what a beautiful young american female carries in her luggage.

Our domestic flight within India was scary. The plane was wobbling all over the place. On our descent it felt like we were diving. It made both of us sick again.

Our drive to the village was 4 hours. Callie and I were both car sick. What must this team think of us? We stopped after about 3 hours for Callie and walked around the car for a couple of minutes. About a half hour later we had to stop for me because I almost threw up. I spit out about a gallon of spit for a few minutes, and poured water over the back of my neck and pulled it together. Then off we went again. When we arrived at our hotel Callie and I both felt too sick to eat dinner. We got here about 7:30 pm.

This has been the most grueling travel...and we have to do it all again to go back. Plus another city to travel to. I guess my iron stomach is a thing of the past. My cell phone was supposed to work here, and it doesn't. My phone internet worked in the city, but not here. It frustrates me when I can't contact my family.

Our guide who met us at the airport is Johnson. He is a pastor to pastors. He has about 250 pastors that he trains and mentors. He was here 2 years ago when 70000 Christians were driven from their homes, thousands slaughtered, their houses burned, all their possesions burned and destroyed.

The women he has selected to come to this conference are from villages all over Orissa. Some are coming from 300 kilometers away. They were also here during the intense persecution. There is still persecution going on here, but it is better. A couple of months ago a pastor was arrested on his way to a conference like this and charged with terrorism. Orissa is 98% Hindu, and less than 1% Christian.

The women that will be here are all poor, but all are leaders in their churches. They will all speak the tribal language here. None of them speak english or hindi. They have been carefully selected and will have a large responsibility to teach what they learn here in their communities, and to the other churches.

God I hope whatever you have planned is worth all of this. Can anything I have to say be this valueable? The answer is no...I'm just not that good. But YOU are! Please use me to ease the suffering of your people. Help me not to be so selfish. Help me to endure hardship without complaining. These people coming to hear us teach have been perscuted, lost family and friends for you, lost belongings, endured real hardship that I know nothing of. They live in poverty, on the front lines of helping people in true despair. They have little. I have so much. Do I know You as well as they do? Can I teach them? I don't feel worthy, but here I am. Everything here is unfamiliar. I don't understand the culture. It's hot and humid. I'm afraid to eat something that will make me sick while children are begging for food to live. I miss my children and wish I was home with them. They have lost their children to starvation and preventable diseases. I want the comfort of my own home, my own bed. Nothing about their home is comfortable, and they don't have a bed. How will I match up to them when we give an account in heaven of our works?
Bring hope to your people through us Lord. Use us to equip them to help the people of this country. Build them up, comfort them, give them peace, help them to be firmly grounded in Your word. Let the light of Your Son Jesus shine brightly through them in this dark evil corrupt place. Give them the strength they need to carry on the work you have called them to in their villages. Give them safe travel to and from their villages. I imagine their travel here to meet us has been more difficult than ours, and taken much more sacrifice.
Meet the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of these dear ones who are so devoted to you. Let the abuses they have suffered as women in this culture draw them closer to you, and as they draw near show them to the truth about who they are in You and how valueable they are. You have seen every injustice. Help them to know that you care. Let us be Your voice to them. Amen.

March 6th, 2010

2010-03-08T15:41:00.000-08:00

We are still on the plane about an hour from landing in India. We sat in the back row on both flights, this one and the one from Phoenix to Newark. It's nice not having anyone behind you. Being in the very back means we are right next to the bathrooms. I really don't like the smell of airplane bathrooms. I sat in every possible position that a person could sit in an airplane seat. I even turned around and sat backwards. It really is impossible to find any position to sleep in that is comfortable. I tried sitting backwards and putting my feet up over the back of my chair but I'm not as limber as I used to be. I'm sure the stewardesses have seen everything, but still, I must have looked funny. I slept with my blanket up over my head for 2 reasons. One, it made it dark and warm. The plane was freezing. Two, since I was sitting by the bathroom I was keeping all the microbes that fly around after the toilet flushes from landing on me. I didn't learn this from Monk, but I'm sure he'd be proud of me. The only problem is that when I got up and left my blanket when I sat back down I had to decide which side was the ride side to keep out. Another thing I've learned is that some people flush the toilet and then wash their hands before they open the door, but others open the door while they flush the toilet. I don't like that habit, because that means more microbes and smells flying out. You also have your space invaded when the bathroom is right by you because a line forms and people stand right over you as they wait. Are they amused by my creative comfort attempts?

OK so all humor aside, this has been the longest most difficult flight I've taken. The plane shakes in the back from side to side. I feel like someone has been shaking me for hours. I tried to think of it as rocking, but that's a stretch. The last hour there was an exhaust smell. In combination with the shaking I felt so sick, and so did Callie.

In these moments of exhaustion and nausea, I was wondering...am I doing the right thing by leaving my family and coming here? What kind of mother of 8 leaves her kids and goes to the other side of the world for 2 weeks? Did God really call me to do this?`I hope so. I certainly thought so, or I wouldn't be here. Feeling sick has a way of making you question things. I want to do this for the Lord, but I also feel homesick already.

January 20, 2009

2010-01-20T04:45:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling sick in waves since last week, but yesterday it hit me really hard. I ran a fever on and off all day, and last night I was sicker than I can ever remember. I think I am on the mend this morning. I am so glad I was at home last night.

January 17, 2010

2010-01-19T01:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Cody. Today he had 34 hour birthday because of the time change. (Uganda is 10 hours ahead of Phoenix.) He spent 20 hours in the air and was in 3 countries. We had an 8 hour layover in London. After that they were doing a 100% security check on flights to the usa, so they looked every persons bags and did a pat down on everyone. We were 2 hours and 15 minutes late taking off, and sat on the plane for 3 hours before we took off.

I keep having waves of feeling sick. Not sure if I am sick or reacting to malarone (anti malaria med). I get a headache, and my whole body hurts, like I'm getting a fever, but I never do. I have severe stomach pains that come and go. Then waves of nausea. Then it goes away and I feel fine.

We arrived home after Chris and Wilf and we were supposed to arrive home 3 hours before them.

We are definitely very jet lagged. I am writing this at 2:30am 1/18/09. Cody is awake too.

January 16, 2010

2010-01-19T01:06:00.002-08:00

Jan 16

We are in the airport getting ready to leave Uganda. It has been an amazing time here.

We went to the conference this morning at 7:30. They had praise and worship and Pastor Bill taught. Then our team went through the crowd and prayed for people. My heart was so heavy for them, knowing the hardships they face. After church service was over we were thanked profusely for everything we had done. The people hugged us and told us how much they love us. The love and gratitude of our friends is overwhelming. They have served us so faithfully all week and have worked very hard to make us comfortable and welcome.

I was very sad to leave Sheila. I had someone translate for me to tell her goodbye and that I love her. She started crying, which I have never seen. She hid her face in her hands and in my skirt. She walked with me and held my hand for as long as she could, and then we had to go.

We went shopping again today for souvineers and then went back to Banana Village to pack and get ready to go. Wilf worked on getting all of our pictures downloaded and giving them to each of us. Tonight some of our friends came to say goodbye to us. We also said goodbye to some of our team that are staying a few more days for sight seeing. Julius, Fred, and Jonathon brought us to the airport.

I believe that there will be great fruit from this trip to Uganda. There were almost 2000 people here this week, and I believe their lives have been impacted. We had such wonderful bible teachers and they have communicated well. The teachers were Joel, Bill, Dale, Wilf, Ron, Cyndi, Grady, Janelle, Kathy, Theresa and myself. The healthcare classes we taught were very successful, and the question and answer times were amazing. We taught both women, men, and youth. I also taught one session to the businessmen, and that session also went really well. That session was a last minute plan because they asked if anyone had anything they would want to share with businessmen, and God gave me a message to share. I had many of the people in that class come and find me and thank me. I shared from my own personal experiences of running my midwifery practice, and also from owning a pest control business for 15 years.

I woke up this morning at 3am not feeling well. I had a short time of being nauseated on the way to Kampala today too, but it passed quickly.

My feet have been swollen most of the week, and they are swollen tonight as well. I hope that they will not get much worse on the flight home.

It is 90 degrees inside this airport, and I am looking forward to getting on the plane. It is funny to be around so many white people again in the airport. Wilf and Chris's plane has just departed. Their flight is more difficult than ours as they land in Niarobi, have a layover in Brussels, and another one in Washington DC. They arrive home 3 hours after us.

I have felt the prayers this week of everyone who are interceding for us. God has surrounded us with His grace. I am so grateful for that.

Now that our work is done, I am anxious to get home. I have been thinking of home all day.

January 15, 2010

2010-01-19T01:06:00.001-08:00

Jan 15

I didn't teach today, so I went with Cara to 2 of the medical clinics (Abbita and Pano) that they take the children to. I gave them blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, scissors and a model of a 10 week fetus. My goal was to help gain favor for the church and school here so that they will give kindness to the children that are taken there. In the first clinic I also gave the doctor a salvation bracelet and explained it's meaning to him. He put it on right away. We went to see Andrew (the boy with hydrocephalis). He was discharged about an hour later so we went back to pick him up and take him home. In between those trips I went and listened to Bill teach the pastors.

Theresa taught HIV/AIDS during the 2nd class this morning. I went to sit in the back, but people were asking me questions about their healthcare, so I went and sat outside so we wouldn't disturb her class. During that time I had a continual flow of people coming either for questions or just to greet me and talk with me or share prayer requests.

Cody's friend Grace came and talked to me too. I don't know what it is about him that makes me want to cry when I talk to him. My heart goes out to him. He told me he was going to miss me, and I felt so sad for him. I really took time to try to encourage him and to try to encourage him to love God with all his heart mind soul and strength, to draw near to Jesus, and to trust Him no matter what happens.

I have given pictures of me and Tim to some people. Ronald (the papa to the boys) went and bought a frame for it the same day I gave it to him, which was yesterday. Today he took me to his home to see it. I felt very honored. Many of the people who I gave them to said they were going to frame them.

I gave away the rest of the gifts I had brought today to various people. They were all so grateful. I also received a gift today. A woman brought me a skirt. I really felt so grateful to her. It really is so humbling to receive a gift from someone who has so little.

At lunch today we had a little surprise birthday party for John, Esther, and Cody. I had given John a birthday present a couple of days ago, and he said it was the first birthday present he had ever received. He was so surprised and touched by what we did. Kathy had cards for each of them that we all signed.

Cody's birthday is on the day we are traveling back and because of the time change he figured out that his birthday is going to be 34 hours long. He says it's going to be the longest birthday he will ever have.

There was a blood drive here today. Many people at the conference went and gave blood.

Our team went down to the school where they serve all the people lunch today and helped serve. We found out today that there are 1900 people here, 1300 adults and 600 youth and children. The ugandan people who are serving the meals get up at 3am to start preparing breakfast, which is served at 5-530. After that is cleaned up, the immediately start on lunch which is served at 1:00 and takes until about 3:;00 to serve everyone. As soon as that is cleaned up they start cooking dinner, and dinner is served between 7-8 and takes about 2 hours. They have butchered 2 cows this week to feed all these people. They have worked so hard, and they must be so tired, but they don't complain.

Shirah got sick today. She has a cold and a cough that sounds like bronchitis. She fell asleep again today while I was holding her and when I tried to lay her down she got so upset. She wouldn't go to anyone else. Olyvia came and helped me with her, and she is going to take her to her home until she gets better. Cara is in charge of taking the kids here to the clinic, but it was so late in the day by the time she got back from taking someone else to the hospital. Olyvia had some medicine at home, because she takes the kids when they get sick. Tomorrow they will take her to the clinic, and on Monday or Tuesday to Kampala to the medcial center because she needs a full workup.

It is going to be hard to leave the people here that I have grown to love. I know Grace is going to cry and it's going to break my heart. But I have told him we will meet again, and Jesus is always with him. The women yesterday asked if they could pray for our women, and I can't even explain how it felt. They prayed for us for about 5 minutes and it really was amazing. They all pray at the same time, and it really was a beautiful sound. They pray so fervently.

We gave necklaces to the women at the end of the day and they loved them. I noticed especially the ones who received crosses were extremely happy.

It was our last session with the women, and when we left they swarmed us with hugs and thankyous. "I love you so much" "Please don't forget me" "You have helped us so much" "I am thanking God for you" "You have blessed us so much" "There are no words to say the thankyous that I feel"
It's hard to explain the emotions that come with hearing these heartfelt thankyous and the love these women have for us. It is humbling.

For dinner we went to the restraunt that Jamima owns. (Jamima is the owner of Banana Village.) They served us fish and chips, and it was very Jamima is still not back from Kenya and we have missed her.

When we got home I got spend a little bit of time with Cyndi and Cody went to Chris and Nathan' room. Chris Cody Nathan and Grady have spent a lot of time together, and it's been awesome to see them work together with the kids and youth.

My stomach bothered me for a couple of days, but it's feeling better. A lot of us on the team had issues on the same day, so it had to have been something we ate.

Our time here is almost done, the gifts and supplies are all given, and I feel good about what God has done. I believe that we have helped to make the lives of the people we have served here just a little bit better. They know that we love them, and that has been demonstrated by all of us. That alone has meant the world to the people here.

Wilf asked me last time how this trip is different for me than last year. I've had people tell me I seem more comfortable, less nervous, more confident. I think that is true. It is easier for me to speak this year. I know that it is the Lord, because left to myself I would not be able to do it. Another thing that is different about this trip is the relationships that I made last year are deeper this year, and I have developed trust with the friends I made. I can see that the friendships previously made and the trust gained has influenced others this year to trust us. The testimonies shared by the people from last year to their friends have opened the hearts of the new friends to us and given us a higher level of trust with them. More things are being shared and their is honesty about the difficult issues of life.

After lunch today there was a baptism in Lake Victoria. It really was wonderful to see all the people getting baptized. There were about 135.

January 14, 2010

2010-01-19T01:05:00.000-08:00

Jan 14

Janelle taught 1st today, Theresa taught sancity of life second, and then we gave birth kits out and I explained them. It went really well giving them out. There is always a problem with anything we give out of people hiding it and saying they haven't received anything. Esther asked us to save 20 kits for the women who were working in the kitchen preparing the food for the conference. When some of the ladies saw that we had kits in the bag left they were saying they didn't have one, but we knew we gave them to everyone in the church. I just had to be very assertive and say no to them. I have gotten more comfortable with that this time. The ladies are so poor that they can appear to be very rude and demanding. The language barrier makes it more difficult too. Theresa had a good perspective today. She said they are fighting for their children and we would do the same thing if we were in their shoes.

The ladies told me that they did not want us to break or have any interruptions to my class and asked me not to dismiss for a break even though they had been sitting already through 2 other classes. They sat from 9:15 to 1:00. The stood up for a couple of songs and to stretch during that time.

During the lunch break after we ate together as a team, I was able to sit under a tree and visit with my dear friends I met last year Ann and Prossy. They both have new babies. It was a joy to see them again, and hear about how their families are. Prossy's older daughter asked if she could come tomorrow to see her mom's friend (me). I really enjoyed my time with them. A bug which is common here, fell from the tree and bit me 2x. It felt like a bee sting. They told me not to rub it or it would swell. It hurt for a few hours and then the pain went away.

After lunch we gathered back together about 3:00 and I taught a very basic class about birth and then we had questions and answers. The questions never stop. They are so hungry for information. At 5:00 I dismissed them, but some still stayed for more questions. I am so amazed at how little doctors and nurses explain to people here, and how poor the medical care can be. I have had so many people ask me why they had to have a csection. They have absolutely no idea what was wrong that required it. And they just submit to whatever they are told to do.

The last person I talked to today asked me why she was not able to bear children. She said her husband started beating her because she wasn't bearing and wanted prayer so she would conceive. I suggested that she go to the church, which she said she had done, and when the pastors confronted her husband he became worse. He chased her away from their home. I suggested that perhaps God had not allowed her to conceive because the man may also abuse her children. I prayed with her and asked God to show her what to do.

I left the conference today so sad for these people, and the severe conditions under which they live. I don't understand why as a whole things are so desperate everywhere here. You really cannot find any place that is not poor. It is overwhelming and seems unending. The enormity of the issues span out in every direction with no real hope in sight of things changing. I was very discouraged. I can't imagine having to live like this all the time. There is such a mix of emotion. The simple things are what bring joy here, and life is all about people. The lack of electricity makes it so people spend all of their time together. They take care of each other.

A lady I know here had to have a csection. In the private hospital it would have cost about $25 minimum, and about $100 for better care. The better hospital cost about $1000, but it is much safer and better. All of your friends and family chip in to help pay when there is a big bill like this. And you do the same for them when they need it.

January 13, 2010

2010-01-19T01:04:00.000-08:00

Jan 13

This morning Janelle taught, then Theresa and I taught (natural family planning and cycle beads), then Cyndi taught. My class went really well. We always have so many questions. The people are so eager to learn. There is so much they don't know and things we take for granted they have not been taught.

In the afternoon John asked me and Theresa to teach healthcare to the men. We taught about germs and how they get into the body, hygiene, and cycle beads for natural family planning. The men were very interested and we had many questions from the men also. The men from our team came to support us because we weren't sure how it go as we haven't taught health issues to the men before. Dale helped us to answer some of the more difficult questions men had. The questions they asked were honest and open. The men were very engaged and so glad to have this class.

After the classes were over I had a group of 20 women and midwives waiting for me to teach more about midwifery. That time went fast, but we covered some very important subjects and it went great. I feel that this day went very well. I asked often if people were understanding what we were teaching, and they said they did. The information we gave today will be extremely helpful. Several told me they had taken notes and were taking the information back to their churches and villages to teach there.

Then I had a group from Malibu that had sent members of their midwifery association to tell me about what they are doing. They had written out a proposal explaining who they are, what they are doing, and what their objectives, problems and goals are. They want our organization to help them.

Many people have asked for help. Some ask for money. Some are less direct and say they have no food. We tell them to go to their pastors. Many of the churches here have food programs. We cannot possibly meet all the needs that are here, so we have to direct them to their churches.

Theresa changed Pastor Godfrey's dressings today on his head. His wounds are large, and he will have large scars on his face. I feel so bad for him. He seems very sad, and he has to be in a lot of pain.

January 12, 2010

2010-01-19T01:03:00.000-08:00

Jan 12
Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

We left for the conference today at 8 and arrived for the general session. Then we all split off into the venues. There were about 600 youth, 2-300 children, about 200 women, about 100 business men, church leaders and pastors, and pastors wives. I don't know how many pastors are here.

We were supposed to split the women up and have 2 venues for women, one for bible teaching and one for healthcare teaching. The women didn't want to split up because they all said they wanted both teachings. We have rearranged out teachings to make it work to have the women stay together. I have cut 1/2 of what I had planned to teach so I am praying that God will make the health care classes effective and I will teach the most important and relevant topics.

Today I had the women write down their questions for me and some kind ladies took the time to translate all the questions for me. In the afternoon I spent about 40 minutes answering some of the questions, but I think I could spend several hours doing nothing but that with these ladies. There is so much they don't know, and they have so many issues that they need help with.

Theresa and Dale spoke to the youth today about purity and abstinence. They did an amazing job, and the kids loved it.

This morning Janelle taught the women about Esther, then I taught nutrition and hygeine, and started a little bit on prenatal care. Cyndi taught the women and then we broke for lunch. In the afternoon I answered some questions, then Kathy taught SOAP (bible study) and salvation bracelets. We gave out soap and it went well. There are always some who have received and say they haven't.

We made more salvation bracelets tonight after dinner to be given to the children tomorrow.

I went and looked in on other classes as I could and took pictures of them. One of the most amazing was the business mens class. Ron was sitting in the middle with all the men gathered around him, and the looks on their faces was priceless. They were listening so intensely to all he had to say. It was obvious how important this was to them.

I prayed for a pastor today that had traveled 7 hours to get here. His name is Godfrey. Yesterday he had not eaten and after the sessions he was standing in the food line and collapsed from hunger. He had a bad fall and his face and lip had stitches and large bandages on them. I felt so sad for him. I prayed for him.

For some reason the people think our prayers get better results than theirs do. They think God listens to us more.

Hannah left our team today to go work with African Hearts, a ministry to street boys in Kampala. She will be there 2 weeks. I loved getting to know her. She is a wonderful young woman. I hear she is very gifted musically. I hope to connect with her again in Phoenix.

Kathy and Joel's nephew Nathan is a great guy. I have really enjoyed him too. He is so willing to do whatever is needed. He has a great sense of humor, and is easy to work with.

January 11, 2010

2010-01-19T00:52:00.000-08:00

Jan 11
This morning we tried to go to an internet cafe, but the electricity was off in Nkumba. We ended up spending most of the morning on trying to find a cafe that had electricity. We found one, but right after we got on, the eclectricity went off. So we went back to Banana Village for a little while and then had lunch together as a team. How frustrating it would be to live with that all the time. I guess you get used to it, but you can't count on anything to work. It went off this morning during breakfast and didn't come back on until tonight.

Today was the first day of the conference. It started this afternoon because people are traveling from all over the country to get here. There are people here from Kenya, Congo, Tanzania, &.

Winifred was here when I got here today. She has to work from 3 to 8 each day so she left to go to work, but will be back on Thurs and Fri. She said God answered our prayers for her when we were here last time. Her husband got a very good job that supplies a large house for them to live in. He wants us to come visit them, but they live too far from where we are and we wont have time. I was very happy to see her. She is working in a hospital in the town where she lives as a midwife. She will be my translator on Thursday and Friday.

Joy was also here with her mother (who is a midwife) and some other friends from a distant village. They traveled a long way to come to this conference to see me. There are 3 midwives who are traditional birth attendants with Malibu Traditional Birth Attendants Association. They are registered with the government as health care workers in their villages.

There was a thank you letter here for me today from Entebbe Hospital. I think I saw Nancy (the midwife I shadowed) when we drove in, but I couldn't find her after that.

I met the boy Grace that John asked Cody to be friends with. His parents have both died and he is living with his aunt. When I was talking to him I was overcome with sadness for him. I asked him about his mother and he told me how much he missed her. I couldn't help but cry. I was embarrassed. I think he was surprised and he told me it was ok. I prayed for him and told him to find me again. He asked me if he could come and stay with us one night at our hotel, and I told him I would ask.
There were so many people there today. I heard someone say they thought it was about 1500.

The children are so fun. They hold our hands and hug us. They are so curious about our white skin, and they rub it, look at freckles, try to wipe them off, look at our veins, play with our hair and hands.

Sheila always finds me. She has won my heart. She is always joyful, dancing and smiling. She is so adorable. In church on Friday, John thanked me for the communion trays that I bought for the church, and then he brought Sheila up to the front and asked me to take her to America. I couldn't understand most of what he said, but I think he asked me to take her to America to raise her and then to bring her back. Sheila has a mother and grandmother here, and seems to be thriving here in the school. Even if I was able to adopt from here, I think it would need to be a true orphan.

I met Peace today (the other child we sponser). I will look forward to getting to know her better this week.

It is wonderful to see Cody and Chris with these children. They are both so loving, sweet and patient with them.

Shirah is a little fireball, and a needy little girl. Because of the things she has suffered she cries and whines a lot, and she can be difficult. But she is also very loving. She has bonded well with the caretakers here. Cody and Chris are both are so great with her.
I love seeing her laugh, and I can't wait to show Wendy the picures I've taken.

I met a midwife yesterday at church who works at a Hospital in another town. Her name is Christa. She told me we will be lifelong friends. She wants me to send her continueing education.

I am nervous for the classes tomorrow. Some of the ladies from last year have remembered me and said they are coming to the classes. I think it is going to be a mix of village women who know nothing, tba's (traditional birth attendants), hospital nurses and midwives, and 2 doctors have asked if they could come. How can I teach to that mix, and be effective for all at once? Only by God's grace. I am looking forward to seeing how He will work this out, because this is His work, not mine. He will accomplish what He has set out to do. He is faithful.

There are so many people here that I met last year, and I should remember their names, but I don't. I wish I was better with names. I can't even remember names for 30 seconds. If I want to pray with someone I often have to ask their name again.

The team made salvation bracelets tonight after dinner. I brought them for the children and youth. I know we were all too tired, but we had a good time and their was a lot of laughing. It's amazing how quickly a team like begins to bond. We have a wonderful team of people and I know that this conference is going to be amazing. It's wonderful to reconnect with the people who came last year, and to watch the new people as they experience this all for the first time. Everyone seems so geniune, and we are all working for the same goal.

Joel and Kathy really set the tone for this team, and they are great leaders. Strong, humble, grounded in the Word, godly, patient, generous. These are only a few of the many qualities I have found in them. Dale's a prayer warrior and also I think a warrior of purity and righteousness. Theresa is so amazing in her love for women and the way she connects with them and deeply cares. She works hard to help improve the lives of others and directs them always to Jesus. She is a huge encouragement to me and I absolutely love talking to her what we are going to teach and how to be culturally appropriate and effective. Wilf is a good organizer, and has a huge heart for training. He keeps us on time, and on task. Cindy is dynamic in her personality. Joel calls her the princess warrior because of her preaching. She's a lot of fun, and her messages are inspiring. She, like everyone else here, has put tons of time and energy into her lessons to make them as effective as possible. She has great ideas, and the kids will be blessed this week.

I'll try to talk more about the other team members as I get to know them better.

I've also gotten to know Cara Murray, who is living here to help with the ministry. She is from Chicago. She is amazing with the kids and is a huge asset to the ministry here. She loves the kids and really has connected with them.

January 10th

2010-01-11T08:49:00.001-08:00

Got up today at 5 to get ready for church. Breakfast was at 6, and we left for church at 7am. We went to Pastor Stephen Sefuma's church which was on the other side of Kampala which has about 10000 members. There were 3 services. Cody, Chris and I went to church there with Joel and Kathy, Kerry, and Ron. Joel taught first service, Kerry taught 2nd service and Ron taught 3rd service. 3rd service lasted until 2pm and then we went to Pastor Stephens house for lunch. Worship here is so awesome. The thing that was the most difficult thing about going home last time was the difference in the worship at home. The people worship so passionately here. Maybe it's the culture. Maybe it's because the hardships of life here make people more serious about the Lord. I love the worship and I wish I could bring it home with me.
It took about 2 hours to get back to Nkumba where we all came together for dinner and a brief meeting. Tonight we are all tired from a long day.

January 9th

2010-01-11T08:48:00.001-08:00

Ronald, Cara and I went to the women's prison today that was outside of Kampala. Ronald was saved in prison through Pastor Johns ministry and he has an amazing testimony. Now he works full time with the ministry. It took over an hour to get there. There were about 300 women there. It took a little while for us to get the clearance to go in. Then they lined all the women up and had them sit down in a line on the ground and counted them. Their numbers were off so they had to be recounted. When they were ready Ronald introduced us. He spoke for a few minutes. I spoke about germs, preventing infection and hygiene. Cara spoke about how special each of them are to God and how much He loves and cares about them. We handed out soap and a washcloth to each woman. This was difficult because they are so extremely poor and desperate. Some of them said their bars of soap were broken and wanted a new one. It got more difficult also because the bars were different sizes and so they all wanted the larger bars. A litte bit of complaining started and I could see some of the ladies were getting mad. I had brought more soap and washcloths than we needed there today because we didn't know how many would be there and wanted to make sure we had enough, but we had other places we wanted to give them. I wanted to make it fair and give one bar of soap and one cloth to each person. They saw we had some left over and some of them created a lot of diffuculty saying there were others who weren't there they needed the things for. They kept opening the bag and taking more, so that the cloths were all taken and much of the soap was taken. I understand because they are so poor, but it was diffucult and frustrating.
The GREAT news is that after that I explained the salvation bracelets and we gave them to the ladies, Ronald asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ and 4 people came up. I had the priviledge of praying with them to become christians. We packed up quickly and left.
We arrived back at Banana Village at 2pm. The GTN team had a meeting right away after that. After the meeting I talked with Theresa about the plans we had for our healthcare classes next week. Then we met with all the women about the women's venues. After that the whole team ate dinner together.

January 8th

2010-01-11T08:47:00.002-08:00

I was supposed to go to the hospital to work today, but I wasn't feeling well last night. I had a headache and swelling in my feet and legs, and just didn't feel good. I decided I needed rest and time to study and prepare more for the conference next week, and I needed to spend 1-2 hours in prayer. Cara came to get the boys to go to the school and do evangelism and she brought Sheila with her. I had Sheila stay with me for the morning. We have a language barrier, but I love her and I am so happy for the time with her. She is such a joy and a cute and fun little personality. She is right now investigating and playing with things in my room. First I gave her a pen and paper and she practiced writing letters. Then I let her watch "Fox and the Hound" on my ipod but she doesn't understand english. She has played with water bottles, an empty airborne container, travel pillows, cody's sandels, my hair, my hand and just danced around my room. I gave her new clothes yesterday and a little purse with a hankerchief, a toy, and a few snacks. She calls me mommy or mama carol.
I feel bad about not going to the hospital today. The midwife who I worked with yesterday was off duty today and she went there to see me. She called me and said she was waiting for me. Cara had already come for the boys and left and she went to the hospital and told them I wasn't coming today and took them the schedule of the classes for next week. for some reason my phone is not working to call her back. I called Ronald and he and Mark came over to see why my phone is not working. Somehow we got a phone call thru to her and she is coming to meet me today at 2:00 at Nkumba. We are going to Pastor John's house for lunch at 1:00.
I feel much better today and the swelling in my feet and legs is much better. The time spent in prayer today has refreshed my spirit and I fell ready to take on what ever the rest of the day brings.

We went to Pastor Johns for lunch and they made us an incredible feast. It was humbling for us. It was incredibly gracious and it took them all day to prepare it. I had a nice time with Esther. Last year when I left Uganda she told me her prayer request was that she would have an indoor kitchen, and the Lord answered that prayer for her this year. She has a very nice kitchen with running water. Her stove is still outside but her kitchen will make life easier for her in caring for her 4 children and the 15 boys and 2 missionaries that live in her home.

After lunch Nancy and her son Brian came to meet us. They took a taxi here from Entebbe. Brian is passionate about helping the youth and teaching them about preventable illnesses. He is working to start a NGO and wanted our advice. Cody, Chris, Wilf, Shawn and I listened to his ideas and then I told him we would think about it and see if our businessmen who were coming for the conference could help guide him.

January 7th

2010-01-11T08:47:00.001-08:00

Today Cara and Ronald picked me up and took me to Entebbe Hospital. I met the Nursing director and the administrator of the hospital. The nursing director took me to the maternity labor ward and introduced me to the midwife on duty. Her name is Nancy. She introduced me to the doctor working at the hospital today and he invited me to do his rounds with him. The first room was the postpartum ward. The second room was the ward for all of the post operative deliveries. Many of them had infections. Some of the infections were very bad. One lady that had a bad infection had lost her husband (by drowning in a boating accident) while she was pregnant and she was alone with no family. There were women with malaria that were pregnant. There was a woman who had "fallen down" and had stitches above her eye. The c section incisions were all classical (vertical) except for one. Most of them were infected. 2 ladies were in respiratory distress and I wondered if they would survive.

I observed a birth. The woman was in labor when I arrived. She laid on the hospital bed for her whole labor. The room had 10 beds, most of which had a curtain that could close around them. The beds are flat, made of a simple metal frame, and high. There are step stools next to them for the patient to climb onto them. She labored mostly unnoticed occasionally groaning quietly. The midwife took her blood pressure and pulse and examined her. The midwives here take the blood pressure by palpating the pulse, and then follow by taking it again listening with the stethoscope. Nancy said they believe feeling the pulse is more accurate.

When I got back from rounds with the doctor it was time for her to deliver and I observed my first birth in Africa.

Then I went to the antenatal department and observed some prenatal appointments. They did tetanus immunizations, gave anti malaria and iron pills and meds for HIV. They showed me the lab, and the room where they give the results and counsel the women who have been tested for HIV. They showed me the children's ward also. There were ladies outside doing the laundry and laying it out to dry on the ground. I saw the kitchen for the hospital workers. Patients are required to bring their own food and all of their own supplies.

The midwife who showed me around was called Nancy. By the end of the day I was so exhausted that I called for Ronald to come pick me up about an hour earlier than planned. They came for me at 4 and we went to Nkumba school where we picked up Cody and Chris. We were there for awhile and then we went back to Banana Village.

January 6th

2010-01-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

In the morning John and Ronald arrived at 8 am. We went to Kampala, exchanged my money, ran a couple of errands, and then went souvineer shopping. We tried to call my contact at the hospital, but couldn't reach him, so we went there. We found out where the class was going to be by asking around. There was a nursing and midwifery school there by the hospital. I was greeted warmly by Patrick Bateganya whom I had been corresponding with for several months. I had contacted the Ugandan Associations of Midwives and invited them to the GTN Conference in Nkumba. Patrick is the secretary for the UPNA (Ugandan Professional Nurses and Midwives Association). He had invited me to teach in Mulago Hospital.

There were about 25 people in the class to start. The president of UPNA and several other senior midwives and teachers at the midwifery school were there. There was also a lady there who was the Director of Midwifery from the Uganda Ministry of Health I felt the class went fairly well. I had not yet seen the conditions under which they practice and was not clear on what their needs were. I talked about our purpose as midwives, about kind and compassionate care, about joining together to solve problems. I encouraged them to teach the women that they serve and discussed the role of the midwife in educating. I talked about tricks of the trade that I had learned. I talked about a few complications and some ways of managing them that maybe they had not heard before. The one complication that sparked the most discussion was shoulder dystocia. I wasn't getting very much feedback, and Ugandan facial expressions can be hard to read. The concept of breaking the clavicle or humerus as a last resort was new for them and it caused a lot of discussion. I reasoned with them that a broken bone can heal, and is better than a dead baby. It was an interesting interaction. They weren't sure what to think of this concept.
I really couldn't tell what the ladies were thinking. They had no expression on their faces at all the whole time I talked.
At the end of the class I gave out stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs (which they call machines). Then I gave some extra supplies to the hospital and to the UPNA. Judy (the president) decided where the items should go. She divided them according to the needs she knew. There were some midwives that had recently suffered because of lack of supplies and women coming too late in labor when their problems were to far progressed to turn around. The midwives had been falsely accused of being at fault in bad outcomes. Judy wanted the association to encourage them by giving them some of the supplies I had brought.
When I gave out the supplies, their faces brightened and they smiled a lot after that. They clapped and cheered too.
I gave out certificates of attendance of our class, which they were told by their directors they could use for continueing education credits.
I told the ladies that if they were interested I would explain the salvation bracelets to them privately after the class as I knew this was not a Christian gathering and I didn't want to offend anyone who didn't want to hear the message. They asked me to please share the message with everyone, which I did. The women who wanted them took salvation bracelets. Some of them asked me to repeat the meaning of the beads.
There were a couple of men in the class. Patrick was one of them, and Seggy had told me he was muslim. He got up after I spoke and said I was passionate about what I said, and that I was obviously sincere and believed what I said was true because I had not wanted to offend any one by forcing them to hear the message, and that I had only shared it after they asked me to. He took 3 of the bracelets. The president of the UPNA said that my talk had inspired them to again begin working together to find ways to improve the outcomes. She talked about joining together and standing strong and being unified in the face of the many oppositions that they face. She talked of some of the difficulties of being blamed for bad outcomes when the patients come too late to them and the conditions are too advanced to help them. The senior midwives talked of their love for midwifery, for helping women and babies.
After the class Ronald picked me up and took me back to Banana Village. Wilf, Cody, Chris and I ate dinner together. We are the only 4 here from our team and it is going to be very different when the whole team arrives. There are 12 more people on the team that get here on Friday night.

January 5th

2010-01-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

Got up at 430am to get ready to leave for the airport. Took the tube and arrived about 730, got our luggage from storage, went thru airport security and checked our luggage. Had breakfast at the airport and left about 10:45. Arrived Entebbe at about 10pm. Got our visas, and waited on our luggage. John and Esther Mugabi and other friends were there to greet us. Wilf and Chris arrived just after we picked up all our luggage. After they got their visas and luggage we all went together to Banana Village. They told me they needed a copy of my midwife license for me to work at the hospital in Entebbe they had arranged. I hadn't brought that so they wanted a copy of my passport. I didn't know where in all my luggage that was, so Fred said he would come for it in the morning. I also needed to gather the supplies for teaching at the hospital in Kampala. I stayed up most of the night sorting and gathering the things I needed for Mugali Hospital. I finally slept for a couple of hours at most.

January 2nd

2010-01-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

We arrived in London @ 3:05 pm after a 10 hour flight. We collected all of our luggage (6 bags and 2 carry ons each) and took it to be stored. Then we went by tram to terminal 3 to pick up Cody's oyster card for transport system (buses and the tube) and to buy mine. Because he is a student his oyster card was cheap and I had bought it ahead of time online. We got on the tube on the Picadilly line and rode it to South Kenningston Station where we changed trains, went to the District Line to Victoria Station. We followed the directions from the hotel and walked to St Georges Dr. Somehow we missed our hotel and walked all the way to the end of St Georges Dr, went in a store to ask directions (the people didn't know where our hotel was) and then walked back and found the hotel on the return. It was very tiring and more difficult than I had anticipated. Cody is grumpy when he feels lost. ;)

Finally found our hotel, much to my relief. At the front door we rang the bell to be buzzed in. Our hotel was in a building that filled the block and had once all been apartments. We entered thru a narrow hall and turned to the left to the small lobby. After we checked in we proceeded to our room by going to the left and thru a narrow hall to a fire door, opened that into a small area thru another fire door down narrow stairs thru another fire door to the section where ours was the only room. The window in the room looked outside to stairs that went up to the street.

It wasn't what I expected from the pictures I had seen online, but it was clean, warm and had plenty of hot water (which I knew once we got to Uganda would be very limited if we had it at all).

Cody didn't want to eat dinner when we got off the plane because he said he didn't feel very good, so we went straight to the hotel. They didn't have room service there so we ate granola bars. We got to the hotel about 6 and went to sleep early. Cody didn't sleep on the plane much. The time in London was 7 hours ahead of home. I woke up at 12am for awhile and then at 4am and couldn't sleep so I got up for the day.

We had breakfast at the hotel and then set out for our first day in London. The temperature was 0 degrees celcius and went up to 1 during the day. I spent time getting directions from the clerk at the front desk,which were confusing to me. He thought taking the buses was easier so we went to Victoria Coach Station, but we couldn't find the right bus stop for the bus he recommended and finally I decided to just take the tube because I understood it better. Our first stop was House of Parliament and Big Ben. It was a beautiful sunny day, which we were told was rare in the winter here. Because it was early Sunday morning there weren't many people out yet. We walked across the bridge and spent some time looking at Big Ben. Next we went to the London Eye. We bought tickets, went to an imax theatre about London Eye, and then took 30 our minute journey. Cody loved it. It was a little scary to me on the top half of the ride so I sat down for a few minutes, but Cody quickly had me up again showing me things. After the London Eye we walked back across the bridge and went to Westminister Abby. It was Sunday so there was a church service that we attended. It was the only means of seeing the inside of the Abby on Sunday morning. During the week they have guided tours. It was very beautiful inside. I guess that would be an understatement. It was filled with monuments and tombs on all the sides. The history was overwhelming. Next we found a restaurant where we ordered fish and chips. I thought it was amazing, Cody said it tasted to him like fish sticks. He was a good sport since he doesn't like fish. Then we went to Trafalgar Square. We looked around the square and went to an art museum there. We intended next to go to St Paul's Cathedral, someone gave us directions on the bus again, and the bus we took went the opposite direction right back to where our hotel was, so instead we went to Buckingham Palace. On the way back to our hotel we found an authentic pizzeria and had pasta and picante pizza for dinner. We got back to the hotel about 5 and Cody went to bed early again that night. I got online and talked to my kids for awhile, and then went to bed.

We woke up at midnight and it felt like it should be morning. We got online again for while and went back to sleep at about 4 or 5 and got up at 7. We went to breakfast with Callie via my laptop. The people around us looked as us like we were crazy, but it was very fun. After breakfast we set our for our 2nd day in London. We went first to St Pauls Cathedral. We did a guided tour, which was amazing, then we climbed the stairs to the top of the dome. Cody ran up the whole thing like it was nothing. My 45 year old body didn't agree. The view from the top was amazing, and we had another beautiful day which was a special blessing. We spent some time at the top and climbed back down. At the bottom my legs where shaking so bad I could barely stand, so I had to sit down and recover for a little while. Cody thought that was quite funny. St Pauls Cathedral was my favorite thing in London. The architechure and history was overwhelming. We bought lunch in a sandwich shop and sat outside to eat. Then we took the tube to the Tower of London. We spent the afternoon there and took another guided tour. We saw the crown jewels and also learned much history. We went back to our hotel and talked to the family again. It was great while we were in London to have Internet, and we used google video to talk.

Uganda 2010

2009-12-26T16:29:00.000-08:00

We are preparing for our trip to Uganda in January 2010. Please pray with us as we work to get ready that God will guide us in all our preparations that:
we will take the right amount of birth kits and supplies,
that they will reach the people God has intended them for,
that my lessons will come together,
that I'll get over a cold,
for my family while Cody and I are gone.

special memories

2009-02-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

I delivered a baby today for a family that I have delivered all 6 of their children. They are all so special. One of their boys today told me that he loves me because I delivered him. How sweet is that? I am blessed to be able to serve women during their pregnancies and births, and to build relationships with their families. I have so many wonderful memories. It is extra special to work with families who I have worked with before. Each time seems like it gets sweeter.

sharing stories about Uganda

2009-02-08T23:22:00.000-08:00

I got to share stories about Uganda today with people who came to hear about what we did. It seems like I could talk about what happened there forever. The time flew by so fast! I talked for a long time...thanks to all of you who were so patient. It was such a huge priviledge for me to be able to go to Uganda, and it is also such a blessing to have so many people here that love me, that are eager to hear about what we did. I know you can't all go, but you are such a big part of what we do! I would not want to venture out on these trips without the support and prayers of everyone here. It is only because of God's grace and power that we can accomplish anything. We are so dependant on Him, and we rely on the prayers of family and friends to help us.

so sad

2009-02-07T22:55:00.000-08:00

One of my previous clients came to my home yesterday morning to tell me that she has breast cancer. It is a fast growing aggressive cancer. She had to be induced (3rd baby) immediately so that she can start treatments. I'm being vague for her privacy, but she is only in her 20's. She has no risk factors. She eats healthy and takes good care of herself. It was such a shock.
Please join me in praying for her and her family.

old grandma

2009-02-07T22:52:00.000-08:00

Mary sent me a video today of Elsie saying "My grandma denny used to be old, but she's not old anymore." What does that mean? She is so funny!

worship team party

2009-02-06T23:16:00.000-08:00

We had the honor of having the worship team party at our house tonight. It was a lot of fun, and I got to meet a lot of new people.
One of the new people I met is a teacher, and her class is raising money for the orphanage and school I was just at in Nkumba, Uganda. It was so fun talking to her and hearing the stories of her kids and what they are sacrificing so they can send money to Nkumba. She was so excited to see my pictures and hear stories about the orphans. It is so interesting how God brings people together for His purposes.

callie's strange illness

2009-02-06T23:02:00.000-08:00

i took callie to urgent care over the weekend because she developed a bad rash and swollen painful joints. the dr thought it was scarlet fever, but it was not a typical case. she was feeling lousy, and itching from the rash, and hurting from the swelling. it started in her hands and feet and moved upward. the dr said this was a sign that it was some kind of infection. she prescribed antibiotics and predisone. the symptoms were strange and callie would get better and then get worse again. at the worst times she was in a lot of pain, with lots of swelling, and could barely walk or get around. then a few hours later she'd be better. the arthritis symptoms were pretty contant. on tuesday we got her labs back and found out that she didn't have scarlet fever, rheumatoid arthritis, measles, or several other things. she was pretty sick monday and tuesday. wednesday she went to the family dr (couldn't get her in until then). by then we were thinking maybe she was having an adverse reaction to the malarone (antimalarial med). wednesday was the day she really started getting better. the dr said he thought it was probably a bacteria or virus contracted thru food or water in uganda. he didn't think the arthritis symptoms would continue, although he said he'd seen cases where it did turn chronic. he said we'd never really know what caused it.
she is completely better now. i am so relieved.

Beautiful birth

2009-01-29T22:47:00.000-08:00

I had the blessing of attending a birth for a family who has had all 4 of their babies with me. It was a really nice, beautiful birth with the mom surrounded by her husband and her close friends. The husband prayed soon after the birth for the baby, and that always touches me. What a great way to begin a babies life outside the womb.

women's bible study

2009-01-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

I had the blessing of sharing with our women's ministry bible study this morning and tonight about what we did in Uganda. I am so glad to have the blessing, prayers and support of my church. I would not want to venture out without it! This is not a one man show...it's a work of the Lord through many people. The prayers that have gone up for our ministry have been the foundation of all that happens.

I met with the missions pastor of Pure Heart Church last week. They have mission outreaches to Mexico, Honduras, Uganda & India. They would like us to partner with them, and teach health care in the villages where they are working. I am so amazed at the doors God is opening. I cannot physically go all of the places that are opening up to us. I need to train other people to do what I have done so that we can send teams to all of these places. I'm praying for God to lead us in how to do this effectively.

My mom is here from Mexico for a couple of days and I had a great day with her yesterday. We started a tradition several years ago when my grandma was alive of my mom buying us each a new purse from Brighton each year. It was our treat to balance out some of the hardship we had with Grandma in the last years. (We also started getting pedicures for the same reason) Too bad Grandma is not still with us so we could keep adding new ways to spoil ourselves. :) We tried to find other purses this year that would be less expensive, but we finally gave up and went to Brighton. We found the cutest fabric purses that are sort of animal prints in black and brown colors. Some one who saw it today thought I bought it in Africa.

Random thoughts about Uganda

2009-01-26T05:46:00.001-08:00

In Uganda when you wave your hand by waving your fingers up and down, it means "come here". I learned this by accidently calling kids to me when I thought I was waving at them. Yesterday at church I noticed that when I waved at people I waved differently. I laughed when I thought about it.

I love the hand shake in Uganda. You move your hand back and forth between a regular hand shake and gripping the top of the hand and thumb. It's a move in the wrist, with your thumb staying in the same place. I'm probably not describing it well. Any way, the hand shake goes back and forth several times. It's not uncommon to continue holding someones hand in that position for a entire conversation. Yesterday when I was shaking hands with people at church, I realized that our hand shakes are too short and we don't connect as well. We can't hold on to someone's hand too long. We might invade each others space. Ugandans are very warm, and they get in your space. I like that.

In Lugandan (the language in Uganda), Calle means OK. It seems like they would have an easy time saying Callie's name since they already have that word in their language. It was funny because WE have an accent, and they have a hard time understanding what we are saying. They kept calling Callie "Carrie".

Latrines aren't that bad after all, if you can keep your feet dry.

Running hot clean water is an amazing wonderful luxury. So is a washing machine.

When I got home and walked in my kitchen, I was over come with how much we have. It made me cry. A couple of days ago, I made myself a turkey sandwich with avocado & lettace, and chips with hummus. I was sitting there eating and I thought "How can I just sit here and eat like this when some people don't have anything?" I still haven't figured out the answer. I know that I have to do more to help.

Even when I go camping, I have more luxuries than the poor.

An observation by Callie: Every one of the kids we saw in Uganda would be removed from their homes by CPS if they lived in the same conditions here in the USA.

The main staple food in Uganda is banana. Most of the food is fairly bland. Salt and spices are a luxury and most people don't have them. We ate a lot of potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, plantains, bananas, beans, & rice. I avoided the meat.

Worship involves your whole body in Uganda. They love to dance.

They highly value education. They are desperate for it. They do everything they can to obtain it. For many it is unreachable.

Psalm 146 :7 He executes justice for the oppressed; He gives food to the hungry.

from a worship song we sang at church yesterday:
Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything I am for Your kingdoms cause.

jet lag

2009-01-22T23:41:00.001-08:00

I am still recovering from jet lag. I've been waking up between 2:30-4 every morning. I can't go back to sleep so I just get up. Callie's been getting up that early too. It's been really funny. No one else is up, and she is chatty.
It was a lot easier adjusting in Uganda because we were so busy. I have been sick since we got home with stomach problems. I'm hoping that I am turning the corner tonight. I think I am better and then it hits me again. I need to update my website, but I haven't felt up to it yet. We got some great pictures and I am excited to post them.

Jan 19, 2009

2009-01-22T23:36:00.001-08:00

It is 6am Uganda time, but 10pm Arizona time. We will arrive in Amsterdam in 1.5 hours.I got bit by something at the village on my ankle. I think it was a spider. It has been bothering me. My ankles started swelling that afternoon, and my ankle hurts to move. I can’t decide if it is the bite or the swelling. Most of the ladies on the team had their ankles swell on the plane flight over to Uganda. Mine didn’t, but I’m making up for it now.By the time we get home we will have been traveling for about 30 hours. I can’t wait to take a long hot shower! And to have my own pillows.

January 18th 2009 Happy Birthday Mary!!!!

2009-01-22T23:35:00.000-08:00

There was a storm in the night and the electricity went out in a lot of the city. I was so tired still from yesterday that I decided to stay at the hotel and rest. The thought of driving to Kampala again, and going to a new church was too much. But then I got up, got moving, and prayed that if God wanted me to go somewhere He’d show me, and I’d go. I went to breakfast, and met a new lady that has come from Chicago to work at the orphanage for the week. Seggy was coming to get her in a few minutes. Debbie was there, and asked if Seggy would wait for her if she got ready. Michelle called Seggy and he agreed. So I ran and got ready too, because I wanted to go back to the orphanage one more time. I woke Callie up and she got ready too.Church started at 8 so we were late, but that is pretty common here. People just kept wandering in. It lasted until after 11. They had a message, then singing, then testimonies, then another message. The kids sat there the whole time, very well behaved. Even the little ones. Pastor John taught today.After church we gave away the last items that we hadn’t given yet.Seggy took us to an internet café for about 15 minutes. Then we went to lunch at the beach of Lake Victoria. It was so beautiful. This was such a nice relaxing time. It was very refreshing for me just to sit by the water, and look at something beautiful.. I brought some sand home, and Callie teased me about it. She thinks it makes no sense, but I like having sand from different beaches. I also brought home 2 rocks from the floor in the building where we taught the women.By the way, women and children were walking on these rocks without shoes on, like it was nothing. The way they carry heavy things on their heads is amazing too. I guess you have to learn how to do these things from a young age.We ate fish and chips for lunch. When I say fish, I mean the entire fish roasted. It was interesting. It actually tasted good.We went back to Banana Village and packed our things and then visited with the team for the rest of the day. This team was so united, and had so many different gifts. I loved all of them, and I think we will all remain friends.We left for the airport about 8pm. Our flight left about 11. We are on our way to Amsterdam. Right now there is a child growling and yelling. The more his mom tells him to stop the louder he gets. I’m sure the people around her are not happy, because it is almost 2am and they are trying to sleep, which is not possible. Arlene is sitting just across the aisle from them. We both have aisle seats on row 25 in the middle section with 2 women in between us, and Callie is in row 39 on the aisle behind Arlene.

Januray 17, 2009 Happy 14th Birthday Cody!!!

2009-01-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

Praise the Lord, Dale is better. His pain let up at 1:40 am and stopped about 3:30 am. God is amazing. The prayers and singing we shared last night in Dale & Theresa’s room will be one of the most treasured memories of this trip. The unity, love, intercession, prayers, praise, singing, spiritual battle, and scriptures were truly amazing.This was by far the most challenging day of our trip for me, and I think also for all who went to the village. Theresa, Cindy, Sarah, Callie & I went with Olive, Teddy, and Debbie, and Winifred. Pastor Dan met us there. Olive picked us up at 8am. Her car broke down last night so she didn’t even get home until midnight. She borrowed a car from a friend. We had 4 large bags of supplies, plus many more small bags. About 30 minutes into the trip, the car hugh billows of smoke started coming out of the front right side of the engine. We were so blessed to be near a gas station. The mechanic there said it was a hose, and he replaced it while we waited. We were off again, only to have large billows of smoke start coming out of the left side of the engine. We were also again close to a gas station. This time Olive decided we needed to leave the car there and hire a taxi. She went to the main road to hire one. A little while later she came back with one, and we moved all the bags to the taxi. We made it about ½ hour outside of Kampala, and we had a tire blow out. The taxi didn’t have a spare. So, some of the team went to a house off the road. The lady there looked very disparing. Her daughter was sick with a fever and diarrhea. The gals shared Christ with her. Her husband is a muslim and she used to be catholic. He beat her when she went to church so she stopped going. We gave her a brooch and some scarves and other gifts, and a new testament. The ladies prayed for her, and her baby. By then Olive had hired a new taxi for us, so we moved all the bags again. The ride was like a roller coaster. Some one on the team compared it to Splash Mountain. You weren’t ever quite sure if we were going off the edge. Olive said she had never experienced so much trouble before.We arrived at the village after 1. We were supposed to be there at 10. The custom there is that people don’t eat until after the guests have eaten. The children were all waiting for us and started singing when we drove up. It was so sweet. It made me cry.We all visited the latrines. It wasn’t an experience we wanted to repeat, so none of us used them again for the rest of the day.The ladies were waiting for us in the church. They call people to start any meeting here with music. They had arranged special seats for us at the front of the church, with embroidered cloths on them. It was very nice, it felt like we were royalty. I don’t know why but that is very humbling for me. Cindy taught a message about the special priviledge of mothering.They had prepared lunch for everyone. I had to ignore the washing of the dishes I saw before we ate. Lunch was rice that had some meat in it I think, and cabbage. They served us huge portions. There were no utensils, so we ate with our hands. It tasted good, but I wasn’t very hungry. I haven’t eaten any meat here. Unfortunately, I am way too paranoid. But there have been plenty of vegetables at every meal, and I haven’t gone hungry. I am glad we have not been in any situations where I would have offended anyone, or of course I would have eaten whatever I had to.We finished lunch about 3:15, and I started teaching healthcare. I taught about preventing infections, hiv, and birth. Because of our delays, I had to really simplify the message today. Then we had a question and answer time, which was very good, and lasted I think about an hour. I explained the birth kits, and then we gave them out. The women were excited again, and cheering like the last time. We had a bar of soap, a hand towel, a piece of clothing, a scarf, a pair of underwear, and a brooch for each woman. Also we gave vitamins and diapers to the women who were pregnant or had babies.They call the old people in the village jaja’s. We took a picture of a jaja with a pair of shoes we had brought. The jaja’s love sugar, so we had stopped on the way to the village and bought sugar for them for their tea. (The hillsides were filled with tea plantations)We left about 6:30 and took the taxi back to Kampala. Olive then called her friend to bring us his car again, because he said after we dropped it off he picked it up and it drove fine all day. We waited about 30 minutes in Kampala on the side of a street for the vehicle to arrive. When we finally arrived back at Banana Village the team came out and greeted us. They were so concerned about us, and we were so happy to be back. I know God did great things today, but it was less personal because we didn’t have time to develop relationships like we did at the convention. We were all exhausted to start with, we all struggled to give our best and do in one day what we did in one week at the convention. We are all exhausted, but also so glad that we were able to serve the Lord today. I know these ladies were blessed beyond what they expected,. The severity of their poverty and circumstances is beyond anything I have ever seen. To be able to give something that might lighten their load, bring them joy and encouragement, and let them know how much God loves and cares for them and that He has not forgotten them was worth it all.Having said that, I don’t think I would go the village again like this without a team that included men, and with such a short amount of time to be there. I didn’t like not having enough time to build relationships. We went it, gave them a lot of supplies, taught a class, and left. I think the teaching we are doing is more effective if there is time to build relationships enough that they will trust us. Theresa said she felt like we were Santa Claus. We didn’t have time to get to know anyone, and for us it was extremely draining without the advantage of knowing the stories of the people we were helping. That’s the part that helps make the sacrifices we make feel like we have made a difference. I’m sure we must have, but we didn’t connect with the people. The women were so desperate, and they were grabbing our arms to try to get the things we were passing out. The passing out of the supplies was stressful, because we were trying to make sure they were distributed fairly. Some women were hiding what we gave and asking for more, and then we would run out. Cindy had to confront some one who did this 3 times.All of us were so invested at the conference, and we missed the last day there to go to the village. Also, it was all women who went to the village, and I don’t like the vunerability of not having men from our team with us. We already stick out so much because we are white, and women in this culture are abused, considered property, and not respected. Many people here have never seen a white person.I forgot to mention that every morning about 6am we can hear the muslim call to prayer. It stirs feelings of grief in me for the people that are in bondage, especially the women who suffer.

January 16, 2009

2009-01-22T23:33:00.000-08:00

We got up at 6, left at 8. Those morning hours go so fast as we prepare for the day. We gave the brooches out today during the 2nd morning session. The women were so blessed. We each (Debbie, Arlene, Kathy, Theresa, & I) took time as we gave them out to show love to the women. I prayed for each woman that I gave a brooch to. I know many of them couldn’t understand me, but they were blessed. We helped them put them on. They were smiling and cheering and they were so uplifted. I gave the most beautiful brooch I had to a woman who was handicapped. She walks on one foot and her hands. It is so sad to see. There are really awesome stories about the scriptures that people received. Callie said that one of the girls she gave a brooch to in the youth said the scripture that was on her card was one that was given to her 2 weeks ago and it has been coming up since then. She wrote a song about it, and Callie recorded it. Kathy had also brought scripture cards that we handed out to the ladies. One of the ladies got the same scripture on both of her cards, and it one that Kathy had also read that morning to the women.In the afternoon we gave out the birth kits. First I asked for all the pregnant women to raise their hands and we gave them diapers, vitamins, 3 pairs of gloves each, and underwear. Then we gave a birth kit to each woman. Debbie and I were giving them out, and as we began and the ladies saw the kits they started cheering and chanting and clapping. It was soooo loud and they were so enthusiastic. It only grew louder and louder as we continued giving them out. We could only carry about 10 at a time, so we would give them and then go back to the suitcases for more. Debbie said to me “What did you put in these bags?” It was as if we had given them gold. We ran out of them and still had 6 women left. So Debbie and I quickly put together some other things for those ladies. I had extra gloves, aprons, and razors, she had scarves, I also had a dress, and some socks. So we gave those to the last ladies and they were so happy too. Debbie was funny while we were rushing to put together gifts for those last ladies…she said if they kept singing we could just run out the back door. The cheering continued for a long time. Then I reminded the ladies that these gifts had come from their Father who loved them. I opened a kit and explained each item in the kit to them. They cheered after every one.I did a question and answer time for the rest of the session. The questions were things like: what causes bleeding while a woman is in labor, what causes the pains after birth, what do you do if all the placenta doesn’t come out, what causes water to leak while you are in labor, what causes the sac not to break and the baby to be born in the sac still, one lady described a prolapsed cervix after delivery and asked what to do about that, when should you stop bearing children, how long should you breastfeed, what should you do if you are having repeated miscarriages, how can we space our children, is birth control or family planning a sin, give scriptures that support using natural family planning.After the class a lady told me that our teaching has changed her life. She thanked us for giving to them with no strings attached, and showing the love of Jesus to them. She said she wanted to follow the example we had set for her, and to go and love people the same way.Winifred translated for me again today. She is newly married, 4 months, and is expecting a baby now. She is a beautiful young woman. She and her husband are both nurses and midwives. They are also evangelists. Yesterday when we were walking back from the baptism I saw her go off the path and go to someone’s house. I watched her pull up a mat and sit down by the woman. I wondered if she knew the people there. I asked her today what she was doing. She had gone to tell them about the conference and invite them to come. They were already Christians. But this is how she lives…sharing the love of Jesus every where she goes. She told me stories of going to the villages to share the gospel. She works hard and I am humbled by her devotion to do this without any support. I gave her supplies for her and her husband. I know she will use them to share the gospel, and that gives me joy.I prayed for so many different people today. I can’t even remember all of their stories, but many of them made me weep. One lady told me she came home to find another woman in the house with her husband and children. Her husband kicked her out, and now she is looking for a job and a place to live. Her children are still in the house. Another told me that her husband has other women and she doesn’t know what God wants her to do. Many of them told me similar things. I tell them that I can’t tell them what to do, they must seek God and He will tell them. I tell them that by what scripture says they don’t have to stay with him, but they can choose to also. Neither way is sin. What ever they do, they should do for the glory of the Lord. They should be a light to their families and communities of God’s love. They must draw their strength and love from the Lord.Today was our last day at the conference and it was hard to say good bye to the people we had formed relationships with. I think it was especially hard for Callie. She is going to be forever changed because of this trip.Dale is sick with an intestinal problem. He had several surgeries a few years ago and almost died. He was up all night last night in pain. He spoke yesterday on spiritual warfare, which is huge here and confronted witch craft. He also has been a powerful voice to the boys and the men about purity. The stories he has told about teaching the young men he has done in this area are amazing. He is also a mighty prayer warrior. Tonight we all gathered in his room and prayed for him. A little while later they called us all back and we gathered and prayed for a long time and sang worship songs. Joel anointed him with oil. We have alerted the prayer teams as this is becoming very serious.Theresa will not be able to go to the villages tomorrow with me to teach. I wonder what God has planned. It is going to be a very full and challenging day.

Jan 15, 2009

2009-01-22T23:32:00.002-08:00

I am very overwhelmed tonight. I decided not to go to dinner when we got back from the conference tonight at 7:45. I just ate a power bar. My class went well today . I asked Winifred to translate for me. I don’t know if the other lady was offended, but I couldn’t go on like teaching with her adding her own things and not translating correctly. They are supposed to say exactly what we say. Winifred is a midwife here who just finished school. She wants to go to villages and teach the things we are teaching. I think she is already doing it some with her husband. I want to explore the possibility of supporting her so she could do this full time. I haven’t talked to her about it, because it may seem like a promise to her, and I don’t have enough information to make a commitment. Things are different in this culture and you have to be careful what you say, because they perceive it as a promise, even if you say you are going to think about it.Today I taught about labor and birth. It went good. It was very basic, but I was told yesterday that some of the information was too hard. I tried to make it easier today. I am using the most basic book, with extremely basic information, but the women are uneducated. To me what seems very simple is complicated to them.There were more questions today about HIV. Another woman told me that she has HIV. It is overwhelming to see how many people have it. I’ve heard that it is higher than the statistics actually show because people don’t get tested. It’s so sad for the women who are pregnant and worried about whether they are going to pass HIV to their baby.There was a baptism today in Lake Victoria. They prayed for everyone before they went to get baptized and there were exorcisms happening. The water was is so polluted and filled with germs and parasites that many people were crying because they were afraid to get in the water, and some cried after they got out. When I say they cried, I mean the African way: loud wailing. We prayed for the men on our team…it really can be very bad. They did this last year and no one had any problems. They all took precautions and were covered well with clothing under the water. One of the big problems is a parasite that snails carry. Joel had some snails on his pants when he got out of the water.After I finished today, I checked the position of Olivia’s baby. She was worried about whether it was head down, and if it was the right size, or twins. It was head down, and she measured exactly right for her due date.We did this in the girls room at the orphanage. For Uganda, I’m sure it is very good. The men and women are staying at the school and it is so poor compared to our standards, but compared to theirs I think it is good.Callie was saying today that if parents in the US parented like they do here, the government would take their kids away. It’s just so different for us to see little 4 year olds carrying newborns, or a 1 year old on their back. Children take care of the babies all day. And they do a pretty good job of it from what I have seen. It is amazing. We must underestimate what our kids can do.There was a girl today in severe pain with a tooth ache and head ache. Theresa gave her aspirin and held her and prayed for her. Another older lady saw, and sent for me to tell me that she had a headache. I had been sitting near her, and I didn’t think she was really sick, but wanted the medicine she saw Theresa give the other girl. I told her I didn’t have any medicine, but I prayed for her.At the end of every day, Callie wants to turn out the light while I still need to prepare for the next day, journal, and read my bible.

Jan 14, 2009

2009-01-22T23:32:00.001-08:00

They fixed the toilets at the orphanage and they were clean today. I found the latrines are easier to use than I thought.Woke up at 5:30 today. Breakfast at 7, left at 8.Pastor Stephen taught the lesson today. It was on transformation, and it was really great. He used an illustration where he poured some milk and drank some. Then he added some dung and stirred it in and asked if he should drink it. He gave the testimony of his first marriage before his wife died, telling how he learned to ask forgiveness. His message was very moving. Callie told me it was the first real church service she had ever attended.Cindy taught the youth 1st session, Debbie taught the women. I heard some of both of their lessons and they were both very good. 2nd session was Wilf & Arlene with the youth & Sarah with the women. I sat in Sarah’s class and she did great. I was proud of her.Lunch was served to us at 1. The food they serve us is really great, but I feel bad because it is much better than what is served to the rest of the people.Sessions started again at 2. Theresa and Dale taught the youth about purity. Very powerful, and they loved it. It is an urgent needed message to the youth. At the end many committed themselves to purity.I started my lesson about 3:30. I taught about pregnancy today. I didn’t get to the one of the chapters I wanted to cover today. There was so much information to share.My translator was adding to what I was saying, and mostly I don’t care too much, but it was frustrating today because someone asked me this: My daughter has had 5 babies die at birth. They don’t breath at birth. If they do breath they are lame. What causes this? I told her that she needed medical testing and that I couldn’t tell her the cause. It could be a problem in her blood, it could be a genetic disorder, it could be an infection. There are many things that could cause this. My translator proceeded to tell her that it was spiritual and that it was because she was not following the bible. I hope the lady didn’t think that I was saying this. I asked the translator what she was saying, but she didn’t tell me. There was another lady in the front row who spoke English so I asked her, and she told me. I have heard from several people that she is not saying what I am saying.Today I asked the ladies to write their questions down. This helped a lot. The people are so interactive and they ask questions that sometimes have nothing to do with what I’m talking about.I shared about Petula today and God’s faithfulness to her. I taught about HIV and I had a lot of questions asked about that. I am surprised because so many people have it, I would think they would know more about it. I had another lady who is pregnant ask for prayer today for HIV and asking if she should breastfeed. We talked about how you get HIV. One of the biggest problems, the women told me, is that they are considered as property, and they cannon refuse their husbands. It is not possible they told me.Some other questions they asked me were: How long are you pregnant for? We were told not to drink very much water because it will make too much water around the baby, is this true? Is it normal to bleed when I have relations with my husband? I feel something coming out of my vagina, what is it? My sister has had 12 babies die, what causes this? There is no way to answer some of these questions without medical testing. They think they can just tell me this and I will know. I think it is because they go to the witch doctor and say these things and they tell them what is wrong, and give them potions or caste spells or whatever they do. It is very frustrating because they are disappointed that I don’t tell them what is wrong. I pray for them and I advise them to go to a medical center. I tell them that Jesus will help them. Someone asked me if it was true that Jesus can heal HIV. I gave a little teaching about this. I said YES Jesus can heal anyone. He can heal anything. HIV is no different than cancer, or disease, or any other problem. But it is up to Him who and what He heals. We pray for everyone to be healed. Sometimes He heals. Sometimes He doesn’t. It is His choice. If it was up to us we would want him to heal everyone, but sometimes He has a purpose for trials and suffering. We have to remember that this life is not the end. This life is just a blink of an eye. No one will have sickness or disease or suffering in heaven. We have to keep our eyes on Jesus and on eternal life.Farida (a server here) shared her story with me tonight. She came to our room after we got back and stayed until 10. I am glad she did, but I was so exhausted. I still needed to plan for tomorrows lesson, read my bible, and journal. When she was 1 month her parents divorced, and her mother left. Her father had other wives. When she was 2, he came and got her. Her step mother hated her. When she was older she tried to kill her by injecting her 3 times with poison. She was extremely sick for 6 weeks. She couldn’t talk or eat because her tongue was so swollen. The places where she was given the injections smelled bad because they were rotting. Her father saw her and told them to spoon feed her milk. So she lived on milk for 6 weeks until her tongue wasn’t swollen. She gives all the glory to God for saving her life. Then when she was a little older, (13 I think) she left to go to school on a bus. She decided to stop and buy some clothes, and a few minutes after she got off the bus it exploded in flames, and everyone on the bus died. Her step mother was a muslim, and also practiced witchcraft and put curses on her. She changed her name to Farida (a muslim name), and she can’t change it because all of her school papers have that name. Her mother calls her Joy. Her mom is a Christian too.

Jan 13, 2009

2009-01-22T23:31:00.001-08:00

Callie woke me up this morning at 6am and I was in the middle of a very intense terrible dream to do with a deep hurt in my life. I started crying and asked her to pray for me. I can’t remember ever having a dream affect me like this. I’ve had dreams where when I woke up I was crying in my dream and stopped crying when I woke up and realized it wasn’t real.We met for breakfast at 7, and left for the conference at 8.One of the first things that happened today was that I heard a little girl crying loudly behind the building that I was by. As I started walking over to see what was wrong the kids alerted the kids behind the building that I was approaching. They all came out from around the building and then lastly the girl that was crying came out. I think the boys were hurting her. I told Esther about it later and she brought the girl to me later in the day and told me she was ok.There were many things going on in all the venues today. I listened to Arlene teach for a while to the women, Joel to the youth, Debbie to the women, and Theresa to the women. They all did a great job.I taught during the last session to the women. Today we talked about the ministry of being a midwife, nutrition, things to avoid during pregnancy, preventing infection, and natural family planning (they don‘t have access to birth control). They had a lot of questions, like “I’ve had 12 babies die at birth. What causes this?” “My cycles don’t come for 3 months and then they come again. What causes this?” “I have pain when I am with my husband. What causes this?”Teaching was very overwhelming because there are so many questions and many of them will be answered in the future sessions. Many of the questions cannot be answered without asking questions, and I don’t have time to figure out what the problem is, (even if I could) during the class. I asked the translator to tell them to ask the questions at the end of the session, but I think their needs are so great that they can’t think of anything else.This was one story a woman shared with Theresa and me: My husband has 4 other wives. He got other wives because I became a Christian. Now I have these female problems. He says the other women don’t have theses problems and he wants me to go to a witch doctor to get cured. I think I might have a curse because I took medicines, and I didn’t get better. He doesn’t come home anymore because I won’t go to the witch doctor.Theresa and I prayed for a woman named Harriet with HIV.The last person I prayed with tonight has HIV. Her name is Mary.Yesterday a young man named Isaac asked me to be his spiritual mother in Christ. He converted from Islam to Christianity, and his parents disowned him. He said he had demons come to him in the night and his father wanted to take him to a witch doctor, but he knew that was not the answer, so he accepted Christ. His father practices witchcraft. I looked for him today, but I didn’t see him. He kept asking me over and over again for my contact information but we have been told to refer them to John Mugabi, because most of this kind of interaction becomes a plea for money.There are so many sad stories. It is overwhelming. Christ is the true answer to the problems, and teaching them how to love and serve Him is the best thing we can do for them.Callie is working with the children. I didn’t see her much today. She said it is very overwhelming because they all want to be touching her or holding her hands and they fight over her. I have no doubt that she is amazing with the kids. There is a girl that I particularly love named Sheila, and Callie loves her too.The orphanage bathroom toilets didn’t flush today. Our other option is the latrine. It’s not a pretty sight.

Jan 12, 2009 Happy Birthday Mom!!!

2009-01-22T23:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning crying. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I was praying and asking God and I realized what was making me cry was that I am so grieved and sad for the women and children.We went to breakfast at 8, and met for prayer with the team at 9. It was a great prayer time. We are having lunch at 12, and then go to the conference at 1. We will all be introducing ourselves today. Joel & Dan will both teach.Debbie came by while I was writing and I talked to her about waking up crying today. During our prayer time Joel told us to tell one person on the team something they admired about them, and I thought of Debbie. She is so strong in her knowledge of scripture and I admire her so much for that, that when I woke up this morning I thought about who I might ask to pray with me on the team about how heavy my heart is for the women, and I thought of her. She is a very godly woman, as are all the women on the team.We went to the conference today. It is an amazing thing to see all of these people. There are so many people here. Most of them will sleep on the floor and on cots. They don’t have showers. The accommodations are very good for here, but unlike any I’ve seen before.The children come and swarm us when we arrive, holding our hands, touching our arms, hair, pinching our arms. One girl tried to look down my shirt. We are so curious looking to them. Many of them have never seen a white person.Joel preached a powerful message, followed by Dan. Their messages were both so great and by the work of the Holy Spirit they totally complimented each other.The end of the service was worship. I have never seen such worship. I’m sure that pictures cannot capture it. Every person was worshiping with such expression and giving it their all. I think that is what worship will be like when we are before the throne of God.After it was over we went and visited with the people for awhile before we came back to the hotel.This is random, but I am so glad for mosquito nets. I really dislike mosquitoes. They are everywhere all the time, but worse at dawn and dusk. I use repellant, but I sure like being inside the net at night. I was thinking of Betsy & Corrie Ten Boom and lice, and thinking that I should praise God for them. He must have some purpose for them. He can certainly bring good out of all things. But what is it? Tribulation brings about patience & perseverance.There was a glitch in the schedule for tomorrow . I was scheduled to teach during the last session, at the same time as a marriage session for the pastors and their wives. I was concerned because the pastors wives could use what we are teaching as a tool for evangelism and income. I didn’t know they were having the marriage session until tonight at dinner. Any way, after some discussion between the team, the other people who were scheduled to teach 3rd session said they wanted to switch with me because they thought it was more important. I really felt awkward about the whole thing. I hate being an imposition to anyone, and the whole thing made me want to cry. The 4th session classes are more divided so there will be less people in each class, and I don’t want to take away from the other ladies teaching that they have prepared so hard for. I already feel so inadequate and I’m sure they are all better teachers than I am. I am nothing, but God is everything and I humbly want to serve in whatever way He chooses. Theresa was the first to ask if she could switch with me. She is so passionate for women like I am. After we switched the schedule I asked her to join with me and teach with me this week. I think we will be a good team.

Jan 11, 2009

2009-01-22T23:28:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up at 3:30 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I only slept about 4 hours last night.We went to Pastor Martin’s church this morning in Kampala. He picked us up at 10:00 am with his wife Olive. We arrived at 11:00. Their church was small, probably about 50 people. (All of our team members went to 7 different churches.) The music was very moving. I loved hearing them sing in Lugandan. Callie recorded a special song that 4 women (one of them was Olive) sang “Oh how I love Jesus” and I want to put it on my ipod. They asked Callie and I to both introduce ourselves and say a little something. Callie did an awesome job. The Ugandans are all so happy when I say I have 8 children. They say it is very Ugandan, not typical American. Cindy taught the message and it was very good. Afterwards we stayed and talked to people for a long time. There was a lady who was so sad when she came in. She looked like she had been crying and she looked very distraught. After church when she greeted I asked if I could pray for her. She said she would have to wait for her husband, he was busy right then. Later I was talking to a man and she came up and said it was her husband. She spoke to him in Lugandan and I could see she was telling him I wanted to pray for her and from what I could tell I think he dismissed her, He just went on talking to me about other things. I was so sad for her. After that a man came and greeted me and asked me something. The Ugandans are so quiet when they talk it is often hard to hear what they are saying. You have to move in really close and ask them to repeat themselves. I kept saying I can’t hear you. I think what I finally understood was that he wanted me to go to his village. I told him I would have to ask our ministry leaders, but it sounded like a good idea. He got up and walked away like he was offended. I’m not sure what happened. We visited with everyone in the church and they were so kind. Every one is so happy we are here. The believers and very sincere and their worship is amazing.I met Pastor Dan also after church and he showed me the church library. He was especially happy to show me a book he had by Pastor Chuck Smith because I had told him that I went to Calvary Chapel. Pastor Chuck in on the radio here and they listen to him regularly. They love him and are so grateful for his teaching. The pastors asked for the website of our church and they were excited when I told them about the live services, although they said they can’t afford to watch the whole service because they have to pay for internet time. They asked if they could download messages from the website and I told them they could.After church we went to Martin and Olives house for lunch. It was after 3 before we arrived there and I think we ate about 4. The meal was matuki (plantain) with peanut sauce, rice, fish, peas and ice cream for dessert. This ice cream is a little different than ours, but it is the 2nd time we have been given this kind. Pastor Martin served us, which is incredibly rare and amazing here in Uganda. The men are served, they don’t serve. I can see in their home that he is following Christ and not the cultural norms. I was so impressed with their family. I asked Pastor Martin if he taught the men in his church to be servants of Christ and he said he did.Their church has only 10 members who have jobs. They support 10 young men who are going to bible school who live at the church and they feed them. They pay rent for their church building of about $500 American dollars a month. At the end of every month the book keeper tells them how much money they have and the four leaders of the church pay the difference to pay the bills. Pastor Martin takes no salary, but instead they pay for the expenses of the church. Olive is an assistant teacher at an international school.Olive was born in Kenya, but grew up in a village here in Uganda. She has a passion for her village and their church also supports a house for old people in her village. They raised money to build houses for the elderly there. As a result they found themselves ministering to about 180 children who were attached the elderly. Pastor Dan goes every week and ministers to the children. He educates them and teaches the bible to them. Now they want to build a school for the children.She said she wished she could take us to her village but she can’t because she works. I asked her what days she worked (mon-fri) and asked if she wanted us to go on Saturday. From there the plans just exploded. She has arranged to take us to her village, and they are alerting all of the neighboring villages to come for our teaching next Saturday. They think there will be about 100 women and 100 children. They will have to feed them lunch because they will be with us all day, so I told her HMABI would pay for lunch. It is 200000 shillings. The villages are much worse off than the city, and I can’t imagine how that will look because I think the poverty in the city is unbelievable. It may seem better though because I think the city is so dirty, and there is so much pollution that maybe in that way it will seem better. They have many less resources in the villages though.Kampala is the capital city and I was surprised how many people were there. It was so crowded. Thousands and thousands of people in a small space. And dirty. Entebbe is smaller and less crowded, but still so dirty and poor. My mind cannot grasp the poverty.

Jan 10

2009-01-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

8am
Seggy took me to an internet café last night on the way to the airport. My friend Cari was online so I asked her to call my family so I could talk to them online. She had a hard time getting a hold of them so I didn’t have much time to talk to them. As soon as I saw Mary & Emily online tears started flowing, and I couldn’t stop them. It was kind of embarrassing to be crying. I have such good kids. I am so proud of them.
We went and picked Callie up. I was so happy to see her. She has a cold. We had so much to talk about.
We came back and Callie unpacked and we talked until about 12. I woke up at 5 and then Callie got up and was standing next to my bed. I asked her if she was ok. It was funny. She didn’t know I was awake. She said “where is your watch? What time is it?” So we both got up. I took a shower and got ready for the day. Then Callie showered. The shower water heater is hooked to the light in the bathroom. First you turn on the water, then you pull the string to the water heater. The light dims when the heater turns on. You can’t turn in on too high or the water doesn’t get warm. It’s not very warm anyway. Callie says it’s kind of like camping. We are so spoiled. I’m sure most of the Ugandans would think this hotel is extreme luxury, and to us it is almost like camping.
Callie got to meet some of the team as they were leaving to go to the prison. There wasn’t room in the car for us to go. Every one was happy to see her.
9:40 pm
We ate breakfast with the Meeds and then we went with Seggy to Kampala to go shopping. I bought souvenirs for our family. The prices were very good. The exchange rate today was 1941 shillings for one US dollar. Some of the things I bought: purse , 15000 shillings, earrings 2000-5000 shillings, scarves 10000-20000 shillings, sandels 12000 shillings, knives 5000 shillings, miine warriors 23000 shillings.
Our hotel including breakfast and dinner everyday, and lunch on some days was 711500 shillings. That is about $370 for both Callie and me, and about $18 per day each.
We went and saw Seggy’s land and prayed over the land. There were some children there that came and greeted us. When they came up to us the first child came to me first and knelt down in front of me and took my hand. This is a sign of respect in their community. I wanted to pick her up. Her name was Farida. Some of the other children did them same. Kathy had a package of peanut butter crackers and she gave each child one. It’s hard to express the feelings I have when I see these children. So much need. How little they have. How much we have. How hard their life is. I can’t comprehend what it must be like. My great suffering is so small compared to the abuse and suffering they endure.
We came back at about 5 pm and took a nap. We ate dinner at 7. Callie stayed in bed. She wasn’t feeling well and was very tired still from jet lag.
At dinner Farida came and told me that one of the midwives who works at the clinic had come to see me after she got off work and was waiting for me outside. Her name is Phebice. She told me about what she does and where she works, and I told her about what I am doing here. She is going to come to our classes next week. The circumstances she expressed to me are so different from what I am used to. She works in a clinic where she delivers anywhere from one to ten babies a day. The patients are required to bring their own birth supplies, that sound much like the birth kits I am giving out. The hospitals do not have these supplies. Many women don’t go to the hospitals because they cannot afford to bring the supplies. They need to bring 3 pairs of gloves and one pair of gloves costs 500 shillings. About a quarter. There is shortage in all of Uganda right now on gloves in the hospitals. She said they don’t have ANY. We talked about the problems this presents because of the high rate of HIV. Also there is a lot of syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia. She said all pregnant women have candida. We discussed lots of different kinds of problems for the women here including abuse and husbands having multiple families. We talked about the differences between the villages and the cities. The number one cause of death for women in Uganda is birth. I gave her a fetoscope, some gloves, and an apron. She was so happy and grateful. She is going to come to our classes this week. Even though she is a midwife and has been trained here, there is some of the information I am teaching that she wants to learn. I taught her a few things tonight and she was very happy to have the information.
There is so much need here for teaching and I think this is just the beginning. The need is bigger and deeper than I imagined.
Tomorrow we have been asked to go with Cindy, who is going to teach at Pastor Martins church.

Jan 9, 2009

2009-01-09T09:06:00.001-08:00

12:00 pm
This morning I woke up at 1:45am and felt like it must be morning. I got up to go to the bathroom and when I turned abound I saw someone (white haired black person) pass by and go behind the door. I opened the door and looked behind it and it passed though the door into the bathroom. I immediately felt fear and my heart started racing. I went back and got in bed, and I saw what I would describe as African hieroglyphics or symbols. I thought of the picture that God had given me before I left home of being dressed in white in a dark place, surrounded by 8 angels. I felt peace and my heart rate started coming down as I focused on that I was in God’s hand. I said out loud “The blood of Jesus and the power of the cross covers my life” 2x and then said “I am not here in my own name, but in the name of Jesus”. I felt completely dependant on Jesus and knew that He was my refuge and safety.
I did go back to sleep for a short time and then woke up again at 2:30 and stayed awake most of the night. I prayed for the work here and for each person in my family. I finally fell asleep sometime early in the morning and then woke up at 7 to get ready for the day.
We had breakfast at 8:30 and more ministry discussion. I feel so blessed to be a part of this team. Then at 9:30 Esther came. I invited Theresa to join us. We talked until 11:30 I think with her and she gave us so much information. We are getting ready to go the city to lunch and then to see the conference center where we will be teaching next week. I think we are going to a prison today or tomorrow. Sunday they have us assigned to different churches in the city.
I talked to Farida and she contacted the midwives and one asked if she could come here to talk to me. I told Farida that she could come at 5pm. I need to talk to Seggy and see if we will be back by then.
Theresa and I spent time after Esther left brainstorming about what to teach. She feels insecure, but I think God is going to use her greatly.
Some of the things we talked about with Esther:
Abuse of women here, abuse of children, roles husbands and wives, hiv, infections, nutrition, alcohol, available medical care, cost and quality of that care, average incomes, breastfeeding, birth control and family planning, abortion, witch doctors & witchcraft. She was so helpful to us and I think our classes will be more effective because of the information she gave us about how life is here.

5:00pm
We went to lunch in Entebbe. I’m not sure what the place was, but it was buffet style and the food was all Ugandan. I love trying other foods, and it was very good. I don’t know what most of it was called. I had pumpkin, a tomato salad, potatoes, a fried tortilla, a vegetable mix, and banana that I think was mashed and cooked with peanut sauce that looked like refried beans.
We went to the orphanage and the school this afternoon where we are having the conference next week. It is a very big property. The children ran out to greet us jumping up and down. They opened my door and started hugging me as I got out of the car. Seggy & Mark gave us a tour of the grounds and the some of the children walked with us holding our hands. The girls seemed much more shy than the boys.
I’m going to go back to Entebbe tonight after dinner with Seggy to get Callie. We are going to go to an internet café. I hope my family will be online then…it will be about 10:00am at home.
I am a little overwhelmed by the poverty I saw today as we drove to the places. We have so much and we don’t even realize what we have.
God is faithful and so good, and I see His hand moving every day in every thing that is happening. I am so privileged to have this opportunity to serve Him, and grateful that He is willing to use me. It is all His work. We are nothing, He is everything. I want Him to move and speak through me because it is only by His power and grace that these people can be saved and encouraged and comforted.
The more I talk to people, the more God uses it to help me in preparing what to teach. I see such huge needs. They are insurmountable, but our God is big. The women have it so hard here, it is hard to comprehend. There is so much to tell them. They are so valuable to God, but they are treated so poorly.
Theresa and I have been talking about what we think we should say or not say. The men here mostly have several wives and families. They go back and forth between the wives. The largest # of people that have HIV here are married. The husbands are passing infections and diseases to their wives. If the woman refuses her husband she may be killed, severely hurt, or made to leave. She is no longer fit to be a wife. So she must decide between HIV or death. So what do you tell this woman? Do you tell her to leave? She has no where to go. If she leaves and has no support she may starve. She cannot usually take her children because she has no money or power. Many of the husbands even require the wives to kneel before them in submission. The women in this culture are very submissive to the men. Most are not educated. The men are abusive to both the women and the children, and this is the norm. Everyone accepts that this is the way. The leaders we have talked to want us to tell the women that they can say no to their husbands. We said to Esther “You think we should tell them this even though they may die or be seriously hurt?” and she said YES. We talked to Mark about it too and he said the same thing. The Christians are learning that God’s design is one man and one woman. The church in encouraging this.
Please pray for us as some of the things we are teaching are very difficult.

Jan 8, 2009

2009-01-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

7am
We arrived at 1:00 am at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda. Our last flight was delayed because we took off in Nairobi, Kenya at the right time, but circled the airport for what seemed like about an hour and then landed there again because they said there was a light was on that indicated the plane needed a mechanic to look at it. We landed and waited awhile, then changed planes. I slept a little during that short flight.
When we arrived in Entebbe, we gathered all of our luggage. It was all there! Then we went and got our visas and paid the $50 entry fee. When we went outside where there were about 10 guys waiting for us. John Mugabi, Mark & Seggy were all there. They loaded all of our things into their truck, and had several vehicles there, and they brought us to Banana Village.
I couldn’t see very much last night on the ride home. Tracy & I rode with Mark, and he was our tour guide, but it was hard to see. I’m not sure when we crossed over into dirt roads.
Banana Village is a little more rustic than it looked like in the pictures. I am looking forward to seeing it in the light of day.
I called Callie this morning after we got here on Dale’s phone and gave her the Visa entrance info. We talked for 10 minutes and that was talking fast. I am so proud of her! She is strong in the Lord and that makes my heart rejoice.
We had the men unload all the things I brought and they are in my room. I’m in a room with 3 beds. My bathroom light doesn’t work…I hope it is just a light bulb and it can be replaced. I think the toilet is leaking and there is a lot of water on the floor.
I was awakened this morning by a strong rain storm. It was funny because Mark told me last night that there are only 2 seasons here: dry & rainy and that this was still the dry season. It rained very hard, and it was loud because the bathroom roof if metal. Mark said the sun comes up at 7, and it started getting light about an hour after the rain started.
I feel pretty good. I had a bad stomach ache last night. I think it was from the Malarone. But I feel better now. I felt dizzy when I went to bed last night from flying, and jet lag. I think that is getting better too.
I was happy I found a plug to recharge my laptop.
I meant to text Tim early this morning when we first arrived and let him know we were here. I think Callie will probably talk to him. I will text him asap. Next time I will bring a phone.
I can see that God’s hand is all over this trip, but also that there is a lot of spiritual battle going on too. I think God has an amazing work planned for us, and I can’t wait to see HIM work.
5:20 pm
For breakfast today I had a banana and toast. For lunch we had spaghetti with meatballs, salad and bread. They served a kind of fruit called tunituni (I think) that looked like little yellow cherry tomatoes, but they tasted kind of like a berry.
I realized I’d only had 3 hours of sleep this morning, so I took a nap for about an hour after breakfast.
Farida came and asked me to move to the room next door because there was a leak in the bathroom and the light didn’t work. She helped me move all my things. She is in college for tourism, and I talked to her a little bit about Callie. I asked her about midwives here in Uganda and she said she could contact the midwives at the clinic and see if I could meet with them. We talked about the midwives in the remote villages and she said that is where the greater need is. She said she could get in trouble for talking to me because they are not supposed to have conversations with the guests.
We had lunch at 1:30 and after lunch had a meeting at 2:30. Everyone shared something about themselves and then Joel and Wilf talked about different things we needed to know about the conference and interacting with the people and the translators. Arlene made a schedule for us of who is teaching when…she did a great job and the schedule is even color coded to help make it easier. Then we all prayed together for a long time. It was so great. This is an amazing team, and it is so wonderful to see how God has put us together and how we compliment each other. I have such a strong sense that God is going to do amazing miracles next week, and the others do too. It is awesome to sit in such a group of people who are so passionate about loving the Lord, loving people, and equipping others in serving the Lord.
Tonight we are having dinner at 6:00 with all of our team, and the ministry leaders here who are coordinating the conference. There will be 24 people there.
I really missed Callie today and wished she was at the meeting we just had. I am so glad she will be here tomorrow night.

9:20 pm
Dinner with the team was very interesting. We each introduced ourselves. I was able to talk to 2 women about birth here in Uganda. I talked first with Esther, John’s wife. She said most people here cannot afford to go to the hospital so they birth at home alone. She said these classes are going to be very important for the women here. I also talked with Olivia. One thing we talked about breast feeding. She said the government here recommends breastfeeding for at least 2 years, but women don’t do it because they have to go back to work. Often the babies have diarrhea. I can see just from those 2 things that I have a lot to talk about. Esther is coming here in the morning to talk to me more about the culture here.
Our team gathered after dinner and prayed first for Theresa. She is not feeling well. Before we went to bed we gathered again to pray for Callie. She is getting to the airport about now. (it is 10:30am in Seattle, 11:30 am in Phoenix, and 9:30pm in Uganda.

Jan 7, 2009

2009-01-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

We are now on our way from Amsterdam to Nairobi, Kenya. I slept some on this flight, it is 8:30 am at home, but I think it is 7:30pm in Uganda. This plane is much quieter than the last. We sat on the runway for about an hour before we took off because 3 people checked luggage in and then didn’t board the plane. What’s up with that? Did they get lost? Or what was in that luggage?
As soon as we landed Joel turned his phone on. When I got off the plane he showed me a text from Carol’s # from Callie saying she was safe and would be coming on Friday. I was sooooo relieved. I wasn’t able to sleep on the last flight, but I think I will be able to now. It really bothered me to leave her without a phone and no way for anyone to reach her either.
The food on this flight was French…I had pasta w/ broccoli. I wasn’t very hungry because I was so tired. There was a very strange green bean and cabbage( I think) salad with mustard sauce. The seasoning was like nothing I’ve ever tasted. I didn’t like it. The dessert was chocolate moose with apples. It was different too.
I’ve been praying for my family and for the women we will be teaching in Uganda. In trying to prepare teaching for this trip, I just kept hitting a block wall. Every time I would try to write something I could think of absolutely nothing to say. I talked to Theresa about it and she said that the same thing happened to her, and she talked to the other ladies and they all said the same exact thing. Theresa and I have been talking about what to teach, and I’ve been thinking of scriptures I want to share. I’m thinking about what part of my testimony I should share with them, as we all will be sharing our testimonies everywhere we go. I plan on spending time Thursday and Friday writing down things to share. I also hope to find some women to talk to about the culture like I did in Honduras before I talk to I can know specific issues that they will benefit from, and to learn what might be offensive culturally so that we can avoid offending anyone or being insensitive. Abuse of women is rampant and I know it will come up, so I am really praying about what to say to these women about this issue. I have some ideas about what I want to say at the women’s prison if I go there, and some scriptures I want to share.
One thing that I want to share with all the women is that God really cares about them and has not abandoned or forgotten them. For each of us represented on the team here, there are many more at home in the US that love and care about them that have sent us with supplies and gifts to encourage them. There were probably 100 people who helped me make 750 salvation bracelets, donated items for the 200 birth kits, helped us build the birth kits, & donated 250 brooches with scripture notes. There are many people praying for them.
I am praying that the supplies we brought will go exactly to the right person.
I brought soap and towels that I am thinking we can give out at the women’s prison. Theresa and I talked about how we wished we could bring more of those.
We arrived an hour late in Nairobi because of leaving an hour late. We arrived 10 minutes before we were to board the next plane, and went right there to board. The airport in Kenya was very different than any I have seen before. It was like a long narrow corridor with stores along the sides and the terminals were small. We walked outside to board. I noticed the people watching us at this airport. I think we stood out…a big group of Americans.

Jan 6, 2009

2009-01-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

We arrived at the airport this morning at 10:45 and were greeted by a sky cap. He asked where we were going and when we said Uganda he said “You must be the Denny’s”. Our team had come thru before us and they were waiting for us. We felt like VIP’s. He gathered all of our luggage and then took our passports to get our boarding passes. When he came back he had a funny look on his face and I knew something was wrong. He said Callie’s passport expired in May and Uganda has a rule that the passport must be valid 6 months past our travel time. The fine for this if she went anyway would be $11,000. Carol had left us already, and she had left her cell phone at home accidently. She lives about 45 minutes away. We had to call home to get Carol and Joel’s phone #s. I left messages for her, and then we called Joel Madson (our team leader) and asked the team to pray. Then we called the travel agent to have them rebook her flight. The plan is for her to get a hold of Carol, or a friend of Joel’s named Julianna, and get her passport renewed and then come to Uganda on Thursday. (The airline is completely booked tomorrow.) The sky caps name was Mike and he let us use his cell phone to make all of these calls, and checked to see when she could fly out again. I looked at the list of what supplies were in what bags and picked which 2 bags should stay with her and come later. I stayed with Callie as long as I could but I had to leave her in time to board the plane. I arrived at the gate and found the team boarding. After we boarded we tried to call Callie on Mikes (the sky cap) phone. He was leaving but went back to find her because he said she had not made contact with Carol yet to come get her. He couldn’t find her. Joel called Julianna and Callie hadn’t called her. The plane door closing so I asked the attendant to have her paged with the message to call Julianna. So Callie is in the airport with no phone and no way for anyone to call her. I know that God is in control and has a plan. I am disappointed to not be flying with her and for her to have to fly alone, but maybe there is a reason for this too. I especially don’t like her being alone in the airport without a phone. I can’t check with anyone until we land in Amsterdam in 9 hours to see if she is ok.
The sky cap Mike took care of all of the luggage for the whole team and put it in a box so it would all stay together. I think by doing this he made our luggage much more safe. He was very good to our whole team.

I found out last night that a client’s baby is in the hospital and is expected to be there for 2-3 weeks. I am also very concerned about that.
Our plane has 2 seats on each side and 4 seats in the middle. I am in the 2nd seat from the right in the middle section, in the 31st row. We asked someone if they would switch with me and I am sitting by Theresa and Dale Crull. I was glad to sit by them. Our team is split up all over the plane.
We flew over the Arctic Circle. It was minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside the plane. It was over 4800 miles from Seattle to Amsterdam, and we flew over 600 mph.

Jan 5, 2009

2009-01-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

We left for Seattle at 9:30am. Our flight is completely full. Callie is trying to take a nap. It was hard to leave this morning and I had to keep myself from crying as I hugged everyone goodbye. It is so hard for me to leave my kids. I absolutely would not do it if I didn’t know that God had called me to do this. Last night I felt that last minute panic about leaving. It’s good I was prayed up and confident of God’s call. I started preparing in prayer in fasting for this trip long ago, and the intensity and frequency have increased as it has gotten closer. I feel like the time for deep prayer and preparation are up, and it’s time to go and do, and now I am relying heavily on the prayers of my family and friends to carry us through.
is VERY bumpy right now and Callie asked if I was writing about how we are afraid we might die and how sad that would be to die on our way to Seattle. She was joking, but there has been a lot of spiritual warfare leading up to this trip and it has intensified this past week. This flight was pretty rough and they had to take a different route because of the turbulence.

25th Anniversary

2009-01-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

Tim and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on 12/31/08. I set up a table in the room off our bedroom and decorated it with all the things out of our wedding trunk. I hung up my wedding dress and veil. Some of the things that I put out around the room were: our wedding planner, our guest list box, the bow bouquet from my shower, shower cards, wedding cards, things from the hotel where we spent our first night, a bottle of sasparilla from our honeymoon. I ordered take out from Claim Jumper and used our good china, crystal, and silver. It was very special. It was fun looking through everything, and seeing how much things cost and remembering the details.

Sunday Afternoons

2008-10-12T15:34:00.001-07:00

Most Sundays we have people over for lunch. It's our family day, and we love to share it with extended family and friends. We used to call it Taco Sunday because we made taco's every Sunday for about a year. Today we went out to eat at Dickies at Happy Valley and I-17 with my sister-in-law and her kids. Free pickles and icecream. We missed the grandkids today because we couldn't go until after 3rd service at church, and that was too long for them to wait to eat.
My niece Rachel sang on the worship team at church this morning in the main sanctuary. She did great. Especially because someone had a heart attack during the sermon and the worship team came back and sang while medical people in the church helped the man, and then paramedics came and took him out. I'm sure that must have been very hard to lead worship during a crisis like that.
Amy sang on the worship team in Jr High, and against her wishes I went and listened. She did good too. It was the first time I've heard her on a worship team, even though she's been on another one for about a year. I decided to go anyway today, and she didn't seem to mind to much after all.
Elsie got hit in the lip during Sunday School today. She said "Look at my lip Gamma." It had a big red bump on it. She makes my heart melt. (They all do!)

Teaching Women

2008-10-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

I had the priviledge of teaching a women's group today called "Kate's Cup" at Northridge Community Church in Carefree. It's an outreach group to mom's that get together everyweek and I was very impressed by what the church is doing there. The room was decorated really cute...I think they called it "The Living Room". It had a cafe atmosphere. There were over 100 women there. I loved the women, because they were all moms, mostly of young kids. That IS one of my passions...moms and babies. But I forget that I am not that young anymore. I get in a group of women like that, and I think I fit right in. It's kind of funny! I have to remind myself that I'm not in my 20's or even 30's. I'm a grandmother. Maybe they didn't notice my extra smile lines that remain even when I'm not smiling. Or that gravity is taking it's toll on my body. (I'm sure that must have happened on the roller coasters at Disneyland.)

I am not the greatest speaker. I haven't really taught a women's study like this before. I've led small groups, or taught in other countries. It is a lot easier to teach with an interpreter. Too bad they speak English in Carefree. :)

Emily went with me. So sweet. She is excited about going to Honduras in November.
Callie spent many hours working on the video presentation about Helping Mothers and Babies Incorporated that we used today. She did a great job! Several people told me how much it moved them, and that they got a lot out of the teaching.

I hope God ministered to the ladies through the message today. It was a great experience for me, and I was blessed to be able to do it. The main theme was that often God brings about divine appointments for us to minister His love at times that we are not expecting. These opportunities sometimes come at times when we don't feel we have enough to give. It's not always about what we do, or how big the deed is. It is about loving from the heart those people that God has put in our lives. It's about the simple things, like giving a cup of cold water, a kind word, a smile to those who are in need. We can have a profound impact in people's lives.

Disneyland

2008-09-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

We took our kids to Disneyland and California Adventures for the first time in about 15 years. This was a bigger deal for me than for most people. About 15 years ago I had a strong conviction to take any magic or sorcery out of our home. Also, we heard that about 40% of the employees at Disney were gay and Disney was promoting a gay agenda. There were political things going on and some Christian leaders at that time suggested boycotting Disney. We didn't completely avoid Disney...just the movies that had magic in them, and we didn't go to Disneyland.

Well this summer my kids went to Disneyland with the church youth group. They had so much fun, and I felt like I had deprived then of something really great. I decided that they were old enough that we could go and avoid any areas that we didn't think were good.

I was surprised because when they went with the high school group they'd gone to the haunted mansion. I thought that because of the things that our church teaches about Halloween that they would discourage or not allow the kids to go on that ride. I would have hoped that my kids would have chosen not to go on that ride. Maybe they don't believe what I've taught them about the reality of spiritual battle. Or maybe they just think I'm weird.

Most other Christians don't have the same convictions I have about magic. I think magic is the same as sorcery, which is cleary forbidden to us as Christians. I'm not talking about make believe...I'm talking about witches, good or bad, fairy godmothers, ghosts, sorcerers, etc. Where do they get their powers from? That is the question I ask when there is "magic" in something. That is the conviction God has given me, and for me to anything else would be sin. It would be the same as worshiping a false god, or accepting it into my home for others to worship, even if I didn't.

I got emotional about it before we went because either I felt like either I had made a mistake by not letting them go to Disneyland before, or I was making a mistake by going now. The only thing I could really come up with to comfort myself was that I think not going before was right for our whole family for that season, and God knows the reasons. I don't think anyone was harmed by us not going before, or by us choosing to go now.

Anyway...Disneyland and California Adventures were lots of fun. The kids had a great time, and we were all worn out by the end of the second day. We also spent 2 great days at the beach, and one with our wonderful neice Jessica and her family.

Beautiful Annabelle Leigh

2008-09-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

My beautiful neice was born this week. She is extra special to me because she has the same name as my grandma. My grandma was spoiled as a little girl, so I guess I will have to spoil my neice too. She was joyously greeted by her mommy, daddy, sisters, brothers, 4 aunts & 4 cousins.