This has been the most powerful week of my life!! God has spoken to my heart like never before!! This past week Linda and I were working nite shifts at the babies' home. Each nite was so different and it really gave me opportunities to connect with the nannies and get to know them personally. More than anything I have learned that the power of one's testimony is more than amazing!


On Friday nite Watoto Church presented "Daughter's of Destiny." What an honor to be seated amongst 100's of women praising God in such harmony!! These women have a heart for worship!! That nite there was a guest pastor from South Africa who spoke on the passage of Scripture about Mary and Martha and the significant roles that women play in the church and in society as a whole!! Wow we are something so special and I think so often we tend to forget about that! Some very special guests that were in attendance were the women from Gulu that are part of Living Hope. Such a great outreach that Watoto started in delivery hope and restoration and believing in these women that were abducted from their homes at such a young age to be sex slaves to the Lord's Resistant Army (LRA). To know what these beautiful women went thru and to see them crying out to God and giving up all of themselves and singing of God's greatness...God you are sooooo GREAT!!


This morning's Sunday service I think has changed my heart forever! Today was Living Hope Sunday in which 2 amazing women shared their story of how they were abducted, beaten, forced to marry men 3 times their age, and be sex slaves for soldiers that were part of the LRA. One of these beautiful women shared how she was Joseph Coney's wife for 11 years. She was abducted when she was 12 years old and excaped when she was 23. Today she is 27 and living her life for Jesus!! AMEN!! To check out more about Living Hope visit... www.watoto.com/livinghope


This weekend we are celebrating WAD...(World Aids Day). Please consider taking time out of your day to join us praying for those who are battling the war against AIDS.





Specific prayer requests:


*Pray for the women and children that have been abducted from their homes by the LRA. Even the ones that have been able to escape find life difficult living outside of captivity!

*Pray for the political leaders of northern Uganda (Gulu)



Much love to all!!! Please take time this week to thank God for the many many blessings He has given you!! Don't let Thanksgiving be the only time of year to reflect on that!



Kara

What A Week

Wow this week has been full of ups and downs!! I have been working the afternoon shift this week. I go in to the babies home at 11 and work till 6:30 pm. It is nice to be able to sleep in in the mornings and get stuff done here at the apartment. Tuesday nite I went bowling with the volunteers and some other Watoto staff and that was great. It was good to all be together outside of work. Wednesday nite Linda and I went to the airport to welcome a new volunteer to Uganda. Her name is Paige and she is from Canada. Great to have another new face in the house. Then there was Thursday!!!! Linda, Hannah, Tifarah, and I went to the Nile to go white water rafting! Best experience ever!! Words cannot describe the thrill of going thru grade 5 rapids and being tossed amongst the waves. There were two moments when I actually thought my life was going to end but it was worth it. Us girls are planning to go again!

I have been amazed at how God is really using my time here to mold me into the woman He created me to be!! I have been praying for a lot recently and asking so much of Him and the other nite I found myself just taking time to thank Him for everything I have been blessed with instead of always asking for things! I have found it to be so rewarding in doing so!

Sunday morning around 7:30 am Baby Zach went to be with Jesus! He had received a blood transfusion on Saturday and after that everything seemed to go downhill from there! Come Sunday morning he had stopped breathing but his heart continued to beat for about 4 hours and they feel this is due to the adrenaline they had given him! To say the least it was a very long drawn out evening for the staff at the babies home. Please do pray for the nannies, volunteers, and staff that played an important part in Zach short life here on Earth! Pray that God would bless them in a special way for all their hard work!

This is the start of week 4....hard to believe! Much love to everyone!

Kara

Finally at Home

Each day I experience here is getting better and better. Uganda is finally starting to feel like home! God has been proving Himself so real to me though in the last several days! Since I have been here I am have been trying to make it on my own. And slowly but surely God has a way of saying in the nicest way, "Kara, please just let me help make this experience easier." It is once you surrender that part of you things just fall into place. This is no longer about me, this is about making a difference in the lives of others to make a difference for eternity!
Words cannot describe the children that I work with everyday. Yesterday while holding, Eva, I was reminded of God's love for His children. We can love someone only because Christ loved us first! When I think about this it just blows my mind of how significant each person is and the value and purpose they serve in the eyes of our Maker.
On Wednesday nites we have cell group. This is basically like a small group meeting with the volunteers to just reconnect and spend time in prayer. I was sad that I missed communion at my home church this last Sunday evening and what do you know this week at cell Edith had us all take part in communion. :) It was fruit juice and bread! :) But you know I have never experienced what I did that night before! I was so humbled that nite at the thought of all Christ has done for His church and for His children. Have you really stopped and thought about the fact that Christ died on a cross so that WE can be SAVED!??? At times I think we go thru the motions of communion and don't actually take the time to realize what it is that we are remembering! I Corinthians 11:23-34
Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for baby Zack. He is a very sick malnourished infant that was brought into the babies home this week. Each day that he lives is considered a miracle right now!
• Continue to pray for Susy and her family. It has been a week since her father passed away. She finally made it home after a lot of hassle in trying to get her passport back. But God is good and she has made it safely home. She is planning to return back to Uganda soon after Christmas. We miss her a lot here at the apartments!
• Continue to pray for all the volunteers here. Even the ones that have been here for awhile have been having rough periods in watching old volunteers leave and it is taking a toll on them. We know that part of coming here is having to leave at some point and return home but it is hard.
• For the most part Linda and I have been in good health! PTL We have found that certain foods still do not agree with us but we are thankful that God has been granting us healthy bodies aside from that.
• Above all else pray that we do not lose focus. It is easy to get caught up in our day to day routine just like at home. Pray that our ultimate focus can be on drawing closer to Him and thru that we can bring glory to His Kingdom because He is alive within us.

Again thank you to all who are praying for us here!! Never underestimate the power of YOUR prayers. I love and miss you all very much!

For the children, Kara

A Call for Prayer

This morning as I was getting ready for work my roomie (Susy) comes out of her room with tear filled eyes mourning the loss of her father. She just recieved news this morning from Canada that her Father passed away. If you could please just lift her up in prayer the next few days that God would grant her safety as she flies home in the next day or so and that she would recieve guidance as to whether or not to return back to Uganda to finish her stay.
It will be different not having her around here at the apartment. We LOVE you SUSY!!

So Day 1 at the babies home is complete and am now enjoying my first day off! Got 12 hours of sleep last nite and have just been chatting with my roomie this morning! Not really sure what I am feeling today!! Not really sure when it will phase me that I am actually living in Uganda! :) But I am truly loving it! Yesterday Linda and I worked at the babies home from 11 am-6 pm. Got to change lots of messy diapers and feed and play with all the little ones!! They are more than precious!!
After work our rommie Hannah took us to the mall to do some grocery shopping since we get to make all of our own food! :) We will have to see what different things we come up with!!
Please keep praying for us that we can catch on soon as to exactly what our role is here and catch on as to what we are to do at the babies home and be comfortable with what we are doing! I hate standing around not knowing what to do next but that is just part of starting new some where!!

Blessings, Kara

You know I am convinced that everything happens for a reason!! And God has proven that already to us in the first leg of our journey to Uganda!! Upon our arrival in Amsterdam Linda and I were having complications printing out boarding passes for our next flight! So we approached the customer service counter only to find out that we had an overnite stay here at the airport. At first my initial reaction was to be frustrated cause I just wanted to be in Uganda...however God has other things instore for us. We found a room at Yotel Hotel and the woman working there was more than helpful!! We got a perfect room and were able to have it for 24 hours. With free internet service and a full service bathroom we enjoyed browsing facebook and catching up on current events. Linda had the opportunity to catch up with her CAVS and we watched some YouTube clips.

Waking up this morning at the airport we feel totally refreshed and ready for our next 8 hour flight. Reflecting back God knew that we needed some extra time to rest cause we were both having some stomach pains due to lack of sleep. We live in a world where we think everything revolves around us and our plans! Lesson learned our lives revolve around God's plans!!

Continue to pray for traveling safety for our last 8 hour flight and the drive from Entebbe to our NEW home!! Linda and I are enjoying our time together and are so excited for this intense spiritual journey that lies ahead of us!

Much love, Kara...and Linda