Greater Things Are Yet To Come!

Amidst everything that happened in the last week or two I always know God has greater things in store for me! The last several days have been filled with lots of positives for me! The Saturday evening service I think was exactly the thing I needed to restart the fire within me! This month at Watoto Church Dr. Katrina Keiser and other speakers are sharing information about Understanding Islam! Very powerful testimony she shared with us at church about how she was a Christian and slowly fell into the Islamic faith and how the power of the Holy Spirit brought her out of it and she is now traveling worldwide teaching about the Muslims and their beliefs and practices and just helping up to understand them better! My views have changed a lot towards them as a people group. The Muslims have a vision for themselves and I realized we as Christians need to have a vision as well to stand our ground!!!!!!! My desire to dig deeper with God and His Word keeps on increasing as well! The power of people's prayers are def being felt! There is power in prayer! I am not sure what the next step of the journey God has for me, but I want to be ready!!

This week is my first week leading our cell as a leader! Pray that God will work thru me and give me words to speak and be able to be open with the other volunteers in my cell group!

Tomorrow a team from United Dayspring Church from my hometown is flying into Uganda in the evening! Linda's parents and sister are on the team along with other church members. So we are anticipating their arrival! Will be so nice to have a piece of home here for a couple weeks! And to top it all off they are bringing a whole bunch of fun stuff from my family and friends! So excited about that! If you could breath a prayer on the team's behalf that God would grant them safety traveling to and from Uganda I am sure it would be appreciated! Excited to see how God is going to use their time here in Uganda to futher His Kingdom!

Until next time may the love of the Father fill your mind, soul, and spirit in the week ahead! Never forget that we have the power to love because He first loved us!

For the children, Kara

**Featured in the pictures above are: Oscar, Chris and I, Linda with David Blake and Obama on the swing, Rose, and Patience

Chris

John

Chris and I right before we left!

I sit here and ask God what am I supposed to learn from this? Why now?

This week has had plenty of ups and downs for me. I have reached the middle mark of my time here in Uganda. Wow what a journey God has taken me on already! But now it seems rough...I am starting to feel homesick at times and then realize if I go home I have to leave Uganda and all the wonderful parts of it! Cannot believe I have lived here for 3 months! This week has had its challenges and it is not over yet. Friday, January 29, John went to be with Jesus. I would never ask for him back because I know he has no pain and it is sitting with Jesus, but it is hard. John was between the age of 18-24 months old and was welcomed at Baby Watoto two weeks ago with severe burns all over his back along with a whole list of other problems. He was such a brave soul though. Each day I would go into the clinic and talk to him and had the honor of taking him to surgery one day as well! I look back at those times and realize that God gave me those moments while John was still here on Earth to love him the way God loves his children. After years of neglect and living in a cold emotionless world John got to get a taste of heaven here on earth! John's funeral was probably the hardest thing I ever had to attend. I had never been to a funeral for a child before. But it was a beautiful day and I know God sent the sunshine and the birds to sing their song for us as we remembered that time that we got to spend with John. John you will forever be missed!

Other happenings this week include my "son" Chris returning to live with his birth mom and dad! Today I traveled with Chris to start his new life in the village. Very bittersweet but really trying to embrace the fact that he still has a mom and a dad and how much progress he has made since entering the babies home as a VERY sick preemie baby! Chris has taught me so much! But the one thing I learned the most from him is patience! Please pray that this transition time for Chris will go smooth and that God will intervene and make the bond between Chris and his mum Betty!

My roommate Kathy will be leaving this week as well! Yes that is 3 important people leaving me in less than one week! Ugh hope to never have a week like this again! But I have been so blessed by Kathy's time here and the many great chats we have had! God has truly blessed me with so many great women from all around the world. Even though we all come from such different cultures we all have one thing in common and that is to serve the Lord!! He has brought us to Uganda for such a time as this!

Please continue to pray for me that I can accept the things I cannot change! I want to learn from each situation that I encounter! God has been so good to me and for that I want to give Him all my praise!

For the children, Kara

I Have Been Blessed!!

I am back from Suubi Children's Village!! What a wonderful wonderful week of lovin on these kids and the opening of the new babies home! Feel very honored that I was able to welcome the kids to their new home. All 19 babies are adapting very well to their new surroundings and things seem to be running smoothly. Don't forget this is Africa so of course there are a lot of little problems that are forever coming up. :) Linda and I really enjoyed our time away and enjoyed the quietness of the mountain as well!

As of now we are back in Kampala and working at The Bulrushes again for awhile! We are anticipating the arrival of the team from Dayspring arriving in February. Will be nice to see familiar faces from home!!

Last night Baby Watoto welcomed 2 new children into their arms! John is between the ages of 2 and 3 and is malnourished with severe burns all over his body. His weight is about 6 pounds at the moment. John does not move and he is pretty much in a daze! Pray that God's will would be done in his life and that God would restore healing to his body. Pray that God would give wisdom to those providing care for John and for Moses. I am reminded daily that God has a plan for each of these abandon children and that He has placed me here to continuously pour out His love to them and to enrich their lives while I am here!

Thank you for your love and prayers!!

For the children, Kara

Welcome 2010!!!

We are already 11 days into the new year and soooo much has happened and is continuing to happen!! This year has been full of excitement! Weird to think that at the end of January I will be half ways done with my time here in Uganda! I wake up everyday wondering where time is going! But I am anticipating God to move in some powerful ways in the coming months amongst His people here.

Reflecting back on 2010 and where God has taken me already I am understanding more and more what greater things God has in store for me! I have been on an emotional ride the past couple of weeks with different events happening but God has remained faithful to me and continues to lift me up!

As of tomorrow morning Linda and I will be moving to Watoto Suubi Children's Village to help with the opening of the new babies home! Very excited to be a part of this! When I was in Uganda back on Feb. of 2009 this babies home was being constructed and to see how far it has come and just how beautiful it is is just WOW!!! We will be living out there till Monday of next week and return back to Kampala to continue working at the Bulrushes. 19 babies will be moving on Wednesday morning to Suubi babies home. Would covet your prayers during that move and during the week that I spend there! It will be very long working days and always being a call to help where needed! Pray that God will grant Linda and I extra strength each day to be an effective part of this transition for these toddlers!

Some not so happy news to share was the day that I posted my last blog and requested special prayer on baby Chris' behalf was the day that Chris went to be with Jesus! Twas a very sad time and please pray for the staff that are effected by this. Chris has a twin brother Victor that remains at the Bulrushes! However in the last week we did get a BEAUTIFUL girl by the name of Esther that was welcomed at the babies home. She is a toddler and wow cannot believe how a little TLC makes the biggest difference in the life of a neglected child. She is in our clinic right now. She is an HIV child. Esther I believe is at level 3 or 4 and her chest x-rays came back clear and we are just waiting on some other results to come back as of right now. But do pray for her body and that with the help of staff at Baby Watoto and the local doctors that God would heal her body and keep her strong! I sense great things for this girl and just love her to death!

Prayer requests:

* pray that Suubi village move would go well and that babies adapt well to all the change around them and for safety traveling to and from the village.

* pray for those affected by the death of Chris and for his twin brother Victor.

* one of our nurses is really struggling right now! She acidently pricked herself with a needle that was used on one of our HIV babies and so it has been a big scare to her as to whether or not it has entered her body! HIV scares are a big deal and please join me in praying a sheild of protection around Rachael's body and continue to pray that until the results come back that she could have peace about it!

* pray for Watoto Children's Choirs that leave on tour this week! There are several choirs that have been training for months and pray for traveling safety and that God was use them in a powerful way to spread His love and also raise awareness about the millions of orphans all over Africa that are affected by war and HIV/AIDS!! They changed my life when I heard them 6 years ago and know they are changing the lives of many others!

Oh how could I forget to share that in the last 2 weeks three of my beautiful babies have taken their first steps. You know I hear mothers at home talk about their babies and how they started walking and I was like oh yeah that must be great now they can get into everything now! But wow I never knew it could be sooooo exciting!! Guess you can call me a "mom" now! :)

Thank you for taking time to read my blogs and for caring and praying! Means more than you will ever know!

For the children,

Kara

*pictured above is Esther and I!

Merry Christmas and a Joseph New Year!

Where to start...this Christmas I think can go down as one of the best ever! And I cannot believe it is already 2010!!!! God has been so faithful to me in the last year! When I had doubts about how I was going to be able to leave my job and be able to suuport myself financially while I am here in Uganda He reminded me to let Him be in control and to have faith! For the first month of living in Uganda I really did try to do it on my own and take care of myself...but God soon showed me I was not going to make it by living my life like that! Now I am at the end of my second month here and wow what a difference it makes to fully rely on God!!

This Christmas Watoto Church put on a Christmas Cantata called "The Journey." What a wonderful presentation of the Word of God brought in the form on a 200 person choir, lots of dancing, and awesome props, and sweet lighting effects! Some of us volunteers took the special needs children to enjoy it and it was so special to share that moment with them.

Pastor Gary and Marilyn Skinner hosted a party for all international volunteers and Watoto staff in appreciation for spending our Christmas here in Uganda! That was very special and felt like home spending an evening with my family and Santa even arrived! :)

We as volunteers had many Christmas parties and one of them was spent with a team from Hillsong London. That was so much fun and there was lots of Western style food! What is not to love about that!? :)

Spending Christmas day at the babies home was such a rewarding experience as well! To share God's love with these babies and toddlers at Christmas and be their family made me realize how blessed I have been to spend Christmas with my family for the last 20 years. Now for the 21st year I understand that not everyone has had the same opportunity and for that I am so happy that I would not have wanted to spend my Christmas any other way than right here in Uganda with God's precious children.

Prayer requests:

-Recently we have had several cases of TB at the babies home. It can be a very serious thing for some of our most vulnerable babies. Baby Chris has a blood transfusion the other day and has TB as well. He is in critical condition and could really use some extra prayers. Just pray that God's will will be done in his life! Claire is also another one of our toddlers that was diagnosed with TB. She is also one of our HIV babies! It is hard to watch little children like them suffer. You just want to be able to give them your healthy body!

-Continue to pray for Watoto Child Care Ministries! There is so much happening and choirs are going to be sent out soon around the world to raise awareness about the ministry and new babies homes are going to be opening. Lots happening and that means lots of prayer needed! Pray for strength for those leading choirs and heading up projects here in Uganda!

-On a personal note pray that I can continue to have faith in every step that I take! There are days where I wonder why Africa? Why did God call me here? What is the greater thing I can take from here? It may seem like an obvious thing to some but for me it can seem a bit blurry!

Wishing everyone a powerful 2010!

For the children,

Kara

What is love?? What isn't love?? 1 Corinthians 13

I keep pondering on what our cell group discussed this last Wednesday nite about what love is and is not. I went away thinking how to I portray love to those around me 24/7?? Love is patient, love is kind, love never fails, love never remembers wrong,....it goes on and on. What kind of love are you putting out?? Is it a Christ-like love??

This week has been full of new people coming and going, volunteers leaving, smelly diapers, traveling around, and Christmas celebrations!! On Sunday evening all the international volunteers are the apartments has a wonderful Christmas party with a lot of Western style food and a secret santa exchange!! That nite truly felt like I was at home with my "family" enjoying a winter evening together! Yesterday Linda, Lucy, and I went shopping around Kampala and bought some Christmas CDs and other holiday stuff to stay in the Christmas spirit while enjoying some Good African Coffee of course!

There is going to be so much new stuff happening beginning of 2010!! Suubi Babies Home is going to be opening and kids will be transferred there from the Bulrushes! So if you could please pray specifically for the whole babies home project as a whole that things will get completed in time and that there would be no stress :) I no the last part of that is not really being realistic! :)

Today was a rather emotional day for me overall! My "son" Christopher is going to be going back to his mother the beginning of the year! I am excited for that to happen however not sure how I am going to give him up! I feel so connected with Chris and today his mom showed up to try and connect with Chris. It was hard for me to watch cause it felt like I was giving my "son" to another mommy! His mom is a beautiful woman and has a glowing smile and I can def see the connection between the two! He resembles her a lot! Just an inner battle going on with my heart and I really have been praying that God will help me give him up and that he can reconnect with his real mommy again cause all I want is the best for him! So if you all could remember me and pray for me in that way in the coming weeks it would be greatly appreciated!

Another prayer request would be for Patience. She is one of the toddlers in my room that I assist with. She is a very sick little girl right now and was diagnosed with Pneumonia this week and has been loosing weight. At her last check up doctor said things looked better! However she is a small little girl! Trusting that God will heal her! :) **Patience is in the photo above**

One more thing I should mention...Christmas is exactly one week away!! What have you done to prepare for the wonderful celebration of Christ's birth???? Exciting stuff ey????

Much love to all who are praying!!!

For the children,

Kara

I'm dreamin of a white Christmas...jk

Well I am already seeing the end of another week in sight!! Really trying to figure out where time has gone...Christmas is ONLY 15 days away!!!! I kind of forget what season I am in right now! It just does not seem normal to be enjoying really hot weather and not one snow flake in the sky and trying to celebrate the Christmas season all in one. I was talking with a friend last nite about how different the Christmas season is here and he brought up a really good point. In America so much hype is put into the shopping and going to concerts and getting together with family, etc. that often even I forgot what the real meaning of Christmas is about!! Then there is Uganda...where there are hardly any Christmas decorations...some Christmas songs in the air...but overall they put their main focus on the reason for the season and that is Jesus' birth!!!!! So even though I will be a little sad I will not get to be with my family I do feel that spending my Christmas in UG will be good for me to refocus on what Christmas is really about.

So aside from that let me see...what all have I done in the last week...

1. Got to attend the World Aids Day Dance Competition at Watoto Church

2. Went to Ndere-African culture nite...again

3. Did some Christmas shopping for our secret santa exchange at some nice craft markets

4. Purchased some items from Living Hope's store...FYI very cool place and amazing beautiful crafts! And all proceeds go to benefit Living Hope women!

5. Hosted a BBQ at our apartments for all the volunteers and some other Watoto staff

Babies home update:

Beginning of 2010 Lord willing Suubi Babies Home will be up and running. This new facility will be able to provide care for approx. 100 babies. This is very exciting to be able to see continued growth in this area! There will be a lot of changes and babies getting moved from the current babies home in Kampala to Suubi. So a lot of prayer would be appreciated as staff and volunteers prepare for this. Another babies home is being constructed in Gulu. Completion is not expected until closer to March of 2010.

One of the girls in my elephant room started walking this week. Lily just keeps on growing and learning new things. It is encouraging to see these children taking new steps into their future. My little boy Chris is going to be moving back with his mom end of the month. I am very sad about this and yet happy he can be reunited with his mom. He came to Baby Watoto as a preemie and just cannot believe how far he has come looking back at the pictures of him when he first arrived!! God is doing a great work here!

Looking forward to our apartment's Christmas party this Sunday and the Christmas Cantata that Watoto Church is presenting next week!! There will be quite a few volunteers packing their bags and heading back home and new ones coming!! So it will be a bittersweet time!!

Continue to pray for protection and good health amongst the staff and volunteers. We do have several babies in isolation right now cause of a nasty rash that seems to be spreading amongst the babies! We are praying that this will be the solution to this problem!

Much love to everyone at home!!

For the children,

Kara

**featured in picture is Lily