Why Africa? Why Now? (Tara)

There are so many questions I get when I tell people that I’m going to Africa.

When?

For how long?

Are you going on a mission trip?

What will you be doing there?

Who will you be going with?

What part of Africa?

What made you decide to do that?
Am I excited or nervous?

The easy questions I’ll answer first.

Mom and I will be going to Uganda, which is in the heart of Africa. We are leaving this Saturday, Sept 1^st and will return to Minneapolis on Monday, Sept 17^th.  We are traveling through Amsterdam and the trip there and back will take 35 hours. Uganda is 8 hours ahead in time.

We will not be going on a strict mission trip per se. Or at least I wouldn’t call it that. In my mind (and I’m often wrong) a mission trip is to serve God’s people with the hopes that you will lead them to Christ and seek out ways to do that. We will be serving God’s people in a couple of different ways but I am not all gung ho about the main purpose being to bring them to Christ. The first organization we will be going to is called “Father’s Divine Love Ministries” which is in Jinja, Uganda. Pastor David Livingstone has done a tremendous job of already serving and bringing many Ugandans to Christ. I am there to support them in that effort.

My main mission is to let people in Uganda – a place SO FAR FROM IOWA – know that there are people that care about them and love them…that there is HOPE.

My other selfish mission is to make my life meaningful. Don’t we all want that? I sure do. I love my life tremendously but I have an aching in my heart most times that draws me to the questions that I wrestle with and that is “what is my life about, do I matter, and am I making a difference?”. I do know this…Luke 12:48 From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

There are many events that lead up to me wanting to go but the most profound was a boy named Chase. He was the baby that had a NICU room next to Jake’s. Every day Andy and I would visit Jake and for 54 days I’d walk by Chase’s room and never once did I see parents, grandparents, or any one that appeared to love him. He was alone. I had lived a very sheltered life and assumed in some naïve way that everyone had at least a mom and dad to love them but Chase showed me that even in Iowa that isn’t always the case. Jake’s hospital stay was also very risky and if it weren’t for state of the art medical treatment he wouldn’t be here and neither would I for that matter. What he and I went through was dangerous but because we are fortunate to live where and when we do we both made it with flying colors. That experience woke me up and showed me that there are so many people that don’t have what I have and I’m on fire because I think they should have what I have. It’s basic human rights...

I am nervous and excited to go. My most anxiety comes from that fact that I have to leave my family. Seventeen days is long enough to feel very isolated from them and to my 6 year old it’s an eternity. I feel confident that things will be ok, that if I get sick or mom gets sick that it’s temporary and we’ll return home with one more story! Several weeks ago I was feeling very fearful of the trip; fearful of all the “what if’s”. I happened to be reading the book “Kisses for Katie” about a 19 year old who moved to Uganda permanently and has adopted 14 girls there.  Her courage was so profound. I finished reading the book on the train to work and when I got off and was walking through the skyways I was praying about my fears that I knew they were unfounded. In one moment of time I was filled with such peace about the trip and I had a vision of God going before Mom and me to set the stage for our journey, that He was preparing the people and the way for us. I have never felt that before and since then I haven’t felt fear about the surroundings in Uganda. I pray that my family will also be at peace and that the time will go by fast for them.

The other organization is Nyaka school (www.nyakaschool.org) where mom will be teaching the grandmas micro finance. She will be hiring a translator in order to do that. I will be taking pictures of all 600 kids that are in the sponsorship program. I love that I get to meet all the kids and am scouting out who will be our children to sponsor. If you want me to scout any out for you just let me know.

Hopefully that answers all the questions and I look forward to sharing our stories when we return.

One week to go... (Lynette)

Everything today seemed to hold my attention. On my way to work, I stopped for a car wash.  Having access to reliable transportation, good roads, ease of checking my email while my car is getting washed, and the availability of water are a few things that all seemed to be a big deal today.  I stopped at Caribou on campus on my way to the building where I work and got ice for cold water.  It was that easy.

I am headed to Uganda where life may not be as easy for people.  I have experienced adversity and struggles during my life and I feel selfish knowing this is only a glimpse of what others on this earth may endure.  Today, I pray for those I will meet, know, love and admire during my visit to Uganda.  I feel like I already know those that God will put in my path, and I am so excited to see them.  And I am thankful.

My journey started with saying "yes" to Tara and "yes" to God.  That was the beginning of this journey for me, and the blessings just keep coming.  It scares me to think that I may have missed this opportunity if I had not stepped up.

Thank you to those who donated toward the underwear that Tara and I are taking to Nyaka.  After removing the packaging and washing them, we ended up with about 30 pounds of cotton undies. Thank you, Mom, for organizing the purchase.  Praise God for our little country church, Peoria UMC, and loving, generous family and friends who shared in their abundance by giving toward the homes and underwear to the organizations we are visiting.  Things we take for granted; blessings to those who don't know what that means.

One week until our adventure.  Thank you for your prayers.   Tara and I value them.