Video from our WORSHIP service with the kids!

Video from Africa

Born in the U.S.A.!!!!!

So we are finally back in the United States of America! Its crazy to think that by the time I make it to Birmingham I would of traveled through 3 time zones and gained 8 hours to my life! I am one of those travelers that once Im on the airplane I am READY to be home..... my mindset at that point is the trip is over and I wish I could snap my fingers and be home. But regardless of the long travel days back home and exhaustion its never stopped me from wanting to travel again and again. We have already started to plan other trips...... Next trip to Africa will start in Kenya and we will do a safari and then fly to Uganda again! We definitely want to go for a safari next time but would need to do it first while we still have some energy. Another trip we want to plan is to Australia and visit Hillsong! I would really like to go there by next summer..... then I would of traveled to all continents by the time I'm the big 30!

Although it is wonderful to be back in our country, I am instantly reminded of how we have everything at our disposal within seconds. We don't truly understand what it is to be in need. We are guaranteed a next meal, a place to lay our heads at night, running water and power, air conditioning, transportation, and much more. We have ALL our basic needs met plus a thousand times more. I hate the feeling of being trapped in a society where people consume themselves with pointless things. Im not trying to be harsh or disregard the things that matter to people but when your eyes are opened to how millions of people live around you......somethings that use to seem SO BIG just no longer matter. What matters is that people come to Know Christ, and that we as Christians choose not to be silent or stand still but reach out to those around us, whether its in Africa or down the street, and show the LOVE of Christ. The gift and joy of the Lord is to be shared with EVERYONE not to be kept selfishly to ourselves!

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah
that your ways may be known on earth,your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah May the peoples praise you, O God may all the peoples praise you."

Psalm 67:1-5

"In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." John 1:1-14

The day we left Uganda

Once we finally made it back to the Bridge house Saturday night, Josh immediately went to bed because he was feeling run down. It took us 2 hrs to get home..... traffic was awful. The traffic in Uganda is worse than 5 o'clock traffic in Birmingham in 280......A LOT worse. There are beggars and street vendors that some up to your windows as you are sitting at a stand still and there is usually NO air conditioner running in the car. At night there is usually a cool breeze since its winter over here right now. Its crazy though because Dowdy, our primary driver all week, never got road rage not once. And of course we all know how road rage is in the US.

We woke up this morning, Sunday, to our last day in Uganda. It baffles me that the week is already coming to an end. We slept in a little bit today and then got up, finished last minute packing, and got ready for church that started at 11. Of course, Alfred cooked us another yummy breakfast. Made me sad that it would be my last time to wake up in the house to all my friends......the adventure was coming to an end. We went to Patrick"s church called Gaba Community Church. It is a super nice facility and great to see what the Lord has been doing in this area of the city. There were actually visitors from Southern California there so the worship was lead by there team and the Gaba worship team together. And their pastor, Steve Larson, from California was the guest speaker. As soon as we walked into the church doors we were welcomed by the greeters and then a Mzunga walks up and introduces herself....her name was Becca and she was from Texas. The worship was mostly in English and was GREAT! Their services last about 2 hours but it really went by fast. A lady named Irene and her little boy Samuel sat beside me. Samuel had the sweetest smile! Of course I took some pictures. Toward the end of the service I gave her one of my lip glosses that I havent used yet and some of my Shillings I had left......she smiled so big and gave me the biggest hug! She was truly grateful! The church service had between 200-300 people attending, its cool to see people from all walks of life and different cultures worship the same GOD. We are all ONE family in Christ!

After church we went and grabbed lunch at a French Bistro and we had pizza. Of course it was good and we continue to stuff ourselves! Then we went back to the Bridge House to load up the car and say our good-byes to Alfred. I really dont like saying Good-bye to people, it makes me sad. I really hope to see each of my new friends again soon..... they have left an everlasting impact on my life and I will never forget them. From the Bridge House we left for Sozo to say more good-byes to the kiddos.

When we arrived the kids were practicing their song and dance they are doing next week a church. It was so sweet to watch the individual personalities shine! Some are a little more timid and reserved where others dont hold back one bit! We just hung out and played some with the kids. When it was time to go I went around to say good bye to all 17 kids, hug them, and tell them we loved them. I hope to see their faces again soon!

Then off to the airport.....once we got to Entebbe we said our last good-byes to Carrie, Dowdy, and Maureen. Each person will be greatly missed :) We love yall! And THANK YOU Carrie for all that you did and being my roomie for the week! It truly is hard to put into words to describe this week..... Josh and I are very thankful for your friendship!

Josh and I proceeded into the airport and realized really quick how blessed we were to have Dowdy with us all week. He drove us around but most of all he is very fluent in English and also understands English very well. The workers in the airport not so much :) But we managed and got through. Now we are just waiting for our flight to board. We go from Entebbe to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Detroit, and Detroit to Birmingham! Home sweet home here we come..... leaving is BITTERSWEET! A big part of my heart is still here in Uganda, I see the need and have the desire to help! I know we will be back at some day!!!

WAR EAGLE from Africa!

Last FULL day in Uganda.... Day 6

Today was our last full day and night here in Uganda.... this week has gone by too fast. I am going to miss all the kids and my new and old friends! This entire trip has been a complete BLESSING and each person has made it a trip I'll always remember. I hope to come back again really soon. We woke up and headed to Sozo to spend the entire day. We played with the kids and ate meals together.....plus I experienced a lot of firsts:

- went grocery shopping at market for African food, learned about slaughtering animals (ex. Chickens) which I did not witness, but YES Josh cut its head off, watched a movie in Uganda with the kids, learned how to make, roll out, and cook Chipati (African tortilla is the best way to describe it.... Yummy!), and used the restroom in a hole because the water was off....enough said!!! It was a low key day compared to the rest because we stayed in one place all day but kinda crazy since there were 17 kids and 12 adults on the property.....but it was a FUN day. I was very disturbed by the chicken killing. Every Saturday at 5pm they kill the chicken that they will eat Sunday after church. Well Esau, the oldest kid he's 11, asked Josh earlier in the week if he would want to help. Well Josh of course said yes and Esau said it was a promise..... So since he couldnt break a promise Josh did it. It hurts my heart to think about it.... Carrie and I walk down the road to get some Mtn Dew during the slaughtering because I did not want to see or hear a thing. But Josh did get some pictures for anyone interested. Overall it was a great last day just hanging out with everyone! Please pray for Josh he is still not feeling great and I hope he is feeling better by the morning. I think he is exhausted and is having bad allergies from all the dust and dirt. I feel great! It has been such a PRAISE to literally have no major back pain ALL week! Even with bungee jumping.....Pray for that to continue through our travels home! Tomorrow we are going to Ggaba church, eating lunch, going back to Sozo to say bye to the kids :(, and then head to the airport....... Leaving is always bittersweet. This place has changed me forever and I am eternally grateful & humbled by this experience!

Picture above is of me hanging out in the den today with some of the kids:

Me, far left is Jalia, orange-Fatuma, green-Ivan, pink-Fredah, front-Victoria, dress- Mercy

Birthday Blessing!

Ok, so this morning was Josh's turn to wake up and not feel so great..... jet lag has set in and I think for him all the dust on the roads has irritated his allergies! But I had medicines handy, so it is feeling a little better.

Today has been a wonderful day and an absolute blessing...... I was able to celebrate my 29th birthday in Africa (the only thing missing was my family!). We traveled to a city called Jinja to go site seeing and have more adventures!!!!

It was about a 2 hour drive to Jinja so we were able to see the countryside of Uganda as we left the city. So I had a lot of time to just look out the window and observe my surroundings and the way people truly live here in Africa. Here I am celebrating the day of my birth, the day that the Lord blessed me with life..... I stand humbled and thankful that the Lord chose me to be born to my specific family, my country (USA), and the abundance of favor I am surrounded by daily. Why me and not these people in Uganda, why have I been so financially blessed?? One of the guys we have spent a lot of time with has become a dear friend and is such a hard worker. In discussing salaries and exchange rates between US dollars and shillings, I figured out that he make in one MONTH what I make in 1.5 HOURS of work..... that is MIND blowing to me. I live in such abundance and sometimes when I am at home I get in a pattern where I don't even notice all the things and luxuries I have around me. The Lord has a specific plan for each of our lives and I am accepting the favor he has shown me.....I choose to give in my abundance. My experiences in other countries has reminded me of what the meaning of true NEED is, and I pray that I never loose sight of all that I have witnessed.

Once we made it to Jinja we stopped at The Source of the Nile restaurant and ordered food..... it supposedly takes a long time to prepare the food so we ordered and left. Then we went to where we planed to take a boat to where the source of the Nile began. It was VERY cool..... they stopped at this little island and we got off and our guide explained where the water was white and bubbling was where the Nile River began, the water from Lake Victoria was pouring into the start of the Nile. The Nile River is where Moses was placed as a baby..... Such history that we witnessed today with our very own eyes. We walked around for a bit and took lots of pictures. Once we got back by boat we headed back to the restaurant but first stopped a shopped a little more :) There were a lot of cute shops up and down the streets in Jinja. It was a cute little town that attracted many Mzunga (white people-not just Americans but Australians and Europeans). We ate lunch and of course Carrie and I left the table early to look at just ONE more shop. Carrie told me that she has shopped the most since I have been here.....it worked out great because we could get all our souvenirs for ourselves and others and had each other for help and advice!

Once we finished in town we headed out to Bujagali Falls..... this place was amazing! There were HUGE rapids everywhere. We walked down toward the water and were greeted by a group of men playing music with one dancing..... He was doing some traditional African dances. Here in Uganda they call you bottom/backside your BACK FIRE. So it has been a popular word to use this week. So the guy dancing was shaking his back fire :)The call the front side your FRONT VIEW- its quite comical! We walked closer to the rapids and it was amazing to just sit and watch and listen to the waters. One teenage boy as us to PAY him to swim across....WHAT?? One it was dangerous and two its not good to pay these people because there a lot of people begging around us and it creates a ripple effect. So we repeated the word Nada = NO in Uganda. We also watched some guy kayak through the rapids and turn over and get themselves right side up again...... crazy to watch and I would not ever do that. Im not scared of much but being held under water or potentially drowning is a fear. I have been white water rafting once back home in Tennessee and I fell out of the raft and since then Im a NO on rafting!

Next we heading to Adrift for ONE MORE ADVENTURE!!! Which do you think Josh and I did??

A. Ride a cow

B. White water raft

C. Bungee Jump

D. Hold an Anaconda

WELL..........................................

It was letter C!!!

Yes, Josh and I bungee jumped over the Nile River! It was AMAZING and such an awesome experience. A true adrenaline rush :) Josh was in once he knew I was going to do it, I know mom reading this probably scares you...... but I am alive and well and NO back pain! Josh tried to convince me not to but I was stubborn! The guy mentioned people with joint, knee, back problems to wear a full body harness but I would have to be careful and push the bungee cord away from my neck to avoid a noose. So i went with the ankle harness (most used!) The tower was about 300 feet (3 times higher than in the US) above the water...... such a great view. We climbed up the stairs and got set up for the jump. I went first because I knew then Josh would HAVE to go or he would never live it down. I scooted my feet to the edge and swan dived off!!!! I was just a few inches from finger tips touching the Nile, we Josh jump he went into the water to his shoulders...... such a GREAT experience to share together in Africa and on my birthday (the first time I bungeed was on my 21st bday at the beach).

Once we got back to Kampala we headed to Sozo orphanage to eat dinner with the kids. We we got there the power was out so we were all hanging out with lanterns. We ate beef and rice and it was yummy. I dont think Josh and I were expecting to eat this GOOD while we were here! But the food has been great! We played with the kids for a little bit after dinner(they cleaned up after themselves and the table and swept the floors!) and watched them get ready for bed and have devotional! These kids are so HAPPY and are in a great place to live now.

One of our new friends David (Dowdy) has made some great and accurate observations of Josh. He told me the other day, "Hey Claire, I like yall together. Josh, he is out there but you help bring him down!" Sounds like the Josh I know..... But it makes me happy!

We are heading back to Sozo tomorrow to hang out for the whole day! I will post pictures soon of kids. There are still several kids who need sponsorship in order to provide three meals a day, school for each child, housing, etc. If anyone is interested in helping any of the kids or want to consider it and would want more info let me know! Some people may not be able or willing to GO but may feel in their heart to GIVE!!!

One last thing..... David who has been our primary driver this week joined us to Jinja but as a passenger. Eddie was our driver today (same driver that picked us up from the airport when we arrived). Let me just day that he drives CRAZY, it literally was a game of chicken swerving in and out all day long. I think the driving made me more nervous then the bungee jump :) I looked down at one point and the speedometer read 110!!!! Not 100% sure if thats mph or in kilometers. Either way it was FAST! Oh and they drive on the opposite side of the road.

Pics from Day 4

Today started out kinda rough for me..... I woke up not feeling so great. Had a really bad headache and kinda felt quesy. So I got up, took a shower, Josh was sweet and made me toast, took some Ibuprofen and laid down for a bit. Thankfully we had planned a later start for the morning so I was able to rest on the couch for about an hour. I think jet lag and me not drinking water was the cause, but no worries I feel great now! We left the house around 10:30-10:45 and head to the boat docks.... I dont think Josh and I knew then traveling adventures we had in store for us ahead! Once we made it to the docks by car, we walked to the boat docks and took a wooden boat across Lake Victoria in order to make it to the Bethany House. We were on the boats for about 15-20 minutes. It was fun, great scenery, and cool breeze! But the doctors from America had warned our friends not to put any parts of our bodies in Lake Victoria because its filled with parasites. So when the boat would hot some of the choppy water and splash us you should of seen your faces.... we all had our eyes and mouths clenched shut! I bet to the drivers we looked ridiculous but thats better that having parasites :) Once we made it across Josh and I FINALLY got to experience the Boda Boda's = motorcylce taxis!!! This was lots of FUN! We have a picture above of Josh and I with the driver on our Boda, yes there are three adults that ride one motorcycle and NO helmets. Thats the first thing i asked about but barely anyone has them and Im not so sure I would want to necessarily share a helmet with tons of people. We rode the motorcycle for 10 min ore so and finally arrived to the Bethany House. We went to see this house that has transformed this orphanage into a self sufficient community with help of sponsorships. Jay, Allen, and Carrie wanted to show us this place because this is the long term dream/goal for Sozo orphanage. There are 15 homes on the property, each house has 10-15 kids and a house mom. There is also a school, medical clinic, and church. They teach the kids agriculture and how to raise animals and slaughter them to be more self sufficient. It was amazing to see how the sponsorships from people in the USA had provided for this community and that these kids were being raised in Christian homes, schools, and churches and being taught how to provide for themselves once they are old enough to leave. Its not just about giving them stuff and money but teaching them how to be effective and efficient people within their city and country. It was neat to see the goal that lies ahead for Sozo and now with a clear image we can help share the vision and hopefully help raise support for the children of Uganda.

After the Bethany house we Boda backed to the docks and then rode the boat back to land. Next we Boda Boda on the streets.... a little different then riding one on the dirt road like we had earlier. Riding on the dirt roads was more like a dirt bike or four wheeler but only 2 wheels. Riding on the actual rode was a little scary to be quite honest. The cars just swerve a lot and are aggressive so Josh and I held on tighter. We made it back to the Bridge house for lunch safely!

After we ate, we headed to the ATM and then to visit the Watoto Baby Home. Oh my goodness, these children melted my heart!!! This house is absolutely beautiful and such a blessing to the 200 + kids there. Most of these kids have been abandoned. There was one room for preemies and newborns in isolettes.....there were 8 babies in this room. The smallest weighed 4 lbs, SO tiny. Then we went to the room with babies 3months to a year or so. This room had 15-20 babies in it. I got to hold a little girl..... we couldnt quite figure out her name. One person told me Alpha, another said Sasha. Then we went to the clinic room where there are the kids who need extra care because of medical problems or malnutrition. I got to hold twin brothers named Melvis and Kelvis, they were a year old (about the same age as my niece) and they weighed 12-14 lbs. VERY SMALL. Then there was a special little boy that had a lot of medical problems and most of them are unknown. They have sent several lab test to Europe to try and get better answers. His name is "Big Joe", he is one year old and weighs 40+lbs. He has a seizure disorder and is in chronic pain. He was in his crib and SCREAMING, so I of course asked to pick him up. I just swayed with him in my arms (eventually had to sit and rock bc he's a big boy!) and sang to him. He fell asleep for a bit but would wake up crying. I looked at Josh and said that I wish that I could take him home. Such a special baby boy! I will post pictures soon of the kids at Watoto. I wish we had more time to spend there. It is a wonderful place.

Next we headed to the markets to finish our shopping for our families and friends!!! The market was tons of fun, they had great authentic African stuff and you can bargain with the vendors! We got lots of good stuff! We left and fought traffic home showered and then headed to dinner.

We all (David, Alfred, Carrie, Allen, Jay, Mason, Kathryn, Tori, Josh and I) went to dinner for an early birthday celebration because Jay and Allen are leaving in the morning for Kenya. We went to Cafe Roma (Italian restaurant) and it was yummy! I had pasta, Josh got pizza and we shared. Everyone was SO sweet to sing happy birthday to me and pay for my dinner it was a great way to start off tomorrow! Im am so thankful to be here with such great old friends and new friends!

Once we were home sweet Carrie and Josh made me a birthday cake (strawberry and butter cream icing!)..... well sorta! Its totally the thought that counts..... but after only 7-8 minutes in the top of the cake was black. But once we turned it over there was part of the cake perfectly cooked and part that was still runny batter?? Dont know what happened but the finished part was YUMMY and I was so grateful for their thoughtful efforts.... Love yall!

Now we are just hanging out at home, Alfred is teaching Josh how to play an African instrument and they we are being serenaded with worship music by the boys! Another wonderful wonderful day, thank you LORD!

Day three in Africa....Amazing!

Today started off with a little souvenir shopping for friends and family! We went to the ATM twice! Our USA money hasn't gone as far as expected, but i think its because I get carried away with shopping for people! Josh would say I got carried away A LOT..... but he bought 8 dvd movies for $2.50 each. We had to run a few errands after that, had lunch at the house (rice, beans, beef, and avocados) and then we headed back to Rays of Hope for children's worship/devotion they have every Wednesday. This was one of the most amazing experiences of the week..... and once we arrived in Uganda Sunday night they informed Josh that we would be giving a quick 10 min message to the kids on Wednesday. So he has spent some time each morning & night preparing. He was a little nervous at first not knowing what to expect but once we arrived we were welcomed and the kids were so excited by that point he was happy & ready! Let me remind you that this school is in the middle of the slums..... dirt roads (with trash, dead animals, sewage, etc running down it) most houses are one room sheds with holes in the roofs; beyond description of America poverty. So we go into a classroom for the service with 200 kids. The kids worship team line up front and start singing...... They started to sing AMERICAN worship songs (Lord I lift your name on high, My redeemer, I will exalt thee, trading my sorrows.....all in English); songs we sing back home at Highlands..... AMAZING. There were 3 boys on African drums and the kids had more energy and excitement to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! It was greater than any worship service I have ever witnessed and these praises to our God were coming from kids who were ages 6-12..... WOW. These are children that have basically NOTHING but still can find joy in their hearts to worship. It seems backwards..... they have tons of things that come from this world that could leave them saddened, bitter, or angry but yet they can CHOOSE to sing PRAISES in the midst of their circumstances. In the midst of nothing, they give thanks, in the midst of nothing, they continue to smile, in the midst of nothing, they are hopeful, in the midst of nothing, they reach out and hug strangers, in the midst of nothing, they still know and hold on to the fact that they are CHILDREN of the everlasting God and that truth is what provides them with such amazing JOY! After singing and dancing for a while Joel, the director, put me on the spot to introduce myself and speak.....wasnt prepared (like Josh) nor expecting that. Public speaking isnt my most favorite thing. I basically stood up and introduced myself and thanked them for having us and spoke some about the music and how we sing the same songs back home..... I wanted to let them know that witnessing their worship was a humbling experience and I was honored. Then it was Josh's turn to speak...... He chose to speak on God's unfailing, unconditional, and unstoppable Love. He did such a WONDERFUL job and the kids enjoyed his message and words of encouragement. I have some of the worship songs with the kids and Josh's message on video.... I dont think that my words could describe it well enough. I think Josh would agree with me that this by far has been the highlight of the week to be united and worship with fellow believers across the world.

I need to back up to earlier in the day when we were running errands to explain the next little adventure...... On Monday I saw a little boy named Eddie who had a lazy eye and I told Joel that I would find or make a patch to bring back today. I can cover his strongest eye with the patch to force him to use the weaker eye so it can hopefully get stronger! I didnt think it would be that HARD to find either a patch at a pharmacy or something make shift such as a bandana. Well after asking around and searching many stores I came across nursing pads, I know that may sound weird but they are the PERFECT size!!! Kinda funny but it worked, well that is with some super glue, tape and a shoes string :) In Africa sometimes you have to be a little creative to get what you want! The supplies may sound silly but we made a patch..... thankfully the team coming next week will bring a real patch from the states!!! We made sure to explain to Eddie what we were doing and how to wear it and his teachers and sister will help him. It broke my heart to leave this group today because with our schedule we will not be able to make it back..... Josh and I have been blessed by these kids!

Once we left the slums it was close to dark so we headed back to Garden City to watch the U.S.A play Algeria in the World Cup..... as you probably know soccer is called football here and is a pretty big deal. Jay was sporting his U.S.A. jersey and we (Josh, Carrie, Allen, Jay, Tori, Kathryn, Mason, Maureen, David, and Joel) sat around at a place called Alleygators (not a typo) to watch the game. Im not sure if anyone back home watched it but USA won 1-0 in the last 2 minutes of the game!!! It was very exciting, especially since we were playing an African team. Never thought I could get into soccer that much!!!! Proud to be an American :)

Next adventure was BOWLING, thats why the restaurant is called ALLEYGATORS because there is a bowling alley in the back. We split up in teams (Josh and I played terrible & of course this didnt make Mr.Competitive very happy!!) But he accepted the defeat. I ended up in last place, it was actually David's 1st time to ever play and he beat me :( I usually play decent but not tonight! After bowling we all, SEVEN of us, piled into the car. Not such a good idea because the traffic police pulled us over for having too many people in the car. We thought we were going to be in BIG trouble like Uganda jail kinda trouble. Thankfully we just got a ticket, but a very pricey one 80,000 shillings = $40 USD. We all split the cost to help David get it paid and his license back..... we are thankful to be home safe and sound!

Another funny thing to mention as Im typing this blog, David (our driver) walked back into the house and gave me my wallet which had fallen out in the car. We have some amazing and trustworthy people helping us out this week and who will always be our friends!!!!

Josh and his shaved head!!!

Day two in Africa!

Today has been another eventful and fun day! We woke up and had breakfast and Josh and I heading to Wentz Medical Clinic (the picture above is the hallway where they keep pediatric inpatients there). The had 5 inpatients there today (3kids and 2 adults). We got a quick tour of the clinic (thanks to Faith one of the administrators) and then I observers with some of the doctors who taught me about tropical medicine and the types of illnesses they primarily see in Africa. All three of the kids that were inpatients were there for malaria. I saw two patients with typhoid, some coughs/cold, miscarriage, and skin stuff. It amazing to see how tough these people are. While I followed them around in the clinic, Josh helped at the reception desk..... the pictures of us above are with a little girl named Shalom. The receptionist brings her little girl to work so she was behind the counter with Josh. This was a big source of entertainment for both the almost two year old and Josh!!! I have some video footage on my phone of them interacting and she mocked everything he did.... It was precious. I took some breaks from the clinic rooms and played and read to Shalom. By the end we got her talking and smiling more. So then David (Dowdy.... its how we say David in Ugandan) came and picked us up and we headed to the orphanage. The kids we SO excited to see us, they ran up to the car calling us Muzunga"s (white people) because they didnt know our names yet. We unloaded the car with our suticases of donated stuff for the kids. Then the FUN began! After sorting by size we played dress up with the girls to try stuff on and see what fit which girl. Meanwhile Josh kept the boys entertain outside with the new nerf basketball and rim and footballs! The had lots of fun and loved Josh, who is a big kid at heart!!! Next we dressed the boys in there new clothes, it was too funny! I thought they wouldn't want to stop playing to try on clothes but they stripped down and started dancing around and the sight of new clothes..... WOW what dose of reality. Each boy got a BRAND new shirt plus donated clothes. Allen made a comment that it was the first time that they had ever had a brand new piece of clothing and they saw the tags and smiled :) My heart sank but also filled with joy that God blessed me in that moment to witness something so simple yet beautiful. These kids are incredibly grateful and gave us all hugs and told us how much they liked the stuff and thanks over and over! Its hard to imagine to go back home to my overfilled closet of clothes that still have the tags on some stuff and not want to give more. I wish I could of brought a million suitcases full of clothes and supplies. After we handed out the stuff in the suitcases we all went outside to witness Josh SHAVE his head.....Yes you read this right! There will pictures to follow..... David (Dowdy) cuts all the guys hair and charges $2.50, Josh paid him $5! He did a good job and to be honest I actually kinda like it..... I mean I am partial to long hair but dont blame him for wanting to do it while we are in Africa. Josh said he decided to do it because he wanted to be like the kids..... He is ALWAYS a kid a heart & it will probably never change! After hanging out a little more at the orphanage we changed clothes and went into town. Its not too safe here to get out and serve at night time in the outskirts/slum so Carrie has been wonderful to plan fun stuff for us to do at night and experience "city life" in Uganda. We went to the area called Garden City (traffic was BAD it took us 1.5hrs to go 10 miles or so!) and had dinner at a restaurant called Spur. Josh had steak (for CHEAP!) and I had a hamburger...... All SAFE food for us to eat. Then we went to the movie theater and saw Prince of Persia. It cost $4! Still didnt beat the dollar movie on Lorna Road in Bham :) After the movie we went to a place called I heart NY for dessert..... YUMMY! Josh and I shared a cinnabun! I also bought a piece of red velvet cake to go..... its a little more than a piece its like a 4th of a cake!!! Oh and African Mountain Dew is TONS better than American Mtn Dew (Dad you would love it!!). Our night ended we headed home and just hung out..... We have lost power the last two nights. Tonight it was out for almost an hour, but we had candles!

I dont think I have talked much lately about Uganda driving and the roads.....SCARY!!! Carrie describes as a video game and Josh proceeded tonight to describe it as Nascar with a lot of the game Chicken being played.....very true! They have round abouts here in the road (loops) and he described them as aggressive bumper cars + merry-go-round! But we made it home safely. Thursday we get to experience a Boda ride which is a motorcycle taxi.....Should be interesting!

The picture of Carrie and I above is us preparing and cooking dinner Monday night for 14 people! Pasta Alfredo with sausage..... it was yummy! Carrie is SO good at making Alfredo sauce homemade.....even in Africa!

The top picture is of me and the little girl I blogged about earlier. Her name is Joan and she is deaf and mute..... her smile is contagious and melts your heart!

I think this picture of Josh and these two boys at the school is just precious!

Cant wait for day 2.... this week is going to fly by.

Oh and we are called Muzunga's = white people. Thats what they call us, at least the strangers off the street. The kids at the orphanage call us Auntie Claire and Uncle Josh

Our first day in Africa!

So today has been a a wonderful day. We got a great nights rest, woke up and got showered, Alfred made us breakfast(toast, boiled eggs, pineapple, and bananas), and then David picked us up to drive us around for the day. Looking back on it we are living in complete luxury in comparison to those around us. I feel guilty that I don't have enough resources to help each person I meet. But I must remained focused on the help we are doing and the impact it is making on these peoples lives.

There will be pictures to come soon I hope, but as Patrick describes the internet here is the "World Wide Wait!" So its hard to upload lots of pictures at once

Our day so far.....

Once we left the house we went into town to exchange our money for the week into Shillings. One hundred US dollars equaled 190,000 shillings. So you feel like you have LOTS and LOTS of money because they had you bills in increments of 10,000. After that we headed to the school where we spent about 5 hrs painting and visiting with the kids. We did a primer coat and two coats of robin egg/ smurf blue (pictures to come!) They loved it and so did we!!! It made the rooms more bright and cheerful. I also had the opportunity to hand out toothbrushes and toothpaste to the kids. We are planning to go back on Wednesday. The team plans to walk through the village and visit with the families and Joel wants me to do wound care and treat acute care issues. There is also a little boy with lazy eyes. I am going to get a patch made for him to use and strengthen his eye muscles. There was another little girl we met that hung out in the room with us ALL day! Her name was Joan and she is deaf and mute...... she was the sweetest thing ever and had a constant smile on her face. The communication was hard but she understood most hand gestures. She melted my heart, in the middle of painting we were listening to the kids playing and singing and I looked at Josh and was like you realize that she (Joan) cannot hear any of this we are listening to. He world is ABSOLUTE silence, I could not imagine. But she walked around happy, helpful (picking up paint brushes wanting to paint too) and living her life! That is a way to live! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be THANKFUL in all circumstances, for this is God's will for those who belong to Christ Jesus."

It was an GREAT day and a WONDERFUL way to start our week...... we left the school (one of the cars had broken down, humorous!) we headed to the store to buy a souvenir and get groceries! We are cooking dinner for 12-14 people at the house: pasta alfredo, bread, and fruit! Yum! I feel immensely blessed to of been given this opportunity to experience a week here! God is good

We are in AFRICA!!!!

We landed in Entebbe Uganda last night around 8 pm (which is noon Alabama time).

We are in Uganda....... YAY!!! It took at little to get our visa but getting through security/customs wasn't too bad! Plus ALL our bags made it..... such a PRAISE! We loaded up all our bags on a cart, walked through the doors and we're greeted by 3 familiar faces..... Carrie, Jay, and Allen! What a happy moment to be greeted with big hugs by our friends. We had MADE it! We loaded up the car, and headed to the place we will be staying for the next week. They filled us in on our a week full of activities..... we are going to have an amazing week ahead of us. The ride into Kampala was a crazy one, Jay and Allen suggested that Josh sit up front with our driver Eddie. That was funny, I don't think I have ever witnessed Josh Lawford so QUIET...... I think he was praying for safety and just to make it to the Bridge house alive! He hasn't had the opportunity to experience international third world driving, it is a a WILD ride!

So we dropped Jay off at the orphanage, Allen at his apartment, and then Josh, Carrie, and I headed to the mission house..... called Bridge house! It is very nice and spacious. Carrie and I are sharing a room and Josh had his own room. We have a security guard outside and Alfred who stays here at the house with us. Alfred is one of the nicest guys..... Josh and him hit it off immediately and watched soccer together. We sorted through all our luggage and separated out the clothes, shoes, medicines, and toys to take to the kids! Tomorrow we are planning on going to a school in Caba Nagala (spelling??). We are going to be painting some of the classrooms and doing stuff around the school. A guy named Joel, a local Ugandan, started this school for kids in the slums. Most of these kids are poorly taken care of and have bad family situations or no families at all. Joel is paying for all these kids to get the opportunity to go to school. So we are going to go spend time there tomorrow and help out at the school..... I am very excited about the week ahead of us!!!!

Leaving Amsterdam- 6/20/2010

This post is a few days late..... transitioning to Africa it took some time to get internet. But thanks to Patrick, we will have more regular accesss!

OUR DAY so far.....

So Josh and I were really ready to start our journey to Uganda. Check out wasn't so smooth at the Sheraton this morning, for some reason in Europe they like to add surcharges to everything, I mean everything! We felt like our patience was being tested and tried..... And I just had to bite my tongue at times. Then we proceeded through to the checkin process at the airport and again we reached a point where the lady wanted to make us check our carry-ons..... that wasn't possible. We had two bags a piece. One of my bags had ALL my electronics (laptop, kindle, ipod, nikon camera) and the other bag had all our medicines and toiletries for the week. I had managed to get all my personal belongings into 2 carry-on size bags. On my Guatemala trip last fall one of my bags never made it (same airline we are flying now) so I was hesitant to hand it over. We basically followed her directions to the counter only to find a man behind a desk. I explained our situation and he was totally cool and told us that we could proceed on to the gate with two bags a piece. This guy was by far the nicest person we had come in contact with this morning. I didn't want to have to rearrange and unpack stuff in the middle of the airport. Plus risk one some of our bags not making it. PLEASE pray that our 4 previously checked bags (that we checked in back in Bham) make it as well. We haven't seen them in 48hrs but have been assured their destination is Entebbe...... These bags are the most important because its stuff we have brought for the kids! Praying that they will be waiting on us at the airport.

So we finally make it to our gate, get some breakfast and coffee. Josh met another not so nice person in the store where he wanted to buy more water. She basically refused to sell it to him because he had left his boarding pass behind with me and as he describes it she was plain rude.

Thankfully we were greeted in line to board the plane by three different mission teams.... It was so nice to see their smiling faces and to talk about the different work that each team will be doing in Uganda. The Lord is moving in mighty ways! And its cool to see dozens of people from all over the USA with the same heart to travel across the world to share the gospel and the love of Christ. This got me very pumped, after hours and hours of travel we were about to board the plane to the last leg of the trip out there!!!! Regardless of the minor bumps we had this morning to get to our gate, it was settling in that we were almost to Africa to serve our Lord. Ever since my first mission trip during college in 2003, this has been a huge part of my heart..... loving those in need and traveling to the ends of the earth. On our flight it has a tracking device with a map to show you how fast we are flying and the distance. I calculated and once we land in Uganda we would of traveled 8, 500 miles!!! Wow, thats a lot of miles......its 17,000 miles roundtrip.

FAITH:

I have started a bible study called Faithful, Abundant, and True by Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore, The first section talks about Faith and finding rest in our faith. When you think about rest in the midst of our busy lives its sometimes hard for us to just stop rest and have complete trust in Him. In Hebrews 11 it states "Faith is the CONFIDENCE that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us ASSURANCE about things we cannot see. Through their faith the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the ENTIRE universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen." Hebrews 11:1-3. Then it goes on to list examples of people in the bible who placed their faith and trust in the Lord (Noah and the ark, Abraham leaving his home and obeying God, Sarah trusting that the Lord would fulfill his promise and bare her a child, etc.) Jesus Christ is the author and perfecter of our faith and regardless of life circumstances He makes all things work together for the good of those who hope and rest in the Lord. Think about the rest you can find by completely surrendering control of your life to Him, all the little details and worries, at times I know its not easy. But His ways, His plans, His purpose is ALWAYS better that anything I could do myself. So what stops us; we have a loving and sovereign Lord who wants us to be so close to him that we can REST in FAITH!

Matthew 13:31 talks about the parable of the mustard seed.

"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is my strength, He makes me as surefooted as a deer able to tread upon the heights." Habakkuk 3:18-19

"Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with FAITHFULNESS. May God's grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 6:23

Happy Fathers Day!

We are actually 7 hours ahead over here in Amsterdam, So it is actually almost 8 a.m. We are getting ready to head to the airport soon, our flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe leaves at 11 a.m. and we will land in Entebbe at 7:50 p.m. (the time difference will then be 8 hrs difference!)

I just wanted to write a quick post and tell my Dad Happy Fathers Day, you are such a wonderful person and I am so thankful to have you as my dad. You and mom have always supported me through the years (even on my crazy travel adventures!) and I am forever grateful. I love you and hope you have a wonderful and relaxing day! Love you to momma and the rest of the family! Love, Claire

Hey this is Josh writing now......

Happy Fathers Day Dad and Happy Birthday Mom. I miss you guys so much and glad that God bless me with awesome parents. I wish yall could have been with us yesterday on our train experience and help us read the foreign languages telling us where to go. We got lucky and bumped into a Canadian couple that helped us or we would have jumped on a train to Helsinki. Anyways hope to se yall soon. Love Always, Josh

God Roept U

After spending just a few hours in Amsterdam, we could tell immediate differences in the culture. Its such a beautiful city with lots of history, charm, and character but some of the things we witnessed here in a short amount of time made my heart sad. When we finished our canal tour, we walked up the stairs and saw this sign on top of this building. from a distance I saw the word GOD. And as I kept reading, I saw that it was also translated in English. This sign brought such joy to my heart. With everything we were witnessing around us this sign illuminated from above..... so simply stated but so abundantly true!

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:10-12

Amsterdam

So we made it to Amsterdam after our 8.5 hr flight. The plane ride from Atlanta to Amsterdam wasnt too bad, I think it helped since it was an overnight flight. They had great movie choices, I watched It's Complicated and Leap Year. Both were cute movies that helped the time go by! Josh watched 2012 and part of Invictus. I got about 2.5-3hrs of sleep. Once we landed we made our way to customs (which was by far the easiest customs process I've ever been through.... not sure if thats a good or bad thing?!?) and then headed to the hotel. It was nice to be able to put our bags down and just lay down for a minute..... but pretty soon after resting we got ready to explore Amsterdam during our quick stay. We made it back to the terminal station, exchanged US dollars into Euro and bought train tickets to take us downtown. Then we quickly realized there were no longer signs written in English so we were on the train platforms trying to get on the right train. I am not fluent in Dutch or German nor do I know how to read the languages....but we managed! Oh, I forgot to mention that its quite chilly at times here and very windy.... and its summer here right now. VERY different from summers in Alabama. After making it to the Central Station downtown we decided to take a canal tour. It was an hour tour boat ride through the canals that took you to see some of the major sites in Amsterdam. Within the first hour of being downtown we met a guy from Colorado and another man on the canal tour with us from Atlanta, Ga..... Small world!! After the tour we walked around for a while and then grabbed some dinner at a restaurant called Pasta Bar. It was yummy, Josh had lasagna and I had pizza. Once we finished eating we decided to head back to our hotel..... the lack of sleep and time change has started to catch up with us. Now we are just taking it easy, maybe watch some soccer (The Netherlands team is playing today so its been very festive!) But mostly rest up for another long flight in the morning. Africa here we come!!!!

Peanut Butter and Fingernail Polish....

After many days of packing and organizing for the trip I would of never thought we would of been stopped through the checkin/security process for PEANUT BUTTER & FINGERNAIL POLISH! Yep, many hours spent strategically packing each checked bag to ensure it wasn't over 50 lbs to avoid a fee. I was on my hands and knees trying to read the scale my sweet neighbor let me borrow (the scale was 58 years old she informed me, she got it as a wedding gift I think!) All of this to not even get our bags weighed on a scale at checkin. The lady just picked them up and said "If I can pick it up its good." Then we find out that in Amsterdam we get to leave our bags checked in at the airport so we don't have to worry with our 4 checked bags during our quick stay!!! Thanks to Mark we were able to get all 8 bags from my house to the airport and all checked in! We appreciate your help and cannot thank you enough.

So our bags are checked and we proceed on through security...... And of course Josh's bags get stopped. She started unpacking both his carry-ons and confiscates a jar of peanut butter (neither of us remember ever packing it in the backpack) and she questions him about the 30 + bottles of little girls fingernail polish!!! Hahaha, it was so funny to watch his face and listen to him explain why it was in his bag. Thankfully she let us keep the nail polish (its for the girls at the orphanage) but the peanut butter was taken :( Josh said that he purposely brought it to the airport for the security people to eat, she just looked at him (like he was crazy....) and was like "sir we don't get to keep the food we confiscate." Then Josh was said "Im glad you stopped me it makes me proud to be an American." Only Josh..... Well, we are only an hour or so into our traveling adventure and have had a few good laughs!!!

Birthday SURPRISE!!!!

We are leaving for Africa tomorrow! I will be celebrating my 29th birthday while I am there. Josh had surprised me over the weekend at my parents and gave me a purse that I really liked at Private Gallery and a sweet card. Then he surprised me AGAIN Tuesday with a Kindle. He gave me the kindle in advance so I could use it while traveling. I am super excited about using it on the airplane. I still need to download some more books! But to top it off, I came home tonight and was TOTALLY surprised to find Josh and some great friends hiding out in my dark house screaming surprise and singing Happy Birthday! To top it off Josh had my absolute favorite cake (TCBY yogurt cake!) with candles for me to make a wish and a balloon. Its been a great week of surprises, I am blessed beyond words!!! I am so happy to be celebrating this birthday in Africa! Above are a few pictures from tonight, Stacey was Josh's accomplice :) I was totally clueless and shocked not expecting to be greeted by people in the dark. I screamed and ran away from my front door until I realized what was going on. THANK YOU for making my birthday so special and celebrating with me in advance!!!

All our bags are packed, we are ready to go!!!

Ok, so we have officially finished packing (or at least I hope so!). Between Josh and I we have EIGHT bags, 8!!! Two carry-ons a piece and four checked bags. I must brag though, we have packed all our personal stuff for 10 days all in our carry-ons. Thats a personal best for me when it comes to packing. That means our checked bags(50lbs a bag=200 lbs total)

are full of stuff for the kids at the orphanage! Thank you to each individual person who has donated items and money. It would not be possible to bless these kids so much without you. I promise to take lots of pictures! Our bags are full of clothes, shoes, socks, toothbrushes/toothpaste, toys, coloring books, OTC medicines, vitamins, first aid stuff, etc. Oh and of course we are bringing some American goodies to our friends Carrie, Jay, and Allen!!! We leave in less than 48 hrs. Our travel out there consist of flying from Birmingham to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Amsterdam. We have a 22hr lay over there so we will get a quick one day tour of Amsterdam (plus sleep in a comfy bed and take a shower)! Then go from Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda!! I'm looking forward to this adventure and so happy to be sharing this trip with Josh!!!

"Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God." 1 John 3:18-19

Thank you!

Above is a picture of Josh and I with Dannah, Cole (middle), and Eli after eating lunch two weeks ago. I wanted to practice posting a picture on the blog and came across this one and wanted to write something about these sweet sweet kids and their parents (Mark and Penny). Josh has known Mark and Penny since he was a kid in Elba growing up. When he decided to move to Birmingham and take this job the Walker family took him in for a while until he got settled into the "big city". Through Josh I have been given the wonderful opportunity to get to know this family. Dannah always welcomes me with the biggest hugs. She has colored me pictures and is waiting for us to get back from Africa to go swimming with them! Cole is a lot like Josh, LOVES music and serenades us a lot! And Eli loves sports and has one of the sweetest smiles :)

Josh and I stopped by there house a few days ago to pick up some clothes that they have graciously donated for us to take to the children in Uganda. We left with four big trash bags full! There is one thing that touched my heart beyond words when we were at there house. When Penny was about to show the clothes they had she also told me that little Dannah had been helping her and hugging on the clothes. I assumed it meant she was going to miss some of "her stuff" that her mom was packing up. Nope, not at all. Penny said that Dannah was hugging them and praying for the kids that will be receiving these clothes. WOW, those sweet actions of love and prayer came from a 5 year old! In the bible it encourages us to take on a childlike faith. Children love easily, laugh often, and forgive readily. In the book of Matthew it talks about children being the greatest among the Kingdom of Heaven.

"About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me." Matthew 18:1-5

This scripture makes me think about the children in the orphanage that I will be spending time with next week. There is something about the heart and spirit of a child. Regardless of their life circumstances behind there sweet smiles you see HOPE, hope that only comes from the Lord.

Still learning how to Blog....

Ok just to clarify, I submitted a post today but for some reason it showed up for Tuesday the 8th. I think it had been saved under a previous draft! Told you it was a work in progress :) We are leaving Friday June, 18th and coming home Monday June 28th! Not too much longer, pictures to come soon!

Here I go....

Ok, I have created this blog in hopes to keep people updated while we are in Africa and also record all the amazing experiences that lie ahead in Uganda! Check back soon :)

This time next week Im leaving for AFRICA!!!

Whew, it has been a CRAZY week! I am very thankful it is the weekend! I have started to pack over the last few days and I have most things at least separated and organized if not packed. Josh and I went shopping at Walmart on Sunday for necessity items for us such as bug spray, sunscreen, protein bars, scentless soap (not easy to find),etc but MOST importantly to get stuff for the 17 plus kids whom I have never met but have already captured my heart. I felt like a kid in a candy store as we circled laps around Walmart for 2 hours picking out things to take to the kids. One of Josh's favorite purchases (I think) is a small nerf basketball and rim to play with the boys. Me, I liked picking out "girlie" things for all the little girls. They all have the heads shaved for lice purposes so I wanted to get them headbands, fingernail polish, and of course pink!!! Then we added to our shopping in Auburn yesterday with a trip to the Dollar Store with my mom. I was in total AWE! This store rocked and EVERYTHING was a $1! Ive been to a dollar store before but this one was huge and had such a variety of stuff!! I will post pictures soon to show you all the stuff we are packing. We have also been very blessed to receive many donations to take with us. Thank you!!!

I feel eternally grateful that God has blessed me SO much. My biggest prayer is that I can show these children and every person that I encounter in Uganda the love of Christ. In the eyes of the Lord there is no race, age, social or financial differences.... there is just abundant grace, mercy, love, and HOPE!

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