Apio Grace

Grace truly lives up to her name. She is a perfect example of how the grace of God can change your life. She always greets you with a smile, open arms and the love of God pouring out of her.

You see, Grace is HIV+, a single mother to two twin boys, and taking care of her sister's four children. Her sister used to live in the north where the twenty plus year long war took place. The rebels came to her village, raped her, and killed her and her husband. Ever since, Grace has been loving her nieces and nephews with the unconditional love that she has received from her Heavenly Father.  

When Grace was four months pregnant with Jacob and Isaac, her husband decided to leave her for his other wives because she was HIV+. But, God has provided for her and protected her two boys which have tested HIV-. Praise the Lord.

Growing up, Grace dreamed of becoming a nurse, but because of her lack of education she wasn't able to fulfill that dream. Grace still wanted to help people though, especially those suffering from HIV/AIDS, so she has been volunteering at the AIDS Information Center in Mbale town to educate others about this deadly disease. Because of her volunteer position, she was not earning an income. IChooseYou has changed that. Grace is now making door mats to provide for her children. Unfortunately, her eye sight is getting worse so she is not able to sew or make beads even though she enjoys doing both.

Grace's gratefulness to the Lord is evident in her life. She praises God for the life she receives everyday even though she has HIV, and she feels extremely blessed that her boys are sponsored and loved by IChooseYou. Please pray that she will be able to save up enough money to buy a plot for her own house so that she no longer has to worry about rent.

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

God's power is made perfect through Grace's weakness. Grace has and is boasting about her weaknesses so God's power can shine through to those around her.

 

What weaknesses can you boast about this weak so God's power can be made perfect through you??

Naduk Jennifer

As a little girl, Jennifer always wanted to become a soldier and fight for her country. Unfortunately, growing up as an orphan prevented her from doing so. She is now forty years old and has been caring for seven kids on her own for the past twelve years since her husband passed away. 

Jennifer is a part of the Karamajong tribe and moved to Namatala from the North thirteen years ago. Jennifer has been able to make a living for herself and her children by making paper beads and knitting table doilies, and she has shared her talent of making paper beads with the rest of the IChooseYou women. Along with making paper beads, she also helps make the door mat, and measures the fabric for sewing.

Jennifer put her trust in God in 2004 and worships at Mbale Presbyterian Church. She asks that you would pray with her for wisdom to understand God's Word and that one day she would be able to buy a place of her own instead of renting. She feels blessed that God chose her to be His child and is grateful for the many talents He has given her. She thanks God daily for Peter's sponsors and the change IChooseYou has made in his life.

Nagit Elizabeth

Elizabeth is nineteen years old and should be giving birth to her first baby anyday now. Elizabeth was married, but her husband had been treating her poorly so she left him and is now on her own.

Elizabeth's brother passed away and his wife left so she's been taking care of his three children, ages 10, 8, and 4, ever since. 

She is from the Karamajong tribe and has been living in Namatala since the age of nine. As a little girl, Elizabeth always dreamed of becoming a doctor, but due to the poor circumstances in Namatala her dream slowly disappeared. Before IChooseYou became a part of her life, she was doing anything she could to find work and was hired by day for random jobs around her area.

Elizabeth became a believer in 2007 and began attending Mbale Presbyterian Church in 2008. She is so grateful for God's provision in her life and her three children. Ever since she has been taking care of her brother's children, they have never been terribly sick and have always had food provided for them. Although none of her children are a part of IChooseYou, she is still able to make a difference in their lives by using the gifts and talents God has given to her to make beads and door mats.

Please pray that Elizabeth would deliver a beautiful and healthy baby. Pray that everything would go smoothly during delivery, and that she would be able to faithfully and lovingly take care of this baby, as well as her other three children.

Naula Annette

Annette is a mother of four children and is taking care of three others. Her husband left about four years ago and married another girl, leaving Annette to take care of seven precious children on her own. 

As a child, Annette wanted to grow up and help her parents dig in the field. Before she became an IChooseYou mom, she had no job and no way of earning income for her family. Each day she would go to the trash piles and search for food to bring home to her kids. 

IChooseYou started sponsoring her second born, Sandra, last year, and because of IChooseYou and Darby, Annette now knows how to sew as a way to support her children. Not only does Annette sew but she also helps to make paper beads and door mats.

In 2009, Annette became a child of God and asks that you would pray with her for her children to grow up as strong Christians and that her faith would be daily strengthened. Pray that God would continue to bless her, and that she would remain faithful to God and the work He has called her to.

She praises God for IChooseYou and the impact they have made in her life and her daughter, Sandra's. She is especially grateful to those who have chosen to sponsor Sandra.

IChooseYou Sewing Ladies

Last year, God sent a beautiful treasure to Uganda, in the form of Darby Burleson, to teach some of the moms of the IChooseYou kiddos how to sew. She began by teaching them how to make pillow cases (large and small). This year, she taught them how to sew over-the-shoulder purses, tote bags, aprons, and dresses. One of the days, I got to spend observing Darby with these ladies, and I came away feeling completely humbled and amazed by her patience, loving kindness, and willingness to serve God in such a tangible and beneficial way.  

You see, before Darby came into these wonderful ladies lives, they were doing anything they could to find work in order to support and feed their families. With the help of Darby, being Jesus' hands and feet, they have now learned a trade that can help to provide an income for their families.

Not only have they learned how to sew, but this year an IChooseYou mom decided to teach the rest of the ladies how to make these beautiful paper beads. I was blown away by their hard work and dedication. Those who can't see well enough to sew are now able to make paper beads.

All of these bead above were made in about a day, and are being dried so they can make them into necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

Seriously, aren't these just way cool! Once again, completely blown away!

BUT, the hard work doesn't stop there. Someone (I have no idea who), taught these ladies how to make door mats out of strands of rope that are beautifully woven together.  Just incredible!

The amazing white woman in the middle of all those beautiful black women, is none other than the great Darby Burleson. One person making a difference in the lives so many others.

These ladies have become a great big family with God as their Father. They have been blessed and are major blessings. Please pray for these women to continue strong with the work they have been given. Pray that they will use their talents to the fullest and bless others daily with the Father's love.

Over the next couple weeks, I'll be posting these ladies stories (hopefully one a day, until they've all been told). Taylor and I were humbled, amazed and blessed by each one of their stories. I could sit and listen to the talk for hours about their testimony. God's hand has been protecting and guiding these women to grow up and become children and servants of His. Please take the time to read their stories and get to know them on a deeper level.

Surgery was a Success!

Thanks for all your prayers!! David's surgery went well. I just cannot wait to see what God has in store for this precious boy! Here are some pictures that I received from Becky the other day.

David after his final surgery! Takin' it like a champ!

David with his mom and dad.

This beautiful family is such a huge blessing to me!

Please pray for continued healing and no complications in the future.

Praise the Lord for this divine appointment and for Becky Ball and IChooseYou for paying for his surgery.

God's got a special plan for this little one!

Mr. Plumpy Nut

Ok so if you've never heard of Plumpy Nut, than go here before reading this post so you know what I'm talking about. 

Then meet Okirori, or Mr. Plumpy Nut, as Taylor and I like to call him, because we can't figure out how to pronounce his name.

(Photo Credit: Taylor VanDuinen)

I noticed him one of the first days of walking through Namatala. First, because he was scared for us to come anywhere close to him. Second, because of his lack of energy and enthusiasm compared to the other kids. And third, because of his thinning hair.

Reasons two and three are both signs of malnourishment. So, I kept my eye out for this little guy, and later on in the week, I was able to measure his upper arm circumference to see how malnourished he really was. He was about two centimeters under the danger zone which didn't surprise me because he's five years old but looks more like two or three.

Before our trip, we had plans with a knock-off company of Plumpy Nut called Cibo for Children to bring over a few suitcases full of this stuff to help malnourished kids. Unfortunately, a few weeks before our trip, something went wrong with their machines, and they were unable to produce anymore for us to bring with us.

So, Taylor and I decided to make some "Plumpy Nut" ourselves with a jar of peanut butter, powdered milk, and vitamins. We gave it to Okirori, and told him to take one vitamin every morning and a spoonful of the peanut butter and powder milk mixture three times a day everyday until it was completely finished.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of him running out of his house with this empty jar of peanut butter held high over his head and smile spread wide across his face. It was by far one of the cutest things I've seen. He was so proud of his accomplishment and looking forward to getting another full jar from us.

Needless to say, by the end of our trip, he was looking much healthier, acting much livelier, and was actually excited to see us.  

(Photo Credit: Taylor VanDuinen)

Love this little boy and the relationship we were able to build with him and his mama.

Please pray for his health and for continued healing over his body. Also pray for his mom. She brews alcohol for a living and as well joins in on nightly drinking going around in Namatala. Pray that Holy Spirit would overcome this family and that we will be able to see them again in heaven one day!

Update on Precious Baby David

Word is that David and his family arrived late to the hospital for his surgery last week, and the doctor decided to leave. So they rescheduled the surgery for today. He went in yesterday for cleaning and prep and stayed overnight in the hospital for the surgery today. It's about 10 pm their time so the surgery hopefully has already happened.

Once again, please be praying for quick healing, strength for the mom and dad, wisdom for the doctors to finish out strong post surgery.

Thank you all for your prayers. God's got a special plan for this family and your prayers are helping in this process. They mean the world to me!

Charcoaled Hand

CAUTION:

Graphic picture below.

Please proceed at your own risk.

We were told of a lady who severely burnt her hand. We were asked if we could look at it to see if there was anything we could do for her. When we arrived at sweet Margaret's place, she was sitting on a bamboo mat with her hand wrapped in several different rags. We asked if she could show us her hand. She slowly peeled back the rags. You can see the pain she's going through just by the expressions on her face. After about the fourth or fifth rag she pulled off she finally revealed to us a severely burnt hand. But this hand was not just burnt....

It was covered in charcoal. Supposedly, the word around the street is that charcoal helps heal burns. At the time we were brought to her we were actually running late for lunch. So we told her we would come back in the afternoon. We asked the villagers around if they could boil us a jerrycan full of water so that we could soak her hand to loosen up the charcoal a bit.

When we arrived back there in the afternoon, we asked them if they could bring us the boiled water and a basin. They responded with, "we didn't boil any water but we can get you some from the well." At this point I was slightly frustrated because we made such a huge point to them of boiling water for us. So I told them, "we have to have boiled water, now we won't have enough time to work on her hand." And they replied with, "why do you need boiled water, you can do the exact same thing with cold water as what you can with hot water. It doesn't need to be hot, she just has to soak her hand." Oh boy...! They obviously had no clue that boiled water meant clean water not just hot water. So I explained to them that the reason we wanted boiled water was because when you boil water it kills all the bugs and germs and makes it clean. Luckily, we had another patient we needed to treat in Namatala so we told them to boil water while we were gone and we would be back to work on her hand.

We had a limited amount of water but did what we could with what we had. The first day we spent about an hour to an hour and a half picking off a good majority of the charcoal, and the second day, we spent another hour getting the remaining charcoal off. It was a grueling and painful process. The smell alone could make you pass out. But Margaret was a trooper the entire time.

The most incredible thing and all glory be to God for this one: she has movement in her fingers, there was blood coming from the burn, and she could feel pain in her hand. Praise the Lord! These are all very good signs towards recovery. From the looks of her hand the first day, I would have guessed that she would not have full mobility in her hand. Because the burn was around her entire wrist and half way up her fingers, the chances of movement is slim. But, God is still in the miracle business and He has been healing her hand.

Please pray for continued healing over Margaret's hand. Also pray for Margaret and her family's salvation. The last Sunday we were there, her and a few others from her "hut cluster" came to church. 

Another HUGE prayer request for her and her family, as well as the rest of Namatala, is for their need for alcohol. Margaret got this wound from being drunk. She walked into her hut one night, completely drunk, while her kid was boiling water. She knocked over the boiling water and it poured all over her hand. Namatala becomes a very dangerous area at night because of all the people drinking and smoking. Pray that Satan would be removed from this area and that God's light would shine through to all the people there. Pray that the adults would be an example to the younger generation and fight this problem of alcoholism. Also pray for those who are brewing this alcohol as a source of income. Pray that God would provide another way for them to support their families.

A Godsend

Please be praying for this precious baby today.

His name is David.

A.K.A. Loru

When David was born, he had no way of going poop, so this was a temporary solution to that problem. He was supposed to have it completely fixed seven months ago, but the family didn't have enough money to have the operation done. That's where Becky Ball, founder of I Choose You, stepped in. People in the U.S. had donated extra money for Becky to use however she felt led, and God led her straight to this precious little boy.

Becky used that money to bless this family with the gift of life to their little boy. Without this surgery David would not live much past the age of five. Thankfully, God directs our paths in just the right ways at exactly the right times.

On June 7, David had his first of two surgeries to correct his intestines, check for infection, and make a whole in his butt for the poop to pass. Eight weeks later, they were to schedule the second surgery to close up the hole on his abdomen, re correct the intestines and make sure the poop would pass through to the hole in his butt.

Eight weeks later is TODAY. Pray for this precious family as they put their one-year-old baby boy through a grueling surgery. Pray that they would trust in the Lord with all their heart. Pray that the surgery would go smoothly, with no infection and no problems. Pray for wisdom for the doctors. Pray that this little boy would grow up to be a leader in his community testifying about the great work the Lord has done in his life. The surgery will be going on while we're sleeping tonight. So please lift them up before your head hits the pillow tonight and first thing when you wake up tomorrow morning.

He's already happy as can be, and I praise God for that daily. The whole family accepted Jesus as their Savior and have been faithfully attending church. The dad used to be a Muslim but when we talked to him about Jesus, he said, "I have seen the LIGHT. I once was a Muslim, but I know it is wrong and I need Jesus." WOW! That just blew me away and still does. I had the privilege of leading both the mom and the dad in the sinners prayer on two different days. Taylor and I were able to build an awesome relationship with this family. They were definitely the highlight of my trip, and I wish so badly I could be with them as they prepare for this surgery. But I am at peace knowing that God is with them and that is enough.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!

They mean the absolute world to me!

Two Very Special People

These two beautiful people are Regina and Brian.

(Photo credit: Brandi Silva)

Regina is originally from northern Uganda. Leaving her husband behind, she made the rather 'expensive' journey and grueling six plus hour bus ride to visit family in Namatala a little over six months ago. Shortly after arriving in Namatala, she fell sick of what they assumed to be malaria. And for the past six months, precious Brian has been doing his best to take care of Regina.

When we first met Regina, she was slowly crawling out of her hut using as much of the little strength that she had. Someone had brought us to her to pray healing and peace over her. Everyday, we would go back to visit these two precious people praying that God would remove the malaria and bring her back to full strength. At the time, we had no idea she had been sick for six months, and at the time, we thought, oh it's just malaria, she'll be healed shortly.

Two weeks later, she was a lot worse off than before. She could hardly move and had no strength at all to even sit up. So I investigated. I got the facts of her sickness to try to figure out what it really was that was affecting her. And this is when I found out that everyday for the past six months she had been fighting this sickness. And this is when I realized, there's no way this could be malaria.

You see, because malaria is so prevalent in Uganda every one's automatic conclusion when anyone is sick is that they have malaria. So they go to the doctor (if they can afford it) and ask for medicine for malaria without even knowing the real diagnosis to their sickness. And when they don't respond to the medicine, they still think it's malaria and the medicine just isn't working for them this time.

I informed Regina that she most certainly didn't have malaria because none of her symptoms matched those of malaria. In fact, she was severely dehydrated and completely starving. We learned that Brian would go to the trash piles everyday looking for food to eat or something that he could sell in order to buy food. Anything that he would find would go straight to Regina. Now, in Namatala this is a very common thing. A lot of kids go digging through the rubbish pits looking for anything for them and their families to survive on.

Ok now I just want you to stop for a second and put yourself in Regina's shoes. You're sick and have been for months. You have no food, no water and absolutely no way of getting any. Your seven year old son goes to the trash piles everyday and digs for something, anything, for you to eat. When he finds something, which is rare, he brings it home for you, not keeping anything for himself. You're starving and so is he, but he won't stop trying to take care of you. Your his responsibility now.         Can you even imagine??

Please pray for Regina and Brian. Regina is still sick but is now a child of God. Praise the Lord! Brian is still faithfully taking care of Regina and goes to church every Sunday with a beautiful smile on his face. They both need strength and the love of God to carry on. God is a God of miracles and I know he can help and heal these two. Your prayers are huge!