Baby Pick-Up

I had an awesome time picking up the babies!! I went with a girl here named Annaliese. We left Monday at 9:30AM from Jinja and arrived in Mbarara at 6:00 that night. On the way we stopped at the equator, took a couple pictures and got some chips and guacamole and a chai smoothie (tastes nothing like the chai we have!). We stayed at a missionary's home which was really awesome. The mom and dad are named Scott and Emily and they have six kids, the two youngest are adopted from here. The kids are so well behaved and stinking adorable. We talked for a while before eating dinner. She made us spaghetti and bread which was absolutely delicious. Afterwards, they always have the guests tell a story about themsleves so I told them about me getting stuck in the couch. They thought it was awesome. After the story, they made brownies, which were absolutely amazing, and coffee for us and they actually had french vanilla creamer! It was so great! We stayed up talking for a little while longer than went to bed. In the morning, they made us tortillas, eggs, and gravy. It was going to be biscuits and gravy but their stove wasn't working so we had tortillas instead. I was so happy to have that food! I can' wait to get back and have my moms home cooked meals every night (or anyone elses for that matter)!!! After breakfast Annaliese, Emily and I went to the Mbarara Hospital to find the Social Worker who would help us with getting the babies. When we arrived, she wasn't there yet but a guy in the office told us that there was a mom who was brought to the hospital on Sunday unconscience with her baby boy by random people. She went into a coma Monday night and died Tuesday morning so there was another baby that we were able to take if we could. Before we heard about this baby, I was going to be able to name one baby and Annaliese was going to be able to name the other baby but when we found out about this one, she remembered that I had a second name so we ended up naming one Eric and one Christopher and the other one is named Caleb. I was so excited! The youngest baby (Eric) is 6 weeks and was born premature and abandoned by his mother. Tiniest little baby that I've ever seen in my entire life! I honestly have no clue how it's still alive! The second youngest baby(Caleb) is two months, he was also abandoned by his mother and has a skin problem. We think it's just because he hasn't been bathed but we'll see. The oldest is Christopher! Stinking happiest baby ever! He's so adorbable and loves to laugh. He's seven months old and has a scar from a burn right about his left ear. So once we picked up the babies, we had to go to court to get documents signed and stamped by the magistrate. Easiest process I think I'll ever see to be able to take a baby. After, we went back to the hospital to get a birth certificate for one of the babies. Once we finished, we went back to the house, grabbed our stuff, and headed to the supermarket to get baby formula, diapers and an extra bottle before leaving to go back to Jinja. When we were just standing around at the hospital waiting for documents and things to get done, random Ugandan women would come up to us and say "thank you so much for what you are doing, you are such a blessing to these babies and to us, God bless you!" It was awesome to see how happy they were to see us pick up a few babies! So we drove 8 hours back to Jinja today with three babies. They were all perfect angels in the car and barely ever cried. It was so great. If I could I would go pick up babies everyday it was such a blessing and awesome experience!!!

Recap of My First Two Weeks in Africa

I apologize for not writing more often. I haven't had much access to the Internet so it's been hard trying to write on this. For now I'm just going to write on my first two weeks to let everyone know how that went. I'll write about the rest of my trip later because I am short on time.

First off, I'm going to start with writing about how much I enjoyed our team. It was awesome to see so many people from so many different places come together and serve our Lord. Everyone was such an encouragement to me and I enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them. I also really enjoyed getting to see "newbies" share the love that I have with the Ugandan people. We could not have had a better team put together! It was awesome!

Our church plant was actually named Busiu (a little mix up in communication) so for the week we went out around the Busiu village sharing the Gospel with anyone who wanted to hear. It is so humbling to come here and be able to share the love of God and not be judged or looked down on because you are a Christian. Because I came here with a cold, my first day out hut-to-hut I went with Bekah Kennedy just in case I didn't have the strength or ability (because of my cough) to keep going. The day was great Bekah shared with most everyone and while she was sharing, I was coughing like crazy. The one house I shared out God kept me from coughing and I was able to present the Gospel with no interruptions. The rest of the week, I went hut-to-hut with Vicki and our two translators Charles and Roger. Each day was such a blessing because I was able to share words of encouragement to the believers and share Jesus with the non-believers. In between huts, we got to know our translators and fellowship with them. We found out that Roger came to know the Lord the first year we went hut-to-hut at Angalia! Such an encouragement and such a blessing!

The two best days for me were Thursday when I went to schools and the second Monday when we were able to go back to Kerekeren, a church we planted last year. On Thursday, we went to three schools. The first school was primary and the last two were secondary. To my surprise I enjoyed the secondary schools a lot more than the primary schools. I really feel God has been burdening my heart for the teenagers this year and to turn my focus more to them than the kids. The first secondary school we went to was not expecting us and was a Muslim based school. Because they weren't expecting us, it took a while for us to convince them to let us visit them. God worked a miracle and they allowed us to come in even though it was their lunch break and there would not be many kids. After we finished our testimonies and the lesson, we had an altar call. It took quite a while for the first kid to stand up and come forward to confess that he had accepted Christ. It was awesome to see the boldness he had to show his new found love for the Lord. The second secondary school we went to was a Christian school so it was awesome to be able to fellowship with believers! We had enough time before and after testimonies and the lesson to be able to talk with the kids which was such an amazing experience just to get to know them, to find out their likes and dislikes, what they wanted to do after secondary school, what their favorite subject was. I enjoyed it so much! It was such a great day to experience the Lord's work in such a different way!

My day at Kerekeren was by far the best. My heart has been so burdened for the people around this village and I am so blessed to be able to know these wonderful people. There was a little girl last year that I really connected with. I spent everyday with her just hanging out and playing with her. My one prayer request this year was to be able to see this little girl again and be reunited with her. I stepped out of the van and an overwhelming feeling came over me! My translator and his wife found me and greeted me with their new baby boy! I was so grateful to see them again. While catching up with them, Taylor came up to me holding my little girl in her arms. Immediately tears of joy came rushing out of my eyes! I was so excited to see her! She's just as beautiful as I remembered her. I was able to meet her dad which was so great for me because now I know she's not an orphan! God answered my prayers and made me the happiest girl ever! I was so blessed to be able to spend the day with her and love on her.

It is so awesome to see the work God is doing here in Uganda and that He has chosen me to serve Him here. God has blessed me beyond belief with the opportunity to be here and love on the Ugandan people. I praise God everyday for how great and powerful He is. None of this could be done without Him.

Africa!

Sorry for not updating lately. I have been very busy playing with kids and sharing Jesus with His beautiful people here in Africa! I am now in Kenya but will be heading back to Uganda on Monday. I have had a great trip so far and have learned quite a bit about God's amazing goodness and love He has for us! This trip has been a great adventure, and I can't wait to see what else God has in store for me. I will write more when I get back to Uganda where I will be able to access the internet more frequently.

Just a couple quick prayer requests:

1. No complications or delays during my travels on Monday. I will be flying out at 5:45pm and will land in Uganda at 7:00pm where a driver will pick me up and take me to Amani!

2. I will stay strong the last three days in Kenya, and remember to fully rely on God for all my needs.

3. I will get the rest needed to have enough energy to play with the kids. I have not been sleeping well lately and am constantly tired.

4. To keep a smile on my face through any and all situations, to not get discouraged no matter what might happen, and to remember that God is always with me and watching out for me.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!!

Prayer Requests

Things to pray for:

1. Safety while traveling.

2. Good health through the entire two months.

3. My brother, Chris, will be with me for the first two weeks and although we usually get along really well, I know that Satan is waiting for any opportunity to attack. Pray that we will not give into these attacks and we will use them as a way to grow stronger in our relationship.

4. I want to be a light to anyone I come in contact with; whether it be while I'm at the airport, sitting on the plane, or in Uganda and Kenya. I want people to see that I am different and know about my love for God.

5. This will be the longest I have been away from my family, friends, and what I consider "the norm" for me. Pray that I will not get homesick or feel lonely, and that I will remember that they are back here support me the entire way. I'm a major daddy's and mommy's girl and I'm extremely close to my brothers, so it's going to be hard being away from them for two months.

6. Preparation mentally, physically, and emotionally.

7. Faith and trust in God. Remember that He has been and will always be there for me.

8. I will constantly smile no matter what I am going through. Help my smile to be contagious and to never loose its touch.

9. Calm my fears and nerves about traveling alone. This scares me to death, and I'm doing my best to hand it over to God but the fear never seems to subside.

10. To have fun and love on those beautiful little kids as much as I can!

Thank you all very much for praying for me. I really appreciate it and know I will need it.





Faith never knows where it is being led, but it knows and loves the One who is leading. ~Oswald Chambers

Children's Ministry

We've recently finished the lessons for the children's ministry in Uganda. For the five nights at the crusades we are going to be doing the colors of the salvation bracelet or the wordless book; black, red, white, green, and gold. 

We have made flannel boards for each of the five colors. For the black one which represents sin, we made a spider web on the flannel. We will be having the kids tell us some sins which we will right on square pieces of flannels. They will then post them on the spider web. The next day is red, representing blood. We will have the Cross-Bridge Illustration showing that only through Christ's death on the cross can we get to heaven. The white flannel stands for forgiveness which we will have the kids come up to cover the black flannel with the white to show God covers us with his love and forgiveness. On the fourth day we will do green which signifies growth in our relationship with Christ. We will be asking the kids of ways we grow and have a relationship with God. We will then write the words down on leaves and attach them to our flannel with a tree on it. The last day will be gold symbolizing heaven. Our gold flannel will have a t-chart on it. On one side we will have the kids think of things in heaven and on the other, things not in heaven. 

Each lesson will be about fifteen minutes plus translation so each lesson will be about thirty minutes long.  Everyday, except for the first, we will be leading them in the salvation prayer. 

On the Inaugural Sunday for Bufukha, we will review the week and give them 3x3 booklets with the colors and verses, both in English and Lugandan, that explains the meanings of the colors. 

Black = Sin

Red = Blood

White = Forgiveness

Green = Growth

Gold = Heaven

Twitter

I recently got a Twitter. If you have one, follow me, twitter.com/becca_lynnleigh. Twitter will be much easier to update while I'm away, and you might get more information from me on there. I'll still be posting on here though, so make sure you keep checking this too.


24 more days!!!

The Rescue of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers

I was going to write about this event earlier, but I wanted to wait until all 100 cities were rescued.

On April 25th, 100 cities in 10 countries around the world abducted themselves to save the abducted children in Northern Uganda. The Rescue event put on by Invisible Children that I attended in Denver started off at Civic Center Park right in front of the Capitol. From there, I walked with 1,500 other people 3 miles tied to a rope to Cheesman Park. Why the ropes you may ask?? This is how the child soldiers in Uganda are commanded to walk so they cannot get away.

Once we arrived at Cheesman Park, we layed out our sleeping bags and got to work writing letters to the Senators of Colorado while waiting to be rescued. In order to be rescued we had to raise five flags, each a different color; red, purple, white, black, and green. The Red symbolizes media coverage of a local news station so we can raise awareness to the community around us. The Purple represents important cultural and political leaders that are needed to stand behind us and support the child soldiers. The White Flag stands for the two letters that every person wrote to the Senators. Once each letter was collected, the White Flag would be raised. The Black
symbolizes the ambassadors from our city representing us at Lobby Days in Washington DC on June 22nd and 23rd (go to howitends.tv for more information). Finally, the Green Flag stands for money. Each person needed to bring five dollars to the event; once everyone donated their five dollars, we were able to raise the Green Flag.

Denver was rescued at 8:55pm by a representative of Senator Mark Udall. Also, a band member from Flobots, a Denver local band, came out to support us. 7 News and 9 News came out to cover the event, we raised all the money, wrote all the letters, and got enough ambassadors to represent us. Because we were rescued, we were able to go home and wait for the rest of the cities to get rescued. By the end of the night on April 25th, there were still 15 cities left to be rescued. Each day the number dwindled down, and on Tuesday, there were two cities left, Richmond, Virginia, and Chicago Illinois. That night Richmond was rescued by Gavin DeGraw while Chicago kept trecking on. For three more days, Chicago stayed strong waiting and hoping for Oprah to rescue them. They choreographed a dance and performed it outside Oprah's studio trying to get noticed. On Friday, Oprah saw hundreds of people standing outside her studio and decided to hear them out. She agreed to have them on her show that day to tell the country about the child soldiers. Chicago's voice was heard, they were rescued, and after a week, the event was a success.

Please pray for these abducted children and for Lobby Days, an event that will hopefully end the longest running war in Africa. If you have the chance, I encourage you to go to Lobby Days and represent the child soldiers. Be a part of history and save the beautiful children of Northern Uganda. If you have not already seen the movie Invisible Children: Rough Cut, please watch it and see why I care so much about the people of Uganda. You will never be the same again after you watch this movie! I definitely haven't been.














Walking to the LRA Camp! Loving Uganda!

All five flags raised! We were rescued!

Pictures by: Taylor VanDuinen

Visit http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-249867 for more pictures from The Rescue in Denve.