From Georgia to Uganda...again

My Favorite Things...

2010-09-23T18:18:00.012-04:00

So, I have made a list of things I'm excited about seeing in Uganda as well as those things that I don't particularly care for. Ready?? Here goes...

1. Marabou Stork - these guys are about 4 feet tall and linger all in the city especially around trash piles. They are disguisting to me! And then they will nest in trees, but they look so heavy that it seems as though the tree is going to break. Yeah, NOT looking forward to these!

2. Chicken on a Stick - my Mom thinks this is gross and it probably is if you think about it, so I just don't think about it! The road-side vendors will run up to your car along the highway if you dare to stop and they sell all kinds of things like roasted bananas, water, drinks, and this delicious chicken on a stick that has been roasted over a fire with lots of salt to flavor it. Just don't think about the lack of sanitation! Can't WAIT to have a taste of this deliciousness!

3. Chicken and Chips - is exactly what it sounds like. Fried chicken and french fries. We will usually eat this at restaurants!! Healthy I know! But it usually will come with some sort of vegetable mixture similar to slaw. So I'll eat that!!

4. Bodas - this is a very common form of transportation. I kind of have mixed feelings about this one though. It is so fun to ride, but I know it isn't the safest form. Let's just say I pray a LOT on these things!!

5. AMY!!!! - super excited about seeing my friend who has been gone since July 12th. We will celebrate Thanksgiving together in Uganda!!! super thrilled for this one : )

6. Hand Sanitizer - although I know this stuff is good I get really sick of using it EVERY DAY for EVERYTHING. To not even be able to wash your hands in the sink...not good. By the end of my trip last time my hands were peeling from using this stuff. I'll be taking lotion along this time!

7. MARY BETH!!! - okay so this doesn't have much to do with Uganda, but I'm putting it anyway. On the flight home from Uganda we are getting to meet up with my sister who has also been absent from my life (at least in body) since July 12. Can we say...Christmas Party anyone??

8. Mosquito Nets - I know how important these things are, but they are STIFLING!!! Imagine with me being up in the middle of the night feeding a hungry baby and sweat dripping off of you because there is no breeze. DRIPPING I SAID!! Don't worry though...I'll be sure to tuck it in around me each night for bed.

Well that's all for now folks! Not even sure if anyone is even reading this thing so far ahead of my trip. In exactly 7 weeks though I will be on Ugandan soil...super thrilled about that one!!

Back again!

2010-09-22T16:35:00.003-04:00

Well, the Lord has provided a way for me to travel to Uganda again this fall for a five week trip. It blows my mind that I am going twice in the same year! Most of you know my friend Amy Washington who is there now (she has been in Uganda since July). Her brother, Mark, who also traveled with Amy and I back in January, has been in Uganda since mid-September.
I leave Atlanta on November 10th with Amy and Mark's sister, Deanna. As a side-note we will be celebrating Thanksgiving in Uganda which will be fun. Amy has already started making a list of what we need to bring with us to make that happen...stovetop stuffing, sweet potatoes for sweet potato crunch, chocolate chips (we'll just eat these plain I'm sure).
It will be an adventure this trip because we aren't really sure all that we'll be doing. It will be great to see familiar faces as well as meet some new ones. I ask for lots of prayers for this trip. I don't want to be sick again, but know that I can handle it if I do. I'll post more soon. Thanks for keeping up with my travels!

Last Thoughts...

2010-03-28T17:37:00.002-04:00

We've been back from Uganda for almost 5 weeks. I miss Uganda tremendously! Having spent six weeks straight with these babies and these people, it's weird not to be around them at all. It hits me at the weirdest times that I can't just drive over to Sonrise and say hello. They are many miles away! I can't hold the babies or play with them. Miko, Ian, Catherine, and Nulu have started school. I wish I could have been there to see them on their first day.
Brenda has still been sick and was actually in the hospital for several days in Kampala. They tested her again for TB and HIV. All the tests results aren't back yet so we're still waiting. That's the hardest part...waiting.
Lots of people keep asking me how my trip was and it's hard to even begin to describe it in a short conversation. I just keep saying that it was awesome and life-changing. The Lord has really just opened my eyes to the plight of orphans, opened my heart to be available to go wherever He leads whenever He leads, and to trust that He will provide everything that I need.
As you can imagine, this trip was very expensive. I had been working my tail off every chance that I could and saving every cent. I wanted to try to pay for this trip with my own money, but God provided money from people that I never even expected. I have had a large jar on my dresser since I started saving for this trip and kept putting my money into it. I paid for my plane ticket and then as the trip drew closer I knew how much money had to be in the jar in order to meet the budget requirements. I went to church the Sunday before we left and had our church family pray for us. As I was leaving, I had two or three people come up to me and give me some money for the trip. After lunch, I brought out the jar and Mom and Mary Beth helped me count it all. I told them how much I needed and we began. We each tallied up our stacks and then added them up together and the grand total was exactly how much I needed. What a huge blessing!
I can see how the Lord orchestrated every part of this trip and worked in my heart before, during, and even after the trip.
Everyone wants to know if I will be going back and the answer is a very clear yes. The when part is a little bit more foggy. I feel that I can't ask off work for awhile since I was just gone for six weeks, but I feel certain that God will take me back.
So thanks for following us on our trip. Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement. I look forward to seeing where God takes me next!

Rafting the Nile River

2010-03-28T17:21:00.002-04:00

Yes, we are back from Uganda, but I still wanted to finish telling you all about the last few days of our trip. Saturday, February 20th we awoke to thunder and rain...the last full day in uganda and also the day we had chosen to go white water rafting down the Nile River. Not good... We headed over to the outpost and they were still gearing up to go. Their philosophy was "you're going to get wet anyway." Oh well! We paid and ate breakfast which was provided then headed to get our lifejackets and helmets. It only took about 10 minutes to get to the river where we would put the rafts in. Each raft could hold 7 people plus a guide. We loaded up (still raining) and paddled around in the open area to practice different skills we would need such as pulling someone into the raft, going down rapids in the correct position, what to do when you fall out of the raft, how to re-flip the raft, etc... I had just gotten my hair braided and wasn't supposed to get it wet. Guess who was chosen as the "volunteer" to model how to get back into the raft? Yep - me! That didn't last long. We went down the river on an all-day excursion which included lunch on the river and dinner back at the camp. We went down rapids from Class I to Class V which was loads of fun. I was scared at some points - not going to lie, but our guide was excellent and we made it safely through them all. We only flipped once on a Class III which seemed pretty puny since we made it through all of the Class V rapids fine.
We got back to the campground for dinner and realized that we didn't have our shoes. They were in the other truck which was supposed to be coming to the campground, but somehow we missed it. We called back to the outpost in jinja and they said they had a box of three pairs of shoes. Great! We had to ride the boda back to Jinja barefooted. Did I mention I was sunburned. Oh yeah! I didn't put on sunscreen that morning because of the rain and then when the sun started coming out I put some on. Then another raft came over and splashed us and it washed off of me. Wonderful!
We got back to Sonrise that night and Betty, Aisha, and Damali had planned a going-away party for us. Lots of people came over who we had met on this trip or who were involved with Sonrise. They thought it would be funny to have an eating contest between Mark, Amy, and I - I came in last place : ) There was a big banner that said Thank You on it and also an individual note for each of us expressing thanks for our being there. It was so sweet! It was very sad to think that we would be leaving the next day.

The Last Days...

2010-02-19T06:26:00.002-05:00

(Leah) So sorry for the lapse in time since our last post. We are furiously working to get as much done as we only have 3 days before we leave. When we booked our flights we saw that we flew out of Entebbe on Monday, February 22nd. It didn't hit us that the flight time was 12:30am meaning we have to head to the airport on SUNDAY around 5:00pm. In our minds we have lost a complete day to spend at Sonrise. We briefly thought about extending our trip by that day, but then thought that our parents would not be happy. And so, we have realized that it is hard to squeeze everything into our last days. We are trying.

Mark has spent the last few days at Musana Children's Home in Iganga. This is where Amy spent her first 5 weeks of her trip this past summer. He seems to be having a great time, although we have only heard from him once.
Amy is still not totally healed from her sickness although it is now just a bad cold. I, on the other hand, have been feeling really good (knock on wood). After my kidney stone, I think any sickness will be easy to handle. : )

This week has been CRAZY. We started out with a list of items that needed to be done, and it seems as though we haven't done much. Amy and Damali have been running around Jinja and Kampala all this week to meet with a lawyer about getting Sonrise registered for adoptons and trying to get all of the signatures on multiple forms (of which we have to track down these people for these signatures). It seems that everything takes three times as long here in Uganda as it would in the US. And I thought some of our government officials were bad...HA!!
Damali purchased a file cabinet and a large medicine cabinet in Kampala on Wednesday, so Amy and I have been working hard trying to get all of the meds organized and getting all of the information for each child into a folder, as well as receipts into respective folders according to month...such a hard job.
I think it really hit me last night that we are really about to leave Uganda. I don't know when I'll be back. I definitely plan on coming back, but it probably won't be for at least a year (unless the Lord has other plans). When I get back Catherine, Nulu, Ian, and possibly Miko will be going to school and all of my babies will be walking and starting to talk. It will be hard to miss all of the "firsts" in their lives. I finally got Brenda back for baby duty last night. Nanny Norah has been sleeping with her for awhile when we were sick and then had multiple babies to split up between the three of us. But, since it's my last few nights, I thought I would "give her a break" and take her back to her rightful place with me! I just held her last night and prayed for her and cried. It's going to be hard to leave her here. It did kind of hit me last night that having parents like mine, I have been prayed for often. These children don't have anyone to pray for them (or at least they didn't). So, I laid in bed praying for Brenda specifically and then praying for the children in general (I was too tired to pray for each by name). This is my new mission while I'm away - to pray for each of these precious children the Lord has brought into my life. I know I will cry my eyes out on Sunday when I have to say goodbye, but at least I can go knowing I am still able to touch their lives even from so far away. I will miss Miko yelling "Auntie Leah" everytime she sees me, little Fred who can't say my name so it ends up coming out "Eah" (no Auntie), hugs from Junior and Nulu, and all of the other small things that make Sonrise so special. I have seen how it changed Amy's life when she returned this past summer. Now, I got to experience it for myself. Let me tell you - the Lord has worked in my life tremendously and this trip has been amazing! I would be lying if I didn't tell you that this trip has also been really tough. I haven't been able to share everything on this blog, but it has really been a tough trip. Lots of great moments, but tough spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally. God is at work at Sonrise Baby Home and I am so thankful that I have been able to be apart of it. We are hopefully going rafting tomorrow and then a quick visit to Musana on Sunday before we head to the airport that evening. I will try to do another post with pics before we head out of here, but if not - SEE YOU ALL ON AMERICAN SOIL. Love to everyone!

Safari Pictures!!! =)

2010-02-16T18:58:00.006-05:00

Hey! Here are some awesome, and hilarious African Safari Pictures! Hope you enjoy! =)

first morning of safari!! GORGEOUS African sunrise (SO weird to spell sunrise that way!)

mark and lan on an actual african safari! Lion King anyone??!

with Murchison Falls in the background. So beautiful!

me and lan on the boat cruise - hippos, and crocodliles everywhere!

me and mark - heading to the rhino sanctuary

Leah and Mark, I mean, Bear Grylls Rhio Tracking! The video is HILARIOUS, let me tell you!

Rhons Bella and hr baby behond us -so neat!

me and betty on a picnic - chicken and chips are the best! :) LOVE it! (and her!)

Leah ad Catherine - beautiful girls!

Mark and "Wittle Gift" as MArk affectionately calls her :)

oh the joys of clinic and hospital rooms! Waiting for Leah's first ever ultrasound!! YAY!

Mr. outdoorsman in his hammock inside the Sonrise compound - so cute!

MACARONI AND CHEESE!!!!!!!!!! SO much better than our first attempt! Great night of Mac and Cheese, Kool-Aid, and Star Trek - bit of home-away-from-home! :)

PICTURES!!! =)

2010-02-15T17:14:00.002-05:00

Hey! Leah sent me some pictures of her hair being done! =) Here they are!! HOW CUTE!!!!!!

MY HAIR!!!

2010-02-15T13:50:00.004-05:00

(Leah) Today, I got my hair braided. Everyone here and back home has been pressuring me into doing it, so despite my better judgment (or should I say here in Uganda you do things you normally wouldn't do) I went ahead with it. It was a 5 1/2 hour process - not quite as long as Amy's 7 hours, but I was about to die by the time she finished. I sat on a 2in foam mattress which is NOT cushiony at all after that long. My rear is SO SORE!!! And the tugging on my hair and turning my head this and that...not fun at all! I consider myself to be pretty hard-headed, but after today I'm not so sure. I can't wash my hair for the approximate two weeks it will be in and to top it all off she had to put Vaseline in my hair to make it easier to braid. Isn't that disgusting!! Amy took her hair out yesterday and it looked HILARIOUS!!! She reminded me of an 80's rockstar (that I have only seen from pictures since I was born in the late 80's so have NO IDEA about any of that stuff). Hopefully we can sneak a picture up...shhh!! Anyway, sorry the pictures aren't great (I'm e-mailing them to Deanna, so I'm not exactly sure when they will be up). I'll try to get some better ones later, but I know my family is anxious to see the finished product. I'm not quite sure what I think right now, but Damali's sister Aisha who went with me today told me to not make any judgments until after 24 hours. Everyone here at Sonrise LOVES it though, so that makes me feel better. Until next time...Leah

My First Ultrasound...

2010-02-13T11:35:00.002-05:00

(Leah) Ok, now I know I have you attention. Catchy title, huh?? I would LOVE to explain. First of all - I AM NOT PREGNANT so that is NOT why I got my ultrasound. Just wanted to make that clear!
Amy and I went to bed around midnight on Friday night. She is still pretty sick with a sinus infection, so I had Baby Moses again. I woke up around 1:30am feeling like I was about to wet my pants, but when I went to the bathroom I didn't go much, but still had that feeling. I thought it was kind of weird, but didn't think much of it. About 2:30am I woke up again with the same feeling and also a pain in my lower right abdominal area. I tried to shift around on the bed to get more comfortable, but nothing helped. I got up to go to the bathroom again - still not much - and felt the pain even more. My first thought was appendicitis - I know I'm thinking worst-case scenario here, but I'm just being honest! I woke Amy up (sorry, Amy!) and told her how I felt. I wasn't sure what we were going to do, but I was hurting pretty badly. We talked it out and decided to call my Mom and explain everything to her and then get her to call our nurse friend, Stephanie Bennett, to see what she thought it might be. By this time I was feeling clammy, sweating like crazy, and thought I was going to faint. It was not fun! I sat down on my bed and drank a ton of water and waited out the dizzy spell. Then Amy and I trooped into the living room for a middle-of-the-night phone call to Mom. Rachel (my sister who is almost a nurse) was very helpful in getting all of my symptoms down and relaying them to Mom who was on the phone with Mrs. Bennett. My pain was worsening and it felt like they were taking FOREVER in coming to a diagnosis. There were several options: Appendicitis, Kidney Stones, Gallstones, or Ovarian Cyst. Great...so many choices!! To help diagnose, Rachel had me do some jumping jacks. So, I stood in the middle of the living room at 3:30am and did about three jumping jacks no problem Apparently, if it was appendicitis I would be doubled over with pain. Ok, we could almost rule that out. I felt so silly! Amy was on the phone with Rachel this whole time who was relaying all of this info from Mrs. Bennett. Next test: I laid on the floor and Amy felt all over my abdomen pushing pretty hard so we could localize where the pain was. We finally decided it was right above my hip bone. Good! Mrs. Bennett said she thought it might be kidney stones. I have NEVER ever had a kidney stone in my life, so I had no idea what to expect. Next test: Amy put her hand over the area that hurt then put her other hand flat against my back directly opposite her first hand. Then she balled up her first hand into a fist and started beating it against her flat hand. "Does that hurt??" OF COURSE IT DOES...YOU ARE BEATING ME! I didn't notice any new pain so that wasn't helpful at all. I had to lie down at this point because the pain was pretty intense. Amy had me get up again to do more jumping jacks...still pretty silly looking, but no problems. Rachel wanted to know if we had any antibiotics I could take in case it was appendicitis. The only one we had was the one Amy had gotten for her sinus infection on Thursday. She ran back to get it and spelled it out for Rachel so she would know. It took about three tries to get the correct spelling while in the meantime I'm writhing on the floor in pain. I think at this point I yell out "Can you please hurry it up?? I'm dying here!" I was NOT a happy camper! The final test because we were still puzzled about this issue with my bladder (feeling like I had to go NOW, but not much coming out): Amy had to feel her bladder and then go to the bathroom and feel what it felt like empty. Then I was to do the same and we were to compare and see if I was fully emptying mine. She ran back to the bathroom while I lay on the couch. I was still chugging water as the pain intensified. Then it was my turn to go to the bathroom. I walked in and felt so sick! The next thing I knew, I was leaning over the toilet throwing up everything that was in my stomach - mainly the water I had been drinking. Amy had walked away, but came back when she heard me and told this to Rachel who relayed it to Mom who relayed it to Mrs. Bennett. We thought this might help pinpoint a diagnosis, but apparently throwing up from pain can happen with any of the four choices. NO HELP! I tried to go to the bathroom, but still had the same problem. By this time, I was in a lot of pain and was willing to do anything to get out of it. Amy didn't tell me this until later, but she apparently walked away while I was going to the bathroom and told Rachel, "Ok, Leah is in a lot of pain and she's getting very grumpy and ornery. I'm taking her to the clinic!" I didn't mean to be grumpy and ornery, but I was in so much pain and it felt like they were taking FOREVER with deciding what to do. So, at 4:15am we loaded up the car, Amy, me, Richard, and Betty, and headed to Al-Shafa Modern Medical Clinic. We finally made it after what felt like an eternal car ride. The doctor was there which was a blessing because I was warned that she might have to be called in since it was the middle of the night. Amy did a lot of the talking and Mrs. Bennett told us to get an ultrasound done. Unfortunately, Al-Shafa doesn't have an ultrasound machine, so we would have to go to another clinic in town that didn't open until 8:00am. Thankfully, the doctor told me that I could take some Ibuprofin to help with the pain. What a wonder drug!! I had almost immediate relief. We got back to Sonrise and Amy and I went into the living room to do some research and wait until we could head to Rippon Medical Center at 8:00am. I ended up falling asleep while Amy ate two bananas and some Digestive Cookies. She eventually went to bed around 6:00am. About 6:45 I woke up to more pain. I didn't think I could take more ibuprofin so soon, so I went to wake Amy up to help me get into a hot water bath (thanks, Logan for the tip). She was NO HELP whatsoever since she was so tired, so she told me to go turn the burner on and get the water going we had boiled previously. I was a little miffed since I was the one with the possible kidney stone...what a friend! I tried to turn on the burner which required using needle-nose pliers, but had no success. There was also a big roach a few inches away that I had to keep my eyes on at all times...no taking chances of it coming any closer. I finally gave up on the burner and tested the water. It was still pretty hot from earlier, so I lugged it back to the bathroom that was already filling with cold water. I poured it in and there wasn't much at all. I climbed in anyway and just poured the water over the area that hurt and felt some relief after only 20 minutes. I heard our room stirring, so I headed out to investigate. We still had some time before we had to leave. Eventually, I started getting restless and wanted to hurry up and get ready. The pain was returning, so Amy instructed me to take more Ibuprofin. It was about 7:30am by this time. I was trying to hurry, and Amy was still lying in bed too tired to move. She had started to feel bad with her sinus infection again and said she felt like she had been run over by a truck due to lack of sleep. It took her about 10 long minutes to finally crawl from bed and get dressed, but eventually we were out the door. We arrived at Rippon about 8:30am and were told to wait for the front desk guy to arrive (weren't they supposed to open at 8:00am?) He finally walked in the door about 8:45am and then informed us that the ultrasound guy wasn't due to arrive until between 10:00am and 11:00am. I wasn't in too much pain, but really wanted to start crying at this point because I was ready to get this over with. We took Steven to the clinic for a cough he has been having (he is doing much better from the measles though) and killed about 30 minutes doing that. We still had time to spare, so we headed to Flavours restaurant for breakfast. Amy and I split an omelette and had some delicious banana bread. About 10:30am we headed back to Rippon where we were told the ultrasound guy still had not arrived (WELCOME TO AFRICA Y'ALL!!). We waited in his office until he finally walked in about 11:30am. Morris from Musana had come by to check on me and brought me some pineapple. Amy explained my symptoms to the ultrasound guy (radiologist on his namebadge) and he said that it did sound like a kidney stone. I climbed up onto the ultrasound table. Morris had already left the room, so Betty and Amy stayed for moral support. The radiologist was about to get the sheet to cover me when in walked Morris again. He asked if he was supposed to leave and I told him that if I had to take off any of my clothes he needed to go outside. The radiologist answered "Definitely!" We all busted out laughing. Then it dawned on the radiologist to ask one more question..."Are you the husband? If so, you can stay." Betty, Amy, and I lost it completely! We were crying we were laughing so hard. Of course he wasn't my husband. Morris did go wait outside thankfully! We got ready for the ultrasound and I felt totally comfortable with the radiologist. He put that cold jelly on me and we started. He looked all over and didn't see anything, but said that I defintely did not have appendicitis or else I would not let him do the ultrasound due to so much pain. That made me feel good. He said that I most likely had a kidney stone which was pretty small because it wasn't showing up on the machine. He said to go home and wait it out. Amy forbid me from taking anymore Advil so that we could monitor the pain level to see if it was moving. We got home to Sonrise about 1:00pm and I immediately headed to bed. The pain was starting to come back, but was a dull ache at this point. I didn't want to get into a hot bath until the pain got worse, so I tried to wait it out. I couldn't go to sleep right away, but eventually drifted off about 2:30pm. When I woke up a few hours later, I felt fine. I went to the bathroom and didn't feel like I had that feeling anymore of I HAVE TO GO NOW that I had been having all day.
Right now I am pretty much pain-free!! I guess I passed it and didn't know it because it was so small. Amy and Mark kept telling me how much pain I was going to be in (not helping!), so I was prepared for the worst. I had been praying all day for the Lord to let it pass quickly and I know my family was praying as well. All I can say is, I have no pain right now. Let us pray that it is gone forever. It is so weird to have a kidney stone in Africa. I have NEVER had one, and here I am serving in Uganda and get one. Just another bump in the road as my Dad said. Anyway, just wanted to share my story!! Thanks for listening and enduring through all of the details. Hopefully not too graphic for some folks out there!!

Welcome Isabel Grace!!

2010-02-12T05:33:00.002-05:00

(Leah) I would like to say welcome to the world my new niece Isabel Grace Brannon born yesterday around 3:00pm EST. I hated to miss the birth, but received two text messages when she arrived and saw lots of pictures soon after. She is absolutely precious weighing in at 6lb 5oz and only 19 inches long. I'm not sure what Alex (my two year old nephew) thinks about his new sister, so we will have to see. And my great Grandmother is so proud to have another great-great-grandchild, this time a girl! Hopefully she won't change too much before I get to see her!! Congratulations Daniel and Daira and Alex on the new addition to your family. I really wish I could have been there, but am glad that the Lord has me serving here. See you all soon!

Safari!!

2010-02-12T04:48:00.002-05:00

(Leah) So, we are back from our African Safari. We ended up staying in Kampala until Thursday and didn't arrive back until late last night. Sorry for the long leave of absence, but here I am to try to tell you all about it.
We left on Sunday to head to Kampala and spent the night in a hostel owned by the company we were going on the safari with (Red Chilli). It was my first time ever staying in a hostel, so it was quite interesting although a positive experience. We got up early on Monday and loaded our van with our group of 8 to head to Murchison Falls State Park where our safari would take place. It was a long drive, but we eventually made it. We entered the park and I started to get excited...I was actually going on a real African Safari!! It wasn't long before we started seeing babboons and warthogs...also known as Rafiki and Pumbaa. Our first stop on our safari was to see Murchison Falls from the point right before it heads over the edge to become the falls. The Nile River was flowing so rapidly it was amazing. Gorgeous views all around of this beautiful country. We stayed for about an hour and then finished the journey to our campsite where we would be staying for the nights. We got checked in and were shown to our tents. They were so cute! It reminded me of "The Parent Trap" because they were so perfect with two beds (with mattresses and pillows) and a little table. By now it was dinner time, so we headed to the restaurant to see what the special was for the evening. Chicken and rice with a creamy honey-mustard sauce was what we decided on and it was delicious. I almost forgot that I was in Africa because it was the most delicious meal I had eaten thus far on this trip! We were pretty exhausted so we hit the showers and headed for bed kind of early.
Tuesday morning: We had to leave the camp area by 6:30am for our "Game Drive". We had been praying to see lions which can be rare, but I was optimistic. We crossed the Nile on our ferry with a gorgeous sunrise and entered the area where the wildlife inhabit. We hadn't gone far before we started seeing all sorts of antelope-type animals all around. I don't remember all the names of the animals, so please forgive me. Our guide was great at explaining all about the different animals and the difference between male and females. All of a sudden he started talking on his walkie-talkie with a group ahead and then said to us - let's keep going because there are lions ahead! Of course we were ready!! We drove a ways and sure enough, on our right-hand side lay two female lions resting. Under a bush in front of them was a dead animal they had just killed. It was fantastic!! After we had taken tons of pictures, we headed on down the path and came upon a huge elephant that kept shaking the trees trying to get a piece of fruit to fall. It was a HUGE elephant!! We were able to get pretty close to it because it was so close to the road. There we were snapping pictures and camcording, when all of a sudden it decided it didn't like us being so close and started snorting and charging us. Our driver quickly cranked up the van as if to drive away and he calmed down. It was amazing!! We saw other animals such as huge Cape Buffalo, Antelope, Giraffes, and more warthogs. We never saw huge herds of the animals, but it was kind of nice to be able to see all of these animals up close. At one point, we saw a male and female elephant with a baby. It was kind of hard to see since they were over the edge of a hill, so our driver suddenly turned off the beaten path and headed right towards them. So great!! The game drive was a huge success.
That afternoon, we headed out on a huge pontoon boat with two other groups for our river cruise. We saw TONS of hippos and some crocodiles. One of the crocs we saw was about three meters long. Of course right as we were going to take pictures of it, it slided into the water. Oh well! The hippos were so big - no one should EVER compare themselves to one because there isn't a human being on the planet as big as a hippo (thank goodness!). We saw an elephant near the shore and some more monkeys up in trees. The zoom on our camera wasn't the greatest, so it's hard to see them all, but we snapped pictures anyway. And the birds...so many different kinds and so colorful. We got back to the campground around dinner and ordered beef stroganoff with rice. It wasn't so great unfortunately! We all felt disguisting after riding around in the dust all day, so Amy and I were only too grateful to hit the showers. We then played some Phase 10 and then Mark decided to humor us by becoming Bear Grylls from Man vs. Wild as he talked about a praying mantis that had found its way into our tent. It was hilarious!!!
Wednesday: We had to pack up and leave by 8:30am. We drove out of the park and headed to the Rhino Sanctuary for our last thing for the safari. I didn't know this, but rhinos are extinct in Uganda. So, they have this rhino sanctuary where they currently have 6 adults and 3 babies - the only rhinos in all of Uganda. We arrived around lunchtime and headed out to see them. The workers there keep track of each rhino 24/7 so it was nice to know exactly where we were headed. The rhinos we saw were Bella the Mom and Augusto the baby born in October. They were amazing! Rhinos are huge. At first they were both laying down, so our guide kept trying to call their names to get them to stand up. Finally they did, so we all started snapping pictures. Mark did another episode of Bear Grylls although we had to keep quiet, so I don't think it transferred well onto the Flip camera. : ( We finally made it back to Kampala about 4:30pm and made reservations again at the Red Chilli Hostel. Unfortunately it was pretty packed this time, so we didn't have a ton of room like before. When we found our beds assigned to us they had clothes from someone else. It looked like someone had used our beds to dry their clothes, so we piled all our bags onto one bed and decided to come back later to deal with it. We headed to the Kampala Tourist Market to get some souveniers. There must be a new law passed in Kampala about boda drivers because we could only ride one per boda (we had been squishing two on) and some had helmets that they wanted us to wear. Wow, a lot can change in just a few days! Thankfully, we made it safely there in one piece! Riding on Boda's in Kampala can be dangerous because of the traffic! Fun, but scary!
And so this concludes this post about our safari. We had a GREAT time and enjoyed the time away although we were all missing the babies terribly and were ready to come home. We will try to get some pictures to Deanna soon so she can post them. In the meantime, thanks for keeping up with our trip that is too rapidly drawing to a close.

More Photos!!! =)

2010-02-08T21:24:00.008-05:00

Hope you enjoy these pictures of the adventures going on in Uganda!!!! =)

On our way to IHK on Wednesday with Brenda and Moses

Leah and Brenda

Betty with Moses

Waiting for lab results to come back. It was nice to be in the open where the breeze could come in!

Amy and Leah – at IHK on Thursday morning early. So exhausted from our 4am wakeup call...

Betty and Amy – eating lunch in Kampala after the hospital

Silver fish – apparently these will help Steven get well from his measles?? They look and smell disgusting!!

Amy and Betty

Chef Mark making his specialty – Mac & Cheese!!!

Leah and Mark enjoying the dinner – Rolex and Mac & Cheese!

New Post from Amy below! =)

2010-02-06T23:00:00.008-05:00

Here are a few new pictures! =) sorry they are a little scattered! I will try to put up some more new ones tomorrow! =) -deanna

Leah and Amy getting ready for the bungee jump. Do not be deceived by our smiles – we were scared to death!

Off we go! We aren’t sure how we ended up with Amy off the platform and Leah still jumping off…it looks weird, but we were fine!

Mark with his journal

Baby Gift

Gift smiling. She does this quite a bit – such a happy baby!

Amy feeding Baby Mark

Leah and Brenda

This is what she does too – does this remind us of someone…Mr. Washington?

Betty is the newest Washington Farms employee

Betty and Amy – eating lunch in Kampala after the hospital

Osibyotwa!

2010-02-06T15:07:00.005-05:00

(Amy) Osibyotwa!
Thank you for all for your prayers and support, love and encouragement! It means so much. The trip has been amazing, challenging, so much fun, difficult, exciting, heart-wrenching, exhausting, and completely wonderful.

For those of you who followed my blog while I was in Uganda this summer, you know that Jessie and I were VERY dilligent to blog and post about each days' activities and what we were doing - I want to apologize for me not having been able to keep you as up-to-date this trip. I had good intentions of keeping a similar blog this time, but it has just not been possible. Leah has tried to be better and I appreciate her trying to fill you in! But I was taling to my mom the other day and just told her that it has not been possible to blog like I had wanted to, but for various reasons it has just not been possible, but thank you for your prayers and encouragement and for caring about this crazy mzungu white girl trying to follow God's direction and leading in her lif - dragging her brother and her friend with her halfway aroud the world - all the while trying to keep her head on straight! Thank you - from the bottom of my heart.

Directing and fully running a Baby Home has been such an honor (I mean, who gets to do this????!!!!?!?!?!), a privilege (who gets to be "mommy" to 16 beautiful black babies who love you to death??!!), and yet difficult and challenging, as would be expected. But God has walked with me and led me each step of the way - of that I am 100% certain, as I don't believe I would be here if He hadn't been. He truly is an awesome God!

I love these babies. and I love these people. and I love this baby home.
My heart truly does feel a peace and a home here - these people took me in this summer, loved me, and cared for me - and they wanted me to join with them in this beautiful privilege of a mission to save babies in Uganda.

God has been working in overdrive since we got here!!! :) He has done so much in me and through me (and all of us, I would say - I'll speak for Mark and Leah too!!) that I just stand in awe. He has worked miracles, gone above and beyond dreams and expectations, turned me upside-down, emptied me of myself (daily!) and filled me with Him, taken me to my knees, comforted me when all I could do was weep at Jesus' feet, and laughed with me when I have been overjoyed. I've kept Him pretty busy, huh?!

There have been so many things that have happened and gone on in my life and heart and with the home while I've been here, and I'm sorry that I have not been able to share all that God has done and is doing, and all of my thoughts and emotions, but let me just say - GOD IS WORKING and moving in a mighty way to use Sonrise Baby Home to save dying babies and to bring Him glory. Praise to HIS name!

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures - I know they are not many, but be reassured, we HAVE taken over 3,000 so far, so you will see more and more later as well! I have a TON of pictures of "my" babies - and I have to keep trying to get pictures of other people, but they are just so unbelievably cute!!!!! :) I just can't help it :)

Well, tomorrow we will be heading to Kampala and will spend the night there before leaving early on Monday morning for our safari! :) Having already been on one this summer, I have felt kind of guilty for getting to go again, so I'll admit I haven't been very excited, especially knowing that my time is running out with the babies and being here, but Lark and Leah are VERY excited about the safari - and their excitement and anticipation has helped my excitement grow as well :) We will be gone on the actual safari Mon-Wed but will most likely stay in Kampala on Wed night and then head back to Sonrise on Thursday. All this to say, we most likely will not have any internet access during that time, but if we do - we will try to post more pictures and updates about any Simba or Nala spottings!!! :)

May God bless you! (oh, and Musa just finished his bottle and is attempting to sleep, but on behalf of His Royal Cuteness, I'll say "Goodnight"!)

DISCLAIMER:

2010-02-05T10:49:00.003-05:00

I am sorry that I forgot to mention this in the post about us bungee jumping. Betty did have the video camera, but she has never used one in her life. So, we were looking at the video afterwards, you will probably get seasick watching it. She kept playing with the zoom and when Mark jumped it was zoomed in a lot, so she was trying to follow him bouncing up and down and I am not even sure he made it into the shot once. It was so hilarious!! Then she videoed as Amy and I are getting tied up and then the camera quit so no video of the screaming good time. SORRY!!! I wish there was a video, but we have pictures and that's all. Mom said we'll just have to do it again and get another video...not so sure about that one.

God is SO good...Brenda's Story:

2010-02-05T10:09:00.002-05:00

So, there is a lot that we haven't posted on the blog in the past few days because we didn't want to scare anyone, and we also wanted to make sure of a few things before we shared them. Now I am free to share, so please enjoy this story - just one example of the mighty GOD we serve!!

As you know, Baby Brenda arrived only two days after we got to Sonrise. She has kind of been "my" baby as I have taken care of her a lot. We think she is about eight months old, but only weighed 5.5 kg when she arrived and now only weighs about 7 kg. She is so very tiny!! She arrived in ok condition - obviously malnourished, coughing some, ear infection. She stayed in the hospital several days on an IV for fluids and has been on some type of medication ever since either for the infection, iron for her low blood count, etc... We took her to the doctor last Saturday (Jan 30) because she was sick. I mentioned her cough still, although it had improved since we got her, and he listened to her lungs. He recommended a chest x-ray to check for TB. We had to take her to another clinic to do the x-ray and then waited around in town until the guy who reads them came that afternoon. We returned about 2:30pm to pick up the x-ray and I read his report...active tuberculosis! I was freaking out!! We headed back to Al-Shafa clinic and the doctor confirmed the diagnosis...she has TB. I was trying to remain calm, but inside all I could think about was how she had been sleeping with me, I had been feeding her, holding her, loving on her for three weeks. I kind of resigned myself to being exposed to it...but didn't know if I would get it or not. Tuberculosis is common in Africa and they actually have a vaccine for it. So, Betty and Damali couldn't understand why Amy and I were freaking out. We told them that it's not so common in America; they still said not to worry. At that point, I kind of ceased a lot of my contact with her except to feed her dinner. I was trying to be really careful. On Monday, we took Brenda to the hospital in Jinja to get meds and they said that they wanted to run further tests on her at the Children's Hospital. It was already getting late in the day, so we didn't get her to the Children's Hospital until Tuesday. Amy and Betty took her, and ended up leaving because it was not a good experience and the staff wasn't very nice at all. We still needed treatment for TB, so we decided to take her to the International Hospital Kampala (IHK) about two hours away to get tested again and speak to a doctor who actually seemed competent (never have I been more thankful for doctors/nurses in America!). Tuesday night, Amy told me some news that I wasn't aware of. Apparently, a lot of people who have TB are also HIV+ so not to be surprised if that is what we find out at IHK. This crushed me. I cried and cried on Tuesday night because if she was HIV+ she would be sent to another baby home that was better able to deal with the situation. It might as well have been a death sentence to me - I know I was probably over-thinking it, but suffice it to say I was really upset. Lots of tears were shed and lots of petitions were made to God on her behalf. We headed to IHK on Wednesday with Brenda and Moses (he had an infection in the blood and we wanted to make sure that it was gone). It was such a pleasant experience! They did full bloodwork on both of them and HIV testing as well. We told our doctor (Dr. Sam) about the situation with TB for Brenda and showed him the chest x-ray that we had. He had his radiologist review it and told us to check back later with him. Dr. Sam was an angel in disguise. You could tell that he actually cared about these children and about their health. We had to wait around that afternoon for the lab results and to speak with the doctor, but finally he was ready. We all crowded into his room and sat down. I was trying not to hold my breath. He read off Moses' results first: HIV- and no septicemia. He said that Moses was fighting a small viral infection, but not to worry because that would go away on its own. My heart was pounding as he moved on to Brenda's results: HIV-!! I could have cried I was so relieved. He told us that her x-ray indicated an infection around her right lung, but that it didn't look like TB from the bloodwork. He needed to do one more test to make sure - a test on the stuff she was coughing up. Sorry if this is gross, but when she coughs mucus comes up. Unfortunately, she doesn't cough it out...swallows it back. It was a two-person job getting this!! Amy held Brenda and I put on a glove and stuck my finger into the back of her throat to get her coughing. When she would cough really well, my finger would go back in to collect the mucus coming up. It was quite a task! I did get a bite a few times, but we eventually got what we needed. They were going to run the test, but to really be sure they wanted us to come back Thursday morning with another sample and then get the final results then. It wasn't ideal, but we agreed. The doctor told us to be there by 6:00am and then it would take about 3 hours to get the results. Not too bad we thought...HA! The ride home I was so thankful and praising the Lord for the good results. I was trying to sing every praise song I knew. Thursday- 4:00am wake-up call after three hours of sleep due to baby duty was not fun, but Amy and I managed to be on the road by 4:30am. We arrived at the hospital by 6:00am and got the sample for them (again, bite marks on my finger). We went to the lab to drop it off and no one was there. We were the ONLY people at the hospital this early in the morning. We waited and eventually a kind maintenance man went in and found someone to come and help us. Amy took him the sample and he wondered why we were there so early. We explained that the doctor told us to come early...he didn't know that the lab guys don't start picking up labs and testing them until 8:00am! He told us to give them plenty of time to run it and put the results in the computer and so we were told to come back around 12:30pm. GREAT!!!! We could have slept longer : ) Richard had gone to take Damali to town to see a friend and we didn't have a phone with us, so we sat down to wait. It was kind of cool and overcast (a nice change from the heat wave) and then started raining. We were exhausted and my stomach was hurting...such fun times! Finally Richard returned about 9:00am so we went in search of a restaurant to eat breakfast. We ended up at the Garden City Mall and wasted some time there before heading back to IHK. Of course it wasn't ready when we got back, so we had to wait some more. Finally, the lab results were ready. I tried to read them, but couldn't really decipher what they meant. It said something about a few pus cells present and another type of cell not found, but I didn't see anything about TB. I tried not to hope too much. The doctor called us back and gave us the results: NO TB!!!!!! He said that she definitely was fighting an infection that was common in children, but that it wasn't TB. We were overjoyed...I was grinning from ear to ear. He prescribed her two oral antibiotics, antibiotic ear drops for the ear infection, and something for pain. We were on the road home by 2:00pm. We were physically exhausted and I was emotionally exhausted. I was so thankful to God for this good report and for answering prayer. Here we were worried about us catching TB and bringing it back with us (I could see the headline now: "Mission Team Infected With TB Bring Infection to Passengers On Airplane!!). Then I was worried that she was HIV+. Now we find out she has neither!!!
I kept thinking of the words to the new Chris Tomlin song - "Our GOD is greater, our GOD is stronger, our GOD is higher than any other. Our GOD is HEALER, awesome Redeemer our GOD - our GOD!!" We truly serve a mighty and awesome God who answers prayer. A lot of you didn't know that all of this was going on, but you were praying anyway. You weren't sure what to pray for, but God knew - and I am truly grateful!
Thanks so much for everything! Leah

More pictures to brighten your day =)

2010-02-04T10:09:00.005-05:00

Me and Ali - we have done this so much this trip :) He has just loved sitting on me and having me hold him. He is one of the littlest babies next to the baby-babies. he loves attention and hugs - he feeds off them :) We were just sitting outside playing and I started kissing him and tickling him - gales of laughter ensued :) Love this little boy.
ali! :) This was at mealtine and I often come up ad stand behind the bench that is closest to me and tickle heads. Then they get all excited and turn around and want to hug Mama Amy and rub all over her legs with their rice and bean covered hands! :) I love that part! And this was Ali turing around to say "Mama Amy" to me while he was eating - so adorable!

Mark and Fred!!! Mark was spining the boys around and making them laugh and laugh!!! Then they would get dizzy of course and have a hard time walking around - so cute! But this time Mark had thrown Fred up into the air and Fred got a little scared and then clung to Mark! He wa so cute and Uncle Mark was more than happy to oblige :)

Leah and Ali - playig outside :) I believe this is one of the ones that Catherine took while in possession of the camera - De, she might really have a future in photography!

Me and Trust :) And Catherine also had the camera during this little photo shoot! And i was very pleased with the cute pics she got of me and Trusty :) Trust loves the camera - and is always smiling and laughing! :) (well, execpt when he gets his feelings hurt and comes runing to me, grabs my legs, and shoves his little face in between my legs to cry - then he gets some extra extra love!)
Nulu at dinnertime!! So beautiful and so happy! She has the most beautiful smile! :)

TRUST!!!! :)

Leah and Fred - sharing a hug! So precious :) Sometimes a little TLC is all that is needed.
Me and Betty! Betty came into the living room wearing the white sweater set that Mom gave her - she looked so good in it! and got it all ready to wear to church the next day (before she got sick that night.) but she'll wear it soon! Thanks Auntie Donna!!!

Betty says, "I LOVE it! Thank you, thank you very much! God bless you! You're an amazing woman and an amazing mother!"
Me and Leah! Sitting with the babies on couch, we decided that we needed a "together" photo! and ended up gettig about 12 -trying to get a "good" one! Some ended up being even too hilarious and embarrassing to post - naturally! :) - what happens when crazy friends get together!

Bungee Bungee Here We Go Bungee...COME ON!!

2010-02-02T13:12:00.004-05:00

(Leah) Today was a pretty good day for me. Amy and Betty were at the clinic yet again with a baby (I think we should make that place our second home). Mark and I stayed at Sonrise with the babies. Mark spent most of the morning painting the new room that will serve as the storage area for baby items. I stayed in the back (in the shade, thank goodness) with the babies playing. One of the nannies set out a carpet for them to play on with a lot of their new toys. They love the blocks!! Catherine, Nulu, and Miko had stuffed animals and were acting like they were their babies - feeding them bottles and even trying to tie them onto their backs like they see other African women doing. It was so cute!! We had our usual squabbles among several of them, but all in all a good morning. Snack time came and it was popcorn. It was kind of burned, but it may as well have been manna from heaven because it was a small taste of home. I stayed outside and ate mine while writing in my journal, and when the kids finished and came back out to play they all crowded around and wanted some of mine. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. After awhile I brought out some books to read. Thank you to whoever donated a nice selection of board books (no tearing!). I have to maintain control of the book at all times, but they love to look at the pictures and point out things that they know - "flower" or "frog" or "cat". One of the books was "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed". I used to sing that song growing up. Edrin loved it when I would shake my finger and say, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" He would laugh and laugh : )
After Amy and Betty returned and the kids were gone to bed, we decided to head out for Mark's afternoon adventure. Little did Amy and I know what was in store for us! Allow me to give some background...
The other day Betty happened to mention that there was a place that offered Bungee Jumping over the Nile River. Of course Mark was immediately interested and was ready to sign up. He has been talking about it for days, and we were finally able to break away today to go do it. Amy and I were going to take video and pictures and provide moral support (not that he needed any). We had NO intention of doing it at first. But the more we talked about it we thought that maybe we MIGHT entertain the idea. Mark was all pumped and wanted us to do it, although he said he wouldn't be disappointed if we didn't. Everyone here at Sonrise was rooting for us to do it...that's because they haven't done it though (except Damali). At the last minute Amy and I grabbed extra cash and some shorts just in case... We arrived and I walked over to the lookout place to see how high it was...there was NO WAY I was voluntarily jumping off of that platform and careening down towards the water. Amy walked over to look and we both were pretty resolute that we did not want to participate. Then we found out that you had to have a minimum of two people sign up...shucks! Now we HAD to do it. I guess one of us could have backed out, but Amy said there was no way she was doing it alone - what are friends for?? We paid our money and went to change. All the while we kept thinking..."What have we gotten ourselves into?" By the time we were ready to head up to the tower I was in a pretty good mood and wanted to make the most of this. After all...how many people can say they have bungee jumped over the Nile?? Not gonna lie that I was definitely doing this for bragging rights!The tower looked so high, but I think they said it was only 200 feet. Mark went first while Amy and I watched. He jumped off the tower and headed for the water. Before we knew it, we heard a splash. He had gone in up to his chest into the water. We left Betty at the lookout place with the video camera...we needed proof that we did it! Mark was still alive when he finished, so that gave us a little bit of courage. He looked like he had had the thrill of his life! Before we knew it, Amy and I were making our way out to the area where they would tie us up. They bound our feet together with straps so that you could only shuffle very slowly to where you jumped off. We asked him not to let us go into the water because with Amy's hair you are not supposed to get it wet. Once we were each bound up they attached the bungee cords...two since we were going together. We shuffled out to the edge and were instructed to turn in and hug each other.
This is where we encountered a few difficulties. Because of our height difference, I only came up to Amy's chest. This meant that when she was hugging me her arms were around my shoulders. The guy running the show said it was very important for us to stay holding on to each other so that we wouldn't come apart in the air and then crash back together because of the force of the cords...no pressure! Amy soon realized that her death-grip on my shoulders would transfer to my neck when we jumped because she was planning on squeezing really hard. So, I put my arm on the outside (very scary). We were still shuffling (it is SO SLOW) and I realized that I felt like I was falling backwards...too soon! I kept telling him this, and he said not to worry (too late!). Before we knew it, he was counting down...Three...Two...One...BUNGEE!!! Off we went!! Unfortunately, I closed my eyes for the first jump, but Amy had hers open the entire time. Before I knew it, we plunged into the Nile and came back up wet, but alive. What a thrill!! I think this is when I started screaming (Betty said that was all that she could hear). We bounced around a few more times and then he lowered us to the waiting raft that would take us to shore. The thing around my ankles was so tight that it was throbbing. I was so relieved when they finally got it off. My ankles are still a little sore. Once we started the climb up to land Amy and I gave each other a big hug...we did it!! I was so proud!! Let me say that Bungee Jumping was never on my bucket list...now I guess I'll have to add it and cross it off. It was so much fun!!
The guys that ran it are from New Zealand (you know how I love those accents!). Betty said that they were really cute...we were misinformed. The only cute thing about them was the accents. They thought Amy's southern accent was hilarious. No one ever thinks I have one though and we are both from the same area!!
Well, I am about to head to bed. Thanks so much for journeying with us. Oh, I think I am over the sickness at least for now. I ate some "matoke" (a potato-like plantain that is cooked) and beans today for lunch and had some watermelon for dinner. So far no ill effects! Thanks for the prayers.

NEW Pictures Below!!!

2010-01-30T14:35:00.005-05:00

I made this video this morning, and I just wanted to send this to Amy, Leah, Mark, and all of the Sonrise workers. This is one of my all-time favorite songs, and I thought it very appropriate.

Love you guys! -Deanna

*After you click on it to start playing - you can click on it again to take you to where it is on youtube- and the video will be a little bigger there.

OR if the video does not show up - Click here to go to the video on Youtube! =)

Adorable Pictures To Brighten Your Day!

2010-01-30T11:54:00.008-05:00

Here are a few SMILES from Sonrise to brighten your day, and remind you how blessed we all are!

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, He must be the very last, and the servant of all." He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me does not welcome Me, but the One who sent Me."

Mark 9:35-37

Leah and precious Gift, what a beautiful baby girl!

Mark and Baby Gift =)

Leah and Miko, beautiful girls!

Mama Amy and her Baby Doll (Gift) =)

Mark is such a huge help, and great with the babies! He's helping feed Brenda, even in the midst of craziness! :)

Junior and Amy (me), laughing and giggling! Catherine LOVES using the camera and taking pictures - so Amy gave her the camera and she started taking pictures of them - SO CUTE. and so darling! and then she started taking pictures of everything else - it got quite funny :) (but as a side note - this is one of my favorites :) THIS is the love and happiness these babies give me)

Auntie Leah is so loved by the precious babies! Edrn came over to get a special hug :)

Absolutely adorable, Baby Gift! I (Amy) keep calling them all "pumpkin" or some sort of variation of that - it gets quite interesting! - but today she was actually dressed like a Little Pumpkin :)

Mark and beautiful Anisha! This is the night after she was so sick with fever, and all she wanted was love :) Uncle Mark supplied some good one-on-one time!

Baby Mark is all giggles!! Betty got such great pictures of him smiling and smiling! He smiles and nearly turns inside out whe somone gives him love and attention :)

Baby Mark loves the swings so much! =)

Baby Mark -SO cute! The swings have been an absolute life-saver with him! He LOVES them!

Quick Update...

2010-01-29T14:09:00.002-05:00

(Leah) - I hope that everyone is enjoying the pictures that we were finally able to upload. Betty told us that if we compressed the photos more and then e-mailed them to someone it would be faster. So, thanks, Deanna!!!
I have still been feeling kind of yucky. My stomach just doesn't feel right. I have been drinking lots of Sprite and eating crackers (back to the "Bland Diet" I go). Today, I went into town with Amy, Betty, and Moses and ate a little bit of chicken and chips...a LITTLE BIT. It almost wasn't worth buying because I hardly touched it. Please pray that I feel better real soon because I'm getting tired of tummy problems as you can imagine!
This morning, we awoke and did our normal routine of slowly getting ready. I was exhausted because I had baby duty with Moses and couldn't go to sleep at first and then being awakened every few hours...tiring indeed! I know you Mom's are laughing now because you know what I'm feeling. Don't worry...this doesn't deter me in the least of fulfilling one of God's callings on my life to become a mother myself one day. : )
Anyway, Moses was feeling hot so we took his temperature...101.3F. We knew that wasn't good! Amy was planning on going into town anyway to meet with Damali, so Betty and I rode along to take Moses to the clinic. They tested him for malaria which came back negative, so then the doctor said that he had septicemia...I think that means infection in the blood?? (a little help from the nurses out there is appreciated). They were going to give him an IV, but we chose to give him liquid medicine instead. So, we marched out of the clinic with antibiotics and something to supposedly bring his fever down although we aren't sure it works. We ended up giving him a few drops of the Children's Ibuprofin we brought. Please pray that he gets better. We took his temperature again tonight and it was 99.7F which is much better! Amy has baby duty with him tonight, so she will keep a close eye on him.
One of Betty's friends, Mercy, is here spending the night with us tonight. She and Betty go to University together and are on the same dance team. They were showing us some of their moves today and let me tell you they are GOOD!! Betty was trying to each Amy and me some choreography to a song...it's coming along but it isn't pretty : )
We are about to head to bed...all five babies in our room tonight with four people=one interesting night ahead of us. Thanks for everything!!! Tomorrow we are taking 4 of the babies into town to get immunized. I heard we are getting an early start (8:00am) because it may take awhile. Better hurry up and bathe and get to bed. Goodnight from Uganda!!
Oh, and a little note to my family. I would LOVE to talk with everyone (Dad included) on Saturday if you are home. I certainly hope you are : ) LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Lots of Awesome New Pictures!!!

2010-01-28T02:30:00.008-05:00

Here are some more pictures! Please remember to keep them all in your prayers!!! =)

Brenda “smiling”! :)

Leah and I driving: First time on the Ugandan roads! We made it, thank the Lord!

Trust covered in dirt! He played in this dirt pile for about a hour and was completely covered from head to toe! And might we mention that this was AFTER bathtime!

Brenda after bathtime –dressed in her cute bath towel!

Leah and Brenda after bathtime! Auntie Leah does such a great job – and Brenda just loves her! They keep calling Leah her “mother” and everyone thinks they have the same eyes :)

Mark with Catherine and Nulu – so precious! Uncle Mark was making them giggle and giggle!

Brenda in her cute STRAWBERRY DRESS!!!! Future Washington Farms little helper??!!

Amy feeding Baby Moses on the bed right before bed time. – hence my hair tied up!

Moses with his eyes OPEN!!!! Please note – he does this a lot at NIGHT! - ALL night!

Amy and Trust after morning dressing time – Catherine had the camera and was trying to take pictures! We actually made it IN this one! :)

Mark with new BABY GIFT!!!! She is 6 months old and so beautiful! And she loves to smile! So adorable! (we might get her to give Brenda smiling lessons!)

Anisha in her adorable watermelon dress! Still so sick with fever, but I got her medicine in her pretty fast and hopefully she’ll be fine soon. But this dress was one of my favorite donation clothes, and I couldn’t wait to see it on her!

Norah, Julia, and Loyce modeling their new “clothes”! Betty and I bought these at the market because we needed more RAGS! So the lady sold us t-shirts, and when we got back to Sonrise, the ladies put them on and started laughing and laughing!!! Betty called me in there because they were going crazy with these shirts! It was so cute, even though they knew they were rags :)

Amy with Anisha – after our trip to the clinic. Anisha has malaria and was flaming hot with fever. I bought pineapple at the market and she must have eaten 4 pieces – a girl after my own heart! :)

Leah and Amy – finally a picture together! We realized after having Betty take this one that we haven’t had very many – for some reason babies keep making it in all the pictures???!!

Baby GIFT!!!! Preciousness Abounding! :)

Leah and Baby Gift: MOVIE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! Leah and Amy decided to have a movie night Wednesday night – at 10:30pm! Star Trek was delightfully entertaining and Leah hadn’t even seen it before, so it was extra fun :) We had 3 babies with us that night –Moses, Mark, and new Gift! But they did fairly well throughout the movie –only a few interruptions! Oh, and we also enjoyed a few M&M’s that somehow made it into our suitcases before we left :)

Amy and Baby Gift right before bed time! Thank you, Leah for this LOVELY photo of Mama Amy right before bed with her stylish hair-do :)

Misc. Funny Moments...

2010-01-27T04:37:00.002-05:00

(Leah) So, I'm writing from the "sick room". Yes, I started getting sick last night much to my dismay. We had all been doing so much better...it's really frustrating not knowning what foods will be ok for you and what foods are going to make you sick. I had been lying in bed all day dozing when Amy received a phone call that a new baby is on its way here. Not sure if we mentioned that in a previous post or not, but Damali told us that a 3-4 month old baby was coming to Sonrise. I'm not sure how accurate the age thing will be since we were told Brenda was 4 months old. But, I guess we'll wait and see. Anyway, I threw on some clothes and now we are waiting...
I had started feeling better later this morning and then ate three crackers. Now I'm starting to feel bad again. This too shall pass.
I wanted to share some funny moments that have happened here recently. Both of them happened on Sunday. We got up to go to church with most of the older babies. We left Miko and Anisha at home since they tend to cry and be disruptive, so we thought it would be smooth sailing. It is quite a job finding nice clothes for everyone and then finding shoes that fit, but eventually all were dressed and ready. We squished in the car...8 babies and 4 adults...tight squeeze. The church we went to this week was different than last week, so when we got there they had already started. Amy waited outside while Mark and I went inside to listen to the worship. They sang "How Great Is Our God" and I started getting teary-eyed. I have experienced church in other countries, and it never ceases to amaze me that even halfway around the world we are serving the same God. It made me think of Brother Bill (my pastor) - that is his favorite song and I know he would have loved it! Anyway, the kids were dismissed for Sunday School so Amy and I went with them. We arrived in this open room outside and it was already pretty squished. I didn't see Amy right away so I was getting a little worried, but then she marched around the corner with everyone in tow...apparently they had to make a stop at the bathroom. I need to mention that we put diapers on all of the babies, but the oldest three so as to cut down on bathroom stops and little accidents. We waited in the Sunday School area for awhile and Trust started crying for no reason. Amy got up and left with him because he was being disruptive and about three of the children left with her. This left four with me and four with her. We waited some more for the teachers and finally they showed up and were about to divide up into smaller classes by age. All of a sudden, I see Amy walking up waving for me to come and help her. I'm a little confused, but we make a huge scene leaving with my four kids in tow. I felt bad because they were about to head to Sunday School, but I knew that whatever it was it must be important. We made our way to the bathroom area and I could hear Trust still wailing about something. We walked over to one of the bathrooms and there was Ian with his pants and underwear down and poop ALL OVER HIM. I had a hard time not busting out laughing. Apparently, he said he needed to go to the bathroom and so Amy rushed him over to the toilet. As he was pulling down his pants, he started going and couldn't stop so he ended up going all over his pants and underwear. There was no way to even salvage them. Trust was still crying, so Amy kept getting onto him to be quiet. I felt like everyone could hear us as it was kind of open between the church, bathrooms, and Sunday School area. Amy was trying to clean up Ian and I got all the kids to sit down in the grass. Trust was still crying and then a few of the others started tearing up for who knows what reason. Ali, I later found out, had already found a basin of water and dumped it on his shorts and shoes...always into something. All of a sudden, Amy lets out a scream and backs away from the bathroom door - out walks a huge ROACH! DISGUISTING!!! By this time, Amy had had enough so she walked into the church, up to the second row where Mark and Chris were, got the keys, and we loaded everyone up in the car to head home. Ian was naked from the waist down, Trust was still crying, and we were trying to be inconspicuous with two Mzungos driving and eight children stuffed into a car. We had a hard time not laughing on the way home at the hilarity of the situation. I still don't know about this whole church thing. I know it's important, but it seems like so much trouble and something has gone wrong both weeks they have been while we've been here. Hopefully one week will be good.
Amy and I later had to go back to church and pick up Chris and Mark. That afternoon, Mark and I were talking in the room and I mentioned about the roach at church. All of a sudden I hear a huge commotion coming from the kitchen, so thinking there's another roach I decide to investigate. I head in that direction and hear Amy squealing about something. I walk into the kitchen and there is the ugliest black bird I have ever seen laying on the floor with its feet tied (I later found out it was a chicken). Betty proceeds to pick it up by its feet and chase me around the house with it. The chicken doesn't like this, so she spreads her wings and starts squawking in protest. Did I mention it was ugly? It reminded me of a vulture. Anyway, I run back to my room (all the while screaming) and lock the door. After a few minutes, I don't hear her so I decide to sneak out and see if this episode is over. NO...she sees me coming and corners me in the dining room. There I am standing with my face to the wall covering my eyes (still screaming) while Betty has this ugly chicken mere inches from my face. I think at one point it touched me, but I can't be sure. She finally agreed to put it down and quit scaring Amy and I with it which is fine with me. Adrenaline was pumping, so after this episode is over Amy and I busted out laughing. The nannies and cook were laughing hysterically over mine and Amy being scared of a chicken. I think it's pretty funny myself, but you didn't see this chicken...UGLY!!! I have never seen a chicken like this in my entire life!

I did get to drive yesterday. We went into town to take Brenda to the clinic and then found out that Richard was at the clinic being admitted for malaria. Amy was staying in town to talk to Damali, so that left me and Betty with the car. Betty is learning to drive so the task fell to me. I was a little nervous at first, but all went well. I didn't have a problem remembering to stay on the left side of the road, but it was really weird sitting on the right side of the car. I think I did quite well, although I hit a few potholes too hard and went over a few speed bumps too fast because I didn't see them...they don't color them bright yellow here in Uganda. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures. Amy finally figured out how to compress the images so it was faster to upload...PTL!! Today, Anisha is going to the clinic. It is so frustrating because it seems that almost every day someone needs to go to the clinic or is feeling sick so might need to go to the clinic. Thanks for everyone's prayers and support. It has been a really great trip so far. So hard to believe that two weeks have already passed. Just under 4 to go! I have never been away from home for this long or not seen at least part of my family for this amount of time. So, it has been great to talk to them on the phone, but every so often I wish they were here with me or that I could at least see their faces (love you fam!). I will have a new niece being born on February 11th, so that will be sad not to be there although Mom has promised that pictures will be posted quickly after the birth. Until next time...Leah : )

Baby Moses!! (aka His Royal Cuteness!)

2010-01-27T02:59:00.004-05:00

(Amy) So, I wanted to dedicate an entire blog post to the youngest member of our Sonrise family :) I just can't believe God has blessed us with these new babies as soon as we got here - who could have imagined??!!
I have had the privilege of having baby duty with Baby Moses many nights lately - and His Royal Cuteness has been just as cute as ever! One of my favorite things to do is smell him! He has that wonderful newborn baby smell, which i just love :) So, half the time (as Betty just told me, "say ALL of the time!) I'm just kissing him and smelling him! We have kept him VERY wrapped up, because Betty has been a Nazi about keeping him "warm"! - THIS IS AFRICA!!! It is flaming hot all the time, and Betty INSISTS that he is cold! COLD! ahh! Lan and I have been going crazy! we are sweating all the time, and Baby Moses is supposedly freezing?! :)
But we have been very good about it though - such obedient mommies! and yes, we think he was born prematurely, so he does need ot be kept very warmed -and of course loved a lot!!!
Oh, and have we mentioned that Baby Moses is not a true Ugandan??! We're not sure exactly what he is, but we don't think he's a Ugandan :) His little hair looks like a little Indian's!
his little face scrunches up in the cutest way when he starts to cry! and he uses his whole body when he cries - so in the middle of the night, I can tell when he's about to wail!
I sleep with him right up next to the left side of my pillow. I have him wrapped up in about 4 blankets - they also add support so he doen't feel like he's sleeping on a hard mattress! :) and then I have discovered that sometimes he likes sleeping on his side, so I'll turn him a little bit sideways, and push another blanket up behind him to prop him up :) then I can stare at his little face while lying on my pillow :)
We put him in the swing for the first time the other day - and he really seems to like it, but not as much as baby Mark does - that boy LOVES thet swings!! As soo as he is put in it, he falls asleep! :) It is a beautiful thing!
Oh, and Baby Moses also gets the hiccups all of the time! Leah said she's not sure she's seen another baby get them as much as he does. But he's so cute hen he does, cause he looks so confused :)
So, I continue to love him, smell him, and kiss him! How can I help it??!

So...Betty just took the computer from me and here is what she just wrote and made me promise not to erase it...
"please pray that Amy washington gets a guy to kiss around cause every single minute she,s kissing.your prayers are welcome and much appreciated please follow her up." - Betty

Laughter should be ensuing right about now! :)
ok, so there's a little tid bit about Baby Moses - His Royal Cuteness :)
Welcome to the Sonrise Family Baby Moses! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugandan Hairstyle! :)

2010-01-27T02:27:00.003-05:00

(Amy) Oh, and by the way - I LOVE MY UGANDAN HAIR-DO!!!! Not many white mzungus get their hair done, although a few have - the lady how did my hair had done another white girl before so she knew how to do it, as it is SO different with my type of hair! I went into town yesterday and kept getting looks and stares - I look kid of funny being completely white with an African hairstyle :) I actually think I look more Egyptian than anything - I think because of the WHITE skin with the hairstyle!?! And Leah and Richard said the same thing! That 's one of the first things that Leah said after she said she really liked it! :) I walked in the front gate with it done and pulled back and Leah and Mark just stared! It was so funny! Mark just sat on the porch with this look of "Woah - that looks really weird, but prety good" on his face - with this funny little grin! And Leah said "It looks so different, but I LIKE IT!" :)
and then later she said - "You know, I think you look like an Egyptian?!" Then yesterday, Richard said, "Have you ever seen that movie about Joseph from the Bible?? You look like one of the ladies on there from Egypt!" (after telling me it looked great and he loved it :))
It has been so easy to take care of -I just have to put a bandana over it at night and I can't get it wet. Leah is still thinking about it - she might wait a couple weeks and the get it done.
Oh, and for everyone's information - we had the appointement at 7:30am - gave the lady money to go buy the hair extentions, and then we actually got started at around 8:30am...
My hair was finished at 3:00pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was one of the longest days ever!!!! I sat in someone's house, on a 2 inch mattress, then finally sat on a pillow at around 12pm, and by 1:30 - I was ready to quit! They said a lot of girls can't do it - they get halfway done and say take it out - I just want to leave! I was SO tired of sitting! You have no idea! The lady doig my hair was sitting on a stool behind me and let me just say that we became quite close during those 6 1/2 hours! towards the end - when she was doing the front of my head (she started at the back), I was sitting in between her legs - had been all day, but I was laying my head back in her lap completely too tired to hold up my head anymore!!!! I'm still getting used to having extra hair on my head and having stiff hair, but it's really great!
But it was worth it! :) I am so glad that I finally got it done, and Betty told the lady a great hairstyle to do! Thank you, Betty! :) I didn't have a clue what I was doing, and Betty just handled it all! It was so great! Hope you liked the pics! :)

- your ugandan hair model :)

Good Morning!!!

2010-01-27T01:57:00.003-05:00

(Amy) This lovely morning started with a medicine time for Brenda - not so much fun! Leah is not feeling very well this morning, but she took Cipro and is beginning to feel a smidgen better as of a few seconds ago! She started out with Brenda last night, but after Brenda started crying a lot, Betty wanted to give her to Auntie Norah - so at about midnight, Betty marched into Auntie Norah's room and switched out Brenda for Steven- for Leah to have for baby duty last night! I was pretty sound asleep during all of this, BTW! Moses had falle asleep pretty quickly after feeding him, but that was short-lived, let me asure you! I think he has gotte spoiled...he was doing so wel last wekk. (Well, for me at least - Leah still had major problems with him, so at one point we had to have an Amy train Leah session on baby duty with Baby Moses! But this is common here - when we swap babies, the one usually tells the other what works with that particular baby and what doesn't! It helps SO much! We have to stick together on this "Mommy" thing!)
Anyways, Medicine time with Brenda! Leah has been doing it and doing a great job, but since Leah wasn't feeling well, Mama Amy took over! We had to take Brenda to the clinic yesterday because her ears are still very infected - prayer request, BTW. They are still very infected and don't seem to be getting much better after a week of treatment - so we took her for an injection of stronger medicine. And they let us bring the injections home with us because they have to be given every 12 hours and that would have been a lot of driving into town to the clinic as well as very inconvenient times! So, in addition to the several mouth medicines she is getting, I had to give her this little tube of injection medicine into a IV type thing in her little hand. I went into Anutie Norah's room to get her - and was attacked by a ton of the most precious kids on earth! So, we all tromped into the bedroom to give baby brenda her medicine - a group job is what it became! I had 8 of them in there at one point helping me :)
Catherine was so cute - I would tell her which medicines I needed and she would hand them to me and have this very serious look on her face while doing it. I kept saying we had to help baby Brenda get better. and then with the IV thing, I would say "Don't Touch" ad they would all repeat it about 10 times - and the Ian would continue telling them every time anyone got too close for his comfort :) He is such the little man - always making sure the "babies" are doing what they are supposed to! And he is always saying something about the "babies" - NOT himself, of course! Sometimes when a guest or adult drinks milk, he'll say "You're drinking the babies milk!" or "You're eating the babies' food!" - all said in Luganda of course :) He is so adorable.
Then after finishing with Brenda (oh and I had to come into the other room to give her the IV meds - to many little hends to bump her!), I went and got baby Moses :) He needed a diaper chage and then I took him back out with everyone - Catherine is such the little mom too. and she is learning English very well - can't speak much, except repeating whatever I say :) But she'll come up and give Baby Moses kisses on the forehead! She did it this morning ,and I said, "Say, 'I love you, Baby Moses'" and of course she leaned down and kissed his little head and said "I love you, Baby Moses".
Melt my heart.
When Catherine kisses me, she puts her hands on each sideof my face, and kisses me twice on the left cheek, then twice on the right cheek and then twice on the forehead and then we say "I love you!" - God is so good.
Ok, well, just wanted to write a little and we apologize for the lack of posts - thankfully I've been able to send a few pics, and thank you deanna for posting those! And I told Lan this morning that a picture is worth a thousand words, right???! so, at least we have a few pics up??!! But again, sorry for the lack of posting. I was thinking baout it last night lying in bed, and reaized that whe I was here this summer, I was at Musana for the forst 5 weeks, and then Sonrise for the last 2. Jessie and I blogged dilligently for th first 5 weeks, and then once she left I had no computer at Sonrise - so no bloggig happened. I didn't realize that it practically isn't even possible!!!! With babies 24/7, it is difficult to make time for having our Quiet Times, and even to just sit and chat with each other, much less write - so we apologize! God is working and doing great things in each of our lives. It has been encouraging! Thank you so much for your prayers.
The babies are doing well and are as cute as ever. I love them so much. That doesn't even begin to describe my feelings, but it's hard to put into words, sometimes. They are precious beyond words.
Love from Sonrise to you all and a HUGE THANK YOU!!!! :)

Precious Children of the King!!! =)

2010-01-26T08:25:00.007-05:00

"Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such of the kingdom of heaven!" Matt 19:14

Mark and Junior!

Ian is growing up so fast! He's still just as cute as ever! =)

Mark and Mark!! =) SO cute!!

Baby Moses/Musa sound asleep!

Baby Brenda! =) Or more affectionately known as, "Little Cindy Lou-Who!

So adorable! Just can't get any cuter than that!

Steven!! =) So, when Amy and the nannies were looking through these pictures, and saw this one of Steven- the nannies said that he looked like a little frog, and busted out laughing! =) SO CUTE!!!!

FRED!!! =) SO adorable! And not to worry anyone, they are aware of girly clothes, and have taken the steps necessary to see that he now has some cute boy clothes for him!!! =)

Fred Fred Fred! That big smile can light up any room!

Mark and Junior playing! The kids just love Mark to pieces!

Ugandan hairstyle for the true Ugandan! =)

2010-01-25T15:01:00.006-05:00

Enjoy these pictures of Amy getting her hair done- true Ugandan Style!!! =) A lot easier to deal with now!!

I (deanna) LOVE THIS PICTURE!! =) So beautiful!

Betty and Amy =)

Amy with Baby Steve!!!! =) SO CUTE!!!!

Adorable =)

2010-01-24T23:03:00.002-05:00

THIS will make you smile! =)

Mark with all of the babies before church! Everyone loves riding in the car so Sunday morning is a favorite time! :)

Baby Moses! He is so skinny and little. He is eating very well though and has gained weight just since being here! this was early this morning before I clothed him - isn't he a precious little doll???!

To Catch You Up...

2010-01-23T01:34:00.002-05:00

This post will serve to catch you up on the happenings from Wednesday-Friday. Sorry we are behind, but the internet has been down and we have been so busy that sometimes the only time to write has been in the evening when we are too tired and opt to go to bed. SORRY!!

WEDNESDAY: We had a "chill day" at Sonrise. It was kind of nice to be here all day and spend time with the babies. One of the things that has been desperately needed in our room is a fan. We close the windows at night to keep out mosquitos so there is NO AIR FLOW. Needless to say I have been sweating to death...not fun!! Anyway, Amy sent Richard into town to get two fans. He returned with the blessed item and Joseph and an electrician set about installing it. When they finished they turned it on and...nothing. Apparantly some wiring was missing so they had to take it apart and head back to town for another one. This one was missing some wiring as well, so they had to make another stop at the "hardware store" to get the missing pieces. WE HAVE A FAN!!!! We turned it on for the first night and it felt glorious! About two hours later, Brenda was up feeding baby Mark and turned it off because she was cold. I almost died inside. I was on the top bunk where the air flow was great...as soon as it went off I could almost feel the beads of sweat forming again. Thankfully Amy opened the window shortly after, but we both determined to have a little talk with the cold Ugandans and set them straight about the fan being essential to us being happy during the night : )
Wednesday afternoon there was a trip to town to pick up Trust from the clinic. He is fine by the way...thank you for all of your prayers. Next stop...the supermarket. Since we have been ill our Mom's have been on us to not eat the food here and to get bland foods (crackers, Sprite, apples, bananas, etc.). Amy came back loaded down with several kinds of crackers, a crate of Sprite and other goodies...the "Bland Diet" began. One of the crackers is called "Digestive Crackers" and if you think really hard tastes exactly like Graham Crackers. Oh for simple tastes from home! The painters came again today to put another coat on the garage. It was all I could do not to rush out there and give them a piece of my mind about leaving out the water bottle with the chemicals in it. I knew that wouldn't solve anything though. Later that night, we ate our supper of crackers, Sprite, and apples. It was so good! Oh, and another plus to the day...Baby Brenda smiled! I had been trying to get her to do it all day and knew she was close and she did it!! I don't think she realized what she was doing, but it was still a smile : ) It did my heart good.

THURSDAY: Mark and I began the morning unpacking the donation bags. Our room is an absolute disaster zone with all of the suitcases stacked up. We organized all of the items and put them in ziploc bags and then had to quit because we have no idea where to put them all. It seems every cabinet we open has something in it. I think we are going to put some shelves in the closets to make more space. While unpacking one of the suitcases we found something that might as well have been a priceless jewel...KRAFT MAC&CHEESE!! Amy brought about 12 boxes for the kids, but we have decided that a few of them will be for us. Just the sight of this familiar food put renewed strength in mine and Mark's heart and body : ) We made a pact that if Amy said we couldn't have any that we were going to steal two boxes apiece and eat them together in the dark of night. Thankfully, such drastic measures didn't have to be taken. Brenda left this morning to get her hair done and as she was leaving said, "I'll see you on Sunday night. " WHAT?? We had no idea she was leaving for the weekend. And when she gets back she will head back to University. That's Ugandan communication for you. We had some more visitors today. It seems hardly a day goes by without someone stopping in. I guess there's an "open gate" policy. A neighbor from up the road decided to stop in and see what we are all about as well as a man named Mr. Kiganga who is a member of a Trust who helps support Sonrise. He can be kind of intimidating and sometimes is all talk and no action. He is apparently going to help support a chicken project for Sonrise for eggs and extra income. We'll see...
Amy finally got a real nap during nap time...she needed the rest. OH YEAH - the puppy is gone. Can I get a little snippet of the Hallelujah Chorus please?? We are so excited! That evening, we all went for a walk (this was Mark's first time), but we left a little bit later than usual. It always takes longer than we think to get shoes on everyone. By the time we left we could tell darkness was approaching fast, so we decided to make it quick. The road that Sonrise is on can be kind of busy and we have taught most of the children to get to the side of the road if a "motorcar" or "boda" comes by. On our way back we must have run into 10 of these vehicles which slows our progress as everyone comes to a halt. By the time we got back it was past dark...we will NOT be doing that again. I started off baby duty with Moses. He was not being very good for me and kept me up for about three hours. I'm not sure what time we finally fell asleep, but he woke up crying again about 2:45am. I could barely open my eyes. Thankfully, Amy was ready so we switched so I could get some sleep. Thank goodness!!

FRIDAY:
The day started off great...we received a text message about 5:00am with the news that our hometown Lady Bulldogs basketball team had beaten our nemesis Tennessee Volunteers coached by the infamous Pat Summit. It was all I could do not to shout for joy!! Way to go ladies!!!!!!!!! The painters came today and finished with the last coat of paint. Now we are waiting for everything to dry before we move beds and supplies in there. It will be nice for the babies to have their own room so that other volunteers not on baby duty can get some rest. We took a morning walk today and had the ambitious idea to go to the old house. That didn't last long. They started whining early on and so we decided to stop on the side of the road and play a little bit. One of the boys dropped his pants to use the bathroom in the bushes which started a chain reaction of about eight of them (girls included ) deciding that they needed to go to the bathroom too. It was quite funny. Mark had the opportunity to go with the group from Canada that has been here. Damali, Betty, and Richard have been working with them all week, so he was invited to go along. Hopefully he will tell you more about it, but they spent the day in the villages delivering family packs with mattresses and at a village school feeding breakfast to the many children who don't normally eat breakfast. I could tell he enjoyed it. During nap time Amy and I headed into town. We decided we needed a break for the afternoon. There was no one to drive us except us...so we drove! Amy drove and I "helped". It's different being on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road. And we were praying that we wouldn't get stopped especially after we crossed the Nile as there are usually people watching. We prayed the entire time! She did quite well though. First stop - a restaurant for chicken and chips. We had both been feeling a lot better so decided to go off of our "Bland Diet" for the afternoon. It was delicious. I only ate about half of mine with an orange Fanta...delish! We then headed to another restaurant with wireless internet to chill and update the blog and photos. It was so relaxing. Amy then took me to the Source Cafe where we enjoyed a brownie sundae. It was not as delish as in America, but it was so good to have something familiar. Last stop...the supermarket for more water. Amy pulled up to the curb and I ran in. I was probably only inside for two minutes and by the time I came back out there were about 6 street kids surrounding the car asking for money as well as the parking guy wanting us to pay for our brief park on the street. Good grief!!! By the time we arrived back home we felt like true Ugandans : ) It was great! Damali dropped by this evening and wanted to go through clothes. We pulled out all of the kids baskets of clothes and went through matching and throwing out old stuff and replacing it with new. It was so hectic because she wanted all of them in there so we could try the clothes on if necessary. They were trying to crawl on the suitcases, rip off the neon duct tape, unzip the suitcases...definitely trying to my patience. Dad, you would have been going crazy!!!!

That's all...sorry for the length. We could try to shorten the posts, but then we would leave out important things. Thanks so much for all of your support and prayers. It really means a lot!
Signing off...Leah

New post from Amy and Leah below these pictures!! =)

2010-01-22T09:17:00.004-05:00

Enjoy the faces of these beautiful babies!!

Mark with cute Trusty! So precious!

Leah with Junior and Fred! SO cute! They were playing and Leah was tickling them and they were just laughing and laughing!!

So much more cuteness! We loved this pic of Junior - he is still as adorable as ever!

Fred - or as he is more commonly known "Little Bo-Peep"! :)

Amy and Catherine! She is growning up so fast and just getting more and more beautiful and smart - her English is getting so much better! :)

Beautiful Catherine! Needless to say...She found the q-tips! and she came outside grinning at me from ear to ear!

God is in Control.

2010-01-22T07:46:00.003-05:00

(aka: "Saliva, Sickess, and Spiritual Warfare" But we thought that "God is in control" sounded a little more spiritual! anyways!)

I can say it a million times and it is still just as true every time I say it, but I LOVE waking up to the sound of babies in the morning :) Laughing, talking, crying…all of it. And this morning was no different. Only this being the morning after getting back from the hospital, I was still pretty weak and hadn’t gotten out of bed yet – and they had already had their baths and gotten dressed! I felt so lazy! Granted it was the first morning back since our whole hospital episode, but the sound of their little voices out there without me was driving me crazy. So I walked out the door and down the hallway – and 3 little ones rushed me :) I just love it when they come running up and grab my legs, and then stare up at me with big grins on their faces. And they always seem to be happy in the morning – they’re not at all tired yet!
So, I played with them for a little while and then the volunteer group was coming – Damali was coming with a group from a church (Grand View) and they were going to stay all day and play with the babies and paint, and cement the garage. (or so we thought.) So, Damali and Betty were making me, Leah, and Mark take the day off. We were heading into Jinja for hopefully a relaxing time. We took a while to leave because of various setbacks, but we finally hit the road. I must admit, I was not very happy about having to leave – I have been gone forever! And I didn’t really want to spend the day hanging out in Jinja – especially while I still felt sick. But I had a ton of people, both in Uganda and the States, telling us to take a break, so off we went.
We first headed to Flavours, a very “Americanized” restaurant that had good internet service. Leah and Mark were pretty excited to have the day off and get to see some of Jinja and after realizing that they hadn’t seen any of this town that I like so much, I got kind of excited about showing them around. We ordered breakfast which included french toast, American pancakes and I ordered Ugandan pancakes with bananas cinnamon – which is SO good (along with some mocha type drinks and fruit juice!). We sat in the shade there, ate and talked, and checked email – and made out our lists for the day. Then we headed off to see the town of Jinja :)
I must admit, it was great showing Leah and Mark the town, but I did have to send Jessie a text during the day – it was so weird being there without her. I kept going to all the places that we had been together for the first time and memories just kept flooding back. Since Sonrise is in a new house from when we was here this summer, it hasn’t been as hard as I believe it would have been, but Jinja hasn’t changed any and I thought about Jessie all day. :)
But Mark and Lan seemed to really be enjoying it and we started out going into a lot of the tourist shops and exploring the “Ugandan/African” items. I won’t give away anything, but let’s just say that they DID enjoy doing a little shopping :)
OH! But before we went shopping, we had to go exchange some money for Mark and Leah, so we decided to walk. Hindsight is always 20/20, and yeah – might should have taken a boda :) BUT we did get to actually WALK the streets of Jinja which I always enjoy, but it was long and Mark and I were not feeling very well after eating. Food is still not agreeing with us at all, and we were feeling it then. But we made it to the bank and got them some money to go shopping with. Then we headed over to the safari people that put together our trip when I sent this summer – left info and got info and they said they’d get back with us. ( and I think we decided to go with another agency and a different safari guide, but we’ll let you know more on that later!). So – we then walked BACK to Flavours and I was really not feeling well by now. We got some more water and then I noticed Leah looked to be getting some sun. When we sat down in the restaurant – yep – she was sunburned! Uhh…pretty red. But she said it didn’t hurt and she says that it still doesn’t - it just doesn’t look very good! Oh, well :)
Chilled in town for a little while longer, then Mark got hungry. I suggested a pizza place that I grew to love while here called Baraza. It was nice to go back to a restaurant and remember the “good stuff” and get it for Mark and Lan. So we ordered 2 pizzas to split…and ordered grape sodas as well. By the time we got to the restaurant, we were all very thirsty, so we kind of guzzled down our sodas, and then Mark ate the first piece of pizza and got sick. He said immediately that it was the soda – either way, I bet you can’t guess what I did???!!?!? Yep, LAUGHED! :) Seems to be my way of stress relief! I just laughed again, and laid my head down on the table. Mark felt 100% fine, we just couldn’t believe this – again! AHHH!!!! We just can’t seem to shake sickness! Needless to say, Mark cracked some joke about anyone still wanting to eat, so I just got up, went and got the waiter lady, got to-go boxes, paid her and I gave her a good tip for having to clean up! I called Richard and told him to come get us ASAP! We were all so tired!
So, the day off was nice, but not being up to par definitely put a damper on it, but it was nice to have a break and let Mark and Lan see Jinja.
We got back to Sonrise and played with the babies for a little while, then decided we should take them on a walk. The evening was beautiful and we couldn’t just stay inside. We put the babies’ shoes on and headed outside. I was lagging behind helping Fred and Edrin get their shoes on which always takes a little bit longer. I heard the babies yelling outside and the dog barking – that was when I had had enough of the dog. Richard had gotten up to head outside and I grabbed him and told him I wanted the dog gone by in the morning. The dog has bee scaring the babies ever since we got it and we were all too annoyed with having the babies crying every time they saw the dog. Then, we continued on outside and I rounded the corner and Leah is hunched over holding Trust, Damali is yelling for us to come, and all the other babies and Brenda are just standing there – most of the babies crying. Leah was in tears and Damali was saying that Trust hadn’t been breathing. I ran over and took Trust from Leah. He was coughing terribly and convulsing – trying to throw up, but just spitting up. He was coughing so badly he couldn’t stand up, so I just held him in front of me between my legs. I started asking what in the world had happened, and I was yelling at Brenda and Leah to take the other babies away and continue on their walk - all the while holding Trust, praying to God that he would be ok. Leah yelled back that she had seen him at the side of the house, but no one had found anything that they thought he had put in his mouth.
I knew he had eaten something. It was the ONLY explanation for the way he was acting. After he stopped breathing, Leah had done the Heimlich on him after he had stopped breathing, but now he was just coughing profusely and wouldn’t stop. I told Richard to go get me some water and I tried to get Trust to drink that to maybe make him throw up with his coughing. I thought about sticking my finger dow his throat to make him throw up, but knew he didn’t have anything in him, so I knew I had to try to get him to drink something! Richard, Damali and this other guy, Tevin didn’t have a clue what had happened to him, or what he could have eaten. At this point, I just wanted to make him really throw up whatever it was. I had been looking around frantically for whatever it was, but couldn’t find anything, Tevin (a friend of everyone here) said that sometimes kids can choke on their own saliva – and that was probably what it was.
I WAS LIVID. And if he told me this during this episode once, he told me two hundred times. I was so mad at him and Richard by the end of this – let’s just say I’m glad God didn’t strike me down.
Well, I finally decided I was going to have to force Trust to drink some milk to try to get him to throw up. So, I picked him up and headed to the back of the house, al the while still searching for what he could have eaten – then as I’m heading around the corner, Brenda yelled from the front of the house that she saw him with the water bottle that was lying on the ground - I saw the water bottle, kicked it, and told Tevin to hand it to me. I put it to my nose. – and it smelled exactly like gasoline. GASOLINE.
So, I handed the bottle to Richard and he smelled it – and Damali went and grabbed the milk. We were trying to force him to drink some, but then I just said to take him to the clinic. He was breathing much better by now, still coughing, but able to stand up a little by himself. Damali and Richard got into the car to take him – I so wanted to go, but knew I needed to stay.
By this time, Leah and Brenda had decided not to take the babies for a walk. So, aftr putting Trust into the car, I turned around and saw Leah sitting with the babies on the edge of the house. She had her head down and was just crying. I still hadn’t cried one tear during this whole time, and still couldn’t break down. It was then that I started shaking and the weight of everything began to hit me. I was still so upset and mad that this had even happened to my poor little baby, and for someone’s foolishness in leaving Kerosene/mineral spirit mixtures in a water bottle just was beyond me. Yeah, that the porr baby innocently picked up a water bottle with clear liquid in it and drink it – not having a clue that it would hurt him – I was still reeling from it.
I walked over and sat down next to Lan. She started crying even worse once I sat down. All she could say then was, “He wasn’t breathing.”
Even at that time, since I got outside late – it hadn’t hit me how badly he seemed to be hurt. It scared her so much, and the more I thought about it, the more it scared me thinking about how bad it could have been. I rubbed Lan’s back and hugged her – then knew I just had to walk it off. Fred came up to sit in my lap and I picked him up and headed to the edge of the house where Trust had been. I walked down, picked up another water bottle that was still there – and threw it against the wall. Then I lost it.
I just started weeping, and crying out to God. I just didn’t know how I could do it. WHY as I put in this position? Why did He have me here? Why was He asking all this of me? I just told Him I didn’t know if I could take much more. I told Him to please not take a baby from me. I told Him I just didn’t think I could handle it. I said, touch me, Lan, Mark, the babies bodies, but please just spare their lives. I was desperate. Me, Leah, and Mark have been talking (along with our parents and others) about how all that has happened since we have been here just seems like Satanic attack – this is definitely spiritual warfare. Even staying up all night with a crying one week old preemie has put life in so much perspective. This is not easy, and it’s not something to be taken lightly. When children’s lives are placed into your hands – a new kind of pressure and urgency comes into your life like I never knew existed.
I picked up Fred again, after sitting down and weeping to God, and held onto Fred so tightly it almost scared ME. Not being able to hold Trust and feel that he was ok was so hard – but just holding Fred and being able to pray for Trust, the doctor’s – all the babies…it helped. I just sat there and held him and rocked him for what seemed like forever.
Then, I knew I needed to go talk to Lan – so I headed back to where she still was with the babies, and we both cried together. We talked, prayed and cried –and in the end, knew that yes, God was still in control. And Trusty was in His hands.
Now, I’m going to let Lan tell her side of the story…bear with us if there are overlaps, but this was most definitely a defining moment of the trip so far…
Leah here…I’ll try to keep mine brief since Amy has filled in a lot of the details in between. As Amy said, we returned from Jinja and almost immediately got the kids ready to take them on a walk which, I might add, is never a quick process as everyone scrambles to find shoes that fit and match! We had to leave out the back door since the painters had been there today painting the front porch railings. Amy ran back inside to grab the camera, so I was bringing up the rear of the group. As we came along the side of the house I saw Trust investigating a pile of bricks and other items that were left behind from the volunteers. I told him to come along so we could go on a walk and kept on moving. Right before I rounded the corner to head to the gate, I looked back one more time and saw Trust standing still with his mouth open, tears coming down his face, and no noise. I immediately knew something was wrong. I dropped whoever I was carrying at the time and rushed over to him. At first it seemed that he was crying so hard about something and just couldn’t catch his breath. After a few seconds I knew that couldn’t be the case and it was then I realized the truth – he was choking on something and wasn’t breathing! All of my CPR/First Aid training came rushing to me as I grabbed him and started beating his back. Then I started to do the Heimlich Maneuver with all of my might willing whatever was stuck in his throat to come out. After a few seconds of this, I picked him up and ran around the corner to where Brenda and Damali were waiting for us and started yelling for help because Trust wasn’t breathing. Damali rushed over and started hitting his back and doing the Heimlich as well. She started calling Richard’s name several times. After I did the Heimlich a few more times, I heard him start coughing forcefully so I beat his back a few more times. He was coughing uncontrollably and spitting up whatever was in his mouth. At this point Amy and Richard rounded the corner so I let her take over. Brenda and I started dragging the babies away to go on a walk although I was so shaken up that I really didn’t want to go. However, I knew we needed to get them out of the way so we headed anyway. I think it was at this time that I realized what had happened. Throughout the whole process, adrenaline was pumping so I didn’t have time to think about it. After the fact, it hit me what exactly had happened or what could have happened if I hadn’t looked back that last time and seen him standing there. I started crying, but didn’t want to lose it in front of the children because they were already giving me concerned looks. I tried to be brave for their sakes. I wasn’t sure what Trust had gotten into and could hear Amy asking what had happened, so I yelled back that he had been on the side of the house when I found him. We got halfway out of the gate and decided that we just weren’t in the mood for a walk. We dragged the kids back inside the gate, much to their dismay. They just couldn’t understand why we couldn’t go for the evening walk. I was still crying, so went over to the edge of the house and collapsed into sobs. Fred and Catherine kept looking at me wondering what was wrong. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. The true reality of what had happened settled over me and I could’t bear the thought of it happening again to any of the other precious babies. I kept praising the Lord that I was there and knew what to do. Trust went to the clinic and thankfully Amy stayed, although I would have understood her need to go. We both cried together and prayed the whole time. I think it hit us that we were under spiritual attack. Our first week at Sonrise has been filled with too many “accidents” such as our sickness for it to be anything else. I joked that we must have saved the next Billy Graham because Satan was trying to stop whatever we were doing. To me it isn’t much to hold a child who is crying or show love to an orphan. However, it’s the Lord’s work so it’s a threat to Satan’s plans. The Lord brought to mind the verse in 1 John 4:4 - You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Pictures!!!

2010-01-19T15:08:00.010-05:00

PICTURES!!!! =)

Mark and Baby Fred!!!! How ADORABLE!!!!!

Headed to Mbale...do we look squished or what??!! It was quite an adventure hiking through the "hills"!

BABY MOSES!!! or as I (amy) also like to call him: "His Royal Cuteness" :)

Amy with Baby Musa/Baby Moses! He is PRECIOUS!!!!!

Baby Brenda! Preciousness abounding - and I (amy) got the birth certificate this morning - found out that she was born January 6th 2009. Yep, she's over a year old, and so so small I couldn't believe it. It is just a miracle that she is alive today. We are feeding her and praying that with good nutrition, love, and God's provision she will grow and get stronger and healthier!

Leah wih Baby Brenda. She is about a year old, but terribly malnourished. We are going to try to get her on more solid food to get her healthier faster.

Mark lying in bed with his drip =(

Malaria Mark - praise the Lord I can write now and say that Mark is fine. Thank you all for the prayers and support - give God all the glory! This was Moday morning after the crazy night escapade.

Our room at Al-Shafa Hospital - from the doorway. Outside is a compound type area - open to all the other buildings. Hoep this helps give an idea of where we were! There WAS a wall fan on the left side of the room which was a HUGE blessing!!! Betty and I shared the bed to the right! :)

Me, Betty, Baby Mark and Miriam! Monday morning - Richard, Brenda, and Norah were taking Baby Brenda and Baby Mark to Kampala to the hospital and they stopped by to say hi!

what happens after 26 hours in the same hospital room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exhaustion and delerium!

When You Can't Trace His Hand - Trust His Heart...

2010-01-19T06:03:00.002-05:00

(Leah) So, as you have been reading, the last 48 hours have been crazy. First with sickness, then hospital stays, then being at Sonrise for an entire day with only Joseph and the nannies. The Lord is truly faithful!! I know Amy told you about all of the events of the past two days, but I would like to give you my perspective which is a little bit different in parts.
I started feeling bad Saturday night and immediately thought "OH NO!!" I had been trying to be so careful with the food and water. But we did go swimming and of course you do swallow a little pool water no matter now hard you try not to. Definitely NOT the smartest thing to do!! I never threw up, thank goodness! Not going to go into as much detail as Amy because I think she covered all of the bases, but just suffice it to say that I had to use my Cipro if you know what I mean : ) I talked to my Mom that night and of course she asked about my health and I had to answer truthfully and tell her that I didn't feel so great. She gave all of the motherly advice about getting lots of rest and taking all of my vitamins. Let me just say that I am HORRIBLE at taking medicines on a regular basis unless it's a prescription that I have to take. I just can't remember! I had to take care of Baby Moses early Sunday morning and didn't get any sleep after 5:00am. But I do love baby duty. It is such a joy and privilege to be able to take care of these precious children. Jesus loves the little children...I am finding that to be true as I am falling in love with them all as well!
Back to my sickness...I felt ok Sunday morning so I thought I was over it. Amy and I wanted so badly to unpack the donation bags while everyone was at church, but we were too tired. I suggested a 30 minute rest time and then we would get to work. Almost two hours later, we awoke feeling worse...absolutely NO energy. I think it was at this point that I started crying. I have always joked that my motto is: "You can either laugh or cry...it's up to you." I usually choose the laughter part. This time, I told Amy, it was a time to cry. I guess it was the exhaustion compounded with being sick on another continent far away from home. After I let it out, I felt better, at least mentally! Amy still was feeling far worse than me of which I felt bad for her. She had been up the night before sick as a dog taking care of Baby Moses and she didn't even wake me. I got onto her!! Sunday night, I decide to take a shower to see if that will help me feel better. Mark had mentioned that he hadn't been feeling so hot and I just thought, well he'll get what we have and hopefully we'll all be better in 24 hours. NOT SO!! I had just turned on the water for the shower when I hear Amy yelling..."Leah, can you get in the shower quickly?" I was thinking it was Mark needing to come in and use the bathroom or throw up. I then hear someone come in and get the bucket beside the toilet that serves as our trashcan. I go about getting my shower and can hear something going on in the room, but I'm not sure what. I hear key words like hospital, malaria, but no name so I am thinking it's one of the babies. All of a sudden the door bursts open and Amy (calm as a cucumber I might add) says, "Leah, we are taking Mark to the hospital. We think he has malaria." WHAT?? I'm asking her if anything else could possibly go wrong and she starts laughing. How she can be laughing at a time like this is beyond me...totally the Lord! I question her sanity at this point, but I guess at least she's not crying. BTW: I had NO IDEA that Mark had blacked out or was laying on our bedroom floor sick! Amy said that I should probably come along to be tested as well, but the last place I wanted to go was to a hospital in a foreign country. Thankfully, since I hadn't thrown up they didn't think that was necessary - WHEW!! I finished my shower in a hurry the whole time praying hard. I didn't know what to do!! That left Brenda and me to care for three babies - Mark, Baby Brenda, and Baby Moses. I slept with Moses and Brenda slept with Mark. That left Baby Brenda in the basket on the floor which was nearer my bed. I read some of my Bible while praying for Mark and Amy. Trying to stay calm through the whole process - not easy. Maybe an hour later Betty comes into the room letting us know that they had admitted Mark with malaria and gave me a list of items they needed to take back for their stay in the hospital. I was like a woman on a mission trying to find all of these things quickly in their different locations which was not easy with the huge mess in our room. By the time I got back into bed it was pretty late. I think I dozed for maybe 20 minutes before Moses woke up for a feeding. He ate pretty well, but then decided that he wanted to be awake and look around. He is SO CUTE which makes it hard to get mad at him. He wanted to be held which meant that I couldn't just lay down and try to sleep. Everytime I would lay him down he would start to whimper and I didn't want to wake everyone else up so I would snatch him up. After about an hour of this Baby Brenda woke herself up coughing and started crying. I had to put down Moses to get her which made him start to whimper again. Brenda likes to drink from the bottle like a cup so I unscrewed the top and tried not to make a mess...not easy or successful! Through all of this Moses starts crying, so I start taking shifts between feeding Baby Brendah and feeding Moses another bottle. I felt like I had twins!!! Maybe the Lord is preparing me for something to come...?? Finally, Moses fell back asleep and Brenda went back to bed. I lay down and about an hour later Moses woke back up ready to eat again...ahhh! I changed his stinky diaper and was about to put his clean diaper on when he started pooping again. I RUSHED to put the new diaper under him, but didn't quite make it. Thankfully, it just got a little on the sheet and his blanket so I didn't have to completely change his clothes. This was quite time-consuming and by the time he had finished his bottle about 45 minutes had passed. I think I got a little more sleep during this period of time - from about 3:00am-4:30am. Then Moses woke up again for another feeding and then Brenda as well!! I was so tired, I think I was going cross-eyed feeding Moses his bottle. I kept thinking "Lord, I know you don't give me more than I can handle, but I think this is getting pretty close!" I think I stayed awake the rest of the night and slept from about 7:00-8:00 on Monday morning. Then the rest of the babies got up which is NOT a quiet process as they have "potty time" and "table time".
Monday: Brenda, Richard, and Auntie Norah (nanny) were headed to Kampala to take Baby Brenda to the hospital for further care for her malnutrition (she had been discharged from the clinic after two days and told that she needed further care at a bigger hospital). They were also going to take Baby Mark with them because they think his belly button has a hernia because the umbilical cord wasn't tied off close enough to the body. With them going to Kampala and Betty, Amy, and Mark at the hospital - this left me and Joseph at Sonrise alone except for the nannies. The Lord gave me strength to get up and face this day. I felt a lot better physically and not as exhausted as I thought. All in all it was a pretty good day without Amy. I wasn't really worried about her not being there which was good. It was just different not having ANYONE there. I felt like I fell into a familiar routine though with them. At one point we had two volunteers drop by who were working with Give International (an organization out of Canada). I didn't know they were coming over so that was kind of weird. It was almost stressful because they had been coming over twice a week since December to play with the kids and had started disciplining them by telling them to go into a corner if they did something bad or taking them to their room when they were crying. I didn't agree with what they were doing at all!! But, they were helpful with the kids and you could tell the babies liked them. At one point they brought out some new matchbox cars for each of the kids and that was fun, but don't even ask me where they are now because it gets crazy trying to keep up with 13 cars!! During naptime, I had planned on taking a nap myself, but the volunteers stayed. I was talking with them and then they said that if I wanted to nap that was fine. I did...a whole hour!! I felt so refreshed after I got up. The volunteers ended up leaving after snack time...stress relieved! Then Joseph came up and told me that some other volunteers were coming by Sonrise. It turned out that it was some of the same ones from the previous day coming with Damali to check out a project they were going to work on...turning the garage into a room for the boys so that the current boys room could be turned into a baby room. This required cleaning out the garage, prepping the walls for paint, painting, redoing the concrete floor, and also other painting around the outside of the house. I'm glad that they are doing it...one less thing that we have to do! Amy and Mark fially made it back to Sonrise last night about 11:00pm. PTL!!!! I had been praying all day! Through all of this I hadn't talked to my Mom, but knew she must be worried about me. Thankfully Richard let me use his phone and she was able to hear my voice. Mark, Amy, and I stayed up and talked for a little while after they got home laughing about the incident and giving our views on what had transpired in the past 24 hours.
Like I said before, I really felt good about being at Sonrise with the babies. I felt like I was able to fall into a routine with them and felt more at home!! And I ate almost all of my lunch which made Loyce (the cook) VERY HAPPY!! They had been so worried about me because I haven't been eaing much at all. Part of it is because I didn't want to cause any stomach problems the other part is that the food is somewhat different than I am used to. We do have beans and rice, but matoke is cooked plantains which is interesting. I don't hate it, but I certaily don't love it either. I hated to be offending them or hurting their feelings.
Damali forced us to take a day off today which has been great. We had a rough night with the babies...the first time with all four. We ended up giving Baby Brenda to Auntie Norah for the night because she kept wimpering and crying, but she would't take her bottle. OH, after they went to the hospital for her she came back with antibiotics (for ear infection), couch syrup, iron for her blood, and multi-vitamin drops. Now WHY couldn't she have gotten this at the clinic here in Jinja?? WELCOME TO AFRICA!!!
We came into town to eat breakfast and get on the internet. We are still trying to load some pictures, but it just doesn't want to cooperate. I did get one to upload to our facebook event, but it's just of the three of us which you already have! SO FRUSTRATING!! We looked in some of the shops and may go ahead and buy some souvenier stuff today.
I have been learning to french braid. Amy wanted me to do her hair last week and I thought - I have seen Mom do this a million times. How hard can it be? It was disastrous. I didn't even finish! Amy had to kind of walk me through it and when I finished I was quite proud. It wasn't very tight which I can't seem to get right. Today, I did my third french braid and felt a lot better...it's hard to maneuver three seperate strands of hair with one hand while trying to add to it with the other hair pulling it together. Hopefully by the end of the trip I'll be a MASTER! We enquired about a safari today, but there aren't other groups signed up right now so it could just be the three of us which would make it more expensive. We have a whole month to get it done though so we didn't even book anything. THe lady at the travel office was going to forward us information about two different safari places with prices...crossing my fingers it's not too much!
Rachel and Mary Beth: Thank you for the P&P quotes on the comments from Amy's post. It totally made my day!! When we were in Mbale and Richard kept calling the mountain a hill, Amy started saying "Hill! Hill!" just like Mrs. Bennett does when calling her maid. It was hilarious!
Thanks everyone for your prayers! Maybe add to the list that we will be able to upload pictures because I would love for everyone to at leas see what our new babies look like. OH, and we found out this morning that Baby Brenda is ONE YEAR OLD. She was born 1/6/09. We found this out from the lady who went with us. I cannot believe it! This makes it even more important to get some nutrients into her. We knew she was older, but not this old. It is amazing to me that she has even stayed alive this far! I'm gonna sign off for now. This trip is truly amazing and I hope that we can at least give you a glimpse into what we are doing here.
During these past few days of sickness and stress I know that the devil has been attacking us. It has been hard to get into the Word with such a busy schedule, but I have been reminded how important that is. "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world!" Praise the Lord for that truth!!!

It Is Well With My Soul.

2010-01-18T08:35:00.004-05:00

(AMY!!!!!) So…finally a word from the Sonrise Director :) Sorry I haven’t been able to write yet. I hope Leah has been keeping you a little in touch with our trip, which has been amazing so far. God is so good! Can I just first say that IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How I have missed this place and my precious babies :) When God called me to Uganda last summer, little did I know how it would forever change my life, but I am so thankful that God has!
Right now I am writing from the hospital bed at Al-Shafa Modern Medical Clinic in Jinja. It is hot here, but we have a lovely fan which has been such a blessing! Mark is lying on the other bed to my right – and I am tearing up as I write and say that he is doing so much better. I haven’t let myself cry and honestly, this is really the first time I’ve let myself think about it. Betty is lying in bed next to me – she is such a God-send, as are all of the Sonrise workers, which I now call dear friends.
Let me head back to last night: well, I could actually head back further than that (again, I’m sorry I haven’t written, as there is so much that has happened and so much to tell, but I’ll work on it today hopefully! – they just told us that we will be here for the next 10-14 hours at least letting Mark finish his 3rd iv drip.) But anyways!!! Sorry! Let me back up again! On Saturday night, Leah started feeling sick early on – around 7ish. So, I told her we wouldn’t let her do baby duty that night cause she needed sleep. Baby Brenda was still in the hospital with Auntie Norah for malaria and a very bad ear infection and cough. So, big Brenda took baby Mark for the night (he can be very active at night and likes to sleep RIGHT up next to someone! Otherwise he feels like he is all alone and he doesn’t like that at all!), Betty took Steven (who also likes to sleep right up next to someone and likes to have them blow air onto him while he sleeps! He is SO CUTE when he sleeps, as he sucks his thumb – my favorite! – and sticks his little bottom in the air when he lays on his stomach), and then I was taking Baby Musa (and I believe I have decided to call him Moses, as he looks so much like a Moses and Musa is just so hard for me to say! I don’t know why, but it is for some reason very difficult :) Leah also has struggled with it and has to think of “Musana” and then try to say “Musa” from that! So, we both decided that we should go ahead and translate Musa to it’s English form which is Moses! And seriously, he just looks like a little baby Moses, pulled from the bulrushes :) (or from the bed in the village bush – either way is fine!)
ANYWAYS!!! Sorry :) If any of you read my blog from this summer with Jessie, then you will feel right at home with my ramblings and crazy writing and terrible spelling! Again, I apologize!
Ok, so Saturday night we took the babies, got in bed after devotions, and a dinner which Brenda cooked especially for us – as Leah has not liked the food very much and hasn’t eaten much of it, which has concerned the ladies. So, Brenda made green beans, mashed potatoes, and vegetables – so delicious. I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if I had known what was to come though! Baby Moses, who was with me, was being so good. He has to be fed every 2 hours, doctor’s orders, so that was what my night was looking like. And I had gotten into baby mode better by that night, as the first night I slept right through his crying and Betty and Leah had to wake me up to feed him! Oops :) But he was doing well Saturday night and looked so adorable lying next to me sleeping. I so badly wanted to take pictures of him all night long, but knew the flash would go off and that probably wasn’t a good idea – but I really wanted to!!!!
So, I guess it was around 11pm when I first started feeling sick. Baby woke up, so I fed him, and then as soon as I finished, I rushed to the restroom. I hope I don’t tell you too much or too little, and forgive me if I am I give TMI! That’s what Deanna said when I was talking to her on Sunday! Sorry :) But I had diarrhea really bad. (oh, and as a side-note, I have learned how to spell that word very well, and doubt I will EVER get confused about it again! So, if it’s ever a Cranium word – let me at it!)
But Anyways, I felt horrible that night and it kept getting worse all night. I was getting up constantly and I was praying the whole whole night long. God was so merciful and Baby Moses was an angel that night. I didn’t actually vomit the first time until about 3am. I don’t know how I had any fluids in me at all. And not to toot my own horn, but I felt like Super Woman most of the night – sick as a DOG, AND doing baby duty and letting Leah and everyone sleep all night! – God was also merciful with Mark and Steven as they were great too – Mark didn’t wake up until 5ish maybe. I told big Mark – he thought HE had it bad – can I just be real for a second, and again forgive me for being too explicit, but you probably want a laugh about now, cause I still laugh when thinking about it, but at one point, I was sitting on the toilet, holding Baby Moses, feeding him his bottle, while hanging my head over the bucket next to me!!!! I honestly just laughed at myself!!!! Welcome to Sonrise Baby Home in Jinja, Uganda!!!! It was either laugh or cry and I couldn’t afford the latter!
So, after being as sick as I can ever remember, Leah got up at around 5am – don’t even know why, maybe the Lord’s prompting, but she took Baby Moses for the last couple hours until the nannies were up and could help. Lord have MERCY! And Thankfully, He did. After morning, I stopped vomiting, thank the Lord. I was able to get a little sleep once Leah took the baby, and at 7am we all woke up. And it was SUNDAY! YAY! Church! This is when Leah and I kindly said that we would not be attending – and I believe God firmly agreed with our decision. I decided that Sunday would REALLY be a day of rest. We sent Mark, Richard, and Brenda to church with the babies. (and I’ll say Baby Mark and Baby Brenda whenever referring to them, ok! To make it easier – sorry!) All of the older babies went, so Leah and I were left with the nannies (Sophia, Julia, and Loyce) with Baby Mark, Baby Moses, and Steven. Betty had to go take a church group from Canada to church in the village. (Betty, Damali, Mercie, Richard, Ivan – many of the GSF kids help run these organizations when they have mission trips with volunteers come. They are great at it, and they get paid, so it is such a benefit to everyone)
So, Leah and I stayed in bed all morning. We slept some more, and then just laid there. At one point, Leah finally broke down and cried – exhaustion and sickness don’t go well together, and I do take full responsibility. I’ll get to that more later, but I felt so badly. We stayed in bed practically all day. I think we finally got up around 4. I was so, so weak and tired, as my body had nothing at all in it. Steven came and slept beside me in bed during the day – how I love my babies, and he looked just so cute! His little thumb sucking, fat self is just adorable :)
Ivan, Godfrey and Joseph came to say hi and chat for a while. It was killing me to not be out with the babies all day, so I had them come back there to me every so often. Oh, and I HAD been in contact with Mom and Dad throughout the night – such a blessing to have communication and prayer support from halfway around the world. AND parental advice :) How I love you, Mom and Dad and have been so thankful for you this trip – so different from last time, and having you here has been beyond peaceful and reassuring. Thanks. I’ve been praying like never before on this trip of course, but knowing you’re there has been such a blessing. God has been so present and real to me, ad He is making me rely on Him for EVERYTHING lately, which has been so good for me and my soul. He knows me, and what I need more than anything – and sometimes, I just need more of Him. I’m going on another rabbit trail, but I took a walk by myself on Friday night after getting back from getting Baby Moses, and it was such a sweet time with my Savior. I walked back to the old Sonrise house – stumbled on it accidentally actually, but I felt that God just led me straight to it. I sat down in the grass in front of it and just cried and prayed. That place has so many wonderful memories for me, and it focused me on my Jesus like nothing else here could, I believe. God was with me every second this summer, and He’s with me every second this time. Such a sweet time with Jesus, and after I returned to the house, I knew he was in control and leading and guiding my every step. I listened to my ipod and the last song I listened to as I was walking back to the new Sonrise house was, “He Is” by Mark Schultz. A new favorite over the last few months, and a soul-moving song for me. “He IS, He WAS and He ALWAYS WILL BE. He LIVES. He LOVES. Ad He’s ALWAYS WITH ME.” Jesus knows what I need, exactly when I need it – praise His name.
Ok, sorry for the bunny trail :) Just want you to know that through everything, God has been beside us. So, back to Sunday: we lounged and I still felt petty terrible all day, as the diarrhea continued, but was able to get up and move around a little. Damali came with the church group volunteers for about 20 minutes (thankfully it was no longer!) and I had to rush inside to get dressed! It was so good to see her again. I saw her when she picked us up at the airport but not since then, and I was reminded of why I fell in love with Sonrise and everyone in it. She is so wonderful and such a sweet sister in Christ. She loves these babies, and has such a heart for the Lord. Bless her.
So…Leah was feeling much better after the day of rest. The day was still crazy – as every day is at Sonrise and I LOVE IT! At times when it seems overwhelming though, I just have to go grab Junior, Catherine, Ian – any one of my precious babies, and hold their face right in front of mine and smile and cry at the same time. THEY are why I love Sonrise. They ARE Sonrise Baby Home – and I love them so much. I just look at their adorable faces smiling back and me and then kissing me and saying “I love you”, and everything in the world seems right.
Oh, and that HAS been amazing to me: them telling me “I love you.” Goodness, how my heart melts. I go in at night and sing “Amazing Grace” and “Jesus Loves Me” with them and then go kiss them all and say “I love you.” and when I first heard Catherine say “I love you, too” and then kiss me on the cheek, I just cried. Then, As I went around to each one of the older babies (Catherine, Nulu, Ian, Junior, Miko, Trust) and they all said “I love you” and kissed me – my goodness, how special. And Ian has started just calling me Amy, while Catherine and Nulu say “Auntie Amy” and Ali just calls me “Mommy” while Junior and Trust will sometimes say Mommy Amy. So cute! :) Sorry, I’m so sentimental and mushy. They are just so special to me.
ANYWAYS!!! Sorry again! :) I LOVE rabbit trails! So much to tell, though!!! Ok – so here’s where we get to Sunday night. Bear with me here.
We put all the babies down, we had just finished devotions, Stella had slit her fingers open on a can lid from the kitchen – so Amy got to do First Aid while Stella screamed uncontrollably – blood everywhere, and then Mark said during devotions that he didn’t feel very well. I told him to go lie down and let me know if he threw up, had diarrhea, etc. (There are just so many diseases we just don’t think exist anymore in America, and they do scare me). I also feel totally responsible for Leah and Mark on this trip and have been very concerned about them. Yesterday I sat them down and told them that if we need to take a break, we can, let me know how I can help them at Sonrise, because they are just not me. I just jumped right in with both feet this summer and felt completely at home, and I didn’t have jet lag, didn’t mind baby duty, didn’t mind loss of sleep and tiredness, and all the babies know me and are used to me, etc, but I know it can be hard to adjust to these babies as they don’t speak English, which I sometimes forget, so communication can be difficult with them. The babies love them, and Leah and Mark have been WONDERFUL caring for the babies, helping out, holding and playing with them, doing baby duty, travelling to way out there villages to rescue dying babies, etc – not many people would be able to handle all of this as well as they did and all of this on top of jet lag, time change, newness of life, weird food, etc!! all of it! They have been great. The boys just love Mark - Ian and Junior especially :) and Lan is so great with the baby babies, and diaper changes, feedings and everything! They have been so great.
So Sunday night when Mark came in my room, I got pretty concerned. Leah had gotten in the shower and I was going to get in after her. We had divided up baby duty that night, as Baby Brenda had come back home Sunday afternoon with Norah. So, we had four babies that night to look after. (BTW, we’re getting a new nannies soon, Lord-willing –pray for provision and judgment). But God has entrusted these babies into our hands and when a life is placed directly in your hands and care, a new focus takes over and life takes on a whole new meaning. So, four babies, lack of sleep, etc – just feels worth it and totally a privilege. One I wouldn’t trade for the world.
But Mark walked our girls bedroom and blacked out, dropped to the floor, and was about to throw up. Leah was in our bathroom, Norah was showering in the other one, so Mark had no bathroom to go to. Lord, That would be the case wouldn’t it? (God and I did a LOT of talking over the next 7 hours). Brenda and Betty were standing right there, Brenda holding Baby Mark and I yelled at Leah to let us in the bathroom, but Mark couldn’t’ make it. Betty grabbed the baby bath basin and Mark threw up immediately. Mom, you could empathize after your food poisoning last year, but he was (in Mark’s words) crapping all over himself, while throwing up in the basin in the middle of the bedroom. I didn’t even know what to do. I just rubbed Mark’s back and tried not to cry. I couldn’t cry and haven’t until today (Monday). I knew I had to keep in together and stay extremely calm. Betty and Brenda took one look at Mark’s vomit and looked at each other and then me. “Malaria”.
His vomit was orange and they just knew it was malaria. Earlier when he was feeling sick, I just wanted him to ride it out like I did and we’d see how he felt in the morning. But then Betty said, “Let’s take him to the clinic” And I said, “Now?!” and when she said, “Yeah.” I didn’t want to argue. Mark went to change after a couple minutes when he was able to walk again after he finished vomiting, and the girls told me to change to go. I threw on my jeans and a shirt, and went in the bathroom to tell Leah. She was still in the shower, and I couldn’t even speak when I walked in. I knew I couldn’t cry, and all I could do at that point was laugh and pray. I know it sounds really bad to say I was laughing, but I honestly knew I couldn’t cry or I would weep for hours. I knew God was in control, but I was laughing/crying as I walked in the bathroom and I was shaking my head as I told Lan we were leaving for the clinic – they think Mark has malaria. She jerked the curtain back and said “What?!” and practically started crying right there. The she looked at me and said/yelled “Why are you laughing?!” I was honestly so scared and just couldn’t believe that after all of everything lately, God was allowing this to happen. I really had to laugh at God and say, “Really? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?? I can’t handle this.” But God just seemed to say, “Trust Me.” We grabbed the bucket in the bathroom to take for Mark to throw up in, and Richard, Betty, Mark and I got in the car to leave. I sat in the back beside Mark, and didn’t even have anything to say. You would think that I could come up with SOMETHING Spiritual to say at this moment, but all of it escaped me, as I was still completely sick, dizzy and tired myself. I was just praying for God to sustain me, and have mercy on Mark, as I was at a loss. I told God I didn’t know what to do and that He was going to have to do everything – I can’t even explain how out of it I was.
Betty called Damali when we got in the car and she was going to go to the hospital with us. That made me feel so good, I almost wept right there too. We actually picked her and Miriam (a friend) up in town and headed to the International hospital Jinja Branch. When we got there, we found out it wasn’t a 24 hour clinic so they sent us to Al-Shafa – the clinic where we take all the babies. Mark was really feeling bad again by now and blacking out again, and breathing very hard. I had talked with mom several times by now, and you can only imagine how she and dad felt. We got to the clinic and got out – Mark stumbling and almost falling. He was so weak. We got him registered and were taken into a back room with the nurse. Damali was with us the whole time and her complete calmness helped. Betty and Damali were so calm and collected that it was God’s mercy they were here. I trust them completely, which is the only way I could trust them with Mark. But then, there wasn’t much else I could do. I have ever felt so helpless I don’t think. So completely helpless. We went back to the lab where they were going to draw blood for testing for malaria and typhoid. While talking to Mom on the way to the clinic, she had said to keep my eyes open and watch for where every needle, and syringe, and iv came from – make sure they were sterilized .I hadn’t even thought about this in my pathetic state, but it almost scared me more. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to be home to take him to a hospital with mom and dad and fee safe, but that was not where God had us. A foreign hospital, foreign language, weird diseases and sicknesses – so, so completely helpless- totally in the Lord’s hands. Back in the lab, they got the needles, which Mark hates, and they all came out of new packages, thank the Lord. I didn’t even want them to stick him, but again, I was powerless. And he was so, so sick. They drew blood, and them took him down to a private back room with two beds and a chair. He was stumbling into the room and sat on the bed. He threw up on the floor as soon as we sat down. I was so faint that I just said Jesus, and sat on the bed, afraid that I was going to not make it. Damali had brought an apple and some water and juices, so I opened a bottle immediately and Betty went and washed off the apple for me, which I ate immediately. That helped me a ton. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it for Mark. After he threw up in the room, the nurses laid him on the bed and finally got him hooked up to an iv. I honestly didn’t care at that point what they put in him – I just wanted SOMETHING to help him. I had just prayed that whatever they did to Mark would be guided by angels. There was nothing else I could do – and when He takes us to that state, well, let's just say He grew my faith.
Mark really thought he was going to die – he was more worried than he let on to me. And probably the same for me. But I really had such confidence in Damali and Betty’s judgment and God using them. I had to trust what they thought was best for Mark. They live here and have seen this so much, and their composure during al of this calmed me so much. Betty and Damali the whole time just kept saying, “He’ll be fine.” The nurses were the same way.
AND, above all, we had prayer cover. It was such a comfort to get texts and calls of people saying they were praying, even ones I had no clue were praying for us – God heard you and used those prayers. Thank you. I am so eternally thankful for the prayers of His people. I can sit now and write this, looking back at everything that happened last night – knowing that HE was in control and His people believed. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you everyone who contributed during this time with Mark. I can not tell you how much it meant to know we had prayer warriors everywhere interceding on our behalf. God is so good. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Once they put in the iv, Mark improved drastically. I was so, so thankful. Betty and Richard went back to the house to get extra clothes, contact stuff for me, sheets, etc for the stay at the hospital for the night. Betty and I slept together in one bed, and Mark in the other. There is a fan in the room, which was SUCH a blessing :). We slept with the light on all night, but we DID sleep, thank the Lord! In the morning, Damali and Miriam came back to check on us and they wet and got breakfast for us – “mzungu” breakfast: coffee, and BLT sandwiches! And we had more mango and apple juice. Mine was very delicious – Mark didn’t feel up to eating much, but he has since eaten a granola bar, juice, etc and we’re trying to get more in him.
Right now, Mark is having his 3rd drip iv put in and we are waiting until he finishes that to go back to Sonrise. They put the Quinine in the second drip, and he seemed to respond very well to that, so we are praying that he doesn’t have any reactions to this third drip. I still don’t feel well at all, but am praying that I will recover soon. My stomach is still very upset and I am very weak, but am praying that through my weakness, may HE be strong. HE raises us up.

All in all….It is well with my soul.
God bless you all. Love you.

Swimming in January...

2010-01-16T10:35:00.002-05:00

Yes, today we went swimming. Betty and Brenda felt bad about us working so hard, so this afternoon we all went to the pool. It was so refreshing and relaxing...just what I needed! I'm not going to lie and say that everything here has been great because it hasn't. It's been tough. Since Damali is on her vacation we have been running the home, traveled twice to get new babies (all day journeys), and dealing with unexpected things that come our way. I will also be honest and say that yesterday was a really rough day. We had been gone all day getting Baby Musa (one week old from a village near Iganga - but I will let Amy tell you about that in another post coming later) and then got back and were getting the rest of the babies ready for bed. I was already exhausted and really started missing home...which sounds kind of crazy since I've only been gone 5 days. We had yet to have a full day at Sonrise since we had been out traveling. We hadn't gotten into a routine. The donation bags still haven't been unpacked. I haven't had hardly a second alone to read my Bible and spend time in prayer. Let's just say I felt like going into a corner and crying (sorry Mom if this is too hard to read). Then after the babies went to bed Amy, Mark, and I sat around and just talked about our trip so far. It was encouraging to sit down and talk through some of our frustrations, joys, and exciting moments. Then I got to talk to some of my family (skype is amazing) and felt TONS better.
BABY DUTY: Last night was my first official night with "baby duty" which means you are in charge of one of the smaller babies of which we now have three. They sleep in the bed with you and you have to get up with them to feed them and change them in the night. I started off with Steven and he woke up and so I fed him. We are trying to slowly wean him off of his bottle to get him to more solid food, so I didn't want him to drink the entire thing right away. Well, he didn't like this very much and started crying. After awhile he went back to sleep. Not more than 30 minutes later he awoke again crying because he was hungry. Betty, who is usually in charge of Steven, decided to go ahead and take him for the night leaving me with no baby. I had hopes of getting a good nights sleep. Not so!! Amy was in charge of our newest baby, Musa. Of course he woke up often since he is so young, and at one point he wasn't to be consoled. I could tell Amy was exhausted so I offered to rock him in the living room. When he finally quieted down I came back in and just took him to bed with me since Amy was already asleep. I ended up keeping him the rest of the night and got up with him twice and changed two poopie diapers - the second one I was in the middle of changing him when he decided that he wasn't quite finished and so he messed all over his new diaper, his clothes, the sheet, and his blanket. He is absolutely precious though and I wouldn't have traded it for the world. I know this post has been somewhat depressing, so let me say that this trip has had many rewarding moments. Finally meeting the Sonrise babies that I had heard so much about and finding out just how precious they really are. Having the priviledge of traveling to pick up two new babies to join the Sonrise family. Being on this trip with a best friend and her brother (who I am finding more and more about-not sure if this is a good thing or not). Baby Brendah was taken to the clinic yesterday to have a check-up done (this is protocol for all new babies) and they decided to keep her overnight because of an ear infection and some malaria. We thought she would come home today, but the doctor wants to keep her again another night because he doesn't think she's well enough to come home. We went by to visit her today and she still looks small, still has the cute whimper, and looks like she doesn't quite know what's going on. I am ready for her to come back, which means we will have four babies for baby duty and four workers for baby duty, which means more sleepless nights. It has been amazing how the Lord has sustained me through this trip. I will post pictures of our new babies asap on the blog. Amy's computer is about to die so if the pics aren't up today it's because her computer died and our adaptor to charge it is broken. Thanks for all of your prayers!! --Leah

Day 2 at Sonrise: Will That Be Carryout or Delivery?...

2010-01-14T16:19:00.003-05:00

After going to bed at 10:30pm, Amy and I woke up often throughout the night with Steven and Mark. We weren’t on official “baby duty” so we didn’t have to get up and feed them, but we still woke up which wasn’t fun or restful. We missed the 5:00am devotions because we were sleeping and Brenda and Betty decided to let us rest…we felt bad about it though. We got up about 5:30am because the plan was to leave at 6:00 to head to Mbale to get a new baby. Now, I was pretty excited about doing this. To be apart of bringing in a new baby seemed so exciting. We didn’t end up leaving until after 7:00am because the lady who was supposed to meet us and show us the way never showed, so we went to her house to pick her up. That’s Ugandan time for you! It took about 4 hours to get to Mbale, and Mark, Amy, and I were all squished in the backseat…no fun. There were lots of speed bumps on the roads, so it was hard to maintain a consistent speed. We stopped in Mbale to eat…the Shine On Hotel! We had chicken and chips again and were introduced to a new drink called Merimba Fruitty. It was very good! It had a little bit of grape flavor to it and kind of reminded me of one of those frozen ice pops that has melted so you are only drinking the juice. I know some of you think that sounds disgusting, but it was quite delicious. This brunch turned into a 2 hour event…the kitchen was so slow! Every time Richard would hit a speed bump, he would yell out, “Sorry, Amy! Did you hit your head?” The answer was always the same, “That’s alright, Richard. No, I didn’t hit my head.” Even though we were in Mbale, we still had a 2 hour drive ahead of us because we had to go off the beaten path to the village of this baby to get her. The roads were even more bumpy and when we reached one market, the roads were so crowded that we almost couldn’t get through. We were waving at all of the kids on the side of the road and they kept yelling “Mzungu!” which means “White person.” We parked the car and then backtracked a little to make our way up the “hill” as Richard called it. This “hill” was actually a mountain…a large mountain! We didn’t bring any water with us, so we were huffing and puffing during the hike! Mark was the official “camcorder man” so he was filming a lot and whispering about what he was seeing. Amy said it was quite a sight! The lady we brought with us was leading the way and we finally stopped to rest at the house of her mother (we think it was her mother). Boy was I glad to finally get a chance to catch my breath. We were told that the relatives of our new baby were going to bring her to us. Great…more time to rest! The lady took Mark and Amy further up the mountain to see the house where Baby Mark was from. It was apparently very steep and exhausting, so I’m glad that I didn’t go with them. Amy said she felt really sick by the time they reached the top of the “hill” – I mean mountain, the camcorder was dying, and Mark had to use the bathroom. Again I say…I am glad that I didn’t go up that far. When they finally returned, the baby still hadn’t come so we sat down and started playing with the kids who had followed us – always fascinated with the “mzungus”. They kept repeating words we were saying and Mark was hilarious! When he said “hill”, it came out “heeuwl” which made us laugh harder. They would start laughing hysterically whenever we did something: I did a fish face, Mark put rocks on Amy’s head, and then someone discovered Mark’s hairy legs. Several of the kids started feeling them and laughing hysterically. It was SO FUNNY!!! We were still waiting on the baby…one of the ladies brought out cokes and Glucose Biscuits (sounds healthy huh?). They were kind of like sweet shortbread cookies. It was nice to have something to eat since we hadn’t eaten since our brunch at 11:30am. By now it was about 3:00pm. We finally found out that the relatives of our new baby sent her with a child to come and find us. So, we took off in the general direction of her house hoping to meet up with them. Thankfully, it wasn’t very far. And then, before we knew it…THERE SHE WAS!!! Her name is Brenda. We think she is about 6-7 months old. She is pretty tiny, but was actually pretty alert. Her Mom died when she was about 1 month old (not sure how) and she was put into the care of her Grandmother. Well, her Grandmother died recently, so she had no one else to take her in. She was very quiet during this exchange except for this tiny whimper. We aren’t sure if that’s as loud as she is going to be, but that would be a huge change compared to Steven and Mark who can be quite loud and demanding. We made it back to the car where we changed her diaper and clothes while a crowd of curious children and adults looked on. It had been threatening rain all day, and started sprinkling so we wanted to get off the dirt roads so we wouldn’t get stuck. Thankfully, the rain didn’t last long. Brenda was so quiet the whole ride…she even slept through all of the bumpiness. Did I mention she is ADORABLE??!! We tried to give her some water from a bottle, but she doesn’t really know what to do, so we gave it to her from the cap. I ended up spilling a lot on her so it was pretty messy – does this sound like the normal for me though? The lady who rode with us up to Mbale decided to stay until Sunday. We were excited about having room in the car. Then we found out that her husband, who we had paid transportation to get to Mbale, wanted to ride back with us. Scratch the thought of roominess…back to squished into the back seat. But we survived. It was a long and tiring 4 hour drive back to Jinja. We didn’t leave Mbale until 5:15pm. We stopped to eat dinner in Jinja…pizza and more Marinda Fruitty drink. This restaurant was some-what American so it tasted pretty good. We weren’t very good company though because we were all so exhausted! Brenda ate about 2 capfuls of milk and then decided that was enough. We judged that to be about ½ of an ounce…that’s not gonna cut it. She does have teeth coming in though, so we hope to start her on food pretty soon with a bottle at night to fatten her up. That’s the plan now…could change though. We finally made it back to Sonrise about 10:30pm. I was sad because we didn’t see the babies all day today. Betty bathed Brenda and Amy and I took showers which was quite refreshing. I don’t mind the cold water too much because it’s so hot. Amy, on the other hand, thinks it’s a torture device. It’s almost 1:00am here so I am way past ready to head to bed. But, I did want to update you on the past few days here in Uganda. I will hopefully post pictures tomorrow of some of the happenings. Oh, you might remember me mentioning the Cure International Hospital in Mbale that I wanted to visit. Well, as you may be able to notice, we didn’t have time to stop in. We did pass it though so that counts a little, right? Tomorrow will be another busy day. We still haven’t unpacked the donation bags and so when we need stuff we are guessing as to which suitcase it is in. Oh, and we will be leaving late morning to go get another baby. He is supposedly one week old and in a village outside of Iganga. Two new babies right off the bat…this will be interesting! Thank you so much for journeying with us and praying for us. When I get some more specific prayer requests I will let you know, but please continue to pray for our health and also for strength to make it through these busy days as we are all very exhausted. Love to you all!!
Signing off from Uganda…Leah
P.S. The "Carryout or Delivery" slogan came from the fact that baby Brenda was supposed to be delivered for us as was the original plan, but we ended up having to go in search of her (hence the 'carryout'). I thought it was kind of funny and cute. I hope it brought a little chuckle to you.

Day 1 at Sonrise: The Day We Almost Quit...

2010-01-14T16:14:00.000-05:00

We made it!!! Sorry for the delay in posting to the blog, but it has been a very busy, exhausting, and rewarding first few days here in Uganda. I will go ahead and warn you that this will be a pretty long post because there is a lot to cover…
We arrived in Uganda late Tuesday night (about 10:30pm here/2:30pm there). As a side note – this 8 hour time difference is really weird to me! Anyway, we arrived in Uganda after two 8+ hour plane rides of which we got very little sleep. The plane rides were interesting…this was Mark’s first time flying and I think he enjoyed it. We did have a pretty rough spot of turbulence that woke him up (he was the only one who actually got some quality sleep) and he said that “Whoever is driving this plane needs to keep his eyes on the road!” After we boarded our flight from London, I had to use the bathroom – which is always quite an experience on a plane – well the bathroom for our section was in the very back of the plane while we were on the second row. I had to wait a few minutes in line and then when I was finished the beverage cart was just starting up the aisle. Well, I had to slowly make my way back to my seat and what should have been a 5 minute thing turned into about a 30 minute thing…definitely a practice in patience. Amy said that she was about to send out a search party for me!!
ANSWER TO PRAYER: All 12 pieces of luggage made it to Uganda!! We were worried because we only ended up having about 45 minutes in London to catch our next flight. But we were praying so hard and lo and behold all of our luggage made it. We put florescent duct tape on the luggage so it would be easy to spot and we quickly pulled off 11 pieces. Then we couldn’t find the last one. Amy walked all the way around the carousel while Mark and I kept watching to see if it would come out…nothing. We were almost ready to give up and go report to the Lost Luggage people when we looked across the way and saw it plain as day. We have no idea how it got there because we looked everywhere for it…we can only say that the Lord brought it to us – and boy were we excited!! We loaded the van with 12 suitcases, 2 carry-on suitcases, 3 spare tires, and 6 people which made it quite squished. We stopped to eat in Kampala at midnight and ate our first meal…chicken and chips (fries) with Coke!! It was quite delicious. Our accommodations for the night were in Kampala, so we didn’t have far to drive before getting to bed. Unfortunately the gate to the house was locked, so we couldn’t drive the van up into it as planned. This meant that our driver, David, parked the van near a hostel where a security guard was on duty all night with…a bow and arrows and a dog!! We had to leave by 4:30 which meant we got less than 3 hours of sleep (still couldn’t sleep even though I was exhausted). Damali stayed in Kampala to work with another organization to give tours of local orphanages to potential donors. The drive to Jinja was a little over 2 hours and when we got to Sonrise we could hear all of the babies awake. This made us all quite happy! It was a wonderful reunion between some of the babies and Auntie Amy. They all started coming out to see what all of the commotion was about – how precious they all are!! Fred became attached to Mark immediately which was quite funny and cute. If Mark moved anywhere on the porch to even greet someone, there was Fred right beside him. Deanna, you are right – he is totally cute!! After we got everything unloaded, Amy and I went with Betty and Richard to take Steven to the clinic for a malaria shot. He had been feeling poorly and felt like he was running a fever. We were going to get him tested for typhoid, but the nurse couldn’t find his vein on his arm – she said because he was so fat – but then I felt around and found it pretty quickly. NURSE RAE, WE NEED YOU OVER HERE!! We ended up skipping the test altogether and he felt better later that day, so we are glad we didn’t go to all of the trouble anyway. We didn’t eat breakfast until about 10:00am – African tea and mandazi (fried sweet bread) and fresh pineapple from the market. It was delicious! Next, Amy went over the huge monthly grocery list with Richard while Mark took a nap. Early afternoon, Richard and Mark went to the market for everything. About 3 hours later they returned…with only half of the items because the car couldn’t hold everything. So they had to go back and get the rest. When they returned and had unloaded everything and put it away, Mark went and took another nap because he was so tired. Amy and I did get to sleep for about an hour during the baby nap time and that was really nice. During the afternoon, we played with all of the babies. Catherine wanted to do Amy’s hair so she used the comb and a clip – you can imagine the beauty that was abounding there! Amy and I were able to assemble one of the cradle swings that we brought with us. We have decided that these are one of the best inventions ever! Baby Mark loved it!! We haven’t had a big chance to try it, but he was fascinated by everything new and fell asleep in it. About 5:30pm we took a walk with all of the babies. This is one of their favorite parts of the day. They all scramble to find shoes that fit them…some of them are not successful so we have to help them…and then we set out down the road. At one point there was a cow in the road about 30 yards ahead…a few of the babies were freaking out! We ended up having to turn around and head back a little bit early. I was walking with Junior and Fred and we were lagging behind…slowpokes. They kept getting distracted by everything ; ) On our way back to Sonrise, the car pulls up beside us and it’s some of the boys who work here with a puppy – a puppy for Sonrise. Apparently, someone just gave it to them and they couldn’t say no. I am not sure what Damali will say about it so we’ll see. Dinner was next and then potty time and bedtime. I have not had a chance to experience true potty time, so I’ll go into more detail when I get more info (it’s supposedly pretty entertaining). After the baby’s go to bed we realize that Mark has been MIA since he returned from the market. He is still sleeping!! We do staff devotions after dinner and it isn’t until after showers and dinner of delicious fish and rice that he finally makes his appearance looking more normal. He said that he had been totally exhausted…he looked a lot more ready to face the day…only it was nighttime. Thanks for all of your help, Mark! Amy put all of the babies to bed by herself since the rest of us were busy with the smaller ones. She said it was a complete zoo! They were bouncing off the walls and being completely crazy. We were going to do the blog last night, but we were too tired…hence it’s a day late. Since Damali is gone right now, Amy is the “director”…or so Betty calls her. After a crazy day like today I think Amy was looking for a way to either resign or get fired. It was completely exhausting. I think we both have a new-found appreciation for our Mom’s! Thank you for all of your prayers. Please continue to pray for our health and safety. Also, we will be traveling on Thursday to get another baby in Mbale…adventure here we come!
Signing off here in Uganda…Leah

Here We Go...

2010-01-11T14:08:00.004-05:00

Well, the day has finally arrived. My suitcase is zipped, the donation bags(all 9 of them) are packed and under the weight limit, and last-minute errands have been run. We fly out from Atlanta tonight at 8:45pm. We will be loaded down with 12 large suitcases which will be checked luggage, 2 carry-on suitcases, 1 laptop, one backpack, and one Ugandan purse filled with who-knows-what of Amy's : ) Thankfully our families are traveling with us to the airport, so we don't have to deal with all of the luggage alone.
I just wanted to say again how much I appreciate each one of you "Prayer Warriors" who has agreed to follow us on our trip and most importantly, cover us in prayer. We know that we can do NOTHING apart from God. Everything that He does in Uganda, you will have a part of!
Just wanted to give you a few important places that you may end up reading about. You may want to find a Ugandan map, but here is a list of the places that we will be visiting:
Entebbe: the city where the airport is
Kampala: the capital of Uganda; this is where the market is, and also where we will be meeting Marilyn Skinner at the Watoto Church
Jinja: where Sonrise Baby Home is located; about 2 hours East of Kampala
Iganga: where Musana Children's Home is located
Mbale: where the Cure International Hospital is located
Gulu: where the Watoto Village is located

Some of you have asked about weather while we are there. Since they are in the southern hemisphere, their seasons are opposite of ours here in Georgia. Hence, they are in the middle of their summer. Right now it is in the 80's with the low being about 68-70 degrees. So not bad right now. Since we will be there 6 weeks total, I imagine that it will only get hotter.

Some of you have asked about our flights:
We fly out of Atlanta and take an 8-hour flight to London (Heathrow Airport). We have a ONE HOUR LAYOVER and then get on an 8 1/2 flight to Entebbe, Uganda.
On the way back we fly out of Entebbe on a 9-hour flight back to London. We will have a 7-hour layover(we are hoping to get out and see some sights) and then fly back to Atlanta on a 9 1/2 hour flight. Needless to say, there will be a lot of time spent flying which I am not looking forward to.
The TIME DIFFERENCE: Uganda is 8 hours ahead of us here in Georgia. That means that when we land in Uganda tomorrow night at 10:30pm, it will only be 2:30pm in Georgia. That is so weird to me!!

A FEW PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Pray that all of our luggage makes it to Uganda. With such a short layover it is very possible that it won't, but we really need all of these bags to get there.
2. Health - pray that we will remain healthy
3. God to open our eyes to what He would have us to see
4. Wisdom as we make some decisions regarding Sonrise Baby Home and taking in some new babies while we are there.

I am so very excited about taking this trip and know that God will use us in a mighty and powerful way. I look forward to sharing this journey with each of you...thank you for choosing to come along.

-Leah

Our God is truly an AWESOME GOD!!

2010-01-08T22:19:00.003-05:00

So, a lot has transpired since my last post. I think I could write a book telling of all the ways that God has worked to bring this trip together. This post shall be dedicated to two instances where God has brought people into our lives who have connections in Uganda.

1. I attended Passion Conference 2010 in Atlanta this past weekend. It was a wonderful time to spend with 22,000 other students praising the Lord and having a part in missions around the world. One such ministry represented was Cure International. I first was introduced to this medical mission in 2007 when I met them at Passion and helped sponsor a surgery with my sisters. I went up to the workers and started talking and they were telling me about all of the hospitals that they have around the world. Well, they have one in Uganda. I started asking further about it and mentioned that I would be there. The person that I first talked with in 2007 told me more about it and what they do (he remembered me after all of these years). Anyway, to make a long story short, we may have the opportunity to visit this hospital and make some valuable contact with them while we are there. They specialize in neurosurgery which we don't need right now, but who knows how God may use it down the road.

2. Also at Passion2010 this past weekend. One of the speakers was Marilyn Skinner who, along with her husband, started a church in Kampala, Uganda over 25 years ago. Since then, they have opened a baby home and a village for former child soldiers. Their ministry is called Watoto...does the Watoto Children's Choir ring a bell. Anyway, I was dying to talk with her and share about Sonrise, but when you are in a group of 22,000 that just doesn't seem possible. But, thankfully we serve a God who likes to turn the impossible into the very possible. I have a friend who knows some very important people associated with Passion Ministries (thanks Mike!). He made a few phone calls and arranged for Amy and I to meet with Marilyn for about 15 minutes. What a time of encouragement it was. We weren't quite sure what to say since we didn't have a lot of time, so finally Amy asked her if she had any advice for us since we had just opened in June. She answered after a poignant pause..."Never look down on your small beginnings and think that you aren't making a difference." WOW!! That is just what we needed to hear!!! She talked about how she and her husband would have done what they do now even if they knew they could only affect 12 children. Don't look at numbers, but look instead at how God is using you to make a difference in the lives of children. By the end of the conversation we were almost in tears by how encouraging the conversation had been. Add to that...she is going to be in Uganda while we are there. She told us to come by and say hello, to visit their baby home and ask whatever questions we may have (this will be a huge help), and to also visit their village in Northern Uganda to see how it is run. This is a HUGE contact to make. I left the weekend totally overwhelmed by how God takes care of us...even the tiny details.

It is hard to believe that we leave in such a short time. Amy and I were making a list of all of the things that we need to do while we are there...I have a feeling that six weeks will fly by. We will be staying at Sonrise for about 3-4 weeks straight while Damali takes a little vacation to visit some family and friends. Then we have to visit Musana Children's home, several hospitals, Watoto village in Gulu, do some fun things like safari and rafting on the Nile...WOW how will we ever fit it in! I am excited about being in a warmer climate though. After all of this freezing weather (and I usually like winter time) it will be so nice to be in 80+ degree weather. This may change once I get there, but for now I'm looking forward to it. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I really appreciate it!

Howdy!!

2009-12-30T12:39:00.002-05:00

So, in my last post I said we had 26 days until we leave...WRONG! I should have put 19 days which means today it only makes 13 days!! I cannot believe it! It hasn't sunk in yet because I am not in a constant state of panic. I'm sure next week will be crazy though. I am still tying up loose ends at work at Mercy Health Center since this is my first extended time being away (it will probably be my last one too!) I am so excited to be going to Africa. You have no idea!!! I did meet with a NICU nurse earlier this week to gain some knowledge about taking care of the babies, feeding them, when to take them to the hospital, etc... Hopefully all of the information will be useful. We are really praying about getting some new babies while we are over there which I am really excited about. To see the process from the beginning will truly be amazing.

I want to ride an elephant! It's on my bucket list and since I'm heading over to a land filled with elephants I think this is a great time to cross it off. My Aunt Delle thinks it will be disguisting and it probably will, but I still want to do it. Don't ask how this will come about, but "Operation Elephant Ride" has begun and hopefully we will be able to complete the mission! Getting on the elephant should be quite humerous since I have such short legs...video/photo op anyone?? Suffice it to say that it won't look pretty, but it will be loads of fun! Did I mention I'm scared of heights? Well, I don't care...I'm doing it!!!!

Here goes nothing...

God is amazing!!!

2009-12-23T17:49:00.002-05:00

Can I just say that God is totally amazing!! I have been working really hard to raise my own money for this trip to Africa and let me say that it is NOT cheap. I have had two people so far just give me money for my trip without having to send out support letters. Well, last night a sweet lady who shall remain nameless sent me a check with quite a sizeable amount...$500!! Not only that, but she sent Amy a very large check to begin the fund for the new home that needs to be purchased and built. MANY tears were shed because we were all together when we opened these letters. Such a sweet note accompanied these checks. Sorry to be so vague, but suffice to say that God provides even when we don't expect it.
I cannot believe that I leave in 26 days! There is so much to do, but I am trying not to get overwhelmed. I will enjoy this Christmas with my family (the last one together for two years since MB will be leaving for North Africa...sadness) and then focus on packing next week or perhaps the next one since I am a last-minute-packer anyway. I hope that you have a wonderful time with your families.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Hold Fast...

2009-12-21T23:13:00.005-05:00

So, I've already gotten in trouble by my sisters complaining that I don't post often enough. SORRY!! But I am a little busy getting stuff ready to go. THREE WEEKS from today we will be on a plane headed to London for our first layover. 21 DAYS!!!! Some of you may know that I graduated from dental hygiene school in June 2008. Since then I have not found a permanent position with a dentist here in Athens (or around it for that matter). I have just been filling in with different offices, but that was always touch and go depending on who went on vacation or was sick week to week. Well, when I was planning this trip I kind of thought to myself how humorous it would be if I found a job. That's what happened! I met Dr. Powell a few weeks ago at a fundraiser for my job at Mercy Health Center. He and I had e-mailed back and forth many times before because he supports us at Mercy and donate supplies. Well, I met him face-to-face that night and his wife was asking about my job situation. I told her that I had not found a permanent home, but was always looking for something. To make a long story short his part-time hygienist had to quit earlier than expected due to shoulder problems she was having. So, he offered me the position almost sight-unseen for two days a week. My first thought was that God was going to have me give up this trip. I wasn't sure I could do that, but I prayed and put it all in His hands. I met with Dr. Powell and he said that he could find someone else to fill in for the six weeks I would be gone if I would start filling in for him now and then be ready to start in March when I got back. Well, I didn't even have to pray too hard about that one...YES!! Not only does this provide extra money for my trip, but it also means when I get back I will have an immediate source of income instead of being totally broke : )
Everyone always told me to be patient - that God would provide the perfect job for me. Well, He did!!

Lots of things have been happening as we prepare for our trip. Uganda doesn't have any baby swings of any kind. You Mothers out there must know how trying this must be to be taking care of 13 babies without a swing. So, Amy got on Craigslist and found several swings in great condition. Right now, as I am typing this, they are taken apart and put into two suitcases ready for travel to Sonrise. I know that they will be so relieved. We are also looking into purchasing some other baby equipment such as an infant carseat and slings to carry the babies around. Amy has changed her tune from eBay fanatic to Craigslist junkie!

Please pray for us as the trip draws ever closer. I did get my shots (4 total) and still need to take my typhoid medication and malaria pills. Pray for our health. Pray that God will prepare my heart for everything that I will encounter there (I know it will be tough). Pray that we will be able to take in more babies while we are there. Pray that I will be able to gain some medical knowledge to help them take care of the babies that are sick. Just pray...
Thank you for everything and I love each one of you : )

Time is flying...

2009-12-02T23:23:00.002-05:00

So, I just realized that we leave for Uganda in 40 days!!! I cannot believe it. If I think about it too much I get overwhelmed at all that I have to do. Packing seems like WAY too much. I still have to get all of my shots and medicines. I don't have all of the proper clothing or shoes. The list goes on. Then I remember that I serve a God who is in control of EVERY situation - big or small. He cares about everything - big or small. He holds the entire world in His hands! I cannot even fathom that!!!
I have been reading the blog of my friend Lindsey who is in Uganda right now working with Sonrise. It makes me long to be there now with all of those precious babies. Please begin praying for us now that the Lord would prepare us mentally, physically, and spiritually for this long journey. I know it will be tough. Amy has already warned me to just expect to get sick at least once or twice on this trip (sounds like fun!) I know that it will be very tiring, but I also know that it will be so very rewarding. No matter what I face, I know that God will bring me through it. So, thanks for praying for us. Thanks for reading this blog. And thanks for joining with us in our work with Sonrise Baby Home!

How the journey began...

2009-11-21T12:16:00.006-05:00

First of all, you will notice as I post that I like to use a lot of punctuation marks, such as five exclamation points at the end of a sentence. This is how I write-thanks, in part, to Amy who is a great influence on me! You have been warned. I wanted to let all of my prayer warriors/partners know how this journey to Sonrise began. This will give you an inside look at how God truly does work even when I can't see it happening. He truly is an awesome God!
I must begin by saying that God has always placed in my heart a desire to go to Africa. Another desire of mine was to go on a mission trip to work with an orphanage of some kind. Never did I think He would meld the two together in such an amazing way. I have been on overseas mission trips before - two to Nicaragua and one to Romania - and really do have a huge heart for missions whether here in Georgia or internationally. When I graduated college in 2008 I thought that my dreams of going to Africa were going to be put on the back burner because I would be getting a full-time job and there was no way that my employer would let me off for a 6 week vacation and still hold the job for me when I returned. Basically, I had resigned myself to waiting until later in life to hopefully fulfill this dream.
My friend, Amy Washington, went to Uganda this past summer 2009. She wanted to work with a baby home, but the ones in the area were not accepting any volunteers during the time she would be over there. So, she was very flexible and decided to spend her time with a children's home for five weeks (Musana Children's Home). After arriving, the workers at Musana told her about a baby home that had just opened up the week before. Amy and Jessie (another friend who was on the trip) didn't need to be asked twice about taking a little weekend visit over there. Once they got to Sonrise Baby Home they fell in love with everything about it. You can imagine how little Sonrise had to offer to the babies, but it was very evident to both Amy and Jessie that this was a place that they were called to work with. So, after Jessie left to come back to the States, Amy spent the last two weeks of her trip strictly working at Sonrise Baby Home. We would get occasional e-mails from her throughout her summer there and she would tell us about Sonrise. It was very evident in her e-mails that she felt called to further ministry with them. When she came back to the United States at the end of the summer, she felt burdened to continue to help Sonrise. So, she began fundraising a little and overseeing the process of becoming a non-profit ministry. Then, Amy started talking about going back...
Amy left her heart with those precious babies in Africa and when she talked about Sonrise and the ministry that the workers have you couldn't help but wish that you could be apart of it. One night in early September, she came over to my house and we just sat and talked for about two hours about life. The subject of going back to Uganda in January came up and she was saying how badly she wished someone could go back with her. But due to school schedules of her sisters and work schedules of other friends it was hard to ask someone to take off from January through the end of February right after they had been off for the Christmas holiday. Then she asked me about going. My first thought was "There is NO WAY that I can ask off from my job at Mercy Health Center for 6 whole weeks"!!! So I told her this and she kind of understood. The subject came up again about how she wished that I could go with her. We started talking and the wheels started turning. I am a fill-in dental hygienist which means that I can choose when I want to work. At Mercy Health Center, I work about three days a week with the dental clinic on Fridays being the busiest day of all. Then I remembered my wonderful intern, Chad. He has truly been a lifesaver (I don't know how I have run the clinic without an intern for the past 2 1/2 years!). Anyway, Chad has caught on very quickly to how things are run and is able to pretty much handle things by himself. Then I was kind of worried about what my parents would say about me taking off on such short notice. After Amy and I talked more about it, I started getting excited. Maybe it would work out after all. I could just let people know that I wouldn't be available to fill in during those six weeks, and if Chad was able to handle the clinic (which I knew he would be very capable) then Tracy (my boss) would be more inclined to let me be gone. By the end of mine and Amy's conversation we were both pretty excited because I basically told her that I would try to ask off and if that was a go then I would make this trip with her.
After she left that night, I had the biggest peace come over me. I felt as if I had taken a turn in the road and realized that I was actually heading in the right direction! I was in constant prayer about everything. When I arrived at work that next week I went into Tracy's office to see what she thought. She immediately said that if my intern could oversee the clinics that she would be fine with me leaving. Well, that just fueled the fire to let me know that God was opening the door for me. When I approached Chad about how he would feel about me being gone for 6 weeks he was so excited about the possiblity of running everything without me there - and he doesn't have any classes on Fridays that would conflict with the dental clinic. Victory #2!!!! Finally, I approached Mom one morning (I think I scared her a little bit because I opened up the conversation by saying "Mom, I need to talk to you about something...") and she said "Go!". At this point I still wasn't quite sure if my final decision was made, so I continued praying about it. Amy got in touch with a travel agent to reserve seats for us and still I prayed.
Well, it's been almost three months since Amy and I had that conversation and I am so happy to inform you that I WILL BE GOING TO AFRICA!!! The Lord has opened door after door and provided funds that I didn't know were possible. Almost as soon as I started seriously praying about going, I received several calls from dentists about filling in for different days as a hygienist...I could work almost every one of them! I have a jar on my dresser that I've been putting money aside in. It has been so cool to watch that thing fill up!
My dream of going to Africa wasn't put on hold after all. God was busy working behind the scenes formulating His plan for me until He was ready to reveal it. I'm so glad that He doesn't show it to us too soon. I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it. I am learning that God doesn't waste anything in our lives. He always uses it for something good...always!
And so, as I begin to share more and more about our trip and then let you know what we are doing while we are there, I hope that you will journey with us to Uganda. Let the countdown begin...51 days until we leave (January 11, 2010)!!

Thank you so very much for your love, support, and prayers!
Leah

There's a first time for everything...

2009-10-21T23:09:00.003-04:00

So, I have NEVER done a blog before! I know that may shock some people...haha! I also said that I would NEVER keep a blog. But, sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways and here I am typing this for you to read. I can't promise how often I'll update it, but I will try my best to keep you informed of the happenings leading up to and including our trip to Uganda in January. I would love to tell you how this whole story came about, but that is for another time and place. Check back later for more...