He Provides

   I’m not going to lie.  I was pretty sure that Brett and I weren’t going to be able to raise all the money we needed to go on this trip.  We paid for our own tickets back in May and still had $1500 to go.  Plus we had made it a goal to raise an extra $1000 to give to EAC.

I honestly started putting a little bit of money aside to help pay the difference.  This is how sure of myself I was.

Fundraiser 1:  Car Wash/Bake Sale

Friends and family came out to help wash cars and sell some baked goods!

Working hard! :)

Fundraiser 2:  Letters

    When we would go on mission’s trips back when we were in Youth Group we would send out letters to inform people of our trip.  This letter was to also ask friends and family for prayer and for donations.  Brett and I don’t enjoy this fundraiser.  It makes us feel awkward.  But my mom kindly reminded me that many people enjoy receiving these letters and are happy to help.  Needless to say, most of the money we raised was from people responding to our letters. (Thank You!)

Fundraiser 3:  Spaghetti Dinner/ Raffle

The tables decorated.

Part of our information table.

Friends and family put together AMAZING baskets to be raffled off that night.

After 3 Fundraisers we have raised triple the original amount needed.  We are blown away and feel so blessed.  Everyone has been so generous with their prayers and donations.  God proved me very wrong.  Why did I doubt?? How silly.  God provides.

Our God will always provide.

Did You Know?

More than 50% of the population of Uganda is under the age of 16. Approximately, 2.3 million of those children are orphans due to decades of war, AIDS and other diseases. 1 million children alone are orphaned due to the AIDS epidemic. These children are the future of Uganda and Africa. 

Empower a Child reaches to tomorrow’s leaders through educational sponsorship and mentorship. Learn how EAC is making a difference in the community.

-http://empower-a-child.org/eachome/programs.html

Empower-A-Child

As I mentioned in my previous post, this blog’s main purpose (for now) is to keep family and friends updated with our mission’s trip to Uganda.  For those of you who don’t know, Brett has been to Uganda before about 4 years ago.  He spent the summer there working with an organization called Empower A Child (EAC).  This is the same group we will be working with while we’re there.  I thought it might be nice to have Brett share with everyone a little bit about EAC….

Hey everybody.  So EAC is a non-government organization (NGO) based out of Kampala, Uganda.  They have also recently expanded and now have an office in Nairobi, Kenya as well.  It was started by my friend Wilson Kabeera who now serves as the executive director.  Wilson and many of the Ugandan volunteers there were sponsored as children by organizations such as Compassion International.  This experience really inspired them to want to give to others just as they were given.  One of EAC’s primary goals is to provide child sponsorships to the children of Uganda in order to pay for school fees and other basic necessities such as food and clothing.  They also receive counseling and mentoring as well as being involved in a monthly bible study.  EAC doesn’t discriminate based upon religion so it’s a great way to provide both physical and spiritual needs.

EAC also has several ‘projects’ which they visit on a weekly basis.  This includes orphanages, a home for abandoned babies, a children’s’ hospital, a juvenile detention facility, and several local schools.  Each week the team puts on programs for these groups which usually include skits, games/crafts, worship, and a biblical lesson.  It’s a neat opportunity for the volunteers to really connect by seeing the same kids every week and make an impact for Christ.

EAC’s most recent endeavor is to build a training center in the nearby village of Zirobwe.  Their hope is to build a center which will have an educational center, dormitories and other amenities to serve street kids who otherwise cannot afford school.  This will provide them with some basic trade skills to try and make a living.  So far EAC has purchased land for this effort and paid for a well to be dug and a church be constructed.  They are continuing to make connections in this village and raise money for the rest of the training center to be built.

So that’s EAC in a nutshell.  From experience I can say that the Ugandan volunteers there really sacrifice a lot for what they do and are driven by the desire to see the Gospel be proclaimed to all that will hear.  Even in the time since I’ve been there I’ve seen God richly bless the organization and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for them in the future!

If you're interested in learning more about EAC visit:

   http://empower-a-child.org/eachome/

Not A Writer

I am not a writer.  I dreaded going to English class when I was in school.  I could never get the hang of proper grammar or spelling.  Oh spelling.  My worst educational nightmare.  My written assignments would always come back full of those bright red slashes.  Thankfully my mom is beyond smart and would help me work my through it.

{Please don't judge this little blog based off my grammar and spelling.  Thanks!}

So why start a blog if you aren't good at writing you might ask?

Well my husband (Brett.  Who I will introduce in a later post) and I are leaving for Kampala, Uganda in about 5 weeks!  It will be our first missions trip together as a married couple and I can't wait!  I am hoping and planning on using this blog to document our trip.  This will also make it a lot easier to keep our family and friends updated while we are there.

I am so excited to share what God has already been doing for our trip and how I know He will work while we are there.  I can't wait to post pictures and write about our experiences!

And who knows...maybe I'll start to enjoy writing and keep this thing going.  :)