Until Next Time...

It feels so weird to say that we're leaving Africa in just a few hours. This place has become a home away from home and life here feels normal. Frequent power outages, sleeping in mosquito nets, hearing roosters crow and cows moo in the morning, bumpy dirt roads, poop everywhere (lol, literally)... the list goes on.

This trip to Uganda has been such a blessing and I'm so glad I was able to experience it this summer after graduation. God's timing is definitely perfect :] Despite a few bumps on the road (no pun intended) everything worked out well and we are so thankful to God for that.

Please pray for travel safety as we head back to the states. We're a little worried because we only have 1.5 hours before our next connecting flight in London. So we really hope our departing flight out of Entebbe isn't delayed -__-;; (and that our luggage doesn't get delayed). Other than that, we're pretty excited for airplane food and all the "free" movies we get to watch (teeheehee). See you all back in the states soon!

Love Always,

Hanna :]

Almost...

Back in Kampala today! It was yet another long journey on the post bus, but enjoying the scenery made time go by a little bit faster. I sure will miss all the green we see here in Uganda. Don't know if I'm ready for all those skyscrapers just yet, hahaha.

All of us had such a wonderful time in Tororo. It was bittersweet saying good-bye to all the children and the teachers whom we have built relationships with, but we're hoping to keep in contact through snail mail. It's amazing how this month has gone by so fast, but each individual day seemed to drag on forever.

This past week was a little rough with a few difficult events, but we are thankful for God and his constant protection over us. Thank you to everyone for your prayers - it really has made such a big difference to have support at home.

Janelle, Christine, Virginia and I will be in Kampala for another day to debrief and hopefully do some shopping during the day (woo hoo!) I'm excited to experience the craft markets :D

(I tried to upload some of my pictures for everyone to see, but unfortunately it's not working right now :[ so sad! But hopefully soon! Sorry for the wait.)

Prayer requests:

- For our two team members (Kelly and Bethany) who will still be in Tororo for another 5 months

- For the continued spiritual growth of the seeds we have planted among the children and teachers at Smile

"Others, like seeds sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." Mark 4:20

One More Week

Time is flying by so fast and all of us can't believe we only have one more week left at Smile with these kids... This past week has been pretty busy-we've been planning lessons every other day and doing follow ups with crafts that go along with the bible story. So far its been going fairly well, as good as it can get when you're trying to teach close to 300-400 kids at a time :P As a team, we felt that God was calling us to invest our time at Smile with the kids - especially the older ones (12-16 years old)... the next generation.

Some of us have had the opportunity to build relationships with the teenagers here. I was very blessed to be able to share with a 15 year old boy named Moses, and two girls, Judith and Lucy. Judith is also 15 and before she accepted Christ, she used to skil school and drink very often. One of her friends led her to Christ a year ago and now she lives at Smile with the cook and attends school regularly. Unfortunately her mother still lives a very uhealthy lifestyle, so we prayer together for her mom and the rest of her brothers and sisters. Listening to the stories of these kids is so incredible and encouraging... to see God so alive and present here in the lives of these kids.

But besides building upthe teenagers, please pray that we would continue to plant seeds among the younger ones here at Smile.

Today (Thursday), we were able to visit the women's ministry at Smile and all of us got the chance to pick our fabric for skirts! We were all pretty excited :D Even though we ended up devoting our time to the children's ministry, it was nice to be able to see some of the women and what they do.

There is so much more I wish I could share, but my time on the internet is running short. Thank you all for all your love and support!

Still No Internet...

Sorry everyone! We still have not received internet and I do not have enough time to write a full blog today. Don't worry! I will update everyone shortly. :] Thanks for your patience!

First Week!

Sorry for not being able to update all of you! We don't have internet at our rental house so most of us are currently at an internet cafe updating all our friends and family. We had major internet withdrawal this past week... haha. Hopefully we will have a modem by Friday, so updates will be more frequent. I hope all of you are doing well in the states!

It was hard to adjust to living in Tororo in this first week. I missed home so much and just all of the luxuries that came with living in America. But I'm finally starting to feel more at home and adjusting to life in Uganda. We arrived in Tororo after a 6 hour long bus ride last Monday and got settled into our rental home - we had so many bugs that night that it was scary! And if you know me.. I hate bugs. o___O;; But luckily we survived and the number of creepy crawlers has diminished :D Janelle and I were the first ones to get sick (but it was probably inevitable anyway), but luckily it hasn't been too terrible :P

We visited Smile Africa on Tuesday and it was so overwhelming. Not at all what I had expected. There are about 400 kids here at from 8am-4pm Monday through Saturday. All of these kids are so hungry for love and attention that once we got there they all started yelling "Mzungu Mzungu" which means "white people" and were fighting with each other to try and hold our hands and cling to us. Health conditions here aren't that great either. We already know of a few kids with malaria and many of the younger children are extremely malnourished. But despite all the things these kids have been through, they still are able to find joy and happiness in the simplist of things. I don't think they see many Chinese people around here because I've already had many kids ask me if I was related to Jet Li, Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. :D Please continue to pray for our time here and for the children as well. I will try and post pictures as soon as possible (hopefully once we get our modem!).

We taught our first lesson on Saturday and it went really well! We did a skit on Jonah and the Whale :] Our team is trying to use our time efficiently since we only have a few more weeks here with the children and have been planning weekly bible stories to share as well as just building relationships with the kids here.


Thank you for all of your prayers because we can slowly start to see them be answered.

Tororo, here we come!

Our stay in Kampala has been wonderful and our team will be heading out to Tororo early in the morning tomorrow. The drive non-stop takes about 3 hours, but we'll be traveling via a post bus, so we'll have a few stops along the way and that extends our trip to around 5-6 hours! hahaha, but we're excited nonetheless :]

We had the privilege of worshipping at a local church in Kampala today and it was so amazing to see how God is working here in Uganda. I can't say this enough, but the people here are so welcoming it continues to blow me away!

We learned a lot more about Smile Africa and Tororo yesterday during our orientation, so it's nice to finally be able to get a better picture of what we'll be doing during our time here. But there's still much more to learn and see once we're actually in Tororo. The area is more rural than I thought it would be, so it'll be an interesting experience. But God is good, and we know he will provide through whatever circumstances that may come our way.

While learning about Smile, I found out that I will be facing one of my biggest fears.. o__O;; wahhh! So personally, I know I will be stretched during this trip.

Prayer requests:
- For courage when dealing with my fears
- For cultural sensitivity (especially when working with the males in Tororo)
- For physical health and protection while serving in an area of many illnesses and diseases
- For the team to always set Christ as our example while serving and loving the people here in Uganda

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. trust in him at all times, O people; pour our your hearts to him, for God is our refuge... One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done." - Psalm 62: 5-8; 11-12

Oliotia from Kampala!

Oliotia! (which means "hello" in Luganda). After two days of traveling and overnight flights, we finally made it safely to Uganda! Everything with our travels went fairly smoothly, so thank you for your thoughts and prayers! We landed in Entebbe early this morning and are now in Kampala at the AIM headquarters for another round of orientation. It is so beautiful here! The weather is warm but not overwhelming. We were lucky enough to have a breeze today, so being under the sun was bearable. Some of us had the opportunity to walk around a little bit today and all people here are so welcoming. The children here are so precious and are already starting to steal a little piece of my heart :D

Even though our trip has just begun, it's been harder and harder not missing home and all the comfort that comes along with it. But I'm hanging in there and going to enjoy the culture and the lifestyle here as best as I can :] We haven't reached Tororo yet, but will be heading there on Monday via a postbus! New experiences everyday! hahaha God has been so good and has provided safety and wonderful people to help us along the way. His blessings are apparent everyday and we are so thankful. Being here, even just in this short amount of time has allowed me to see the simplest beauties of God's creations so clearly.

-Hanna

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 3:13-14

Big Ben! :D

No worries, no dementors here :P hahaha jk

About to land in Africa

Walking in the neighborhood

The view :D