A lot has happened this summer. In our last newsletter we shared that 19 people would be traveling to Kabale, Uganda this summer over an 8 week period to share in the Lord’s work there. Well it happened! It was more than we could have asked or imagined! I will share more details in a subsequent newsletter, but just know that God is mightily at work in Kabale! For now I wanted to pass along this post shared by one of summer mission team volunteers I think it speaks for itself:
This is my last post from Uganda and I have been trying to find the words to express adequately what our time here has meant to Caden and me. I am sure that over the months to come, the Lord will reveal more and more of the tremendous blessings that have come out of every facet of this trip, but for now, I have three takeaways that I want to share. Long post warning…thanks in advance!
First, I have to admit that going into this trip I thought I had a good handle on all there was to know about kids from hard places. Boy, was I was wrong. What I have discovered is not so much that I didn’t understand poverty and trauma and hopelessness, but rather that I had become so complacent in my knowledge that I didn’t think anything could surprise or shock me. The depth and frequency into which we plunged headfirst into the hard places our kids came from was enough to bring me to my knees every night. When you look into the eyes of a single mother who is trying to feed, clothe and educate her six children on 10-50 cents a day, or into the eyes of a child whose belly is so distended with worms that it can’t even smile, or walk to the top of a mountain cliff and into a
6 X 6 hut that houses a family of eight, it just sort of fundamentally changes you at your core. Add to that that these children and parents sing praises to Jesus at the top of their lungs and suddenly you realize exactly how much brokenness there is in this world and how much you have left to learn. I had prayed before this trip to know and understand the heart of God more and without a doubt I am beautifully broken and consumed by the heart of God for his children.
Secondly, I am in awe of this ministry, Two Roads foundation. https://only2roads.org/about-us/. These people are so intentional, so God-following, and so committed to the right kind of help for these families. They are seeking to influence hearts for the Lord but they are also committed to partnering with, not replacing parents. They help parents with life skills in order that they might learn a trade and become self-supporting, they require parents to attend parent meetings in order for their kids to be sponsored, and they have Bible studies for moms during the week in order to disciple them as much as they do the children. To say I am impressed would be an understatement. I am looking forward to continuing to partner with them for a long, long, time.
Third, I am walking away from this with a new appreciation for my son. He has been a rock-star here. Not one complaint, an attitude of complete and utter humility, and a love for kids and missions that I always knew was there but never got to see really up close. Headed into my last year with him in my home full time, it is an incredible gift to have spent this time with him. The picture I posted above was him sitting on the mountain where the poverty stricken Batwa people lived. We had just spent the morning handing out shoes to the children, and I found him overlooking the mountains, lost in thought. He said, “I am so glad I came. I could stay here for a really long time.” I don’t think either he or I will ever be the same. I don’t know what the Lord has in store for his future, but I do know I am ready to release him, trusting that God has begun a good work in him and will see it through to completion, wherever
In the world that might take him.
24 hours worth of flights and we will be home. Back to our “regular” lives, changed, consumed, and on fire for all God’s kids.
Posted to Facebook by Kristen Sumner Hale
We will be posting more about what our amazing God has done and is doing in the next few weeks!
Greg & Donna
Amos & Rosette
Brian and Tyra (Ugandan Summer Interns)