Sipi Falls

Sipi Falls! Today I went with a group from the YWAM Soroti base to Sipi Falls- a region bordering Kenya- and saw the majesty of Uganda. It was a much needed day off and God really gave me rest and reminded me of his amazing character and his unending love. It was a day just to rest in his arms.

I have finished my first week at Amecet and God has been teaching me and blessing me so greatly with those beautiful babies. Thankyou for praying for Dennis and Angela. Angela is now eating by herself and is eating a lot more! Dennis' fever left him and he is now smiling regularly.

"Auntie Lauren"

Auntie Lauren. I have never been an aunt and I know I am not the aunt of these little children here, but when I hear little Esther look at me and utter Auntie Lauren, my heart just breaks. It is one of the sweetest names I have ever been able to call my own. Today was my second day working with the children here at Amecet and it is wonderful and difficult all in the same breath.
There are two babies, Dennis and Angela, who are both really sick right now. They aren’t taking any of the food given to them even when they are tube fed and haven’t progressed from their sick state even with the medicine. Sometimes you feel helpless because there is nothing you can do to ease their pain, and it feels like you are just watching them die. I don’t know how to deal with that yet, and I have a feeling I never will. It breaks your heart and there is no real answer as to why it is happening to them.
Other times, I get to just hold and feed little ones that are getting stronger by the day. There is one little boy named Godfred and I am sure there has never been a baby as sweet or as beautiful as him. His smile really could melt a thousand hearts all at once. Or other times Esther, who is just learning to walk and talk, toddles up to me lays her head on my lap and just repeats over and over, auntie Lauren. Nothing is as sweet.
I guess you could say I am learning a lot right now about pain and brokenness. I don’t really know where God is leading me, but He has me in this place to teach me. I am beginning to understand the lyrics to “Blessed be Your Name” where it states, “You give and take away, still I will say, blessed be your name.”
Please be praying hard for Dennis and Angela when you have the chance. We aren’t sure how much longer they will be with us.

From Gringo to Muzungu (May 17)

Yesterday, after having spent a week and a half with Dr. Krabbendam, a retired professor at my college, I made a long journey to Soroti to begin my work with Amecet n’ainapakin. We left that afternoon around 1pm and didn’t arrive to Soroti until 8:30pm.
I made my journey with a beautiful Ugandan woman named Kristin who Dr. K called his daughter. This was one of the biggest blessings. We made our way through the dirty overpopulated streets of Kampala passing child beggars and street venders to the “bus station”.
Muzungu, my new name, meaning white person, was yelled from right and left. I tend to stand out here. At the bus station, hundreds of busses were standing but inches from one another while people squeezed through the surrounding area. I held onto Kristin’s hand for dear life, knowing that if I lost her, I would be completely lost and alone. I don’t think I have felt so dependant on anyone in quite a long time.
We made our way to our bus of choice and were shoved in like cattle along with luggage and other passengers. Then somehow the driver maneuvered out of the tightly packed station and onto the tightly packed streets. I don’t understand how more people do not die in the streets of Kampala. People move by foot, bike, motorcycle, car, bus, and there is no room anywhere. We actually saw quite a few accidents on our way to Soroti, but God went with Kristin and I and covered our bus.
Along the way, we were bombarded by hundreds of merchants at every stop, selling any and every type of necessity, including live chickens, which one passenger bought and successfully used my feet as a storage area – that was interesting.
After making our way to Soroti to the Amecet base, we were in for a little bump in our travels. I haven’t had any opportunity to use a phone, find internet, or contact Amecet whatsoever. So once we arrived late at night we stood outside the gate for about 15 minutes knocking until Els, the base director, answered. She hadn’t been expecting me until the following day and she was really busy trying to nurse one of the baby boys that she thought she might loose that night. So Kristin offered to take me back to her house to stay. We began walking, then called a borde (a man driving a bike with a seat on the back for passengers), successfully mounted, and made our way to a bus stop.
After waiting for a bus we got on and made our way back to Kumi and arrived at Kristin’s house around midnight. Her family had made preparations for a meal since we hadn’t eaten since that morning and we ate. I ate something however that made me hallucinate that night and wake up vomiting and extremely sick to my stomache.
Looking back on it though, I count every circumstance as a blessing – I know it sounds weird, but I was with a woman that I had gotten to know and who called herself my mother, her husband was a pediatrition who was able to prescribe me something for food poisoning, and I was able to sleep and get all of the food out of my system before making my way to Amecet and trying to help with the children. God is so good.
I know my mom would be happy to hear that Kristin really cared for me and nursed me back to health before I arrived at Amecet this night. Right now, I am writing this by lamp light due to the town’s electricity shut down and am about to go to sleep before my first day caring for the babies. I met them briefly tonight and my heart is already broken and completely in love.
Please be praying for my complete healing and praise the Lord for his rich blessings so far. I miss you all very much but I know that I am right in the place I need to be.