Nothing Short of a Miracle

Our day started, as most days, with the warm Ugandan sun shining down as we walked the red dirt roads into town. Although this day would be the first one of its kind, I hardly imagine it will be the last.

Courtney and I had planned on helping at the Crisis Pregnancy Center again yesterday morning, assuming that we'd take the babies while the mom's were in class as we had on Tuesday. When we got there we were taught how to make tea and serve the mamas samosas (imagine a wanton with meat or veggies) and then weigh the babies and take their temperature. As more and more mamas entered the room, we both feared how we were going to handle having so many babies and with only 4 hands between the two of us.

Plans began to shift when one woman, one girl I should say, entered with a two month old. Her baby -- Miracle -- weighs 4lbs. The sight of her scrawny little arms and legs brought Courtney and myself to tears multiple times throughout the day. Roma -- a nurse that comes once a week -- and Carolyn were discussing what medical attention the baby needed, and suddenly Courtney and I found ourselves in a car on the way to a hospital while I held Miracle in one arm and held the mama's hand in the other. Our first attempt at one of the hospitals in town only directed us to another, so we made our way to the Children's Hospital in Jinja. As Carolyn is currently battling malaria (she is an amazing woman, I would have been in bed!) she went home and Courtney and I were left to fend for ourselves with a 16 year old mama that does not speak a word of English, and a baby that was too weak to even cry.

Praise the Lord for the new ward they have added onto the Children's Hospital! It is solely for children that are malnourished, and they were able to admit Edith and her baby in right away. Miracle is also battling hydro-cephalitis and needs an operation done at a hospital a few hours away. However, we were told that she needs to be stabilized before travel is even recommended so she will be with her mom in the hospital until further notice.

I have never prayed so hard for a life to be spared. I have never cried at the sight of a baby just struggling to breathe. Courtney and I were so blessed to experience this, but it was overwhelming and exhausting. Even though I could not speak a word to the young mama, her eyes and smile told me that our presence was enough. She held my hand nearly the whole time we were together. This girl needs Jesus so badly. Our hearts are heavy and ache, but filled with such hope in knowing that we serve a great and mighty Lord. 

He made the beautiful stars that shine so bright here. He made the red dirt roads that I love so much. He made Edith and He made Miracle. I truly believe that her name is not accidental. We are praying for a miracle.

We visited her again today and Miracle is showing signs of improvement. Micah Berger taught me to say some phrases in Luganda and Edith just thought it was the funniest thing to hear me speak in her language. However, she went off for a while thinking I could understand her! Tulisaba -- we are praying. We were able to pray with her and then I sang the few songs I know in Swahili as lullabies, she then sang some of the ones she knows. The nurse told us that she has to reach a certain weight before she can have the operation, so we're not sure on how long she'll be at the hospital. We would appreciate your continued prayer for Miracle as she has become very dear to both of us.

Edith and Miracle today at the Children's Hospital 

We love to play with the Jore kids!!

Living in Africa

"For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever." -- Psalm 9:18

Yesterday we went to the Crisis Pregnancy Center downtown Jinja and my eyes were opened to the issue of teen pregnancy here. The mom's were younger than us. Carolyn Jacobsen runs the center with the help of two staff members, Sarah and Rachel. They provide classes for the mothers ranging from health to Bible classes. Some women are pregnant and come for support and information as abortion is also widely accepted. Many women come after birth as they provide clothes, diapers, food, tea, and a nurse comes in to check the mamas and babies weekly. I was able to meet with one of the mothers and pray with her as her sweet baby sat on my lap. Courtney learned how to make chai tea for them. :) They just recently purchased the room in the building next to their room so we were able to take the babies while the mom's sat in the class. This is somewhere we both hope to plug into as much as possible.

We want to give you a little piece of what normal life is here though. I got my first tick, the size of a pepper flake, while just sitting at dinner. Thankfully some essential oils killed the little sucker and we were able to get him out! Cooking is a whole different story here. We have to light our stove and oven with flimsy matches that I'm terrified of (Courtney comes to the rescue here!). Last night we made four loaves of banana bread, and just as the second batch went in the oven Courtney realized that I forgot to put the bananas in! Thankfully we were able to add them to the mix in time to save the loaves. Last night we went to bed with a sickening smell in our room, only to just find out now (Wednesday afternoon) that one of the cats had gotten into our house and had had diarrhea all over one of the blankets in the room. What a commotion that made! Let's just say we are not on good terms with the cats anymore. And Courtney hates cats more than ever!

While we are staying at this amazing house we have had some friends here as well. Ruthie is a missionary on one of the islands in Lake Victoria (it's a BIG lake) and comes back every so often to stay at the house we're at. We were so blessed to get to know her for the few days that she was here before she went back yesterday -- her blog is http://www.journeyoffaith11.blogspot.com. Please hop over and check out her ministry! This past week the Luckey's have also joined us: Mark, Stacy, Janae, and Adelynn. They have been so great! They leave for America next week and we will miss their laughter and joy around the house each day, as well as Stacy's cooking. :)

Life here is finally settling in and we're looking forward to getting into a routine. We spend a good portion of our time at the Jores, watching the littles (three younger children) while the older boys are doing schoolwork, or even just sitting with Nate and Rhoda. They have taught us much of the culture here and just about faith in general. We hope to spend a good deal at the Crisis Pregnancy Center but we still have a few places to check out next week. We would appreciate your prayer as we continue to find out how we fit in here.

One of the sweet girls we watched at the Crisis Pregnancy Center. We never caught her name but smiles and laughter transcend language barriers!

Another sweet babe, this one slept almost the whole time for us.














Two of the sweet little girls, Julia is the one on the left.

The End of Ourselves

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” – 1 Peter 4:7

We talked about this verse last night as Nate, Rhoda, Micah, Luke, Courtney, and I sat around the Jore's living room for a little “house church”. Nate's version had something along the lines of “be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray”. We talked about how easy it is to be distracted, especially in America, so the idea of having a clear mind is something that is foreign to us. Being in Uganda this first week has been amazing; the distractions that plague us in America (Facebook, texting, emails, boys, movies, etc...) have completely disappeared. As much as I would love to be able to talk to so many of you, it has honestly been a breath of fresh air to have no connection to the outside world. I'm in Jinja, and I'm all here. We want this time here to be a refreshing time in our personal walks with the Lord as well, and while there are certainly distractions here and it's incredibly easy to be too busy in ministry, the pace of life is different. I can breathe here. We don't want to burn ourselves out in ministry, but we wish to stay self-controlled and clear minded, so that we can pray and so that we can love to the fullest.

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” – 1 Timothy 1:5

Yesterday we went to the Amani Baby Cottage, an orphanage here in town. They just shifted (Ugandan way of saying they moved) to a new location where they built their own buildings and the compound is very beautiful. They have 61 kids ages 6 and under, and I love it there. We braved the unknown ourselves this morning by taking a piki (pronounced peachy, a form of taxi service on a motorcycle) through town and met the woman that work there. There are many bazungu (white people) that work there that are called Aunties, but also a good amount of Ugandan woman that they call Mama. We thought this would be more of a see what it's like experience, but they needed us to stay with the infants with the Mama of the room, so Courtney and I got to hug, feed, change diapers, and kiss 12 adorable babies all morning. We hope to volunteer there about 1-2 days a week, and already love it. There are a few other girls around our age that are volunteers there as well, so it will be fun to be able to get to know some more bazungus! As the babies were crying I started singing hymns, and one of the Ugandan workers (a Mama) sang along with us! It was beautiful to hear myself, Courtney, and a Ugandan all singing the same song, praising the same God. We sang through “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and “It is Well”; I will never forget that moment.

Earlier this week we went to the market and I was approached by a man who asked me to take his infant and care for her until she was older. Rhoda said this is common here, especially amongst the orphanages, where the mother has either died or is ill, or the family is just not able to care for their children. It broke my heart to walk away from that man. I think it breaks God's heart too. While Uganda is beautiful, there is a lot of hurt here. I wanted to take the child and give it all the love I could; and I want to do whatever I can to ease the pain and hurt here. But more than the physical needs that are so prevalent here, I want people to see Christ.

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” – 2 Timothy 4:2

When we were at the market with Rhoda we were blessed to see this verse put into action. If I haven't expressed how much I love Rhoda, I don't think there are words to describe it. She is amazing. I am so humbled to be able to come along side of her here. As we were looking through clothes she was in full conversation with the two women at the stand, talking about God, heaven, good works, and grace. It was beautiful to see how natural it came, even just at the market. It has opened my eyes to the openness that is here and how we can take this opportunity, in season and out of season, whether we are at the orphanage, hospitals, market, or just our living room, to minister to those around us with patience and teaching. Rhoda has been such an example of God's patience and grace to me already, and I'm looking forward to working with her more this summer.

As we have been here a few days now we are starting to settle into life here. We've been so blessed to spend a lot of time with the Jores, as well as Luke and Micah – who have been kind enough to walk us home in the dark! Tomorrow we are going into the village with Nate and we will look into a few more places next week before we set up a schedule for ourselves. We thank you so much for your prayers!

To God be the glory,

Kate and Court

Nate and Rhoda took us to Kingfisher Pool on Thursday. It's paradise there. We were so spoiled!  

Jeremiah (Jay) is such a character! The funniest things come out of his mouth.

 This is Rhoda -- the most amazing woman in the world. 

We went to the village today!

We walked through the rice fields to the Nile. The mud speaks for itself. It was messy.

The view of the Nile. Can you believe I live here?

 We went down to the swimming hole and met some little friends that went swimming. Court and I wanted to jump in so badly!

 Our village friends! I can't count how many times we heard "mzungu!" today. These children followed us around for a while and were so excited to hear us say "Jambo" -- hello.


Chai tea -- made from lemon grass. No tea I've ever had can even compare to how delicious this is!

These trees are on our walk between the Jores and our house. They have huge storks that sit on the top! It always reminds me of a Dr. Seuss book. :) 

Happily Overwhelmed!

We have arrived! I apologize for the delay in an update, but we have had quite the past few days. Our travels went completely smooth with easy transitions and layovers. On Sunday we had a 10-hour layover in London so we got lockers for our carry-ons and went out to town! We took the tube (subway) and met Arthur (France) and then Collet and Ian – a nice couple from Scotland – who knew the history of town and showed us around a bit. They were such a blessing to us and were excited to hear about our trip, so here's a shout out to you, Collet and Ian! Thank you for everything!

We got into Uganda on Monday morning (midnight CT) and Nate and Rhoda were there to pick us up. The drive to Jinja was one I will never forget; we had to drive through the capitol city of Kampala and there are no rules! There are no lines on the roads so the vans, motorcycles, bikes, and people walk everywhere. I was shocked people weren't dying. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before.

Jinja is a beautiful town. It's very lush and bright – green grass and a million different trees, birds, and flowers galore, of every color! The smell is sweet and fresh. We are staying in a house of a missionary family that went back to America on furlough – such a blessing! – a few miles down the road from the Jores, and we pass Lake Victoria (the source of the Nile) on our way. We have three dogs, a grounds-keeper, three night guards, two cats, and a huge front yard with a mango, lemon, and pomegranate tree, and who knows what else! I cannot even express how beautiful it is here. And the fruit – oh the fruit. It is so sweet. Nothing in America will ever compare again!

So far we have spent most of our time with the Jores – Nate and Rhoda have been so good to us! They have five children: Elijah, Judah, Hannah, Jeremiah (Jay), and Julia that we have absolutely loved spending time with. We have gone into town a few times, eaten from the street vendors (rolex: chipati bread with egg, tomatoes, onion, and lettuce. So amazing!) and today went to the market!

We have talked about what we would like our schedule to look like with Rhoda a bit so now it's just getting contacted with people about where we can plug in. This first week is pretty busy with settling in and playing with the Jores, so we're hoping to get into some sort of a routine next week. Our hopes are to help at an orphanage once or twice a week, mentor a few girls from the pregnancy crisis center, and help Rhoda with the kids. I (Kate) would also like to help at some of the hospitals/clinics and maybe shadow a missionary nurse, just something to get my feet wet with the medical side of missions. Courtney is hoping to look into one of the Christian coffee shops in town as she's always loved the idea using a coffee shop as a ministry.

How can you be praying for us? Thanks for asking! Here are a few ideas:

• Clear direction from the Holy Spirit as to where we can be used most effectively
• Health wise – we have both been blessed thus far with little issues so far! I did have an upset stomach this morning, but now am feeling much better. Pray that will continue as we adjust to the diet here
• Finances – our living expenses are a little more than we anticipated, so pray that God leads the right people to donate. We understand that you may not have the resources yourselves, and we hate asking for money, but we do want this to be your contribution to supporting the mission field here. If you are willing and able, you can send checks paid to AFLC World Missions with either of our names in the memo. The address to send them to is …... E Medicine Lake Blvd, Plymouth, MN 55441.
• Adjusting to culture – we are not unsafe in any way here, but there is a need for wisdom in interacting with the people of Uganda, especially strangers. This may not make a lot of sense, so for instance: eye contact and a smile to a stranger on the street may encourage unwanted attention here whereas it's just Minnesota-nice at home. Something that is common curtesy to us is hard to flip the switch without feeling that we're being rude, but it is needed for safety. I hate not smiling!  


We thank you so much in supporting us financially and through prayers! We have definitely felt the effects of your prayers as our weekend of flight/site-seeing went so much better than anything we could imagined, neither of us have gotten sick, and everything has gone so smoothly thus far. We miss so many of you in the States, and to our friends across the world as well, but are excited to be used by the Lord here!


To God be the glory,
Kate and Court
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Classic Kate and Court

Classic Christian Girl

The classic Christian girl drinks coffee while she reads her Bible. She listens to Hillsong and has taught VBS, Sunday School, and/or helped in the nursery at least at one point in her life. The classic Christian girl dreams of traveling overseas to work with orphans and share the good news of Jesus with plenty of hugs and kisses.

I fit every single one of these descriptions. And yet, I don't want this to be routine. It's so easy to go through the motions of what a "good girl" does, the "next steps" per say, of following Jesus. But this isn't on some check list that I need to cross off to be holier, more perfect, or better to stand before the Lord. Because it can't be.

Why am I going then? When you have had your life radically rocked by what the Gospel truly means personally, you can't help but share. It's in your very nature to include Jesus in normal conversation, to want others to experience what freedom from sin and the law means, to know Christ and the power of His salvation. But you know, sometimes my other nature -- the old nature -- gets in the way and I don't want to be a witness.

That's where Jesus comes in, because it's not about me trying to be a good witness. The Gospel -- the Good news of Jesus Christ -- proclaims that all the trying, the effort, the striving was done at the cross. And Jesus said "tetelestai", it is finished. I struggle daily with my sinful nature, but I know that I have the victory because of Christ's victory over sin and death when He rose again.

That's why I'm going. I have had my life radically changed by the Lord. I was a good girl all my life so my testimony was subpar (so I thought) compared to others who turned from a blatant life of sin, but in the past few years Christ has really gotten ahold of my heart. He has shown me that I'm just as dirty and sinful in His sight as any other human being to ever have lived. He has revealed to me that all my efforts, no matter how good, are going to fail His standards. And He has gloriously uncovered what His life, death, and resurrection mean to me. The Gospel is good news! It wasn't until the Lord began to reveal this to me that I could even grasp why people would want to tell others about Him. It wasn't out of duty or command, but suddenly it became a natural response to my love for Him. 

Does this mean that since you live in America in your comfortable middle class lifestyle that you somehow don't love Jesus as much as me? No, absolutely not. I have learned more this semester in being able to share at my job that the mission field is wherever there are unbelievers -- which makes the mission field a lot bigger than Africa, Brazil, or East Asia. That includes Fargo, Minneapolis, or wherever you find yourself today. 

So I'm going to Uganda. I'm going because God has shown me such great love in saving me from sin and saving me to Himself. I'm going because God loves the broken hearted, the downtrodden, the outcast. I'm going because He first loved me. 

We leave one week from today!

Kate

Two White People!

I bet you're wondering why in the world we named our blog "Two Wazungu"; I would be too. Courtney has already been to Uganda once and recalls that the people of Uganda were rather excited to see a white person. In the excitement of such a novelty they would exclaim, "Mzungu!", translating to "white person". Wazungu is the plural form, meaning "two white people".

We know that we're going to stand out in Uganda. We're both blonde and extremely fair skinned -- you could say almost ghostly! We go completely against the norm of the culture.

However, more than being known for our extremely Norwegian selves, we want to stand out for another reason. Matthew 5 says, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill canot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." We want to be that light; we want to shine for Christ.

So we're going to Uganda; we leave exactly two weeks from today! If you know me (Kate) at all, you probably know that this has been a lifelong dream of mine. I've always been enthralled with the culture, the people, the language, and the idea of working with orphans. But more than that, we want to go to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people. For 21 years of our lives that has included the Midwest, where God has "planted" us. For the next three months, it means amongst the wonderful people of Jinja, Uganda.

With this all being said, we beg you to pray for us. Some specific ways you could lift us up are as follows:

• Finances -- we trust that God is able to provide as He has called us to go. Pray for continued faith in Him as our Provider and that He would stir in other's hearts to give.
• Last details in America -- as we both look to wrap things up here (Courtney with school and her job at the church, and with my job at the candy store) that we would be able to continue to be bold witnesses here even as we look ahead. Also with saying goodbyes to family and friends! I hate goodbyes a lot.
• That God would go before us -- We have come to the realization within the past week that this is way over us, so we desperately need God to equip us to that which He has called us to. We don't know quite what our ministry will look like just yet, but we do know that we'd like to be used in whatever way God has in store. At the moment, we'd like to be able to work in the orphanages in town and we will each be mentoring college-aged girls that work in the crisis pregnancy center. Pray that God would be leading us to open hearts and open doors. 

As you pray for us, know that you are aiding in the work of God's Kingdom in Uganda too! We do not take this lightly, as we have both seen the power of prayer at work in our lives and others, so we thank you already for joining us in this mission!

To God be the glory, 

Kate and Court