Life through Him...

This has nothing to do with life here in Uganda and at the very same time it has all to do with my life here. ( c : The story happened at an undisclosed location sometime in the not so far past and to this day, I still smile when I remember that day. May our hearts be drawn to Him.  This was the message that I presented this morning in class....I revisited my younger days and stayed up till nearly 3 AM... Almost became teary sharing this in class. For those of who were present that day (there a few out there who will most likely read this) we watched a miracle happen.  Still makes my soul smile...

     The moment I heard it, I knew.  The alarm overhead quickly trumped any task that I had planned for.  A quick glance at the console and I was headed at a professionally acceptable pace towards the room that beckoned immediate assistance.  As soon as I rounded the door, the situation was assessed.  My coworker was standing beside a lady and was  attempting to keep her from falling out of the bed.  A glance towards the patient and I was immediately met with eyes that screamed absolute panic.  Even as I reflect, I can vividly see her face.  She was in an intense fight for her life. With every breath, frothy pink sputum spilled out of her mouth and while she attempted desperately to bring more air into her body, the only thing she appeared to obtain was more and more fear.  Looking directly into her eyes, I let her know that we needed to get her back into bed.  Without much thought of anything else, another nurse and I boosted her fighting body back into the bed.  And as quickly as the alarm broke through into the normal hustle and bustle of hospital sounds, this ladies fight came to a halting stop.  Her muscles relaxed, her eyes rolled back, and her breathing stopped.  A quick check for a pulse and an immediate transition.  No longer was my job to give firm loving direction to a panicked patient, but within a few seconds, my job was to push life through her.  The bed that was in a near ninety degree angle was quickly brought down to a flat level.  The lights that had been dim were brought to their full voltage.  What had been a connection between two nurses and a patient quickly turned into the main focus at the hospital.  As soon as her heart stopped, I was pounding on her chest.  Quick and deep compressions.  There was no time to think of administering pain medications or anything else.  Her body had stopped working and her ability to fight was no longer an option.  We, as healthcare professionals, were responsible in that moment, to take over the fight.  Another nurse and I did compressions as the room around us came alive.  Before we knew it, managers, respiratory therapists, and other staff were in the room.  A new IV was started, labs were drawn, a mask with oxygen placed over her face, and a flurry of behind the scene activities took place.  All of a sudden a blurp on the screen appeared.  A few seconds later, there were a few others.  Compressions were stopped and the blurps continued.  She was back.  She was alive.  Another transition.  There was still a lot of work to do.   I positioned myself at the head of the bed and began compressing the bag that delivered oxygen directly to her lungs.  As I did, I explained to her all that was occurring.  Speaking her name directly into her ear, I reassured her, explained what was being done to her body, and I prayed with her.  Within a short period of time, this lady was being wheeled down to a waiting ambulance.  She was alive.   

And the reality is that what happened that day could so easily be paralleled to that of our own lives.  We are like that lady in the hospital who died.  For her, we look at her body, and we see that it was in distress.  Her body was failing her.  The systems established in her body were failing to work as they were supposed to. Her heart was not pumping blood through her body and so despite the best intents of each organ, it was impossible for them to survive and subsequently for life to be maintained.  Without the oxygenated blood there was no hope.  And within a matter of seconds she was gone.  Nothing that she could do in those seconds had any power over her ability to do anything.  She was completely powerless.  Without intervention, her prognosis was bleak.  No, for better words, her prognosis was hopeless.  Without intervention, her physical body would cease to exist.  And Jesus stepped in. Yes, He used the arms and muscles of humans, but ultimately, He was the one who breathed life back into this lady.  He restarted her heart and cleaned up the internal mess.  Without him, her prognosis was hopeless.  With Him, her prognosis was hopeful.  No, her prognosis was beyond hopeful... it was solidified.  She was alive.  And so the parallel is made to that of our spiritual selves.  Our spiritual organs could be looked at as the different fruits of the spirit.  True compassion, faithfulness, peace, joy, and goodness are unable in and of themselves to maintain life without Jesus and love (Galations 3:12-14). Jesus who infuses His life into us and love that is like the vessels that bind everything together.  Love, not consumed by Jesus, does not bring life.  A soft heart not infused with the compassion of Jesus does not minister. A foundation not built on Christ does not withstand. The state of our spiritual selves without Jesus is futile.  In other words, without Jesus, we are dead.  We are just a bunch of spiritual organs that can function very limitedly, but cannot maintain over the longhaul without the life giving presence of Jesus.  

I just love it.  I love how a picture can paint a thousand words and I trust that as we have looked at the story of this women and now spend a few minutes looking at His word, that we will be able to see more clearly just how amazing His gift of life is to us.

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 4 But3 God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We were dead in our trespasses and then... we were made ALIVE in Christ. We are already seated there IN Him We are IN Him.  Our life comes FROM Him.  HIS love, HIS heart, HIS everything is something that we are IN.  If we are HIS.  As that woman lay exposed and vulnerable and dead.... healthcare professionals physically infused life through her.  Oxygen was pushed into her lungs.  Her heart was forced to pound and medications were pushed into her body.  She was NOT alone in the process from death to life.  The Lifegiver was very present.  We were dead and first had to be made alive before we could believe.  And in His sovereignty, He accomplished it allowing the process to be defined by HIS grace and not our works.  Our sins doomed our spiritual bodies.  Our sins had eroded our spiritual flesh and death was inevitable.  But our Lifegiver stepped in and gave us what we did not deserve and in HIS goodness He pumped HIS life and HIS love through our spiritual veins.  He brought life. And He brought us into relationship with Him.  It had nothing to do with us and ALL to do with Him.  

Several days later, I was able to go and meet the woman who had inavertanly caused a frenzy on my floor.  Expecting her to be weak and slow in her recovery, I was completely taken back when I walked in the room and was greeted by a woman who, while weak in some regard, was very much alive.  She was free of most tubes and oh, how her eyes spoke life.  She had been dead and she was NOW alive.  And she knew... she truly knew... that God had been involved.  No, that God was the reason she was alive.  Oh she marveled and her body language confirmed.  She had seen the Lifegiver and  she was never going to be the same.  Her physical body and her spiritual body had been given life.  And many eyes have been drawn to Jesus.  Many eyes plus her own.  And her spiritual body beating with the DEEP love of Jesus is working in a way it never did before.  She is ALIVE.  Alive in a sweet way and amazing way..... thanks to Jesus! 

Life

I should apologize right off the bat for not posting on my blog sooner.  Time flies and before I knew it, too long of a period has passed since I have brought my fingers to the keyboard and shared with you all about life here in Uganda.  Life here is GOOD.... no, it is richly good.   Where to start?  ( c :  That is the question.  Let me start by introducing you to Uncle Ronald and Auntie Rebekah and their little guy Frank.  Frank just officially joined the family.... though one could argue (and correctly so) that he was part of the family before he made his Debut last week.  Having just returned from Dubai (a story for another paragraph), I was able to eat dinner, catch up with my roommates, and plan an evening of unpacking, journaling, and preparing for the week... when the phone rang.  Auntie Rebekah was in labor.  Both Uncle Ronald and Auntie Rebekah had requested my presence at the birth of their child.  In a culture where pregnancy is not celebrated, I, along with others from the "west" had rocked the unspoken rule and found any and every opportunity to celebrate the impending arrival of their child.  Each morning I would greet auntie Rebekah and her hidden baby.  I would measure her belly and even found the heartbeat of her baby with a stethoscope (all the way praying that this was in fact possible).  We even came up with a song and greeted the soon to be parents each morning with "Soon and very soon... You are going to be a momma... soon and very soon... you are going to be a paapaa"  And so when the time came for the little baby to come, there was a natural coming together of a hodge podge family ready to greet the arrival of a little one.  And it was definitely an experience. In the labor ward, there are almost no drugs, bedsheets, or privacy.  There is a plastic mattress covered by a patient supplied plastic sheet, flimsy curtains to separate the undetermined number of women actively laboring, and an unspoken rule that men were best not be present in the process.  And Rebekah was a trooper.  And her husband was a trooper.  Taunted and publicly discouraged from entering, Ronald pushed past the doors and stood by the side of his wife.  He went further than that.  He held her and spoke sweet words to her.  And the medical staff stared.  We read scriptures, rubbed her back, and anticipated what the next minutes and/or hours would hold.  A quick check and an almost immediate encouragement to push.  And within a handful of intense pushes, a baby was born.  He was immediately placed on to her chest.  There was minimal movement.  And time slowed down.  Coming in as a friend, in that moment, the nurse in me erupted.  Grabbing the little baby, I started stimulating him.  And though there was a spark of a fight in him, the spark struggled to ignite into a flame.  He remained flaccid.  Another pair of hands grabbed him and he was wisked to an incubator several feet away.  And we watched as they began ambu bagging him and slapping him.  And I mean slapping him.... all over.  I cringed knowing that it was inevitably hurting him and yet, at some level, necessary. Michael and I stepped out of the room and began praying.  And shortly after we lifted our heads from praying, we heard the weak, yet audible, cry of this little guy.  God, the ultimate physician, breathed life into this little baby boy.  And after spending about six days in the intensive care unit, he came home.  

                            

And this very afternoon, I went over to Uncle Ronald and Auntie Rebekah's house and saw little Frank.  Alert as ever, he just watched us.  His mind is healthy and he is adorable.  Please pray for his little legs, his left one in particular, that it would strengthen and that the muscles would relax.  

 And there is so much more to share...
  
There have been sweet times with my family group.  Time to slash (using a machete like tool to literally slash all the overgrowth/weeds) with them, eat with them, and just do life.  It has been neat getting to know them more and more.  We (aunties and girls) have started a bible study together and we will meet weekly.  I am excited at this opportunity of just being able to pour into them and watching them know their God more and more.  

I have been working in the clinic three afternoons a week.  I have really enjoyed loving on the children and taking care of all of their needs.  Whether it is cleaning a wound or talking with a teenager and helping her with a personal problem.  Each is a gift.  An opportunity to love and care.  There is a young child Patrick, whose eye hurts and he sees triple.  He needs to have his eyes checked and to be treated by an eye doctor.  Taking his hands into mine, we prayed and asked Jesus to bring a doctor.  And I am excited to see how God will grow His faith through the process of waiting.  There is another young girl who has serious fungal infections in her toes.  When asked if she had other shoes to wear... ones that were bigger... her eyes dropped down.  She doesn't.  Giving her medicine to start the fungal battle, I am trusting that God will take care of her needs and to see her faith strengthened as well.  It's on my agenda to pick her up a pair of shoes this weekend.  I wish I had pictures of these children.  I need to bring my camara to the clinic and start snapping pictures.  I would love to introduce them to you and I apologize that I haven't snapped more.  
  

My heart.  A couple of weeks ago, I wrote on Facebook that I sensed that soon, my soul would spill forth and my fingers would find the keyboard and I would write away.  I definitely sense it coming.  It just hasn't yet.  My soul is doing well and I am thankful for that.  And even through the smoothness of the transition here, there is stretching and growing.  The enemy fights.  My days are very full and there are countless opportunities to interact with those around me.  I have understood in sweet ways just how much God is meeting me and meeting my every need.  And I want to say more about that.  Because... it HAS been sweet.  Just not yet.  ( c :  

I'll leave you tonight with some fun pictures of me and the chicken.  No, I did not kill this chicken...but I will say that when Wilbur delivered the chicken in the bag and I opened it up for a cautious inspection... I was not too sure how to proceed. The chicken was still warm, his body flopped all over, and there were hairs still on him.  

I am so thankful to each one of you as you journey with me on this journey. And I am so thankful that God has blessed me with this gift of being here.  Truly. Truly.

Just hopping on to say hello!  Just had a yummy salad and thought that it was worth sharing.  It may just be a perfect snack as you look out on the snowy ground.  That was a little snarky wasn't it?  Oh, just love coming your ways.... A snowy day sounds probably just as good to me as a hot day sounds good to you all.  ( c :  It's a rather simple recipe... but it was DELICIOUS! 

Avocados diced, tomatoes diced, and mixed with Italian Dressing.  That's it! 

Good Day Everyone.  It's Friday evening and I am relaxing on a l-o-n-g blue couch with a cap sleeping at my feet. There is an ever so faint breeze coming in through the windows.  The bugs are chirping away and I can hear the occasional person walk by.  Someone gave me a packet of Oreo's and I have to confess that I just consumed a grand total of SIX OREO's in the last couple of hours. They were yummy and even though I felt some need to confess I can't say that I feel too guilty. They were yummy.  It's been a full week.  Prior to that, I was down with malaria. So thankful to be feeling better.  It is definitely something that knocks you on your socks... or whereever one gets knocked onto.  ( c :

I am going to go ahead and post some pictures from our maize harvest from last week.  The whole ministry helps with harvesting the maize (corn).   Each husk is picked, stripped, and gathered all by hand.  The profit from the maize here at the ministry goes right back into the ministry.  It was a morning full of hard work, sweet conversations, LOTS of ants crawling all over, and the gift of just laughing and connecting with others.

Just chilling before the big harvest

The best combine ever!

Journeying through the banana trees to get to the field. 

Hard at work

Each husk removed by hand

The detail of Our God

Momma Emaculate.... the Harvesting QUEEN!

Just chilling at the end of a hard morning's work.  We had So MUCH fun! 

hers.  

I type a few words and delete them... it's happened multiple times in the last twenty minutes.  I am waiting for my soul to take off and for my fingers to start typing.  It's not happening as quickly as I want it too.  There is so much I would love to say and yet, I realize, that my soul is not quite ready.  It is still absorbing and spinning all that has happened in the last five weeks.  Has it really been five weeks since I said farewell to so many of you and boarded the huge jet that took me halfway around the world.  So much has happened in these last five weeks.  So many things that have been surprisingly natural... like putting on an old pair of jeans.  And then there are things that have not felt as natural.  Probably as unnatural as brushing your teeth with chocolate syrup.  I have been thankful for the overall transition and find myself smiling throughout the day.  It still tickles my soul that God has led me here.  I smile when I look up at night and see more stars that I can count, when I see the joy in a little boys eyes who was COMPLETELY petrified of "muzungos" (white people) now freely receiving love and care, when I clean the wound of a child and give them a hug when it is done, when I hear the laughter of children in the background, watching as God provides opportunities to listen to new friends process their lives, and the list could go on for quite a while. 

Linda and Fiona

Linda, Rachel Myself, and ... ( c : 

The Lizard

Last Saturday, I met up with the kids from my family group.  We spent time slashing the long grass and soon realized that we were NOT the only ones hanging out in the grass.  One of the boys found this lizard.  We played with him for a few minutes and then headed back to work.   After slashing, we sat and washed laundry together.   There are four young ladies that I    have been  getting to know these last several weeks.  This coming week, we are going to get together for a special dinner on Thursday night. So looking forward to just getting to KNOW them and just living life with them.  

Linda and Rachel

The wound treatment room

The wound dressing station

And then there is the clinic.  It is a happening place to be... especially true for the children who come to be cared for and truth be told for many of them... to get out of school.  I am on to them... and definitely direct them back to class.  But in the meantime, there is opportunity to clean their wounds, medicate their bodies, and just love on em.  And some of the wounds they have.... eesh.  I would be crying.  Most of us would.  Cuts and irritations that have transformed into angry, painful, and infected lesions. Cleaning them is painful... and yet necessary.  Malaria is an everyday reality.  And I am asking Jesus to give me wisdom and I am choosing to rest in the truth that He is the ultimate Physician and that He has led me here.  He has given me a solid education, significant experiences in the hospital setting, various professionals eager to assist, and ultimately, He has led me here.  And where He leads.  He is... 

For some reason, the format of this post is not coming through.  I need to head out... but will try to make it look how it did when I put it together and even how it is when I look at it right now.  

Good morning! or for some, Good afternoon.  I am currently sitting on my bed listening to some teenagers as they are having worship practice in the main room.  Some are strumming the guitar, others are beating the drum.... and all are singing together to their King...to our King.  And even as I type this, my fingers are trying to pick up the pace... to the rhythm of the drum.... and for those of you who know me... know that no matter how much I try to pick up any rhythm... it's almost always off.  Music and I are like... butter and oil... wait, those are pretty similar. We are like butter and water.  "More than all I see... You are more than enough for me.... You satisfy me.... with your love and all that I have in you... It is more than enough."  It is timely that these words are the words that are being sung as I bring fingers to the keyboard and share with you about the last couple of weeks.  And how exactly would I describe the last couple of weeks?  I think that the best word would be peaceful.  Sure, I have been brought to tears more than once because I miss friends and family... but even in the tears, there is a sweet peace because I know that this is where I am supposed to be.  So if someone out there could please go through the drive through at McDonald's and order themselves a LARGE coca cola with ice in my honor that would be great and when the time is right for me to be back with all of you, then it will be and it will be GREAT.... absolutely GREAT!  For now... know that I hold each of you close in my heart.

Tomorrow, I will start working in the clinic.  Ahhhh!!! It's for real.  Excited, but also fully aware that there is so much I do not know.... very thankful that God has brought doctor's, NP's, and other medically enlightened individuals that have so graciously made themselves available to answer my questions.  I am thankful for all of them... yes, they are doctor's, NP's, and nurses, but beyond their titles, I count them dear to me... Below is a picture of the clinic... 

Another exciting thing is that I have met my family group!  Earlier last week, I went and met with the family group parents.  Uncle Rose and Uncle Dan are parenting the ten children that call the worcester clan their home. Yesterday morning, we harvested the maize together.  I was odd one out wearing boots that went up to my knees.  Probably more unnecessary than necessary... but oh well! After we worked in the fields, I sat with the kids and ate porridge.  It was great to just connect with them.... This afternoon, played some basketball with them and just hung out.  I haven't taken any pictures yet... but when I do... I will introduce them to you.  

Institute is going well.  My mind and heart are being stretched... but it has been good. Getting to know 21 other individuals from several countries in Africa and the United States.  We came together strangers and will undoubtably leave very close friends.  Below is a young woman, Anna, who is from the Congo.  We have had lots of fun getting to know each other.  A week ago, we hopped on little motorbikes and rode into town.  We picked up some necessary food for dinner and also picked up some coca cola... which was highly enjoyed.



Riding one of these on a dusty road....holding on tight.... and praying as you go that you make it to point B.... the end result is a sweet memory and well, fun treats!

And as each one of us rides on our own dusty roads... may we hold on tight to our God...and in the end relish at the sweetness and gift of HIS presence.  

hello from Uganda....

It's Friday evening and I am sitting on another blue couch.  This one, however, is thousands of miles away from the one that I sat on just one week ago.  It's about 9:15 PM and this day is quickly coming to an end.  This week is quickly coming to an end.  I cannot believe that it has been one week since I boarded a plane and left the United States for Uganda.  Instead of a crackling fire, I am listening to the various bugs chirping outside.  The cat just brought in a mouse and it was still very much alive.  It was more alive than dead and so instead of having to worry about killing it all the way, the little critter got a pass and was put back outside to live.  ( c :  Instead of the white snow there is plenty of green.  All five pieces of luggage arrived safely… though I must say that there does appear to be a couple of things missing.  Arriving late in the evening on Sunday night, I was immediately greeted by the warm, African air and a man holding a machine gun watching us all as we walked off the plane and towards the airport.   And I can honestly say, I didn't feel nervous.  I took several deep breaths and smiled an internal smile.  I was on African soil.  ( c :  After nearly 3 hours of travel, we arrived at New Hope.  Along the way, I saw the contrast between absolute beauty and poverty.  Eesh, I am so blessed!a few snapshots of the current chapter of my journey...

some of the view at New Hope

Banana tree right inside of my house

the little goats that lives steps away from the porch

Where I live for this season

Minutes after arriving to New Hope, I went down to the institute which I will be attending for the next 5 months.  Classes are five days a week from morning till lunchtime.  The focus is to learn more about God being our father and sharing that with children who do not have a present earthly father.  There are men and women from Uganda, Zambia, Congo, and the United States.  From what I hear, it is an absolutely amazing experience and challenging all at the same time.  I know that I will be stretched, but am confident that God will bring me through it a different person that I am this very moment.  Over the last several days, I have had the honor of hearing the life stories of individuals who have journeyed through paths of immense pain and sorrow and now share with a peace  and a genuine heart depth smile that only comes from Jesus.  Truly.  Their stories of His redemption are proof enough.  For my Blackhawk friends, there is a young woman from the Congo.  We were talking about the significant pain that women in the Congo are experiencing and I shared with her about the group of women coming together regularly to pray for them.  Her face LIT up.  She was encouraged greatly.  

As of right now, the plan is for me to participate in the institute fully over the next month and then begin the transition to working in the clinic in the afternoon.  Not sure what that will look like exactly, but know that it will become clear in His timing.  From what I know, within the next week, I will be matched up with a family group.  This family unit will be the group that I will come to know closely over the course of my time at New Hope.  When a child comes to New Hope, they are placed into a family group.  These children stay with their family group and experience life in a stable family setting.  Various Ugandan couples and individuals have stepped into the role as parents to these children.  I am excited for the opportunity of just being able to be actively present in the lives of these children.  I'll definitely keep you posted and introduce them to you as I meet them and get to know them.  

And so I bring this first blog entry from Uganda to a close.  I want to thank each and everyone of you who have joined me on this journey.  Your words of encouragement and support have been an absolutely amazing gift to me.  I cannot wait to share more as the pages of this journey are turned.  It has been a mixture of emotions... an ever budding excitement and missing loved ones back home.  God has truly met me and I have sensed the prayers of so many.  For real and for sure.  I am excited for the kids to come back from their break (kids who can go home to family members or friends do so at Christmastime) and to love on them as He leads and prompts.  I cannot wait to introduce them to you.... 

Lots of love... 

Kimmy