Uganda Bound

Well, it is official, I am heading to Uganda! 

The LORD has opened several doors and changed around what I originally thought the plan was.  With the closed door on adoption in Kenya, I began looking into the country that really stole my heart in the first place, Uganda.  There is a children's home there that does international adoptions.  I have arranged a meeting with them to begin discussing whether or not I can use them.  I'm totally taking this move on faith as I have no idea whether or not the answer will be yes.  I am just trusting that it is, and if it is not that this will lead me to the next place.  One part of me is very excited, anxiously awaiting all that He has for me there. And then the other part of me is nervous and hesitant all over again as I make yet another leap of faith not knowing where I will land.

In addition to this piece, it is now time for us at HGI to begin our work with another orphanage.  I will be going there to assist them in getting their children ready for sponsorships and see what else we can do to enable them to operate more fully. 

Kenya has been amazing and I am so humbled that I was given the privilege to be a part of what He is doing in this place.  I am very excited to see the future implications of the work we have started and watch from afar now as Haven begins to stand a little more on their own.  I will miss this place, but there is no doubt that it has become a part of me and I will never truly leave it behind. 

LORD God pave this road before me; make the rough places smooth and the crooked places straight.  May it all be for your glory. 

Two More

Today is one of those days where all you want to do is break down and cry, but you know that if you started there would be no stopping. The kind of crying from your gut where you can’t breathe. Today two more orphans have names, faces, and stories. 

Kelvin about 5 or 6 and Lucy about 3 or 4, brother and sister.

I watched as Nellie and the staff agonized over a call this afternoon from the District Officer. A court case just happened today and 4 children need a home. They have called all the other homes in the area and nobody can take them. Here the children are already 3 to a bed and struggling to have enough food to eat and yet Nellie can’t bring herself to say no. The alternative is worse as the children would have to stay in a jail cell where they get beat up and sodomized. She has seen it herself. So with pain, HOH takes in two more. The children are brought in dirty, with tear stained cheeks, looking frightened as can be. With a 3 minute exchange they are dropped off and ushered into the home. Haven’s kids are wonderful as a couple volunteer to bathe them, others go and get some of their clean clothes, and then even others agree to share their bed. This is a great place for these kids to be. They will be loved, they will be fed and clean, they will have a chance for a life altering relationship with a sponsor from the states; but regardless of that it leaves me sick in the pit of my stomach. This situation should NEVER happen. Intellectually I know it does, and I know that this is a good alternative, but to watch it transpire is almost more than I can take. This is not how it was designed to be. No child should ever have to experience this, to be this scared and alone, to be hungry and dirty and mistreated. And the realization that we are not Home yet hits harder than ever before. Finding comfort that there is One who is Father to the fatherless and praying He holds them in His arms tonight.

 

HOH goes to Fiwagoh

I had the greatest privilege today!  I was able to arrange for all of Haven's children and staff to go to Fiwagoh for a day of playing and lunch. 

What a rare chance this is for all of the HOH family to get out and have a little fun.  There were shrieks and waving every time one matatu would pass another one.  Chatter and more shrieks when they spotted Lake Elementaita.  Then we arrived and they couldn't believe it. 

We immediately went to the field and they played for hours.

And the adults were no different, acting like kids themselves!

We then washed up and had a wonderful lunch prepared by the Fiwagoh family.

I think that I smiled non-stop today, rejoicing in His delight of us.  That He would give us this sweet blessing all because He loves to lavish His love on His children.  These are the moments that make it ALL worth it. 

And I think the silence on the ride home was a sure sign of success...as most fell asleep :)

N.A.C.H.I.

Haven of Hope is part of an incredible community organization here.  It is called Nakuru Children's Home Initiative (NACHI).  It gathers together all of the hundreds of children's homes in Nakuru county.  They meet once a month and discuss how they can help each other.  If they are having trouble with a particular child they counsel each other on how to address them.  They befriend one another with prayer and support.  This is the first organization of its kind in all of Kenya.  They decided to have an event in order to showcase themselves to the community, to gain awareness and support.  All the homes were invited to bring their children along for the festivities.  We took the older ones with us.

waiting in line for balloon hats

After some of the homes marched into the park, they had lots of entertainment for the children.  Different homes would do a skit, dance, song, etc.

these guys were incredible!!

Uncle Joseph even did the DJ work

Afterward they provided lunch and cake for the kids

It was a very fun day!

New School Shoes

We launched a project last week asking people to donate towards new school shoes for the HOH kids, as theirs were in very bad shape.  In just one week people stepped up and provided every dollar (or schilling!) to make this possible.  The kids and the staff were over the moon!  We split them into two groups in order to make going to town slightly easier.  Yesterday we took the 13 younger ones. 

13 littles and 2 adults in this 1 tuk tuk!

I think the workers had as much fun as we did!

my guy Mirex wearing his first pair of school shoes

ready for school!

Today we took the other 12 kids to get their shoes. They were just as excited!

Beatrice loving her shoes



Shaquil admiring his shoes



 

To all of you who gave THANK YOU so much!  You made these kids' day. 

Motorbike Tour

A ride through the countryside and up into the mountains, on the back of a motorcycle...well, if you must twist my arm!!

The Journey So Far

Well, I've been here about a month now.  From day one this journey has looked entirely different than anything I imagined it would.  It has been a hard adjustment to leave behind EVERY comfort of my life in the states and try and live in a foreign place.  I now spend my days in complete opposition to my likes, preferences and instincts, having virtually no control over the basics in my life.  I’m here wading through the mess and the dark and the extreme discomfort.  And some days it’s all confusion, all seeking and not finding, all questions and no answers, all wondering and guessing and longing for the way things used to be.  And it is hard.  I've found that I am lacking.  I’m not noble, not as brave as I once thought, most certainly shouldn’t be labeled as a hero.  I'm just human, and a mess of a human most days. And maybe if I were Mother Teresa or Katie Davis I might be able to come to some great spiritual conclusion as to what all this means.  But I'm not them, I'm just me.  I fear that when this is all over and I return, there will be no big grand artwork for all to see and be enlightened by.  No fanfare, fireworks or movie script to validate this experience.  I’m afraid you could search to find the impact of this journey and never find it. 



But He doesn't need me to be the one that gives Him, or this, value.  He doesn't need ME to authenticate who He is.  I am not solely responsible for accomplishing anything here.  And quite honestly failing within me might not be such a bad thing.  For where I am less, He is more.  So although I'm afraid no one will ever know what this time was really about, I'm finding a small joy in that.  It will be like He and I had a romantic escape.  Like we have a secret that others will never know. An intimate lovers’ getaway that is too personal to share.  So just because others may not see the picture of what was done here and in me, does not mean I would trade it for anything.





These are the things I know, He is good ALWAYS, He is ever faithful, and He cares about the details of my life.  I know He is for me and for His glory.  And I promise you this, He is the sweetest taste of the richest of fair.





Adoption Update:

As is not uncommon around here, the information I was given about adoption was not entirely correct.  They have requirements that I just cannot meet, so I will no longer be pursuing adoption in Kenya.  I will however, be switching over to Uganda.  I have begun contacting places there and may even be going for an informational visit in the coming weeks.  This has proven to be a challenging situation, but He is not surprised by it and I know He has a greater plan at work.  Please continue to lift this up in prayer so that He may be glorified and I will just follow where He leads.

Sangaalo Babies Home

We at Hope Grafted In are SO EXCITED to announce that we are beginning a new partnership! Sangaalo Babies Home is located in Jinja, Uganda. They have 15 babies there, 12 of which are under one year of age.

Damalie runs this home on just her husband’s youth pastor salary and the gifts of strangers. She is an incredible woman of God with a passion to care for orphans because that is what God has called her to do. She tried to run away from this call earlier in her life, but God kept bringing her back to it. She lives everyday on complete faith, not knowing how food and medicine will be provided.









HGI is only working with Sangaalo at this time on child sponsorships, though we hope to be able to assist them with sustainable income work in the future.  Sangaalo is also partnering with another ministry, Voices for the Voiceless, in the building of a new home. Funds have already been raised for the purchase of the land and they are now working on fundraising for the structure.  We are looking forward to working with V4V in any way that we can, as we all desire to SPEAK UP for these orphans. 

If you would like to make a life changing impact on one of Sangaalo’s children you can sign up to sponsor a child here.