Back to work!

I made it to Uganda this week after having a great time with Phil in Kenya. Phil and I were able to get out of the city for the weekend and visit Hell's Gate. We biked through the national park and hiked through the slippery wet gorge. It was so much fun seeing all of the zebras and camping with the hippos! Here's a few photos of our trip...to see some more, visit Phil's blog...he's a great photographer. :)

(Phil and I at the top of the gorge - it was beautiful - but you'll have to trust me)

(Caution: Zebra crossing!)

(Phil climbing down into the gorge...we got a little wet)

After saying goodbye to Phil, I arrived in Uganda and was swept away to a rural district named Kamwenge where our water project will be based for the next year. I saw the site where we'll be staying and met my wonderful staff.

It is evident that clean water is needed in the villages where we'll be serving. Our survey showed that only 2.6% of the area has access to clean water. After speaking to the people we found that their common water source is the swamp over the hill and a small pond where their cattle and goats dip as well. Hard to imagine, right? We will be the only NGO working in this area and I will be the only white woman for many miles in every direction. It's a privilege to be in such a remote area that has so much need.

Please pray that God will bless the work of our hands. That the clean water our project provides points to Him and not to us. That we will all love Christ more and more each day.

Thank you so much for your love and support!

Prayer for aid workers in Sudan

Please pray for three aid workers from Doctors without Borders who were kidnapped yesterday and are now being held for ransom in Sudan. They are a Canadian nurse, Italian doctor, and a French co-ordinator. Please pray for their protection and safety - and for their kidnappers. You can read the article here for more details:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7939223.stm

Please take the time to care for them through prayer today. They need our Lord.

Thank you so much.

Enjoying Nairobi

Thank you all so much for your many prayers. I arrived in Nairobi yesterday safely - no problems at all. Praise God! And I met a lot of great people along the way. It was a really nice trip.

So now I'm enjoying my time in Nairobi with Phil. :) We took a couple of walks today, had some great coffee at the Java house, and ate lunch at Amani Ya Juu. For us, it was a little slice of heaven. God is good.

I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures yet, but regardless I wanted to let everyone know that I made it in just fine. I'll be leaving Nairobi for Uganda next Sunday. Until then, I'll be busy enjoying Nairobi...

Thankful for you!

Moving

This is my childhood home. The house my father built for us 25 years ago. It's beautiful and perfect in our eyes.

Today the papers were signed to begin handing it over to a new young family. It sold the same day the For Sale sign was put up in the yard. Yes, in this economy, and in this tiny town! Praise God! He is so good to sell my parents' house so quickly.

Today my brother signed a lease for a new home of his own. He moves from the guys' apartment to his own place this week.

Also this week, I move to Africa. Unbelievable timing.

My entire family is moving right now. To new places. New homes. New people. If you have a sec, would you please pray for us. For relationships and church families. That my parents will find a new house in West Virginia quickly and I would find a place in Kampala. Thank you so much!

Home to be: UGANDA!

"Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Matthew 7:7

Praise God, He heard my cries and after 4 months of waiting He faithfully responded with an open door and a push through it. I love Him! I will be serving with a wonderful team in Uganda for the next year, managing a household water program. I leave on the 5th of March.

I am excited to meet Uganda! The people. The smell. The taste. The moutains. All the beauty. And all the rest. I'll do my best to bring a little piece of Uganda to you as well through this blog.

I am also excited to serve Uganda! To help bring clean and living water to the sick, hurt and lost. Bringing physical and spiritual hope. Bringing the love of Christ.

Know that I will be thinking of you. Missing you. And praying for you while I'm gone. Please keep in touch. Leave a comment! Shoot an email. Come visit! Trust me - you'll be a blessing!

May the love of Christ be the fingerprints of our lives - wherever we are or wherever we go, may Christ be touching lives through us - with love.

Goodbye Applebuddies!

One thing that kept me sane these past few months was working at Applebee's. It was such a blessing to be hired there! I mean who hires a lady who says, "Well I could be here for 2 weeks or 2 months." But they did hire me (thanks Ed!), and I started waitressing again for the first time in 4 years. Fun times!

So I met a lot of wonderful people at the restaurant and we had some really great times. I always laughed so much when I was there! Some things I'm going to miss are...Karen's great tip stories...Sue Ls crazy comments and great smile...Sue Cs blunt honesty....Kristy singing the Na Na song....and Monday snack runs....I could go on, trust me. I loved the energy in the people and the place! I loved when we would all just sit around and share our funny (or pathetic) stories from the shift while chowing down on Apple food. Honestly, I just liked being with everyone. I really loved you guys! And I'm going to miss you.

Above is that picture of Applebee's in Beirut that I told you about. :) Maybe we can have a little reunion there someday...a little Applebuddy getaway. Until then...know that I'm so glad that God brought you into my life for a little while. I'll be thinking of you and praying for you while I'm gone. Remember that there's someone on the other side of the world that cares about you!

Wow it's been hard saying good-bye to life in Liberia. I came home months ago. It took about 6 weeks until I really felt a true sadness about it all. I've been torn between thankfulness and sadness. Had I left the states before this time I don't think I would have felt it quite so deeply.

I'm still in the States - waiting on God. I wish I could throw patiently into that phrase, but most days I'd be lying. As many of you reading this, I wish I knew what was next. But in God's wisdom and kindess to us, He doesn't and won't reveal that until it's time. I'm glad that he loves me enough to deal with my persistence.

So in the meantime, I am praying - a lot. Yesterday, I heard a pastor say "prayer doesn't always change things, but it does change people." I believe that's true. I know the Lord's after my heart most of all. He's after all of ours. Trust Him. Your heart is best in His hands.

And I know it's been a long time since I've posted - sorry! To encourage myself to post more often, I decided that I'm going to make this a much more general blog - not just Liberia. My mom came up with the new name and I liked it. :) So here it goes....Life to the Fullest....A Dieu soit la Gloire!!