crossing paths

there are moments where you can't rightly explained how it happened. times that you want to say "that was a coincidence, ironic, or by chance". however. when we view those moments from God's perspective. it completely takes out the "coincidences" and makes them 'divine appointments'. the exact path God wanted you to cross with that person. i have had many of those "divine appointments" throughout my life and i am blessed beyond words with the precious friends i have in my life. one that is most recent is when i met my friend Kelsey Young. i actually met her in Uganda. she is an american living in kampala, uganda. and i still am amazed on how we met. but God had it planned that he would allow our paths to cross and knit us together as friends. from the 2000 people who attend the Watoto Church in Kampala, she was one of them.

we became fast friends sharing our stories and how God brought us to Uganda. i was inspired and encouraged in many ways by her and what she is doing. to sum up her story, over the past 8 trips she has made to Uganda she and her team have developed a new ministry called ROWAN. which means..Rural Orphans and Widows Aids Network. she is spending all her energies and time getting this organization going. she spends most of it in the villages with the people in the Mawanga area. she and her team work with the woman and children by putting on food programs, activities, dramas, educational seminars over HIV/AIDS, and much more. i could go on and on about it all. every time i talk with her i always here the latest story of what God has done today to continue to show His hand in the ministry. it blows me away. the stories she tells me are undeniably the Lord's doing.

you should check out ROWAN at www.loverowan.com and her blog at www.kelseyyoung.wordpress.com

looking back to that day we met neither one of us knew the purpose of our paths crossing, but one thing we do know...God sure has a purpose for it! i am thankful for my new friend. she has challenged me so much and continues to do so. she is simply an ordinary woman, loving the Lord, and being a tool for Him to use.

restore tour...

on monday night i had the privilege of attending the Watoto Choir: The Restore Tour in southlake, tx. the children and students in the tour have all survived the war in northern uganda. they all have either been former child soilders or abductees. it was a powerful message. they shared their song, dance, and stories of being captured by the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). it moved me to tears. i can't imagine feeling what they felt. 

and in the midst of sharing the reality of what has been happening for the past 24 years, there was hope in the darkness. there was joy found in their deep sorrow. the children began singing, "my only hope is you, jesus." and though their lives were in the hands of the rebels, they continued to sing...though they lost family members, were forced to kill, and were brutally abused, each one of them choose to forgive. there is power in forgiveness and only through jesus do you have the ability to truly forgive. 

as i was watching the performance, my heart was full. i was just there in Gulu, Uganda a couple weeks ago. i got to visit the babies in Baby Watoto. i got to see the Children's Village that already has 300+ kids who have been rescued and now living in a place of restoration. i got to meet the women in the living hope ministry who are regaining their dignity. it's beautiful to see how God is changing that country one person at a time. it definitely made me miss being there. and i can't wait to get back. it is one of those moments when you see God moving and you just have to be a part of it. and as i long to be back, i have to see what God has for me today. where i am right now. as i gaze upon the Lord, I have to believe that He is and will fulfill His purpose for me in this place, as well as in africa.

And as Paul journeyed from place to place teaching and preaching the gospel…he was also a tent maker. He didn’t waste the gift the Lord had given him. He used it to further the kingdom. So wherever He went to take the gospel, he brought his work. So the lesson from that for me is to be wise with the gifts the Lord has given. While he has me where he does, I want to be a tool for the Lord to use so that He may receive even greater honor. I can’t just sit and do nothing. I must be actively engaged with the people. As a new church in Atlanta, GA, Passion City Church, says: “For God. For People. For the City. For the World.” That is my prayer. For where I am, For Cleburne. That the body of Christ , the church, may be a beckon of hope. A light in the darkness. The church is for God. It is for ALL people. For the city. And ultimately for the world.  

worlds collide.

(picture: Lucy & I at Suubi Baby House)

There is no other way to describe it. When you leave one country and come back to the one you reside in. its hard to process. It’s hard to discuss with those who didn’t experience what you did. It’s hard to pick back up in life. It’s hard to go back to what you were doing when your heart is somewhere else. It’s hard to not be with the team you were with for 10 days straight. Not that I haven’t LOVED getting to talk to friends and family about my trip..it’s just hard when two completely different worlds collide.

(picture: Hope and I at Suubi baby house)

I literally hit the ground running a week ago and I can’t hardly grasp how quickly 7 days slipped by. It blows me away really.  It’s a blurr to say the least. To be thrown into so many things after being in a country that changes you is beyond difficult. I honestly have had to ride it out. I have had to diligently carve out time to sit, journal, and process. And every time I do, I realize that the very fingerprints of those children we held and loved on, have been imprinted upon my heart.  You never can shake experiences like that off of you. The more I process, the more I realize the desire in my heart only grows stronger.

You are never quite the same after coming back from a 3^rd world country. It changes you. It changes the way you think. The way you live. So why does our culture expect you to pick back up where you left off and live the same way you were? It bothers me how that is what is expected. I don’t want to live the same way. I don’t want it to not change me. For it already has.  It changed me even before going.

...uganda was written on my heart and has impacted me more than I can describe… 

(picture: Kevin & I at the Bullrushes in Kampala)