Call for Support

Trust. For some individuals it might be easy to trust. For some trust is hard, it is something that has never been there. Some people on this earth have broken or used that trust in hurtful ways. I want to share with you someone who you can trust with EVERYTHING. He is loving, caring, a provider, compassionate, giving, healing, a creator, in control and worthy to be praised. He knows everything about us. He LOVES us unconditionally. He is God. 

After listening to a sermon by David Platt this morning I was challenged to write down different attributes of God. I wanted to share some awesome things about our great Lord! 

HE is:
1. God is faithful- Matthew 6:34
2. Jesus is worthy of praise- Matthew 8:1-4
3. Jesus is trustworthy- Matthew 8:23-27 and Genesis 6:9-9:29
4. God is our Father- Matthew 6:9
5. God is our provider- Matthew 6:11 and 32
6. Jesus is a disciple caller- Matthew 4:18
7. God is a creator- Genesis 9:6
8. God loves all nations- Genesis 12:1
9. God is compassionate- Matthew 10:36
10. God is in control- Genesis 11
11. Jesus is a healer- Matthew 9:35

I am writing to you all because I trust that God will provide. That he will provide prayer warriors. That he will provide love. That he will provide guidance. That he will provide.

After being here for four months the Lord has placed certain individuals on my heart. I have so much love for people here and the ways that the Lord is moving in this place. Recently it was brought to my attention that one of my dear friends, Isaac, wanted to go to Senior 5 and Senior 6, and then on to school to be an engineer, but does not have enough money to attended school. Here in Uganda schools are not free like in America and every term the family has to pay school fees. As the child moves up in school the school fees increase and become harder for families to provide. With this being said a lot of students do not finish out High School. I want this to be different for him. He has dreams and aspirations to help others. In my first conversation with him, he told me, "I want to become an engineer and then after I work for a couple of years and get on my feet I want to use the money that I make to help others go to school." Knowing that he has such a loving heart and he wants to help others, makes me want to help him more. He lost his mother years ago and his father has not been seen in years because he could not provide school fees for his three sons. So currently they are staying with his grandmother along with four other children. His grandmother has such a huge heart to help others that even though she struggles to provide for herself and her grandsons she also has taken in other orphans. Hearing their situation, praying and trusting I am wanting to help pay for his school fees. Now I cannot pay this all by myself, but I am trusting and praying that God will provide, because He is loving, caring, a provider, compassionate, giving, healing, a creator, in control and worthy to be praised. Isaac will be attending St. Joseph of Nazareth High School starting March 16th. The first term costs 917,000 Uganda shillings which is equivalent to $367. This is for his tuition fees and for his school uniforms. Every term (there are three terms in a year) after is 700,000 Uganda Shillings, which about $280. Knowing some awesome people in my life his first term and dorm items have been paid for, but as for his second and third term  for this year we still need to raise almost $600.

Please prayerfully consider helping this awesome, God loving man and my dear friend finish out his schooling. Please feel free to contact me with ANY questions. 

If you are wanting to make a contribution towards his school fees you can go to, trueimpactministries.com and then click on "Donate" tab up on the top and pay by credit card make sure you indicate Kizza Isaac 

or you can send a check to: 

True Impact Ministries
17310 Cornerstone Dr.
Parker, CO 80134

with Kizza Isaac in the memo. 

Isaac is on the right, in all blue playing soccer. 

Thank you all for your love, support and prayers.
Nicole

The Superbowl!

If you are going to read one blog post I encourage you to read THIS blog.

Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday! A big day for Americans; chips, dip, beer, pizza, countless celebrations and of course football. With halftime shows that are talked up and the imfamous Superbowl adds. If any of you know me I LOVE sports and I especially LOVE watching football! So needless to say I was excited,  even though Sarah and I were in Uganda we were going to find a way to watch the Superbowl. We planned out our night for at least a week. The Superbowl was to start at 2:30am Monday morning, so we both set numerous alarms, researched how we were going to watch it...we called countless hotels to see if they had FOX American channel, Googled ways to watch it on the internet, bought Mountain Dew and chapati...all I can say was we were set. 

Set for what?

Set to watch football?

Set to watch countless adds that cost millions of dollars to make and for air time?

Set to watch a game where the players get paid millions?

Set to watch people cheering on the game knowing they paid hundreds of dollars for ONE ticket?

Set to watch a halftime performance where the  performance it self cost millions to put on? 

I was not set…I had not thought about any of those questions. 

I am sitting here in a country where I am surrounded by people who live on two dollars a day. Where teachers get paid 80 dollars a month, where farms can go weeks with only selling a few crops, where children go hungry because their families do not have the funds to feed them, where children do not go to school because school fees are too costly, where people fall sick and cannot seek medical help because it costs too much, where people cannot pay rent because they lost their job, so now they live under a bush and honestly, the list goes on and on. 

My mind and heart was not ready for the countless questions I would have about why as Americans we spend SO much money on ONE game, ONE night when there are so many people struggling to survive one day, to eat one meal, to have a roof over their head, to get medical attention and yet Americans spend Millions on just ONE night. 

What if we saved the money and put it to a greater use? What if we invested in people who really need the money? What if corporations would not put up the fifth add for that one beer and instead they donated the money to those in need? What if we served others above ourselves? What would the Lord do? Would He spend millions on ONE night so others down the street or halfway around the world would go with out food and education? What does God call us to do? let me tell you a little story...

According to Matthew 25:31-46. The Lord calls us to give food to those who are hungry, give something to drink to those who are thirsty, cloth those who need clothes, look after those who are sick and visit those in prison. 

Are we doing what He is calling us to do? 

I want to challenge you, what if instead of spending money on somethings that we don't need and we help someone? What if you went to the local food shelf and donated food or volunteered your time? What if we went to our elderly neighbors and shoveled their driveway...for free? What if God is calling you to something greater, something more permanent, something more rewarding...What if He is calling you to sponsor a child so they can eat food, go to school and change their family cycle of living in poverty, WHAT IF? 

We are all blessed with different gifts and talents, I want to challenge you to take a look at where you are investing you gifts and talents? Are they for God's glory and purpose?! We are not called to live for things on this earth (material things) we are called to live for heavenly things (eternal life with the Lord). Please prayerfully consider any way that God may be calling you to serve this year.  We have tons of children that are still awaiting sponsors... if you would like anymore information on how to get connected with sponsoring please send me an email. I would love to hear from you!

With love from Uganda, 

Nicole

First Week of Teaching

This past week has been one of the best weeks and one of the most tiring weeks I have had in a long time. It marked the start of the school year here in Njeru, which is just outside of Jinja. Not only did it mark the first day of school this year, but it also marked the first day that Greater Love Nursery and Primary School would be open to children learning and praising God. It was awesome to be a part of the first day of the school opening. Everything was so new to everyone, the students, teachers and all other supporting staff. With this though came a couple of challenges. A little background, Sarah and I get a ride on the school bus with all the children from the Hoffman home and also some of the children from within the community…meaning we have around 70 people on a 20 passenger bus. Needless to say, we are packed like sardines.  The first challenge was that school was supposed to start at 7:30am but the children and I did not arrive to school until 8:40am on the bus. Needless to say we were just a little late…African time right?? The next problem was that the children were supposed to have break from 10:30-11am, but there morning tea was not done until 11am, so break ended up being from 10:30-11:30…whoops. After that we started teaching and about an hour before lunch it just starts to down pour. Now most of the time this would have no affect on teaching, but you literally cannot teach while it is raining because they have tin roofs. It becomes so loud inside that even yelling and shouting to the person next to you will not work. So we had to just sit and wait for the rain to pass so we could continue to teach. Its crazy to think that rain would have such a massive effect on the children's learning. Good thing though is that it only rains for about 30 minutes normally and not every day during the dry season. We got home that first evening around 6pm, and I was exhausted. By day number three teaching I came home and feel asleep at 7pm…I was tired. The typical school day is supposed to be from 7:30-5pm, but we have never left the school sooner than 5:30pm.  Can you say one long school day?! Some interesting reasons why it is so long is because they do not have any printers or worksheets, every "worksheet" or "homework sheet" we want the students to do we have to write the problems on the blackboard and then the students have to copy that into the exercise books. To give homework it will take at least 30 minutes for the students to write the problems down, so when you only have a 40 minute teaching period this can be difficult to get any teaching done. This is one reason why school is long and never gets out on time. Even with the "challenges" I have faced with teaching at a new school, I have throughly enjoyed the first week. I love being able to get to know my students and how the school system runs here in Uganda.

Morning Prayer during school assembly

Teaching away on the first day of classes

Some of the highlights of the week were:
1. Getting 48 beautiful and unique hugs every morning and evening.
2. Attending my first African wedding.
3. Hearing that one of the children from Another Hope Children's Ministries officially gets to go home TODAY with her adoptive family. Praise the Lord!
4. Sarah playing the guitar while we worship with the children every evening. (For those of you who might not know I am currently with a good friend from the states and we are teaching at the same school)
5. Making a birthday video with the children for one of my good friends. SO MUCH FUN!
6. Making Chapati for dinner with the mommy's on Sunday after church

Chapati making!

7. Seeing the faces of the children when they got there new sandals…complete joy!

All 48 children received a new pair of sandals

New sandals!

I love being here at The Michelle and Julia Hoffman Memorial Children's Home and volunteering at Greater Love Nursery and Primary School. There is so much joy and laughter from the children that when I am around the children I cannot help, but be joyful! Sarah has also been keeping a blog of her time here in Uganda so feel free to check it out at, http://www.fuzzytravel.com/elbingse/

With love from Uganda,
Nicole

Radiating Joy!

Hello Everyone!

It is so crazy to think it has been over a month since the last time I updated anyone on what the Lord is doing in my life…sorry. So many experiences and changes have happened over the last month. I feel like the only way to give you a glimpse into the last month of my life is to explain nine different beautiful and wonderful experiences I have had. Also, I will explain more at the end of this blog, but I feel you all need to know that the Lord has opened up an amazing door where I have the opportunity to teach at a school called Greater Love Nursery and Primary School. The sad thing is that the school is about two hours from Another Hope Children's Ministries, so this past Thursday, the 16th of January, was my last day at Another Hope. I am currently staying at an orphanage called The Hoffman Home in Jinja. For now though I will explain to you all that the Lord has done over the past month at Another Hope and at the end I will explain all about this new chapter here in Jinja.

1. Soccer! As many of you know I love sports. I love to play sports and I love to watch sports. I just love sports. What some of you might not have known was that I never used to enjoy to watch or play soccer. Over the past month and a half I can now proudly say that I thoroughly enjoy watching soccer. The big boys at Another Hope play in a league with the other members within our village and they face other villages in a competition where the winner receives a goat! This was one of my favorite parts to my week, I got the opportunity to go out in the village and just love on the children while we watch our boys play soccer. Some days we would bring sweets with us and give them to some of the children near us, lets just say that they were extremely happy! It was awesome to watch the boys use their gifts and talents that the Lord gave them while having fun doing it!

2. Movies! I get the awesome opportunity to watch a movie every night with the children. We set up the projector in the dining room and twenty of us gather around the screen to watch the movie. There was one night though, Christmas Eve, when Prea (a volunteer from Australia/South Africa) and I were wrapping presents for the children when 11:57pm hit, Wasswa (one of the older boys) came into our room and said "the cinema is ready." Not knowing what he meant we ventured out to the dining room only to find the children were not there. We walked outside to then find the boys had set up the projector, along with their bed sheets to make a massive screen to watch the movie. The BEST part of this was that as we were sitting and watching the movie you would just look up and see the beautiful stars that the Lord created. Knowing that we got to spend the first two hours of Christmas day watching a movie under the stars with some of the children was amazing. I could not have thought of a better way to start Christmas Day than that.

3. The Well! Everyday the children would have to make about three trips to the well. They would use this water to cook, bathe, clean and drink. It was about a fifteen minute walk which normally ended up taking an hour round trip because we got so distracted by so many different things. There would be days where we would race to the well, have water fights, play board games, learn how to make bubbles from plants and all of these were on the way to the well. I feel extremely blessed to have seen how conscious you have to be with the water you have, every bit of water you use at the house was carried from the well. From flushing the toilet, to bathing, to cleaning, to cooking, all that water had to be fetched from the well. The Lord continues to amaze me in all that he is teaching me. Each bit of water is so precious, and the thought that the well is only a fifteen minute walk, I can see His work in my life by Him showing me that the simplest things in life are the most incredible blessings.

4. Prayer! Prayer time is one of my favorite times in the day! This is a time where the children, myself and any other volunteers would gather together to worship our good Lord. We would sing praises in English and Luganda. I also got the awesome opportunity to share a little devotion every evening. Sometimes we picked a book of the Bible and go through it together, otherwise some nights the children and I would study something different or unique that the Lord had placed on our hearts. It was one of my favorite experience to be able to grow in our Lord together! 

5. Kampala Markets! Seriously I have never seen anything like these markets. They are dirty, disgusting and packed with a lot of people, but I love them. Being able to walk around outside and be able to find everything from food, to clothes, to crafts and pretty much anything else you can think of. The only thing is that there are no aisle markers, nothing to indicate where to find what you need. I could be lost for days in the market if I went by myself.  As you walk down the dirt filled, sewage infested, people yelling "lakumi, lakumi, lakumi" (which means 1000 USH) streets I cannot help but get lost in the thought of how blessed I am. In America I am able to walk into a supermarket with aisle markers, clean floors, and set prices to find all the items I need. Sometimes we as humans get so caught up in our daily lives we don't think about how good we have it. The Lord is continually teaching me about how much we take things like the supermarket for granted. To have all the food we need under one roof, with clearly marked ailes…we are blessed to have that. Each and every one of us in America is blessed.

6. Brick making! Everyday for the past week I have been helping the older boys make bricks. They have to make about 6000 bricks by hand for the fencing around the perimeter of Another Hope. They are able to make about 200 in a day. These boys are extremely hard working with such servant hearts. I loved spending time with them laughing and goofing around while making bricks.

7. Chapati! Chapatis are one of my new favorite foods. I have had the awesome opportunity to make them for Christmas in the Community (which was the weekend before Christmas) and for Christmas day. Elvis, Issac (both older boys at Another Hope), Prea (the volunteer from Australia/South Africa) and myself woke up at 4:30am to start the Chapati making for Christmas in the Community so they were ready by 9am when we had to leave. I seriously enjoyed every minute of making them with these wonderful individuals. 

8.Painting! Over the past month and a half Prea, Wasswa, Elvis and I (aka the Art Team) painted the babies playroom , the dining room and one of the babies room. In the babies playroom we painted the alphabet and numbers up to 20 across the top of the wall. Then in the middle of one wall we painted a tree and we made the leaves out of the children's handprints with their names in the middle. This was one of my favorite projects we did. To be able to spend time with those three individuals would just bring a smile to my face no matter the mood I was in. Also we were able to start a mini mural in the dining room with a couple of the disney princesses. All of these projects turned out great thanks to some amazing artists!

9. LOVE! Always love. Sometimes its hard to love, sometimes it means to give up the protection of your heart. One thing that is not lacking in the children at Another Hope is love! Their love for the Lord is contagious and their love for each other is so beautiful to see. They are one big family. They always watch out for one another and listen to their  'brothers or sisters' if they need someone to just listen! I seriously love the children at Another Hope with all of my heart! They have became like family to me!

This past Thursday I moved from Kkona to Jinja. Its crazy to think how everything just fell into place. I miss everyone at Another Hope so much, but I felt called by the Lord to teach at a new Christian school here in Jinja called Greater Love. School starts on Monday, where I will be teaching P4 and P5 mathematics. These classes will have students ranging from 8-12 years old. I feel completely blessed to have the opportunity to teach these children. For the duration of my stay I will be staying at an orphanage called The Hoffman Home, which is sponsored by True Impact Ministries. They just opened up this home in December and there are currently 49 children ranging from five to twelve years old. They have so much love joy and laughter inside them it brings me so much joy. Over the past month 18 children here have committed their lives to Christ. I get chills every time I think of the work the Lord is doing in this place and in the lives of the children here! I am overjoyed to walk with them in the beginning of their faith journey with the Lord. The Hoffman House is situated about a five minutes from the Nile river and about ten minutes from the city center in Jinja. Over the past three days I can already see some of the awesome things the Lord is doing here. His presence is felt. I enjoy waking up every morning and receiving 49 hugs from His 49 beautiful children! I love them all so much! All the children here at the Hoffman House will also be attending the new school Greater Love, so not only do I get to love on them at home, but I get to love on them at school. I cannot even begin to describe the excitement I have for my last eight weeks in Uganda! 

With love from Uganda,

Nicole

Not just one, but two!

I'm sorry this blog is long over due, so many things have happened over the past two weeks.
On friday night we got a seven day old baby boy named Mathias. He is super precious but extremely small. He mother died giving birth to him and they have yet to locate his father. They have an idea who the father might be but he is denying it. So once Another Hope gets the funds they will have him get a DNA test.

Coming into this experience I assumed I would have to learn Lugandan, but I never thought I would have to learn another language on top on that. I get the awesome opportunity to learn sign language as well. Catherine, she is a beautiful ten year old girl who loves to play games, laugh and she is deaf. She was at school for my first month here, but now she is back for their holiday break. Everyday we go over a ton of different signs, probably for two hours. She would write down the words and then sign them and I would copy the sign back, or i would write down a word and she would sign back.The thing I love most about Catherine is her spunk. She loves pictures. The other day we spent two hours going through EVERY picture on my phone. She would sign and ask something about almost every picture. She wanted to know everyone's name, where the picture was taken, and just every other detail you can think of. The reason why she is at Another Hope is because her parents aren't together and she was living with her father who is a peasant farmer and couldn't afford to look after her. With the extreme cost to send Catherine to school ment she never attended school before she came to another hope. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to learn both Lugandan and Sign Language, by no means is it easy but its AWESOME to be able to communicate with the children here!

Also over the past week and a half Prea (a volunteer from Australia), Elvis (17 year old who lives here at another Hope), Wasswa (19 year old who is a regular helper at Another Hope and is supported with school fees) and myself are designing and creating a fun babies play area. So far we have done the alphabet, numners and a tree with the children's hand prints as the leaves. It has been so much fun to watch the room come together, we still have to draw animals and flowers and make our centers. We are going to have a calendar and time/money center. So many fun things to create and make.

Thank you all so much for your continuous prayers, support and love. The Lord is faithful in all he does and I am continually amazed with all He is doing here at Another Hope and in the community.

With love from Uganda,
Nicole

So many firsts!

As I got to thinking, I realized I forgot to add a lot to me previous blog from last week...so now you get another blog!

So I found out I can receive mail and packages, if you have any interest the address is...
Nicole Holmes
C/O Nambowa Ruth Bulyaba
Another Hope Children's Ministry
P.O Box 28407
Kampala, Uganda, East Africa

Last week when I was with Sarah, we both experienced our first boda boda ride. This is like a taxi, but it is a motorcycle/moped, where is takes you anywhere you want to go for cheap. Sarah and I rode a couple miles and it cost us, together, 80 cents. I don't know any taxi in the states where you can just go a block for that cheap. While on our first boda boda ride I got the luxury of being in the middle and Sarah was on the back. Half of her was on the bike and half off. While we were on this Sarah was laughing the whole time and everytime we came up to a bump (which is about every twenty feet) she would start to freak out. We laughed all the way home, what a fun experience!

Also, last week I got the opportunity to try my first grasshopper. Yes, you read that correctly, grasshopper! I was extremely nervous to try, but it ended up tasting sweet...who would have thought that. I don't know if I would eat them again, but they didn't taste as bad as I thought.

On Friday Sarah and I atteneded a funeral here for the first time with Patrick. Here in Uganda once the person passes away they have a visual/funeral right after they pass for 24 to 48 hours where family, friends and people in the village come to pray and pay respect. On our way to the funeral Patrick asked if I wanted to drive, so needless to say I drove in Uganda! It was about 45mins away from Mityana, which was where I was staying at the time. Something to note is they drive on the other side of the road and most times when I say road, I mean a dirt filled REALLY bumpy road. Both were interesting, but good experiences!

On Monday I had the opportunity to make Mandazi for everyone, all 37 children and the staff. While I was in Mityana they taught me how to make them! Mandazi is similar to a donut. You use sugar, baking powder, flour and water to make the dough. Then you use oil on low to deep fry them.  The children LOVE these, but they don't have the  funds to make them often. To make them for all the children and staff (about 45 people) it cost 25000 shillings which is $10! It's crazy that such a little amount of money can make food for that many people.

This morning was I was talking with three of the older girls Annet 18, Ester 20 and Latisha 16 about dating and marriage. Latisha surprised me when she said, "As long as a man provides for me and shows me love, it doesnt matter how many wives he has." This really saddenes me to know that those are her expectations. If you grow up seeing that and experiencing your father do that, how are you supposed to know differently. It was really good to talk with the girls about their expectations and being able to talk about setting high expectations. If a man wants to marry you, he should marry only you. All other women should be off limits because he  found the one he wants to spend the rest of his life here on earth with. My prayer is that these children understand that there is no greater love then the Lord's. He is the only one that can show us that a man can be devoted to just one woman.

The two children I want to introduce you to are Hanifah, 3 and Habibah, 4. They are sisters that were dropped off by there 'neighbor' saying that there mother and father passed away. What actually happened was their mother dropped them off because she was being beaten, almost to death, by her husband/their father. She was on the run from him because he said he wanted to kill her and the two children, Hanifa and Habiba. They were EXTREMELY malnourished. When Hanifa came she looked like she was six months old, when in fact she was two years old. She wasn't walking at all and barely crawling. To see the joy that radiates through them now is so beautiful. God is at work in this place! It is awesome to see Habiba look after Hanifa, she is a very pretective older sister! They love each other a lot!

Thank you so much for being so supportive! I feel so loved by each and everyone of you! Prayers for the children to seek nourishment and healing from past scars. Also, for community members here in Kkona, that they would be able to experience the love that God has for them!

With love from Uganda,
Nicole

Opening my heart!

This week for me was all about opening my heart. Opening my heart to the pain these little ones have gone through. Opening my heart to the overwhelming joy that oozes out of these children. Opening my heart to the staff and community members. Opening my heart and being thankful for the ones I have had the opportunity to encounter. Opening my heart!

The next little one I would like to introduce you to is a child that is one and a half years old named Linnity. This little girl is one precious child. She has a smile that can light up the room from miles away. Her laugh is so distinct, you can hear it from the other room. To top it off this little girl loves to give hugs! The cute thing about her hugs are that she doesn't just stand and give you a hug, she runs at you (full force) and just wraps her whole body around you with a HUGE smile on her face! The reason she was brought to Another Hope was because she lived with her mother and four men who all claimed to be her father. There were major disputes to who her father actually is so she was brought to Another Hope to be safe from the yelling and fighting. They will give this precious one back to her mother once the men have been DNA tested to see who is actually the father. Something that sounds so simple, just get DNA tested, apparently is not. Linnity has been at Another Hope now for four months because of this. None of the possible "fathers" have yet to even test. Through all this, she is still one happy child!

Something that I am extremely thankful for this week is the fact that I got to see my friend Sarah! She is out in a town called Mityana, where she is doing ministry along side of a family who founded five private Christian schools. She called me Tuesday morning and asked if I was free for visitors, OF CORSE I WAS! What an amazing surprise it was to see her! Sarah and the family she stays with asked if I would like to join them for a couple of days, as long as it was alright with Ruth and Daniel. Daniel was like a protective father, but he let me go, but not before I had to fill out every possible contact information I could think of. So I came Tuesday to Mityana and will leave tomorrow morning. The family she is staying with is so welcoming and hospitable. They are about 45 minutes from where I stay in Kkona. Every morning at 6am they get up and greet EVERY child that comes to school that day. So for three days I had the opportunity to start my day that amazing way. We greeted all 400 children into school between 6am and 8am. The smiles and hugs are so amazing! There is a long road leading up to the school and as soon as they are in sight they start sprinting towards your arms for a warm embrace! To see the joy these students have on there face every morning to go to school is so beautiful! 

Last night, thanksgiving evening, Pastor Patrick (the man who founded the schools), Sarah and I had the opportunity to go out into the community and meet two different families and pray with them. How THANKFUL I am for the opportunity to do that! The first family we got to meet, they lost their dad last week because he took his life. We were able to spend time with his eldest daughter and get to know her prayers, desires and dreams for life! What a hard situation the eight children and their mother are going through, but what an amazing opportunity it was to pray with them. The second "family" we got to meet was Nagawa's. She's approximately seven to eight years old (nobody knows her birth date or exact age). She used to live with her grandmother, but the grandmother physically and emotionally abused her. Her grandmother is also an alcoholic who took out her anger on Nagawa. Many nights she had to sleep out with the chicken's. Recently, distant relatives down the road took her in. She has one dress that looks like a potato sack with holes all over, but one thing that does not match the raggedy old dress, is her smile. She is so joyful every time she sees us, especially Sarah! We had the opportunity to meet that family who took her in and pray for safety and healing from the scars Nagawa has from her grandmother. As we were driving out of the small village we saw Nagawa's grandmother. We went over and talked with her for a little while, it was hard to see the house she was abused in and the places she spent most nights, on a cold dirt floor, with the chickens. I am thankful for these opportunities the Lord has given me to pray with these children and their families. Even though I was away for thanksgiving in America, I have plenty to be thankful here in Uganda. Meeting these families, praying with them and getting to know them is exactly what thanksgiving is all about! I am thankful for this opportunity to be here in Uganda serving the Lord!

With love from Uganda,
Nicole