FlowerDust.net

EDIT: Thank you! It appears that all three children have been sponsored. You can still sponsor children in Uganda by clicking here!

There are three children in Uganda who have been waiting over six months for sponsors.

last time when i posted two children who had been waiting over six months to be sponsored, you guys stepped up and both of them had sponsors within an hour! that is incredible.

i looked around on compassion’s site a few minutes ago, and found teddy. she lives in uganda. and she’s orphaned. with her two siblings, she lives with her uncle, who is occasionally employed as a farmer.

i LOVE the invaluable feedback you guys have provided when i ask little questions for mad church disease. so, here’s another…

what, in your opinion, makes an environment healthy?

from flibbityfluent…

“Serve the stranger not as a strategy but as an act of love.”

my book deadline is february 28 march 14.

i sent this letter to my agent a few moments ago.

Oh, my dear Beth.

Sincerely yours,
Anne-Going-To-Hide-Under-My-Bed-Jackson

your role in this, bloggyfriends? pray…hard…for me! being sick/asleep twenty-one hours a day lately isn’t really helping my schedule.

i’ve been home sick today (not with infectious stomach parasites like some of my ugandan-travel-mates, rather what i have dubbed a “fire breathing demon baby” that has taken residence in my throat). i have left my bedroom once to get soup and that is it. no energy.

yet still needing to kind of function for a conference call at 4 pm today.

here’s what that looked like.

i can honestly say i have never had a conference call in sweats with a cat sleeping on me.

and i must be so overridden with ick that i am actually posting that photo….? with no makeup? eek.

anyway…

i’ve been playing around on twitter a lot today. so…if you tweet, add me!

shaun wrote an amazing post today. and i can promise you. he is so right. and your prayers are so needed. for all of us.

**HIS POST IS BELOW**

since our internet in uganda was maybe 14.4kb/s at its quickest was being consumed by fifteen passionate bloggers desperate to sponsor children, some of us are just now getting a chance to post some videos and other stories from the trip. including me.

first: watch this…

on the second day, we drove into a more remote area of the country to visit a project especially for educating and taking care of pregnant mothers and their children up to the age of three. each mother has a case worker who visits and checks in on the health, well-being, goals, and dreams of the caretakers and their children.

shannon, shaun, brian, and i took quite a journey on foot through this rural village until we reached the home we were to visit with the caseworker.

the home was immaculate.

way cleaner than my house has ever been.

carefully laid lace cloth graced every bit of furniture. another sheet of lace served as the front door.

the caseworker asked such detailed questions…taking notes in a very full, but organized folder.

she was asking about musa, the youngest child.

is he playing well with others? (yes…he loves to play ball.)

has he had fevers? (no…he’s been healthy)

have you made him any toys? she showed us several toys she made for musa. handwoven dolls and balls made from dried banana husks.

we asked what dreams she had for her children.

“i dream someday…my children will become doctors…”

when you trip over the toys in your house today, i pray you’ll think of the toys this mother made for her son. when you lock your door tonight as you get ready for bed, i pray you’ll think of the delicate lace sheet blowing in a small, ugandan doorway. these sights and sounds and thoughts have never left my mind…and i pray they’ll always remain with you, too.

we have so much. and these children need so little in comparison. just a little bit can truly make the biggest difference in the life…and the dreams…of a child.

over 350 children have been sponsored as a result of this trip. don’t let it end now.

it’s not too late. if you haven’t yet, please sponsor a child today.

it was really, really late on our last night in uganda. shuan, brian, keely, boomama and i needed to get to our rooms…but bats swarmed the outdoor hallways.

boomama, you see, is terrified of bats. and they didn’t like us a whole lot either. especially after shaun popped one in the face with his computer…

we made a mad dash for it…and we were dive-bombed…twice.

so, i’ve been dealing with some stuff over the last few weeks that i haven’t really talked to too many people about. it started just a bit before africa, intensified while i was there, and has lingered around my heart since returning. los wrote a little bit about what he was experiencing tonight, so i figured, what the heck. i’ll share too.

i’m twenty-eight years old. i’ve moved thirty-two times. you can do the math. seven major school changes as a kid. and as an adult, in 2001 i left texas for kansas. in early 2006, i left kansas for texas. in late 2007, texas for oklahoma.

i know beyond a shadow of a doubt god has put chris and me here in oklahoma. no question. but, can i be completely raw with you? this has been the hardest move of my thirty-two. and there were some really difficult ones in there.

i’m not sure why. everyone here is great. we’ve been here almost two months, and we’ve had some really good times with people who have opened up their homes, kitchens, ears, and arms.

i think it really struck me watching the nashville group of bloggers that went on the africa trip interact and talk with each other (that sounds creepy…sorry, guys).

close friendships…those that develop over time. decades of time. and i can’t imagine having friends that close. it’s kind of hard when you’ve never lived somewhere for more than four years.

i know i keep referring to this post on finding my tribe, but i’ve yet to find a better way to express those longings.

intimate relationships terrify me.

but i am completely incomplete without them.

anne has just rolled out of bed, has thrown on some clothes and stares in the mirror. her curly hair yesterday is now resembling something like a 1970’s afro. two bobby pins later, anne turns to chris:

anne: do you think my hair looks really big?

chris: (pauses) not really big…

anne: too big to go out?

chris: (pauses) …. (pauses) …. (pauses) ….

anne: is it too big to go out?

chris: (pauses) …. no …. (pauses) …. well, you might want to …. wet it down a little bit or something.

lesson: husbands, lie to your wives. it will give them confidence.

because of the africa trip and all the link love we’ve been passing around, i’ve noticed there are a lot of new readers over here on flowerdust. so i’d like to say welcome! you probably think the only thing i ever write about is africa (and trust me, there are many many more posts to be written about the trip), but i wanted to share an article i wrote for relevant magazine a little over a year ago. it has absolutely nothing to do with africa, but has everything to do with the girl behind these words.

porn addiction is an ugly thing, and stats show over 1/3 of porn viewers are female - and that is just the number of women who are courageous enough to admit to it. stigmatized as a man’s problem, after this article was published, i’ve received literally hundreds of emails from women who are desperate to confess and be restored.

it’s been a few years since this monster has reared its head in my life, but that doesn’t mean i don’t think about the grace and the healing every day of my life. saying goodbye to this addiction IS possible. if you read this and it strikes a chord, please feel free to contact me. i’d love to help in any way i can.

DIRTY GIRLS, THE NEW PORN ADDICTS

The last place you’d expect to see a porno would be the living room of a pastor.

But in between my family’s Christmas portrait and a broken, dot matrix printer sat a computer screen. Little did I know the place where I typed up book reports or instant messaged my friends would also become the doorway to an endless amount of forbidden fruit—and an endless amount of guilt.

Growing up the daughter of a Baptist preacher-man, I was the 16-year-old poster child for naiveté. My family had just moved from a small, secluded west Texas town to Dallas, and within a matter of days in my new residence, I was bombarded by the prevalent sexual culture of a big city.

Strip clubs and billboards lined the highways. There was a giant sex store just a few miles from our house. Ignited teenage hormones and the temptation to give in to my curiosity proved to be a dangerous combination.

My parents and brother were fast asleep as I connected to the internet one night. I searched for the word “sex” and within seconds had access to a sea of well endowed platinum blondes doing things with guys (and girls) that I’d never seen before.

Because I lived at home and the only computer was in the living room, there weren’t many opportunities to do my “sexual education research,” but whenever I was alone, I’d quickly satisfy my interest.

I graduated from high school my junior year and moved out when I was only 17 years old. I had my own space with my own computer, and all the free time in the world. I’d go to work (at a local Christian bookstore), come home, and look at porn almost every night.

I frequented erotic chat rooms, watched movies and browsed through hundreds and hundreds of pictures. Soon my porn binges started affecting my performance at work and my relationships.

Of course I never mentioned my struggle to anyone. Looking at porn was typical, even expected, for guys but a girl? A girl who likes porn? I often questioned my sexual orientation.

Why did I like looking at naked women? Was I gay? Bisexual? A pervert? I hated what I was doing so much. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t stop.

The cycle continued for years. Binging, feeling guilty and swearing I’d never do it again, only to give in a few days later. I prayed for God to take the desires away. That’s when I realized it was more than just looking at pictures.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I had more than enough pictures saved in my memory to reflect back on, even if I was able to stay off the computer for a while.

So, why do women struggle with this? Although stereotypically we’re not as visually stimulated as our male counterparts, we’re not blind either. There is something about a woman’s body that is beautiful and mysterious and even forbidden, and that toys with our psyche and tempts us.

At least for me, viewing these outwardly flawless women fed a huge emotional need. I was able to put myself in the role of what I was seeing, and by doing that, it made me feel beautiful and accepted.

I was transformed into a perfect, sexy body, and I was desired and wanted. I was able to escape my own flawed physical appearance and be transformed, in my mind, to this perfect woman.

My online activities also played out in my daily life. I was engaged for about a year and cheated on my fiancée. After that, I “dated” several new guys a month, getting physically involved with them in some regard.

According to everything I had seen, to be accepted and loved meant a sexual relationship, and what girl doesn’t need to be accepted and loved? I gave so many pieces of my body and my heart away during those years.

When I was 21, I was in a serious car accident that caused me to reevaluate how I was living my life. At the time, I was pretending like there was no God, except for when I needed His forgiveness, and only then would I come running back to Him. After the wreck, something finally clicked, and I realized that love does not equal sex.

It was at that moment when I decided to turn around—to change my thinking—and then my actions would eventually (and hopefully) follow. I had to say goodbye to my online habits, and to my offline ones as well.

It’s been close to 10 years since my first encounter with online porn, and I’d like to admit I’ve had a perfect run at purity. I wish I could say I’ve always lingered on the right thoughts or shut down the computer when the temptation got to be too much, but the truth is, I haven’t.

I’m still a girl who struggles. I’m still a girl who lives one day at a time, depending on a God whose design for sex and love is so far beyond what I could even imagine. So each and every day, I pray for God to first direct my thinking and then redirect it as necessary.

And I’m grateful that He is faithful to meet me somewhere between the mouse and the computer screen.

i realize we threw a lot of stuff at you guys last week and because our internet was so sparse, i haven’t caught up on all of my email or comments yet. i thought i’d leave this question out and hanging for a few days to collect any questions you might have about compassion international - any questions at all. don’t hold back. ask the hard ones. i’ll answer them early next week.

you know when you went to youth camp. they split you up from your best friends and threw you into groups with total strangers. you had no idea what to expect. but after the first few hours those strangers become fast friends, and before you know it, it’s time to go home.

in my inbox sits somewhere around 47 emails (most of them “reply to all”) from our group that went to uganda. of us talking about how we are all waking up at 12:30 am and staying up until 3 am. about how we’re struggling to adjust, but knowing reentry is all a part of it. about eclipses, crying, blogging, and…missing each other.

we went through a lot in a few short days. hundreds of children latching on to us. heads busted open. mosquitoes. meeting our sponsor children. eating weird things. bats. monkeys. aids clinics. no sleep. probably 900 bottles of water. kampala traffic. home visits. mothers. babies. stowaways. coke light. deet.

now that we’re all back home, it’s not the same.

my heart has been aching in so many ways. today, it aches for missing these amazing people.

(this picture was taken at lunch our last day in uganda. prossy is the beautiful woman in the middle. you can meet her here).

EDIT: OH MY GOODNESS…THIS POST HAS ONLY BEEN UP HALF AN HOUR AND YOU GUYS STEPPED UP AND BOTH DERRICK AND JOAN HAVE BEEN SPONSORED!!! (Who sponsored Joan? Please let me know!! Thank you Tom for sponsoring Derrick!) FEAR NOT THOUGH, YOU CAN STILL SPONSOR A CHILD IN UGANDA BY CLICKING HERE….PLEASE DON’T LET ANY OTHERS WAIT AS LONG AS DERRICK AND JOAN HAD TO. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!

————–
this is derrick. he lives in uganda. he’s seven. he’s an orphan. he has three brothers and sisters. his grandmother, who makes next to nothing as a laborer in the village where they live takes, care of them. the average life expectancy of a ugandan is around 50 years. so, chances are, she will not be around much longer…

derrick has been waiting over six months for a sponsor!!

HE NEEDS A SPONSOR RIGHT NOW. CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR DERRICK. THIS LINK WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO HIS SPONSORSHIP PAGE. DERRICK HAS A SPONSOR–TOM SNYDER!! THANK YOU!!!!

joan has also been waiting over six months for a sponsor.

she’s seven years old like derrick. although her parents are alive, they aren’t always employed. she also has three brothers and sisters. she needs you. her family needs you.

JOAN NEEDS A SPONSOR RIGHT NOW. CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR JOAN. THIS LINK WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO HER SPONSORSHIP PAGE. JOAN NOW HAS A SPONSOR!! THANK YOU!!!!

as of today, these are the only two children in uganda who have been waiting over six months for a sponsor.

you may have been waiting for just the right child to sponsor. these kids need you now. because of you, they will hear about jesus. their families will hear about jesus. please don’t make them wait any longer!!!

this was on my desk.

no note.

no explanation.

i went to bed and woke up at pretty normal times. although chris kept laughing at me for getting words mixed up last night. evidently he was timing me to see how long it took me to get to sleep. four seconds and i was breathing heavily.

this morning i have been catching up on blogs (and a big thank you to everyone who supported us by linking and talking about our trip). i left around lunch time to get a diet cherry dr. pepper from sonic (coke light didn’t cut it for me when i was gone) and drive around. it’s the best way to process stuff for me.

ipod charged and plugged in, it didn’t matter what i was listening to. i cried.

for three hours straight i cried.

for what? i’m not sure. for lots of things. the heaviness in my heart. the jumble of confusion in my brain. for our little girl linet. for missing new friends. for missing old friends in kansas and in dallas. for our trip to scotland two years ago. for the homes we visited in uganda. for the children too sick to get up at the aids clinic we went to. the adjustment from living in kansas and dallas and oklahoma all in a three-year time frame. for the fact that today i’m 28 years old and have less of a clue about anything than i did when i was 23. for my friends who live across the country that i can text and email and how they respond within moments saying they’ll pray. for other friends who bend over backwards to help me understand not only the things i feel now, but deeper things that are surfacing with my emotions as raw as they are. for the million happy birthday messages on my facebook that make me smile and the voicemails of friends singing it to me.

three hours straight i’ve cried.

wait. didn’t i say i was a thinker?

so much for that.

Practically 48 hours with no sleep. Give or take 40 hours of travel. One stop in the custom’s “lock up” (I am so criminal), two flight delays, and finally, I am at home.

Shaun made the most incredible video of our home visit I referenced earlier in the week about the family who lives in a 6×6 room…

Until my brain is functioning again, please watch it, and let it sink in.

As soon as I can, I’ll share with you the amazing number of children that were sponsored during the last week. Thank you all from the very bottom of our hearts.

Let me ask you this…on our trip, what has been the one thing that has stuck with you? That has burned something inside you you’ll never forget?

if you’re familiar with the myers briggs test, you’re familiar with the “thinker” and the “feeler.” i’m definitely a thinker. a thinker with empathy, but a thinker nonetheless.

sometimes i wish i had a little more “feeler” in me, but i think i’ve gotten used to the fact i don’t. it’s easy for me to envy those who do feel…who are moved by things so simply…i sometimes even catch myself thinking, “seriously? what is wrong with me…why can’t i feel the way she’s feeling…am i just emotionally blunted or what?”

it can be a very confusing place.

in the last week, we’ve been faced with things we’ve never seen/heard/smelled/touched/tasted. things that are heartbreaking. things that aren’t fair. things that are beautiful. things full of joy.

and…can i be honest with you? i am having a difficult time processing a lot of it.

the “thinker” in me has no idea what to do. what “feeler” i do have has certainly been pushed to her limits, as things have been burned into my soul for the rest of my life.

but really? i don’t get too fired up about anything. i can be passionate, but not overtly. i pretty much stay even-steven, taking things as they come and as they go. have i always been like this? for the most part, yes.

is my heart lazy? afraid?

or do i just not function in that way?

and is that okay?

in a few hours, we leave africa. and i know africa will never leave me.

but i think it’s somewhere stuck between my heart and my head.

and i just don’t know what to do with it.

the day the fed ex package arrived in my office, i fell in love. a little blue dress. neatly braided hair. and just a bit of a quiet smirk that said, “i may look harmless, but inside, i’m a rockstar.”

when i learned i would get to meet linet on our trip, i started counting down the days. i kept her photo in my backpack, so i’d constantly see her beautiful brown eyes. a few days before the trip, chris and i went shopping for her and her family. because i wanted to travel light, i made a simple list of a few things, but by the time we were done, we had visited a couple stores, spent way more money than we had planned, and i did something i never had done before.

i broke down and cried in the middle of walmart. all because of a panda bear.

first, for those of you who don’t know me, i simply do not cry. at funerals, i may get a little misty, but it really takes something monumentally emotional in order for the waterworks to start (as if funerals aren’t monumentally emotional?)

but after digging through a few stuffed animals, i saw the one. a panda tucked behind some elmos and some bratz. i picked it up and the moment i took hold of it’s cuddly little paws i had the realization that in just a few days, i would be taking hold of linet’s beautiful little hands.

the tears began to fall.

this beautiful girl with hopes and dreams and friends who loves to sing and who is the smartest girl in her class and i would meet…very soon.

thursday, one by one, they introduced us to the children we sponsor. in a dress as white and as pure and as gleaming as a fresh snow with the same neatly braided hair and same quiet smirk walked towards me. i grabbed her tiny body and held it close, whispering my name to her and telling her how beautiful she was. i gave her some of my beaded bracelets so we could match and told her that every time i see my bracelets, i’ll be thinking of her.

she was so shy. it took a while for the quiet smirk to leave her face. we’d tell her jokes…try and make her laugh…but she’d keep her lips sealed tightly together, with only the corners of her mouth turned up.

finally, i asked dennis (who was translating for me) to tell her if she didn’t smile, i was going to tickle her. he leaned over and whispered something to her.

with those big brown eyes she looked up at me. i made the universal i’m-about-to-tickle-you sign with my fingers, giving her one last chance.

nope. lips locked. she was trying hard.

i had no mercy. i dove in and began attacking her ribs in a ticklish frenzy, and finally she giggled. ever so quietly, but it was certainly a giggle.

we played with my camera, took a few photos, and went through the gifts for her and her family. we blew bubbles with some of her friends, and her big toothy smile never left.

it was so hard to say goodbye. i told her how proud i was that she was the smartest in her class. how beautiful she looked. how much chris and i love her and that we’d send her some letters and photos right away. and how much jesus loves her too. how very very much he loves her.

carrying a bear and a large red bag that probably weighed more than she did, she walked away with the group she came with. i walked to our bus and fought back the tears.

i cannot believe the amazing honor and privilege i have to see linet grow up. to see her turn into a teenager. to hear about a boy she might like. to see her become even taller, stronger, and more beautiful. to hear about the things she learns in church, and to hear about how she’ll change the world.

i know she will change the world one day. there’s not a doubt in my mind. she’s already started…with a few beaded bracelets, and a fuzzy little panda bear at her side.

goosebumps ran up my arms in spite of the balmy african air. five of us sat at our dinner table, intensely focused on the story a man named vincent shared with us.

vincent is a graduate of compassion’s leadership development program. through the leadership development program, hundreds of students each year are energized, mentored and strengthened in their faith as they prepare for lives of leadership in their churches and communities. [read more here].

the twenty-something-year-old grew up like many uganda children. his father had married several times, and he lived with his father, step mother, and step brothers and sisters. when he was just a small boy, he worked in order to earn money to pay for his schooling. and he worked hard. his parents would never let him play and rarely speak.

“they suppressed me,” his quiet voice said.

on the weekends, he would visit the compassion project.

“it was the only time i was encouraged. instead of suppressing me like i was at home, they let me play. they let me learn. and i knew i would get a good meal on project days.”

someone asked, “so, if you never were sponsored, what would be different in your life today?”

he quickly responded, “if it wasn’t for compassion, i wouldn’t have found jesus.”

the story doesn’t end there. because vincent found jesus, his step mother, his sisters and brothers also found jesus.

your $32 does so in tangible, day-to-day ways. but beyond food, medical care, and support, your $32 presents the gospel to thousands and thousands of children.

in the last 12 months, over 102,000 children have entered in to the sweet, life-giving relationship with their father.

over 102,000 children have been wrapped in arms of peace and hope.

you can’t put a price tag on that.

but you can give a child a chance to hear about someone who loves him more than he could ever ask.

or imagine.

and for you, all it takes is a simple click. a simple click here.

please.

allow god to work in you and use what he has given you to make an ETERNAL difference in the life of a child, and quite possibly the lives of his family…today.

and this is with re-applying SPF 45 many times over the last couple of days.

today is one of those days i don’t want to end.

we started early, and headed to compassion’s ugandan central office. the professionalism, humility, and passion the staff shared literally glowed the moment we walked in. i was surprised to hear how many of them are reading our blogs…so to the compassion staff, thank you. thank you for teaching us so many things.

we spent most of the day at a project about an hour outside of the city…and let me tell you, i will never, EVER complain about oklahoman roads again. i have to admit, it was actually a pretty fun bus ride with everyone bouncing all over the place. things i didn’t even know i had jiggled!

at the project, we had the chance to see how compassion’s child survival program works…putting a special focus on meeting the needs of pregnant women, and their children from birth to three years old. we visited homes where we saw the program in place. workers from the project visit and help set goals for the family and the child, as well as provide for some basic needs.

after a very delicious lunch, we broke off into groups to help observe and serve within the project. carlos and i taught a group of kids the motions and words for YMCA and Jesus Loves Me…we served the smallest children a special milk mixture that helps both nourish them and give them energy…

and then we played. out in the back of the project is a huge, grassy hill (complete with cattle at the bottom) and overlooking the amazing ugandan landscape. sophie and i played a game of ball (and let me tell you, some of these girls could out throw ANYONE)…we blew bubbles, picked up kids, loved on them, and made a very slow journey back to the bus…with children latching on to any available spot on our bodies, screaming “BYE, MUZUNGU!!! BYE, MUZUNGU!!!” (which means “bye, white person!!!”)

i was tired. a little sunburnt. sweaty. smelly. really needing to use the bathroom. and really not wanting to leave.

about 20 feet from the bus, a nine or ten year old boy in a school uniform ran through the crowd, jumped in front of me, faced me, and gave me the biggest, tightest hug i think i’ve ever received. he simply muttered the words, “thank you, muzungu. thank you.” and then walked away.

to those of you who have recently sponsored, or have been sponsoring a while…allow me to say, thank you, muzungu. thank you.

contrast.

there’s so much of a contrast here.

we’re sitting in our bus, driving to another project, and no matter where it is i look, the contrast is striking.

the colors in nature…the rich greens and reds in the grass and the mud…and the unsaturated grey in the sky.

the cars and motorbikes that crowd the roads…and the goat i see about ten feet outside of my window…and the cattle that passed by our bus yesterday.

the skyscrapers in downtown kampala…and the rows of small markets of local vendors selling plantains and brooms.

we spent some time at a project yesterday with some of the brightest kids. this is a photo of henry and me. henry is in 7th grade. he is articulate, bright, and athletic. we stood behind the church which is under construction and he asked if things in america were constructed with wood or with steel. he told me about his sponsor family in the states.

“mr. and mrs. james peterson,” he said. “do you know them?” he asked with a spark of familiarity and hope in his eyes.

by the time we had finished touring the project and were about to leave, i headed back to talk to henry one last time. before i took two steps in the small lot where he stood with his friends, two little children in rags, wiping their drippy noses with dirty hands latched on to each of my legs.

while looking holding them tightly to me, i looked up at henry.

the contrast between these local neighborhood kids, who aren’t in the program, and the children who had been in the program for a while was more drastic than anything i had seen on the trip.

it is absolutely unbelievable what the $32/month mr. and mrs. james peterson so graciously provide does for henry. he’s educated. he’s healthy. he’s clean. he has a plan to go to university. “it’s only five years away,” he told me excitedly.

and henry isn’t the only one. there are over 900,000 other children like henry out there in the world. who have a shot at changing the course of history in their countries.

countries like uganda, hidden away between some of the world’s most volatile and violent nations.

i’m not going to beat around the bush. nobody’s telling us what to write about what we’ve seen. all of us on the trip know the communities on our blogs, and i know you guys don’t like fluff. so, here it is.

many of you are feeling what we are feeling. many of you are feeling moved. and that is great. but you have the ability to to do something about it, and do something about it now.

shaun said something great in our devotional time this morning with the ugandan compassion staff. compassion is not just releasing children from poverty in jesus’ name, they are releasing americans from our burden of wealth.

don’t hold on to your stack of cash any longer. it is needed here. it is needed now.

the link is up there on the right. find a child. sign up. it will take just a few moments of your day. don’t wait any longer. your child needs you now.

do it.

When’s the last time you spent $9? I think, for me, it was when I purchased lunch at the OKC airport on Sunday afternoon. A slice of Sbarro cheese pizza and the biggest bottle of water I could find.

After visiting one of the Child Development Centers and churches, we broke off into a few groups to visit homes of children who are being sponsored.

I wish this photo did it justice, but it doesn’t. This home was no larger than 6′x6′.

Just one room.

Just two beds.

And seven people to lay their heads to rest each and every night.

Annette is a single mother of six children. Her husband left her. He lives in the area, but they’re separated. He doesn’t provide any support for Annette or her six children, ranging in age from around five years old, to teenagers.

In order to make ends meet, Annette is a cook. She makes cassava and potatoes. On good days, she makes around $3 for working from dawn until dusk. Of that $3, only $1 is profit.

We also met her daughter, Brenda. Brenda is sponsored by a family here in the United States. The other five children, however, are not. Because of her sponsorship, her school fees are paid. Annette worries about paying for her other childrens’ fees. She knows they must go to school in order to break the cycle of poverty in which they live. She also has to pay for groceries.

On top of the school fees, Annette pays $9/month for rent. $9 for the tiny, six by six home where they live.

Brenda pointed out the spot on one of the beds where she sleeps. She wants to be a doctor some day.

There were seven of us in Annette’s home today. We sat shoulder to shoulder. Probably not unlike how tight space is when her whole family is home.

Taking a deep breath in…I let the air rest inside my lungs for a few moments before exhaling. The smells of the slum outside, the raw sewage in the small ditches along the roads, and the lack of hygiene of the people living in the area, as offensive as it should have seemed, I couldn’t stop breathing it in.

The reality that surrounded me in that moment caused my stomach to drop out of my body and land on the make-shift floor. Chris and I sponsor two children. A little boy in Ethiopia and a little girl in Uganda. I imagine their home is something very similar to the home I was sitting in. That every day, they walk along the side of dirt roads, covered in garbage, livestock, and disease.

And they smile.

Because they know two people from Oklahoma City love them so very much. And more importantly, they know there’s a Jesus who loves them even more.

[[You can sponsor a child like Brenda today...]]

PS-There is so much more to write and show. We are having some internet difficulties though. I encourage you to check out the other bloggers to see what they’ve experienced so far. Hopefully, we’ll have a more reliable connection tomorrow.

ok…i am so NOT lonely. keely, my roomie…is awesome. and really, how can you be lonely with 15 of your closest, newest friends packed into a little van?

it is 3:16 am Uganda time and it’s time for me to go to bed. we will start our visits to projects tomorrow, so please keep us in your prayers as we are all going to be feeling the jet lag. we will have some videos and a lot more photos coming soon…

goodnight!!!