Category: VOH

Wow, okay. Words are kind of difficult for me right now. I’m sitting in my hut back in Bweyale, trying to think of how to express what I’m feeling right now.

I said goodbye to those in Bobi this morning, which was difficult enough. Now, things are only getting worse. Coming back to Bweyale almost felt like coming home. So many familiar faces, so many beautiful memories here – and I have to say goodbye so soon. Fortunately, some good memories were made even since I’ve arrived. I introduced a new song to a few of the girls today, took a few funny videos of us hanging out, and attended my last fellowship meeting. Also, I had some time with my friends Joyce and Janet this evening, where they prayed over me. When they were finished, I asked if I could pray over them as well, and I got about as far as “Dear Lord” and then started to cry as I spoke. The two girls, a couple of my very closest friends here, comforted me and spent some time with me until they had to go.

Ugh, this is just way too hard. Goodbye’s are hard enough. Saying goodbye to 400 of the most beautiful people you’ve ever met is a bit difficult.

(Family, be prepared because when I get home, I’m probably going to be a jet-lagged, emotional wreck)

But this is another one of those times where the specific situation I’m finding myself in makes certain lyrics seem absolutely perfect in regards to what I’m feeling. In this case, my inspiration comes from Hillsong Worship’s song called Broken Vessels (hence the title). These words are simple but poignant, and they’re accurate to what’s in my head right now.

Oh I can see it now.

I can see the love in Your eyes.

Laying Yourself down,

Raising up the broken to life.

Yes, I can see it so clearly now – the incredible and compassionate love that God has for His children. He gave up Himself, the ultimate act of love and humility, so that we could all be brought back into the light. I see the beauty that can come from humanity. As broken as we are in some ways, God has restored us in other ways to bring joy and goodness into the world. When I look at the young men and women here that worship with complete abandon, love so fiercely, and live out the humility and grace that Christ displayed for us, I see a glimpse of the love He has for them through His eyes.

I’m going to miss living here. God has used this place to change me in so many ways, and I’m honestly a little bit afraid of going home and slipping back into my old lifestyle. Life lessons can sometimes be forgotten when you return to an environment where you are the only person who has experienced any of it. So right now, I’m praying that He will give me the strength to live out the things I’ve become aware of here, and keep old habits from taking over. I don’t want to shrug off the problems I know I will see back home just because everyone else sees certain things as the norm. I need to prepare myself for American culture, and be able to stand firm in the face of things that might tempt me to forget what I’ve learned here.

So yeah.

We leave for Entebbe at 9:30 tomorrow morning! Wish us luck and please be praying that we have a smooth journey!

hEY MOM! DAD! ASHLEY! BRANDON! I’LL SEE YOU IN TWO DAYS!!

{Haley}

Yes, I’m sitting in a hotel room at the moment, and yes, it’s breaking my heart. (But it’s because I have WIFI and HOT SHOWERS!! AHH)

Donna and I are staying in Gulu for a night or two, and so now I’m sitting here and listening to Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley (thus the inspiration for today’s post title). We took this little excursion to do some business in town, as well as to just explore Gulu and possibly get souvenirs or things for the villages or whatever we find! So today, I’ve had veggie pizza and ice cream, and I took a boda ride through town, which was so awesome and reminded me of how cool getting my motorcycle license would be! (Btw boda’s are basically like taxi motorcycles and they’re very common throughout Uganda)

But even without all the fun things today held, things have been going really great since my last post! Thank you for your prayers and your support 🙂 My homesickness is much less than it was before, and I’m feeling much more comfortable in Bobi village. It’s too bad I leave on Tuesday, because I’ve loved getting to know these kids. Each one is so unique and fun in their own way. They even put up with my weird mzungu behavior and actually seem to like to listen to me “play” the guitar. I say “play” because I have no idea what I’m doing; I’m just teaching myself by ear. Anyway, they’re pretty awesome kids, and all you sponsors out there are so lucky to be connected with them! Even though I miss home so much and am ready to see my family again, I know that leaving these kids will be very hard for me. So many of them are not just “the VOH kids” to me – they’re my friends. And I love them, and will miss them like crazy when I go.

I’m going to miss so much. I’m going to miss the insane rainstorms, the starry nights, the little nursery kids that can’t wait to offer their hand to be held, the free-spirited worship, the attempts to teach me the Acholi language, the stubbornness of Ugandan teenagers who insist that you help them dance or cook or play sports, the Saturday night movies with the kids, the times we try to speak Spanish to each other, playing netball in the field, holding the guitar just right so 4 other kids can strum along with me, and SO much more. I’m so glad that I got to spend my summer doing those things, rather than sitting on the couch and being bored. The lessons I’ve learned (and am still learning) will be tremendously helpful to me when I enter college next month, and probably will helpful to me for the rest of my life. Woo yea! Praise God for His perfect plan and His amazing creation!

{Haley}

From what I’ve experienced of track competitions throughout my schooling (Bailey stop laughing), I know that the last stretch of a race is the most crucial part, as well as the time where you push through with everything you have until you cross the finish line. Now that I’ve entered my final stretch, I’m finding the days a little bit difficult to get through. I think that because I’m close to the end, I’m getting so excited about seeing my family and friends again that the homesickness has really been setting in. I’ve never been out of the country for more than two weeks at a time, or even been away from my parents for more than two weeks at a time. As I come into the last week or so of my time in Uganda, I want to really appreciate everything that I am seeing and doing, but it gets hard when the only way to see my mother’s face is to watch a video I have of her on my phone over and over. It’s of her being silly and dancing in the kitchen, just being herself. It makes me laugh when I watch it, but I get so sad afterwards when I think about the distance between us. Sometimes ten days seems like forever.
So I’ve been spending a lot of time praying lately. I’ve been asking God to protect my mind against attacks that might make me discouraged about all of this. I’ve been asking for energy and genuine enthusiasm about everything that I am doing here. I’m asking that I will remember all day of every day to take this time as an opportunity to allow myself to be shaped and molded into a faithful servant of Christ who can completely trust Him to control every aspect of my life.
I want to live out the lines of the songs that I sing at church. One song in particular has been my mantra for this entire trip. The song itself is beautiful, but the lyrics are so so powerful, especially when I’m in the midst of a situation that calls for this kind of faith.

Overwhelm Me (sung by Riley Erin)

 

Lead me further into You, into the unknown.
Far beyond what I now see, that’s where I want to go.
I abandon everything, as deep calls out to deep.

 

I want to be lost, I want to be lost in You
Overwhelm me
I want to be lost, I want to be lost in You
Overwhelm me.
Take me higher
Take me deeper
Seeing Your glory, hearing Your whisper.
And I want to be lost, I want to be lost in You.

 

Show Your beauty, show Your strength in this holy place.
Let it be like gravity that I can’t escape
Till my life has been transformed, and my heart is one with Yours.

 

I want to be lost, I want to be lost in You
Overwhelm me
I want to be lost, I want to be lost in You
Overwhelm me.
Take me higher
Take me deeper
Seeing Your glory, hearing Your whisper.
And I want to be lost, I want to be lost in You.

 

Let the things of earth be swept away.
Draw me close till only You remain.
Oh let the things of earth be swept away.
Draw me close till only You remain.

Singing about total surrender is easy. Living it out is much harder. My prayers to the Lord can be basically summed up through these lyrics. Maybe some might speak to you as well.
This song is beautifully written. The words strike deep chords within me, and they challenge me to really live like that. Especially the second verse and the bridge, just UGH. WOW. Seriously, sometimes I think certain songs were written for my specific situation.

My biggest encouragement is that even in my times of weakness, God won’t turn away from my or resent me for my failures. In these times, He is just as loving as ever. His love isn’t threatened by my broken pieces. We can all rest in the fact that unconditional love is just that – unconditional. Even when I’m thousands of miles from home, I have a constant anchor that can give me those little pushes from behind to finish with joy and full enthusiasm.

{Haley}

We all arrived Saturday, as planned, and spent the weekend doing games and bible studies led by the Bay Life team! Sadly, they left on Monday (and hey if any of y’all are reading this – HI!! I hope the journey home was smooth! and btw thanks so much for leaving behind the parachute, the kids are obsessed with playing with it), so now it’s a bit quieter here. 🙂
The transition from village to village was an interesting one, I have to say. It’s a different dynamic here, partly because of the physical layout and partly because of the age range of the kids. Physically, Bobi village is a lot more spread out than Bweyale’s layout. Seriously, after playing with the kids for a couple afternoons, I’m already developing a tan. Whoops. (Mom, I promise I’m wearing sunscreen.) In regards to the age range, this village is made up of the primary school kids, who require a lot more energy when playing and hanging out. This is probably a good thing, since I did a lot of non-laborious work inside for the last month! Overall, the vibe here is different from Bweyale. I guess since Bweyale is kind of the home base, there’s more going on there – more projects, more people, more access to resources, etc. Things are just simpler here, as it’s newer and not as developed yet. But that’s totally cool, being here has been really nice so far (except for almost nonexistent internet connection).
I miss my Bweyale friends SO SO much. I’ll swing by for one day at the very end of my trip, so that’s a good encouragement for me! As hard as it was to leave them, it’s good to know I’ll see them soon. Also, seeing friends I knew from last year who now are in Bobi is really great. 🙂 So far, meeting new kids has been going well (as long as you have a parachute or kites or a ball, you become their favorite person ever). Hopefully, these next couple of weeks will be a really nice ending for this journey, full of new friends and happy memories. My prayers right now is that I find a good rhythm here and can feel at ease to be myself with the kids and staff.
Some cool things have been in the workings even since I’ve arrived! A few days ago, the kids received their sponsors’ letters and dress shoes. Today, we had clothes distribution and the kids wrote letters back to their sponsors. And tomorrow is PTA day, so all of the guardians and parents will come out to meet with teachers and do different things around the campus! So much is happening, and it’s very cool to be a part of all of it!
Internet is pretty sketchy out here, so posts will probably be less often. But that’s okay. I’ve been blessed to have as much connection as I’ve had, so I can deal with a couple of weeks with having a little less than before.
Until next time! (but honestly who knows when that will be)
{Haley}

{ Wow I totally thought that I posted this over a week ago, but apparently not so here you go! }

One thing that I know I’ll miss when I go back to the States – and this may sound strange – is the night sky. I know it’s weird to post about the sky, but seriously, the night sky is absolutely astounding here. Not only can you see the Milky Way, tons of stars, satellites, and the occasional shooting star, but lightning in the distance can light up half the sky even when you can’t see any clouds.
A verse from James refers to God as the “Father of heavenly lights”. That term came to the forefront of my mind tonight as I looked up at the sky. With the brightly twinkling stars, the distant lightning, the hazy and mysterious glow of the Milky Way, God’s hand is so obvious. He truly is the Father of heavenly lights, and I’m not ashamed to say it brought me to tears tonight, staring upwards and getting a clearer glimpse of His awesome power, His gorgeous craftsmanship, and His infinite glory and wonder.
To some, these words may seem hokey and a little cliche. But truly, it’s impossible to put down words that accurately describe the powerful effect of the sky here. Everything is just so clear. Even the moon seems to have more detail. Every night, I’m struck by the beauty of the sky in a slightly different way. Seriously, our God is a God of devastatingly spectacular things, and there’s no one I’d rather dedicate my life to.
Short post, I know, but I feel that it’s important to share the lesser known wonders of God’s hand here in the heart of Africa.

{Haley}

Today was my last full day in Bweyale. Really weird to think about, since it’s been my home for four weeks now. Tomorrow morning around 8, the Bay Life team, the Douds, Donna, and I will all be traveling to the village in Bobi where all the primary school kids are!

I’m super excited to see those kids, especially a couple of them who I befriended last summer! But also, I’m very sad to leave the home I have here. It’s not goodbye forever, since I’ll be staying here one more night on the 28th, but it’s still pretty hard. The kids have all been so wonderful to me, and I’ve got a few really amazing letters from some of them that I’m sure I’ll keep forever. I gotten really close with a few girls, and it doesn’t make me feel any better about leaving when one girl writes/sings for you a “farewell song” that’s so beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I’m so grateful to have met them, and I’m SO SO glad that tomorrow is not my last time to see them! My memories here have been incredible, and the majority of that is because of the amazing way these kids have let me into their lives. It’s absolutely a privilege to experience life with them.

Bah, I’m done being sad (for now). Instead of worrying about the future, here are some nice things that have happened here in the past week or so!

Patience gives her opening statement during an inter-class debate over whether or not money is the root of all evil.

My little friend Stephanie watches the older students perform the traditional dances to welcome Bay Life

All the kids gathered to other day to receive letters from sponsors as well as new dress shoes for school!

Living here is pretty cool.

{Haley}

Today is exactly half way through this amazing journey!! In light of this historic event, I want to take some time to give some quick messages to some important people.

To Brandon – Dude I really miss you. I know you’re not really one for super amounts of sisterly affection, but I just wanna put this out there. You probably make me laugh more than anyone else I know. You’re hysterical, and I really miss joking with you. Also, you’re extremely intelligent and amazingly talented in music and you should know I admire you for both of those things so much! I know we don’t agree with each other all the time, but I love you and appreciate your enthusiasm about important topics. You’re an awesome dude (and awesome is my favorite word so you know I’m pretty serious). I’m so sorry we haven’t had much time together in a while, even in the past year, and I feel sad that I’m moving across the country in a couple of months and we’ll see each other even less. So, get ready for lots of fun adventures and bonding time when I get home!! :)))) PS the kids loved the screenshots of you and the goldfish

To my fellow INFJ – I miss you SO much, too. I hope your internship is going great! I mean, you got to work FADC so it’s not like it’s torture or anything. 🙂 But I also wanted to take some time to tell you some things. You’re amazing. You’ve become a real role model for me, especially with how you’ve handled some things in the past year. Except for when you tell me you don’t like Nutella. That’s unacceptable. But besides that, you’re just an amazing person who is a huge dork and super musically talented as well. You’re gonna be a famous worship leader someday, I just know it. I love you and I’m also sad that we won’t see each other very much (but I’m pretty sure LU is closer to TNU than home, right??), so we’re also gonna have some awesome adventures before the summer ends. Also, I’m gonna bombard you with every single college-related question known to man. PS since we’re sharing a room for the summer, we totally have to take advantage of that – movie nights, all-nighters, etc.

SEE YOU BOTH THIS MONTH!!

{Haley}

Again, thank you all so much for keeping up with this blog, I’m so very grateful for all of you!
And speaking of amazing people, I just felt the need to make a post about the wonderful people I’ve been working with for the past three weeks. From the staff (pastors, teachers, cooks, counselors, house moms/aunties, etc) to the students (both secondary and vocational school), this place is absolutely full of amazing people who are dedicating their life’s work to the Lord.
Most of you don’t see this work happening. Even here, I’m only seeing a fraction of what actually goes on. There are hundreds of people living in this compound, and you can bet that every single one is encountering God in a different way each day. The part of this that I do see, though, is a blessing to watch.
I see nurse Kevin dedicating her whole day to these kids and their health, only to use part of her little free time to meet me for computer training classes so that she can become more technologically proficient. I see Pastor Charles giving up part of his freedom and using the library as a temporary office so that the library can stay open and the kids can enjoy the books they love so much. I see the counselor Jacob earnestly teaching these kids about stress management, making sure that they stay emotionally and mentally healthy during this busy time in their lives. I see Luke and Scovia somehow manage 30 small children, teaching them for hours every day even though they scream and fight and play nonstop. That’s true dedication right there. That’s only five staff members out of about fifty.
I see Lucy writing lyric after lyric in her notebook, singing the same song over and over and over until she knows it by heart, increasing her knowledge of worship songs so that she can lift them up to God. I see Flavia leading the children in worship and prayer with a fiery passion, I hear her beautiful words and feel the atmosphere in the room change as she invites the other kids to enter into the same kind of worship. I see Jacob, the head boy who can smoothly organize and lead a crazy trip to athletic competition with 60 kids to a city an hour away, so that these kids can feel true accomplishment and connection with the world around them. Again, only three students out of about 200. Three students that may change the world someday.
These people are truly amazing. I love to watch them do their thing, because they all have it down so perfectly and it really makes life so much better for everyone else. Culturally, society here is very community-based, and so everyone relies on each other to get through daily life. There is such a wonderful system they have going on, and it continues to work because each and every person is being led by the Lord. On Sundays, it’s so obvious that their life revolves around the Spirit’s guidance. Life is so different here, but, like I’ve said before, so good. When a group of people allow themselves to be led by God, awesome things can happen.

{Haley}

{ If you were wondering, the title of the last post is Acholi for “Good afternoon” and is pronounced something like “eeree (flipped r) mahbeh” }

So yesterday was super fun! The athletic competition (basically a track meet) was held in Kiryandongo, about an hour’s drive away. Last week’s competition was just within VOH secondary school to choose which students would compete in certain competitions. At the meet, I honestly have no idea how many schools were there. There were hundreds of people, both athletes and spectators, all on the field at the same time, so it was pretty exciting. I’m pretty sure all of those people took their turn looking at me like I had two heads, though. I was one of three mzungu’s there, so I can understand. I had some nice conversations with strangers that approached me and talked to me like we were old friends! One girl did ask me if I knew Nicki Minaj. Sadly, I do not.
Anyway, our athletes did pretty well, and we had a few kids place! I think today is the final rounds of competition, or something like that, and I think a couple kids moved onto that. I didn’t get to stay the whole time yesterday however, since we needed to start taking vans back in separate trips. I was on the first van, but we still didn’t even get back to VOH until after dark. I haven’t been able to ask how the rest of the competitions went, but I did hear the screams and yells of the other vans full of kids pull into the compound late into the night. What I love so much about these kids is that they’ll yell and yell after their competitions no matter how well they did, they all just have a great spirit of victory when they return. And they should! The day was long and hot and very tiring. But fun, also.
Let’s see how much media my internet connection will let me get in here~

Athletes in some track competition, not sure which

Flavia taking selfies, me photobombing 🙂

Me, Diana, and Flavia (Diana figuring out how the camera works)

Taken out of the van window on the way back

Dangit, wordpress won’t let me imbed the video of Gloria’s discus throw. 🙁 Sorry about that.

{Haley}

Things are going well here! Rose arrived here two nights ago and we’ve talked with her a bit about her experiences in America! It’s interesting to hear her talk about the culture shock in America, when I’ve just experienced the complete opposite. It’s very nice to be adjusted now.
Life here is so different but so good. The pace is slower and more relaxed, the kids are ready to sing and dance at all hours of the day, and nature is everywhere you go. Seriously, there’s no place to escape from the wildlife here. You just gotta embrace the constant presence of mosquitos, flies, and lizards.
Really, I think the most challenging thing I have on my schedule is helping out in the nursery. Like I’ve said before, the kids are so so cute but also extremely prone to hitting each other at all times. If I bend down to give one a piggy-back ride, at least five others jump on top of them attempting to do the same. My shoe literally broke because so many of them were walking within inches of me that someone tripped and ripped my shoe. It’s totally fine, and I fixed the shoe easily, but they all want my attention at the same time! And when they start learning a lesson, things slow down by 10x because someone starting fighting and someone else is crying and someone else is running outside and someone else is grabbing chalk to draw on the board and someone else is falling from their chair and someone else laughing at me for no reason (that would be Steward, the jokester who thinks he’s so cool). In the moment, it’s absolutely crazy and I can’t believe Scovia is able to handle them like this every day! But in retrospect, the kids are good kids and they’re a heck of a lot of fun to be around. It just wears me out to be with them for the first half of my day!
I also think it’s funny that little Steven, the same one who bit my hand when I was walking him home last year, won’t let go of me and is always sitting right beside me. He’s adorable, but I’m always so paranoid he’s about to bite me again! So far, so good.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, I’ve been trying to leave all my technology in my hut so it doesn’t distract everyone or bring too much attention to me. I guess having pictures to post requires actually using the camera when things are actually happening~~ But I think that tomorrow will give many chances to get good pictures!
Tomorrow is the kids’ athletic competition in Kiryandongo, and have some friends competing so I’m tagging along! That’ll be an adventure! And I’ll make sure to get lots of photos 🙂

{Haley}

We’re about to hit the two-week mark in this journey, and it’s finally starting to sink in that this is my life. And it will be for a while. It probably sounds crazy, but honestly, sometimes living here just feels like a very long dream. Now that my brain is finally realizing the extent of this trip, it doesn’t feel like that so much. But there are definitely still times that I look around me, wide-eyed and in awe of where I am.
I’m in Africa!(??) Seriously, sometimes I forget that. The distance between me and home is so unfathomable to me that it’s difficult think about how far away I am. But now that I’ve had a couple of weeks to adjust, I think I’m starting to sink into my life here as well. My mind is starting to comprehend where I am and what I’m doing, and now I’m finally accepting what’s going on. What I now know as a normal day is one that consists of computer classes, beans and posho, beautiful African children, many “Apwoyo!”’s, freak rainstorms, scurrying lizards, and bucket showers. I think that’s a good description of what my life is right now. On the surface, at least ~
These past two weeks have brought a wide range of emotions. Praise the Lord that He is able to deal with all of them, because I definitely can’t. He’s my go-to man. As He should be 🙂 It really shouldn’t take trips around the world to re-train me to keep Christ as my focus. That should be something that I desire naturally, but I think the way I tend to live is one that only calls out to God when things are going very wrong. I am so appreciative that I have this opportunity to become aware of my constant need for Him in my life.
Here’s what I’m thinking (this may turn rant-y, sorry) – America is the land of opportunity, full of people chasing after the “American Dream”. And really, what sounds better than a great-paying career, a great family, a great house, and constant access to everything you could ever need and more? Unfortunately, this wonderful-sounding lifestyle is one that is extremely vulnerable to a subconscious satisfaction with self-sufficiency. We become so content with what we have done with our lives that God is nowhere in the equation. We take credit for our successes, look to the internet for information we are searching for, and look inside ourselves for answers to our problems. And we don’t question this system – because it’s nice. It’s comfortable. It’s the life that I get trapped in so very often. Believe me, I’m not saying I don’t fall prey to this system. Even here, I miss the simplicity of that lifestyle. I think it’s because this one is so different, and it’s hard for me to give over the reigns when I’ve gripped them so tightly for so long. There are moments at home when I’m more aware of this, and I have given over the reigns to Him for a while. But then I fall back into the system not too long after. Here, it’s a constant battle. In everything I do, the self-sufficient part of me fails to satisfy, and that’s when God makes Himself obvious to me and asks me to hand everything over to Him.
He is the Artist that created galaxies and bumblebees and the the tide from the moon, things so amazing and so impossible for us to ever create. He can handle my problems. I feel afraid when I face my situation through human eyes, but when I view it through heaven’s eyes, I feel good. Like really good. You know, that feeling of true peace that only comes from Him.
Sometimes I feel like two months is more than I can handle. Then I think that until July 30th, I know my whole life will be built on complete trust and faith in what He is doing. I am so grateful that He’s giving me this chance to get re-tuned into Him before I go to college and my life will be the craziest it has ever been.
He’s so smart that way.

“Let us look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2

Let me only look to Him, the perfect One who created me and helps me to develop my faith in such amazing ways.

{Haley}

Monday is a slow day no matter where in the world you are, I guess.

On the upside, all the time I’m spending in the library is giving me a lot of time to read, which is nice 🙂

So since today was kind of slow, here’s some pictures from over the past few days!

Some kids competing in the interclass athletic competition yesterday!

Steward being Steward.

Kids dancing in the church

Long post to come tomorrow, I think 🙂

{Haley}

Welcome back, friends. Romans. Countrymen.

Once again, things are going pretty great here! The longer I’m here, the better I feel about the situation. There are still times I miss American things, like my family, friends, food, etc. Usually these times happen when I’m relaxing in my hut. But I’ve found that every time I go outside to find kids to talk to, I feel so much better and I miss everything a little bit less. So I’m trying to motivate myself to get out as much as possible to hang out with the students.

Tanga, the resident dog, blocking the view from inside my hut.

Three weeks seems like a long time to me when simply stated, but since an opportunity like this may not happen again, three weeks doesn’t seem like that much time to get to know everyone here as best I can. That’s my prayer now, that I can be open to take every chance I can get to find my niche and familiarize myself with the beautiful Acholi people here.

I definitely am learning to overcome some of my introverted tendencies, so I guess that’s good. 🙂 Most of my interactions here are introductions with new faces, which would normally be very daunting for me. It’s not so bad here, though, since these kids are so sweet and laid-back. Some of them have even started to help me with my Acholi, knowing that my vocabulary was previously limited to “hello” and “good morning”. Now, I have a couple of pages full of words and phrases, thanks to Janet, Steven, and Flavia!

I’ve been overseas for a little over a week now, but somehow it feels like forever since I’ve hugged my family. God has given me comfort, though. He put me in a place full of wonderful people who make me feel cared for. He’s given me ways to keep in touch with people back home. It’s such a weird feeling to think that this will last for over a month. I’ve never been by myself overseas, let alone been by myself for more than two weeks. I know I’m not really by myself, but for a person like me who needs good, old friends by their side, it takes time to get used to living with only new friends. If any of you followed my friend Lizzy King’s blog posts while she was here, she said something in one post that really resonates with me. She said that missional living is not romantic – it’s not easy, it’s not safe, it’s not something that American life really prepares you for. It gets uncomfortable, it challenges you, it makes you see the world in a brand new light, and it reminds you of what is most important in life. I feel truly blessed to be in a place like VOH, where I have electricity, three meals a day, and access to clean water. There are many places, some even right outside this compound, that aren’t so privileged. I have no idea how I’ll react to American culture once July 30th comes around, if things like this have been made so obviously to me after only one week.

These challenges I’m facing are, in my opinion, some of the most important kind that a person can face. At some point in every person’s life, I think some time should be taken to leave behind American culture to experience a new way of living. We get so caught up in the way we live, and we’re kind of blind to the fact that most places around the world are nothing like that. In high school, we all joked that we were trapped inside the “Lovejoy bubble”, a community of rich white kids that knew nothing about the world. Especially where I’m from in Texas, I think we can all say we live in the “North Texas bubble”. Home is just about the safest place you can be, but it’s also the most dangerous. The danger comes from being too comfortable to ever leave it behind, to walk out the front gates and into the world around you. It’s an amazing place, and I want to encourage you to go out and see it sometime.

{Haley}

Things are great here in Uganda! Honestly, things couldn’t be better. I have yet to see a snake, so praise the Lord for that. I have internet connection and can talk with my family on a daily basis. I switched my meds so now I am safe from malaria and have a stable grip on my emotions. 🙂 However, I am a mosquito magnet, so I could definitely do without that. But, it comes with the territory (literally).
Janelle is just about done putting together my schedule for the next few weeks, which includes leading touch-typing classes for students and staff, helping in the nursery, attending classes in the secondary school, sitting in on group counseling sessions, acting as a sort of librarian, and going to choir practice. I definitely have a plenty of activities to do for a while. Additionally, the tentative plan we have now includes me traveling with the Baylife team to Bobi, which is sometime around the 11th I think. So I have about 3&1/2 weeks to do as much as I can here!
We’ve finally figured out a good setup for me to have internet, so at least while I’m in Bweyale, I should be able to post when needed. After I move on, though, I may not have that much luck.
I think I’m really starting to get comfortable with the lifestyle here. I want to be with everyone at home and I’m desperately missing Chick-fil-A right now, but I think I can hold out until I come back. I’m finding a good groove, the students seem to like me, and God is really guiding me to fit into the way things work here. He is so present here. In everything that people do, they rely on God and always give the glory to Him, knowing that everything VOH has been blessed with are gifts from Him.

Pictures to come soon~~

{Haley}

Hello again! I hope you guys are all doing well! What a day I’ve had – even though I feel like I say that basically every day. Today has been an emotional rollercoaster for me, but I think I’ve identified a probable cause for it. Apparently my anti-malaria medication can have some crazy side effects for some people. My vivid/strange dreams over the past few days on top of my random mood swings lead me to believe I am one of those people.
Case in point: This morning I had a mini freakout over the thought of being here so long. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d bitten off more than I could chew, and spent some time in my hut having a small panic attack.
HOWEVER, by the end of the day (now), I feel absolutely awesome and I can’t wait to experience everything in store for me during my stay! Praise the Lord for the upward mood swings because they are really great. I think my good mood is also coming from the fact that I had a super fun afternoon with some of the kids. One girl, Diana, saw me reading a book Janelle had given me about Ugandan culture. Ironically, in Ugandan culture, sitting by yourself is seen as a sign you are lonely, so she invited me to join her and some others in their practice for a performance tomorrow. They helped me learn a few songs all about how God is good and He never leaves us alone. I made some new friends and probably looked very dumb trying to dance along with them, but that’s okay. If I came all this way, why shouldn’t I take part in everything I can?
I think on Friday or Saturday, I’ll be spending the night in the home called Love, since the girls have invited me to stay sometime. They are so sweet and are really helping me to feel welcome here! It makes me so happy to have such good friends so soon into the trip.
Also, today I got a chance to teach in the nursery, the class for the 4-5 year old kids! Some of them claimed to remember me, but I have no idea if that’s true at all. I taught about 10 of them by myself for an hour or two, which was an interesting challenge! They are so adorable, but they also have endless energy and love to fight each other. Now, I’m constantly seeing a couple of them peeking around corners to spy on me wherever I am. Oh man, they are so funny.
But I’m very glad the day ended up being so good because it really reinvigorated me to keep going with a clear mind and open heart. God is good, even when my meds take me for a loop.
{Haley}

It’s Sunday evening here, so things are pretty slow moving right now. But that’s good because I can take some time to write out a new post!
Wow. Okay. We arrived in the Bweyale village around 5 or 6 pm yesterday, where most of the kids lined the road to greet us! They welcomed us back with a few traditional dances (which are awesome, you really need to check out Acholi dances sometime) and a lot of singing. Everything is just as I remember it from last year, except for the absence of a lot more mzungu’s coming along with me. I spent some time unpacking, and I even got to FaceTime with my family a little bit, which was awesome and really needed on my part. I slept okay after that, and then got up this morning in time to go to church (which is held a couple hundred feet from my hut so that’s nice). They introduced me in the service, there was more dancing and singing, and we also heard from the pastor about God’s protection over the righteous and the faithful. Afterwards, I tagged along with a few of the girls who live in the house called Love and they showed me around the girls’ houses. We visited the vocational classrooms and eventually settled by the field to talk and play a little bit of basketball (I know, me and sports??? what???). Basically, I got to spend most of the day with these girls, who were so kind and inviting. Since the two villages are now separated between primary school and secondary school/vocational school, most of the kids I’ve met are around 16-18. The rest are a few kindergarten age kids that look at me every once in a while and wonder why my face is so white and weird. They’re adorable, but their limited English makes them a little confused as to how to treat me. A few of them I remember from last year when I time with them in their nursery school, but they were all too young to remember that. I might ask to help out in the nursery again just to get familiar with them again, and also because they’re so dang cute and funny 🙂
The day itself has been pretty chill, but my mind has really been on a rollercoaster for a while. My mind has definitely been put at ease now that I’m here. Some of my fears I had while in the city are gone, but I’m still going back and forth from completely content/grateful to worried I can’t handle the distance. By distance, I mean the physical distance from everyone I know well and miss so very much, as well as the mental distance from everyone here. I know that if after one day, I’ve made this much progress with getting to know the kids, that mental distance will shrink after a while. But for now, I’m still getting acclimated to the culture and the lifestyle. God is really showing me His hand in all of this, though. What I love so much about Him is that He continually teaches me the same lesson until it’s engrained in me. For the past three summers, all of my overseas trips have challenged me in completely unexpected ways. Each time, God has laid out in front of me exactly what I’ve been doing to subconsciously push Him out of certain areas of my life. Every time I get comfortable in my cushy American lifestyle, He reminds me how much I take for granted and how I’m extremely blessed with everything I have. On trips like these, I see that my life is made for more than I would plan for myself. How could I ever go back to living the way I did after experiencing something like this? Well, it’s happened multiple times now over the past few years, but each of these trips has gotten increasingly more challenging, like God is making me aware He’s conditioning me for more and more extreme situations. I am definitely grateful that He is leading me through this, because it’ll keep me accountable in my spiritual walk throughout the whole thing. Prayers for my willingness to follow wherever He leads, be it familiar or foreign territory, would be most beneficial now.
Thanks for reading this, I know it’s not super short or anything. 🙂 But it’s really nice to know that there are people back home that can take this journey along with me and know what I’m up to.
{Haley}

My day is finishing up, but it’s probably just beginning for most of y’all, which is weird. Especially when I remember that my family is moving into our new house right now without me.

But man, has it been a day. In the morning, Donna and I got to explore some botanical gardens, which turned out to be an amazing two-hour walk full of awesome trees, plants, and even monkeys! Also, I did swing from a vine that our guide showed us, in the spirit of things since Tarzan was apparently filmed there some time ago. We all met up for lunch at a pork joint, and then headed to a sort of souvenir market for a little while. I got some really awesome pants there as well as a father’s day gift for you, dad! 🙂 You’ll have to wait a while to get it.

I’m pretty worn out, though. It’s a good thing we’re driving out to VOH tomorrow because the city is very draining for me. Today was fun and a cool adventure, but I’m more excited to see everyone at the Village!

Again, prayers would be greatly appreciated for my endurance here, so that I can arrive at VOH with a ready heart and mind. Thank you all so much for following these posts, you guys are the best!

Till next time!

{Haley}

Hello everybody! I’ve made it safely to Kampala, which is where I’ll be staying for the next day or two. I actually just woke up from a 3 hour nap (whoops) since I couldn’t handle the jet lag. 2 to 5 pm is 6 to 9 am in the States so it makes sense that I was so sleepy by that time.

(post-nap selfie)

Anyway, it’s been an experience so far. Last night, Donna and I stayed at a hotel that overlooks Lake Victoria. We got to go down to the shore of the lake in the morning, and then we headed to a grocery store before driving to Kampala to meet with Mike and Janelle. Now, we’re just chilling before dinner, so I thought I’d write something for y’all.

I’m slowly but surely getting situated with where I am. It’s very weird, not traveling with a team. Also, it’s overwhelming at first to think that I won’t see my parents or Ashley and Brandon for over a month, but I know this isn’t permanent. I can’t let myself focus on homesickness and let the amazingness of everything around me slip by. That’s really what I need prayers for right now – that I truly find God’s hand in this situation and gratefully do my part without being distracted. I guess this is very good practice for college, since Liberty is nowhere near as far as Uganda. 🙂

I think once I get to VOH, I’ll feel more at home. For now, this passage from Ephesians has been giving me comfort –

“So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
The whole building, being put together by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord.”

Eph 2:19-21

Hello again! So, I’m in London FINALLY. Not a very eventful trip over, except for the landing, which felt a bit like riding the Texas Giant. For y’all in Texas, it’s about 4 am, but it’s 10 here so I’m wide awake. And since I’ll be sitting here for the next hour or two, I might as well make a quick post with short messages to a few people.

To Mom and Dad – I’m ok!! I got through security just fine in London, which makes me feel loads better since last year was a train wreck. Have fun moving today, and please don’t break my stuff! :))

To Papaw – Thanks so much for your call right before I boarded! It meant a lot to me to talk to someone after I left my family behind at security. Love you!

To Deidrea and Bella – Thanks for the donuts and the picture yesterday! You guys are the best, and I’ll try to find time to contact y’all later!

To my small group – I love you guys so much, and thank you for all your well wishes you’ve given me over the past few days! We need to find time to hang out again after everyone gets back at the end of the summer! <3

To Bailey specifically – I looked it up and Bweyale is nowhere near Jinja. Sorry dude

To Morgan and Madeline – You guys are literally the best. Thanks so much for your kind words before I left, I love you guys so much!

To Rachel – Keep sending me pictures of Alaska and whales.

To Lizzy – Our talk last night was so awesome and really encouraged me for the start of this journey! You are the best and I can’t wait to keep talking to you about our experiences <3 Thanks, girl

{Haley}

PS: I told my parents I would post a pic from London but I look SUPER rough right now, so maybe you’ll get one later.

So this is it. Oh man, oh man, oh man. Today’s the first day of a 50ish day adventure that’s sure to challenge and change me in many ways. There’s a ridiculous amount of emotions running through me right now, which makes it a little difficult to verbalize how I’m feeling.

Also I’m just now realizing that this blog should be a very interesting endeavor for me, seeing as I am a crazy perfectionist in regards to everything I write (thank you AP Lit).

Anyway, I want to clarify just a bit about what I hope to do through this blog. First of all, I want to share about the incredible things I’ll see the Lord doing through this amazing organization. Having visited Village of Hope last summer, I know firsthand that God is very present there. Not many things make me happier than getting a chance to return to a place where I sense the freedom Christ gives so generously. Next, I want to reach out to those I’m leaving behind in the States. You guys know I love you and will miss you like crazy, so this is a nice way to communicate with you every so often. If I don’t personally know you, but you’re a follower of VOH’s latest updates, I’m glad I can be a way for you to get new info on the current events at the Village! And finally, everybody needs some kind of outlet. I’m definitely the kind of person who has many thoughts but feels guilty when they talk somebody’s ear off. This way, you decide exactly how much you want to read of my thoughts, and I can drone on about the stupid little things I feel are necessary to put in my updates. 🙂

yay internet

That’s the funny thing about writing in a blog like this. Since this is my first experience of blogging completely through these mini-essays, I’m desperately hoping that I can find a good balance of truly being myself in these posts but not being so casual that it’s painfully obvious a teenager is writing them. I’m a straightforward person, though. I like being honest with people because I believe the most meaningful conversations happen when we move past formalities and into the real stuff. So I want this blog to be true to that ideal, and I hope y’all can bear with me through whatever happens on this journey!

Another belief that I am challenging myself to live out on a daily basis is one that you’ll probably notice through my posts. I believe without a doubt that this life we are blessed with is made for so much more than we’ve come to passively accept. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who creates stars with a single word. We’ve all been given a body and mind capable of insanely great things, not meant for living the same life as the next person. I feel very convicted that God wants to do great things in and through me, which gives me encouragement when I’m about to board two planes that will take me to the complete opposite side of the world. When the part of me that thinks I’m in charge of what I’m capable of takes over, the next couple months of my life seem impossibly scary. But when I remember that the reigns don’t belong in my hands – but instead in the hands of a real and living God – I feel invigorated to take on His challenge to experience everything the world has to offer.

I know there’ll be days on this journey where I’ll forget this and start freaking out, I’m just calling it now. There’ll be hard days, there’ll be great days, and there’ll be everything in-between. Prayers would be greatly appreciated for any and all of these situations. Please be praying that I stay focused on the mission and keep from feeling alone or weighed down. To be open with you, I think my biggest fear is that somewhere in the middle of this, I’ll get homesick and get distracted from the greatness around me. I want to appreciate every part of this journey, I want to experience Uganda fully, I want to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Ok Lord, I’m here, I’m ready, and all I need is You to lead me through this. Your plan is perfect, even though I don’t know much of it at all. I pray that I remain open to Your will. I pray that Your spirit will be the flame inside me that keeps me going strong.

Wow. This is happening. I’M GOING BACK TO UGANDA TODAY!!

{Haley}

Thanks for visiting the site! Posts will start on Tuesday, once the trip gets going~

{Haley}