What a whirlwind!

Let me warn you... this is going to be a long post :)
I'm going to talk about my exciting, crazy, adventurous, scary, filled week since arriving at GSF.

First, let me tell you what a wonderful place Good Shepherd's Fold is! It is a orphanage that houses 83 children at this time from birth to 18. There are 6 houses for all the children, split by ages and gender. There are also house moms in each house that take care of the children. on GSF property there is a primary (preschool-7th grade) school as well that children come to from the local villages. That means that GSF is very busy during the week! I only have one picture from GSF right now since I have been gone most of the time since arriving there (I will explain below!). I will do a later blog about each house and what my living situation looks like! I live in a house with Dayna and two other missionaries. They are all wonderful!

View of my house (right) and the GSF kitchen (left)

So Dayna and I arrived at GSF on Wednesday night/Thursday morning at 230 am. The orphanage is about 2 hours from Kampala. Thursday was a wonderful learning day with orientation at GSF and a trip into Jinja, a large town about 30 min from GSF. Later that night, Corinne, another missionary at GSF, updated me on two little boys health conditions. One boy, Elijah, has had problems with constipation and rectal prolapse. He had a surgery done in Jinja to put a stitch in his rectum to help with the prolapse. However, this caused him not to be able to pass stool and he was is a lot of pain! The second boy, Richard, has sickle cell. He had been in and out of different clinics in Jinja and Kampala for almost 3 weeks, never getting the right treatment. Corinne and I decided that both boys really needed to go into Kampala to SAS clinic, where there is the best medical care.

Richard, almost 3, on the was to SAS clinic 

So Friday morning, we load up the van with the two boys and get dropped off two hours away at the SAS clinic. On the way there Richard was quiet but didn't seem in much pain. However, I believe God was closely watching over us and gave us the perfect timing for helping this poor. Just during the two hour ride he began to show a little bit of pain, and by the time we made it to the clinic he was crying and screaming in pain. Let me explain if you don't know much about sickle cell: the go into crisis sometimes that causes severe severe pain, breathing problems, heart problems, stomach problems, kidney problems, and more. We were seen quickly at the clinic and Richard was given a shot for pain. Blood was drawn and an IV started with fluids. We quickly got results back showing that Richard needed a blood transfusion and we would need to stay the night in-patient at the clinic. Richard has relief from his pain medicine, but still looked very very ill. We were not prepared at all to stay the night, but knew we had no other choice! So here I am during my first week in Uganda, in charge of Richard not only for his medical care, but playing mom as well for what ended up being 3 (!!!!) nights at a clinic. I am SO thankful that Corinne, who knows the healthcare system and culture in Uganda much better was there as well. I want to share some differences I have learned about staying in-patient here that I different than the states:
-The do not provide food or drinks for the patient or the family
- As far as I saw, the idea of something being an emergency did not exist at this clinic
- The family members/care takers provide a lot more care to the patient than required in the states

Things I am thankful for that happened while staying in the hospital:
- We met a wonderful nurse named Finoa who only took care of us the first day, but checked on us every day! We prayed together and laughed a lot when we could. We talked about differences in culture and truly made a Ugandan friend.
- Most doctors that saw Richard would talk about how they were praying for him, how he was covered in the blood of Jesus, or such. It was very uplifting!

So this is the story...
Friday:
We got admitted and went to our room. It was almost 5 o'clock and we needed food, supplies, etc for the night. Elijah still needed to be seen by the surgeon who was running late. Corinne stayed at SAS, and I ventured out for the first time by myself in Uganda! I caught 3 different bodas all by myself, went to two different places to buy food and supplies like soap (which is not provided!) and such. God was totally watching over me! That doctors that night said Richard was going into failure... He looked like death... I don't know another way to describe it. He grunted when he breathed and he screamed in pain a lot. Corinne and I cried a lot that night praying that God would heal and protect Richard. I am use to being a nurse, I am use to taking care of very sick kids...however I am not use to being their main caretakers, their mom, the one who holds them when they cry... That night we tried to sleep a little, myself in bed with Richard and Corinne on a bed/chair with Elijah.

In-patient at SAS clinic

View from Corinne's "bed" in the in-patient room to show the door to our bathroom

Saturday:
After his transfusion and pain medicine he seemed only slight better. I was happy he made it through the night. I read Psalm 27 to him and myself a few times...
"I believe that I shall look upon fthe goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!"
His kidneys were failing, his breathing was horrible,  and his abdomen continues to grow in size. Again, we prayed and prayed and prayed... 
Finally after medicine for his kidneys, abdomen, a blood transfusion, and LOTS of IV fluids, Richard began to improve. 

Sunday:
Richard smiled!! He laughed! He wasn't great but he was getting better! We were so thankful! Corinne and I continued to learn to navigate Kampala, taking turns to go to church, go eat, go escape for a little bit. I was able to go to Watoto Centeal and LOVED the worship. I was an amazing reminder of God's greatness throughout EVERY nation... I worshiped with hundreds of Ugandans excitedly praising God's goodness. Again, Corinne and I both really this boost! The preacher also said something that stuck with me
"As Christians, when we go through the fire we will not get burned, we will only get refined."
What a wonderful reminder, one that I really needed through this time! 

Richard and I when he was finally able to sit up!

Monday:
We finally we able to go back to GSF!! After many more boca rides throughout Kampala looking for many types of medicine that Richard will need to stay on, some forever, I feel like I have become a boda expert :)  

During this time Corinne and I survived on two pairs of clothes, which we slept in a washed in the bathroom sick with a bar of soap. We had someone from GSF bring us some supplies on Saturday but had no idea we would be there 3 nights! We made friends with Nelson, who worked in a local restaurant and helped bring us drinks and food. I am learning that people are so much more relational here. He checked on Richard every day, as did many others. I feel like people take time out of their lives here to really stop and care for others... even though we were just customers or patients. 

God taught me many things during this time... I had to trust in His goodness despite the circumstances. I became better at turning to him with my worries, frustration, praises, and everything really! I became dependent because I had nothing else to depend on! Because Corinne and I had to be mom over these 4 days, I also learned about my selfish desires! When I became responsible for feeding and taking care of these children every second of the day I realized how much sometimes I just wanted to sleep instead of play, or didn't want to get up at 4 am to give medicine... However with MUCH prayer God provided me with continued patience, grace, and peace. Parents- I have a new respect for you!! Hahaha

Please contine to pray:
- Richard's health. It will be a battle for his entire life to stay in good health. He must now be on many daily medicines to prevent such a severe crisis again. Richard could use another sponsor to help pay for life saving medicine, so if you feel it on your heart that you would like to help please email me and I will connect you with the sponsorship program! JulieMatthews8@yahoo.com
- Rest for Corinne and myself as we catch up from 4 days away from GSF
-Elijah's health as he has another small operation to help correct his bowel problems 
- The aunties at the toddler house- that they would be able to provide the much needed care to these two boys 

Closing note, which of course I read this morning in my devotional... God has amazing timing :)

"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and  hope does not put us to shame, because God's love ihas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Romans 5: 3-5

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TIA (This is Africa!)

I don't know how I have only been here about 72 hours... I guess when every single part of the day is new and different it makes it seem much longer! In a good way of course! 

Let me catch you up to speed on the last 3 days. 

Day 1) Dayna and I arrived in Enteebe, which is about 30 min south of Kampala. We took a private hire taxi (you will understand the difference later!) to the Matoke Inn. The Inn is run by AIM missionaries and in the same compound as the AIM office. Our way to the inn was full of new sights and sounds including 3 monkeys on a fence right as we left the airport, and plenty of other animals running around along the sides of the roads! The inn is a beautiful very homey place where multiple missionaries and friends/family stay when they arrive or on off days. 

Sunday morning we went to Watoto church on Sunday morning which was fabulous! It is a very large english speaking church with multiple campuses throughout Kampala. It was started my a Canadian couple, but the campus we attended was run by all Ugandans. It was beautiful worship, not much different from home actually. The series the church is doing this month is 'A Blessed Family'. I enjoyed the very biblical message about marriage!

Today (Monday) was a very exciting day! It was our first day to actually go into Kampala, verses being on the outskirts. Words will not be able to describe all that I saw and experienced! It was amazing! There are three primary forms of public transportation here: Boda boda, taxi, and private hire taxi. A boda boda is a motorbike with a driver and you get on the back. I'm so sad I forgot to take a picture! There are thousands of them all around and they zip in and out of the CRAZY traffic here. Scary but so much fun! A picture will come later...

Taxis operate more like buses, but are large vans. There are no designated stops, you must know where you are going and let the driver know when you would like off. The best part about the taxis is the taxi part in downtown Kampala! Its where all the taxis hangout until they are full. I thought the driving and roads all around Kampala were busy, the taxi park is a huge maze of vans! Also, pedestrians have no right away, its taxis then bodas then people. This causes crossing the street to be a death trap! We got more comfortable with every cross though haha 

 Taxi Park

Inside the taxi- they fit ~14 people

I was so thankful for our wonderful guide Rhona who works at the AIM office. She explained everything but didn't baby us one bit haha. We stopped for some yummy ice cream during one of our long walks around the city. She is an amazing woman with a beautiful testimony showing how it doesn't matter what you've done or or what you are currently seeking in life, God can call you to himself and transform you! It was very encouraging that she was so honest about God's work in her life. It reminded me that I should never be ashamed to truthfully tell where I was before I knew God, and everything He has transformed!! 

Rhona and Dayna the other nurse that will serving at GSF 

Overall the last few days have been full of learning and more learning. Sometimes it has felt overwhelming, sometimes I feel like I will never catch on. However, at all times I remind myself that God is very real and present here, and I am not expected to be an expert at anything! God's purpose is able to be accomplished even through my weaknesses :) 

Becoming one of my favorite verses:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

(2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)

Thank you for reading! Please see my updated prayer list to the top right!

In God's Love,

Julie

What a send off!

This past weekend was an amazing reminder of all the wonderful people in my life. My parents drove all the way up from Houston to help me put all my stuff in storage. (its a strange feeling that all my worldly possessions fit in a 5X10 storage unit...) Justin and Michael sacrificed their time and arms to help move all the heavy stuff! Paradox, my church, showed their love and support by commissioning me off with an amazing prayer (see pics below!). My friends Katie and Laura threw me a fabulous send off party where I got to see so many wonderful faces! Thank you all for the amazing send off.  It actually made it harder to leave though since I was reminded how many wonderful people I would be missing! You should all just come visit Uganda :)

Well, I have at least made it out of the country! I'm sitting here in the Qatar airport 24 hours into traveling and only 12 more to go. Woo hoo! I have met up with the other nurse Dayna, who will be starting at Good Shepherd's Fold with me. Its so nice to have someone to do this all with!

It is finally feeling real as I sit here in a foreign country knowing that in 12 hours I will finally be in Uganda. I am so excited to meet all the people I have had contact with and have heard so much about!  I am nervous about what to expect and I wonder if I have forgotten anything... However I am remembering my purpose for all of this: to serve God! I am excited for this opportunity, even though sometimes I'm not sure what I'm doing haha I'm sure that will just add to the adventure though :)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 
Joshua 1:9 

Its getting close!

16 days until I get on a plane! Eeeek!

Things are really starting to roll now. I had my last day of work at Cook Children's for 7 months. It was very exciting but sad at the same time. I woke up this morning, realized I didn't have to work at all this week, and felt very weird. I guess its a good sign that I will miss work!

I'm leaving tomorrow to make my last visit back home to Houston. It going to be my last time to see some friends and family for over 6 months. Crazy! I've started packing my apartment, and packing my bags for Uganda.

Overall, it feels like it is really about it happen!! :)

I don't feel too nervous right now, just very excited! I'm nervous about getting all my papers and packing stuff together. I'm nervous about overpacking or under packing, or forgetting one document and not being allowed in the country... thats what checklists are for though right?!

About the actual idea of being in Uganda though- I am nothing but excited! When I sit and think about the last year I am in complete awe of God's provision during this entire process. How one year ago this wasn't on my radar. Actually, I had a very different life planned out before me. I remember roughly a year ago praying a prayer (in not a very nice attitude) that if God didn't want me on the path I was on, that He would have to rip it from me, because I thought it seemed quite wonderful and I didn't feel like changing it. I specifically asked Him if my small amount of discontent on my current path was that he still wanted me to go to Africa. If that was really what he had planned for my life then He would have to force my plans to change because right then I thought the plans I had made were just right... Never forget the overwhelming power of prayer! Never forget that when you honestly, even if begrudgingly, pray that you want God to take control, He WILL listen, and if you open your heart to His paths, he will guide you.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11: 24

Humility

While going through my short-term missions workbook, I read a scripture passage that has really impacted me.

1 Corinthians 2: 1-5

 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testify of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in far and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 

Wow, how humbling. This is Paul speaking, the brilliant scholar, man who met Jesus in person, missionary to thousands... and he witnessed to the people not in power or intellect, but in weakness. Paul's goal was not to gain fame as a great missionary, or to have the people trust in him, or "save" so many people to report back to his home church about what an amazing job he has been doing. His goal was to have people rest in the power of God.

How did he accomplish this? First, he trusted the Holy Spirit. Over the past year I feel like my understand of the Holy Spirit has grown immensely. At first I thought it was just a strange coincidence that multiple sermons I listened to focused on the Holy Spirit, and that I was given books to understand more, and that my home church was really pushing an open discussion about the Holy Spirit and his role in our lives.  I see now that God was strengthening my understanding, and therefore my need and reliance on the Holy Spirit before I set out on this journey. Paul, right here says that it is through the Spirit, that he is able to demonstrate the power of God. It is through the Spirit that he is able to humble himself for God's glory.

Curious to see other things that Paul says about the Holy Spirit, I looked up some verses. Below are just a few:

Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
Ephesians 1: 13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Romans 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

So, what I am learning from this is that I can't go to Uganda thinking I can fix the people there. Or that I am going to do amazing things and change their lives, the entire country of Uganda, forever! However, I can go to Uganda believing that God CAN do amazing things, and God CAN fix people and change the entire country of Uganda forever.  I can believe that God CAN work through the Holy Spirit in me to accomplish His will. I can believe that if I humbly seek direction, through prayer, from the Holy Spirit that I can participate in God's work.

Sometimes it is hard to have this mindset...this heartset. Here in Texas as I nurse I must rely on  my knowledge, my decisions, my education. In Uganda, although I will be working as a nurse, my true intention is to lead people to trust in God's power, not my own abilities. Please pray that I remain humble while preparing and throughout my time in Uganda. God will do amazing things, I just hope I don't try to steal that show.

Fundraising Update

 "Let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrew 12: 1-2

I can't believe it is halfway though August!! Uganda is getting close!

I have been so blessed by everyone who has helped me so far in with the fundraisers! I had a garage sale last Saturday and we raised a little over $900. How amazing! I had around 40 people help donate, set up, tear down, organize, shop, etc.

The next and final big event:

Brews, Bands, and Bandaids Fundraiser  

Rahr & Sons Brewery 

701 Galveston Ave 76104

Sept 6th 7-10pm

$15 at the door, free beer for the night!

Musical Artists: Will Flora, Jonathan Combs, and Josh Storie 

I hope to see you all there! 

Thoughts from Honduras

I know you're probably thinking, Honduras?! What? I thought she was going to Africa! Well I am, but right now I'm 1 week in to a 2 week mission trip in Honduras through Bread for a Hungry World. We are staying at a daycare, loving on kids, doing home construction and medical clinics. It's been fabulous. Also, my mom is with me which has been an amazing expeience. I'll post plenty of pictures on facebook, don't worry. I had this trip planned before I found out about Uganda. So every now and then, when I was trying to prepare for this trip, I felt overwhelemed about trying to plan for two trips at once! Sometimes, I could tell my heart wasn't focused on Honduras because I was concentrating on Uganda. However, God is so much bigger than my faults, bigger than my small dreams, my small plans. This trip has already reminded me of the great need in the world. More importantly though, it's reminded me of the great love in the world. God is doing amazing things through individual people all over the world. God is doing amazing things here in Campamento Honduras. I'll tell more about a few specific experiences later. Right now, I want to share some thoughts I read from the book "When Helping Hurts" and from Isiah 58 2-12 "Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. (Isaiah 58:2-12 ESV) It's amazing that we have a God who desires us, even commands us to help those in need. Our outward appearances of being "godly" aren't ok, aren't enough. Jesus wasn't the first to do it, God desired his people of Israel to do the same. Sometimes it seems like God was different in the OT, but He never changes. Sometimes I just don't see it, sometimes my view of God is just too small. How wonderful are the things God wants to provide for us when we love other the way we are suppose to! Thanks for reading. Sorry for any problems/misspellings. Quickly writing this on my phone with limited Internet reception!