The Weekend!

 Emma, Monday, and Godfrey

@ the house!

Well its Saturday, a beautiful day here.  I went with the boys this morning to "the peach" its what they call their soccer field. It was alot of fun, I actually got out there and played soccer with them : ) Then we came home and I made rice with peas and carrots with cream of chicken soup for me and all the boys to have for lunch. It was alot of fun. They love to help in any way possible.  You know the Love of the Lord is in the house because today when I got home my shoes, socks, and feet were very muddy.  Just as soon as I got home Monday came up to me and asked if he could wash my socks and shoes and Emma grabbed a basin without hesitation and asked if he could wash my feet. It made me think of the verse in the bible where God talks about the symbolism of washing feet.  It was such a humbling experience to see these boys jump to help in any way possible.  So after lunch we played cards. I think these boys could play cards all day long.  Before I forget thanks for all the prayers for Davis, He came back!!!!!!!!!!! He didn't really have a reason for why he chose to leave but he came back high off Chan-ge which in Africa is Airplane fuel.  Chan-ge is very cheap here its like 200 shillings a high which is about 10cent American money. Chan-ge is basically an anti-depressant it completely numbs you. It numbs you of feelings, hunger, pain, everything. Abby talked to Davis and gave him severe consequences and told him if he ran away again he wouldn't be able to come back into the house. Its not healthy for him or the structure of the boys and the house for kids to be able to run away and come back. Its really hard to work with street kids because alot of them lived on the streets most of their lives before coming here. Davis lived on the streets for 8 years, its all he knows but at the same time he's been in the house for 2 years and he has had time to learn what was right and wrong.  Drugs are not allowed in the house and during prayer last night Davis had to get up in front of everyone and apologize and everyone was allowed to say anything they wanted or talk about how they felt. Overall I'm glad Davis is back, street boys lived a hard life in the past and its not as easy as you think to give it all up. But being in this house these boys are so loving, and they all really love the Lord.  They show that to me everyday in how they act and treat me. They are very protective of me and watch out for me here at the house or out in the street.  Overall this weekend has been really good so far. Tomorrow is Sunday! Yay my favorite day, I love church here its amazing.  The girls project is going well. The girls are coming along with the jewelry and it looks really good.

Thanks for all the prayers and support <3 Always, Carla

Pictures

Here are some pictures of the boys!

Amos and I washing Clothes! 

Little Innocent

 Peter, Me, Monday, Abby, and Amos

 

God is Good

A lot of powerful things happen here everyday which is amazing. Today I lead bible study for the girls program. It was so amazing, it was probably one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. I read out of Lamentations, Romans, and Psalms 126:5-6. The summary of the lesson was God can take your trouble and change it into treasure. Your sorrow can become joy, not just a momentary smile but a deep, new joy. It will be a bubbling experience of new hope that puts a brightness in your eyes and a song in your heart. In the midst of the darkness you will learn lessons you might never have learned in the day. We all have seen dreams turn to ashes, ugly things, hopeless experiences but beauty for ashes is God's exchange. Offer yourself to God and ask for a spirit of praise so your whole being will be restored. I never expected the Girls to open up to us like they did. One girl started crying talking about how ashamed she was of herself.  She's so ashamed that she prostitutes for a living and sometimes its so hard she can barely look at herself. It broke my heart but I told her that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all sin and do wrong and Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins. That no matter what he will always love us. A lot of girls spoke about how they hated the life they were living, and are so thankful for this opportunity. One girl even shared a testimony about how the Friday before we began the program she had a dream that she was walking in a dark forest. She could barely see and she came to a road and ran across and almost got hit by cars. On the other side of the road were a group of girls waiting for her. In the dream they told her that a new day was coming and she was going to be given a wonderful opportunity to leave her old lifestyle behind. When she told us about that dream we were all amazed and knew it was the Lord speaking to her. All of these girls seem to be making huge steps forward. A couple of them shared how when they were going back home each day, people (other bad influences they were usually involved in with everyday) would ask them where have you been all day? What are you doing? And they told us they were telling them that they had been given an amazing opportunity and were so thankful and wanted to leave that old lifestyle behind. God is so Good. For a moment I was getting a little discouraged with the girls but by them sharing today I know they want this so badly and want to learn about the Lord and grow in his light. My prayer is that the Lord will continue to provide the funds to help these women. They are making jewelry and then were are purchasing the jewelry from them to sell in the US. They have started and are making beautiful pieces so far. I pray the Lord will open the doors for the jewelry to be sold.
I will put more pics of the jewelry and the girls soon. <3 always Carla

Abby and I with the Women of Hope House 

Before leaving for the Zoo

Cato, Abby, Ashlaf, Me, Monday,
and Mrs. Tracy (Abby's mom) 

This is right before we left to go to the zoo! What a great time. 

The Worst and Best Day So Far.

Monday, Me, and Emma

Yesterday was a very interesting day.  I attended my first bible study lesson yesterday and I love it.  Jill is our teacher and she is awesome.  She's American and has been living here for a couple of years now.  She's married to a Christian Ugandan Man and has a beautiful son named Luke.  Our bible study is entitled Reflecting God's Journal and its such a great study.  Its 2 hours long every Tuesday; we spend the first hour reviewing the last weeks lesson and an hour reading and sorting through the new material.  This week our lesson is entitled "She Continually Grows." This lesson was basically about how we should always be growing and maturing in the Lord - never allowing ourselves to become dormant in our spiritual lives.  In this weeks lesson we compared our spiritual complacency and growth to the life of a plant. Its a very interesting comparison and very understandable.  To say the least I cannot wait to go back each week and continue to grow and learn in our study.  After bible study I came home and cleaned up my room and did some laundry.  After that it was time for the boys to come home.  I love them so much and they're always so excited to see me; it makes me feel loved and appreciated.  Abby's mom has been here for the past 8 days and today she was leaving so I helped Abby take her mom's stuff to the hotel.  I took a boda boda all by myself, I even bargained prices with the guy.  I was so proud ; ) I got back to the house and I helped the boys with their homework and we played cards then it was time for dinner. After dinner it was prayer time and I noticed one of the boys wasn't there. I said where's Davis and everyone was like he's sleeping. Which I thought was really weird. Davis never sleeps at 8pm before prayer. I just assumed they knew what he was doing so I left it alone. After prayer I went to my room and Moreen my roommate came in and was like Davis ran away. I was so surprised I knew something weird was going on but I couldn't put my finger on it. Davis is the last boy in the house I thought would ever run away.  These boys are all street boys, they all have lived on the streets for some time in their life and occasionally they will run back. Why I don't know? In my mind I ask myself why would you want to go back and live on the streets without a roof over your heard, a bed, no food, no one that loves you? Why would you want that when you can live in a house filled with people that love you, care for you, teach you about God, and want nothing but the best for you.  I talked to Abby about it for a while today and she said the majority of the time the boys come back begging to be allowed back in the house. Every situation is circumstantial and is treated differently.  However when the boys run they do have consequences some are even not allowed back in the house.  My prayers go out to Davis that he will come back and we can figure out what was going on in his head, what made him feel like he had to run? It broke my heart when I found out Davis was gone. I care about each of these boys so much and I want nothing but the best for them, from what Abby's told me they have all come such a far way and are continuing to grow in the Lord. I just pray for the work that's being done in the house Lord. These boys are all so special and wonderful in their own way, but their young and have a lot of spiritual maturing to do.

Love always, Carla 

Sunday...My Favorite Day of the Weeeeek!

Today a bird woke me up @ 5:30am . The birds here make this really weird noise and did it for an hour. As you can tell I'm still getting used to the animals and their sounds.I got up and got ready for church, I love my church here. Its called Calvary Chapel and its amazing. The people are so welcoming here at the Church and they treat you like family.  I'm really starting to love Uganda. They're parts about Uganda that are a little scary but for the most part I absolutely love it.  We went to the zoo yesterday and it was so much fun. We saw lions, zebras, monkeys actually came so close that you could pet them. The monkeys swarmed us because Davis kept feeding them candy haha. After the zoo we walked over to Lake Victoria and the boys swam and me and Abby sat on the sandy beach part and watched. These boys are such a joy in my life and I'm so thankful I've had the opportunity to meet them.  

Tomorrow we start our woman's program, Hope House.  I'm excited and nervous at the same time. We've rented the house its been renovated and we purchased things for the kitchen so we can supply the girls with lunch everyday.  The girls are coming @ 8:30 in the morning and staying until 4:30. I'm so excited about what the Lords going to do with these girls. I pray that I can be an example of God's love to them.  They want a better life for themselves; and Abby and I are so excited about that, but at the same time its really scary. Abby financially had only planned on about 5 girls coming and 18 showed up. I know the Lord wouldn't have sent those girls if he didn't have a purpose or reason for each of them. And in return I have faith he will provide for each one.  I'm so excited about what the Lord's going to do here not only with the girls program but with the children here at the home.  All of these boys have such unique personalities and want to be loved. If I'm home and Emmanuel knows I'm here he wants to be next to me at all times. I cannot leave his side without him saying Kwagala Nyo which means I love you so much. He always wants to know where I'm going and when I'll be back.  Emmanuel has truly touched my heart and he is such a sweet and funny boy.

Well I have to be up at 7 for the girls project but I thank you all so much for the prayers and support.

Katonda Ayogera Eri Abaana Be

The reason I chose this for the title of this post is because it has something to do with 1 of 2 amazing things that truly touched my heart today. Its the name of the Luganda Bible Derek gave me.  Tonight I was in my room talking to Abby and Josephine the boys counselor and Derek came to the door. He was like Auntie Carla I have something for you. He went out on his own and bought me a bible in Luganda. I was so thankful and it melted my heart. Once again these boys are showing me the meaning of true love. These boys have come from such hard backgrounds but are so thankful to have people in their life that love them and want the best for them.  They protect me and love me so much and look to me for guidance everyday. When in fact their the ones teaching me how to selflessly love.  The other thing that happened today that really touched me was what little Godffrey did. Me and Moreen (my awesome roomate) were cleaning out our room today and rearranging it and I asked little Godffrey to come take out my trash. Here in Africa all the boys go through the trash. Mostly because thats how they survived on the streets, its all they know, so they do it here in the house as well. Anyways 2 seconds later I had a knock on my door and it was little Godffrey "Auntie, Auntie I found something. He found 10,000 shillings that I had accidentally thrown away and instead of keeping it himself and not saying anything he brought it to me and that made me realize how honest, loyal, and loving he was. I was so proud of him. And tonight in bible study/prayer I commended him in front of all the boys on his honesty. I even gave him a portion of the money to prove a point to the boys about honesty and respect. These boys truly have stolen my heart and I will forever Love them.  They have their problems and bad histories but are making such huge strides to have a prosperous future with the Lord by their side.


Tomorrow is going to be busy but fun. We meet with our girls at the Hope House in the morning for a few hours and then were taking the boys to the zoo. CANT WAIT!


I love you all so much and please continue to send prayers our way. <3 Carla

Me Godffrey and Emmanuel