Update from Uganda Monday May 31, 2010

Today was our first full day in Uganda and it was amazing! The people are so lovely and welcoming, the food is delicious (particularly the fruit) and you can see God working here in SO many ways. Today we rode an hour and a half through the Ugandan bush to get to Namasujju Village; a place once ravaged by war, but full of hope for their future. We got to see the temporary church shelter that has just recently been purchased for the village. They were so excited that they would finally have a place to meet. We saw the new well and got to pump fresh, CLEAN water with beautiful Ugandan children. After lunch and fellowship with Pastor Timothy and a few others in Namasujju, they took us to show us the bad water sources that they were drinking from before the new well. It was heartbreaking and unbelievable and you can’t help but praise God for bringing Safewater Nexus when He did. We went to distribute some mosquito nets and were able to give them to several families. The people praised God and were so thankful. There actually weren’t many people around though and we were kinda beginning to wonder where everyone was. We asked around and found out…they were at a Ugandan Wedding. Our team can officially say that we crashed a Ugandan wedding reception. They invited us to speak and we were able to invite them all to the well dedication tomorrow where they would receive free mosquito nets. They were so excited and so quick to praise God. They followed us back to our bus and the kids chased the bus for quite a while..haha. It was quite the experience! Our team is bonding and unifying so well. We are all being so impacted by the people and what we are seeing and I am confident that the Lord is doing even bigger things here than we can see on the surface…and the things on the surface are pretty huge. I am beyond thankful that the Lord has chosen to allow me to be a part of what He is doing here through Safewater Nexus. Pastor Timothy told us how they had been praying to God for help since the Bush War in the 80’s and now the help has come. God is so faithful to His children in America and He is just as faithful to His children in the bush of Uganda.

Update from May 28

We made it safe and sound with all of our luggage. Thank you for praying! It was quite a lonnnngg... coupleof days of travel but we're so excited to be here now! Our team is getting along so well! Uganda is SO beautiful and all the people have been so lovely. Today we will go to a village to spend time getting to know the people and pass out 150 mosquito nets. Baby house tonight ..can't wait. :) The internet is a little shaky...but what else is new? :)

LOVING Uganda! God is doing some amazing things in this part of the world.

Update from May 27

We had a 10 hour layover in London. Here are some of our team riding the London Eye almost 400 feet above the city!

Me and my big brother Jonathan at the airport getting ready to leave for Uganda! Notice the ever-present bag of Chick-fil-A...

Uganda...Tomorrow.

Thank you SO much for all of your prayers and support! I am so excited and can not believe that we are leaving tomorrow! We will be posting on these two blogs while we are away:

http://etaala.org/blog

http://howwillyouchange.com

Thank you so much for your encouragement! I feel so well prayed for and I am so thankful for you all. Please continue to pray for us and check the blogs for updates!

Kerennie and Me.

Lady: "Is she your daughter?"

Me: "No, she's my little sister."

Lady:"OH, ok. I could tell yall were related. You look a lot alike. you have the same eyes and mouth!"

Me: "Oh really? That's so awesome! Thanks so much!"

Lady: "Yep. Same eyes and mouth."

I decided that telling her Keren was adopted from Africa wasn't necessary. I wish I had Keren's eyes and mouth though. fo reals.

--------------------------------------------- Jeremiah's quote of the day:

"Ellie please take this and do not give it to Keziah...She tried...to kill me with it." (insert crazy eyebrow face here.)

Needless to say, I took the plastic orange away. :)

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I'm going to miss these precious boogers SO bad while I'm in Uganda!! Just four more days!

It's not often that you share a bunkbed with someone in Africa and run into them at a party in America.

(Eyob, far left and Josiah is second to last on the right with the sippy cup.) Sweet miracles of adoption. Both these little boys started out their lives in Ethiopia and now it turns out that God has brought them to the same area, of the same state, on the other side of the world. Amazing. Josiah has been talking about this all week now. His "Ee-tyo-pya fwend" is in America just like him. Our God is the God who heals. He sent his son to set the captives free and bind up even the tiniest broken hearts. This little boy's heart is being healed over and over again and it's so lovely to see.

I leave for Uganda...In less than two weeks.

My team and I leave for Uganda on May 26^th! Less than two weeks from now!

The time has flown by and I have watched the Lord provide in miraculous ways for this trip. The way he brought all of the team together as well as all of the resources- it’s been an incredible faith journey already and we haven’t even left for Uganda yet! I just wanted to thank you all from the deepest parts of my heart for your generous gifts and your willingness to be a part of this exciting journey that God has me on right now. You have all blessed and encouraged me SO much with your prayers, generosity, and sweet words of encouragement.

I can not express my thanks enough! Your gifts have been instrumental in the following things that we will be doing in Uganda:

We will be giving out much needed mosquito nets, holding hygiene clinics to train people how to clean their water jugs and prepare them for NEW CLEAN WATER!

We will be dedicating a new well that will be providing clean water for hundreds of people, we will be holding fun filled game days in orphanages, we will also be volunteering in a baby orphanage, building a structure for the local Church to meet in and much more!

We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we embark on this journey. Prayer Requests:

· That we would have the complete unity as a team that only comes with Christ.

· The Lord would use us to impact those we meet in Uganda for HIS kingdom.

· For willingness in each of us to be used by God, no matter the cost.

· The Lord would work mightily in each team member’s heart and life.

· That we would show each and every precious orphan we meet that they are loved and valued by us... But most importantly, by their Creator.

· For health while we are there.

· For our families at home.

· Please pray that this two week trip wouldn’t just be a two week trip- please pray that it changes MANY lives with an eternal impact, the lives of those in Uganda, those on the team and even the families and friends of the team members when they return. May the Lord work wonders!

Thank you SO much for your part in this! I love you all!

I would love for you all to follow us on our trip blog and see what the Lord is doing over the two weeks that we will be there. You have all been such a huge part of getting us to Uganda, I’d love for you to be able to see some of the impact of your gifts!

www.etaala.org/blog

P.S. You can also pray that I will acquire an African Accent and magically turn brown. Muchas Gracias.

Prommy-Prom-Prom

Soo..Prom was amazing. Our theme was Vincent Van Gogh's "A Starry Night". Our table cloths were navy blue silk with giant yellow twinkling center pieces. (cool shaped vases with yellow easter grass in yellow- food- coloring- dyed- water, and waterproof tea-lights. I wish i had a picture because I just made them sound pretttyyy weird. they were fantastic in real life, I promise.)

Some of my VERY best friends in the whole wide world! (By the way, Heather-the girl in the amazing, frilly, blue dress at the far right- she MADE her dress! Fantastic, right?)

First of all, we had it at The Sutherland which is a BEAUTIFUL venue. We had gorgeous white tents with chandeliers and twinkling lights all around. The food was fantastic, as was the DJ, and we ate and danced for hours. Not only did we have great time dancing and indulging, but we raised over $200 towards scholarships for Kolfe boys to go to school! We got to skype with Solomon from prom, raise awareness for orphans, give an Ethiopian boy a chance to brighten his future through education AND got to sing Happy Birthday to Solomon!

He's 19 now! Please pray that He will get the best belated birthday present ever...an approved visa to come to the United States. His visa is on it's way to Ethiopia...hopefully he'll have an appointment with the Embassy in the next two weeks where they will decide to approve him to come or not. We're praying for him to be home by early June! Hopefully I'll have more pictures to post soon. :)

WE LEAVE FOR UGANDA IN TWO WEEKS!

Best Prom ever? I think yes.

Prom is this Friday and it is going to be the greatest prom ever. Why? Because the prom committee came up with the best idea that anyone ever came up with.

They said "Hmmm. Why not turn prom into an orphan awareness event/fundraiser?" So that's what they did. This is why they are my friends. Partially because of their amazing hearts for Jesus, partially because they love orphans and partially just because they are cool.

I'll be sure to give an update sometime this weekend on it's amazing-ness. P.S. We leave for Uganda three weeks from today. Excited? You can bet your britches I am.