This is our last night in Uganda. We are spending the day in Kampala tomorrow, and flying out right before midnight. It has been a great trip and it will be sad to leave our family here in Uganda, but we cannot wait to be back home to see our families in the States. Check the blog in the next few days for more updates, videos and stories from our trip!
Love A Lot
Long Hollow Missions and Orphan Care
Last day in Kyotera
We spent our last day in Kyotera completing HIV testing and physicals for the orphans. The last time we came to visit Kyotera we held a sports camp, this time we poked them with needles and dug worms out of their feet. Not as friendly. You can tell a child you love them all you want but when to poke a needle in their finger they start to question that a little. We completed the medical day on schedule and had a little time to play at the end. Dustin packed about a hundred kites in his baggage so we pulled those out and had a fantastic time. They even forgot about the poking. It was great to just run around with them, untangling their kites and helping them fly. I’m sure there’s a metaphor in there somewhere. We just love these kids. It was so hard to say goodbye. Tears all around. Tomorrow we will complete physicals for the kids in Kitabazzi and help care for babies at a local baby orphanage. Looking forward to another day in Uganda. -Erica
All tangled up
Medical Day: Kyotera Uganda
Today we completed physicals and HIV testing for the children in Kyotera. There are currently 80 children in the orphanage and we hoped to complete the assessments in two days. With lots of prayer and teamwork we were successful in completing the first forty. We also managed to take a group shot today!
Mbira Uganda
We shared a great time of worship with the churches in Kitabazzi and Mbira this morning. After singing with our brothers and sisters we joined the children outside for a time of teaching and games. The children in the village are so very precious and we enjoyed every minute with them. After church we toured the new orphanage site. Several buildings have been completed and the well was recently put in. Our friends in Mberra village are very excited about the new orphanage and several walked with us as we toured. This evening we went back to the church in Kitabazzi. The orphan children sang for us and then we split into boys/girls for a time of testimony and sharing. It was such a sweet time of fellowship with the kids. We all walked away thankful and blessed. -Erica
Mberra Church
Our sweet friends from Mberra
New Orphanage buildings
Walking through the pineapple fields
The Chickenman teaching the boys
October Uganda Update #2
Our team has just completed our second day of work here in Uganda. Yesterday was spent doing health assessments at the orphanage in Kitabazzi. The kids were in great health! Today was a long and fulfilling day as we assembled new beds for the kids in Kyotera and handed out new Bibles and letter from Long Hollow church members. Power is limited here as well as internet so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves and sign off before the power is cut. Thanks for following along with us and praying this week. -Erica
Assembling Beds
New Mosquito Nets
The Kids with their new Beds and Bedding
New Bibles!
Through the terminals and over the sea
We arrived in Kampala Uganda last night around 11pm. We were blessed with very short layovers and no delays as we flew our way from one continent to the other. Amsterdam was such an easy airport to navigate with very little hassles or transitions. The airplane food was tolerable and there was a little mentos station set up in the back so we all survived. We slept at a little boarding house last night on the drive to Masaka, so we have yet to reach our final destination. After a solid nights sleep we will drive the remaining 3 hours through Uganda and begin the medical assessments at the first orphanage. Several of us are developing pretty bad colds so please keep our health in your prayers. We are so excited to see the kids today and show them some love!
Spotlight on Jonah’s Journey
As the last service at Long Hollow finished on Sunday many families filed into the chapel instead of getting in their cars to head home. These families represent such a special function of our church body; caring for children. (see photo below) The babies they carried are the children of incarcerated mothers. Jonah’s Journey serves these women and children by finding healthy families within the church to care for the children, preventing them from being placed in the foster care system. The mothers are privy to Godly examples and feel confident that their children are being raised in loving Christian homes. The goal of the program is to eventually reunite the babies and toddlers with their mothers but there are circumstances where the mother determines that adoption is the best choice for her child. In this case the Jonah’s Journey families can become adoptive families for the children.
There is also a need for families to commit to short term care. Emergency situations arise that require children to be placed in a home for two or three nights. It is much more beneficial for the children to be placed with a church family than a foster family. As a church we can surround children in crisis with love and support. If you would like more information about becoming a short or long term safe family for a child please contact us.
Visit the Jonah’s Journey website: http://www.jonahjourney.com/home
Haiti September team update #3
Here are the last two updates from the team. Thank you for all the prayers, it was an amazing week of ministry! Check in next week as our team leaves for Uganda.
-Erica
September 22, 2011
Hey guys,
We had a great day today at the orphanage. We had patients that lined up as early as 4:30 this morning and travelled from all over. One family brought their 72 year old blind grandfather 2 hours by motorcycle to the clinic. We saw 218 patients (141 yesterday) and fitted 96 with glasses. We worked until it was pitch black in the clinic and sang old church hymns on the way back to the guesthouse. I think it is safe to say the team has really bonded when you can sing The Old Rugged Cross at the top of your lungs and not care how off key you are. Again, I’m impressed with what God is up to here. What a privilege it is to be a small part of it.
Jason
September 25, 2011
It was a great day today, our final day at the orphanage. While we continued to see a few patients in clinic two of our team members, Leeanna Copeland and Denise Williams lectured to a group of nursing students. It was very well received and they are interested in an ongoing relationship. It was hard to say goodbye to the orphans and their farewell singing brought tears to our eyes. Pray for our safe travel Saturday and for no delays at the airport! See you soon!
Jason
Haiti September team update #2
I received a series of short email updates from our medical team leader Dr. Jason Kastner. Here are a few highlights from their time in Jeremie, Haiti along with cell phone pictures of the kiddos. Vaccinations are now complete and the team has moved on to ministering to the community through an open clinic. Enjoy and keep praying!
-Erica
September 21st:
Kids are still kids in Haiti! Give them 5 minutes with angry birds and they’ll own you:)!
- Jackendy and Garrison
This was a 3 week old baby boy we saw from the community who was doing well but his mother just wanted some reassurance that the baby was doing well. We took all comers today. My oldest patient was 72.
Very busy day today. We saw somewhere around 140 patients today in the community clinic. We saw a lot of skin infections. This is one of the kids who was burned on the leg when he got too close to the kitchen fire. We saw him back today and it’s already looking better with some basic wound care and antibiotics.
September Haiti team update #1
Here is a great update from the medical team currently in Haiti. Please continue to pray for them as they provide care for the kids!
-Erica
Hey everyone!!
We were delayed getting out of Miami and as a result we missed the charter flight to Jeremie. With no runway lights at the Jeremie landing strip they don’t like to fly too late. Dou Dou of course hooked us up with travel vouchers from AA and we stayed at a pretty nice place near the airport. It was a good test in flexibility for the team and we were able to fly out first thing Monday morning. That put us behind schedule about half a day for vaccinations but we hit he ground running and vaccinated 60 orphans yesterday. The team is awesome with great can-do attitudes and everyone is doing something. After not sleeping well the first night in PAP, we all crashed pretty hard last night. Today we vaccinated about 70 more orphans. The vaccines travelled well and were kept surprisingly cold in the cooler despite the travel delays.
Overall the orphans look well, especially considering the state of many of them from Les Cayes a year and a half ago. They were so excited to see us but of course word spread quickly that the doctors and nurses were here with shots:). It was February the first time they were vaccinated so their memories were pretty fresh. We got through it though with lots of hugs and what pediatricians call positive reinforcement and the rest of the world calls bribery:)!!! It’s amazing how stickers and snacks make things seem not so bad afterwards and they are amazingly forgiving. Most were back playing and joking around with us within a couple hours.
There have been challenges It’s been hard for a team to come in wanting to just love on orphans but instead are having to do some things that are hard to do and create tears (for the orphans as well as the team members giving the shots). You know they need them to protect them but they don’t really understand that. You’re loving through protecting them but it still hurts and only would make sense if you as the child knew what we know. Kind of like we are with our kids. Kind of like Our Father is sometimes with us. Trusting when you can’t see all the details is hard to do but because teams have come consistently and shown love in lots of practical and tangible ways, they seem to still know we love them deeply.
It’s great to be here again with the children, the Mamas, the pastors and an awesome team of 20. We are all missing our families a ton and that was compounded by communication problems but were able to at least get word that we were here safely. I will try and send updates as Wi Fi allows. We ask you pray for the next 3 days as we will have clinic for the community. This is a great chance to be the hands and feet to those who really have nothing. Humbling to say the least.
Thanks for your prayers. More to come later!
Peace,
Jason