hands and feet

Yesterday was amazing. God was so good, and He blessed me so tremendously.

My 6th grade students and I had the chance to go to Hospice Africa yesterday afternoon for a few hours. In my last blog update, I said a little bit about what Hospice Africa was and how we had made Christmas cards in our class to take to the kids. Honestly, though, no matter how many times I've seen children with physical deformities, being with them still makes my heart break for them. How these little small creatures are surviving through their lives, unable to see or eat or speak or walk ... and it's all curable. The doctors we talked to yesterday said that most of the cancer these children are suffering from could be cured with treatment.


My kids and I talked on Friday morning and on the way home on the bus about some of the verses that being with those kids made us think of. We talked about how embracing children and loving them is one of the things that Jesus did. We talked about how Jesus came into our world in order to heal and help those who were the poorest in the community. And he told us to do the same in Matthew 25... whatever we do for 'the least of these' is actually doing something for Christ Himself.

As we were talking, the song, "Prayer of the Children" came to mind, and I shared the lyrics with a few of the kids.

Can you hear the prayer of the children
on bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room?

Empty eyes with no more tears to cry
turning heavenward toward the light.

Crying," Jesus, help me to see the morning light of one more day,
but if I should die before I wake,I pray my soul to take."

Can you feel the hearts of the children
aching for home, for something of their very own.

Reaching hands with nothing to hold onto
but hope for a better day, a better day.

Crying," Jesus, help me to feel the love again in my own land,
but if unknown roads lead away from home,give me loving arms, 'way from harm."

Can you hear the voice of the children
softly pleading for silence in their shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
blood of the innocent on their hands.

Crying," Jesus, help me to feel the sun again upon my face?
For when darkness clears, I know you're near,
bringing peace again."

Keeley (our principal, who also came to the hospice care) and I were talking afterwards, and she made the comment, "Whenever I see that, I can just imagine WHY Jesus wanted to heal people everywhere he went. You see those kids and those men and women and you WANT to do all you can to heal them... I only WISH I could heal them."



A few of my kids were really affected by the kids in hospice care too. One of them, Ella, told me, "I just feel like God has given me so much, why can't I just give some to them? I have two legs, two hands, and my body works... And those little babies are just so tiny..." Amy, another one of my girls, was talking with a little boy and asked, "Would you mind if I pray for you?" She laid her hand on the little guy and started praying over him. I pretty much lost it; the sunglasses came on, but the tears were falling fast. I was moved to tears so many times, not only by talking to the kids and adults suffering from the tumors and cancer, but also to see the students' reactions and their love, care, compassion, and sympathy.







We also had the chance to take all of the gifts that Heritage has been collecting and give them to the kids. We took a few hundred kid's bibles and gave them away too. After dropping off the presents and bibles, my kids were able to play in the bounce-house-thing where a lot of other kids were playing. The director of the program told us that most of the kids playing on it were siblings of the hospice patients, but that a few were survivors who had been able to receive treatment and a few had only recently been diagnosed or were in the early stages, so they were still physically well for right now.

another broken heart comes in to view
why can't I do the things I want to?

I want to be your hands

I want to be your feet

I'll go where you send me

And I'll try to touch the world like you've touched my life

And I'll find my way to be your hands.

... I finally have a mission I promise I'll complete

I don't need excuses when I am your hands and feet!

excerpts from "Hands and Feet" by Audio Adrenaline

Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings you've given me!

I want to be Your hands and feet.

weebale nyo (thank you very much)

oh man, this weekend was great. volleyball. french toast. great conversations. christmas music. sleeping in 'til noon. soooooo good.

minor problem? didn't get a thing done for school, and we were supposed to have our final exam study guides turned in on Friday so all the kids could start studying (yeah, right anyways... those kids were not going to study this weekend.)

...which is why I'm up right now! Almost 1:00 am and I just finished my final exam guides and have a pretty good grasp of what I want the tests to be next week. I cannot believe we're already through half of the school year! Some days it feels like I just got here, and others it feels like I've been here for a very long time. Anyways, it's been a restful weekend and I'm feeling really refreshed going into this week.

This weekend was also fun because last week was so CrAzY.

I think that I might have just over-committed myself to too many events on one day... scratch that. I absolutely over-committed myself to too many events on one day.

Friday was my 6th grader's Chapel day, where we get to give a lesson for the K-6th grade. My kids were really excited, and after our success with our movie for the Rain Festival back in October, they were keen on the idea of doing more movies, the only question was what to do? So, we came up with this news broadcast idea, and we would pre-record all of the interviews and then make it seem like a real action news show. We called it BBU Action News - Bringing the Bible to U ... clever, eh? :)

We had a lot of fun video-ing it around school, trying to wait for the guys with the saws to be quiet enough, waiting for the preschoolers to walk past us and stop shouting, and, of course, finding places to actually film the scenes. We did old-time renditions in real-time news of stories like David and Goliath, the battle of Jericho, Miriam saving Moses in the Nile, and Lazarus being raised to life. The kids really came through with shining colors!

(p.s. we also included several puns into our skits, like, "Who is the richest woman in the Old Testament?" answer: "Pharoah's daughter! She went down to the Nile and took out a little prophet.") hahaha

Basically we prepped for Chapel ALL week long. Then, I had also said, "OK" to the music teacher who had asked me to direct my kids in the Christmas Program at school. When I had agreed to it, I didn't know the extent of involvement it was going to require!

My kids wanted to make a whole band-like performance, since so many of them play instruments... and can I also say that they have almost perfect pitch? They're soooo in tune. .I. .love. .it.

So, four of the 6th graders brought in their guitars, one played the flute, one the ocarina, and another the violin, while everyone else sang in the choir. We performed "What Child Is This?" and it was definitely a success! The kids practiced almost every day during their recess to make sure they had the right chords and tune and everything. They're such a great group of kids!!

And the Christmas Program was on Friday night at 6. Went home around 3:30, took a little rest, got ready, and walked on back down to school! Hence, why I slept in till noon on Saturday. I was exhausted in that "I have used so much energy but it was completely satisfying but now I'm going to collapse" feeling :-/

Such an eventful, busy week. But it was so great and I'm so glad that not only me, but my kids too, pushed ourselves and made everything the best it could be, all for the glory of our God!

And the Lord has definitely been my Protector these past few weeks, since my near meltdown. He's sent me people to uplift and encourage, friends to walk with me through it, and kids to make everything seem joyful and amazing.



Thank you for Your Work in me and in my situations.

Ok, going to bed. Almost 2:00 now... G'night!

hospice AFRICA

It seems like everywhere I turn, it's Christmas already! I don't know how it is in the States right now, but there are Christmas trees in almost every home I've been to in the last few days, there's a tree in the lobby at school, and all of the classrooms seem to be learning Christmas-y things. ... I can't help but think - it's only December 2nd everyone!

One wonderful part of it being December already is that it means we're closer to the Hospice Africa Christmas party. Hospice Africa is an organization that helps children who have been diagnosed with cancer here in Uganda. They provide treatment, support, food, and resources for the children and their families as they go through different treatment methods. The kids range in age from about 4 til their teen years.

A few weeks ago, we had two ladies come to Heritage from Hospice Africa to talk to the students about what exactly it is they do, and how our kids can help them. As a school, we've decided to bring in gifts that will then be delivered to the kids at Hospice Africa at their annual Christmas party, which is next week. I'm so excited for this...

The kids come from all over, not only in Kampala. Once a week, the organization sends out the buses to pick up the children and bring them in for a 'real' meal to help provide nourishment for their healing. The ladies who came to our school told us that, a week before, their buses had broken and they weren't able to make the rounds to pick anyone up. Most of the kids still walked the entire way from their home and village to the center, so that they could receive that one good meal. They told us that one boy walked for 3 1/2 hours to get there.

My heart has been so touched by our kids' responses to all this. The 6th graders were emphatic and excited about going out and buying presents for these kids who have so little. In order to get pictures for the yearbook, I actually get to go along with one or two kids from each grade level and present the gifts to the children at their Christmas party. I can't think of a way that I'd rather begin this Christmas season.


~

In an effort to keep the kids thinking about and remembering those kids who are sick, and those who this might be the last Christmas for, we've been typing letters to the Hospica Africa kids in Computer lab. I've been doing this with the 2md, 3rd, and 4th graders. My 6th graders and I have our class on Monday set aside to make lots of decorations and gift cards for the kids too.

I thought several of the 2nd graders' letters were really sweet, so I thought I'd share a few excerpts with you :)

Merry Christmas Jesus LOVES YOU AND SO DO I. God loves you Forever.
From Adam


Merry Chrisemas!
GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!!~~~~~~

JESUS LOVES YOU!!!!!!~~~~~~
From:Harim
To:Hospice Friend


Hello! I am Shanil! I am so sorry that you are sick and I am 7 years old and I am Filipino.


I live in Kampala, Uganda. My favorite game is soccer my favorite color is silver merry Christmas! Jesus loves you and so do I!

From wasswa


Dear friend
hello!
How are you? My name is Sonya. Do you have a brother or a sister? Do you have a pet ? one time I saw a cow on the road! I hope you have a merry Christmas! I have two brothers. We love you. From Sonya.

Hello
My name is Matthew Ho sorry you are sick, I am 7 years old. merry Christmas!!! My favorite color is gold my favorite number is 100 my favorite game is tag



HELLO MY NAME IS JAMES. I AM SEVEN YEARS OLD
I LIVE IN Uganda MY FAVORITE game hide and seek.
My favorite COLOR IS BLUE. What is name?*** My FAVORITE FOOD IS PIZZA

Merry christmas!
From James sentiba jonathan

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May we all be remembering the true meaning of Christmas as we get closer and closer to it...