Patricia a girl beyond her years

When you find yourself six years olds and you just watched your brother be laid to rest. How do you respond to something so tragic? Your mother is so distraught she can't even stand just cries my boy, my boy. Your brother who was here just a day ago has died, died of a fever. What do you do, where do you find yourself?

This is how it was for Patti. I was there I witnessed it, the tears of her mother, the sadness and unfairness of it all. I was there and wondering how something so little as a fever could kill a little boy the same age as my very own little cousin. But because I was there I can also tell you how Patti responded. With resilience would be the only way to describe it. Some might think she was just to young to understand the sadness of it all, but I think it was really her strength and ability to care. 

Patti has always been a light with her bright smile against her ebony skin. She lives two houses down from the boys home. Most often you can find her there, whether it is for the daycare program that RUHU puts on for village members who can't afford school or when she is just there to play and maybe get a meal from the mommas as well. 

While living in Uganda I would have to walk past Patti's house each night to get home. It became quite a circus! Patti and her sister Sylvia would put on a show. I would be walking past and Patti calls out Aunt Alyssa in her oh so sweet accent. Usually she was either feeding or washing her sister, meanwhile making silly faces at me as I walked by. Later on when it was getting dark and I would be in my apartment making dinner again I would hear Aunt Alyssa! I would go out on my balcony and see sweet little Patti carrying her sister to church. 

You see that is where the strength part comes in, she is a leader. She may not know it yet but she is going to do great things in this world. 

And the great thing is that so many of the kids at RUHU are going to do such amazing things someday. They have dreams and they aren't afraid to chase them. They were given a chance and they are forever thankful for it. 

I am so pleased to share with you that Patti is now attending school. Because of a generous sponsor she is now in school.

Without generous sponsors none of the kids would be where they are today. So we thank all of you! Everyone who has supported in anyway. Through prayer, going and volunteering, sponsoring a child, donating item, giving financial support, or sending your love in any way possible. We thank you without all of you none of this would be possible. 

We do have more children of RUHU that do need sponsors, while on our mission trip to Uganda this June. We hope to get an updated story and pictures of those who still need sponsors. Then I hope to share it with all of you! 

I also encourage you to go check out these websites learn more about Beautiful Response and RUHU. 

*Beautiful Response is a non-profit in the United States that helps find sponsors for the children. They also do more so go check out there organization.

*RUHU was started by Patrick a Ugandan with such a big heart that wants to help as many people as possible. Praise God for his and William's giving hearts.

Thanks all for reading

Mukama akuwe omukisa- God bless you

Love,

Auntie Alyssa

Items for the children

I hope today finds you all well. This past weekend we had our brat fry to raise funds for the mission trip we will be taking to Uganda. While Friday was very cold and rainy...we had great help and really had a great turnout. Saturday the weather was beautiful and we were so busy we couldn't even keep up (would rather this than no one come at all)
I want to thank everyone that came and got some food and supported our cause.

While working hard all weekend we had some time to brainstorm and talk with Patrick in Uganda and Sonja from Beautiful Response on things they need. We came up with this package we would be putting together for the children on the streets

And this is a list of the things we will all be collecting for the RUHU children and street children. 

Items for Uganda mission trip

RUHU kids

-        Gently used backpacks

-        Books for all ages (not super American ones like A Snowy Day)

-        Bars of soap

-        Washcloths

-        Flip flops or crocs (all sizes)

-        Sanitary pads for girls

-        Clothes (all sizes)

-        Coloring books

-        Crayons/colored pencils

-        Toys (on the smaller side)

-        Tooth Brush

-        Tooth Paste

-        School Supplies

o   Pencils

o   Pens

Street kids

-        Cinch back packs

-        Bars of soap

-        Tooth Brush

-        Tooth Paste

-        Protein Bar or On the go Peanut Butter

-        Washcloth

-        New Testament Bibles

-        Shirt (size Youth L-Adult M)

This is what we have come up with any donations are greatly appreciated! We will have a box at Bethel CRC that items can be dropped off at. Otherwise my house will work as well! Anyone feel free to email me with any questions amp9461@gmail.com

Thank you for the help and please keep our team in your prayers. Please share with friends! 

Also we leave June 2nd! Stay posted I will hopefully be blogging to keep you all updated while in country 

As always, Yesu Akwagala-Jesus Loves You, 

Love, Auntie Alyssa

Send Me

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

The time is approaching come June 2nd myself and a group will be headed back to Uganda. These past couple weeks have been tough, I feel as though God has been pulling on my heart strings, creating in me ache for Uganda and for the smiling faces I miss so much. I was able to talk to a friend and he was headed back with a group this past week. They were working on building a church in the new Village of Hope. This team comes a couple times a year and proceeds to accomplish so much while there. They are truly such a great blessing to RUHU. With hearts fully for the Lord and a willingness to serve I am so glad I was able to meet them my last time in Uganda. Also this past week my dear friend Becca headed back. You see I was already missing Uganda and then Jake going back made me miss it a little more, but Becca knowing that she was headed back too just made my heart ache. You see I had the pleasure of living with this young lady for a month while in Uganda and now see her as such a great friend. In that short month we experienced so much together. We managed power outages, village riots, she hugged my while I cried when finding out my grandpa had cancer, she checked on me in the night when I was so sick, we laughed and prayed together. Becca has such a heart to follow Christ even when that means leaving family and friends, but I think that is because she truly knows how rewarding it is.

But ultimately I know that my time to be back in Uganda will be here soon, and that it will all be on God's perfect timing. I know that God is already preparing the hearts of those we will be coming on contact with. It is my prayer that God would give us the words to speak, put is in the right places, and use us to be part of furthering His great kingdom. When I return to Uganda in June I am grateful to be able to share this experience with 9 other people. Most of whom will be experiencing out of country missions for the first time.

Some of the things we hope to do on this trip include. First of all spreading the love of Christ wherever we go. We also want to be able to serve others. Some ways we will be doing that is by doing some cleaning in the children's home, going to the slums to feed street children and offer wound care, doing a prayer walk through the government hospital, evangelizing in the new village of hope, and doing any other tasks that may be placed in front of us.

We have a couple fundraisers coming up specifically for this mission trip we will be taking. April 10th and 11th we will be doing a brat fry at the Waupun Piggly Wiggly serving time is from 10-6 both days.
Also we will be doing a Pizza Ranch fundraiser night on Monday May 11th. I believe serving is from 5-close. Both fundraisers are a great way to take a night off of cooking and enjoy some great food, while supporting our mission trip.

We will also be having the basketball fun night Council vs youth again this year. A meal will be served before the game. And a bake sale during half time of the game. The proceeds go to the youth group and the mission trip. Date is looking to be April 22nd. Specific dates and times can be found in the next week on my Facebook or the church bulletin.
**correct date April 29th. Meal begins at 5:30 game at 6:30**

I want to say thanks for all the support I have had on my last trips to Uganda, and I'm so excited to share it with others and just ask that if God puts it on your heart to support us you would consider doing so. If you are not able to make it to these events but would still like to make a donation checks can be made payable to BYPS and put in my church mail box or mailed to me. You can email if you need my address at amp9461@gmail.com
Also I will have a list in the near future of things we will be collecting to take along for the kids!

As you can see receiving gifts brings much joy and thankfulness. (Clothes were for his twin brother as well)

Prayer Warriors

I have been blessed to meet lots of new friends through missions. And also am so blessed to be part of a Christian community. And I know many of you are great prayer warriors, and that is exactly what I am looking for. This is a shout out to all my prayer warriors!

This past week I arrived at youth group with a tiny thought in my head..I was thinking of possibilities for our youths' mission trip this summer. I tentatively brought it up to Dave and Bryant..I said what are the chances that we could take the youth to Uganda this summer. And good ole Dave goes I don't see why not!

I was stoked!!! So once all the kids were seated and eating their awesome Tony's pizza, I go over a couple things with them and then ask sooo what would you guys think of going to Uganda for your mission trip this summer? I think their jaws dropped then I get an are you serious??? It starts getting louder as the excitement builds. All around we had a very good positive answer of students wanting to go. One girl even asks how serious this is cause she really doesn't want to get her hopes up. I told her I am completely serious but we do need parents to be okay with it.

For those of you reading this do you remember your first out of country mission trip? Remember how it changed your entire life in so many different ways! And for those of you who have not experienced this I truly hope some day you will or that you take that leap of faith and come with us!

So my prayer warriors I am asking that you pray that the hearts of the parents of these students would open and that they would trust in God to keep their child safe. Pray that God opens doors to making this trip possible. And that he would prepare the way for us and the hearts of those we will come in contact with. 

I believe that we serve an awesome and powerful God. Now I also understand that being safe is important too. And that would be a top priority while in country. 

I am not a mom so in a way I do not understand how hard it must be to let your child leave and go and trust that they will be safe. I do know that I thank my parents for letting me go. For understanding that I would rather be at the center of God's will than safe with my parents. 

So no I am not a mom and I may not fully understand the struggle but I have been called mom and I know that I love the kids at RUHU just as much as you parents love your kids. And it is just as hard for me to leave them as it is for you to let your child leave.

Lets all take this leap of faith together and trust that God will go before us and prepare the way. 

May God Bless,

Auntie Alyssa

Reflections

2014 has come and gone, with it many memories. As I sit here and reflect I think about where I was and more importantly who I was as a person last year.

This past year has been many things including good and bad. But mostly really good. Some highlights were going to Uganda for the first time, learning more about God everyday, spending countless wonderful hours with family, experiencing my first break up (who would have thought you don't cry and eat pounds of chocolate like in the movies), hearing God's call to my life, going to Uganda round 2, the passing of my Grandpa and how God actually blessed us far more than I could imagine in that process, my mom graduating!

If I think back to this time last year. Remember Uganda is 8 hours ahead. So I was probably just getting ready for the day. And what an exciting day it would be. New Year's Day was a treat for the children and they were able to go to Lake Victoria! Wow what an awesome day that turned out to be. You would not believe how thankful the kids were.
Like I have said many times before this trip changed me, but I didn't really know how much until lately. Coming home I new Uganda was a place that needed help and I wanted to be the one to help, but I also really liked my life in the US. I thought it would be much better if I would like take a trip to Uganda twice a year to "do my part" with helping the poor and seeing the kids that I really did miss a lot. Best of both worlds RIGHT?? Well that is what I thought so come July I headed back!

This second trip proved to be a little more difficult. But in the process God was growing me showing me new things and asking what I was willing to give up for him. I came home after my month still in love with the kids and missing them dearly but positive that long term missions was not for me!

This awesome God I serve has other plans. I have felt a constant push from God to follow him and serve the least of these, while bringing word of his Salvation to those that don't know. God has been asking me what I am willing to give up for him even if that is my comfortable life here or even my family! I know it won't be easy but God does promise that it will be soooo worth it.

So now as I look ahead to 2015, I have no clue where this year will take me. I pray that where ever I go that it is at the center of God's will.
Over the next year I want to prayerfully ask where God would send me and what he would have me do. So I ask for your help in this please keep me in your prayers as I seek God's will for my life.

May all of you feel God's loving hands around you in this next year
Blessings and Happy New Year!
Love,
Auntie Alyssa

Trevor the boy who never stops smiling

Today as it snowed and the wind blew hard, my grandma, me and my uncle Tony made our way to visit the orthopedic surgeon. You see they both have bad hips and knees that need fixing. We made it safely to the appointment thanks to things like a nice vehicle, snow plows, people who salt the road, and the grace of God. After arriving we were seated in nice comfy chairs with many magazines to look through, and a coffee machine with about a million options to choose from.

This brought back many memories of the many trips I took to the hospital in Kampala, Uganda last December. Only this hospital was extremely different from the one I was at today.

Mama DeDe who I told you about in my last blog would go to the hospital twice a day to take care of a boy named Trevor. Trevor lived on the streets and had gotten his back injured in the falling of an unfinished building that he was trying to sleep in, to get out of the rain. We would go twice a day to bring him breakfast and dinner.

Our trips to the hospital would usually go something like this....we would cook or buy some food to take to Trevor. We would then walk to the main road where we would hail a boda (motorcycle taxi) which we would all squeeze onto. That would include the driver, me, and DeDe...quite a few people for a small motorcycle. We would then be on our way! Weaving in and out of traffic...but most times our trusty boda would run out of gas or breakdown. But we didn't let any of that stop us.

Eventually we would make it to the hospital but it didn't get any better from there...Imagine this with me. Making your way to the building you look down to make sure you don't step in a bloody bandage on the ground that has fallen from someone. You enter inside and search to find the ward where Trevor is being kept. But the smell reaches you as you are walking down the hallway. Entering the ward you see beds lined against every space there is on the walls. Urine collecting underneath some of the beds. Pins sticking out of peoples arms and legs. Families sleeping on mats on the floor to be with there loved ones...and then we find Trevor. Trevor broke his back and was in lots of pain but every time we went this is how we found him.

You would never find Trevor not smiling. It's just how he is, he has one of those smiles that no matter how hard the day was he makes you smile happy. Trevor eventually (after about a week and a half) was able to leave the hospital but needed to wear a brace.

When I returned to Uganda this July I found Trevor like this..

He is now living at the orphanage, playing soccer with the other boys, forever smiling, and giving an amazing testimony of how thankful he is for his life! I was able to take Trevor to an orthopedic surgeon while I was there. We had great news saying surgery would not be needed and that we will just watch it as he keeps growing.

It is so amazing to see how far this boy has come. To see him learn more and more about Jesus. To have been able to help him read his Bible. To be able to play games and show him love. And to see him thank Jesus for his life. What an amazing thing! 

God is doing lots in the lives of these children and I believe they will all go on to great things and serve him in all that they do

Again thanks for reading,

May God bless,

Alyssa

Meeting God halfway around the world

I ask that all of you bare with me...you see I'm new to blogging and writing is not my specialty. I finally decided to start one after reading my cousin Rachel's blog. She isn't the best at writing, but she's funny so she can get away with it. I on the other hand am not funny and not a good writer...so I'm doomed!

I've been asked multiple times if I was going to start a blog telling of my trips to Uganda, truthfully I didn't even know how to start a blog... As you can tell I have figured it out!!

You may have seen my title...not of this post, but the whole blog. If you haven't, take a look :) Yesu Akwagala means Jesus loves you in Luganda. What an amazing thing Jesus loves you, so simple but unbelievable to understand..Jesus loves me. Me even me, after all I've done He loves even me. I'm so glad I learned this phrase I can now tell all the children I meet that Jesus loves them in their own language!

Anyways let me tell you a little more of what I have done. It has been almost a year since my first trip to Uganda. The place where I left a piece of my heart.

With faces like this I'm sure you can understand why it is so hard to leave and why I love going back.

But it wasn't all sunshine and roses. I was going to be gone for 2 weeks and I was traveling alone which was a first for me. I made all my flights and arrived safely, praise the Lord. But when I got to Entebbe, Uganda and walked out of the airport. All I wanted to do was turn around and book a flight back home, I was scared. I didn't know anyone and I wondered what I had gotten myself into. 

But God is good and provides every time. I met an amazing woman of God from the states. Mama DeDe was serving at the orphanage the same time I was. We hit it off right away! Everything we did we found joy. DeDe was like a mom and a best friend all in the same person!

This doesn't really tell you anything I did..so I had the honor of volunteering for a great organization. Raising up Hope for Uganda (RUHU). The staff has some of the biggest hearts I have ever seen there is always room to help one more child. When I was there last December the children were off of school. So I was blessed to spend a lot of time just loving on them and helping providing everyday needs. I also spent a lot of time at the hospital with one of the kids who hurt is back and had to stay in the hospital 5 days. We also did a slum outreach to street children. This was like nothing I have ever seen. I will go more in depth on other posts about what all happens when I am there. 

I wish I could say that my trips are all about the children, all about what is being done for them. Which it is all about them but it is also about me how my life changes because of what I've experienced half way around the world. You see when I am there most days I don't have power, never a TV, my friends aren't there, neither is my family. So you understand with nothing to distract me, I found God in a very real way. It really is true when you bless others, you are blessed just as much if not more.

May God bless you all 

With much love 

Alyssa