Life as I know it...

I feel as though I haven’t had a chance to breath these last couple of weeks. It started with the move and unpacking then I got sick and spent almost 5 days at home in bed. Everything at the home has been going really well. Please continue to pray for the kids. I don’t want to mention any names because I feel like that really invades the kids privacy but just be in prayer for them. For them to be strong in their faith, to be healthy, and to do as they are asked. Being one of six to raise 46 children isn’t an easy task. We are always being pulled in so many directions and being asked a million and one questions about everything. But as I think about it more and more I know that right now I wouldn’t change my life for anything. I love all the children God has brought into my life with a passion and a love that I’ve never felt for any one. I’m so proud to be the “mommy” of these children. God has blessed my life so richly and I am so blessed to have all the people he has placed in my life. Thank you everyone for your prayers and love and encouragement I know I have said this before but God has used each and everyone of you to speak into my life and I am blessed.

As a side note I’m going to be doing a news letter and would love your e-mail address so that I can send you all the updates. Please send them to rmbishop09@gmail.com and I’ll send you the updates once a month. God bless!

Love,
Rochelle

Oh being sick in Uganda!!!

I’ve realized how very selfish and self centered I become when I’m sick. I want to be comforted and I want my mom. I become very bratty and I feel so sorry for all those around me. Some of you may say that it’s ok to want to feel comforted and comfortable but I think we have it all turned around.
God hasn’t called us to a life of comfort in anything but him, He hasn’t called us to have big houses and fancy cars. He has called us to lay everything down, pick up our cross and follow him. What does our cross look like? What is standing in the way of us following God 100 percent? What do we need to put down in order to let God have our full attention?

Someone I love reminded me that when we feel our worst we tend to think only of ourselves before others. We forget that God is still here ready and willing to listen and instead we concentrate on how we can feel better. When this person first told me that I was being selfish and that I needed to stop looking at my situation the way I was and start praying for others and leave myself in the back ground, I was hurt. I wanted to tell this person that they didn’t know what I was going through that they had never felt malaria and they would never understand. Instead I said that I understood and that I would do as they suggested. So the next day the Lord brought someone to me that I don’t have e very close relationship with. But she wanted to see my new house and visit, so she came. I was still feeling very weak and tired but I didn’t want to turn her away so I invited her in and we sat at the only piece of furniture in our dining/living room, a table and four folding chairs. The conversation started with many long pauses in between sentences. She is not a talker and my brain wasn’t working very well. Anyways this went on for maybe 45 minutes before I told her that I thought I needed to lay down again. I guess she didn’t hear me because she went on talking but this time about personal things. We talked about the Bible and I tried my best to answer the questions she had. All the time praying for God to give me the words to speak. Our time ended in prayer and I sent her on her way back home.

After she left I realized just how much I miss being able to talk to girls and give them hugs and love on them. Even the girls I see every day at OOH always come up and hug me and when I give them a kiss they have huge smiles on there faces and if I forget one of them they are always quick to remind me. J
It brings joy to my heart knowing that God can use what we see as so small to glorify him. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses and he wants our weaknesses to become our strengths and for our strengths to become even stronger in him.

The first day and even the second day of malaria I was only thinking of myself and what I needed and all my prayers were for Rochelle. But what I’ve learned is that God can use something like Malaria to break us so that he can build us back up. I know that my heart was broken and God is now able to show me the places where I’m weak and the places where I need more of him and less of me. I think little by little God is breaking down little parts of my heart to fill them up again with him. It’s been a hard transformation so far but I know that I’ll be a stronger and more Christ like person when he completes’ his work

Answers to prayers!!!

Once again I want to thank you all for your prayers. One of my prayer requests was that My friends and I would find a house to rent here in Jinja town. Well praise God we have found one! It took a lot of looking and knocking on random gates but we found it! and another thing is that it is right around the courner from the Home where both Anna and I work and it's not far from where Famke, another roomate, is working. It's perfect, and God just dropped it into our lapps. He is so faithful, even when I start to doubt, the Lord shows me once again that he has everything in control and that nothing is impossible for him. Sometimes it's hard to learn these lessons but I know that I have been growing because of them. I have a closer more personal relationship with God then i ever have. In times where i'm freaking out and wanting answers now, God tells me to wait on him. When circumstances seem overwhelming and like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. God reminds me that he is there walking right beside me holding my hand and leading me to the place where I need to be. When things get hard and it seems like they will never end the Lord holds me in his arms and comforts me as only he can, reasurring me that he is and always has been in control and that he loves me and is here for me. I just need to call out to him and ask him for help.

Another thing that I have been praying about is coming back to Oregon in late June of 2011. I wasn't going to tell anyone just yet but I would love it if you all could pray with me about that. Please just keep this in your prayers. Thank you!

Thank you all so much for the e-mails and love that you've shown me. God has been so good and he has used so many of you to show me his goodness. May the Lord continue to bless you!

Thank you Lord!!!

So a couple of things real quick.

I want to thank you all for the prayers about my work permit. On friday this last week I went to Kampala and picked up my passport, Where they had written the work permit!!! I was so excited to finally have it in my possession. So I am legal to stay for another year before I need to apply for a work permit again.

Thank you Lord!!!

I am now posting prayer request's and praise reports on the right hand side of this page. If you would please join me in prayer for these things I would greatly appreciate it.

With the Joy of the Lord,
Rochelle

Life goes on.

Well it has been 8 days since my good bye to Judy and Malia. At times it seems as though it has been a lot longer than a week. I am trying to stay busy so that I don't have to think about them to much. I don't know if it's a part of my copeing or if i'm in denial. Sometimes I think that they are just on furlough and they'll be back in a couple weeks but then i'm reminded that they are now living in MI and I honestly don't know when i'll see them again. I have been able to talk to them on skype a couple times so far and that has really been helpful. Malia is adjusting well and loving the fact that she gets to be around her grandparents. :)

So this week has been hard but not as hard as I thought. God has been so faithful. He is bringing new people into my life everyday and renewing old friendships. I am so blessed to be able to have so many people who love me. I have also learned to not take for granted the things the Lord has blessed me with. Everyday there are children in my life and this expirence with Malia leaving has made me want to invest into the kids around me. God has renewed my heart and instead of being bitter or angery that he allowed me to love those two and then he took them away, I have been able to use that love I have for them to love others. God is teaching me to love with my whole heart. Not worrying about if it'll be broken or if these others will leave, but looking at life as my chance to show people how much God loves them.

So I guess the point of this blog is just that even when our hearts break and we may feel like God is pushing us to far. We can know that He is our comforter, protector, Saviour and most of all our Father. God is and will always be there for us. It doesn't mean we will never have broken hearts or go through tough times but it does mean that He will always be there to hold us, comfort us and bring us through whatever trials we may face in this life. I know that loving people is hard and it is a risk. But I also know that it is worth the risk to love someone. It is better to have loved and lost then to not have loved at all.

God Bless!

In the words of Malia "Listen, Obey!"

This blog is really hard for me to write and i'll probably shed many tears while in the process.

Judy and Malia have gotten their answer to prayer. Last week the US Embassey in Kampala called Judy and told her that she and Malia have been approved and that they could leave Uganda and soon as this week! It is really exciting but at the same time very hard. I'm so excited that Malia will be able to give big hugs and kisses to her Grandparents, uncles and Auntie's but at the same time I wish I knew that her and her mom would be coming back to Uganda. The more I think about it the more heart broken I become because I really have no idea when I'll be able to see either one of them again. Over the last eight months I have come to love them as my family. Judy has been a wonderful, Godly big sister to me and Malia has been a complete joy with her random hugs and kisses, to her sweet and caring personality. They have both found a very special place in my heart. I didn't realized it would be so difficult and I know they haven't left yet so I want to spend as much time with them as possible. I just spent the morning up in their apartment talking to Judy and taking in every silly and endearing thing that Malia did to heart knowing it may be one of the last times i'll be able to witness this part of her life. I don't know how I'll say good bye when friday rolls around but I know that I will make the effort to keep in touch with them and keep them always in my prayers.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to pray for Judy and malia and please don't stop. They have a lot of ajusting to do still and will need all the prayer they can get.

On another note I found out that my work permit was approved and now I just need to go pay for it and hopefully pick it up shortly there after!!! Praise the Lord!!!

I wasn't going to share this but the Lord keeps putting it on my heart and I think that others can learn from my mistakes. A couple weeks ago I was walking the 3 miles home from Our Own Home and I passed this man who was pushing a bicyle with large water containers on the back and one of his flip flop straps was broken. As I passed him by I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to give the man the flip flops I was wearing. Well i kept walking and started to argue with the Lord. "Why should I give him my shoes Lord? what am I going to walk home in?" But as I continued to walk away from him the Holy Spirit kept speaking the same words "Give him your shoes." So I finally turned around and started to walk very quickly back up the hill toward where the man had been and as I walked I looked for him and it was as though he had disapeared. He was no where to be seen. I felt dejected and my eyes were already filling with tears because I knew I had openly disobeyed the Lord. Well needless to say I went home in tears and heart broken. The scripture that came to me was Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
The lesson I learned, that I hope to encourage you with, is that when the Lord ask's you to do something, don't ask questions just do it. If it's the Lord, know that he has your back.

Thank you all so much for your love, support and your prayers! If there is anything I can be in prayer for you about just shoot me a message at rmbishop09@gmail.com.

God Bless!!!

God is good and all the time!

I still have a peace that is surpassing all of my understanding. It's completely God and not I. It brings me such relief to know that the Lord is in Control and that I am where I am today because of his great will and timing. I know without a doubt that I'll be living in Uganda for the rest of my life serving where the Lord calls and doing whatever he asks of me. Please continue to pray with me. In all things, doors to open as I move forward, finances to be all that is NEEDED, and for all that I do to be of the Lord.

"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33

I am excited for the future and what God has planned for me but at the same time I am also excited for the here and the now of what his IS doing in and through me.

Some specific prayer needs:

Moses has been sick. Pray for a full recovery.

My work permit still isn’t done. Pray for the immigration officers to be quick.

Judy and Malia have been delayed. Please pray that the Lord would give Judy peace and work everything out in his timing.

A place to live when the pastor and his wife come back on the 1st of Oct. Somewhere safe and somehow close to Our Own Home since I don’t have a vehicle and will have to walk to and from.

Pray that the Lord would continue to bring people into my life that I can pour out God’s love on and encourage.

Thank you all for reading and for praying with me. May the Lord bless you as you have blessed me.

In Christ,
Your friend, Daughter, Niece, Granddaughter and sister,
Rochelle