God has granted me the grace and peace I needed!

I can't believe it's been 12 days since my last entry! The time has flown by! I also can't believe that Christmas is in 2 days!!! So Merry Christmas everyone!!! I hope you are all able to take time and focus on the true meaning of Christmas and why we even celebrate it.

One thing that has been driving me crazy lately is everywhere I go I see signs for X- mas parties. It makes me a little angry because Christ is the whole reason for why we should celebrate this holiday. So it should be Christmas parties.


On Friday Amber and I left to go to Mbarara, which is about four hours east of Kampala. One of my friends from the last time I was here got married and so we went to her wedding. We drove with people from YWAM and ended up staying on a Catholic compound just outside Mbarara. On Saturday we went to the wedding which was supposed to start at 12 and ended up starting at 1pm. It seemed very unorganized and well ...African I guess. The ceremony took place at a cathedral that was still under construction. But it's Africa what can I say. The reception was a lot nicer and was held at a hotel in their courtyard. The place was a bit small but somehow everyone fit. We ate dinner which consisted of chicken, rice, ma toke, brown posho, potatoes, beef, cabbage, beans and pop. It was filling and very delicious. After food we went back to the courtyard and watched them cut the cake and serve everyone a crumbling piece.
The Bride Esther, who is my friend, changed about two times throughout the reception and while she was gone they had guys, whom i suppose were the entertainment, dance and sing. They didn't have any formal dances and none of the guests danced. It was all a little different than when I would work for weddings back home. It was strange to not be a part of helping somehow but she had a lot of people who helped out. It turned out beautiful and she seemed very happy. That's all that matters in the long run anyway.
We ended up staying at the catholic place until early Sunday morning because the wedding went late into the night. It was so nice to be able to go to a wedding in a different country and experience how they do things.

Last night Amani took a bus full of mamas and volunteers to a church in Kampala called Watoto. They are a part of the African children's Choir and they were putting on a Christmas production. It was so well done. They had dancing, singing and the Christmas story was acted out. Anyways it was a lot of fun and it was good to have something Christmasy since the weather has been in the 80's lately and it hasn't really felt like Christmas.

Well that's all for now I'll write more later and hopefully not as much so that it doesn't overwhelm you. :)

God Bless you all!

Hello to all!

This week has been full of chicken pox and moving! What a combination!!!

So the week started with us finding out that all the toddlers have chicken pox. One of the kids had a temperature of 105, but he got better and left for Tennessee to be with his new family. :)
Please pray for the kids who have chicken pox and pray for the kids that don't have it to either get it so that it's over with or not to get it and be spared the pain.

Today we moved into the apartment above amani, and we also moved the babies from baby A (the smallest babies) upstairs as well. I hope the transition goes well and so far it has gone well but it's a little strange. I am still working with baby A and it'll be nice not to have to walk very far, but on the down side we may hear the babies in the mornings before we have to be awake. I hope I can get used to it. I know, I know I'll have to get used to it some day when I have kids.

In other news the weather was over cast and misty today. It reminded me of being on the Oregon coast. :) I was in a tank top and capris. Other than that the weather has been in the low to mid 80's which is weird for me being an Oregon girl. I am getting used to it though and it'll be so weird if I come home in the winter. I think I may freeze! :)

All that said and done I love being in Uganda. I've made some awesome friends who have the same passion for kids and God as I do. The Mama's have been so helpful in showing me how to do things and they seem to appreciate the fact that i'm here away from my family and loved ones over Christmas.

I am really excited to be here over Christmas and the new year! It will be an exciting new adventure! I'm not sure if it'll feel like Christmas with the 80 degree wether but we have a tree up and i'm hearing more and more Christmas music.

God Bless you all!!! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Sorry it has taken me so long to write another entry. The power was off for a week and life has been crazy busy.

The kids are doing good. I am in Baby A every day, and I love it. I love to see little babies grow and all the new things they do. I love to see their first smile, hear their first laugh, and see them crawl or stand for the first time. I love to be the one experiencing all the first things they do.
Before I left the college group that I go to had prayed for me and one of the guys prayed that I would have a mothers heart for the kids hear. I realized today that I love these babies as though they were my own. It's hard to see them leave but I'm so happy when I hear they have a family adopting them.

We had a little girl here named Molly and she was adopted last week. It's strange not to see her anymore but i am really happy at the same time.

So we got this little boy today named Paul and he is very malnourished, little and week. I have a picture that I will be posting as soon as I can. It's very hard to see a little kid who we are guessing to be two or three and he is as big as a six month old. It's so heart breaking but I know he is in God's hands and when I prayed over him today I dedicated him to the Lord. The Lord gives and takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Please be praying for Paul however the Lord leads you.

Thank you all for reading this and I will be posting more later. God bless!

In Christ,
Rochelle