It's more than a ministry.....

I've had this post mulling around in my head for a while, but I haven't been able to capture the words.  Trying to get what is inside my brain on to paper (or a keyboard) is next to impossible for me.  Even as I write, I am praying for God to give me the right words.

What I want to say is that what is happening in Uganda is more than a ministry.  It's more than a program or a non profit doing work in a foreign country.  It's more than mission trips.  It's a relationship.  Relationships are being built and strengthened.  God is doing something....something magnificent....and I know He is only showing us a very small piece.

When Cathy and I traveled to Uganda in January 2011, we met Lazia....a widow who was incredibly sick and bed ridden.  Through the years, we have watched Lazia come to know Christ, get physically strong, begin making jewelry, learned how to sew, get trained on how to remove jiggers, worked with Sole Hope doing jigger removal clinics and was featured in our HOPE+ sisterhood video.  God has done a mighty work in her life.

January 2011

 

January 2014

  

Recently Lazia fell ill with shingles.  Anyone who has had shingles know how incredibly painful this can be.  Lazia has been blessed to receive free medical care at St. John's  medical clinic.  And as God would have ordained it, Cathy's husband Mark was just about to depart on his first mission trip....to Uganda.  Mark had the opportunity to visit Lazia at the clinic.  He sat with her, held her hand, cried with her and the team prayed over her.  This was not coincidence.  No way.  I will never believe that.

May 2014

I don't know all God has planned but I am choosing to walk in faith.  I don't suspect the road will be easy and likely the world will think we are crazy.  I am ok with that.  The only thing I know for sure is that we are in a relationship with these beautiful people of Uganda.  They have become family to so many of us.  We know their stories and they know ours.  And I look forward to turning each page of the story God is writing.

"so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well." 1 Thessalonians 2:8