A Few More Weeks to Go…

I can’t believe how fast these months have gone by! Watoto 360 has been so amazing! We’ve been busy with ministry and serving for the many events Watoto Church has. We bounce around for ministry so we’re either at Baby Watoto, nearby hospitals, Akiba Home (which is a home for children with cancer), Retrack, Wells of Hope (which is a school for children of prisoners), Living Hope and more. Ministry has been absolutely incredible and has stretched me so much. It’s amazing to see the way God uses us when we just let go and allow him to! Every day is always a new adventure, and even though it has its ups and downs, every day stretches me more and more. Our class will be going to Gulu soon (Northern Uganda) to help out and serve at Watoto Church Gulu. We will also be involved in a building project at Suubi soon and some other events, so we have exciting things coming! It’s been so awesome to watch God move and transform the lives of all those around me, including mine. This has been an amazing journey and I know it will be until the last day. It’s hard to picture myself leaving this beautiful country and all these beautiful people, but I’m looking forward to coming home because I miss everyone so much. Can’t wait to see you all! Hugs from Africa

Recent Ministry:

It’s been a while but it has been a very busy month here at Watoto. We recently put on a production called Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames which is a drama presentation about Heaven, Hell and your eternity. Watoto does HGHF every 4 years and I got to be a part of it this year which was really exciting. It ran for a week and we had 4 shows a day, 28 shows that week, plus an extra on the last day so all together 29. I served every day for all the shows which was physically exhausting, but it was spiritually rewarding because 10,543 people gave their lives to Christ that week! So it was a blessing to be a part of that. Our class ministry has been great as well. Our slum community project mom Grace finally had the baby and it’s a boy! His name is Emanuel and he is absolutely beautiful. We’ve also gone to Retrack which is a home for street children. They stay there for a maximum of 6 months, but most leave earlier after the home gets in contact with their parents and they go back to their real homes. Others, unfortunately, get moved to another Retrack center if their family has refused to take them back. But these young boys still manage to have a smile on their face and we have fun playing and singing together as we teach them about how much God loves them. Baby Watoto (Bulrushes) is another one of our ministries and it’s been my favorite. Those babies are just the cutest things ever! We get to feed them and play with them which is so fun, but we also help clean and disinfect all the toys, equipment, bottles and we help with the laundry too. Ministry is really awesome and I love all of it. It’s really beautiful here and I’m having the time of my life, but I do miss you all! Please keep me in prayer…almost halfway done!

Finally got to upload some pictures! Sorry it took so long but here are some pictures of the different ministries I've been doing and just a few pictures of Uganda. I'll be uploading more soon :) XO

Happy Valentine's Day!

What an amazing Valentine’s Day it’s been! Different from what I’m used to, but better. Yes, they have flowers and chocolate, but being out in ministry is the best gift. Today we visited Grace and she should be giving birth very soon because she was due last week. I can’t wait until this baby comes! In the mean time I’ve been surrounded by other children and have been having a blast playing and teaching them. Most of the time we don’t have to say or do anything because our presence alone brings a smile to their face, but it’s because of God’s love in us. It’s been an incredible journey so far mixed with many emotions and challenges, but as God stretches me I grow more and more in Him. Since my last post there has been a lot more going on. February started our official ministry, like hospital outreach, prison ministry, schools and community projects. It has been so awesome because this is the reason I’m here. My group first got assigned to Mulago Hospital and Naguru Remand Home. At Naguru there are about 100 boys ages 12-18 and about 5 girls, one of which has a little baby. Most of these kids were tricked into going to the home or kidnapped and brought there, and so some of their parents have no idea where they are. They’re not treated well here but there is nothing they can do about it. When we went we had a lesson planned out and a few games, but 2 of my team members ended up giving their testimonies instead and 20 kids gave their life to Christ! How incredible is that?! And then we played games for the rest of the time there which was really nice because they were all laughing and having fun. Afterwards we went to Mulago Hospital. God is just so incredible because I normally don’t do well in hospitals because I’ll start crying when I see people lying in beds, but I saw things here that I have never seen before in my life and I was absolutely fine. That was all God. He gave me this strength that could only come from him because it was not me in there. I was going around touching and praying for people on my own and I would never in a million years do that! So that was an amazing experience. Then my team has also done Living Hope ministry, which Watoto started for women living with HIV/Aids. Our client has 5 kids and she’s a single mom who lives in the worst condition I’ve experienced  so far. But what amazes me the most about all the people I’ve met is the joy they have. They all have such faith in God and they know he’s their provider. It’s so encouraging and makes me stop and reflect. Ministry can be very challenging at times, especially when you build a personal relationship with the people you’re helping out.  But it’s so beautiful to be part of their lives and bring even the smallest amount of hope and joy to them and their families. So once again thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart for making this possible. Please continue to keep me in prayer. XOXO

No Situation Is Ever Permanent

Hey everyone! I know its been a while but I've been pretty busy here. But thank God everything is going so well! It has been an amazing almost month here in Uganda! A lot has been going on and there’s a new adventure every day. Classes started about 3 weeks ago and its been awesome. We have different pastors and guests come in to teach us about a certain topic or just do a quick morning devotion...but they're all really good teachers! I've been learning so many new and amazing things about God and his Word. We've also been doing projects in our nearby slums. My group got assigned to Kivulu which is a 5 minute walk from class and its been an amazing experience so far. Our goal was to find a family in need and do our best to help them out…and that's exactly what we did! My group is helping out a young woman who should be giving birth by the end of this month and who lives with her younger sister and stepson. Thankfully she’s a Born Again Christian so we always get to pray and worship with her and her family…its so sweet! But she needs as much help as we can possibly give her because she lives in a really small room with a bed, a couch, and kitchen that’s outside. We were able to go shopping for the baby that is coming soon because she has absolutely nothing for it, but when we gave her all the things we bought she was literally speechless. She thanked us by buying mini cakes and sodas for us…I didn’t even know how to react to that because this woman has no money and she spent the little she had on us! She is so welcoming and as we were all squeezed in her “house” I looked up and saw a picture that says “no situation is ever permanent”. That has become our groups motto because its so beautiful and true. But that’s just one of the ministries I’m doing. This week my group is going to prisons and hospitals! The prison cell we’re going to has children ages 12-18, even though there are some who are younger or older. I’m so excited! We’re teaching and playing games and just showing God’s love to all of these kids. Then we’ll be going around a nearby hospital and pray for anyone who wants prayer and just allow God to use us however he wants. We also go to the Watoto Villages every weekend to either do sports ministry or help out with whatever we can. The children are all I pictured them to be…ADORABLE! I’ll be walking and then I’ll feel someone holding my hand and it’s a whole bunch of children running behind me and they all grab your hands and walk with you until they can’t anymore. I love it so much because this is what I’ve been waiting for! But I’m happy I finally got to post without my computer dieing since the power goes out most of the time! But I just wanted to thank everyone again for making this possible because I would not be here if it wasn’t for you guys! Love you all! Hugs from Africa <3

Goodbye America, Hello Africa!

It's almost a week that I've been in Uganda and it has been absolutely amazing!!! It is SO beautiful here! Sometimes I can't believe I'm really here, but then I feel like I've been here forever...it's the weirdest thing! So far its just been a chill week, just getting to know my 9 roommates better and relaxing a bit before we start our busy schedule next week! Yesterday we actually visited 2 Watoto villages and got to walk around. It was really beautiful and it's so amazing to see how God uses people to build something so amazing! It's incredible to hear about the way God gives people visions of what he wants and it comes to life! I can't wait to start classes and ministry and just experience God in new ways!! I'm so excited for this new season in my life and can't wait to start this new journey! I'll try to post often (which can be a little difficult considering the fact that my schedule will be busy and the power goes out every day) - but thank God it hasn't been bad at all! Just a few more bugs but a lot more sun and delicious food!
Miss and love you all!

Fortunate & Maria

Together with Fortunate and Maria, the girls that stayed with us during Watoto's last visit in March!