Adoption.

It’s been incredible to see the Lord open my eyes and my heart to this topic so much in the past year, or really the past nine months. Something that I thought of so black and white has developed not just shades of gray, but really every color in between.

I have learned that as beautiful as adoption was created to be, it has, like other things in this world, been thwarted, damaged, and abused as a result of the fall and our sinful nature.

But let me share with you the beauty of it first.

“God demonstrates his love for us: While we were sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:5

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ.” Romans 8:17

Let that sink in. That’s awesome and beautiful, and can totally rock the way you see adoption, as it has with me. We were all lost and orphaned at some point, but God sought after us to adopt us into His eternal family. And He did so out of love. Go back and look, those verses point straight to that. So shouldn’t we, as Christians, be the first to reach out and care for and love orphans, especially after realizing how we would still be orphans had God not adopted us? Let’s look at scripture again.

Didn’t He call his church to be the hands and feet of Christ here on earth?

“And God placed all things under [Jesus’s] feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.” Ephesians 1:22-23

Didn’t He tell us that in seeking Him we would care for the least of these?

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

Didn’t He command the body of believers to care for orphans and widows?

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

Didn’t He intend for every child to be loved for by a family?

            “God sets the lonely in families.” Psalm 68:6

In case you’ve missed it, the answer to all of these questions is undoubtedly “Yes”. And for me, realizing these truths has continued to challenge me in learning more about the Christian orphan movement, why this is important, and what I can do. It starts with being open to learning, and allowing God to open your heart to truths that may be uncomfortable in bringing you out of your comfort zone in learning how you can best care for the least of these, including the orphans and widows.

In thinking how I was going to process all of this, I decided to stop here and continue in a little series of posts about all I’m learning and working through. So here’s for the first of a couple, at least.. Enjoy!

Moving Forward

Well these past two weeks have been a bit all over the place. Definitely getting things done, but still not quite in a routine that I can clearly express in words as to what I’m doing. But I think that’s ok:) I have continued to be challenged in growing accustomed to how stuff gets done here, as well as just flat out learning. I finished a book called Orphan Justice earlier this week and am working on getting something together about that book, what I am learning about the Christian orphan movement in general, and then my heart behind what I am doing and why. It’s been a little bit more difficult than I thought it would be in just getting all my ideas on paper, so to speak, so until I get that finished, here is a bit of what’s been going on these past couple of weeks.

Last week Em H. (who runs school) was out of town, so I got to take the reigns on school and was really excited about being “back in the classroom”! Monday and Tuesday were both really wonderful and I loved getting to spend time with all of the kids, like I was used to from the fall. I was so impressed at the progress so many of them have made and it was just great being back in that setting. Unfortunately, Tuesday afternoon I started feeling pretty crummy, and by Wednesday morning felt pretty miserable – fever, headaches, body aches, and all over the board in feeling hot then cold then hot again. Spent pretty much all day of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on the couch. Started feeling better on Friday, and by the evening felt much better. On top of missing school, Emily W. and I also had a couple meetings for Thursday and Friday that had to get postponed since I couldn’t really move from the couch.. On Thursday we were supposed to meet with a lawyer in Kampala that represents an adoption agency that we are hoping to be able to partner with in seeking international adoption. I think we are still a while away from partnership, but meeting with the lawyers and being able to ask more questions and find out more would definitely be a step in the right direction! So that meeting is postponed, but prayers for that meeting and the possibility of moving forward with this agency would be great!

Then on Friday, we were supposed to go to a church that partners with Compassion International to talk, ask questions, and brainstorm with them about ways that we, as Ekisa, could begin partnering with local churches to encourage and support them in caring for orphans. I will talk more about this in my next post about what I’m learning surrounding this, but this is something big that I feel like we have big plans for but not something that I want to limit our God to! But again, meeting postponed, which just gives me time to get a better grasp on ideas and questions I want to present. Excited in moving forward with this too!

Big blessing last week too, with one of our little girls, Alice! She is about a year old and has been at Ekisa since February, I think. She is such a precious little one, but really sick and nobody was really sure what was going on with her, or what to do to really help. She has hydrocephalus, but the doctors were really worried that if they did surgery to put a shunt in her little body just wouldn’t be able to handle it. But last Tuesday, they admitted her into the hospital and did the surgery on Wednesday. She was home on Friday, and is doing much, much better. Still a long way to go in her recovery, but we are praying her body will keep getting stronger and she will keep gaining weight. Prayers for this little one would be great too, and I will try to keep updates on her as well:) Here’s a picture of her that was posted on the Ekisa Facebook page!

 

This week has continued to be busy, as I am trying to keep up on our resettlement case, and the three domestic adoption cases that we are working through right now. As these progress I will share some awesome stories at how the Lord continues to work in bog ways in ours’ and these kiddos’ lives! Oh and celebrating the Fourth here was fun, complete with an American style cookout with hamburgers and hotdogs, lots of red, white, and blue outfits, and volleyball! So very blessed!

"Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that His name in exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things ; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Isaiah 12:4-6

Movie Night

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Well a lot has been going on in the past couple of weeks, but as I sit here trying to recall everything I’ve been up to, I’m struggling thinking about day-to-day simply because it has become day-to-day. I am learning more about our kiddos’ cases, becoming a much more familiar face in our office, and getting more and more excited about moving forward with reunifications and adoption cases!

Until I can think about a specific story to tell, here’s what I did on my Saturday night!! Walter’s birthday was on Thursday and he turned eight years old! Thursday night we went over to the house for cake and a movie with the kids, and got to sneak a few birthday hugs and kisses:) Then last night we had Walter and Sam over for a sleepover at the “new house”. We walked back from the house and they were all giggles and so excited. I had been telling them that I had something for them from home and promised when they came to the house they could get them. So pretty quickly after walking into the house, they asked about “my bag” (because I had said it was in my bags, or suitcases). I had put together a Nerf basketball hoop, that Stephan helped me pick out at home, and then they got matching Superman shirts! So precious – and very perfect, as they are very into super heroes!! I wasn’t sure what a hit the basketball hoop would be but it was great! They loved it and it was so funny watching try to make some. Sam even had some nice sound effects where he would say “aww” over and over, as he missed it, then when he’d get it, maybe every fifth shot, would shoot his arms up and squeal “yay”. I tried taking a video but it didn’t work too well. Here is a picture though! Dad, you’ll have fun with this when you get here:)

My Supermans:)

Clearly showing off their muscles!

After playing inside for a while, we went outside and played soccer, then ordered pizza for dinner, and then set up a projector and watched Batman Begins, complete with popcorn. Yes, a little old, but we fast-forwarded the scary scenes! They loved it and it was quite a treat getting to snuggle with them during the movie. Uncle Luke, a volunteer here, is living on our couch for this week before he heads back to America, and he had a tent that he brought with him that they set up in the living room and the three boys all slept in there. I don’t think Uncle Luke got much sleep haha. This morning I walked out to the boys playing with my iPad in the tent and it was just too precious not to take a picture of. The boys got dressed in their smart clothes and we headed to church! Pretty great weekend if you ask me!

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3

My Little Social Story

As of my last post, I am continuing to jump right into this whole social work thing. But I am definitely a teacher at heart. Don’t have a lot of fill in time, but wanted to give a brief update on a little guy we are working on resettling with his family, and to help with this transition I made a social story for him! Here is the last page of it! So excited for them to start using this in counseling and think it will be a great tool to help him transition:) Prayers for this family would be wonderful! 

Life on the job.

Well sort of. It’s definitely going to be quite the learning curve taking on the Adoption Coordinator, but I’m really excited, as these past two days have been great, but have definitely already taught me some things that I know are going to be difficult for me as time wears on. (I want to be able to tell as much of these stories as possible to be able to really give a sense of what’s going on, but for privacy and confidentiality purposes, they might be a little vague – I apologize in advance

I think I mentioned that I met Diana and Joseph, our new social workers, on Tuesday, but I have spent way more time in the office with them, and they are going to be incredible to work with! Pretty pumped:) Joseph was out yesterday taking one of our boys to his father’s house to spend some time for the possibility, and hope, for reunification! This really excites me! But while he was out, Diana showed me the ropes with all of our kiddos’ files and taking me through kind of the next steps with a lot of them. We have about 10-11 kids that we are finalizing abandonment cases for – I’m still learning what this means/entails, but after this is finished they will be able to be adopted, which is also really exciting.

One of these girls has a neighbor from the area that she is from who is interested in fostering/adopting her, so Diana and I went out to a town outside of Jinja to meet with her and talk to her more. This was a fun thing to be a part of and understanding a little bit more about the process of gathering, sorting, and working through all of the needed and desired information we get about our kids. To get out there we had to take a bota into town (one of the benefits of being with a Ugandan, we paid wayyy cheaper for our ride haha) then get on a taxi –large bus full of people – headed out of town. It was only about a 10 minute ride, so really not far at all. Then we had to walk a little bit through this village where I stuck out like a really sore thumb. I keep thinking I need to get tanner, but I just really don’t think there’s much I can do haha! Once we got to her house we went inside and just talked to her about her life, her desires to adopt our little girl, and then walked her through the next step of the process in doing an assessment on her/her family so that way we’d be able to present it to the adoption panel in Kampala. I didn’t do much but listen, but it was all very interesting, and luckily she could speak English so I was at least able to follow along!

Now here is where I am going to struggle. We left and I thought about A) how many more questions were on our paper that we could have gone on and asked, and B) how that seemed to go really well! Concerning (A), I need to get used to this lifestyle where it is much more relational and they are not going to push things just to get them checked off our list. Diana was explaining that this would be about a month’s process and we would be back several times, so we don’t need to get it done on the first visit. This definitely makes sense to me, as it should be a process, but I just felt that more could have been done; this is my type-A personality shining through, so I will definitely need prayers that I am able to adapt to this culture in this sense while still feeling that my time here is being used well. Now to (B), things do go well occasionally, but there is also so much that lies under each conversation that needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and followed-up with, as well as cross-checking in some situations. Basically in short, I cannot be so naïve, not just in this case, but in general, that everything is completely as it seems. Prayers that I am not so trusting that I make mistakes in decisions for our kids, but also not to become skeptical towards conversations that I will have.

So that was a little bit of yesterday, with some added market shopping and cooking dinner last night with some of the other people here, and here’s a quick run through of today. It kind of makes me laugh thinking about it. So Africa. Going back to our abandonment cases, our next step is running advertisements in the newspapers and radio stations in Kampala for some of our kids, in case our failed attempts at tracing families have failed and a family member sees the child in the paper – in a sense. However, on Tuesday as they went to Kampala to do this, they found out that first they needed to write a formal letter to the probation officer to grant permission. Since we didn’t get a chance to do this yesterday, Diana and I planned on doing it today. I was working on Care Orders that need to be made for each of our kids and Diana was working on the letter, but as we went to print it our power went off. (Also note that our water had been cut off by the city for whatever reason, throughout the whole town, and we had already had loads of people going to draw jerry-cans of water from the lake – like I said this is Africa!) Sense we couldn’t print at Ekisa, Joseph rode his bike to town with a flash drive to print it, but got back maybe 45 minutes later to inform us that nobody in town had power. Diana had just called the official to let him know we would be there soon, so we decided to at least try going down there to show him it on the flash. We drove into town (my first time driving since being back!) and he basically said “we have to do this formally so I need a print-out”. We then stopped at three print shops to see if anyone had a generator and the third place did, so we were able to print it out, but it needed Em’s signature. We drove all the way back to Ekisa, probably 10 minutes, and it was raining, to get Em to sign it, then we headed back into town. We walked back into his office and he was gone haha. Nobody knew when he would be back, so we went home and called it a day, because there was pretty much nothing else we could get done without power. What a run around day.

This is where I need prayers for this. I like getting things done and sometimes it’s completely out of my control. The water, the power, the lifestyle of people in Uganda. So out of my control. It definitely makes me laugh, but I’m nervous as time goes on, I’m going to struggle with feeling unproductive. As with everything I need to place this in God’s hands and know that His timing is perfect, even when it comes down to some of these silly little things. Not only is His timing perfect, but His good and sovereign plan. Me being this Adoption Coordinator is not going to change anything that God doesn’t already know is going to happen. I am so thankful that when I get stressed when things don’t go the way I think they should or could, that I can rest in God’s will and know that it’s not my plan to begin with! I know I still have lots to learn about what this next year is really going to look like, but this is definitely a start!

“’Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

Luke 10:41-42

Pray that I may have a heart like Mary.

Oh my travel stories..

Well of course it couldn’t be easy. Well maybe it could, but not for me. I was so close to wanting to turn around, go back to the car, and just go home. But I didn’t, and here’s my story of coming back to Uganda.

Saturday was a good day. Woke up and had coffee with Mom and Dad on the front porch, enjoying a beautiful morning. Then had a slow morning getting ready, finishing packing, visiting with friends and family that came in and out, and really wasn’t getting that stressed or overwhelmed – which some of you know that this is typically how I get before flying – or really traveling in general. Around 5:00 we got all of my luggage upstairs and out to the truck and headed towards the airport for dinner where we were meeting some friends. My flight wasn’t until 10:25, so our timing was perfect – we got dinner at 6:00, then went to get ice cream because we had spare time, then got to the airport right around 8:00, which was perfect. It was tough saying good bye to some of my best friends, but I was excited and thought that this high could carry me tear-free through the airport.  Oh man, oh man.
We get to the airport and wait in line to heck my luggage and as soon as I hand me boarding pass to the guy behind the counter, he looks at it and says, “You missed your flight, it just took off.” Standing there stunned, watching as he circled the flight time “20:25” I immediately knew what I did wrong and started crying. I messed up the 24-hour clock and thought that “20:25” translated to “10:25” and not “8:25”. I was embarrassed, humiliated, and had no idea what I was going to next, or how much it was going to cost me to fix this pretty epic mistake. And what I think bothered me most about this, is I don’t make mistakes like this. I’m not used to messing up, and I didn’t know how to handle it. Then somehow Mom saying “Someday we will laugh about this” really wasn’t helping.
I then had to get in the ticketing line, because there really was a flight at 10:25 p.m. and there was a possibility that I could get on that. So after waiting a while to talk to the next lady – who, praise God, was as sweet and as helpful as can be, because I was still a mess – we finally got up to talk to her and she said that the flight was overbooked and I was on standby but there was no guarantee that I’d be able to get on it..more tears. But then as she was looking at my info, she questioned me having a one-way ticket into Uganda and said that in filling out my Visa information I needed to have a return ticket booked to even be let in. Well my travel agent who I used didn’t know/mention this, so again another hick-up. So long story short I had to book a return ticket right there, and by the time we finished I was the only one left in the check-in line and I was terrified even if I could fit on the flight I wouldn’t make it. But she said that since booking was closed, there was a seat that I could fit on and that I would have time to make it. So after really quick good-byes to my family, still crying, I rushed through security and to my gate.

Another long-story short, I knew a girl on my flight, who was a friend of a friend, who lives in Kampala who was heading back to Uganda too, Mallory. Well seeing as I thought I was on the 10:25 flight the whole time, I thought we had the exact same flight, so that was such a blessing being able to find her after getting to my gate and being able to talk and be comforted by her! Then we get on the flight, and we head to London, for about a 10-hour layover. Well Mallory, my now friend(!), had a friend from Uganda who lived in London going to seminary there, so we were able to meet up with him and take on London! It was great being able to get out of the airport and we took the London Tube (metro essentially) to Kensington Station, the museum district, got sandwiches at a little shop, ate outside, then went to the London Natural History Museum. It was fun but after talking later, Mallory and I thought about how much more interesting and special going to a museum was for Derrick, her Ugandan friend, who grew up in Uganda and museums were something so new and exciting for him. That sure put things in perspective, and definitely humbled me in thinking about how easy it is in the States, especially living in Virginia, so close to D.C., to go to museums, and then in thinking about how really incredible they are. I’m very thankful for that reality check, especially in heading to Uganda and thinking about what the next year of my life is going to look like. Plus, it was exciting to get out and about in London and do something and see something I haven’t before!!

Mallory and I then took on the Tube by ourselves to head back to the airport and we both were close to falling asleep multiple times and we nodded in and out. Getting back to the airport we still had some time to spare so we got dinner and just hung out. Then we were on the plane again. I slept just about the entire flight to London, but definitely had a harder time on the way to Uganda. I did sleep but was definitely more in and out on this 9-hr ride. I think I was very worried about getting my Visa and then getting all of my bags – which if you remember from last time did not happen. Well looking back now, after saying good-bye to my family it was really smooth sailing from there, and I am very grateful. My Visa was really no issue, and all three of my bags came:) yay!

Job was in the airport waiting for me and it was wonderful to see a familiar face. We hit no traffic in Kampala because it was a national holiday, Martyr’s Day, so all of the offices and most stores were closed. I was thankful for how that worked out! Then we got to Jinja around 11 in the morning and it was so great! I don’t think I stopped smiling as I was greeted by the mammas that remembered me in saying “Auntie B, Auntie B, you came back”, then in going in and hugging Em H., and then being swarmed by kids. Sam hobbled over to me, a little shocked and quiet, but hugged me and sat on my lap, and other kids were all over me. Zeke non-stop was yelling “Auntie B, Auntie B” in his deep, excited voice, which was wonderful! I then spent the next couple of hours hanging out at the house, helping with school, and checking out all the changes that have happened at the house over the last several months. For lunch we had rice and beans – my fav lunch option, which I thought it would be since it was Monday! Happy to see the lunch schedule hasn’t changed haha! Which also meant that today was mukene (little fish, not that appetizing) so I avoided that! Definitely the little things:)

Then yesterday afternoon I headed down with a couple of other volunteers to the new “volunteer house” which is right down the road that Em W.  (she comes back from the States on Friday) and the volunteers live in (the garage has been turned into the volunteer room). There is also an office room that I will live in. The bed they ordered was supposed to be here on Monday, but since it was a holiday it didn’t come. Go figure haha. But I did have my mattress so I was able to sleep on that. But as of now I don’t have any shelves or anything so my stuff is still in a my suitcases and it has been quite difficult trying to find anything in particular and I usually have to open every one before I find what I need. I guess actually moving in will be quite the process!

Last night we went out for dinner for my first night and it was fun going out to a place that was so familiar in the fall! Then we came home, went to bed, and I was woken up this morning at 12:00, by another girl who is here who didn’t want my sleep schedule to be too messed up! I was very grateful for that! After getting ready this morning/afternoon I headed into town by myself to run errands – bank to get money, café to get a little bit of internet, grocery store to get phone minutes and a little bit of food, Orange store to get internet, then on a boda headed back to Ekisa. I got back right after lunch and I had such a similar greeting as yesterday. I’m not sure if anyone really believed that I was really back haha. After hanging out for a little bit outside I went back to the office and to read through files and whatnot and hung out with Samuel, our counselor, and Diana and Joseph, our new social workers, to get caught up and all that has been happening and trying to figure out what comes next. It was fun just catching up with everything!

Then we went back to my house, ate dinner, and came back down to Ekisa, because I really wanted to be here for the post-dinner, post-bath, pre-bed time! Probably my favorite part of the day! The bigger kids come out in their pj’s and then there is either music, coloring, Bible stories, or other activity for about an hour until bedtime. I was really hoping it was music night, but it was Bible stories, so I got to read some stories and hang out with the kids, then go around and tuck some of them in and kiss them all good night! Gosh I love these kids and am so incredibly blessed to be back!

That’s about it for tonight, sorry for writing a book, but there it is for my trip here and my first couple of days! Thank you all for keeping me and this incredible ministry in your prayers!

I am loved.

Put very, very simply. Yes, I am loved. And I am so very grateful.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has showered me with love, encouragement, words of wisdom and advice, prayers, and time in these past couple of weeks as I’ve been getting ready to head off on my next big adventure. Well that day is here – and I could not be more thrilled at this opportunity to go back to Uganda and serve the Lord in this way!

Thank you to my friends in Charlottesville – from UVA, the Curry School, my Community Group, and families I babysit for.  Friends who housed me and let me crash on their couches when I moved out of my house. Friends who prayed for me and this trip, for support raising and good community in Uganda. Friends who encouraged me as I finished student teaching and were there with me at graduation.

Thank you to my Portico Church family. I had the chance to speak at Portico last Sunday and am so thankful that God led me to becoming a part of a church body that is so intentional, missionally driven, and supportive. Thank you to everyone who have already sent me emails or spoke with me at church last Sunday! I’m sorry I haven’t been the quickest responder, but I promise that they really mean so much to me! And thank you for your prayers; I am so eager to see how God is going to use me in Uganda, and am blessed that I get to share in that with you all as a church body!

Thank you to amazing and wonderful community in Berryville. I am so grateful for everyone who came out to my grad/going-away party, even to just stop by to say hi and bye. Thank you to everyone who wrote me letters that I get to take with me to Uganda to let me feel a little closer to home. I am so grateful for my friendships here, and being surrounded by people who have loved me and cared for me for most of my life!

Thank you to everyone who has called or texted me over the course of the last week, some of whom I know I didn’t get back to; I’m sorry, I’m sometimes the worst with communication. But my thank you is very sincere. Thank you for taking the time in thinking of me and letting me know. I am so thankful for the phone conversations that I did get to have this week with so many people that I love, who don’t live close, but I am reminded how great those relationships are!

A big thank you to my parents. I have loved the time I have had at home, and as hard as it has been on you to get ready for me to leave for a year, thank you for trusting in the Lord’s plan for me and His sovereignty in calling me to Uganda for this period of my life. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for you both. Thank you for all your love that you continuously shower on Anna, Stephan, and me - we are so very blessed to have parents like you!

Thank you to everyone who is reading this and keeping up with me during my year in Uganda! I will do my best to keep you updated and tell of the awesome things that God is doing! More than anything I am thankful for how He works and how He choses to use someone like me to bring Him glory. Pretty incredible. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 136:1