My journey to Africa...

Click here for pictures from Uganda!



Day 1
It's 11:08 PM (local time) and I have arrived safely in D.C.
I am SO ready to crash!
It's been a whirlwind of a day..
Worked for a few hours this morning at the office & said bye to Autum & her sweet puppy, Auty!
Then ran around doing last minute preparations & errands.
Finished packing at home..
Mum & Pa Sartain helped me by feeding me yummy cherry cobbler & ice cream! ;)
In all the frenzy of packing up my things in WI earlier in the week & leaving for Africa today...
I didn't even think about how I would get to the airport. ha!
So, my sweet friend Beth so kindly offered to take me!!
No problems at the Nashville airport.
Found out Starbucks has a new logo...little interesting fact for the day :)
Flight from Nashville to D.C. was smooth...was able to do some reading and journaling-which I loved!
Checked into my hotel..it's a beautiful hotel, except I ended up in a smoking room :(
Maid came & sprayed it for me though :)
Going to get ready for bed now...have to meet our team at 6 AM tomorrow for breakfast!
Our flight leaves at 11 AM. So excited!!!
Please continue to pray for our travels.
I will blog as much as I can & keep everyone posted.
Thank you Lord for this amazing opportunity! I love you.
To my wonderful family & friends, I love you all!!
xoxo

Day 2
It's 9:15 AM (local time) and our team is all together here at the Dulles airport. Yay!
Sporting our Visting Orphans t-shirts too :)
I love it!
Everyone seems super sweet, wonderful & excited to be going!
Had breakfast-to-go & Starbucks.
Now we wait.
We depart at 11 AM so a nice & relaxing morning.
I did get some rest but was pretty anxious/excited about today...
and of course I was worried I would not get up to my alarm-so not sure if it was a deep sleep.
Alarm was set for 4:45 AM.
We figured that in about 4 hours after we arrive on the plane we should be prepared to sleep..
in order to adjust to the time change.
12-hour flight ahead of us!
Call me crazy but I love it.
Lots of time to read, sleep, journal, work on my Bible Study & maybe watch a movie :)
Now it's time to take a walk before our long flight.
Thank you for your continued prayers.

Great words taken from my morning devotion:
"A mountaintop is a great place to see the stairs, but to clearly see God requires a change of heart.
To get a clear view of God, focus on Jesus Christ."

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ~Matthew 5:8

Lots of love,
Brenda

** Okay, so I did not get the opportunity to blog while I was in Africa, like I anticipated! Seeing that it was my first trip with VO- I spent a lot of time training on the details of our trips, loved on the children and processed everything all at once. So...this did not leave much time for me to blog. I'm going to try and re-cap things a few days after our arrival home & refer to some things I documented along the way! Bare with me- this could take me a few days to post everything! Enjoy :)

Day 3
We arrived at the Entebbe airport (Addis Ababa) in Ethiopia safely at about 12:45PM.
Long but smooth flight. Ended up in the MIDDLE seat :(
Sat next to an interesting girl that was traveling to Ethiopia to teach Law.
Was able to work on my Beth Moore bible study, read, watch a few movies & even get a few hours of sleep! Wasn't the greatest sleep- but the excitement was part of that!
Once we arrived, our bus drivers, Abus & Julius (yes, his name was A-bus!) were there to pick us up.
We loaded up the Canaan Children's Home truck with all of our luggage and our team gathered on the bus & headed to Jinja (which was about 3 hours away!)
I enjoy sitting at the front of the bus just to take in the scenery!
Dirt roads. Some people walking...usually with a child on their back or carrying some sort of goods on their heads. A lot of people on bikes.                     

Once we got into the city...traffic was chaos. So many vehicles on the small & narrow roads. They don't really have traffic regulations there. Lots of horns beeping. Many potholes. A lot of congestion and fumes filled the air. People walking in and out of traffic. Government officials & policemen surrounded the city. Much of this was still from the riots that had broken out because of the recent elections.
Once we got to the countryside, things were a lot more pleasant and beautiful!

We arrived at the King Fisher Lodge in Jinja. Wow! Absolutely beautiful resort.
After a long day of travel- it was a perfect way to spend the evening. Relaxed.
We received our rooms - they were like little huts, so unique!
I had the pleasure of sharing a room with Katie :)
We freshened up a bit and gathered together for dinner!
Fresh avocados for an appetizer. Fresh, hand-made juice made by the staff. Spaghetti (for me) for dinner.
Besides the long wait for our food, everything was wonderful.
By this time, we were all well past the point of exhaustion.
We all retreated to bed.
By this time we were all really exhausted
We crawled into our beds, protected by mosquito nets, & fell fast asleep!

Day 4
Woke up to the amazingly peaceful sound of nature - so many different kinds of birds. Blissful.
The sunrise and view of the resort was breathtaking.
We started our morning with a breakfast buffet- homemade omelets, juicy pineapple, juice and coffee!
Simon shared some great words that he received from the Lord with the team.
Next up. A boat ride to the source of the Nile.
Wow. This was amazing.
We stepped into these wood boats and took a peaceful tour of the river.
We were shown exactly where the source of the Nile was...and how it separated from the Lake.
We saw all kinds of exotic birds, a water snake and even a large lizard on shore.
The scenery was beautiful. The sun was shining. God was present! I could have stayed on that river all day!
When we returned back to the resort, we gathered our luggage and the team got together to sort all of our team donations for the different ministries we were going to be serving during the week.
This was amazing!
Soccer balls. Jump ropes. Deodorant. Clothing. Shoes. Medical supplies. Technical equipment. Books. Bibles. Arts & Crafts....and much, much more!
The way this team came together and collected all of these donations & how relatively easy it was to organize it all, was awesome!
Once sorted, we loaded everything back onto the Canaan's truck and departed for Canaan Children's Home, one of the partner ministries we would be serving with.

....more to come :)

Love.4.Orphans

Oh.my.goodness. The time is here!!

Tomorrow, Friday, March 11th, 2011 I will be departing for Uganda, Africa with an amazing team of 18 people through Visiting Orphans! Many of you know I joined VO, a Christian non-profit located in Brentwood, TN, in January. This will be my 1st Mission Trip with them. I don't know why He chose me...but I am so thankful He did. I believe God has a bigger and better plan for my life, one that I could never imagine. I desire for my heart to break for what breaks His. I am humbly amazed at how much my life has changed over the years, and especially in how my heart and passions in life have changed. 

It's simple. We are beyond blessed in America and many of us continue to take it for granted. We are me-focused. I feel that it is time to let go of these worldly possessions, false beliefs, and idols...and begin to realize what others don't have and to start serving and giving them the attention and love they deserve. 

Although, my spiritual journey has consisted of several highs and lows, it has also involved continual growth and learning. I am confident that although I have shed several tears, complained and asked God "why is this happening to me?", most of my growth has occurred through these painful heartaches, challenges and trials in my life. He is stretching me. He is transforming me. Everyday I am learning to surrender MY plans, and depend completely on God, living for Him and HIS purpose for my life. I have a strong passion for the orphans and want to experience what it means to live out the biblical mandate to look after and care for them.

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

If you would like to see what I will be doing, I have attached my itinerary, links to the different partner ministries and orphanages we will be working with, and some videos to watch. Oh. You may just need to grab kleenex. 


Brenda's UGANDA itinerary

Fri. Mar 11th - Fly to D.C, check into hotel. Worship and prayer with the team.

Sat. Mar 12th - Meet team for breakfast at 6:30 AM and depart for airport. Fly out of Dulles airport on Ethiopian airlines at 11 AM for Uganda.

Sun. Mar 13th - Arrive in Entebbe at 12:45 PM. Drive to Jinja, Uganda and check in to hotel. Exchange money, rest some and have dinner with the team. 

Mon. Mar 14th - Spend the day at Canaan Children's Home and spend the night. 

Tue. Mar 15th - Work with street children in Jinja with Pillars of Hope Uganda/From the Streets.
Wed. Mar 16th - Spend the day at Canaan Children's Home. Shopping at the market in Jinja. Drive to Kampala, Uganda and check into hotel.

Thur. Mar 17th - Spend the day with Pastor Samuel and the children of Return Uganda Ministries.
Fri. Mar 18th - Spend the day with children of Return Uganda Ministries. Drive to Jinja and eat dinner at Pastor Isaac's.
Sat. Mar 19th - Spend the day with Amazima ministries feeding program to work with Katie Davis' children. Boat ride to source of the Nile, the longest river in the world, and dinner at Canaan's.

Sun. Mar 20th - Spend the day with Amazima ministries to work with Katie Davis' children among the Karamajong Tribe, some of the poorest of the poor. Drive back to Kampala and check into hotel.

Mon. Mar 21st - Spend the day with Royal Hope Academy children.

Tue. Mar 22nd - Arrive at the airport, depart for the States.

Wed. Mar 23rd - Arrive home in the States!

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of this calling on my life. I cannot express my gratitude and thankfulness that I have each of you in my life. Thank you for loving me for who I am, faults and all. Thank you for your advice, your wisdom, your guidance, your inspiration, your friendship, your listening ears or shoulders to cry on, and for your generous hearts to help me in any way. I especially want to thank those of you who have helped me and continue to help me during this new transition in my life and relocation to Nashville, Tennessee. While it has been an adventure, it has not been easy. In fact, it has probably been the most challenging time in my life. I continue to learn a lot about me and who God truly is. I am learning to trust Him as the creator of my life, who is in ALL the details.  I sincerely thank you all for your patience and understanding through it all. I am completely humbled by this amazing opportunity to coordinate Mission Trips to visit the "least of these" and share God's unconditional, unchanging, all-powerful love to each one of them.

Family and Friends, I am asking for your prayers for our team as we travel, for our safety and protection, and for the lives of these orphans to be changed forever. I also pray for boldness, wisdom and God's spirit as I work alongside our team and to share the love of Jesus with these beautiful children who deserve love and so much more. I also pray that God would be glorified in all I do and say...and that He would do something amazing in me through this experience. 


I love you all,
Brenda