There is so much I want to say and do right now, please forgive the scattered thoughts today.
First, we need your input. Our first “book club” will be Red Letters by Tom Davis. We’ll go through the book one chapter per week with live chats here at KnownToMe, starting the week of October 26th. The question is: what evening would work best for you? Let us know if you would like to participate and have specific days of the week that are good or bad. We’ll do our best to accommodate everyone’s schedules. If you can’t afford the book, contact me through this site – we’ll order you a copy. Don’t be bashful, it will be our pleasure to do that. If I can overcome objections from my wife (OK, from everyone I know…) our second book will be Pensees by Blaise Pascal. If I don’t get that done, I’ll impose my beloved Pensees on all of you through my posts. You’ll like it, trust me… you just have to think like a disturbed genius mathematician physicist engineer existentialist philosopher theologian (that’s not a description of me by the way, it’s a description of Pascal)… although a description of me may be similar on many points, other than the genius one.
We are putting the finishing touches on the Swaziland trip. Don is the member of our group who is going, and he will post details soon, so I’m not going to steal his thunder. However, the entire group going with Children’s Hope Chest on this trip has committed to take basic necessities and some other items for a future Christmas party at some of the locations they will visit. In general, the preference is to buy in Africa to support businesses there, but some things, such as T-shirts, washcloths, and soap are either hard to get there or very expensive. The total cost of the items they will take is approximately $1,500. Between our founding group and our church, we have covered the cost of the trip ($2,500) and have committed to cover the $1,500 cost of the items the group will be taking. We have the means to do this ourselves and with support from our church. However, we feel it is appropriate to put this $1,500 cost in front of this group so you can be a part of meeting the needs we will see from day one. This is not a low pressure thing – it is a NO pressure thing. If you would like to contribute in any amount - $5, $10, anything at all, please comment on this post or contact Jim directly through this site.
Finally, we will begin scattering posts from a recent Children’s Hope Chest trip to Uganda into our posts. The story is compelling, and it is likely that Don’s trip will parallel this one in many ways. The first of those posts is copied below. If you read it and can’t wait for the rest, the story is laid out at: http://lovingtheleast.blogspot.com/
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
Uganda Day 2
Oh my. Where to start?? I’m in Africa! It’s Day 2 of my trip and I am happily overwhelmed. I just sat with my arm out the bus window clicking away with my camera and video camera. I just wanted to BREATHE in everything I saw…here are some of the things my eyes inhaled along the way:
The fumes from all the motorcycles and buses were overwhelming but they didn’t keep me from hanging out the window all afternoon. There were people riding on motorcycles three at a time. There were people baking bricks in the sunshine on their rooftops. I can’t tell you the number of children I passed on the road who were alone carrying water in dirty cans. There were people doing back breaking work in the sugar cane fields in the heat of the day. There were bananas EVERYWHERE…on women’s heads, in baskets on the side of the road, hanging from trees. Children everywhere waved at us while shouting “Mzungu, Mzungu! How are you , Mzungu?”. Mzungu means “lost white person”…I guess that about sums it up. There were people laying in the shade by the side of the road under Mango trees. There were mothers sitting outside their houses bent over the washboard doing laundry while their children hauled them water to use. There were older women sitting on their front porch with their sewing machines. There were mothers playing outside with their children and fanning them with leaves to cool them down.
And that was just on the way to Jinja. We went to visit a sponsored carepoint called Rapha Community School today. This particular care point has 44 sponsored children although there are 267 children there. My experience with these children today was simply UNBELIEVABLE. They hung on me…they held my hands…they told me their names over and over again. They sang for us, they quoted scripture, they told us how thankful they were for our sponsorship (even though it’s Brandi’s church that is sponsoring them – not me). But probably the most impactful moment was this young girl who has nothing by the world’s standards (one outfit, not much food, no parents) standing up in front of us and quoting the following scripture:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” – Matthew 6:25
I wept the whole time she read that scripture. How beautiful to hear those words come out of her mouth and how thought provoking for my own heart . What are the ridiculous things that I think and worry about on a given day? Not having that cute outfit from the store? Not having things turn out the way I want them? Getting frustrated with the driver in front of me? And there stood this young girl with a huge smile on her face in the midst of poverty and the loss of her family speaking from her heart about why she shouldn’t worry when she can pray. It was powerful.
Then to top it all off I got to spend the evening with Katie Davis and her 13 girls. Oh my goodness – those girls have captured my heart. Margaret at the end of the night said “Aunt Amy…can you stay here?”. Ok. I’m hooked. She is an amazing 20 year old who lives in Uganda with 13 girls. Her story is powerful, her children are precious and I was amazed by her sweet family tonight.
I’m sorry there’s no video or pictures tonight…maybe tomorrow night. Internet connection is VERY slow here so I can’t upload anything now - bummer because I have some awesome stuff to show you! But don’t worry, they will come. Thanks for all your prayers…I am feeling them and can’t wait to see what God has in store for the rest of the week.
