It's been a while....

So it's been a while...

The Reynolds have been really busy. We've been renovating a 1978 (FREE!) boat (pictures to come, hopefully), canning tons of green beans, gardening, working away, taking the youth to camp, and getting ready for our vacation!

Travis planted a rather large garden with green beans, lots of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, corn, blueberries, etc. I have canned 21 quarts of green beans and saved some fresh ones to have with supper! We have made lots of new recipes with the squash and zucchini. We've been gardening for 3 years now and each year like to try something new. Corn was our new adventure this year. It's fun to plant things and see what comes up! Plus you get to eat fresh veggies...they taste great and are super healthy! :)

I'll post more on the boat adventure later...but for now just know that it's taken a lot of TLC, but it floats, runs, and can even pull a tube...so look out Lake Norman....the Reynolds are coming in the hoopty boat!

Last week, I left with the youth from our church to help lead them on their annual adventure to Fort Caswell or Camp Caswell. The youth love going and they have wonderful times of worship and lessons for youth and adults. I enjoyed getting to spend time with 40 of our youth, getting to know them better, going to the beach, laughing with my Mom (she was our cook!) and basking in God's grace. As adults sometimes we think experiences like these are just for the kids...I think we couldn't be more sadly mistaken. I experienced so much this past week and am learning more and more about myself and to what I believe God is calling my family. It's an exciting time for us and we can't wait to learn what doors the Lord is going to open!

Our speaker at camp this past week was EJ Swanson. You should look him up- he has an incredible testimony. EJ just recently began an organization called "I Won't Watch." His motto is "Stop watching, Start doing." The organization sells really cool watches and gives some of the profit to Compassion International. The watches run from $15-$25. EJ gave all our youth one with the promise that we would share his passion and desire to help those less fortunate than ourselves. He currently has folks serving in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but has also helped support children in East Africa- a place so near and dear to Travis and myself. We want to help support EJ and his efforts, so please visit www.iwontwatch.com!

We are going on vacation in the near future to Hilton Head Island. Travis has been working so hard and we are both ready to get away! We are looking forward to sand between our toes and I know Travis is ready to swing a club or two on the local golf courses!

All for now....posting soon on some new Pinterest recipes I am trying! Will let you know how they turn out!

Peace and Love~
Kristen

That post I was talking about...

I said I was going to post "tomorrow." I've been a bit busy, but the words from this book I'm reading haven't left my mind. I'm reading Kisses from Katie and while she amazes me, I'm thankful the Lord is using her to impact the U.S. and other countries. Katie is now around 24 years old and is the mother to 14 Ugandan little girls. I just wanted to post a couple of paragraphs from her book that spoke to me...
The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and the 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth are Christians. 


The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left.


This is the Truth. I have the freedom to believe it. The freedom, the opportunity to do something about it. The truth is that He loves these children just as much as He loves me and now that I know, I am responsible.


People.... we just read it, now we know it, now we are responsible. It doesn't mean you have to go or even give to Uganda necessarily, but it does mean that the children of this world deserve God's love- no matter who they are- American, Chinese, Ugandan, or Australian....they are His and He made us, His followers, responsible.

Peace and Love~ Kristen

It's been a week now...

Since we left Uganda. My heart and the way that I feel about the people of Uganda have not changed. I wake up in the morning thinking about them and find myself thinking about certain children or faces throughout my day. I'm sure it seems logical that I, in time, would begin to forget or that my daily life would become so routine that I wouldn't think of them so much, but I don't think that is going to be the case. You see, I think my eyes and my heart have been changed in way that I didn't expect. I see these people as family now. We are all God's children and if we don't look at one another as siblings in Christ then we are missing the picture of how God created this earth and his people to be.

In this post I wanted to put in a few pictures from our trip...below are pictures from our first 2 days in Kampala. Kampala is a larger city...the President lives here and Parliament is there. There is a constant smell of exhaust fumes and open fires as you drive through the city. People on little motorcycles or in taxis are everywhere and if they are not riding these, they are walking. There is no such thing as personal space in Uganda. The first two days we worked with Return Ministries, started and run by Pastor Samuel. He is a wise and loving man. You will see our team with him in one of the pictures. We handed out bags with many different types of supplies to families in his village. We played with and fed the kids at his ministry. I love these dear children...they were the first Ugandans I met and they were precious. You can see my previous posts for more on them.

After leaving Kampala, we moved on to Canaan's Children's home. Pastor or "Papa" as he is affectionately known as, began this ministry after almost being killed by a rebel army some years ago for his faith in Jesus. He was called and vowed to the Lord that he would care for the children of Uganda. He is making good on his promise as 120 orphaned children live on this compound. They are fed, clothed, and sent to school.  We held VBS in the afternoons with as many kids as we could from Canaans, but also a lot of street children. These children broke my heart because this was the highlight of their day. To sing, learn, and make a simple craft was so fun to them. We jumped rope and painted fingernails. Simple things to Americans, but treasures to Ugandan children.  In the mornings we visited different ministries. We visited Amani baby cottage (the first couple of pictures), Sanyu baby cottage (see my previous post- one the highlights of my trip...amazing too see God's provision!), Pillars of Hope Ministry (see pictures of the loom...they make beautiful pieces of work to sell for money, which pays for food and school fees for the street children in their ministry), the Karamajong Tribe (considered the lowest of the low in Uganda..no one wants them or cares for them other than the few ministries working with them. Their children were absolutely filthy, but some of the most attention and love-needy people I have ever met). We also visited the school that most Cannan's kids go to. Friday night we gave almost all of the children a set of new sheets and a pillow. We also gave socks, clothes, notebooks, and math sets.  Our team worked so hard each day to give all we had of ourselves to each of these groups of people. I cannot describe in words to you what it was like, but you have to know that each day changed mine and Travis's lives. We simply do not look at people the same way anymore. 

(You can click and drag to make this bigger, the pictures are also on my facebook page)

Below is a quick video of some of the smaller kids performing on Friday night for our "Welcome." It is hard to hear, but they were precious! 

I know this post is long, but I need to share with you one more thing. Before we went to Uganda, we knew of a young man named Isaac who Welch (our friend and trip leader) befriended on his last trip. Isaac is very bright and ambitious. When we got to Uganda, Isaac was in the hospital. There was no real diagnosis- hospitals do not even come close to the type of medical care we have here. While we were there, he was released and seemed to be feeling somewhat better. We learned this week that Isaac is very, very sick and at one point was close to not making it. He left Canaan's/Jinja and is now in Kampala in a larger, private hospital. Just to be admitted and seen the cost was $120. To stay there cost much more. Pastor Samuel (Return Ministries) is helping take care of his hospital cost. This is a burden, though, for Samuel and Isaac as money is not an abundant resource. We are praying for God's will in Isaac's life and how best to help him. Please join us in praying for this special young man. 

Isaac with Welch as we picked him up from the hospital.

 I want to share another passage from a book I have been reading....maybe tomorrow :).Thank you for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for us as we discern what God would have us to continue to do for His people.  

Peace and Love~

Kristen

Uganda day 5

We just realized tomorrow is Thursday! Our time here is going by fast. This morning we visited a baby cottage. No Team has ever visited there before. The woman runnig it said she was doing her best to fulfill a vision she had as a child- to take care of the abandoned and show them Jesus. She is struggling financially to fulfill this, but is still taking care of 13 infants, whose parents did not want them. She is working on her adoption paperwork so that people can adopt from her home. When we asked what she needed she told us diapers, clothes, and baby toys. We gave her a small bag that we had left from donations. Travis and I held Baby Elijah and Baby Somali. They were absolutely precious, and to know that they did t have mommies or daddies broke my heart! As we left we have the woman doing the orphanage enough money to cover the rent for a whole year. She wept. She had not mentioned money to us at all but our team felt led to give to her. After we gAve it she told us that her landlord was threatening to kick her out and that her rent was due tomorrow, but she had prayed about how to pay it because she had NO money! We all cried with her because Gods provision was more han evident in that moment. It was a moment I will never forget. After we left there, we went to pillars of hope ministry and played with the street children there. All they wanted was our touch. We sang and they sang for us. It was beautiful! When we came back we did VBS with the Canaan's kids. We turned rope for a long time and then Travis and I played soccer with some of the younger boys! We even set up a small make shift soccer clinic and did a few dribbling drills with them! We had a ball and they were all smiles. Today I am so thankful for what God is doing in these children's lives. They love hearing about Jesus and they are so happy to sing and dance and play soccer around rocks and flip flops! God is breaking my heart in a way words can't describe. I'm so thankful for these past 5 days and looking forward to tomorrow. We work with the Karamajong tribe.

-Kristen

Uganda days 3 and 4

So we just got Internet thanks to welch here at Canaan's. The past two days have been emotional, fun, and exhausting. We made it to Canaan's last night and I'm telling you when we got off the bus it was like body surfing- the kids were literally picking us up and lifting us out of the bus.They were so excited to see us! They were yelling Muzungus,Muzungus (white people)! We chatted for a bit and then Had dinner. Today we went to the Amani Baby Cottage. I'll post more in depth when I get home, but my heart was truly broken. Some of the kids were orphans and waiting to be adopted. Others simply have parents who can't care for them. I held a sweet boy who was HIV positive in my arms and just wanted him to know how much he was loved! We held and kissed and hugged so many children! They are truly precious in the sight of the Father. After Amani we came back to canaans and did VBS with the little kids. We then spent hours drawing, singing, and playing with the kids. I also helped Auntie Daisy give her 19 house kids a bath! It was the hilight of my day! They were just so sweet and wanted to hold onto every touch, hug, word and kiss! I am amazed the difference the Lord is able to make in these kids lives through a bunch of Muzungus.

Maybe more tomorrow!
Kristen
Disclaimer: I'm typing from an IPhone... Spelling is not the easiest! :)

Uganda day 2

I cannot describe what my heart feels after today! We spent the morning worshiping with Pastor Samuel and Return Ministries. We sang and then fed the kids the rice and beans that we had prepurchased. This is the only meal many of these kids could receive in the next couple days. The kids grabbed my hands, played with my watch, and traced my veins with their fingers. They jumped all over Travis and just wanted him to pick them up And hold them. We did the hokey pokey and played ring a round the rosie. They love the simple things! This afternoon we drove a ways And visited the village of some of the orphans. We delivered the bags so many of you donated to. Pastor Samuels wife told us that the people were ecstatic! The adults clapped when we told them we were giving them vitamins! It was more than humbling to see how the smallest things made them so happy! We are eating dinner now and resting a bit for tomorrow. Some of our luggage still hasn't made it! Please keep praying that we get it for supplies. Thanks do much!
-Kristen

We made it!

We traveled all through the night and have made it to adOnai hotel. Everyone is obviously worn out, but still excited! We have a busy day tomorrow so we are taking the rest of tonight to recOver. Pray for the 10 bags that didn't make it here with us! We really need the medical and craft supplies in those bags! What a beautiful country with beautiful people uganda is!

Pray for US!!!

Pray for Our Team in Uganda this week...March 9-18th

1. Pray for good health and safe travel as we travel to and from Uganda.2. Pray for the families of team members while they are gone.3.Pray for widows and orphans as they will be ministered to.4. Pray that the Gospel will be shared and well-received.5. Pray that needs will be met and God's kingdom will grow.
We are so excited y'all!  We need you to pray for us while we are away! Thanks for your love and know that we appreciate your support! We can't wait to share this journey with you when we return! 
Peace and Love~Kristen

9 days...

Until we leave for Uganda....WOW!!!!!

We have been on this journey for quite some time now and it seems so surreal to me that our trip is in 9 days! That means we leave next week! :) :) :) I wish you could see my face as I type this because I am grinning from ear to ear. I cannot tell you how incredibly blessed we feel that the Lord has called us to this journey. It may only be for a short time, but we know that God has us traveling to Uganda for a purpose- His Kingdom's purpose.

We met our fundraising goal!!! We are so thankful for those who supported our decision to go to Uganda and gave to us financially. We pray many blessings to you in return!  We have also been blown away by the amount of generosity that so many people have shown to us and to the Children of the orphanages we will visit. We have received so many clothes, school supplies, medicines, and dollar donations that I could never show my appreciation enough.  Even my students in my classroom have gotten their parents to donate scissors and glue- its just awesome to see my sweet students reaching out to other children they don't even know! We literally put the word out there for items we needed and within minutes and hours, someone on our team posted to our facebook page that the need was met. That's incredible!

My dear husband asked me tonight if we had any plans for Friday night- I said...um yes...PACKING! and a little house cleaning of course.  We'll be ready after this! :)

I will try to post next week a list of things to pray for each day while we are gone. Your prayers are the most important to us!  I'm also hoping to at least post a couple of times while we are there to keep you updated!!

Thank you for being a blessing in our lives-

Peace and Love~
Kristen

Uganda Update/Needs

 We are so close to meeting our fundraising goal for our trip to Uganda...praise the Lord!

We have begun conference calls with our team every Tuesday night. Pray for these calls as we are planning and discussing the needs of the ministries we are serving.

Travis and I are so excited and as we add things to our "packing corner," the reality of this opportunity becomes more and more real. Thank you for your prayers and your sweet support. I wanted to include in this post some items that our team has determined that we need for the children we will be ministering to. Some of the items are things that we will use for Vacation Bible School and then some are simply donations that the orphanage needs. If you can donate anything, please let me know and I will be happy to pick them up from you! What a blessing we can be to these children, even from here! The simple things mean the most to them!


1. Underwear (children and youth sizes for boys and girls, bras too!)

2. Knee Socks- the kids have to wear them to school. We have found them online at Landsend.com so far, but if you know of another place, please let us know!


3. Twin Sheets (any color)

Recently purchased mattresses!

4. Crayons/ Markers

5. Glue dots

6. Please ask the grocery store for paper bags and then after you unload your groceries, save the bags for us!

Thanks everybody!! :) 

Peace and Love~

Kristen