More on our trip!

We went so many places and loved so many children but there were some very special people that God specifically placed on our hearts. So I wanted to share a bit more specifically on who truly captured our hearts on this trip.

Right at the beginning of the trip God brought us to an amazing ministry in Uganda. We were welcomed with such love and hospitality both from the ministry leaders and the children. "Return Ministries" seeks to care for the orphaned children in their area by placing them in homes within the community. They have about 150 children under their care that they work tirelessly to understand their background, care for their needs, feed them and teach them. As of right now, they are renting so much space for the their housing and church property. But because of the consistent need to pay rent on a monthly basis so much of the funds has to be used to sustain the ministry rather than giving where it is needed most ... in caring for the children. Their goal is to raise money so that they can purchase land so that they can build a community center. That way, they are no longer burdened by monthly rent and can use donated money for the children's school fees, clothing, medical bills, food and more! If you are interested in learning more about their ministry or donating towards their goal of purchasing land, please visit their website at http://www.returnministriesuganda.org/

Sarah and Samuel

founders of "Return Ministries"

At return ministries there was a specific girl who truly captured my heart. I only spent a few days with her but I did grow to love her deeply. Her name was "Valely"! She immediately ran to me from the moment she saw me and she barely left my side for 2 days. During that time we really took care of each other in little ways! We really grew a special connection and I could easily pick her out of crowd of 300 children. I will miss her dearly and pray that I will see her again one day!

Valely and I

While in Kenya at one of the orphanages there was a little boy who immediately ran and clung to me. His name is Moses! He was so impressed that I was able to speak some Swahili that he immediately ran and told some of his friends. He couldn't believe that a Mzunge (white person) could speak some of their language. He grew so dear to my heart during those days at the orphanage... he became a true friend!

Moses and I

And then there was Pauline at Amazing Grace children's home! Wow! She was so precious! I immediately felt a connection with her and was drawn to her sweet spirit. She was so thankful that we were there to visit them. When we handed her a small coloring book with 4 crayons she was the one who looked at me and asked, 

"Is this for me?!" 

I said, "Yes, just for you". 

She then responded... "Wow, it's BEAUTIFUL!!!"

She taught me something profound in that moment... What may seem insignificant and small to us could mean the world to an orphaned child. It doesn't take much to show them love and value. She taught me to be thankful for everything... no matter how big or small!

Pauline and I

A trip of a life time!

How do words begin to express 2 weeks in Africa, 2 countries, over 500 children, 5 ministries, 22 team members, and 1 million amazing memories?! "Amazing" doesn't even seem to do justice to begin to describe our experience but I will try!

Curtis and I both have had extensive mission experiences in the past. He has gone on more than 11 short term mission trips that brought him to nearly every continent in the world. and I had been to eastern Kenya for a total of about 17 months. But with all my time overseas, I had not spent much time specifically in orphan ministry. So I have to admit that even I doubted at times how effective we could be in such a short time there. But the most amazing aspect of this trip was to see how such simple acts of kindness could so deeply affect an orphaned child. These children are so hungry for love and attention that the simplest touch, hug, kiss or word of encouragement is something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. What seems small and insignificant to us ... means the world to them! Wow! What simple, yet powerful love?!

What I continued to hear over and over again from the local people was such an expression of thanksgiving. They thanked us continually for being willing to leave our comfortable homes in America and travel half way across the world so that we could spend some time with them. They were so blessed by our visit and we were so blessed to know how much it meant to them!

Our team was on a mission not only to love and bless the orphaned children but also to relieve some of the burden for the workers. They work so hard day in and day out to care for the children so we wanted to go and serve them as well. There were times that we told the workers to go take a break while we cared for the children for a while. And twice we were able to shop for, prepare and serve a feast for the workers and children (And in Africa that is no small task!).

We also brought so much needed supplies like clothes, baby formula, wipes, diapers, medicine and more! My mom had brought an entire suite case full of supplies and had been praying about where to distribute the formula she had purchased. She didn't feel like she was supposed to give all the formula to the ministry that specifically requested it and so hung on to it, not knowing there was a need at the next orphanages we were going to. But sure enough, at "Haven of Hope" in Kenya my mom asked the owner whether or not she needed formula and the woman started crying and praising God... She had been praying for a week for formula because they were out. Both my mom and the owner broke down in tears because of God's goodness.

(Owner at Haven of Hope)

We also did a VBS lesson for all the children. We told them that they are beautifully made in God's image and that we are kings and queens in God's royal family when we believe in Jesus! We then had paper crowns for each child that they could personally decorate and keep. One of the girls on our team had brought a polarized camera. So we took a picture of each child with their crown and gave the picture to them to keep so they could always remember the truth they learned that day.

In Kenya especially, the older children like to write letters to you as a sign of friendship... and of course they would like a letter in return. At one of the orphanages we were staying at, the children wrote so many letters to us and they took the stickers and jewels that we gave them to decorate their crowns and used them to decorate our letters. How selfless! These children were taking what they had (what we had just given to them) and giving it to us!

These are just a few ways that we were used in Uganda and Kenya to serve the people there! Later I will post about individuals that we met and how they stole our hearts!

Please pray with us!

We are so excited about our trip in just a few days. It always amazes me on how fast time goes by when looking back. We have been waiting for this trip for about a year now, either in our hearts and/or actually planning and fundraising. We have been overwhelmed with the amount of support, love and prayers we have received fromm those whom we know. And we have been so thankful!!!

This time we are asking for your prayers while we are actually on the field. We will spend one week in Uganda and one week in Kenya. We will be taking 8 flights, stay in a rural village for a few days, come in contact with more than 500 orphans and visit up to 5 orphanages.

Would you please pray for us, with us and for those we will be coming in contact with?

Please pray for:

Safety for us, my mom and the team
That we will have increased energy and strength
That this will be a positive experience for my mom (this is her first mission trip)
That the children will know the love of Christ through us and be transformed!

Life with a few adventures!

Life is good and God has truly been so good to us during this season of life. Curtis and I are working hard in our jobs but also taking the opportunities at hand to embrace this season with joy. One day we went to visit DC to see the Cherry blossom trees in bloom and I told Curtis in the car on our way home, "We sure do like to work hard and play hard!" ... He responded with a laugh ... "Yah, and then we go home and sleep hard!" :) So yes, we are working hard, embracing some adventures and sleeping in when we can, since many times we don't go into work until later in the day.

So some quick updates:

- We are almost funded for our mission trip! We are only awaiting the finalization for our airline tickets and then we will know exactly where we stand financially! Any overage in finances that we raise will be used on the field during our trip to bless the children. Thank you so much to everyone who has given to us so far... we are blessed beyond measure for your support!

- It is warming up outside so Curtis & I are on a mission to get back into shape. Winter was cold this year so  it was extremely hard to keep up with exercising. But now the trees are in bloom and the sun is shining enough for us to start walking and jogging again. Curtis specifically wants to get back into shape so that he can go on some backpacking trips on the Appalachian trail! (A dream of his) I will be so glad to see him do that!

- My sister and I went to a ladies tea party at her church and it was so encouraging to my heart. I love women's events like that ... that focus on ministering to the feminine heart and inspiring the woman to use the gifts God has given her to serve others. During the tea party the Executive Director of "Hope Alive" came to speak about their ministry. They reach out to the homeless women and children in the Maryland area, providing them a home to stay in for 2 years as they get back on their feet financially or pursue an education. The work that they do is so inspiring and I am excited to possibly drop off some donations at the house in the near future since the house is only about 10 minutes away from us...

P.U.R.S.E

(Passionately Using Resources to Serve El Shaddai)

My heart is so blessed during this season of life! God continues to pour out His love on my heart and at times I am overwhelmed by His pure goodness! He truly is working in every area of our lives. All of the pain, hurt, troubles and sorrows that we endure during this life can all be turned around for our good with the Lord's work. He is in the business of redeeming, healing, and saving our souls! And His work is beautiful... hard at times, but if we keep enduring it will turn out to be BEAUTIFUL!!!

Our favorite recipes!

For these past 15 months of marriage I have had so much fun cooking old family recipes and trying new ones. It has been an adventure learning to plan, shop for, cook and clean up after 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks/year - that's 1,095 meals/year! Not to mention snacks and baking! Yikes! Sometimes I feel like it is a full time job just keeping food in the fridge and on the table (and it is only just the 2 of us so far!) But I must say that I LOVE it! I enjoy planning, shopping and cooking for us! Of course, there have been times that the meal just didn't turn out right and I promised never to cook that particular meal again. And I've been told that every new bride burns the chicken at least once (done that!).

But all in all, I love my job as a wife in managing the kitchen and Curtis is always so great in being willing to help out when I need it.

So I thought it may be fun and a blessing to share with you some of our favorite recipes! Enjoy!

Corn Bread (no cornmeal) *** Best ever ***
1 (15 oz) can of whole corn
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (soft) butter
1/4 honey      
 
Picture from:http://lifes-greatest-blessings.blogspot.com/2012/09/corn-bread-muffins-real-corn-no-cornmeal.html

Directions: Process corn, mix all dry ingredients, mix all wet ingredients, combine dry and wet ingredients, Pour into 8x8 pan, bake at 400* for 25-30 minutes. Can make as muffins also.

Baked Zucchini
cooking spray
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/2 cup Romano Cheese, divided
Salt & Pepper to taste
4 Zucchini, thinly sliced
3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced                                                        
1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese                                                              (Picture from Aldi.com)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350*, Spray 9x13 pan, mix in bowl - garlic, Italian seasoning, butter, olive oil, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup Romano cheese, salt an pepper. Add zucchini, tomato and onion to bowl and mix. Add mixture to pan. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan, Romano, and Mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes covered with foil. Remove foil and bake for additional 5-10 minutes.
* I just use mozzarella cheese in place of Romano Cheese.

Chicken Parmigiana
1 egg, beaten
2 ounces of bread crumbs
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 (16 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce
2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350*, lightly grease pan, (I thinly cut the chicken breast in half hot dog style and then pound it down) pour egg  and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in egg, then into the bread crumbs and then place in pan. Cook until no longer pink, up to 40 minutes. Pour spaghetti sauce under and over chicken. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and return to oven for 20 minutes.
** Should be so tender that you can cut it with your fork!                        (Picture from all recipes.com)

And lastly for dessert! My Grandma Luta's famous ...

7-layer Cookie
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or Margarine
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 12 crackers)
1 can (3 1/2 ounces or 1 1/2 cups) Flaked coconut
1 6-ounce package of chocolate pieces
1 6-ounce package of butterscotch pieces
1 can (15 ounces) Sweetened condensed milk (non-evaporated)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 325*. Meanwhile, put butter in 9x13 pan and slide in oven to melt. (Don't burn). When melted, remove man from oven, tip to spread butter and sprinkle evenly with graham cracker crumbs. Top with the coconut, then chocolate, then butterscotch. Drizzle condensed mild over and sprinkle with nuts. Press nuts lightly into mixture, so they won't fall off later. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool. Cut into pieces.

Enjoy!!!

Why go and visit orphans?

163 million reasons ... 

"Give hope to an orphan for one day and it may be the day they remember for the rest of the their lives"

- Amanada Lawrence (Executive Director of Visiting Orphans)

We are praying for the children that we encounter during our time in Uganda and Kenya. We pray that the days, hours and moments that we spend with them will be a time where hope infuses their hearts... Hope that changes and inspires them for a life time... Hope that only Christ can give and we can reflect.

Party of 3!

We are so excited that my mom has decided to go on the trip with us!!! She has been secretly wanting to go on a mission trip for the past few years and told God that if she had the opportunity that she would go.... 

Well, here is her opportunity!

When I first invited her to come with us a couple of months ago she immediately responded, "I would love that!" but continued to go back and forth for a few weeks wondering if now was the right time to go. I wanted to give God room to speak and for her to hear His voice for herself, so I did not push the issue. She needed to make this decision for herself. Well, after a couple of weeks she decided NOT to go. But weeks after her decision the Lord kept knocking on her heart and she just couldn't shake it off. 

So I asked her again and encouraged her to be brave!... And with a little nudging from my brother who said, "Mom, don't be a chicken!" :)
she has decided to go and is already signed up and apart of the team. We are thrilled to have her come along and know that this will be an awesome time of bonding for all of us. 

She has decided not to fundraise but she still needs our prayers and support! Please keep my mom in prayer as she prepares to go. This is a huge step of faith for her!