It is with excitement and anticipation that we begin telling the story of all that God is doing through His love and grace in Uganda, and specifically, at Tender Hearts Baby Home. At this moment, three team members are on the way to Uganda and the rest of us will depart on Sunday, August 23rd. But the story hardly begins at the airport.
We have already seen God's provision in numerous ways over the last several months of preparation:
- Ken and Cathy Nganda, the directors of the home, invited us to come and help them prepare for the grand opening of the new baby home. Their love for us is clear, and the opportunity to serve them in this way is humbling.
- A team of 17 people responded to this invitation and have committed a large portion of their summer to prayer, training, fundraising, travel, serving, learning and growing. Each person has learned that we do not desire to do things "to" or "for" people, but "with" instead.
- Love gives. This theme emerged from a message that Ken shared with our church. We have seen love on display as individuals and businesses have given of time and resources for this team to not only travel but see many things provided to the home: a newly graded road, ongoing work on the guard shack for safety, necessary medical supplies, and funds for the celebration itself. God has proven himself faithful over and over again, tenderly caring for us and the needs for this trip.
- God's love for our team has been evident, helping us to understand poverty, poverty alleviation and who the poor truly are: We are the poor. We are all poor because of the four broken relationships we see after sin entered the world: our relationship to God, ourselves, others and the created world. Thankfully, God's rich grace and mercy was on full display as Jesus came to right these relationships. God gave us Jesus. In his life, death and resurrection our relationships are reconciled and we are redeemed to God. What a gift!
As our team travels to Uganda, we leave confident in all these things and many more. Would you please pray for our team? Here are some specific needs:
1. That God would be most glorified in us as we are most satisfied in Him. We need humility as God continues to teach our hearts how to truly serve and love others more than we love ourselves.
2. That we would be quick to listen and slow to speak. Travel, hard work, and exhaustion create opportunities for conflict. Pray that we would seek unity and defer to the needs of our team members.
3. That God would teach us each day how we can best address poverty, as He is faithful to address our own. We need wisdom and discernment and generosity to reign in our souls. We need to learn.
4. That we would be filled with joy to see the grand opening of the home and all that it represents: God's kindness to adopt us in salvation and the physical adoption of children, a mission that works to break the cycle of discarding children, and a people who work tirelessly to take care of orphans and widows.
5. That upon returning home, we would ask God to reveal His ongoing mission to alleviate poverty in us and our communities here in the US.
Love truly does give. Jesus is the Creator, Sustainer, and Reconciler of all things (Colossians 1:15-20).
"Jesus, unlike the founder of any other major faith, holds out hope for ordinary human life. Our future is not an ethereal, impersonal form of consciousness. We will not float through the air, but rather will eat, embrace, sing, laugh, and dance in the kingdom of God, in degrees of power, glory, and joy that we can't at present imagine." - Tim Keller
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