Last night in Uganda

Spending our last few days at Canaan's was really awesome. Canaan's is run by Pastor Isaac whose son runs Kerith where we were the other day. I have been hanging out with some older girls here for a lot of my time because the little kids get a lot more attention that the older. The three girls I have gotten to know are Caroline, Angela, and Nancy who are all 11. And Vivian who is 6. They are sweet sweet girls who make me giggle so much. I also got to know Mayi Esther my sponsor child. It's really neat to get to love on her. This other little girl Ruthie had the most adorable little spirit and I was instantly drawn to her when we began making faces at each other. She had this sassy little attitude that was so cute. 

Last night was really hard because it was the last evening  I would watch the sunset in Uganda. The last time for a while I would lay eyes on the bright moon in the country that has captured my heart. I walked around just looking at the children and I couldn't help but to feel happy because even though I knew I would be leaving tomorrow, I was there in that moment leaving my mark on their little lives. I am so thankful God orchestrated this trip for me. I never imagined the impact it would have on me. My little Vivian held on to my hand tight last night. I think she knew I would be leaving today. I held her in my eyes and a group of us worshiped. Singing is my favorite form of worship because it really lifts my spirit high. It's in the moments of lifting my voice to God that I have felt the closest to Him and that I have felt His presence the most. So as I watched many children singing these songs to God, I couldn't help but to just be glad. Glad to be here. In that very moment. Witnessing the reason we were created. Vivian has such a beautiful voice. My favorite memories of us are singing together. That's the first memory we had and many more followed. 

This morning was difficult. It is very hard knowing you will be saying goodbye in just a short couple of hours. Vivian hugged me and embraced me for as long as she could. And little Ruthie sat in my lap touching my face and making her goofy faces with me. As I walked unto the bus and got my seat, I stuck my hand out the window and without fail, there was Vivian to hold it tight. I looked down and saw her sad face and it broke my heart. Now I know I have to return whether it be short or long term, I will be back. As the bus pulled away, this little girl ran after it. So sweet. I think we all were struck with sadness. While driving to the airport, I was aching inside because of all I was leaving here. But, as I was staring out the window at everything around me, I heard God say, "you have done my work. You may be leaving, but I will remain. My love is with these people and children and I have them in my hand." What comfort! What I have experienced is incredible, but I know that this is not the end. I am always Called to love. Whether that be in Uganda or Memphis or Johnson City, I will share God's love and my heart will be full. The same smiles I love to see here, I will see in America because people crave love. And if I do as God calls me, then my heart will never be emptied. It will only continue to grow. I am excited too see what is next. God keeps surprising me with more plans for me than I ever thought possible. My Papoo always tells me I was created for greatness. That it was destined. What hope!

Blessed

I am a testimony that we serve an incredible God who answers prayer. When I woke up this morning, I couldn't believe it when I did not feel an inch of achiness or sickness. I thought I was dreaming. But thankfully I was not and God is so incredible. Today was probably the most emotional day we've had. Our team split up into two teams and each spent half a day at sangaalo baby home and half the day at Akisa. My team went to the baby home and whew! My heart exploded! I love little babies. I have always been a baby person... Well really I just love kids. Sometimes I feel as though I would just rather be around children more than adults all day long. But anyways, the babies were so sweet. The home is run by this incredible woman named Demily. I have never met a stronger woman in my life. I wish I could type out her story but I am afraid it would be way too long. She is so faithful. She felt God calling her towards babies as a young girl and eventually felt God calling her to open up her home to babies who needed care. In the home now are 13 babies plus her children. She says her calling is to either nurse these babies back to health or to health in glory. Amazing. I just fell in love with these two twin babies named Sara and Semily. Theyre mother has hiv and will die soon so she left them with their father who abandoned them bc of fear that they might have it too. How one could abandon those bundles of joy is beyond my belief. They had the cutest Afros and sweetest smiles. I didn't know it was possible to fall in love with so many children but after this trip, my list is long! I know without a doubt now, that I will adopt one day and I encourage everyone to consider it. To know how much I have in comparison to what They have makes me want to share all of my blessings. I now feel like God allows some to have more so that can overflow that into the lives of others. I saw a statistic once that said that if 6% of all the people in the world who claim to be Christians adopted one child, every orphan would be cared for. 6%. I could preach about that for hours but just a little food for thought. After the baby home we went to Akisa which is a disabled children's home. This was extremely hard. It hits how blessed you are to be healthy an well. And to think I was complaining a stomach bug 24 hours ago. What was so special about these children is their joy. This one little boy had an inflamed head full of fluid from swelling of the brain but his smile and laugh was adorable. Everything I would say he would repeat with a huge grin. To see so many kids not be able to walk, not be able to talk, not be able to feed themselves is hard but I am reminded of the verse that says, "I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." God does not make mistakes when He creates His children. These children are special and most certainly not hopeless. Their earthly bodies may be disabled but they will be perfect in Heaven one day and I look forward to walk with my little Isaiah and all those other sweet little children one day in Heaven. We ended the night at our final destination before heading home on Tuesday at Canaan's Children's Home. I met my sponsor child tonight along with many other new friends. There will be great stories to come.

I Can Only Imagine

I lay in bed tonight sick. I have a sore throat. I have the chills. I can't breathe well. My bed is infested with bugs. My shower was freezing. And all the while as I lay complaining to God about my little problems, He lays his hand on me. I feel His presence. I'm comforted by His love. And all of a sudden, I find myself thankful for hitting a low point because it's in these moments that I remember that God has His children in His hands. He has me in his hands. He has the hundreds of little kids I have seen in His hands.  I decide to put my iPod in to help give me peace. I have it on shuffle and all of a sudden the instrumental to I Can Only Imagine comes on. Once again, I'm caught up with emotion ( this is gonna have to stop or I will be all dried out for at least a year....the chances aren't looking good).  This song is really special to me because it is the song they played at my aunt's funeral. Ever since I heard it that day as a sixth grade little girl, I remember life. I remember the life my aunt had and although I wasnt old enough to truly know her, I hear stories all the time in Johnson City of the lives she has touched. And although I was too young to remember much, I find myself hoping to impact as she did. So as I listen to this song, I can't help but to think how much I have seen a glimpse of heaven since the second I first looked into these beautiful little people. I sit here and reflect. I begin learning from the little moments I experienced today.  The moment where I looked out and a hundred children are praising God. A hundred children have dirty feet with no shoes, torn clothes, Disabilities, and cuts and they are all lifting their voices up to God in gladness. See in this moment, I realize these children know Jesus. They know Him in a way most people never will here on Earth. They love Him and I'm the one who needs to be reminded. Im the one who doesn't get it. They have nothing, but yet they know they are precious. I have everything and more than I would ever need, and I'm still unsatisfied. Im wrapped up in my little "me" bubble that is beginning to pop. I'm slowly truly beginning to understand that Jesus is enough. That He will sustain me. I lay here sick, but yet because of these little children I feel blessed. I feel God drawing me into him, healing me. Not only physically but spiritually. The pastor at Royal Hope said something that has stuck with me ever since we were there. After the choir sang, he said they were saying, "God I want to be where you are." They would rather risk the little they have just to be with God. And yet I just want these bugs crawling on me to disappear as if that's my biggest concern. Praise the Lord for beautiful little children in Uganda to put me in my place. And that I am reminded of the hope that one day I will be well and these children will have no more worries and we will all be praising God with the same spirit. O how I can only imagine. July 26,2012 Today we left pallisa and drove 3 hours to the Haven in Jinja. Today has been awful. I have felt sick all day. Last night, I was sick to my stomach and after throwing up thought I had just eaten something that didn't settle well in my stomach. But, I have felt sick today as well, so all day I have been taking medications. I didnt sleep more than 45 minutes at a time last night, so Im also exhausted. I am not complaining because I am strong. I can handle this. But, when we go to Canaan Childrens Home tomorrow, I want to feel "me" again. I don't want to feel achy or nautious all day again. I believe in the power of prayer and God hears the prayer I said all last night and today. Whatever is going on with me will get better, and I will give my whole healthy self to loving on kids tomorrow. Pray that I will get well and that whatever I have will not pass to anyone else. And, no worries. I'm in the Lord's hands and there is no safer place to be. And mom, I kept thinking about you last night and wished I was close to you because when you lay hands on me and pray over me, I feel extra comforted.... I guess I'm just all grown up now. Love you all. 

Royal Hope Academy

Waking up after a night at Return ministries was like a dream. I kept replaying it in my head because I never wanted to forget it. My first encounter with children in Uganda will always hold a special place in my heart.  The food they serve us at the hotel is actually pretty good. We've eaten a lot of carbs like rice and bread and noodles. I'm pretty sure the meat I ate yesterday was goat. It was really chewy so I didn't eat much of it. They serve a lot of fruit though which is delicious. Our sleeping conditions were probably the best we'll have the whole trip. I was in a room with Niki. We each had our own small bed. Our room had a bathroom in it. The toilet didn't flush and the shower just landed on the ground with no curtain or anything. They also gave us a small basin to bathe in if we liked. It was very interesting. After breakfast yesterday, we left to go to Royal Hope Academy. The main road is paved a little but then we turn down red dirt roads. You see lots of people with stuff on their heads  just walking around. The houses and buildings are really rough. We pulled up to this gate and at once 200 children came running through singing " Welcome to Uganda. This is Africa!" I remember looking at them and they all have dirty feet and torn clothes but then I look up and see their faces and they are shining with happiness. It really put me into perspective of my life. These children have nothing really but yet they are so content and happy. I didn't really understand it until later, but I'll get there. The second you get off you have a few children that come up to you and claim you as their muzungu. I had two little girls grab hold of me. One was older about seven or eight. Her name was "bushes". Or that's how I understood it. She was very protective of me and all day long wanted to hold my hand and not let anyone else. I had to explain to her that I could be shared and she gave me this frustrating look that was actually quite adorable. The other little girl was I think around two. She was so tiny. I could never quite understand her name, but I know her face. I know her smile and I know how bright her eyes get when she looks up at me and I smile at her and she nervously smiles back. She was very timid at first but she crawled up in my lap and would just sit there holding my other hand. Okay I'm getting ahead of myself... We got off the bus and were brought to this chapel. The pastor got up and welcomed us. The school was started by a girl named Rebekah who is American and young 20s. Her story is very similar to Katie Davis'. We never got to meet her because she has maleria. Which she needs lots of prayers! But we all believe the Lord will restore her health. After the welcome, the kids choir came up and sang and danced. It was so sweet. But, what captured me the most and what I was talking about earlier is how they worship. To see a hundred kids raising hands and kneeling in prayer really convicted me. These kids' ages can range anywhere from two to high school age, and they all worship so passionately. At one point, the song stopped and you could hear hundreds of children lifting up prayers to God. It was truly inspiring in every way. I sat with these two girls on my lap just in awe of their hearts for God. They sang and danced for about two hours, and the whole time they are praising God wholeheartedly. It's amazing. As we were watching this, one of the girls fell asleep in my lap. My friend Lauren said its incredible to think how few times they have probably slept in someone's arms. I have videos I'll post later of the worship when I have better wifi. After the worship, we went outside and played in their courtyard by the school. I got in a circle with some of the kids and played this dancing game. They laughed at me in the middle when it was my turn to sing and dance and I had no idea what they were saying so made up my own words :) I did learn a lesson though when it came to handing out stickers. I brought out some to a few kids and the next thing I knew I was being attacked by what seemed like a mob haha but with help, I was able to manage. After this, we split up into groups. I helped the little kids color and then painted their nails. After their nails were painted, they would jump up and down with their hands waving photo photo. They were so proud of their colorful nails. The rest of the day was filled with lots of hugs and pictures. This one boy handed me a baby then ran off. It was interesting when this lady said just put him down someone will help him find his way. I could go on for hours with stories but I will refrain. We are traveling five hours today to Kerith Ministries. God has been so good! My heart continues to be filled just when I think it might overflow. :)  Love, one happy MUZUNGU! :)

The Night I fell in love with Uganda....

I was in the country for three hours and already in love with it... I just had the most incredible night that I don't even know how I am going to find the words to do it justice. We made it to Entebbe, Uganda after a day of travel. The bus ride from the airport to our hotel was about 45 minutes, and I'm pretty sure everyone was falling asleep.  When we arrived, our team leaders gave each individual the option to either stay and rest or go to Return ministries. My whole body was screaming rest while my heart was telling me to go and love. I am so glad that my heart can overcome my weariness because after a night like tonight, I feel so full of joy and happiness.  I knew I would love loving on the kids but I did not know how much emotion I would have and how much I would never want to leave.  Return ministries is a place for kids in the community to come and learn, worship, pray, and play. Pastor Samuel started it and is the sweetest man. He explained that most kids there do not have fathers. Most of their fathers abandoned them, so they are left with just their mothers.  As we pulled up, all I could hear were screams of excitement from tons of children. As I began to see faces with the screams, my eyes started tearing up uncontrollably. They all were jumping up and down saying welcome welcome! I got off the bus with tears streaming down my face. At once, at least 100 kids were hugging and jumping on my team and I.  We only had time to stay for about an hour, but it was truly the best hour. The kids and I played ball and danced. They were so excited to show me a kitten they had found. Every child around me was touching me whether it just be a small little finger. They all are screaming photo photo! They love to have their picture taken and then to see it. I did not want to leave. When you start saying bye, they all run up and hug you and say thank you for coming! Pulling away was the hardest thing I've done in a long time. It's amazing how much one person can mean to them. How much me, Caroline Flippin, can make hundreds of children around me smile with joy.  Driving around Kampala is so neat. It is so different here. You can see the poorness all around you, but as I watched the people as we drove by, there was nowhere else I'd rather be. The Ugandans are walking everywhere, and there are lots of motorcycles. The driving is crazy and especially since they drive on the opposite side of the road as us. The other cars on the road literally drive right next to you that I was afraid to even stick my hand out the window. But the people smile at you as you go by and the children wave and scream "muzungu!" which means white person. As we were driving we passed a herd of cattle just walking on the road  which I thought was hilarious. I couldn't have asked for a better first day! Favorites from the day: - As we were driving to Return, I passed a teenage girl who had this really sad face. I looked at her and smiled and waved and she got the biggest grin on her face. Melted my heart. - This little girl named Vanessa grabbed hold of me the second I got off the bus at Return and would not let go of me the whole time. She admired the green bracelet I had on my wrist. She kept saying "I want!" But, we're not allowed to single them out and give them things, so we decided that it would be a memory bracelet, and the memories her and I had would be in the bracelet and everytime I looked at it, I would remember her. - This other little girl who was no more than one had her shoeless foot stepped on, and she just crawled in my lap and laid her head on my chest and cried. So sweet.  That is all for today. My heart is overwhelmed, and I can't imagine what else God has in store. Tonight, I will fall asleep smiling :) 

Ethiopia

We landed in Ethiopia after a 12 and a Half hour plane ride. I got a little sleep but not much. We are about I board for our flight to Uganda!

The latest from DC

Hello from DC! Olivia and I landed in DC last night at around midnight. Other than some storm turbulence (which almost gave me a panic attack haha), we had no problems. At the hotel this morning, we found out that 3 members of our team have delayed flights and will make it to Entebbe a day late. But, I truly feel like all te problems we have had this far are because God has really GREAT and BIG things in store for us. So we are definitely going to keep praying hard and resist Satan from trying to keep us from sharing God's love. We take off for Ethiopa in a couple of hours. I'm nervous about such a long flight, but the Lord is giving me peace. I'm feeling wrapped up in all the prayers and love I know are being lifted up for me and the team. Thanks again for the support. I feel truly blessed with wonderful friends and family!

I'm leaving in 3 days for DC then on Saturday, my team takes off for Uganda. I thought I would post what we will be doing each day, so that you all know how to pray for my team and I.

July 22- We arrive in Entebbe, Uganda and will be staying at a hotel in the area.
July 23- We will be working with the ministry My Father's House and the Royal Hope Academy. We will be spending the day just hanging out with the kids.
July 24- We drive 5 hours to Kerith's Children's House. We will be staying here with the children until the morning of the 26th. We will be having a field day with the kids. We will also feed and cook for the staff and children.
July 26- We leave Kerith's Children's Home in the afternoon and drive to Jinja to stay at the Haven. This is our day of rest.
July 27- We will have breakfast at Kerith and then split up into two teams. One team will go to Amani Baby Cottage and the second group will go to a special needs orphanage. And then later in the day, head over to  Sangaala Baby Orphanage. That night we arrive at Canaan Children's Compound. We will be here July 28th and the 29th. We will have worship, food, and a field day with the kids. At night, we will cook the kids something special.
July 30- We switch teams from July 27th and do the opposite of what we did that day.
July 31- We head to the airport to head home.

I'm not sure of internet conditions, so I'll post when I can. Thanks for all the love and support! God is at work!

5 days!

I leave for Uganda in 5 days!! I can't believe it is here! Although, I still feel like I still have a ton to do. Just letting everyone know, I am not 100% on the wifi situations, but I know my team leader will definitely be putting up updates, so if I haven't posted, go to her blog at   http://autumn-seasonsofautumn.blogspot.com/ . 


And, as always thanks for the prayers!

Speropulos Crazies

I can't believe it has been a year since my family, The Speropulos', journeyed on our first cruise together to the Bahamas, St Maarten, and St Thomas. It was quite the experience. Anyone who has ever been around our family would know that we talk a lot, are super loud, there is always atleast 10 things going on at once, constant laughter, never a dull moment, typical debate going on, and more than likely where we are, there is food. One, because we're greek and two, because we like to eat. haha Recently, I made a photo book for my family from the trip. I couldn't help but to laugh the whole time because I was reminiscing on all the funny moments. I found myself writing this post one, so I can remember these stories, and two, they are HILARIOUS. And, who doesn't like a good laugh? And, if you know our family, I think you will find these thoroughly enjoyable. 

Here we go.... some "fam favorites" as I like to call them:

- So pretty much, we're always dancing. It's awesome.

- When we made our first stop in the Bahamas, we "punked" my mom. She had to go back on the ship and get something, and while she did we all kinda disappeared so she wouldn't know where we were. She figured it out fast and we jumped out and yelled "got ya!"...It was probably the worst punk ever. 

- Our first night on the ship, Abigail, Nic, and I found this really neat room where no one else was, so we were dancing and just being goofy. We kept telling Nic he was a good dancer. So, Nic decided to enter a dance contest later that night....needless to say, he came in second. Pretty impressive. But, the only quirk was...it was out of two people. We're still very proud. ;)

- Our family plays a lot of games. Usually, card games like Rook, Hand and Foot, or Spoons, but we threw in some different ones this time. We played Mafia. Which is where you have two killers, and everyone else tries to figure out who the murderers are while they are killing off different people. That was fun. But, my favorite was Assassins. We started playing one night and how it works is everyone draws a name out of a hat. The purpose is to be the last man standing. Whosever name you draw you have to kill them. Now, in order to kill them you have to be alone with that person with noone else in the family around and you make eye contact with them and wink. When you do that, they are dead. We did have safe zones. Anytime you are in one of our rooms, you are safe. 

So, some funny stories from this game:

*I had John's name. I went and knocked on his door in the morning before breakfast and asked if he was ready to go to breakfast. I was actually kinda stupid because he caught on right away. He would not leave his room until Abigail came out too. So, we three walked to the elevator to go to breakfast. As the elevator stopped at a floor, I shoved Abigail out of the door. In doing this, John immediately got me in a head lock and we wrestled pretty much the whole elevator ride and then preceded to run out and chase each other to the family table. The funny part is there were people in the elevator just staring at us. They probably thought we were insane. Needless to say, I did not kill him bc at that point on, he knew I was his killer and would not be anywhere with me alone.

* Yaya had Jess' name and was very sneaky about it. She saw Jess go get breakfast so she got up and went and tricked Jess into helping her and then winked at her. Clever Yaya...using your grandmother smarts. 

*FAVORITE WINK: It came down to the bottom two as Abigail and John. Abigail went to go get some ice cream while we were playing cards on the deck. John gets up a few minutes later. Abigail soon realizes what is happening and takes off running. John then chases her around the lido deck screaming "STOP THAT GIRL! SHE STOLE MY WALLET!" We were all laughing and crying for alteast ten minutes. It was so funny!

- When we stopped in St. Thomas, we decided to go this beach all day and hang out. We went kayaking, scuba diving, splashed a lot, dunked a lot, had chicken fights, etc. It was such a great day of being together. 

- Our ship had this water slide that we all went and did one day. We all gethered around and cracked up at each other screaming and making expressions coming out of the slide.

-They had trivia some days on deck. Our family played the movie trivia game and won. We received a trophy which we refer to as the "family trophy" and later presented it to Yaya and Papoo. On the cruise news, they talked about that greek, loud family that is having lots of fun. Yep, thats us.

- Papoo and John thought it would be funny to get tattoos....well, henna tats that is. But, Papoo got a lion on his back. Aslan? The picture does all the explaining. 

- We all got matching t shirts on our final night to take pictures in. I couldn't help but to laugh inside because I had always thought those families with the matching t shirts were ridiculous... o well we joined the club.

- Yaya might kill me for this one.....but we all got a good laugh when Papoo told us this story. Yaya went out on the her balcony once naked to see what it would feel like to be in the open naked in the middle of the ocean. Although noone saw, we later noticed a camera at the top of the ceiling. oops. yaya you blessed someone ;) just kidding. But, still Yaya was just embracing her nakedness while she could. haha

This trip was so much fun. You know your family is awesome when you would rather hang with them over anyone else. 

 -Hannah accidently stole a bracelet. Don't worry, it was returned.

 -Yaya's wheelchair always make for an enjoyable time.

 -Room servive at one in the morning. Nothing like being able to just make a phone call and request for a pb&j and cookies and milk.

Truly Blessed.

Just a little insight to us.