From Tennessee to Uganda: One month.

I took you from the ends of the Earth, from the farthest corners, I called you. I said, "You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” Isaiah 41

I never expected it to be easy. I even came in knowing that there would be challenges and hard days. But, I never imagined that because of that, I would grow and learn all that I have in just one month of living in Kampala, Uganda. God has captivated my heart in a deeper way than I have ever experienced before and brought me to a place of dependence on Him that has always been foreign to me, but so so good.

31 days ago, I moved to Kampala, Uganda. I started working for Sixty Feet (known as Children’s Justice Initiative in country). I am a nurse for CJI and daily enter government facilities where children are kept. I have patched lots of dirty wounds, listened to multiple lung sounds, said wa awakaluma (where is the pain?) and kolola (cough for me) more times than I can count, and hugged, smiled, and loved so many beautiful Ugandan children. It is such a gift, and I absolutely love it.

My first week here, I met a girl who quickly became a friend. I shared with her the lies that had crept in so easily….not feeling equipped for this, letting fear control me, and just overall feeling very inadequate. She gave me the scripture Isaiah 41 and told me that God had laid it on her heart to share it with me. I immediately knew while reading it that it was my scripture for while I’m here. And ever since, I have kept it near to my heart. I’m so thankful for a Father that has called me to a far corner, to an end of the Earth that is so far from what I know and that He would choose to use me in this place that He loves.

I am going to attempt to explain a little more about CJI and what we do here in Uganda. Since this is a longer post, I will start each paragraph with a question and if you want to know the answer, you can keep reading or skip to the next paragraph. [pictures at the end as well]

Why are these children in prison? CJI works with children that are imprisoned all over Uganda. We weekly work in facilities we call M1, M2, and M3. M1 is the national prison that we work with. It is about 45 minutes from Kampala. M2 is a remand home (this is an old english term for prison) in Kampala that children over 12 years go while they await their sentence to see if they must go to the national prison. M3 is more of a governmentally ran orphanage for children under the age of 12. Children are here mostly because they have no where else to go, and the government has rounded them up. Any of the children in these prisons can be here for a variety of reasons. Some have committed crimes like murder, theft or defilement (sex under the age of 18 is illegal in Uganda and anyone caught in the act of this can be charged and sent to the national prison for a number of years). Some of the other children that we serve have been brought to M1 illegally by their families. Then there are a number of kids who are rounded up on the streets and sent to prison simply because there is nowhere for the police to take them. Before children are convicted of the crimes they have committed (or have not committed) they are given a date to go to court and are remanded (sent to M2 or another remand home in different parts of Uganda…all the remand homes feed into M1 the national prison). Some children are released from the remand home if they are not convicted, but if they are, and their sentence is longer than what they have already served in the remand home then they are sent out to M1 to serve until their sentence is up.

What is the role CJI specifically takes with these children? CJI does a lot of counseling at the facilities, tracing families to resettle the children, sponsoring children that we've resettled (this would include helping them go to school and providing for them in different ways], forming relationships, and sharing the Gospel with them weekly by some friends that have volunteered to come and lead the kids in worship and share with them a word from the Bible. We also provide for physical needs they have at the prison such as clothing, food if needed, and other needs that may come up. And, then there is the medical side of CJI which is where I come in, but I will talk about this in the next paragraph :) When children have finished their sentences, they are ready to be resettled with family. Before CJI came in, there was not an effective process for getting kids out and back to their families or in foster care. Now CJI has implemented a resettlement counseling course that a group of kids go through each month who are ready to be resettled. These can be kids whose sentences are up or kids that should have never been at M1 in the first place (ex: a child rounded up on the streets). Before we ever resettle a child, we make sure we have all the information on a child including what their home life will be like. We make sure every kid has a supportive family to go home to before we send them on their way. It really is an incredible ministry that pours into these children so much, and it is a blessing to be able to be a part of it. This is a lot of info, so feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or want to know more!

What is my specific role with SixtyFeet? I am a nurse on the medical team. Our medical team consists of 4 nurses at the moment. We have a doctor and his family moving here in January. It is going to be so great to have a doctor on our team! Two of us are from America, and the other two are Ugandans. Our job consists of assessing children, caring for wounds and illness, providing medicine if a child is sick, taking children to a clinic/hospital if necessary, HIV testing every child that comes into a facility, and educating staff and the kids on health and prevention. On Mondays and Thursdays, we go into M2 (the remand home in Kampala) and M3 (the government orphanage for children under 12 and children with disabilities) and on Tuesdays and Fridays, we go to M1, the national prison. It’s a busy week, but I am starting to find my place and role here, and I feel this whole new confidence as a nurse with these kids…which is such an answer to prayer!

Here Lately…

Clare and I do a bible study with the girls at M1 on Tuesdays and Fridays...it's one of my favorite things we do here! I love showing these girls that we are here for them and getting to share Truth with them.
I’ve been learning how much I value getting up the extra hour in the morning to spend time with Jesus and allow His grace to wash over me for my day…this has easily become my favorite part of my day.
The Holy Spirit is a gift…and communing with Him throughout my day makes such a difference…we get to approach the throne of grace at all times because of the cross..how incredible is this? I have also been hearing from God in ways I never have before, and I feel like I have opened a door to a whole new gift that Jesus gives us when we follow Him!
I eat Chipote (a Ugandan staple that is like a tortilla) way too much
Avacados here are the bomb…and triple the size as the ones in the US and so cheap!
If I moved only my pinky toe, my bed would still squeak
My feet are permanently stained red
I am officially a part of the worship team at Sojourn (the church I’ve been going to…it’s an Acts 29 church, and I love it)…note to self: if you tell someone you love to sing, you may end up on a worship team your third week in the country…and I’ve also been having to catch on to some Luganda songs real fast :)
I have really been missing my YL girls [here’s your shoutout :)]…I have been praying about this, and God opened a door for me to lead a bible study with some Ugandan high school girls…super pumped about this.
Clare and I have watched an insane amount of 24 since we’ve been here…and Clare has a crush on Jack Bauer (she may kill me for saying this)
We walk a lot here, and it’s so fun!
We are learning to drive in Uganda! There are barely any traffic regulations and everywhere you go is crazy no matter what time of the day it is, and you drive on the left side of the road here, but overall not too bad!
When you lose power here, it could be days before it comes back on
I am starting to make some good friends here, and everyday it feels more and more like I have a life here. I'm continually learning how to take ownership of my life in Uganda and am excited about different connections God has brought together!

Thank you all for your continuous prayers and support. Living here is truly a dream, and I can only imagine how the next 11 months are going to shape me.

Mbagalanyo [I love you all so much] :)

Our first day of work

The kids at M1 got new jeans!

Our recent resettlement class finished, and these children got their certificates. They are going home soon :)

My first buddy at M1

Teaching the kids at M1 how to make soap

The sweet guy worshiping at M1

One of our counselors teaching a child at M1 how to write his name

Visiting one of our foster homes

I'm in there, I promise

This is my sweet friend, Maggie. She has served whole heartedly for SixtyFeet the past year and a half. I'm so thankful for getting to know her here before she heads back to America.

The gang celebrating Mags at her going away party

We got to name this sweet baby girl...Alepal Talitha.
He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!...Little girl, I say to you arise." [Mark 5:41]