During my recent mission trip to Uganda, God opened the door to the opportunity of a lifetime for me to experience a place like no other, a LOVE like no other.
How do I find the words to describe something that forever changed my life?! I simply cannot! I anticipated being used by God to love on the people of Africa. But, what was so surprising was just how much God loved me, through them. It is a culture like no other, a community that is real, people who are genuine, through and through; who instantly love you and accept you, just the way you are. I now feel like I have been accepted into a brand new family there. I admit it was very hard to say good-bye! I’ve never felt so loved, so valued, so appreciated so fully alive - after all, serving others on behalf of Jesus Christ was what we were created to do, furthering His kingdom, right here on earth!
I can honestly say I’ve never encountered such devoted followers of Christ. Even the children blew me away by their spiritual maturity! They live such simple lives as they have none of the “things” that we have to distract us and pull us away from keeping our eyes focused on Jesus. Once they have received Him, He is all they’ve got!! It was amazingly refreshing!!
One thing is for sure, God is at work in Uganda. I saw, first hand, what a difference ICHOOSEYOU is making there! It really is working! It was astonishing to see the kids who are being sponsored through our organization, so full of joy and thriving and learning at Covenant Primary School. Then, to actually go to their huts in their village of Namatala, and see their absolute horrendous living conditions; it just blew me away! Talk about contentment, regardless of your circumstances! Through ICHOOSEYOU, God is giving children who have nothing, a future and a hope! Through ICHOOSEYOU, God is not only feeding children and families every day, He is raising up a new generation of citizens of Uganda who are motivated, educated and solid in their faith in Jesus Christ. I fully believe they have the potential to change the course of history for a land that has been completely hopeless for so long.
In the village of Namatala, among the Karamojong tribe, I saw poverty like I never imagined possible! I saw physical and emotional pain, untimely death, disease, unsanitary living conditions, unclean water, hunger and hopelessness. I saw mothers and children simply trying to survive another day; orphans and widows wondering if they will forever be forgotten. In spite of all of this, I still saw the face of Jesus there. I saw a spark of hope in the smiles of those whom I had the awesome privilege of sharing the Gospel with and leading them in the prayer of salvation. I saw hope in the laughter of the children and in the eyes of so many of their mothers who learned the new skill of sewing from another one of our amazing team members! They were beyond thrilled to realize they had what it took to learn a new trade that could ultimately generate income to feed their starving children. These women felt like they were actually worth something!! We got to tell them and show them that they are beautiful, they are worthy, they are special and God has a plan and a purpose for their lives.
In Uganda, God spoke to me, showing me that these are His people, they are His beloved! He adores them and sees each of them as His precious children. I now believe God took me there and allowed me to experience all of this, first-hand, to break my heart and fill it with compassion for His beautiful Africa. His intention was to fan into flame a new passion within me to continue to love and serve this tribe through communicating to people back home, the magnitude of their needs as well as the obvious success of ICHOOSEYOU and the potential it has to change even more lives.
While you may never be called to actually go to Africa, you can still play an active role in saving a child’s life. Currently, IChooseYou has sponsored 30 children in the Namatala village of 7,000 people (4,000 of those, by the way, are children). There are so many more lives yet to be changed. I am asking you to please prayerfully consider becoming a sponsor of an ICHOOSEYOU kid. Being a sponsor really does matter. As a sponsor, you are literally coming alongside the parent(s) and assisting them in the raising of their child, providing for their child in ways they simply cannot, but wish they could. I can’t even begin to tell you what it was like to meet my little 5-year old ICHOOSEYOU kid, Mudua Irene and her family. The overwhelming gratitude I felt from her and especially from her mother was almost more than I could handle, emotionally. Little Mudua is like a second daughter to me now! Because of my family, she has now been given a chance to get out of that vicious cycle of poverty that is all too familiar to her people. For whatever reason, God has chosen her and placed her in our path and He has a plan for her life!
For just $45 per month, you too can literally change the course of not only the life of a child, but of their entire family and thus be a part of changing the future of an entire village! This volunteer managed organization is small and I can personally assure you that 100% of your money goes directly to these children covering the cost of their schooling, uniforms, food and hygiene provisions for their family each month, 2 medical check-ups each year as well Doctor visits as the need arises. When many of the kids contracted tough cases of Malaria this past year, ICHOOSEYOU made sure they were taken to the local clinic and/or hospital to receive the necessary medication and care. It is amazing how much further our dollar stretches in Uganda as compared to America. To learn more about how you can get involved, please visit www.ichooseyou.net. You can also get more detailed stories of our trip, as it happened by viewing our blog at www.ichooseyou2010.blogspot.com.
What a privileged work this trip was. What an amazing gift from God that I will treasure in my heart as long as I live. Again, the prayers of my family, friends and supporters played a crucial role in this whole experience and so it would not have been possible if it weren’t for you and so I thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I thank you for having compassion for this cause. I thank you for loving me and for believing in me and believing in what I am passionate about. You were just as much a part of this trip as I was. It was truly a team effort. God placed you on my team and what an honor it is to call you my friend!! May God bless you and your family! May He honor your precious heart!
Love in Christ,
Brandi
"For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, God has chosen you to be His own special treasure.” Deuteronomy 7:6
