One Year Ago

One year ago today I left the comforts of home and traveled to Uganda.  

I fell in love with beautiful babies. 

With little boys who are resilient and joy filled.

With baby girls who grew healthier under the care of Amani.

With little girls so beautiful. 

Then I returned home.

And life returned back to the norm.  

But I missed it.  I missed Uganda A LOT.  I knew I had to go back, and I knew I wanted to stay longer.  

So in November I returned- for 6 months.  

And every day there was a blessing.  

Every day was filled with their "auntie, auntie!" and little hugs and kisses and fingers wrapped tightly around mine.  

I love them.  

I am currently home for 6 weeks healing from a staph infection, but my heart cannot wait to be back-in 6 days I'm boarding a plane and returning back to where my heart belongs.  This time I'm taking my mama with me.  

It's definitely difficult having my heart in so many different places- Washington, Alabama and Uganda. But it so, so worth it. 

Like Jesus we belong to the world living not for ourselves but for others.  The joy of the Lord is our strength. ~Mother Teresa 

Some days it hits me hard.

147 million orphans.  

Everyday over 5,000 become orphaned.

Everyday over 38,000 age out- with no forever family.

95% of orphans are over the age of 5. 

44 million orphans in Africa and of those children 30% lost their parents to AIDS.

My heart is in Uganda.  At the size of Oregon, Uganda has 3 million orphans.  To put that into perspective, Uganda has almost as many orphans as Oregon has people.  

Jesus has a heart for the orphan.  

He took you in.  

He gave His life to call you His.  

"Orphan" appears in the bible approximately 30 times. 

I have said it before, and I will say it again. I'm tired of the sleeping church- the church that says:


We'll watch from behind the scenes.

We'll preach until we are blue in the face, but than we've done our part.

We'll quote statistic upon statistic.  

"God didn't mean "Go and make disciples to all nations..." for everyone literally to do that."

"God didn't mean we had to give up everything to follow Him."

"He doesn't mind if I sit here quietly in my comfort zone and place a check in the mail for a orphan I'll never meet."  

Jesus did mean it.  He wants you to leave the four walls of your church and follow Him.  

Follow Him to the hard. 

To the places of brokenness.  

Where orphans go hungry.

And cry themselves to sleep.

And age out without hope for the future. 

Where orphans overflow.

Where despair lives.

And defeat thrives.

And sorrow doesn't even try to hide. 

Where orphans grow into prostitutes and hand you their business cards.

And the cycle begins again.  

Jesus wants you there.

It's hard. 

I know that.

I some days wish God had given me the life where my biggest concern was whether I'd pass a college exam.

But instead I feel the weight of 147 million orphans crying out. 

Orphans who may turn into prostitutes, thieves, and murderers.

Orphans who may commit suicide. 

Orphans who've never been told they are beautiful, treasured and loved.  

Christ doesn't just want you to take your bible to church, to listen and forget.

He wants you to hear Him.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.."

30 times is orphan used in the bible.


Jesus wants you to whisper to them "You are beautiful, treasured and forever loved...you always have been and you always will be."

147 million orphans long to hear this.