Hello Family & Friends,
Last night was really intense. Chad, me, Brian, Erin, and Amos were going to watch a movie then all a sudden the power went out. We thought okay it's not that bad, it has happened before. So we called Bob to see if he turn on the generator. He did, but then all of a sudden Brian (he was a guy from the team from NC) got a phone call from Carolyn. She was like yelling and said there was someone with a panga in the house next to us.(in that house were 4 girls) So me, Brain and Chad put on our shoes and went to go get some older boys and went on the search. We told everyone to get inside their houses and lock their doors. Man I am just getting chills thinking about it. The guy was an ex-GSF kid. They asked him to leave because he had some problems. I think Bob told me that he was demon possessed, which kinda freaked me out even more. So we were on the search for about two or three hours last night and could not find him. The reason why I wanted to tell everyone this was to PRAY! PRAY REALLY HARD! (a panga is like a machete..sp?)
~In Christ,
Chandler
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
True rest and peace is found in Our Abba Father!
Hello My Family & Friends,
Today is my real day off. I didn't realize that being a missionary would be soooo hard, but it is. It is very draining and tiring. When you are a missionary you are so out of your comfort zone and walking on water. You are walking on water by taking steps of faith. Now I know why missionaries go home and rest for a while and then come back. They need that energy booster. That is what I am doing today. Today I am in Jinja with Chad and getting my energy booster from relaxing and then I am going to get my God energy booster because if it wasn't for Our Abba Father then we could not do anything. Praise God for His strength. Praise Him that we find rest and true peace in Him. Praise God that He truly fills us up. Praise God that He is truly all that we need. You know I figuered out something yesterday. It is like when you are teaching children and it seems like they get it and understand it, you feel good. You started out at zero than you raised up to number 5. You get a twinkle in their eyes that they truly get it. That amazes you and lets you know that God is at work. But then all of a sudden they twinkle vanishes from their eyes into thin air. Now you are back to zero. You are like what the crap. What just happened. I thought they understood it and got it. Then a thought comes into your head and tells you that you have to start all over again. That is what makes you discouraged. But you remembered a bird telling you that you planted a seed or watered a seed. You might not see it growing now. Then you are like God you are so awesome! Talk to you later on my friends and family! I love you all. Continue to pray for Chad and I because tomorrow is another day in the battle field. Thank you for the prayers and encouragement so far.
~In Christ,
Chandler
Today is my real day off. I didn't realize that being a missionary would be soooo hard, but it is. It is very draining and tiring. When you are a missionary you are so out of your comfort zone and walking on water. You are walking on water by taking steps of faith. Now I know why missionaries go home and rest for a while and then come back. They need that energy booster. That is what I am doing today. Today I am in Jinja with Chad and getting my energy booster from relaxing and then I am going to get my God energy booster because if it wasn't for Our Abba Father then we could not do anything. Praise God for His strength. Praise Him that we find rest and true peace in Him. Praise God that He truly fills us up. Praise God that He is truly all that we need. You know I figuered out something yesterday. It is like when you are teaching children and it seems like they get it and understand it, you feel good. You started out at zero than you raised up to number 5. You get a twinkle in their eyes that they truly get it. That amazes you and lets you know that God is at work. But then all of a sudden they twinkle vanishes from their eyes into thin air. Now you are back to zero. You are like what the crap. What just happened. I thought they understood it and got it. Then a thought comes into your head and tells you that you have to start all over again. That is what makes you discouraged. But you remembered a bird telling you that you planted a seed or watered a seed. You might not see it growing now. Then you are like God you are so awesome! Talk to you later on my friends and family! I love you all. Continue to pray for Chad and I because tomorrow is another day in the battle field. Thank you for the prayers and encouragement so far.
~In Christ,
Chandler
Friday, June 22, 2007
Here ya go!
Hello My Family & Friends,
I updated my blog on Saturday but it looks like it didn't go through. Oh well. Well I shall update you on what happened on Saturday. The team that came from NC did a VBS and it was so much fun. All the children and teenagers loved it. Plus they got some sweeties. Before I go any further let me tell you that it is pouring down here. I hope it stops very soon because I have to walk up to the school and do devotions. Okay..it's raining super duper hard! holy crap chicken! The past couple of days have been really fun. With the VBS and then yesterday with the water games. Yesterday church was really cool. One of the guys from the team lead the teens bible study and then we went to church. We first sang and danced and had a good time praising Our Abba Father. Then the GSF choir got up and sang some songs. They are really good and talented. God has really talented this children and teenagers. Then after the choir sang the preacher from the village spoke and it was about not trusting man, trust God. Oh wow! That'll get you. Okay i know I am going all the place with this one and I am sorry about that. But on Saturday night we had a good ole' time! Every time there is a team or speical guest GSF cooks goat and and they have a bond fire. I can tell you the goat was actually really good. It was not that bad at all. But before we started eating we starting the night with some dancing. Oh and you know how I am. I got my groove on and danced the night away. We probably danced for about 30 minutes or so. Well it seemed like that. And then we ate goat, bananana stuff, and green breens. Then after dinner we danced some more. While some of us were dancing the rest were roasting marshmellows over the bondfire. Then it came to a time where the dancing stopped and we all ended up at the bondfire and sang some worship songs and just had a good time being all the together before the Lord. I can tell you that night was awesome! Oh by the way..it's still raining very hard!! (rain, rain go away..come again another day) I can tell you that God has been working in my heart in the past couple of weeks. He has been breaking me and telling me not to rely on myself to get through each day. That He is the one that brings me through each day. That He is my strength. I am getting a little tired and discouraged. But I know my thing I can find rest and strength in My Abba Father. I just have to go to Him. I have to TRUST Him. The things that I am speaking the the children about seems almost pointless because I don't feel they are listening. It almost feels like sometimes I am talking to a brick wall. I have been talking about obedience, respect & honour, lying, punishment & consequences, friendships. I know God wants me to talk about those things. But they are so hard to get across to these children. I probably will do series about love, and I am waiting until the end to talk about salvation in Christ. I think I heard Carloyn say last night that our children at GSF are the miniority in the classes, which means that the other children are from other villages. We have some children from Muslims families, and families that pracitice other false religions here in Africa. So I ask that you pray for me when it comes time for me to talk about faith in Christ and what it means. I really don't want to come across and bash their religion and their culture. I want to share with them my best friend who changed my life forever and who lives in me and who forgives me of my sins. And who also died for me. I also would like for you all to pray for Chad. He is still homesick. He told me lastnight that He doesn't like it here. The other day he got bite by one of the boys and that evening he called his mom and his mom said she would buy him a ticket. So I just ask that you pray hard from this young man, Chad. He is a really cool person. I know that Satan is attacking him. I have been in his shoes when I was in Argentina. So also pray that I can encouarge him. I don't know why he doesn't like it. His full name is Chad Grindstaff. Thank you all for the prayers. The team just left about 30 mintues ago. It felt good to be around people from the states for a week. But I can tell you that I am trying to stay focused. Just continue to pray for the both of us. Thank you. I love you all. Chad and I were going to go to Gulu with the team this morning but were unable to and I Chad was a little dissappointed with that. Well I shall talk to everyone later on. I need to finish working on my devotions for the children today.
P.S. Candace...Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your day and have a blast. I miss and love you! Take care and will see you when I get back.
In Christ,
Chandler
I updated my blog on Saturday but it looks like it didn't go through. Oh well. Well I shall update you on what happened on Saturday. The team that came from NC did a VBS and it was so much fun. All the children and teenagers loved it. Plus they got some sweeties. Before I go any further let me tell you that it is pouring down here. I hope it stops very soon because I have to walk up to the school and do devotions. Okay..it's raining super duper hard! holy crap chicken! The past couple of days have been really fun. With the VBS and then yesterday with the water games. Yesterday church was really cool. One of the guys from the team lead the teens bible study and then we went to church. We first sang and danced and had a good time praising Our Abba Father. Then the GSF choir got up and sang some songs. They are really good and talented. God has really talented this children and teenagers. Then after the choir sang the preacher from the village spoke and it was about not trusting man, trust God. Oh wow! That'll get you. Okay i know I am going all the place with this one and I am sorry about that. But on Saturday night we had a good ole' time! Every time there is a team or speical guest GSF cooks goat and and they have a bond fire. I can tell you the goat was actually really good. It was not that bad at all. But before we started eating we starting the night with some dancing. Oh and you know how I am. I got my groove on and danced the night away. We probably danced for about 30 minutes or so. Well it seemed like that. And then we ate goat, bananana stuff, and green breens. Then after dinner we danced some more. While some of us were dancing the rest were roasting marshmellows over the bondfire. Then it came to a time where the dancing stopped and we all ended up at the bondfire and sang some worship songs and just had a good time being all the together before the Lord. I can tell you that night was awesome! Oh by the way..it's still raining very hard!! (rain, rain go away..come again another day) I can tell you that God has been working in my heart in the past couple of weeks. He has been breaking me and telling me not to rely on myself to get through each day. That He is the one that brings me through each day. That He is my strength. I am getting a little tired and discouraged. But I know my thing I can find rest and strength in My Abba Father. I just have to go to Him. I have to TRUST Him. The things that I am speaking the the children about seems almost pointless because I don't feel they are listening. It almost feels like sometimes I am talking to a brick wall. I have been talking about obedience, respect & honour, lying, punishment & consequences, friendships. I know God wants me to talk about those things. But they are so hard to get across to these children. I probably will do series about love, and I am waiting until the end to talk about salvation in Christ. I think I heard Carloyn say last night that our children at GSF are the miniority in the classes, which means that the other children are from other villages. We have some children from Muslims families, and families that pracitice other false religions here in Africa. So I ask that you pray for me when it comes time for me to talk about faith in Christ and what it means. I really don't want to come across and bash their religion and their culture. I want to share with them my best friend who changed my life forever and who lives in me and who forgives me of my sins. And who also died for me. I also would like for you all to pray for Chad. He is still homesick. He told me lastnight that He doesn't like it here. The other day he got bite by one of the boys and that evening he called his mom and his mom said she would buy him a ticket. So I just ask that you pray hard from this young man, Chad. He is a really cool person. I know that Satan is attacking him. I have been in his shoes when I was in Argentina. So also pray that I can encouarge him. I don't know why he doesn't like it. His full name is Chad Grindstaff. Thank you all for the prayers. The team just left about 30 mintues ago. It felt good to be around people from the states for a week. But I can tell you that I am trying to stay focused. Just continue to pray for the both of us. Thank you. I love you all. Chad and I were going to go to Gulu with the team this morning but were unable to and I Chad was a little dissappointed with that. Well I shall talk to everyone later on. I need to finish working on my devotions for the children today.
P.S. Candace...Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your day and have a blast. I miss and love you! Take care and will see you when I get back.
In Christ,
Chandler
Here ya go!
Hello My Family & Friends,
I updated my blog on Saturday but it looks like it didn't go through. Oh well. Well I shall update you on what happened on Saturday. The team that came from NC did a VBS and it was so much fun. All the children and teenagers loved it. Plus they got some sweeties. Before I go any further let me tell you that it is pouring down here. I hope it stops very soon because I have to walk up to the school and do devotions. Okay..it's raining super duper hard! holy crap chicken! The past couple of days have been really fun. With the VBS and then yesterday with the water games. Yesterday church was really cool. One of the guys from the team lead the teens bible study and then we went to church. We first sang and danced and had a good time praising Our Abba Father. Then the GSF choir got up and sang some songs. They are really good and talented. God has really talented this children and teenagers. Then after the choir sang the preacher from the village spoke and it was about not trusting man, trust God. Oh wow! That'll get you. Okay i know I am going all the place with this one and I am sorry about that. But on Saturday night we had a good ole' time! Every time there is a team or speical guest GSF cooks goat and and they have a bond fire. I can tell you the goat was actually really good. It was not that bad at all. But before we started eating we starting the night with some dancing. Oh and you know how I am. I got my groove on and danced the night away. We probably danced for about 30 minutes or so. Well it seemed like that. And then we ate goat, bananana stuff, and green breens. Then after dinner we danced some more. While some of us were dancing the rest were roasting marshmellows over the bondfire. Then it came to a time where the dancing stopped and we all ended up at the bondfire and sang some worship songs and just had a good time being all the together before the Lord. I can tell you that night was awesome! Oh by the way..it's still raining very hard!! (rain, rain go away..come again another day) I can tell you that God has been working in my heart in the past couple of weeks. He has been breaking me and telling me not to rely on myself to get through each day. That He is the one that brings me through each day. That He is my strength. I am getting a little tired and discouraged. But I know my thing I can find rest and strength in My Abba Father. I just have to go to Him. I have to TRUST Him. The things that I am speaking the the children about seems almost pointless because I don't feel they are listening. It almost feels like sometimes I am talking to a brick wall. I have been talking about obedience, respect & honour, lying, punishment & consequences, friendships. I know God wants me to talk about those things. But they are so hard to get across to these children. I probably will do series about love, and I am waiting until the end to talk about salvation in Christ. I think I heard Carloyn say last night that our children at GSF are the miniority in the classes, which means that the other children are from other villages. We have some children from Muslims families, and families that pracitice other false religions here in Africa. So I ask that you pray for me when it comes time for me to talk about faith in Christ and what it means. I really don't want to come across and bash their religion and their culture. I want to share with them my best friend who changed my life forever and who lives in me and who forgives me of my sins. And who also died for me. I also would like for you all to pray for Chad. He is still homesick. He told me lastnight that He doesn't like it here. The other day he got bite by one of the boys and that evening he called his mom and his mom said she would buy him a ticket. So I just ask that you pray hard from this young man, Chad. He is a really cool person. I know that Satan is attacking him. I have been in his shoes when I was in Argentina. So also pray that I can encouarge him. I don't know why he doesn't like it. His full name is Chad Grindstaff. Thank you all for the prayers. The team just left about 30 mintues ago. It felt good to be around people from the states for a week. But I can tell you that I am trying to stay focused. Just continue to pray for the both of us. Thank you. I love you all. Chad and I were going to go to Gulu with the team this morning but were unable to and I Chad was a little dissappointed with that. Well I shall talk to everyone later on. I need to finish working on my devotions for the children today.
P.S. Candace...Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your day and have a blast. I miss and love you! Take care and will see you when I get back.
In Christ,
Chandler
I updated my blog on Saturday but it looks like it didn't go through. Oh well. Well I shall update you on what happened on Saturday. The team that came from NC did a VBS and it was so much fun. All the children and teenagers loved it. Plus they got some sweeties. Before I go any further let me tell you that it is pouring down here. I hope it stops very soon because I have to walk up to the school and do devotions. Okay..it's raining super duper hard! holy crap chicken! The past couple of days have been really fun. With the VBS and then yesterday with the water games. Yesterday church was really cool. One of the guys from the team lead the teens bible study and then we went to church. We first sang and danced and had a good time praising Our Abba Father. Then the GSF choir got up and sang some songs. They are really good and talented. God has really talented this children and teenagers. Then after the choir sang the preacher from the village spoke and it was about not trusting man, trust God. Oh wow! That'll get you. Okay i know I am going all the place with this one and I am sorry about that. But on Saturday night we had a good ole' time! Every time there is a team or speical guest GSF cooks goat and and they have a bond fire. I can tell you the goat was actually really good. It was not that bad at all. But before we started eating we starting the night with some dancing. Oh and you know how I am. I got my groove on and danced the night away. We probably danced for about 30 minutes or so. Well it seemed like that. And then we ate goat, bananana stuff, and green breens. Then after dinner we danced some more. While some of us were dancing the rest were roasting marshmellows over the bondfire. Then it came to a time where the dancing stopped and we all ended up at the bondfire and sang some worship songs and just had a good time being all the together before the Lord. I can tell you that night was awesome! Oh by the way..it's still raining very hard!! (rain, rain go away..come again another day) I can tell you that God has been working in my heart in the past couple of weeks. He has been breaking me and telling me not to rely on myself to get through each day. That He is the one that brings me through each day. That He is my strength. I am getting a little tired and discouraged. But I know my thing I can find rest and strength in My Abba Father. I just have to go to Him. I have to TRUST Him. The things that I am speaking the the children about seems almost pointless because I don't feel they are listening. It almost feels like sometimes I am talking to a brick wall. I have been talking about obedience, respect & honour, lying, punishment & consequences, friendships. I know God wants me to talk about those things. But they are so hard to get across to these children. I probably will do series about love, and I am waiting until the end to talk about salvation in Christ. I think I heard Carloyn say last night that our children at GSF are the miniority in the classes, which means that the other children are from other villages. We have some children from Muslims families, and families that pracitice other false religions here in Africa. So I ask that you pray for me when it comes time for me to talk about faith in Christ and what it means. I really don't want to come across and bash their religion and their culture. I want to share with them my best friend who changed my life forever and who lives in me and who forgives me of my sins. And who also died for me. I also would like for you all to pray for Chad. He is still homesick. He told me lastnight that He doesn't like it here. The other day he got bite by one of the boys and that evening he called his mom and his mom said she would buy him a ticket. So I just ask that you pray hard from this young man, Chad. He is a really cool person. I know that Satan is attacking him. I have been in his shoes when I was in Argentina. So also pray that I can encouarge him. I don't know why he doesn't like it. His full name is Chad Grindstaff. Thank you all for the prayers. The team just left about 30 mintues ago. It felt good to be around people from the states for a week. But I can tell you that I am trying to stay focused. Just continue to pray for the both of us. Thank you. I love you all. Chad and I were going to go to Gulu with the team this morning but were unable to and I Chad was a little dissappointed with that. Well I shall talk to everyone later on. I need to finish working on my devotions for the children today.
P.S. Candace...Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your day and have a blast. I miss and love you! Take care and will see you when I get back.
In Christ,
Chandler
Oh what a glorious day!
Hello My family and friends,
Once again today is such a beauitful day in the land of Africa. The air here is so beautiful and so is the land. Just to breathe each morning is so awesome and it reminds me of what an incredible God we serve and how great He is! Each morning when I wake up at 6:30 in the morning to go and encourage and pray for the secondary students (probably what we know as middle and highschool) I think to myself why am I here. Why am I here in Africa? Why am I in Jinja, Uganda? Why am I teaching the children devotions in the morning? I mean what am I worth to tell these children about respect, honour, obedience, and friendship when at the same time I myself sometimes struggle with respecting, honouring, and obeying authority. Wow! God has been working in my life with these simple concepts that I have been trying to teach the children for the past two weeks. Who would of thought? I think that is so cool to see how God works. God is changing my heart; the way I look at life and the way I look at others. I can tell you one thing God has been changing in my life is to totally run to Him and rely on Him. If you think about it we cannot rely on each other because we are such finite beings and not perfect. We are even liarss, cheaters, etc. God showed me the other day after talking to Carolyn, why do I rely on mere humans. Mere finite beings can lie to me and maybe even steal from me. You get the picture. But I think we all put to muh reliance on people than we put on Our Abba Father, Himself. It talks about in Psalm 27 that He is our stronghold. I love that word. He is our strength. He knows when we are weak. He knows when we are going to be tired and fall down. So guess what. He is right there to be our stronghold, but so many of us run to our family, friends, drugs, sex, pornography, smoking, etc. You also get this picture. We want to run to someone or even something that will comfort us. I myself have troubles running and talking to God first before I talk to anyone else, but that is how we should do it. The other day I had a problem with my Primary boys on the soccer field. They were fitting and I had to pull they off and comes to find out they were actually fighting over pencils. One boy said it was his, and they other Joshua said it was his. Oh wow! Who was I supposed to believe. Someone was lying right to my face and it hurt really bad that they would not fess up to it. And the pervious day I had talked about lying in devtions. Guys I am so serious, I had no idea who to believe! It was really hard. That was one of my discouraging times because the day before I talked about lying and talking about what the Bible said about lying and that we are commanded not to lie but these boys didn't get it. And that is when I realized wait...I need to rely on God for strength and for help. I am admiring parents every time I am in that situation. And guess what...right when I turned around a couple of the boys were hitting each other. Then I was like...man oh man! I am through! But you know what....every time we as Christ followers do something bad and ask for forgiveness, God forgives us. And the kicker is that He LOVES us no matter what. Okay..wow I know I just rammbled a lot of things God has been teaching me, but dude it's cool. Gotta go because we are doing VBS with the children and then tonight we are having a bondfire! Love you and miss you all.
P.S. I do not know the date but I know it is close to my older sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Candace!! Love you and hope you enjoy your day!!
In Christ,
Chandler
Once again today is such a beauitful day in the land of Africa. The air here is so beautiful and so is the land. Just to breathe each morning is so awesome and it reminds me of what an incredible God we serve and how great He is! Each morning when I wake up at 6:30 in the morning to go and encourage and pray for the secondary students (probably what we know as middle and highschool) I think to myself why am I here. Why am I here in Africa? Why am I in Jinja, Uganda? Why am I teaching the children devotions in the morning? I mean what am I worth to tell these children about respect, honour, obedience, and friendship when at the same time I myself sometimes struggle with respecting, honouring, and obeying authority. Wow! God has been working in my life with these simple concepts that I have been trying to teach the children for the past two weeks. Who would of thought? I think that is so cool to see how God works. God is changing my heart; the way I look at life and the way I look at others. I can tell you one thing God has been changing in my life is to totally run to Him and rely on Him. If you think about it we cannot rely on each other because we are such finite beings and not perfect. We are even liarss, cheaters, etc. God showed me the other day after talking to Carolyn, why do I rely on mere humans. Mere finite beings can lie to me and maybe even steal from me. You get the picture. But I think we all put to muh reliance on people than we put on Our Abba Father, Himself. It talks about in Psalm 27 that He is our stronghold. I love that word. He is our strength. He knows when we are weak. He knows when we are going to be tired and fall down. So guess what. He is right there to be our stronghold, but so many of us run to our family, friends, drugs, sex, pornography, smoking, etc. You also get this picture. We want to run to someone or even something that will comfort us. I myself have troubles running and talking to God first before I talk to anyone else, but that is how we should do it. The other day I had a problem with my Primary boys on the soccer field. They were fitting and I had to pull they off and comes to find out they were actually fighting over pencils. One boy said it was his, and they other Joshua said it was his. Oh wow! Who was I supposed to believe. Someone was lying right to my face and it hurt really bad that they would not fess up to it. And the pervious day I had talked about lying in devtions. Guys I am so serious, I had no idea who to believe! It was really hard. That was one of my discouraging times because the day before I talked about lying and talking about what the Bible said about lying and that we are commanded not to lie but these boys didn't get it. And that is when I realized wait...I need to rely on God for strength and for help. I am admiring parents every time I am in that situation. And guess what...right when I turned around a couple of the boys were hitting each other. Then I was like...man oh man! I am through! But you know what....every time we as Christ followers do something bad and ask for forgiveness, God forgives us. And the kicker is that He LOVES us no matter what. Okay..wow I know I just rammbled a lot of things God has been teaching me, but dude it's cool. Gotta go because we are doing VBS with the children and then tonight we are having a bondfire! Love you and miss you all.
P.S. I do not know the date but I know it is close to my older sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Candace!! Love you and hope you enjoy your day!!
In Christ,
Chandler
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
My day off!!
Hello my Muzungu friends,
Today is my day off and I even hate to say that, but Praise God that I find rest and strength in Him. A team from NC came in yesterday and they seem to be pretty cool. Today some went rafting on the Nile River (class 5 rapids..not me..nope) and then the rest of us went to a children's hosptial and came to Jinja to shop and and eat. I can tell you that going to the children's hosptial touched me heart. Just to see some of the children there..WOW! Some of the team memebers thought it was cool to take pictures but I thought it was not cool and plus my heart was just a little aching for the little ones to take pictures of them and bring them back to the states and gloat over them. Right now i am in an internet cafe in town called The Source. It is also a church. It is a place where missionaries come and hang out also. So I am glad that I find rest and strenght in our Good Shepherd. Okay in a little while I go back to hang out with the preschoolers and then play soccer with my boys from 4-5. I am so excited. I scored two goals already. YES!! A Muzungu can really play soccer. Okay love you all. Please continue to pray for the children. Miss you all!! Bye!
Chandler
Today is my day off and I even hate to say that, but Praise God that I find rest and strength in Him. A team from NC came in yesterday and they seem to be pretty cool. Today some went rafting on the Nile River (class 5 rapids..not me..nope) and then the rest of us went to a children's hosptial and came to Jinja to shop and and eat. I can tell you that going to the children's hosptial touched me heart. Just to see some of the children there..WOW! Some of the team memebers thought it was cool to take pictures but I thought it was not cool and plus my heart was just a little aching for the little ones to take pictures of them and bring them back to the states and gloat over them. Right now i am in an internet cafe in town called The Source. It is also a church. It is a place where missionaries come and hang out also. So I am glad that I find rest and strenght in our Good Shepherd. Okay in a little while I go back to hang out with the preschoolers and then play soccer with my boys from 4-5. I am so excited. I scored two goals already. YES!! A Muzungu can really play soccer. Okay love you all. Please continue to pray for the children. Miss you all!! Bye!
Chandler
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Today is a new day in Africa!
Hello my friends and family!
I first want to say Happy Father's day to my papa and granddaddy! I miss the both of you dearly and I hope you liked your cards alot. I have little time to talk but I just want to say that God is so out of this world! He is so Amazing! Everday He blows my mind and shows me something new about Him and even about myself. I have learned what it means to be the minority. Oh yes..when people look and stare at you all the time and all they want to do is come up and touch and rub your skin and your hair. You might hear a laugh or two. We are known as the "Muzungu." The "white man." I would have to tell you that even though I am a Muzungu God is still teaching me so much and working through me. I will tell you a story one of the girls told us last night as we were having a bond fire and singing praise and worship songs. She said, " she thanked me for the prayer that I prayed for the older children before they went out to secondary school that morning because they almost got into an accident. When I heard that I was like Praise God that you kept them safe." And she also said thank you for the encouragement that I have been giving them. Well I can say these children have been such an encouragement to me as well. Oh yes! I think and am praying about coming back. Don't know when yet. Praise God! I do devetions in the morning with the children and it is so awesome to see already God working in the children's lives. Praise God! Okay I will keep this updated when I have time. We only have power 12 hours a day here and then the guy that I am with has been using the internet a whole lot because he is homesick because he misses his girlfriend and parents. I mean I miss my parents and friends but I have already been away from home for almost a year..so I am used to this, he has not. So just keep him in your prayer. I will talk to you guys later on. Bye for now. Thank you for the prayers!! They are much needed. Love ya'll and miss ya'll!!
I first want to say Happy Father's day to my papa and granddaddy! I miss the both of you dearly and I hope you liked your cards alot. I have little time to talk but I just want to say that God is so out of this world! He is so Amazing! Everday He blows my mind and shows me something new about Him and even about myself. I have learned what it means to be the minority. Oh yes..when people look and stare at you all the time and all they want to do is come up and touch and rub your skin and your hair. You might hear a laugh or two. We are known as the "Muzungu." The "white man." I would have to tell you that even though I am a Muzungu God is still teaching me so much and working through me. I will tell you a story one of the girls told us last night as we were having a bond fire and singing praise and worship songs. She said, " she thanked me for the prayer that I prayed for the older children before they went out to secondary school that morning because they almost got into an accident. When I heard that I was like Praise God that you kept them safe." And she also said thank you for the encouragement that I have been giving them. Well I can say these children have been such an encouragement to me as well. Oh yes! I think and am praying about coming back. Don't know when yet. Praise God! I do devetions in the morning with the children and it is so awesome to see already God working in the children's lives. Praise God! Okay I will keep this updated when I have time. We only have power 12 hours a day here and then the guy that I am with has been using the internet a whole lot because he is homesick because he misses his girlfriend and parents. I mean I miss my parents and friends but I have already been away from home for almost a year..so I am used to this, he has not. So just keep him in your prayer. I will talk to you guys later on. Bye for now. Thank you for the prayers!! They are much needed. Love ya'll and miss ya'll!!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Journey begins in 2 days
Hello my friends,
I have to say that I am still awestruck that God even wants me to go over to Uganda to minister to these orphans. I mean look at me! I am just a natural born sinner. I am a finite being that screws up many times. I am a small human being that thinks about himself even before he thinks about others. That my friends is what we would call being selfish. I tend to be argumentative. My parents made me realize that I am what is known as stubborn. I can be prideful at times. I can go on and on and on and on. However, if I was to go and name every flaw that is within me and list every horrible thing I have done or said I think that everyone would get hit right in between the eyes. I also think that for the people reading this would feel guilty because I would have listed or said some things you struggled with or still struggle with. All I know is that I am nothing without Christ. If I did not have Christ, then I would be nothing. My whole entire life would amount to nothing. I would just be living the empty, everyday normal life and to be honest I do not want to live that way. I want to live like a revolutionary would and shine for my Abba Father's glory. And my friends that is why I am still awestruck as to why God would allow me to go over to Uganda. I can tell you that it is by His grace that He has opened a door for me to part on this incredible journey. Words are just not enough to describe how I feel right now! In two days I will be heading to Jinja, Uganda with Chad (the guy I'm going with) and cannot wait to see what God and the Holy Spirit is already doing in Uganda, especially at Good Shepherds Fold Orphanage. I do not want to be a typical American and try to bring everything from my American culture and try to immerse it in their culture, especially my denomination. I think so many of us Christ Followers from America think that we are the only Christ Followers in the world. And no we are not superior to our brothers and sisters in Christ in others countries. And if you think that I pray that God would break your heart and convict you, right now! We are called to go and serve them. We are called to go and make them disciples. It does not say that we are called to go and make them Southern Baptist, or Pentecostal, or Methodist, etc.. (you get the picture) Okay friends I will try to update as often as I can and I just found out from Chad that GSF only has power for 12 hours daily. So my time will probably be limited. And I am sure to take lots of pictures. Take care my dear friends. Ya'll are in my thoughts. Take care and I pray that God does a "WoW" in your life! Ciao!
~Chandler
I have to say that I am still awestruck that God even wants me to go over to Uganda to minister to these orphans. I mean look at me! I am just a natural born sinner. I am a finite being that screws up many times. I am a small human being that thinks about himself even before he thinks about others. That my friends is what we would call being selfish. I tend to be argumentative. My parents made me realize that I am what is known as stubborn. I can be prideful at times. I can go on and on and on and on. However, if I was to go and name every flaw that is within me and list every horrible thing I have done or said I think that everyone would get hit right in between the eyes. I also think that for the people reading this would feel guilty because I would have listed or said some things you struggled with or still struggle with. All I know is that I am nothing without Christ. If I did not have Christ, then I would be nothing. My whole entire life would amount to nothing. I would just be living the empty, everyday normal life and to be honest I do not want to live that way. I want to live like a revolutionary would and shine for my Abba Father's glory. And my friends that is why I am still awestruck as to why God would allow me to go over to Uganda. I can tell you that it is by His grace that He has opened a door for me to part on this incredible journey. Words are just not enough to describe how I feel right now! In two days I will be heading to Jinja, Uganda with Chad (the guy I'm going with) and cannot wait to see what God and the Holy Spirit is already doing in Uganda, especially at Good Shepherds Fold Orphanage. I do not want to be a typical American and try to bring everything from my American culture and try to immerse it in their culture, especially my denomination. I think so many of us Christ Followers from America think that we are the only Christ Followers in the world. And no we are not superior to our brothers and sisters in Christ in others countries. And if you think that I pray that God would break your heart and convict you, right now! We are called to go and serve them. We are called to go and make them disciples. It does not say that we are called to go and make them Southern Baptist, or Pentecostal, or Methodist, etc.. (you get the picture) Okay friends I will try to update as often as I can and I just found out from Chad that GSF only has power for 12 hours daily. So my time will probably be limited. And I am sure to take lots of pictures. Take care my dear friends. Ya'll are in my thoughts. Take care and I pray that God does a "WoW" in your life! Ciao!
~Chandler
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