Hope Changes Everything

As I write this, it’s early in the morning, the day after our second gathering with the group of special needs kids we met at Christmas time.  Over the last few weeks as we’ve been planning for this, we’ve had church staff walking to the families’ houses to invite them to come; money for transport and food coming into place at the exact right time, nurses, a speech therapist and a physiotherapist all volunteering to come and help, and the turnout was amazing.  By this second gathering, our little Sunday school room at Lugogo Baptist Church was bursting at the seams!  

In total, there were more than 20 kids with varying disabilities, along with their parents and some siblings, coming from all over Kampala and even as far as Tororo - about 9 hours travel time - just to be with us.  Jennifer had heard we were meeting through an aunt in the city and travelled by matatu bus with 6 year old Chris…  a long, hot and tiring ride, especially with a severely disabled boy in tow.  Another young girl with hydrocephalus had been carried there by her teenage aunt, as her mother was in labour just yesterday.  So much effort went into coming here and I wondered, why?  Why do their tired bodies exert so much effort?  

And then I got it:  HOPE CHANGES EVERYTHING.

“And His name will be the hope of all the world.”  Matthew 12:21

Everyone needs hope.  The chance to come, share a meal with friends and children, sit with others in similar situations, talk to a nurse, learn an exercise that can help loosen the tension in their child with Cerebral Palsy’s hands, have someone hold your baby while you eat - or maybe help you feed her, and simply have someone who cares enough to listen to your struggles.  These are things that money can’t buy - things that help you carry on in a culture where babies like yours are abandoned by the sides of the road, because mothers can’t fathom doing this forever without any hope.   

 

In Uganda, children can disappear.  Left at churches or babies homes, frustrated and overwhelmed parents leave their children with the intention of temporary care while they find work to get their feet under them.  They later return to these baby homes to find their children missing  - unknowingly relocated to another care facility or even adopted abroad without the parent having any idea.  But thanks  to groups like our friends at Suubi House who provide family support and encouragement, change is happening to keep these children with their families. 

Meet Whitney.  Whitney and her twin brother were born weighing around just 1 kilo each, and are being  raised by their grandmother after their mother couldn’t care for them, especially after Whitney was found to be developmentally delayed and epileptic.  At the ages of 4, their grandmother was called to the village to care for her own dying mother, and left the kids in the care of her daughter.  Upon arriving home one month later, the twins were gone - dropped off at a church.  She searched relentlessly, until 8 months later she found them in a babies home, who did not want to return them as they had now been promised to a family overseas.  Thankfully, the twins are back home with their grandmother now, and couldn’t be loved more!  Another example of how support for these families could help keep them together.

It was a beautiful day in every way possible - and even though the there wasn’t enough time for the volunteers to diagnose and treat every child, they did sit with each family, listen to their struggles, and give some helpful advice. I came away with joy in my heart and a desire to do more.  Loving these kids is easy, it’s returned without caution or expectation and it makes me want to grab ahold of each and every one of their hands and not let go.  Because in the end, aren’t we just all walking each other home?

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

And a little song from Whitney:

The Greatest Gift

Let me tell you about the greatest gift I received this Christmas…  It wasn't something I could unwrap or tuck away under the tree, but it’s something that I will forever hold in my heart, and definitely something I will never forget.

One of the sweet faces at the Christmas Party.

It all started with a text message - instead of gifting to each other this year, a couple of (wonderful) people wanted to send the money to us in Uganda to do something here.  “What could you do with $150?” they asked?

The plan unfolded - between us, a small Ugandan Baptist Church and two other MAF staff and their families - everything fell very effortlessly into place.  A Christmas party for a group of special needs kids.  I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself!  With Charlee in my life, this is where my heart is.  

Sharing lunch outside.

In Uganda, having a disability is considered a curse on your family.  Lots of children with physical or mental disabilities are literally thrown away or hidden from the public eye.  The families who do choose to care for them have a VERY hard road with little to no support.  In a life that is already hard, caring for these children is harder than I can even imagine.  A Christmas party for these forgotten kids will be unbelievable!  Most of these kids have never been to a party before, let alone one where they were the guests of honour.

The day was truly beautiful.  When we arrived in the little room at the church all the parents and kids were already singing and dancing…  pure joy on their faces.  The caregivers went around the room and introduced themselves and their children through a translator; most of them referring to these kids as “their greatest blessing” or “my gift from God”.  Something that was so amazing to hear in a culture that can view them as rejects.  

We had a meal together; rice, beans, goat, potatoes, watermelon and pineapple.  Some of the church staff even managed to find the biggest, most festive Christmas cake I have ever seen (which is a Christmas miracle in Kampala).  Fred even helped serve the cake to all the kids.  We brought a huge bag of balloons that Matt blew up and all of the kids had a blast chasing them around and watching them pop.  

The money stretched even further than the buffet and cake.  Every family received a bag of groceries stocked with soap, salt, sugar, milk, dried beans and peas, maize flour and other supplies to feed the family over the next week or more.  The best part of it all, was that every child received a wrapped gift.  Each package included a fancy drinking bottle, a stuffed toy and a pair of trousers for boys and fancy dresses for girls.  If you could have seen the little girls twirling their dresses around, even if they were only “new-to-them”, it was something you would never forget.

Everyone pitched in with the cake cutting!

The kids receiving their gifts.

There was one girl who was carried in at the very end.  She had missed all the food and festivities, and even all the presents had been given.  Charlee didn’t hesitate - she took the last gift - her gift- over and gave it to the girl.  I am so incredibly proud of the people my kids are becoming!

Charlee giving her gift away.

I don’t even have the right words to end this post, or to make you see it the way that I did.  I  hope the pictures tell more of the story than I can relay to you.  I am sure that this is what Christmas is all about… bringing Jesus’ love to the least of these; the hungry, the weary, the forgotten and the beautiful.  Merry Christmas to you all!

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithfulstewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  1 Peter 4:10

We're Eagar to wish you a Merry Christmas ;)

Fall 2014 Newsletter!