Sundays

There is Tom.

And Wasswa.

And Bwanika.

And Kasule and Michael.

And Alvin and Trevor.

They are kids I know and love. They are all between the ages of 10 – 14 and live on the streets in Kampala. There are thousands more in Kampala, all with a name, all precious to God.

Kasule is in school but the others spend their day picking scrap metal to sell so they can buy food or pay for somewhere to sleep. Some of them pay 10 cents to be able to sleep in an enclosed shelter while others just sleep outside.

Michael wants to be a lawyer when he grows up, Alvin, a headmaster (principal), Bwanika, a comedian and Kasule, a pilot.

Tom loves attention from the leaders who run programs for the kids. Kasule is always smiling and kind of my favorite. Trevor is pretty quiet and Bwanika is always up to something (but always has a good excuse).

They all have their stories. They shared them with me this past weekend. Some want to be re-united with their families and others have no desire. They call the streets their home. The streets shouldn’t be home for anybody, especially children.

I have the amazing privilege of spending Sunday afternoons with them. A friend of mine started a program, Tomorrow’s Heros, for these children. The kids and leaders love it. We all have our teams and team leaders. I’m the proud leader of the Cheetahs. We have team competitions, play games, watch movies, sing, dance, learn about God and hang out. It’s pretty awesome. We provide soap and sponges so they are able to bathe and wash their clothes and of course there’s food at the end. I think they typically come for the food but I come for them.

They are children and it weighs on my heart that they are living on the streets. The truth is I don’t know the solution. It is hard to help a child with no home unless you take them in. They don’t have a foster care system here and I can’t imagine adoption among these kids is common.

I have a few ideas of how to help but really need guidance and direction from God.

Pray for these children. Pray for them by name.

This is where the kids sell scrap metal. They get less than 25 cents for 1 kg.

This is where Trevor sleeps. He has to pay around 10 cents a night to sleep here and he shares it with well over 10 other kids/adults.

This is Kasule showing us where he sleeps. He is an amazing, joyful child. An adult in the community pays for a small room for several boys so he doesn't have to pay to sleep here.

This is my new friend Michael. Below is a picture of where he sleeps outside.

A PIcture is Worth 1000 Words

Here are a few pictures from the past few months.

My darling Andrew. I stopped by to drop off a few clothes for him and his family, he was so excited.

Simon and Amos modeling their new clothes and bags. Again, compliments of the amazing stuff sent on the container.

Since the beginning of January I've been spending my Sundays working with boys that live on the streets. A few of my friends organized a wonderful program called Tomorrow's Heros. In this picture Kasule is showing me where he sleeps.

I think some of the best moments over the past few weeks have been the two trips to the zoo with children I absolutely adore. This past Saturday I took a group of 9 and only 1 had ever been before. They had a blast.

And we did face painting as well at the zoo. Mutabazi and Joshua are super fun.

Further updates are coming soon.

An Hour of Prayer

My shower tonight was super cold, like take-your-breath-away cold. But as soon as I started to feel sorry for myself I remembered the headline on CNN I read minutes before, “The Confirmed Dead and Missing Hits 13,000.” I don’t mean to state the obvious and focus on the terrible news going on in our world and this may seem like a very weird blog post but I feel like this blog doesn’t always have to be about Uganda or what I’m doing here and it probably shouldn’t. All too often my time is spent thinking about myself. Even when I am doing my work here, it is in the context of my time, when I’ll get it done, my schedule, etc. And I am embarrassed at the little time I spend praying and thinking about other people, especially people in other parts of the world.

It is hard to ignore the recent onslaught of horrific news in the past few weeks and while I have spent a bit of time reading the news online, I can’t say I’ve spent time praying for these dear people. I know that God calls us to intercede for people all over the world and tonight as I worried about my cold shower, God reminded me of His dear children in other parts of the world. The pastor of the church I attend in Chicago shared on Romans 12:15 several years ago and this verse comes to mind when I think about God’s people in Japan, Libya, New Zealand. It states, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” This verse is among the many in Romans 12 about how to love others well. And at a time like this I am reminded that we need to get on our knees and mourn and pray for those who are going through terrible times.

When I think about the people in Japan, in the snow looking for their loved ones, my heart feels heavy. In Tunisia last week 2000 people an hour were crossing the boarder in hopes of finding refuge. I can’t even fathom what that looks like. And these are people running for their lives, running to a new country with the stuff on their backs, running to no home, no job, no security or guarantee of food, water, anything. And I was worried about my cold shower. Yuck.

But, rather than dwell on the horrible events and feel overwhelmed and helpless, I am turning to the only One who is capable of providing what these dear people need, my Father.

I believe that it is our privilege to be able to intercede for God’s people all over the world. Tomorrow I am going to commit to spending one hour in prayer for the people of Libya, Japan, New Zealand and the many other places that are experiencing hard times. I ask that you (whoever is reading this) would consider doing the same. I believe in prayer and I know that when God’s people come together in His name things happen. I am going to spend from 5 – 6 pm Uganda time praying for these people and ask that you join in at that time if possible. I think Chicago is either 8 or 9 hours behind Uganda but I’m not really sure. I realize many people have jobs that don’t allow an hour break but if your schedule does permit, I ask that you pray with me.

Thanks for reading and praying.