A Beacon in the Darkness

            “This
is going to be a hard year”. So many people told me this exact
thing before I left and while I was in training, but I never
understood the depth of that statement until I got to Africa. This
IS
going to be a hard, trying few months. I understand that now. Not
only because I am away from home, that is difficult, but I am used to
it. God prepared me to be overseas while I was away at college and
especially during my semester in Australia. Yet life here is just…
well, difficult. Some days are harder than others. When I started
this blog, I committed to being honest, through the joys and
struggles.

Over
the past month, we have had our ups and downs, spiritually,
physically, and emotionally. I personally have been struggling with
apathy and at times a hardened heart towards others. It took me
awhile to recognize and admit to these struggles, but once I finally
did and laid them at God’s feet, He has been softening my heart and
giving me passion for certain people. Yet I still struggle. I am at
a place where I feel like I am pouring out and pouring out to others,
and not being poured back into.

There
are many heavy Spirits of darkness here, the Spirit of religion being
the most prominent, and others that work to oppress us. I know God
has given me the tools to fight the enemy and these spirits of
darkness; however I sometimes feel that I am still in training camp,
just learning how to use some of these tools. Yet here in Uganda,
we are on the front lines. Even our ministry was slow and not where
God was leading us. We finally got to the point where we were
seeking out our own ministry options here in Busia. Through that,
God has blessed me. He has shown me hope and light in the darkness
through person in particular.

Mama
Tom is a widow from Kenya who attends Calvary Baptist Church (the one
Helping Hands started). She also attends the Bible Study that I help
lead, so I have had the blessing of getting to know her on a deeper
level. She is in her 70’s and takes care of 15 orphans. This
woman is PHENOMENAL!! Never before have I met someone like her. She
truly spends every moment of the day joyfully sitting in the presence
of the Lord. She is a prayer warrior, a praiser, a mama to everyone
she meets, and an encouragement. Through every joys and struggles
alike, she praises the Lord from the bottom of her heart and trusts
Him completely. Her spirit of love, joy, hope, and faith rubs off on
everyone she meets. When we go to visit her house, she always greets
us dancing and singing praises to God for her “American children”
who love and visit her. She brings us into her home and prays with
and over us. She never fails to offer us food, no matter how meager.
She has so many needs, yet she goes out of her way daily to help
meet ours. She tells us often how she thanks God at night for us and
prays for our parents back home. She shares stories that make me
laugh, yet blow my mind. This woman has been through it all and has
never stopped praising and trusting God. I pray that God will give
me a heart like hers.

God
has not only blessed me through her, but has opened us doors for us
to bless her as well. She is currently been living in half of an old
church with her orphans. She has a bed frame, but no mattress, so
she sleeps on some towels and blankets. She often doesn’t have
enough food to feed her orphans every day, but she does all she can
and trusts that the Lord will provide the rest. Everything she prays
for is to help provide for or serve someone other than herself, a
rare thing to find anywhere in the world. God has placed her needs
on each of our hearts individually. Two of my teammates and their
families felt called to donate the money for some land so that she
can have a house of her own and a place for her orphans to live when
she is gone. We have been able to go weekly and bring her some
flour, eggs, beans and rice to feed her orphans with. God has placed
it on others hearts to buy her a mattress (something like $30 USD for
a nice one…. nothing to us, everything to her). Yet two days ago,
God gave us a chance to pour love and blessings onto her. Brittany,
Tara, KC and I were visiting her home and catching up. One of her
orphans, Derek, came stumbling in and sat on Brittany’s lap,
whimpering, with tears on his cheeks. We felt his head and her was
burning up, obviously an incredibly high fever. We asked Mama if he
was ill and she said he has malaria but they can’t afford the test
or the medicine. When treated, Malaria is not terrible, yet without
medication, it can be fatal. We asked if she was feeling well, and
she said she had been tested a few days ago and has typhoid, but
again, doesn’t have medication. And little King David was
suffering from some infection, which turned out to be worms.

We
insisted that she let us take them to the clinic for testing and
medicine, and she started weeping and praising God. Once there,
Derek was admitted to stay overnight to be treated for his 103+ fever
and malaria. We stayed with him all day, through the blood test, the
IV, the crying and wailing from fear when they had to give him a
shot. I wanted to cry but could only hold him down and speak comfort
and prayers over him. Finally we got him settled in a bed with his
IV, got medicine for King David, and got Mama Tom tested so that we
could get her meds as well. That day we witnessed a miracle. When
Mama Tom’s test results had come back positive for typhoid 2 days
before, she had prayed fervently that the Lord would heal her so that
she could take care of her orphans. That day, when all of her blood
work and tests came back, she was completely healthy. We were
shocked, even the doctor was shocked, who re-read the results
multiple times to make sure there was no error. She must be the
healthiest old women in any 3^rd world country!! PRAISE
GOD!!

I
am so grateful that God provided an opportunity to pour blessings
onto Mama Tom just as she has poured blessings onto us. When you are
in a place like Busia, you are surrounded with needs and simply can’t
meet them all, as much as you want to. Yet God places people in our
lives who we can help, and I am so grateful for that. As I have told
her as well as my parents, I now have an African Mama.  She is
one of those people that stay ingrained in your heart for a lifetime.