Young Friends, Sweet Friends

"Cause at Camp Barnabas you know it's alright
It was Jesus' love that gave me my sight
He took my heart, brought me into the light
And I'm Camp Barnabas Bound"
This past week I got the opportunity to serve at Camp Barnabas during the Young Friends term. The kids ranged from 7 to 15 and had autism/developmental disabilities and were absolutely adorable! The week taught me so much; you definitely don't have to travel around the world to learn things that are life-changing. Just thought I'd share some of the things I learned because they are so helpful and important :)

G1 CIAs
• Humility- I got to Camp Barnabas thinking that I was a pretty patient person... looking back, I don't think I even knew what patience was. Through camp God taught me a whole new level of patience that I didn't even know was possible. The other counselors in my cabin were amazing examples of Christ, loving the campers selflessly and genuinely and never showing any frustration with them. They've all challenged me in how I live and I'm so thankful for them! Luke 14:11
• Selflessness- At camp there's basically no way out of learning to be selfless, which is great! You're literally with your camper 23 hours out of the day and your one main job is to make sure that your camper has the best week of his/her life. There's such a special bond between you and the campers because you get to help them do things that a lot of people do on their own. You get to make sure they have all the food they need, which means special diets for a lot of the kids and things like teeth-brushing are taken care of. You look out for someone else physically and emotionally all day long, so your needs are the least of your worries. Philippians 2:3-4
• Relying on God- The first 2 weeks of summer I was gone, then I was back for 3 days and left again for Camp. It's been amazing and such a blessing, but definitely tiring. The jetlag and possible sicknesses I could've gotten from Africa didn't even have a chance to catch me because I've just been on the go. God has taught me such a big lesson through all of it! Usually during the year I'm out doing a lot of things, but I always come home to my comfortable house with my loving, encouraging family. This summer has been spent going to lots of new places, experiencing new things. I've realized that my strength comes from God alone, not anyone or anything else. My comfort isn't based on where I am because God is my comfort, and wherever I am God is right there with me. We will never feel His comfort and strength more than when we're following Him, walking in His will. Psalm 62:5
My camper, Grace
• Power of prayer- God is BIG. He is all-powerful and creator of everything and He wants a love relationship with US! He is so faithful and constant, wanting to lead us to the fullness of life that He promises. At Camp Barnabas He really revealed His faithfulness, showing clearly that He is always with us during our highs and lows. During the lows He grows and stretches us and during the highs His love and blessings are obvious. But no matter if we're going through highs or lows, if we take it all to Him and lay it at His feet, He will always come through for us and put His peace on us. Philippians 4:6-7
• Trusting God's Timing- Our counselor/camper relationships taught me a lot about my relationship with God. It was so cool to see how patient He is with me and how He really does take complete care of His children. Some of the campers would get so excited for the next activity that they couldn't enjoy the activity that we were currently doing. But instead of getting frustrated with them, the staffers reminded us of how God is with us. A camper used a timer to count down the time to the next activity everywhere we went and it was a perfect picture of how we can be. Way too often I get so caught up in what I want to happen and when I want things that I forget to enjoy where I am at the moment. God has us everywhere we are for a specific reason and He wants us to enjoy every moment with Him. Proverbs 3:5-7

My week at Camp Barnabas was awesome and such a learning experience. It taught me even more than I expected and has opened my eyes. There were so many sweet moments and sweet new friends that I met. I was so blessed by the campers, staffers, and other volunteers. Simple things like seeing all the e-mails the campers got during their week at camp made me realize how powerful God's love is. Through each day's highs and lows God was always there walking all of us through it all.

Goodbye Africa... for now:)

We've been back in the States for a day now and it's still shocking. It's hard to believe that Africa is a whole world away. The 2 weeks were incredible and such a blessing. It was so cool to see that God is SO much bigger than our own little worlds. He is living and all-powerful. Everyone that I saw and met on the trip didn't praise God because of the circumstances they were in but simply because of the fact that He is God, and let me tell you, their circumstances were nothing like ours over here. The adults and kids worshiped like I've never seen; nothing held them back, they praised with complete surrender. They live trusting that God will provide their needs day-to-day and that He is more than enough. It definitely challenged me and will change the way I live. Thank you all so much for your prayers! Our team all arrived home safely and changed by the trip:) Africa, I miss you already... but if it's in God's will, I will be back very soon!

Heart in Jinja

We went to Jinja to shop at a market and eat at a cafe yesterday. There were lots of street venders with little booths. After the market we went to a baby cottage for a couple of hours and held and played with over 30 babies. They lived in the cutest little cottage and it was the first place we've visited that adopts out. Last night was our last night at Canaan's so the kids did a performance for us with a ton of singing and dancing. They are so talented! This morning we walked them to school and had to say our goodbyes :( It was so hard to leave the kids, especially my precious Baby Eddie. Pastor Isaac, who started Canaan Children's Home, told us his testimony before we left and it was the coolest thing I've ever heard. It's so encouraging and exciting to hear people's life testimonies that point directly to God and give Him all the glory. My heart is still in Jinja with the sweet Canaan kids.  Later we left and headed to The Haven, the resort that we're at tonight. It's so nice and right on the Nile....most beautiful view ever! God's creation is so impressive. Best part: Exploring in the Nile with Taylor and Michael (Big Poppy) for an hour and a half in the water. Luckily I had my first real shower of the trip right after :) Tomorrow we are headed to Kampala for our last few days to visit a couple more orphanages. Please pray for God to continue to show His love in big ways. Thanks!

In Love With Africa

2 days ago we left Kampala and headed to Canaan's Childrens Home, which is near Jinja. Canaan's is a home for orphans, with about 120 kids, ranging from 2 to18 years old. They are so precious! They're so sweet and affectionate, always shining with joy. I love getting to wake up to them outside singing and playing, and getting to tuck them in every night. Yesterday we went to Amazima to help with their feeding program. There were almost 300 kids (lots of babies, almost all toddlers, and some older kids.) It was so humbling to get to serve the kids their food and love on and play with them. Later on yesterday I played my first African soccer game! The field we played in was nothing like the ones at home though. It was full of holes, hills, and cows. After our game, the boys invited us to go watch them play against another village team at a field that was "close". By "close" we had no idea that meant a 2 mile walk through the middle of the forest. It was gorgeous though! We literally crawled through a tunnel of trees. Finally we reached the most perfect soccer field I have ever seen. It didn't have sidelines or a scoreboard or anything like that, but was just a cleared out field on top of a mountain with the most incredible view! They boys playing were so intense and so talented at soccer. Before we knew it they had us all as the refs.... intimidating! Graham was the head ref, running in the middle of all the guys (And he did great of course :) ) and Taylor and I were side refs together, and Brennan (one of the boys on our team) was the ref on the other side... so crazy. Today we went to the school that the Canaan kids attend, along with some of the other village kids. The kids here love school and go all year. We also rode over the Nile today! Tomorrow we are spending more time with the sweet Canaan kids and then going to a baby home. God is doing big things and showing me love and hope in these kids that completely doesn't depend on circumstances. Thanks for reading and I'll keep you posted:)

Esto es Africa

After a 13 hour flight and 30 straight hours of being awake, we arrived in Africa yesterday afternoon! We just relaxed and tried to get used to the 9 hour time difference. Today was our first day of serving and it was incredible! We spent the day visiting a children's prison with over 200 kids in it. The kids either no longer live with their families or don't have families at all. But despite all of that, the kids still showed so much joy. The second we arrived, a group of about 30 young kids were cheering and welcoming us. We literally just loved on the kids all day. I don't think there was a moment when a single member of our team didn't have their hands full either holding a child or holding hands with 2 or 3. The kids come from such rough backgrounds, but still worship God with their wholehearts... it's unbelievable! It was so cool to love the kids with a love so strong only the Lord can provide it. Whether it was teaching the kids to play games, singing with them, or painting everyones fingernails and toenails (and by everyone I mean young kids, teenagers, girls and boys:) ), it was all such a blessing. Tomorrow we're visiting 3 more of the prisons and we'd all appreciate your prayers so much, for God's love to be shown to these kids who desperately need to see it and for them to truly experience the hope of the gospel of Christ. It feels like a whole different world over here, finding geckos (spelling not sure ha) in the bathroom and sleeping under nice mosquito nets (esto es africa!)..... but I could definitely get used to this! Thank you so much for your prayers so far and please keep praying:) Thanks!
1 John 3:16-18