All Things Uganda

When I signed up to go serve in Kisoro, Uganda last year, I can honestly say I had zero clue what that would look like. I didn't know if I would be speaking, building, cleaning, hugging, teaching, playing, or serving in some other way, shape or form. I didn't know who I would be spending the majority of my time with. I had no expectations going in, besides the fact that I wanted to serve God. 

I got there, and the first couple days were a whirl wind. I saw so much. And I saw so many people serving in so many different ways. I saw doctors and nurses treating patients. I saw people helping to pass out medicine, and directing people from one station to the other. I saw people playing with children, sharing the gospel with little eyes and little ears. I saw people sharing the gospel with not-so-little eyes, and not-so-little ears. I saw people teaching on HIV/AIDS, and Malaria. I saw people helping with heavy lifting, and organization. 

My eyes kind of glazed over, to be honest. It was so beautifully overwhelming, and I would silently ask the Lord to show me where He wanted me, and to give me a heart humble enough to obey. 

Guess what. 

He did. 

It was about half way through our third day on the mountain when I felt it, the click of confirmation. We were eating lunch when I asked if they needed any help in sports ministry, and was happily accepted on board. 

There are a handful of highlight moments etched into my mind from this trip, and they all involve those faces up there. Racing along dirt roads, and then being laughed at when I would lose my breath. Chasing the boys through the medical clinics, and having them want to be chased each and every time they spotted me afterwards. Allowing them to help me clean up, and then seeing the radiating joy result from a simple task of rolling up tape. The smiles that came from using the same rolled up tape as a pretend drum during worship.  

I don't think I can ever look at orange tape in the same way, again. 

My absolute favorite moment? Hearing one little boy share the gospel with his friends. There's nothing quite like that, and I couldn't even understand the language. 

I left Africa with a desire to return. But wanna know the truth? I didn't expect to be returning this soon. I had no intentions of signing up for the 2015 trip. 

Until one day, I was driving in my car, and my heart flashed back to those boys. Something inside of me knew, if I had even the slightest chance of seeing them again, I had to take it. 

And then the following day, I decided to check the e3 website, and lo and behold, a Kisoro 2015 trip was listed. 

And that's when I knew I was going. 

Only God knows if I will privileged enough to see those particular boys again, but I know that regardless, He has good things in store. Great things. 

I can't wait to see what those are. 

Many of you have asked how you can get involved. The most direct need right now is financially, I have just over 100 days to raise $3700 more dollars. Is that number daunting to me? You bet. But is it daunting to God? No way. 

You can support financially right here, if you feel led. 

Prayer is another way to partner in this. You can pray for our team, that God would be preparing our hearts and raising the necessary support for this trip. You can pray for those that are in full-time mission over in Kisoro, that they would be blessed and encouraged by witnessing the work God is doing in that city. You can pray that ultimately, His will would be done, and His name would get all the glory.  

Today, I'm thankful for a God who calls us into His story, and for all of the wonderful people like you that He's placed in mine. 

Happy Monday, friends! If you've made it this far, thanks for reading a piece of my heart today. ;)

Five On Friday

One -- Thank you guys so much for your love and support on yesterday's announcement. I am constantly blessed by this community, both online and real life community (though they kind of both become real life at some point, huh?)

Two -- I went to a wedding last weekend! {Shocked? Yeah, I know.}

My guy's best friend got married, and let me tell you, nothing tells you more about a man than the friends beside him. Good, quality friends usually stand beside a good, quality man. And both Kris and Stephanie? They are top notch people, and I was honored to be a part of their wedding. 

Not to mention, I thoroughly enjoyed this wedding because a) Frozen was played multiple times. and hand gestures were welcomed/encouraged. and b) there was not a dry eye in the house from the father of the bride speech. and I'm a sap who loves a good cry at a wedding, so there ya go. 

Three -- I signed up for my seminary class! I am so excited to kick that off on September 29th. And guess what I'm studying? The most exciting interesting captivating thrilling cant put it down book of the Bible!!

Try to contain your jealousy. 

But really, I'm thrilled. If I'm going to start studying the Bible, I may as well start with the rich, old testament stuff! Leviticus, bring it on. 

Four -- Speaking of studying the Bible, we're kicking off this Bible study on Monday night. 

Has anyone done it? This will be my third Beth Moore study, and I can't say enough good things about them. My first two were Revelation and Breaking Free, so tooootallly different, but both amazing. Really amazing. 

Can't wait to kick this one off!

Five -- I'm updating to ios8 as we speak. Therefore, I am staring at a screen like this:

I'm really looking forward to sending everyone I know audio text messages. 

And you thought snap chat was good. 

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Happy Friday, loves! Hope you have a spectacular weekend. 

I've Got News

I interrupt this unplanned blogging break to share some news. 

Big news, I would say. 

News I've been wanting to share for a while. And am so excited to fill you all in on. 

Yupp, you read that right. I'm going back. 

Back to this:

And back for them:

You can read all about it here. And if you have it on your heart, you can help kick off fundraising. 

But really, I am just beyond thrilled to share this news that's been brewing in my heart for a while now. I'll be heading back to Kisoro, Uganda in January 2015, and I'm truly thankful, and excited to begin #amyinuganda round 2. 

{insert happy dance}

Freedom to Listen

Sobriety freed me. I had no idea how thick the chains were until they were gone, and it felt good. I finally was free to discover who little Miss Amy Reed really is, without the fear of my personality changing after one or two or six drinks. 

I remembered how much I loved sober Amy, how fun and confident she was. In high school, I knew alcohol wasn't my thing, but I didn't judge others for it being theirs. After 6 years of that girl being gone, Jesus brought her back in full force. I truly can't express how grateful I am for that; I missed her. 

I not only was free to discover myself, but I was also freed from a lot of distractions. It's hard to hear God when you're battling a vicious cycle of temptation - guilt - temptation - guilt. It gets exhausting, right? When God so graciously removed alcohol from my life, He removed a big wedge that was getting in the way of my ability to hear Him. 

When I look back over 24, I see so much evidence of hearing God with new ears. One month into the year, I decided to sign up for a trip to Africa. The girl who had never been out of the country was getting on a plane to go share the gospel in Uganda - say what? 

Oh, how I miss those faces. It was staring into them that I saw mission with new eyes. I didn't leave the mission field in Africa, I brought it home with me. Something happened over on that beautiful, green Uganda mountain top. This girl had her heart set on fire for Jesus in a whole new way. 

Somewhere in those first few months of 24, I felt the Lord calling me to switch churches. Logically, it didn't make sense. I had no reason to leave my current church; still to this day, I can rave and rave and rave about how much I love it. But something in me felt it, this unexplainable peace that made the decision pretty easy for me. 

In that transition, God did so much work in my heart. He humbled me, grew me, used me, molded me, challenged me, encouraged me, and loved on me. I've met so many people that I never would have met, and I can't praise Him enough for that. 

24 was a year of learning to hear God, learning to search for His voice and follow it, trust it. It led to so many wonderful things this: new friends, new adventures, new stories. And I know this is only just the beginning. 

Living Water

Happy Monday, lovelies! Today, I'm linking up with my friend Sybil for Make A Difference Mondays, and talking about water. 

This past weekend, some girlfriends and I ran the first annual Vines Into Water 5K up in gorgeous Los Olivos {aka: wine country}.

This race was put on by causelife, an organization that seeks to provide clean water for those in developing countries, an issue that now carries more weight in my heart after seeing its gravity first hand.

In case anyone's new around here {hello!}, I was beyond blessed to go on a mission trip to Kisoro, Uganda earlier this year. I can't even to begin to explain the effect this had on my heart. 

There were two days that our villages hosted medical clinics, where our incredible team of doctors and nurses were able to serve this community in their mission field. During these days, I saw the effects of malnutrition for my very own eyes. 

You know what else I saw though? I saw the love of Jesus at work. I saw the look of unbelievable graciousness in a father's eyes when his son received medical attention. And the look of joy in eyes that saw clearly for the first time in who knows how long with the aid of a new pair of glasses. 

His love heals. Sometimes bodies, but always hearts. And what a crazy privilege that we have to be a part of that?

Today, I want to share how you can be a part of helping to provide clean water to those who don't have access to it. The very team that I was incredibly humbled and blessed to be a part of is actively engaged in this mission, and you can join them. 

Fuel Uganda is committed to bringing Christ's love to Karamoja, Uganda through clean drinking water. Their well-drilling efforts are providing the drinking water, and Christ Himself is providing the Living water for community transformation. 

Watch the video here to see exactly what incredible things are happening over there, and be moved by the desperate need for clean water sources. 

Feel your heart tug? Get involved! You can give here, and trust me, with how Spirit-lead this organization is, you will be making a difference. 

Him, not Me

We had four church planting teams, and one medical team. The medical team rotated between the four church planting locations, and because our team was up on the mountain near multiple villages, we were blessed to host two different medical clinics. 

As we set up for that first clinic, I just about lost it. I was so overwhelmed, in every sense of the word. I walked around the entire time with tiny tears welled up in my eyes. 

I was overwhelmed with watching God work in a mighty and powerful way right before my very eyes. Overwhelmed with His goodness, and the massive weight of how much He loved these people. 

In that picture above, you can see people lining up in the background. As I tried to process all that was about to happen, the amount of people who were going to tangibly experience the provision and love of Christ, my heart couldn't handle it. And apparently, my tear ducts couldn't hold it together either. 

But you know what else I was overwhelmed with? Me. On this day, I became incredibly aware of my own sin. I couldn't ignore my own self centered nature that was staring me in the face. 

I became aware of this because of how many times I thought of myself on this day. 

"I want to do something important."

"I want to do something radical."

"I want to serve."

"I want to be used."

You may read that and think "But those are good things to think, right?" And to a certain extent, I would agree with you. But the thing is, we have to look deeper than the actions. We have to look at the heart, the motivation, what's beneath the surface. And on that morning, setting up for that medical clinic, I became extremely aware of what can be underneath my surface. 

I became aware of my competitive nature. I became aware of my insecurity, and my jealousy. 

But guess what? There was purpose for that. 

My competitive nature could have won. My insecurity could have won. My jealousy could have won. Heck, the enemy could have won. 

But none of those things did. Because I took those nasty feelings, and I owned up to them. I acknowledged them, I confessed them. I opened my hands with all of my sin, and the Lord graciously washed them with His mercy and grace. 

On that day, I learned a valuable lesson. I felt His powerful voice whisper to me, "Amy, what is the purpose here?"

For people to experience the love of Christ. 

Did it matter who was used in that? Did it matter if they experienced Jesus through a nurse, or through our amazing Ugandan evangelism team, or through a different member of my ministry team? Did it matter if I was used in that, or if someone else was? No. 

Because it's all about Him! It's not about me. 

The second I recognized that, peace fell over me. I was free to serve where the Lord led me to, without needing to compare myself to where others were serving. I was free to rejoice in what God was doing through my team members, without feeling insecure if I hadn't been a part of it. 

I was overwhelmed that day, all right. Overwhelmed by an incredible God, and His incredible grace. I hope to never stop being overwhelmed by that. 

A special note to those who financially supported this trip: 

You helped give those wheelchairs away. You helped give those crutches away. You helped give those reading glasses away. You helped give that medicine away. 

And every single person who came through those medical clinics made their way through an evangelism station afterwards. The station was filled with native Ugandan believers sharing the gospel with their fellow Ugandan brothers and sisters. 

So yeah, you helped with that too. Thank you for letting God work through you!

Same Love, Different Place

Hey, remember that time I went to Africa, and it took me nearly 2 weeks to actually sit down and write about the part where I was in Africa? 

Yeah, about that. 

Time to start writing. 

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I love the world of blogging. I love that I can meet someone for the first time in a Washington DC airport, hop on a plane to Africa, and spend nearly 2 solid weeks sharing every awake and asleep moment together, and it feels totally normal. 

I love that Christ can bring someone into my life from across the country, and somehow, despite many differences in our lives and our testimonies, we just get each other. Our friendship just effortlessly flows over gchat or texting or phone conversations, and the first time we hug feels like any other reunion between long time friends. 

I love Diana. And I'm thankful that she allowed me to share in this amazing adventure that God cooked up. 

{Also, it's her birthday today. So wish her the happiest of birthdays!}

I wore that outfit for a lot longer than I'd care to admit. And luckily, I couldn't admit it if I tried. Going between so many different time zones, your guess is as good as mine. 

Getting off that plane in Ethiopia was beyond surreal. For a girl who has never gone out of the country (besides Mexico and Canada, and I don't remember either trip very well so that totally doesn't count), just being in a place where English wasn't the primary language was a big deal. 

Add in the fact that I was heading off to share the gospel in Uganda and mind = blown. Why God chose to bless me with this opportunity, I will only be able to ask Him in heaven. Lord knows He didn't need me to accomplish anything that He accomplished on this trip. 

I so wish I could time travel back to myself. Not to change anything, there's God's glory written in every detail of my testimony. But I wish I could just go back and look that girl in the eye, smile, and say I know what you're looking for. In that drink, or that man, or your friendships. I know what your heart is yearning for, and you just wait. You're going to find it, and so much more. 

We drove from Rwanda to Uganda, ate a quick dinner, packed up some medical supplies, and went to bed. I think all of us were praising the Lord for a bed and a pillow after all of that traveling. 

The next day, we spent time together as an entire team before breaking off into smaller ministry groups. That day was devoted to experiencing Fuel Uganda's pygmy project. Just the other day, I watched the video on their website. Tears fell from my eyes as the gravity of what I witnessed came back to me, and more importantly, the reminder of what an incredible blessing it was to see this in person. I don't think words can truly capture what God is doing here, but that won't stop me from trying. 

The pygmies were living in the forest until the government relocated them to create a gorilla refuge in the 90s. They're currently living in the slums of Kisoro, understandably struggling to adapt to their new home. If you watch the video on Fuel Uganda's webpage (link above), you can see the conditions.

The relocation effort is completely changing the lives of these people. We were able to visit some of the families that are in the transition process, and we were blessed to hear them share.

As I listened to this man share, the world felt a whole lot smaller. Sure, he was beyond thankful for Fuel Uganda, and for the help of everyone involved with the relocation efforts. But you know who he was mainly thankful for? God. 

Not only are homes being built, but scripture is being shared. These people are not just given a new home, they're given Living Water from the King of kings to run in that new home. They know who is responsible for the transformation that they're experiencing, and it's no organization. It's Jesus Christ. 

Hearing about how Jesus is transforming these lives, I couldn't help but reminisce over how He has transformed mine. It may be a different continent, but it's the same love having the same crazy, life changing, powerful impact. 

My restoration process might look different than theirs, but restoration is restoration.

Transformation is transformation. 

And freedom is freedom. 

And on that day, standing in Kisoro, Uganda, I was thankful for all three.