This Land is your Land, this Land is my Land

Let's just give a big shout out to our main man Jesus! Lots of big things have been happening here for Unified and all the praise and glory goes to God! So first off, let's talk about land. 

As many of you know we've been on the hunt for some land where we can lay the foundations for Unified. After failed attempt, after fail attempt we were feeling downcast just kind of questioning whether or not we were going to find something. We would go see a piece of land that would be absolutely perfect, just what we were looking for but then something would go wrong. I feel like life can be like this sometimes. We have our plans, our wants, and desires but sometimes they don't match up with what God wants for us, because he has something better but we can't see the forest for the trees. We have this idea in our minds of what we want to see or what we want and we get so stuck on that, we can't see something that's right in front of our face. Until we open our eyes, sit back and rest in Gods guidance we don't see it. That's kind of what has happened with the land. 

We have this friend here named John, an incredible man really, with a very savvy business mind and ability to see an opportunity and take advantage of it. John owns a significant amount of land in a near by village. He heard that we were interested in purchasing some land so he contacted us. Normally he wouldn't want to sell land because once he passes away it will go to his children as an investment property for them, but you see, John is in a very unique situation. His wife Panina is in the hospital and she is not doing very well. About a month ago she had a stroke, she was recovering but she fell ill again and now she needs to have a surgery that she can only get in India. This will be very expensive about 25,000 USD. John is the kind of man whom would never ask for money so instead he will sell property. In more ways than one God has taken control of this situation and he is orchestrating it so perfectly. All the opportunities for land where something went wrong was just God saying, "no not this one, be patient. I have a plan for Unified and if you would just trust me it will all work out". However, it was still very discouraging to see land, think it was perfect then it just wouldn’t work out. Little did we know God had a greater plan. In purchasing land from John we get to do a business deal with a friend, a man we trust, and we get to help him get money to save his wife. The land we are buying from John is about 3-4 acres and it's going to be for a permanent residence. We are purchasing it for $10,000 which obviously doesn’t cover the total cost of Panina’s surgery but it still helps out so much! I am just in awe of how God has moved in this situation and it’s a good reminder to just relax sometimes and trust him.

God has taught me a lot in this situation and though we still have a long way to go with fundraising I know that we will get it, because money is the easiest thing God can give. He has opened every door for us to walk through and it has been so encouraging to witness how he has been moving and how he has been present in all of this. Just wanted to update you all on the land situation so you can see our progress and so you can see just how much your prayers mean because there is no way this would have happened so smoothly if we didn’t have God on our side.

I’m sorry the blog posts have been so spread out, there has been a lot going on here and it has been hard to keep up with everything. Once things start to settle down you’ll start to see some more blogs. 

If y'all could, please keep Panina in your prayers, she has begun to find some healing but still has a long road ahead of her. She needs to recover more before she can be moved and its looking like a 5 month process for that. She is a wonderful woman and I know God can heal her and all your prayers help so much! 

Being loving and being truthful, especially when it hurts.

Ephesians 4:15 tells us, “Instead speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Speaking the truth in love.  Like what does that even mean really? I have been dwelling on this for a while now, pretty much since the first month or two that we first arrived in Africa. I know the “right answer” is speaking the truth in love: confronting your brothers and sister in love by using the scriptures as truth to speak to them in a way that pleases the Lord. I put quotations not be sarcastic (lets be real, I’m like always sarcastic so I gotta clarify) but to show that I don’t believe this is the only reason. Recently I posted on my personal facebook page: Speaking the truth is love is probably one of the hardest things for us to do as Christians. Its easy to give into emotion and speak out of hurt, frustration or anger. As we strive to live and be like Christ it is important for us to remember that we should live as examples of Christ's love and speak the truth even when it hurts. God has been teaching me a lot about honesty and being vulnerable lately. Praying that God delivers us from our pride and invites us into humility before him so that we may love one another as Christ loves us. In this status something occurred to me. Do I really love the people that I surround myself with? Am I a living example of Christ’s love in every circumstance, every relationship and in every aspect of my life? The truth is no. And the truth is what I am getting at here.

            So many times in my life I have been afraid to be honest and that fear has been the element that has controlled my life and kept me in a place of cowardice and deceit. Not only being deceitful to my friends but deceitful to myself.  I believe that if we claim the love of Christ as a driving force for our actions we should be able to love freely and unconditionally…..even towards ourselves but that’s not always easy when we lack honesty. In not being honest with those around us we are hindering Gods love from overflowing from with in us because we are putting a guard on the truth just to save our own skin.  God spoke such a solid truth into my life and it was that he cares more about our friends and loved ones salvation more than he cares about our relationship with them. You might read that and think, whoa Amanda, you’ve stepped over the line but seriously lets think about it for a second. We are not Jesus, we are not God and we do not judge who gets into heaven and who doesn’t. God calls us to be loving and welcoming to one another but he doesn’t call us to save each other, only HE can truly save someone, did you get that? Only God can bring true salvation.  We can encourage them and invite them to church, have a bible study with them or even go to Starbucks for a coffee date and talk all about Jesus and how awesome he is. My point is this: how many times have we not been honest with the people we love and concealed the truth from them because we were afraid to be honest and there was/is a possibility that we might lose them? How many times have we disregarded guidance from the Holy Spirit because we let fear over power God?

            We as humans are very momentary creatures. Everything that is happening right before us is so important so huge that there is just a cloud over the future. What I am getting at is that when things happen to us it can be devastating or bring us so much joy but we can’t see past that and when the bad things happen we don’t know how to cope. All we do is focus on the pain and the emotion, which distracts us from listening to God because our emotions become louder than his calm, still voice. How does this relate to truth and love? I’ll tell ya. We fear the intense moment that happens when we tell the truth, we fear their hatred, their anger, the pain we will cause them and we fear that our relationship will change and we will lose them. But you know what, I would rather lose 100 friends if it meant that they were gained for Christ.  We fear losing them in this life, but we should fear losing them for eternity. Christ went first before us and spoke truth to the world. People hated him for it, they beat him, the tortured him and they hung him on a cross and pierced his side. He didn’t have to do any of that but he did it all for us. He cared more about our relationship with the Father, our salvation that he gave his own life.  Could you give up your life for the truth? Could you sacrifice it all, surrender it all if it meant one person could meet Jesus?

            Recently I had a friend do this for me. She stepped in and went to battle for me because I was not strong enough to do it on my own. She DID NOT let her fear of losing my friendship stop her from being honest because she was doing it out of love.  I have never in my life felt more loved than I did in that moment. That my friends is what Christ asks of us. I was not happy with her when she told me the truth, in fact it hurt, and I was angry but you know what the real problem was. FEAR. I was afraid to lose someone close to me and I ignored God and what he was asking me to do. Friends, don’t let that fear control your life. Christ did not die on the cross so you could live in that fear and let it dictate the truth. He died so that we could live and live in freedom.

            There’s that old saying, the truth will set you free and I have learned that here in Uganda. It is not easy to step out your front door and be excited about Jesus when you fear what people might say or do. Heck, its not easy to do that in America, but that is the calling all of us have as followers of Christ. Matthew 28:19-20 tells us; “Therefor go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” We are given one life on this planet and in all ways we should speak to each other, speaking the truth in love. Never fearful of what tomorrow might bring but resting in the peace that only Christ can give us. If we give into that fear we have to learn how to forgive ourselves and thank Jesus we have a loving Father in heaven who is just abounding in grace. Forgiveness is not easy, but forgiving yourself is a lot harder. That is probably another topic for another day but I just wanted to share this piece of my heart with you and not be fearful of what this message might bring. I am guilty of with holding the truth because of fear, but today I want to claim the freedom I have in Christ and focus on salvation and those pearly white gates. I want all my brothers and sisters to be with me one day in heaven rejoicing and praising the Lord. So my challenge to leave y’all with, be honest in every word that you speak to each other, invite God’s love into every moment.

If you want to listen to some songs that encouraged me to write this:

Hawk Nelson: Drops in the Ocean

Phil Wickham: When My Heart Is Torn Asunder

Phil Wickham: Safe

Hillsong Young & Free: Sinking Dee

We've Been Robbed

5"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

-       Genesis 3:5-7

These past two and half weeks have just been so crazy, we have been so busy with so many unexpected things and we have just been spread pretty thin. About a week ago we had dinner with our friend Seth and hung out all night just talking and having some great quality time with one another. The next day we had a meeting with an organization called LADA, we are partnering with them to build 6 water tanks to provide filtered water for multiple families. Little did we know that while we were at this meeting we were being robbed. When we came home it was around lunchtime so we decided to go into town and grab a bite to eat. When I went and checked where I kept the money it was all gone. Collin went and checked where he kept his money and it was all gone too. All in all we had about $450 dollars stolen from us. You see we can’t use credit cards here or debit cards so we have to carry cash with us at all times.

Our first mistake was not reporting this incident to the police; we figured that there was no way that this person would be caught so why even bother. A couple days later I noticed that my headphones were missing, come to find out they had also been stolen. Another day after that we noticed that our key was missing, someone had gotten into our house and stolen our key. That day we immediately changed all of the locks in the house and changed where we hid all of our money. This whole situation was really unfortunate, it wasn’t the end of the world, but it makes you feel so uncomfortable knowing that someone can just waltz into your house and take whatever they like. Although this was just a bump in the road for us we decided to just surrender it to God and pray for the people that stole it all that they would use the money for good.

God really answers prayers, let me tell ya. Collin and I decided to go to church at the diocese on Sunday morning with our friend Seth. Seth was running a little bit late so we decided to walk to his house to pick him up, when we got there he was having a conversation with a woman named Apothia and she had discovered who broke into our home. Your first thought, you’re probably thinking heck yeah they did, that’s awesome praise God, but you know what the sad thing is……the person is a child, a 12 year old boy named Dickson. Guys, my heart has just been breaking for this kid every since I laid my eyes on him. Maybe I should be angry or upset and you know what, I am, but not at him, I’m mad at Satan and this brings me into what I want to talk about this week. Something I think that has been taken from us from the very beginning and that is innocence. Innocence is something that God has been laying on my heart a lot recently and I think there is a lot to learn from this situation and honesty I think that’s why its happened. A robbing of innocence is something that needs to be talked about because it happens so often and it’s hard to see it coming, but when its gone, its hard to restore it and get it back.

Walking around this town of Rukungiri here in Uganda has taught me so much about Jesus and the freedom we have in him. There are so many children here and every time you see them they scream MIZUNGU at you and wave like they have never waved before. They exude such a raw, true and authentic JOY. You can’t help but smile so wide that you feel like your mouth is going to meet your eyes. Even the adults here will drop everything just to say hello to you and wave. When you look at them they just all seem so innocent, so new and fresh to this life, they haven’t been tainted yet by the simple pleasures and lies that Satan tries to feed to us each and every day. Their innocence is beautiful, such a rare and fine beauty that comes straight from Jesus. This reminds me of Dickson, because when I look upon that boy I see a rough life full of bad decisions that is leading down a dark and dangerous path.

Dickson is an orphan, his mother died when he was young and she never told him who his father was so he has just been bouncing around from relative to relative trying to find his place in this world. Unfortunately Satan sent him someone who deceived him and stole something so precious and valuable and Dickson had no idea what was happening. He was deceived by a false love, a brotherhood, a friend that was using him to do wicked things and damage peoples lives. I feel that is how Satan treats all of us. We were all born innocent, heck Adam and Eve didn’t even know they needed clothes, God wanted us to live lives where we could be carefree and just bask in the light of his love, but Satan, that sneaky little serpent slithered his way in there and stole that innocence from Eve and he has been doing it to us every since.

I know that I have experienced this same robbing of innocence in my own life and if it weren’t for Jesus’s grace, love and mercy, I would not be who I am today and I would not be someone that moved to Africa to share the love of Jesus. The beauty in pursuing Christ is we have the opportunity to have that innocence restored because with Christ at the center of our lives we are made new. We are washed by the blood of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross takes away all of our sins and we can be fully restored through him. HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!

Then there is Satan, still fighting and trying to make our brothers and sisters believe that they are not worth it and that they all should fall to the flesh because they could never do better. We need to go to battle for our brothers and sisters and ourselves. To quote Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” In Dickson’s case I believe that Satan got a hold of him at a young age and he doesn’t know anything different. Seriously, just seeing this child of God in such a dyer situation it makes me want to slap the Devil in the face, like 5 punches, straight in the nose. That wouldn’t’ do anyone any good but I like to think it might. 

In reality, my heart just breaks for Dickson, and he is lucky he stole from people who are compassionate because if he stole from a Ugandan, he would be severely beaten if not killed. Today we met him again and we were asked if we wanted to beat him, but the only thing we could do was pray for him. God gave us the opportunity to pray with Dickson and it was all I could have asked for. I’m asking that all of you who read this, can you just be praying for this young man? We were able to recover $100 dollars and the police are still looking for the rest, but I don’t care about all that. I just care about Dickson. I pray that his innocence is restored; he said he doesn’t believe in Jesus but he knows who he is and I’m just praying he invites him in. I pray that today God has met him where he is at and that Dickson wakes up hungry for some Jesus time.

There is nothing we can do for this young man at this point but God can do anything and everything. I know for a fact that our paths crossed for a reason and though they may have not been the best circumstances, I know my Jesus can pull good out of any bad situation. We just have to keep our eyes focused on him and he will make all of our crooked paths straight. To quote a line from one X-men, “Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever.” Jesus can save us from forever and give us an eternity with him, we may run, we may fail, we may make bad decisions but there is nothing in this world that we can do that can keep us from Gods love. I challenge all of you to not get mad the next time something goes wrong, Collin just loves when I say this, but look at it as if God is trying to teach you something. Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. – Proverbs 3:12

We love you all so much and can’t thank you enough for your love support and encouragement; you are a blessing to us! Please be in prayer for us as we prepare for our team to come this week! God is already moving and working and I can’t wait to see his plan unfold!

How is your friendship with Jesus?

           I’m going to start this off on a not so serious note: I STRONGLY dislike driving in Uganda. I can’t think of anything that stresses me out more than driving out here. The roads are pretty terrible, its like a minefield of pot holes and Collin likes to think that he needs to dodge and swerve between every. single. one. of them. I haven’t driven yet and I don’t think I plan on doing it. There are absolutely no rules to driving, none whatsoever, but they do have a type of communication that they do with their lights and its pretty fascinating. I am in the car right now trying to type out this blog for this week and it’s a good thing I’m distracted because we almost got driven off the road. We are headed to Kampala to get some stuff for our car to keep it safe (lifted, and bigger tires), where we are at in Rukungiri its just too small of a town to have the kind of parts that we need so we have to drive about 8 hours to the capital city. On this trip we decided to take the long route and take a look at some animals in Queen Elisabeth’s Park (pictures are on our facebook). We have been in Rukungiri for about a month now so we decided to take a mini adventure and see the parts of Africa that make it beautiful.

            Anyway, I’m going to give a little update on where we are at and how were feeling. The culture shock is starting to wear on us a little bit. Being practically the only 2 white people in town we get stared at A LOT. Today we were eating lunch and this woman just stared at us the whole time we ate. At first it doesn’t bother you but then it slowly starts to make you feel awkward and it is such a different feeling than being at home. Here we get so much attention, a man even asked to have his picture with me…that would never happen at home. The attention is good at times, but I miss the intentional attention that cares more about how I am doing as a person and not just the way I look. The people here are incredibly kind but I find myself missing conversations of depth, like really getting to know someone. I am constantly being reminded how important friendships of depth are to me and how special it is to have people in your life that invest in you and you invest in them. Here we are just mizungu’s but at home we are much more than that, we are a sister, a brother, a daughter, a son, and a friend. Which leads me into the thoughts that I have had this week, how is my friendship with Jesus? How good of a friend have I been to Him?

            Being here it is hard to keep up with people back home, we are on a completely different time schedule and sometimes people are busy and they just don’t respond, and that’s okay, but it made me reflect on my friendship with Jesus. How often do we invest in our friendship with Him? I think that a lot of us see Jesus as our savior, Jesus Christ, lover, Father, redeemer…you get the picture. We see Jesus in all of these different ways and in each way He is still the same Jesus but I think we fail to see Him in a much more simpler way, as our friend.

            Last week Collin’s blog was about distraction and even being here I still feel distracted, like I am not investing in Jesus as much as I could. I find myself expecting a relationship to and not investing. How often do we expect things from Jesus without building our friendship with Him? Expectations can be a very bad thing because if someone doesn’t live up to our expectations we see them differently and I question if I have ever done that with Him. Building a friendship with Jesus is so important and it has been good for me to see it that way. Being here God has really challenged me to become a better friend and to be honest with you it is not that easy for me, which is surprising to me. Sometimes I don’t want to be a friend and when I am in those moments, I hear, “Well I’m sure Jesus didn’t want to be Judas’s friend, just knowing what he was going to do, but Christ calls us to love, and we are vessels of God’s love here on earth and we need to step outside of ourselves sometimes and pursue friendship even when it hurts.” Whenever I try to play the victim with myself that’s when I really feel God trying to teach me something and it’s hard because we don’t like being reminded our faults. Satan wants us to live in that frustration and anger but Jesus didn’t die on the cross so we could live that way; He died so that we could have freedom in Him.  

            Pursuing Christ more intentionally and building that friendship with Him has been good for me. I am still learning how to be a better friend towards Him and to others, and I am far from being perfect but by His grace He continues to invest in my so by golly I’m going to keep on investing right back! Friendship is a powerful relationship and if we’re all honest we don’t have that many friends but the ones we do have we keep close. That is how we should be with Jesus, we need to hang out with him, take him to coffee, or have pillow talk till 2 in the morning. Christ is right there and He is eager for us to get to know Him and all we have to do is be present with Him. He will be the best friend we have ever had if only we would let Him, but He needs to be invited. So for all of you today I just ask that you think about this question, how is my friendship with Jesus?

            Like any relationship you have in your life, you have to be invested to see it grow and challenge you. Christ desires to spend time with you, grow deeper, and see you acquire the wisdom that only comes from God. Spend some quality time with Him, you know what that looks like for you, and if you don’t start praying and God will reveal it to you. Once we begin that journey that level of friendship spreads to all the relationships we have in our lives and He strengthens us with His joy. Some of the most attractive people I have ever met in my life ooze joy that comes from Jesus and it all starts with building that friendship with Him and being the kind of friend that is a constant reminder of the love of Jesus.

Thank you all so much for walking this journey with Collin and I. God has already revealed himself to us in so many ways and he continues to each and every day. I want to ask that you keep us in your prayers for a couple things: we have been under some demonic attack and I know it is because Satan is scared of what God will accomplish here through this ministry, please pray against His efforts and that Collin and I can remain in the peace that only Christ can bring. Also, we are working really hard to make this airstrip happen and we could use all the prayer for that project to work out. This project could change the lives of so many people and it can bring life, both spiritual and physical, here to Rukungiri. The culture shock has also started to set in so we could use some prayer on that too. Thank you all again and we are always ready to pray for you all too so if you have any requests send them our way, we are here for you!

Hold the Phone.....

How often do we find ourselves with our face in our phone, talking, texting, scanning social media, distracted from the world around us? People pass by while moments and opportunities come and go without recognition. Our focus and attention is drawn to a tiny screen; everything we need in the palm of our hand. All of this becomes much more apparent and real when we start to notice others in this position, failing to acknowledge life passing by. This false reality that people hone in on is contributed to other’s highlight reels, to filtered photos, and to every other thought someone might post for the world to see. Unfortunately our society has become distracted to say the least. We find more satisfaction and comfort in scrolling down through updates on Facebook rather than acknowledging the people that pass by. The awkwardness of making eye contact with a stranger, the difficulty in a simple hello, the unknown of meeting someone new, and the lack of interest in those around can all by neglected and prevented by only acknowledging what we want to; the world within social media.

Awareness has been heavy on my heart lately, especially being God-aware. Just the other day, Amanda and I listened to a sermon from Judah Smith, which really brought to our attention the importance of contentment. This contentment that he spoke about was being satisfied in God, not comparing to others or striving for more, but thanking God and being one with Him in a harmonious relationship. Satisfied. Content. Full of Joy. Thanksgiving. It made me think, and I wanted to go deeper. God-aware. Recognizing Him in all circumstances and allowing Him to lead in every situation was my prayer. Awareness. I prayed for the ability to see Him in ALL things as well as to see His children, to truly see His children. I prayed for the removal of all anxiety and fear in meeting and approaching new people, to extinguish the awkwardness in making eye contact, and to be completely aware of people I am with and around. There is a lady in town that almost always can be found in the same position, lying in the grass between buildings because she is ostracized from the community. There is an odd looking deformity on her face, a cleft pallet, in which it looks like she does not have a nose, just two holes where her nose is suppose to be. You can see that life has hit her hard, that the lack of love and care from others weighs her down, but she is a fighter. As she lies in the grass she sings to herself and prays for joy. When ever I wave and smile, she waves back and she has the most beautiful smile. Her smile is innocent, her smile is stunning, and her smile is pure. When she smiles she sometimes giggles under her breathe and she turns her face away as if she is afraid of what she looks like. Its almost as if you see a child smiling and laughing while burying his/her head in the mother’s chest, turning away so no one can see. Little does she know how beautiful she is. Her smile is contagious and I cannot help but smile back. You see her and it breaks your heart, the condition she is in, the area, all the factors combined do not look promising, but her joy is infectious and her smile is comforting. I thank God for her, His daughter, and I know that she will be ok. I know that we will be able to help and to bring her hope and to love on her, but I truly want her to know how special she truly is. 

Putting the phone aside, shielding the distractions, and focusing on what truly matters, continues to fuel the passion and the flame for Jesus. This continued growth in being completely aware of God at all times compels me to seek Him more and focus my attention on His kingdom here on earth. As we walk the streets and the community of Rukungiri you will find that there are the same people who stay in the same position most every day. You will find that there is one taxi man who finds Amanda quite attractive and calls her the morning sun. You can find Emma, worn down, tired, aching, fighting day to day, but he always finds the strength to greet us and say hello. His feet are torn, His clothes are ripped, his teeth are rotting, but he loves prayer and loves to be prayed for. John is an amazing man of God who is more God-aware than anyone else I know. He literally thanks God for something every other minute of his life. His story is incredible and he loves to seek God, push into God, and call upon God at all times and in every situation. Each and every person we come into contact with is a blessing in disguise and we thank God for the interactions and time we get to spend with each one.

How easy it is and how often I find myself distracted and unaware of my surroundings makes me sad. In Uganda, not once have I seen someone walk by me unaware because the phone was requiring all of his/her attention. Not once have I heard commotion over twitter, Facebook, or any other social media. When I walk the streets or we are traveling, I see a people who interact, who communicate, who are not distracted, yet they are aware. It fires me up, drives me, and challenges me to seek out those in the community that need a simple hello, a smile, a wave, or even a hug. I no longer have a fear a missing out, I am not afraid that there is a message or some newsfeed that I must look at because if I won’t than I will be missing out. No. What is going on back home, the newsfeed, the pictures, the messages can wait. It is about the here and now, the people that I associate with every time I leave the house, the awareness of need around the community that I focus on. Thanking God for His sovereignty and His love in all circumstances and sharing His love with His children is my reality. It is the realness in a face-to-face conversation with the person I am with. My reality lies in being so aware and so conscious of my surrounding that God leads me to every person that may need a simple smile, a wave, or just some time to talk. Pictures of God’s creation and His people are great, encouraging and motivating updates on Facebook are wonderful, but interacting with God’s people and hearing their stories is what drives me. Seeing each person the way God sees them, loving them the way Christ loves them, that is my prayer.

The last verse in Matthew, Matthew 28: 20b states “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” These are some of Jesus’ last words to his disciples and for His people to hear. If this is true, then I pray we acknowledge it. God is with us ALWAYS, so let us be aware of it, thanking Him and rejoicing in His presence. The awareness in Him trickles down to the awareness of His people. Challenge yourself to put aside the distractions, to leave the phone at home, to call upon the Lord to heighten your awareness. You are not going to miss out, do not be afraid. The phone, the Internet, the distraction will always be there, but opportunities and people passing by may need you more than you know. Step out in faith, acknowledging that He is with you always, and walk in awareness; spiritual eyes opened to His kingdom and His people here on earth.

Home Away from Home

            Well, this is week one of the Uganda Update and to be completely honest with you, it has been so exhausting! Between having about 40 hours of travel and dealing with a 10-hour time difference it has been hard to feel fully rejuvenated in the mornings. We first arrived in Rukunjiri at about 3:30am on Wednesday the 25th, after a long and grueling 8 hours car ride over rough pot whole filled roads and the unique Ugandan way of driving. There really aren’t any road rules here; cars are all over the place along with boda boda, which are motorcycles. We made it to our destination and as soon as we laid down to go to sleep we were out like a light. I don’t know of a better feeling than to just lay down horizontally to go to sleep no more planes, airports or cars, just a nice welcoming bed.

            The first day here we walked into the city and went to the market and the supermarket to pick up some supplies we needed and run to the bank. While in town Collin ran into some friends he made on his previous trips and it was such a pleasure to meet them. Ugandans have to be some of the most kind and welcoming people I have met in a long time. They are all so joyful and you can’t help but fall in love with that kind of joy. Being here is a good reminder that we should never forget about people or treat them in a way that makes them feel unloved or unwanted. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and we should treat each other as such. I think that I have forgotten that at times and that’s something God has been teaching me while being here. We may have different backgrounds or experiences or cultures that have shaped us into who we are but the same loving Father designed us all in his own image. “ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27.

            The next day I woke up sick, which wasn’t really a surprise to me, I always get sick, it must be some weird type of gift I have because it never fails. After struggling to get up out of bed, we walked into town again. We met up with Seth, who is Enoch’s son, the reverend who is working with Collin and I while we are here. Seth was so incredibly helpful to us and I am so grateful to have him to help us translate and understand what is going on around us. He speaks amazing English and it really makes me wish I knew another language. In the schools here they start leaning English in primary school (like elementary), which is amazing! How cool would that be to be bilingual?!?!? Speaking of bilingual, it would be nice to understand their language because they are always cracking jokes or coming on to you, specifically the Ugandan men. They love a mizungo (probably spelling that wrong) woman, mizungo means white person. When we were walking Seth started laughing and he said that one of the men said I looked nice today and that I am the perfect size! You cannot walk down the street without someone saying hello to you and waving, they are so inviting and welcoming. So far we have really enjoyed our time here so far. The weather is almost as drastic as Lynchburg, one hour its bright and sunny then the next it is cold and rainy, Uganda always gives you some surprises, you never know what to expect!

            On Thursday we had our first ministry day with the all boys high school. We met at 7:30am and did their assembly with them. As far as the ministry goes, we have not had a lot of opportunities yet since we have just been settling in and adjusting. On Friday we had a free day so we decided to do some administrative things for Unified in Mission. We are so excited to see what God is going to do here with this ministry. We have already seen God move in so many ways, more than we could have ever imagined.

            During the weekend we have a friend visit from Kampala names Winner. She arrived very early Saturday morning and she later joined us for our ministry time with Cherished Life Ministries in Kebisoni which is just a small village located about 9 miles away from the diocese. With CLM we shared with 10 single teen mums. We all gathered together and shared the Gospel with each other, just encouraging them that though their situations may seem bleak, there is a God in heaven that has a plan for their lives. They can never escape His love and He is always with them. After fellowship with them we all had lunch together and just enjoyed each other’s company. I will say that the language barrier was very difficult with these women, you just want to be able to talk to them and have conversations with them but a lot of them don’t know English. In fact in every district they have their own kind of language so it makes it very hard to communicate even for local Ugandans. Our friend Winner spoke 5 languages but not one of them was the one that the woman could understand. After we cleaned up the house and finished ministry time we headed back to Rukungiri and had pork for dinner with Winner!

            Sunday was Palm Sunday and we ended up sitting through a 3 hour long service in a completely different language. They do things so differently here and I know that in America if we had a service that long people would start to grumble, but here, they just love it! Multiple people went up to the front of the church and they just shared all that God had been placing on their hearts. They have so much passion here and it is so good to see and experience because you can’t help but get excited and seek that kind of passion for Jesus in your own life. After church we just decided to take a day of rest and just recover and prepare for the next week. We will have so many more updates to come and I’m sorry it has taken so long for this to get up. We just got Internet yesterday so we are moving slow but we are moving and we are excited to see where this next week takes us.

Thank you for all of you love, support and prayers. God is doing wonders here already, ones that we cannot even fathom yet! We are going to be doing weeks Monday-Sunday, so expect another blog sometime next week! :)

We're at the AIRPORT!

The day has finally arrived and we are so excited to embark on this journey! We are sitting in the airport right now waiting to board our flight in an hour or so. I (Amanda) just wanted to send out a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, we could not have gotten this far without your love, support, and prayers. I know that I am extremely excited to see how God works and I could say the same for Collin! We were able to spend the last days with our parents and we got some good family time in! 

To give you all an update on what our travel schedule looks like, we have a couple of days of travel ahead of us and we will be landing in Entebbe on March 24th. When we actually arrive in Entebbe we will catch a ride to Rukungiri, Uganda and that is where we will be staying for the majority of our time in Uganda. We will try to keep you all updated as much as we possibly can, the internet out there is not the best and we will not have our cell phones to use to communicate with our loved ones at home. We are confident that Christ will keep us safe and He will protect us and keep us and use us so that people can see the power of Christ in our actions and words. We love you all so much and look forward to all the future holds!

THANK YOU

In this blog we just want to update you all on what has been happening recently and highlight some of the mile markers for Unified in Mission.

            First of all, we have fundraised $7,450 of our $10,500 budget for our airfare and there is no way we could have done what without the support of our family and friends. There really is no greater expression of love than to have our loved ones support us in this mission whether that is financially or spiritually. We have felt all of the prayers flooding in and God has been opening doors. Though we still have along way to go to reach our goal of $30,000.00 we fully believe that God will bring that money in. A wise woman by the name of Sierra Hicks once told me that the easiest thing God can give you is money, and with that truth we remain hopeful for the future.

            Second, we fly out March 22nd for Uganda and the anticipation is killing us! We can’t wait to begin this journey and we know that it wouldn’t be possible without all of you! Satan has been trying to create doubt about what this trip means and it has been a continual process of dying to flesh and clinging to Jesus.

           And finally, after Uganda we will be heading to China to do some ministry work there then after that, we will be headed to the Philippines to work with an organization called Ameurasia Ministries. The need for financial assistance is high here and we ask that you consider donating. While in the Philippines we will be remodeling a house and a lot of supplies are needed for this, painting and flooring. If you want to join us we would love to have you!

This is just a short little blog and we hope that it is just as encouraging to you as it is to us. Again, thank you so much for all of your love, support and encouragement. 

Because of His LOVE

My name is Collin Wenrich and I just want to take a minute to share a bit of my story with you. I have been to Africa for a combined 5 months so far, and I cannot wait to take this next journey around the world to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus: To the Glory of God!

     Two and a half years ago I encountered God's majestic and pure love overseas in the Pearl of Africa. In reckless abandon, I surrendered my life to Christ not knowing yet unafraid of the journey and adventure that was before me. It was scary, it was new, it was unknown, but it was so exhilarating at the same time. 

In January 2013, I left my comfort zone of Lynchburg, Virginia to step into the wilderness of Uganda, Africa three months after I rededicated my life to Christ. The overwhelming and undeniable presence of the Lord surrounded my every being. Joy and peace manifested in every which way, from the way I saw the world to the way I viewed myself. I was not perfect by any means, but Christ was restoring me from the inside out. He delivered me from myself, my low self-esteem, my lack of joy and zeal for life and people, and anxiety and fear that masked every emotion I had. "Come to me my son, rest in my arms, receive my love," were the words that the Lord placed in my heart. These words continually flooded my heart, becoming more and more clear every time I allowed God to move. 

Uganda was such a pivotal time in my life because it was where I gained ownership of my own relationship with Christ. Our relationship became personal, became intimate, became real. The people of Uganda, from small villages to larger cities, taught me about the characteristics of Christ. I learned about sacrificial love and how Christ's love does not keep a record of wrongs, yet He loves each one of His children 100% ALL OF THE TIME! It was hard to fathom that my heavenly Father could love me, a filthy disobedient sinner who walked outside of his glory for so many years. A glory bomb, the reality of it, is that Christ's love blows all of our paradigms of love. It hopes the best and see the best in each one of us no matter what the circumstances. Christ weeps when His people turn their back on Him, and He throws a party every time one receives His love. Psalms 5:7 states that "But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple." It was no longer about what I did or what I had to do, rather it was because of HIS LOVE! His love set me free, His love broke the chains, His love opened the doors and allowed me to enter. It was not of my own strength or anything I did, but it was all CHRIST! After God revealed all of this to me He gave me a vision:

            As I climb this ladder directed at the heavens I grow weary fast. The pegs on the ladder seem to never end and every step I take I can feel the strength and energy being sucked out of my body. I strive for one more step, I strive to be closer to God. I do everything in my will and power to muster the strength just to get one step closer to my King. But nothing seems to work anymore. My body aches and as I look up at the heavens, it seems just as far away as when I started. So I look behind me. It’s Him, it’s Christ waiting with His arms out, stretched open for me. "Come to me my son, rest in my arms, receive my love." It was at that point that it became so real to me. It was not about what I could do, about how much of the Bible I could read or regurgitate, or about how many prayers I could say in one day. It was not about how many people I could help or about how many nice things I could do for others. NO......It was about Jesus Christ and only Him. He was the one that opened the heavenly gate so that I may enter. The more I allowed God to work in me, the more I surrendered myself to Him, the more I continued to seek His face, the more intimate our relationship would go. Being one with Christ at such a deep level propels us to read His word, to pray, to love others! Its fighting these battles and checking off tasks in our own strength that sometimes makes us feel more distant than ever before.

            Our calling is to love and be loved so deeply and intimately that we cannot attain it by any other means but Christ. Let the world see the light that shines and always continues to shine. Let His presence be known and let His love be felt. Let His joy overtake and revitalize, and let His hope bring peace to the weary. Let His freedom reign. 

Follow'n Jesus and Lov'n that JOY

Hey Y’all, Amanda here! 

I know it has been awhile since we have posted on the site and I’m sorry about that. I have been so busy between packing up, moving and working, my schedule has been kind of crazy. I am sitting here in my room in VA knowing that this chapter of my life is coming to a close. All of it is actually bitter sweet, I like it here, I like the friends that I have, the seasons, and even the retail job I have. I am happy with my life. But that’s the thing, happiness is good, but JOY is better. Nehemiah 8:10 tells us “the joy of the Lord is your strength”, I want to be strong for my Father, no matter what it takes, because He rewards me with JOY. (As you can see, I LOVE JOY, I LOVE LOVE, all the things :)

Obeying God and Following Him, No Matter Where He Takes You!

-- Philippians 2:12-16 (ESV) --

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

This is where we begin. Something God has placed on my heart these past couple of weeks is, what does it mean to follow God’s call on my life, and what kind of sacrifices does it require? I don’t believe that following God is always easy like loving people it gets messy. We all have wants, desires and dreams of our own and sometimes they don’t match up with Gods. I know that in the past, I for one have always been stubborn and been like: “you know what God, I know better and I’m going to go down this path in my life because I can see the immediate reward”. My flesh, like every person has a strong pull on my life. But it has been in those decisions that I have made without God, or in times that I have ignored Him that I have suffered the most and hurt those around me. He keeps telling me: “Amanda, the path of self is selfish” but because I THINK I know better I DON’T listen. I have fought Him and pretended to be someone that I wasn’t because my pride would not allow me to admit that I had made a mistake. All opportunities have been humbling times where I have learned what it means to trust Jesus and have faith in Him. That’s what makes this trip so easy for me to say “YES” to.

I have been so blessed to have so many supportive people in my life and they have made the desire in my heart grow more and more just by simply encouraging and loving me. My friends at Taste and See (which is a bible study I go to at Seth and Jamie Hicks’ house in VA) have been so loving towards me and showed me what it means to have a community of brothers and sisters in Christ that believe in the Great Commission. They along with my family and friends back home in CA will be the people that I miss while I am gone.

I have a peace, “it is well with my soul”. I know that God is going to do some amazing things with the life He has graced me with. It has taken me 24 years to understand what it means to be with Him and to be constantly pursuing Him. I trust Him with my future and it brings me so much JOY to know that my future is in His hands and He is going to use this love He has given me to love on so many people. I know that God is going to work though me and use me to further His kingdom and knowing that……..I could never think of a better future I would want for myself. That was just a little bit of what God was laying on my heart this week. 

What that means for Unified in Mission is this. Trusting Jesus with our future in Uganda, the Philippines, Australia, China, Spain, England and where ever else the Spirit may lead us, we will do whatever He asks us without grumbling or disputing and we will be a light that shines in this world.

Until next time,

Amanda, Unified in Mission.

**If you like this blog or have any questions, wanna talk about anything that was in it or anything at all? Talk to Collin or Amanda, just email us at unifiedinmission@gmail.com.