The stories that have come out of these 7 days in Uganda are mind blowing - physical healings, emotional freedom, chains broken, mouths fed, lives encouraged. It's too much for just one post. I am going to be following up this blog with another with some of the incredible highlights of our time on the ground. Thank you for believing and standing with us - nothing would have been possible without you.
As most of you know, we raised $1,000 to do outreach in a village: hand out sugar/soap, and love on people who have never been loved before. This was an untouched area about 1.5 hours from where we work –somewhere that has ever had something like this happen before. We took this video from the ground, ground zero:
Here’s the truth: this village is in a state of total depravity. Without some sort of injection of LIFE, this village is going to continue to be a breeding grounds for death and destruction. Dying children, sick families – that is the norm. The poverty level is higher than most places we’ve seen and it is not even a slum. All the children within in this village suffer from malnutrition and drink dirty, contaminated water. Cannibalism is practiced in this village – I know, hard to believe. The villagers worship a giant snake – they sacrifice things to it, do worship rituals, and live under a dark, dark presence. To be honest, this village is about 50 years behind the rest of Uganda: no clean water, no electricity, no school, no training schools for women – nothing.
I had no idea that this village outreach would be so personal for me. To be vulnerable and very honest with you: this trip to this village cost me. At one point, I thought I could be seriously, seriously ill. It was painful both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This was personal for me and all of Hell tried to keep me from stepping foot into this place.
After speaking with Freddie as we prepared, he told me - God asked us to use soccer to reach this village – to use a ball and some jerseys as a lifeline to reach this dead and dying place. It was like a peace offering to what could have been a very hostile place. Soccer, or futbol, is a universal language . So as part of this outreach, we were going to start a team and Freddie asked me to name the team. These kids were in tattered shirts, mostly barefoot, and a beaten down worn out “ball.”
For those of you who don’t know, I was a Division One Soccer player, and my dream as a little girl was to play professional soccer. Soccer had been my identity for so, so many years. After enduring such trauma in my college years through a tough career, I vowed to never go back to it again. I pushed it away and never wanted to be around it again. Working in Africa, most people assume that I play soccer with the kids - I don’t. It’s been too painful. In fact, I tried to avoid it.
Well, God rewrote that story this trip. Beauty from ashes. Meet the Namiremebe Lions – the first team in the history of this village. These young men are marked with honor and destiny. They will be change agents for their families as we stand with them.
So here’s what we are asking for you to do with us – we have been given the chance to purchase 6 acres - we will build the first school, drill the first well...many firsts will be done on THIS land. These acres are gorgeous, fertile, and in the center of the village. Together, we can truly take what is dying and breathe life into it. In faith, we already put down $2,000 of the $7,500. We are left with $5,500 and a very short deadline – because, it’s Africa. This is a chance to take a stand for life – and to be a part of changing the course of generations in this village by clicking the banner below:
Together,
We will build the first school.
Drill the first clean water well.
Build the very first church, a place of safety and refuge for EVERYONE.
We will create an economy in this village.
Businesses will start.
Prostitution will be broken as women receive job training.
Children will be given an elite education.
Widows and single mothers will be loved and cared for.
Rape will not be tolerated.
Women will be empowered, loved, and encouraged.
Our soccer team will compete across Uganda.
LIFE WILL BE ABUNDANT.