The one phrase that I heard more than any other while in Africa was "thonk you fa suving, Auntie" (thank you for serving auntie).  In the morning I was greeted by those around me bowing to their knees and holding their hands out to touch my hands.  They are SO grateful.  

Sitting on the couch, drinking coffee (which I am now addicted), I think about the roller coaster week that I have partaken in. There have been many highs, mixed with tragic lows that have rocked me to the core. Seeing children with seemingly no purpose or hope, turn into kids full of love and excitement is breathtaking. Holding and loving boys that have never had a male role model, or if they do a negative at that, makes me hopeful of a positive impact. 

"Auntie" Grace here again...where to start...well i guess i will explain the title of this post first...a while ago one of Katie's friends and her mom came to visit, and right before they left, they watched the movie "Blood Diamond"...I have never seen this movie but apparently its about a man who goes to Africa, and he says "T.I.A." all throughout the movie. T.I.A. stands for "this is Africa"...so all throughout the week, everyone has taken every opportunity to use it. For example, the other day, we were all discussing our sunburns and how you would not get this burned in America...or at least in TN....a perfect example of T.I.A...all throughout the week we have learned that THIS IS AFRICA. We have had an AMAZING trip where God has not failed to show himself in SO many ways, but T.I.A.. Yesterday, we went to do village ministry in several different villages. It reminded me of all that we have at home and how much we take for granted. I can't count how many times at my house I have heard someone say (and I am guilty of this too), "There's no food in the pantry," when we actually have a pantry full of food, it just might not be what you want. Some people here go days without food or water. Katie truly is running an amazing ministry. She feeds and provides education for children that otherwise would not receive food, would not be able to go to school, and most of all, would not have someone to love them and care for them. We should all appreciate everything we have and do not take anything for granted. I know that when our team here gets home, we will all look at everything through a different perspective, and appreciate the little things like a hot shower (although in Africa, cold showers feel great...), food any time we need, and people to love on us, kiss us goodnight, and say "I love you."

Michael here...                                                                      

Wow...I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we are all pooped. We get up pretty early and stay up late talking and we pay for it about half way through the day when our eyeballs start drooping. This morning all of us but Suzanne and Katie walked the kids to school at about 7:00 a.m. this morning. It was so fulfilling to see all of the kids around us going to school eager and ready to learn. The children love school here unlike myself sometimes in America when sometimes I just do not want to get out of my bed for school. It makes me very grateful for my wonderful education and my wonderful teachers and school. Being here makes me realize how much I love my family and love everyone around me. I miss everyone so much!!! 

Suzanne here.....

Uncle Mike here...11:20 pm in Uganda..we are all about to go to bed..talking about our day (it was a good one!), and rubbing aloe on our sunburns from the aloe plant just outside the front door. We started the day with Scott and I escorting the girls to school (they leave at daylight...about 6:30 am) so we came back and caught an extra hour of sleep before our morning cup of coffee. When everyone woke, we headed out on a journey to several villages in the area. We visited the villages where some of the kids in the Amazima program either came from or currently live. Hopefully pictures will be downloaded tomorrow of our day. We walked about 3 or 4 miles down the railroad and through the bush to visit these people. They were all small villages made up of tiny mud huts, usually anywhere from 30 to 7o people living in each village. Im sure someone else will post some more details from some of these visits...there were many memorable moments. Perhaps if we ever can get te pictures to download, they may tell the stories better than I ever could. After several hours spent in the various villages, we made our way to Canaan childrens home, where we were swarmed by hundreds of kids, excited to see their Aunt Katie and the "vis-tas". From there we experienced our first Piki ride home! Riding on the backs of little motorcycles...nother little piece of Africa we will always remember. Later in the day we went to Amani orphanage (yes it was a packed day and we are exhausted) where we spent a couple of hours visiting the kids there. Forgot to mention, we had a stop at a coffee stop in Jinja on the way to Amani, where we refueled. Speaking of food, I must say, the Ugandan food grows on you...we are all enjoying it (and Michael is enjoying his mac n cheese!). Finally we arrived home at around 6:30 pm to find all the kids engaged in their evening worship and dance. Agnes (who has stolen my heart....maybe more about that later) plays the drums (bongo) and leads everyone in song and dance...if we could download video of that it would blow you away. Yes we all danced and I must say Landon has rythm! They so enjoy us dancing with them (maybe they just enjoy laughing at our inability to keep up with them!). In fact, Agnes told someone the other day (i wont say which one of us) that her dancing (oops did I say "her") offended her because it was so bad! Agnes also has a wonderful sense of humor, which I love. Every night I tell a bedtime story to Agnes, Margaret, Prossi, and Margaret (Ive got a pretty good backlog of made up stories that Annabelle and Milleranne have heard countless times) so these girls just love em. They think Im so creative but Ive had about 12 years of making them up! Anyway, back to dancing. At dark we came inside and i put on some George Strait and we taught the girls a little two steppin! I have good reason to believe that theyve never heard of George Strait, country music, and certainly not the two-step. We had a ball! Agnes and I two stepped and it took her about two minutes to be better at it than me...no big surprise there. So then comes dinner and off to bed (after everyone...all 14...have baths). Agnes always tells me at bedtime "I love you Uncle" with the biggest sheepish grin I have ever seen. That in itself has made this trip worthwhile.
After 5 days here, I can see how some people fall in love with Africa. Ive seen tshirts that say "I need Africa more than Africa needs me." I am beginning to understand what that means.

It's Mallory here...

Suzanne here.....

It's uncle scott - more about the treats in a minute.  The morning started out great.  The girls were up around 6:30 and by 7:15 they were at the door and ready for their 1/2 mile walk to school.  Twelve of the fourteen girls walked Mike, Suzanne and me to school.  I assumed they needed assistance but of course it was us grown ups who needed to be guided to St. Moses school.  The good news was the three of us made it back home without getting lost.  

Today (Saturday) was, to say the least, a day like Ive never had before.  It was worship day at Amazima.  I didnt know really what to expect, and I got a whole lot more than I expected.   At around 8:30 or 9 a.m., little faces began to appear, at first glancing through the opening in the front gate or through the cracks in the fence.  I would see one of them peer through a crack, then disappear, then eventually make his or her way through the front gate into the yard.  I think some of their hesitation was that they could see quite a few "vis-tas" (as we American visitors are affectionately called) so they had to scope things out before they committed.  Before I knew it there were 200-250 kids in the yard...  they just kept coming!!  By about 11 a.m. Raul (the worship leader here) had them all gathered together on and around the porch (we will publish pictures once we can get them downloaded) singing African worship songs...200 or so little voices lifting up praise...quite a sight....i hope our video came out well.  After the praise and worship time, then came the games.  Girls against boys, of course (some things are universal), and Grace, Mallory and Michael all participated...fit right in.    Sack races, balloon games, etc...  The girls won and had to rub it in a little (again, some things are the same everywhere!).  After the game came snack time.  250+ hard boiled eggs!  Best hard boiled egg Ive ever had (with a piece of white bread to wash it down!).  All the kids line up in a single file line, smallest to largest, to receive their egg from Auntie Katie.  I'd guess the last ones in line had to wait 20 minutes or so to receive theirs, but oh were they grateful for that egg.   

It is 11:11 PM here in Uganda...Today we had over 200 kids come over and worship God, eat food, and play games (i got to be in a sack race....surprisingly, i won, giving the girls team the lead...) :) . Also, we gave everyone a sack of food, a BIG bar of soap, and a t-shirt, (another example of God showing himself)....we had the EXACT amount of t shirts to give each kid one, and after handing out the last one, we were out.  After all the kids had left, Katie, my mom, Mallory, Michael, my dad and I all went to visit Amani Baby cottage (an orphanage about 15 minutes away from Katie's house), where we visited and loved on the kids... Many of the kids there are special needs, and some have had a rough past....please pray for them that they all stay healthy and that they would be able to find homes. Although we have only been here for a day, our hearts are already changing, and drawing closer to God. Pray for safety and protection for Katie, her kids, the Amazima children, our team, and the children with out someone to tuck them in tonight. Good night!! :)

I cannot describe to you the joy and love these children have for life and for others other than that it is AMAZING! We arrived at Katie's house really late and as soon as we could we went to bed. This morning I woke up to 15 smiling and excited faces before I could even get out of my bed! As soon as I stepped onto the floor I was being hugged by three little ones and they all took turns hugging and greeting all of us. We gave them all a stuffed animal and some chalk this morning and they are all holding them and drawing outside on the walls. 

WOW!  Africa is a long way from the US!!  When we arrived  at the airport in Nashville, they informed us that our flight had been canceled due to weather.  We joined hands in prayer and asked the Lord to make a miracle happen.  And HE did!!  We went through Dallas and ended up in Amsterdam just in time for our flight to Entebbe.  There have been several mishaps since arriving...4 bags are lost, katie had a flat tire on her way to pick us up, and Abdula ran out of gas on our way home to Katie's house.  I have already shouted at satan to go elsewhere....WE SHALL NOT BE DEFEATED!!   Our sweet Saviour is MIGHTY  and is TOTALLY in control!  Our flights were fabulous.  We slept, ate, and played a little scrabble.

Gwen Here .. posting on Suzanne's behalf ..

This is all via text, so if I goof anything up Suzanne can fix it ...

They got to the airport this morning and their flight was cancelled to Detroit and told they probaby couldn't leave till tomorrow or Saturday ...Suzanne told me to spread the word, so I got on the phone and started texting everyone to pray ...

Here is the lastest text from Suzanne, "Okay... on plane now... deep breath, all airplane people said "no go" on each airways ... last person told us that all 8 of us could travel plus 16 bags ... NOTHIN short of a miracle .. our GOD is BIG !!! blog it !!! " And just so none of us miss who made this happen there were only 8 seats EXACTLY left on this plane !!!! God thanks for providing a way for this group to get to Katie !!!

Stay Tuned for this Adventure ... God has big things instore for them and for US here at home !!

The Lord kept nudging me out of bed this morning.....I finally gave in.  There are 147 million orphans in the world......can you even count that high?  The Lord always takes me to Nehemiah when I think of this number.  You see,  Nehemiah was called by the Lord  to rebuild a wall that was so BIG that the thought of it overwhelmed him.  He knew there was NO WAY that he could do it on his own.  He had a choice to make.  He could sit in his place of comfort or answer the Lords calling.  He started calling on person after person to help him.  They each took a brick and laid it side by side, one after the other, and before they knew it, the wall was rebuilt.