What is the greatest commandment?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:30-31

In the village, education sometimes comes secondary. Though the country offers free education, the stresses of the cost of school uniform, shoes, and even school supplies can be too much for a family to allow all their children to go to school.

Backpacks of Promise:

Some of Lulwanda's wonderful friends from Books are the Beginning supplied our LCH children with backpacks and scholastic material to give out to some of the students in the surrounding village. 

100 backpacks; 100 students = lots of joyous hearts encouraged in their education

My group climbed halfway up the side of a big hill to reach some neighbors who were so excited to see us, much less to receive a backpack of supplies. In appreciation the last two families gave us 3 chickens 

It was a wonderful day to love our neighbors as we have see and receive the Father's love everyday.

Things that make me smile

May 2...

Six years ago, to the day, I arrived at Lulwanda Children's Home.

And my life was forever changed.

My heart:

 has been filled with love

has been humbled by provision

has been protected in the shadow of His wings

has been shown grace abounding

has been convinced of hope

is full

Seeds of Truth

Each Sunday, beginning around sunrise, you can hear echoes of the Saints singing. Sometimes they are soft echoes from a distance and sometimes they sound like they are gathering in your front yard because they are so loud. But they are the voices of the Father's children none the less.

In town you can find people arriving at beautifully finished brick buildings by many means: cars, motorbikes, bicycles, and on foot. 

In doing a google search I learned that the word “church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” 

But as you get outside the city and into the village you understand this to be true a bit more.  In the rural areas, buildings are more unique and the mode of transport is solely by foot.  But the "called-out ones" faithfully come.

I was blessed to be invited to this church in a little village about 20 minutes drive from Mbale town.  And athough the walls and roof were made of papyrus mats and the chairs and benches were carried in from the members' houses, and although this church building did not look like much from the outside, once you entered you were with "the assembly." God's chosen people who are dearly beloved by Him. And the celebration of His unfailing love was great in this place.

For this gathering of new believers, they were hungry for the seeds of Truth. And I was blessed not only to have been a part of that day, but was given the opportunity to share what the Lord has been teaching me (soon to come in another blog post).

And sitting under a mat roof, with beams of sunlight shining through (and prayers for the rain to be held back) it is hard not to be drawn back to the basics. An open heart, willing to meet with the Lord, is what matters. 

Jerad encouraged us to walk with God. 

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." 

(Matthew 6:33)

"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)

Oh Lord, let these seeds of Truth have been sown on fertile ground.

Fatuma and Siraji visit my Home in Austin, Texas

One of the highlights of my time in Texas was getting to spend a few days with Fatuma and Siraji in Austin, at my parent's house. For years they have graciously hosted me in their home in Uganda; it was nice to return the gesture.


We had a wonderful fun filled couple of days.  Here are the highlights in photos.

Austin, Texas
Hike and Bike trail

A jumping dog drinking out of the shower

A huge thanks to TbarM Camps for inviting us to come for the morning and play on the ropes course.

I love volunteering at Angel House soup kitchen when I have free time in Austin. They have been a great encouragement to me and were eager to meet some of the children who I talk so much about.

The kids enjoyed seeing how creative God is, even under the ground at Inner Space Caverns.

I feel very blessed that Janece has been able to come to Uganda to visit me and my friends at LCH twice. But it was a great delight to have my Dad meet these kids and see them interact together.

And we had fun just being around the house.

Target practice with the bebe gun. Fatuma was practicing her best stance :)
And in case you were wondering, we were all pretty bad shots.

One of my best memories is seeing the big smile on my Dad's face when Fatuma told him, "Papa Paul, everything you make to eat I just love!"

The Lord is so good for giving us these great memories together.

My Little Starfish

I recently attended a seminar in Kampala about what Uganda calls OVC children (orphaned and vulnerable children). Statistically, there are over 2.5 million orphans in Uganda (yep- I said Uganda, not Africa). Half of Uganda’s population is under 15 years old.

Sometimes this work can be overwhelming when you just look at the numbers. You want to do more. Make a bigger impact. 108 is lost in the sea of 2.5 million. Am I really making a difference at all?

But in these moments the Lord is always so kind to remind me of a poem I read in one of those email forwards (the ones you usually delete without even opening them).  This was the poem:

One day an old man was walking down the beach just before dawn.  In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea.  As the old man approached the young man, he asked, "Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?"  The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.  The old man exclaimed, "But there must be thousands of starfish.  How can your efforts make any difference?"  The young man looked down at the starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in the sea, he said," It makes a difference to this one!"

IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO THIS ONE!

 And to THIS ONE!

And to THIS ONE!

And I could continue posting 108 photos. And with each of those beautiful faces I look at I can tell a story of how far the Lord has brought them. And how our Heavenly Father is has and continues to restore HOPE in the lives of the hopeless. I am reminded that these are not just photos taken from “that one time I went to Africa” but these are my sisters and brothers. These are children who I love dearly. These are friends who I have watched grow up, who I have helped to counsel and guide in the ways of the Lord, and who I get to wrap my arms around each day and tell them that they are loved.

I pray that my life examples that of Christ. I pray that as I greet them by name, they would know that their Father knows their name and has good plans for their life. I pray that as I spend hours planning local activities and preparing for summer teams that their minds would be open to the grandness and uniqueness of our Creator. And I am humbled that the Lord would allow me to be part of their everyday lives and make a difference to this one.

So proud!

So in Uganda, education is highly valued. And there is a high emphasis and training leading up to 3 key national examinations. This past November our second class of students sat for the P7 (end of primary school) leaving examination. It was our first time for Lulwanda Primary School to have its own "sitting center"number, which allows the school to receive credit (or discredit) on how well it is doing as a training institute.

All glory to God and appreciation to all of our staff and teachers because Lulwanda Primary School did AWESOME!

We ranked #9 out of 148 schools in the Mbale district (urban and rural schools) AND
we ranked #2 out of the 101 rural schools.

I can't tell you how proud we all are of our students and what the Lord is doing here. May God receive all the glory!

I hope you enjoy this video about education, that was played at our friends of Lulwanda dinner.

(Click this link)
http://vimeo.com/56253936