This is about so much more than Mama Kits...

Like I said in my last post, God has been teaching me a lot of lessons about Him and how He can use those who are insufficient and broken as useful for the Kingdom. He's showing me (just when I need it and am ready to see it) that His plans are so much bigger than mine and that I need to stop underestimating Him by coming up with my own limitations and ideas.

To continue along those thoughts…here’s the very similar things He’s continuing to show me about Mercy for Mamas and the kits and services that we provide through my friend's ministry. 

This thing was small when Melissa followed the call God laid on her heart. A small kit for a small payment of $7 and you can save a mama’s life. It sounded like a simple thing and all of us were on board. I saw the magnitude of the fact that these kits could save women’s lives and help curb one of the causes of the Orphan Crisis and I got it. God’s using these little things to do big things and it’s awesome.

But I didn’t really get it. Because as huge as I thought I understood it to be, that was a huge understatement to what He had in mind. And I'm only now seeing just how much I underestimated Him and His purpose for this. 

Yes, I’ve seen the growth happen over the past few years - the 10,000 kits handed out in such a short amount of time - but it hit me hard on this trip: there are amazing things happening in amazing ways because of this effort and how God is using it. And I can’t shake my love of this revelation and all its facets.

This isn't just about Mama Kits. 

This isn't just about saving women's lives. 

This isn't just about curbing horrific maternal mortality rates that contribute to so many children being left with no mother. 

This isn't just about feeding some ex-pats some good food and singing some songs.

This is about changing lives in ways so often unseen. 

This is about showing women their value. 

This is about bringing women together. 

This is about equipping, encouraging, and empowering those who are called to serve the people of Uganda. 

This is about showing Christ's love in countless ways and opening doors to changing hearts in countless circumstances. 

You see, I didn't know....didn't think about...or just didn't understand just how little most of these women have someone to encourage them and love them through childbirth and in life in general. 

I didn't know they spit on each other during labor in the village. 

We have baby showers, we get excited when a friend or a neighbor or a fellow church goer or coworker is pregnant. We throw showers, we buy them cute outfits, we visit them in the hospital, we take them freezer meals, we run errands and try to give them some extra encouragement. 

That's not how it works for these women. They are often seen as an annoyance or even as competition. They are shunned, berated, spat on, belittled. They have none of the conveniences we have and so often they have none of the comfort of a circle of support either. 

Our team spent almost every day teaching women in different parts of Uganda about labor and motherhood and after we learned of some of the horrific things that some of these women faced from each other, the girls on our team that shared with these crowds made sure to focus on support, encouragement, and loving each other through this painful, beautiful process. 

We step in and give them their baby gift - their mama kit and maybe a blanket and some booties. And we try to give them encouragement and support, but we're only there for the day.  So pray that these women come together. Pray that they support each other and learn just how much this would benefit all of them to have a support system and to walk these journeys together. 

I didn't think about how the teen girls would be treated when they went to the hospital with their kits.

We visited several crisis pregnancy centers that we work with and one thing stuck out to me the most this time: the social worker at one telling me just how differently the girls are treated now that they have these kits. 

You see, the nurses/midwives at the hospitals weren't nice to these girls when they went in to deliver. They've been kicked out of their families and villages because of their pregnancies - they are not welcomed by so many. But because of these kits, the women who run this center that has welcomed them have been able to establish good relationships with the hospitals & clinics. Because of those relationships, the nurses take much better care of these girls now and they can have relatively pleasant experiences without worrying about not being welcome.  

I hate that's what it took for these girls to feel welcome at the hospital: you've been turned away from your family and you're facing delivering a baby in a country with one of the highest mortality rates - the last thing you should be worried about is the nurse not taking good care of you because you're a pregnant teenager. Knowing that these mama kits not only gave them the sterile supplies that they needed to deliver, but also gave them the open door to welcoming and friendly relationships with those in charge of their care was an amazing thing to learn. 

Pray that these girls continue to see renewed relationships in their lives. That they would see just how valued they are by the way that God works to bring people into their lives who don't judge, but that care and love for them and their children well. 

I hadn't thought through how much I value them but how they don't hear enough how beautiful they are.

It's funny to me how excited people get to see us on these trips. (If only people back home would get that excited, I'd feel pretty awesome!) To get to a village and have kids running after you and women smiling from ear to ear to see you - this strange Mzungu - it's a beautiful thing. Not because it makes us feel special, but because you can tell that it makes THEM feel special. 

Even if we don't speak the same language, even if we've never met before, they know they're special to us. We came from America just to see them. We came to pray just for them. We came with kits just for them. We came so that they would know just how valued and beautiful they are. 

The women of Uganda are incredibly gorgeous. They are strong and proud and brave. I'm pretty sure one of the sweet girls playing with me in the village one day was one of the most beautiful creatures on the face of the planet. She would blow most supermodels out of the water. But she's a kid playing in a village and living in a mud hut and doesn't have a mirror to see what I see. She's just a kid having fun, mimicking all of my faces and giggling uncontrollably when she gets to see her image in my phone. 

And that's exactly how I want her to stay, because she's incredibly beautiful, but more importantly, she's incredibly valued. And the women that we shared with could see that we cared for them. Pray that sticks. Pray that they know that we value them because we know our Father values them. Pray that they know how beautiful they are because of the fact that they are made in their Creator's image. Pray that those around them would show them their value in the way that they treat them and love them. 

I hadn't seen the different looks on the missionaries faces since I'd last been there. 

The last time I went to Uganda was on the inaugural Mercy for Mamas trip and this was a very different experience. One of the things that was the most different for me was the missionary dinners. Last time, none of us really knew what to expect and you could see that on the faces of the women that attended our events. While our team was a little nervous and we were running around trying to make sure everything worked alright, these women came not knowing what this was going to be like. They honestly looked a little more freaked out than we did!  Some came thinking we would be asking them for something, some came thinking this was just weird, some came not knowing what to think at all. 

But this time I got to see them come back (voluntarily!). I saw familiar faces with different looks - knowing that they know what to expect this time around and that it will be a good night for all of them - that was an incredible thing. I even had one woman cry when she started telling me how much she looks forward to this every time and another woman cried when I remembered her and welcomed her by name. She felt bad she didn't remember me, but I told her that wasn't the point. 

And when I was feeling all paranoid about the worship that we led in Jinja (like I always do) and then heard how much it meant to these women to just hear Western female voices leading in worship - that some of them actually recorded it just to have it for later - that was a revelation. 

I saw girls who hadn't made connections with any other ex-pats putting numbers and addresses on their phones and making connections with ministries that they can partner with. We heard from ladies who have been using the kits and just how much of an impact they're having on them establishing relationships with the people of Uganda. 

I'm thrilled to have seen what an impact these dinners can have on these women and to hear how these kits are opening doors for their ministries. I got to share at these dinners about just how much these ladies mean to us and to the Kingdom and just how much they are valued because of their Creator and their obedience to Him, but it's hard to find the words to even scratch the surface there. 

Pray that those women would be renewed and encouraged in the way that they serve. Pray that they would know that they are not forgotten and that we recognize the sacrifices that they make every day in their line of work. Pray that they are able to establish good relationships with other women like them and with the people that they serve and that they would see fruits from the seeds that they're planting. 

I never guessed how many ways we could exalt the name of Christ with this work. 

I love how often I see these boxes being used with a renewed purpose - makes me think about how God uses us in so many unique ways. 

God showed me His face on every turn on this trip like He never has before. I saw Uganda and Mercy for Mamas in a new light.

I saw women realize their beauty and worth in the eyes of their Maker. 
I saw God-glorifying relationships start and strengthen. 
I saw women step foot in a church who normally wouldn't. 
I saw women listen when they were told to support & encourage each other. 
I saw women squeal over the fact that someone sent them taco seasoning. 
I saw countless tears and countless smiles and heard amazing laughter that will ring in my ears until the next time I visit. 

I saw Him move and felt the Spirit swell.
I saw just how much He's taken this simple thing like a $7 bag of supplies and used it to make His name known and show His daughters just how beautiful and valued they are in His sight.

I saw, more than ever before, that this is about so much more than mama kits.

Uganda Post 4 - The Encouragement

I told myself I was going to save this post for last.  However, no matter how hard I try, I can't write about anything else...this is flooding every memory when I think back on our time in Uganda. I hate to say I'm picking favorites, but I'm gonna say it anyway.  This was my favorite part of the trip....Our missionary nights of encouragement. Melissa already wrote her thoughts on these evenings here and it's a must read (as is the blog post that she links to in her post - go ahead, get lost in bloggy land for a little while).

We hosted 2 missionary nights during our trip.  One in Kampala at Herb & Ellen's guesthouse, and another in Jinja at The Source Cafe.  Melissa felt God leading her to do something for the missionary women in Uganda as she was planning this first trip for Mercy for Mamas.  She's seen a lot of missionary women during her time in the country and wanted to do something special for them.  She appreciates how hard they work to share Christ with the people there and how exhausting that can be (you can read a little more on her thoughts leading up to this on her blog post). She knew that God was leading her to plan a night for these women to connect, relax, fellowship, praise, and receive new tools for their various ministries.

These nights were tons of fun to plan.  From the moment Melissa mentioned them to me, I was super excited.  If you know me very well, you know a few things about me...I love to party plan, I love to encourage people, and I love fellowship!  These nights had all of these components...so I, of course, felt like this was one more reason I was on the team! This was a project I could help with!

Melissa had great ideas for the goody bags - some items to remind them of home and maybe give them a little boost.  We collected all kinds of things: candy, gum, notebooks, pens, coffee creamer, ranch dressing mix, taco seasoning, lotions, kleenex, etc.  Little things that they miss there.  My favorite quote from Melissa's blog about these nights (maybe my favorite quote from a blog ever) is "After looking in the goody bags, one lady was nearly in tears over the ranch dressing mix. She told me that she had seriously prayed for God to send someone to her with ranch dressing. For reals people, ranch dressing can be serious ministry!"  Who knew that such a little thing would mean so much to these ladies!? It was so awesome to see them dig through their bags and squeal in delight over little things that I wouldn't ever imagine they'd miss.  This was a definite blessing to these ladies and a taste of home.

We had lots of donations to help out with collecting our various items, which was great!  Even the kids in Melissa's class at church donated the gum...including my 4 year old Mason.  He was very excited about getting the "big packs of gum" for the missionaries that I was going to see when I went to Africa.  He told Melissa and I about 100 times each!  He wanted to make sure we got it, then he wanted to make sure that Melissa saw the packs of gum and knew what to do with them.  One of the first things he said to me when I arrived home was "Mom! Did you give the missionaries my gum? Did they like it?" Melissa did mention to the ladies in Jinja how excited my son was to give them their gum, so I brought several thank you messages back for him, which made him pretty happy!

We fed the women some great food at both evenings. Harriet did a great job preparing the meal in Uganda - it got pretty quiet once everyone got their plates!  I've never heard so many people rave about mac & cheese before - it was pretty great to see them enjoying their meal so much!  The food that they prepared for our group at The Source was great too and the ladies had a great time chatting while they had a great meal!

We had some great time of worship with our team members Becki & Kerri. This was incredible.  First of all, I got to see my new friends use their gifts for leading worship and for sharing their hearts with women.  This was pretty special.  They are incredible ladies and are so very talented.  The best part is, they know where their talent comes from and they use it so well to glorify their King. They did an awesome job leading these women in unified worship to the Father and giving them a chance to let loose and refresh their praise.

I love to sing, so I enjoyed lifting my voice with these new friends of mine, but I found myself stopping every once in a while, or getting a catch in my throat, just listening to these women that are far away from home, from our every day comforts, serving where God has asked them to...to hear them all come together and sing together about God's goodness was enough to be completely overwhelming.  It was such a sweet sound, and I know God's ears were happy to hear all of his daughters' voices come together.

Melissa shared with the ladies for a while.  She told them who she was, a little bit about her story and the beginnings of Mercy for Mamas.  She shared her heart with them and I could see them starting to understand this friend of mine and her joy for serving God's purpose for her experiences.  She shared with them about how, as great as it is to get to pass out these mama kits ourselves, she understands that often they can be much more effective as a ministry tool in the hands of long term missionaries.  She told them that she wants them to be able to build relationships with the women that receive them and to be able to follow up and to continue to show Christ long after our short term missions teams would be gone.

This is one of my favorite things Melissa got to share with people when we were in Uganda.  It's just so much more than a birthing kit...it's love and relationship waiting to happen...it's an open door to a mama's heart.  And she got to give that to these missionaries and equip them in a new way to connect with the people of Uganda.  At the end of the night, they lined up to receive their kits with huge smiles on their faces and ideas rolling off their tongues. I heard so many excited women talking about where they were going to use them first, followed with questions on when/how they could get more because it was going to be such a great tool for them.  It was amazing to see it all fall into place and be understood so completely.

We had the ladies introduce themselves to the entire group at the beginning of the program and it was so amazing to hear about them, their families, their ministries, where they were from, and how long they had been serving in Uganda.  We had women that had been there for decades sitting next to some that had been there for a few weeks.  We had older women and younger women.  We had different denominations.  We had women serving in education, some in health care, some loving kids in babies' homes...all different spectrums of ministries, sitting in one space, laughing and praising together.  It was beautiful to watch them make connections and meet new friends...to see them sink into fellowship with other women with similar lives, stories, and hearts and to understand how much they need each other and those relationships.

At the end of our program, we split the ladies into groups and each person from our team sat with a group and prayed with them.  We asked them to share their prayer needs, to tell us more about themselves and their work there and what they needed and how God was working on them.  These ladies poured their hearts out more than I ever could have asked for.  They showed me their love for the people of Uganda and how God led them there.  They told me their struggles, their frustrations, their worries and doubts.  They asked for endurance, for guidance, and for continued joy in the work for the Lord.  We laid hands on each other and took turns praying.  They told me how much they needed this...all of it...and how thankful they were.  They prayed for our team, that we would continue to bless people the way that we had blessed them. 

They told me that they felt uplifted, encouraged, renewed, and covered in prayer...and that they would be able to carry this night with them for a long time.  They raved about the evening and how they wish they could do things like this more often. I was amazed by these women and their lives and hearts.  I loved getting to sit and chat with some of them for an extended time...to really get to know them beyond the surface stuff. I will carry those women and their work in my heart and can only pray that our encouragement will stick with them as well.