How it all happened...

In November of 2004 I saw the documentary Invisible Children and my heart was broken. Invisible Children exposed the story of children in Uganda who commute each night from their homes in the bush villages to the city of Gulu to escape abduction by the LRA (a terrorist organization that instills fear through brutal child abductions). This documentary opened my eyes to a world I never knew existed.

Up until that point I had been considering a career in the media as a host or broadcast journalist. With my focus on a high-rise office in New York City, I was completely unprepared for the images that I saw on that screen. I saw emaciated children, their eyes full of pain and fear as they huddled together in the thousands. I heard them crying for parents they had lost, a sibling murdered before their eyes; a pain one little boy said, “my heart beats to.” There was no one to comfort them. These images shattered my previous dreams and tied my heart inextricably to the fate of these Ugandan children.

Since that life changing night nearly one year ago the burden of my heart has been the children of Uganda. I have researched the history of Uganda- the specifics of the war crisis, AIDS, and the heavy effects on these children. I have met with the director of Invisible Children, visited with missionaries from Uganda, attended lectures of African and Ugandan natives.... Through it all, I have asked God to direct my passion for the orphaned children of Uganda according to His purpose.

A few months ago I was given a unique opportunity to apply for an institute in Uganda that is built on the mission statement “bringing the Fatherhood of God to the fatherless.” After considering and surrendering to God the costs of leaving my family, friends, comfort zone, and America to live with orphans in Uganda for six months, I applied. In September I was accepted.

I will leave from LA January 9, 2006 and fly into Uganda, Africa. There I will attend the New Hope Institute while living and working with orphans. The lessons in the five months of classes and every-day life will be centered on Biblical principles of caring for and raising children- specifically the Ugandan orphans.
I cannot impress upon you how excited I am about this step in my life. This is a total surrender of previous dreams and hopes and plans for the sake of hearing and following the call of Christ in my life now. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27.
I am definitely in need of prayer support! These are my major requests now:

1. That God will strengthen my family during this time and will bring us closer together in Christ. I love my siblings and parents so much and am going to miss them a ton!
2. Travel safety.
3. That the upcoming elections in Uganda will be a continued step toward democracy and the voice of the people. That God’s will be done in this country.
4. For the children, that these precious little ones will be spared of AIDS, protected from the LRA, and may find true comfort in the arms of our merciful God.
5. For my heart to be completely given over to God, that His will may be manifest in my life and that this experience will help guide and direct future plans.
Thank you so much for your prayers. It means so much to know I have friends and family back home taking this step of faith with me. Together may we may attempt to live out Isaiah 58:10, “If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”