When Visiting Orphans invited me to lead a mission trip to Ethiopia and Uganda, I will be honest… I was saving my love, energy, and time for Addis Ababa.  I had no intentions of falling in love with Uganda and was not anticipating the intense train wreck heading straight for my heart.   I was really excited to serve and explore a new country, even taking the time to google the two cities we were visiting – Kampala and Jinja.  The best part, I had no idea that God was preparing a big crazy surprise and life changing adventure that would rock my heart.  Here’s some of the facts I studied:

Uganda is a country of stunning beauty and heartbreaking history of persecution.  It is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, which is also bordered by Kenya and Tanzania.

Between them, Ugandans speak an impressive forty or more different languages.  This is a result of Uganda’s ethnically diverse history, and the adoption of English as the main language during Uganda’s colonial years.  Uganda is a fascinating country, with a complicated history far too often involving bloodshed, violence and betrayal. Yet the people are among the most welcoming and determined to be helpful that you could meet anywhere in the world.

However, what soon became transparent to me was that Google failed to mention a single thing in any of the articles I read, about the individual heroes I would meet in Kampala and Jinja.  In fact, I wasn’t prepared for the kindness, hospitality, service, joy and love I would witness at every corner we turned.  I had no clue reading from my Google notes, that the children who are suffering atrocities on a daily basis, exemplify what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.  I was completely unprepared meeting Pastors and Directors that literally gave everything they had to their congregation or village ministry.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the 7 days I spent in Uganda was the singing.  The children of Uganda love to sing!  They sing doing their chores, going to school, playing, worshiping… and even at bedtime.  I learned a new way of worship through music.  They didn’t have any hymn books or fancy instruments… just their voices and hands and pure joy.  My favorite song was simple… “I love you Jesus, deep down in my heart.  I love you Jesus, deep down in my heart.  So deep deep so down down, so deep down in my heart.  So deep deep so down down, so deep down in my heart.”  I heard that song a hundred times a day and it always brought tears to my eyes.

The people of Uganda embrace with all their hearts the simplicity of God’s love.  The hundreds of children that we had the honor of loving and serving taught us the only reason for living was worshiping God, loving God and longing for His return all day long.  I have never witnessed with my eyes, children worshiping with every fiber of their bodies.

In my next four blog posts, I want to share a story about each hero I met in Uganda.  My dear friends, Pastor Samuel, Rebecca Sorensen, Pastor Isaac and Katie Davis have made a crazy impact in Uganda.  This list does not include the countless children and staff we met along the way, but my four heroes are remarkable and courageous and dream makers and warriors for Jesus Christ.  I hope that you fall deep deep in love with Uganda, too.

Join me this week in celebrating the heartbeat of a country that is rich in spirit and love.  Bloggy friends, I want to know if you will pray about coming back with me to minister in Uganda with Visiting Orphans.  We have a brand new trip scheduled, June 2nd – 11th 2011.  You can sign up today!!  You can FaceBook Rebecca Sorensen and follow her new blog to learn more about My Father’s House Ministry and Royal Hope School in Kampala.

Bloggy readers, Let me know what you think in the comments about worship styles in different parts of the world that you have witnessed that made an impact on your life and how you worship.

Praising the Lord with music in Uganda

(videos by Joe)

I was so thrilled to take my two daughters on a getaway to Sanibel, FL a week after I returned home from Africa.  I missed them so much and it was a great way to reconnect, especially with my teenager.  I will admit, going to Sanibel in late August was not the smartest coolest thing to do.  The heat and humidity was pretty brutal, but floating in the pool can give the illusion of coolness.  We played on the beach in the morning and late afternoon, Zoie really loved running after the waves.

My favorite thing to do was walk up and down the beach looking for sea shells.  Hannah and I had a fun contest looking for the most unique looking shells.  She won hands down.  One night, I took the girls down to the ocean to watch the sunset.  Zoie sat in a low tide pool and played for an hour while Hannah and I sat and just talked.  It was one of those mommy moments I will never forget.  The three of us watched the pinkest sunset God has ever made.  I’m very thankful that my daughters love being with me and continue to make me laugh and play and skip through life.

Bloggy friends, I’d love to hear what your favorite thing to do on a girl’s getaway?

Check it out… Big Nanny goes on Visiting Orphans Mission trip- she’s officially part of the crazies!

BIG CRAZY NEWS- We have 2 more slots open to fill! If you are feeling a passion about this trip, please continue to pray and fill out the application when the time is right!!! Spots are filling up fast!!!!  Africa in July Blog.

My personal journey to missions-

Family and friends embraced my project and I raised $2,200 for Haiti!  I was able to purchase donations with the overflow and hand deliver the items personally.  It was a lot of work organizing the fundraiser, but once things got rolling, it was so much fun!  Please don’t make the same excuses I made for so many years…. pray, move forward and allow God to do the rest.  If the door is slammed shut in your face, well that’s OK.  Stand in line again, and move forward in a different direction.  I challenge you to call or email Visiting Orphans today and request an application. If your heart is stirring, don’t wait – start the ball rolling, especially if you feel excitement and joy and yearning when you read our itinerary.

If you are on the fence, trying to make every mommy detail perfect before you make the decision to go, I challenge you to jump down and pray forward.  Most of my readers are crazy moms, life will never be perfect for us to go on a mission trip, but I promise you that this trip will change your life.  Your family will benefit from you doing something so radical… you’ll be a crazier mom!

VIDEO TO INSPIRE-

I remember looking at Roger on the way to the airport and saying, “I don’t think I can do this.”  What in the world did I get myself into?  I was leading a team of 29 to Uganda (never been there) and Ethiopia.  I only personally knew 4 of the team members… Randi (my BF) Dee Dee (my childhood BF) Sarah (adoption friend) and Vit (adoptive friend’s brother)  The rest were complete strangers and I was really nervous… OK terrified!  I had dreamed of working in missions and was thrilled with the opportunity to lead a team, but when it all came down to it, I wasn’t going to be able to rely on my charm and good looks to survive in Africa. (ha)

The months preparing for the trip were busy, fun, and detailed.  I’m not a very detailed person, so I was thrilled I had a co-leader (Ashlie) who took the reins on that department.  She did a fantastic job conducting the conference calls, creating online charts, and answering the emails from the team.  I still don’t have the guts to tell her the one conference call I was in charge of, I missed!  She would kill me.  I literally passed by the note on my refrigerator- DONT FORGET CC TODAY! and drove off to Starbucks for an afternoon snack.  I returned home to multiple calls from the team making sure I was not dead.  I was so embarrassed and realized I had a lot to learn about being a fearless leader.

I wonder why God picked me to lead the July 2010 team?  At the time, I had no idea that my amazing co-leader was going to have her world interrupted by their adoption miracle and not be able to join us in Uganda.  I think if I would have had the slightest inkling, I would have run for the hills.  But, God had it planned all along and redirected the team to a little craziness… me. newbie. leader.

I met my team of 29 (Ashlie was already in Ethiopia) at Dulles Airport.  I saw the sea of Simply Love shirts and knew I could not run away.  I had the same T shirt on and was met with a big hug from Randi at the tram.  I tried hard to remember faces and names, but was working really hard to make sure I was breathing.  I met my substitute co-leader, Ernie and instantly loved him.  He raced around the airport for hours making sure tickets were correct and people made it to the gate.  I also sensed something extra special about the team.  As we made our way on the plane, we were all giddy and excited.  I zipped through security, but was instantly stopped by a very grumpy agent.  He literally grabbed my carry-on, tossed it on the scale, and told me I would not be able to board with the overweight bag.  I remembered reading in past emails from Visiting Orphans to stand firm if there were problems with the airlines, even if security was involved.  I basically grabbed my suitcase and ordered him to let me on the flight with my team!!  He grabbed my suitcase back and chewed me out for having such a heavy carry-on.  I was the only one left standing and started to panic.  I’m going to miss the flight and really mess things up for the team. I looked up and saw Randi and Vit standing in the doorway pleading with security to let them take some of the weight off.  We scrambled and repacked my bag.  It worked and I was able to roll on with my heart pounding and sweaty hands.

Fun Flight Pics:

(Me & Randi snoozing on 18 hr flight)

We arrived in Entebbe Uganda at 1:30 A.M. with 26 bags missing.  I paced like a crazed lioness at the luggage counter, but it did not make the bags magically appear.  The group was stellar and my 6 men worked for hours with two sleepy Ethiopian Airlines staff to make separate claims for each missing piece of luggage.  Can you spell N.I.G.H.T.M.A.R.E?  I was in a lather and decided it was time to take out my bottle of chill pills and start walking the walk.  I told my team for months to be flexible and joyful and relaxed when things got a little crazy.  This was the definition of crazy.

We stumbled into our hotel in the wee hours of the morning and crashed until lunch.  We met Pastor Samuel and started our adventure to Return Ministries, a special orphanage in the heart of Kampala.  I had no idea that my life would change radically in less than a few hours.

I can’t wait to share stories with you of our time in Kampala and Jinja, Uganda with the bravest children in the world.  Bloggy Question: I want to know if you would ever consider leading a mission team – why or why not?

Join me Feb. 2011 to Ethiopia for 10 days ministering with Visiting Orphans. Also, June 2011 to Uganda for 10 days ministering with Visiting Orphans.

I can’t believe I’ve only been home 3 weeks from Africa!  It took me a long time to recover physically and emotionally, but now feeling the excitement bubbling inside my heart to share the good, bad and craziness with you.  I think the best place for me to start is from the beginning.  I would never have had the opportunity to lead a trip to Uganda and Ethiopia without the incredible ministry of Visiting Orphans.  I stumbled into the leadership role of an extraordinary team of 30 for reasons I still do not fully understand.  I am grateful for all the twists and turns that happened to redirect me, change me and guide me to serve in Africa.

The executive director of Visiting Orphans is my friend, Amanda Lawrence.  We have never met in person, but have a shared passion for missions, orphans, adoption and craziness.  She opened up her heart wide in faith and allowed me to jump on board due to our relationship with America World Adoption.  She has lead countless mission trips all over the world and taught me so much about leadership and serving with her grace and love for orphans.

My personality, as you know is a little on the crazy side, but Amanda poured her patience in abundance as she worked with me during the months preparing for the trip.  The best part, announcing to her that I was going for a week to Alaska with my family the week before the trip.  She never wavered in kindness, understanding and willingness to help.

I wanted to give my best effort as a newbie leader and allow God to lead through me.  God lovingly taught me through my team how important it was to be flexible, patient, joyful, loving, and courageous every step of the way.  I was so humbled.  I watched my team demonstrate love and generosity and compassion to every single person they ministered to.

(Thank you team-  Ashlie, Ernie, Randi, Dee Dee, Vit, Kevin, Judson, Juliana, Kari, Carrie, Joe, Emily, Darrell, Cherie, Ashlie, Amanda, Beza, Carly, Chaye, Cynthia, Cynthia, Eryn, Janette, Jen, Karen, Kinsey, Lindsey, Marge, Rebecca, Sarah for loving radically in Africa!!)

In the next few weeks, I want to celebrate on my blog the incredible people we met in Uganda and Ethiopia.  I have so many stories and photos to share with my readers.  I want to dig deep down in my heart and tell you how God changed my life.  I pray that God will use our craziness in Africa to help spread His message of love and service and ministry to orphans.

I want to invite you to join me on a bloggy adventure to Africa.  I hope that you will read the stories, leave your comments and share your own personal stories of mission trips and orphan care.  We are all in this together.  If you have any questions please email me.

My New Crazy Mission Trips 2011

I will be leading two trips in 2011.  Please join me serving orphans in Africa!!  You can go directly to the website Visiting Orphans to sign up today!!  The first 5 men who sign up for the trips will receive a FREE Man Up T shirt!!!

10 Day Ethiopia Trip:  February 17th – 26th 2011

• Leaders- Kari & Roger Gibson and co-leader Kelly Blackwell

10 Day Uganda Trip: June 2nd – 11th 2011

• Leaders- Kari Gibson and Michael Smalley

Men Needed- Visiting Orphans has available spots for an Uganda Mission trip Dec. 28 to Jan. 12!! Sign up today!!

Visiting Orphans vision is simple:

• To enlist Church volunteers to visit orphanages so they may meet physical, emotional and spiritual needs of orphans.
• To develop relationships, provide comfort and to share the Gospel with orphans.
• To provide financial aid for child sponsorship, medical assistance and construction to improve the living conditions of orphans.
• To mobilize Christian churches to help orphans experience the blessing of family.

Visiting Orphans mission is simple:

Visiting Orphans is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  Established in 2005 by America World Adoption Association as a way to further help the orphans of the world. Visiting Orphans works to fulfill the biblical mandate given in James 1:27 of “visiting orphans” in their distress.

Visiting Orphans has conducted many missions trips for churches, schools, and individuals from around the United States to orphanages around the world including China, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Ecuador, Peru, Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, Russia and Costa Rica.

Looking ahead, VO’s plan of action is to begin mobilizing and working more directly with churches in the United States.  While we will still work with individuals and schools in order to bring people to orphans and expose them to the hardships they face,  partnerships with churches will drive our expansion and positive impact on orphaned children around the world.

Mission: Visiting Orphans works with Christian churches to help raise orphan awareness in the hopes of each orphan experiencing the blessing of family through:
1.  Reunification
2. Transitional Services
3. Adoption

If you are part of a church looking to start or expand your orphan ministry we would love to assist you!

Just nine short months ago, The Raining Season opened the doors of The Covering, a children’s home in Sierra Leone, West Africa.  Since that time we have experienced joy, fear, sorrow, and pleasure of the ups and downs to doing the “bigger” plans that God always has for us.  The Raining Season is an organization whose mission is to provide a hopeful future to orphaned children and impoverished families through meeting their basic needs such as housing, nourishment, education, and small business grants.  Our organization is made up of ordinary people doing extraordinary things who have allowed our eyes to be opened to the desperate needs in Sierra Leone.   When God began to stir in the hearts of the founders to open The Covering the path was unclear.  We did not even have a building secured the week before we went to open it, but it is true that God always provides.  Once we got there we had a beautiful building, lots of materials, staffed hired and trained but only 3 children there to enjoy their new beds, clothes and toys.  It didn’t take long to start filling the halls and rooms with the sweet voices of the children who were so grateful to be in a place where they are loved and provided with the essence of family.  Now here we are nine months later and we are housing 79 children and busting at our seams.  We are totally out of space and are frequently asked to bring more children into our home.  There is nothing we would rather do than to rescue even more children, but we need help.  God’s plans are always bigger than ours so we are believing for a new building to house those many more children in need of shelter, clothes, food and love.

Here are some of the beautiful girls from The Covering

The Raining Season has partnered with Warm Hearts Group out of Springfield, MO which is an organization designed to help raise awareness and funds for the orphans in Sierra Leone as well as in our local communities.  Warm Hearts Group is dedicated to host fundraisers for travel and the specific needs of The Raining Season  throughout the year.  So many people are always looking for ways to get involved and help.  We believe we are all called to Save the Orphan “For you know all about it, the contempt the abuse.  I dare to believe the luckless will get lucky someday in you.  You won’t let them down, Orphans won’t be orphans forever”  psalm 10:14, but so many people just don’t know how to help.  If you want to be involved, Warm Hearts Group is a local organization and we are ready to help get you plugged in.  If you can provided a donation, we have very specific needs for funds right now.  We are raising money for a building fund, we are sending a medical/educational team the first week of September, and we still have 27 kids in need of sponsorship.  Remember we are all just ordinary people who have said “yes” to that tug on our hearts.   If you want to say “yes” to donating to The Covering or sponsoring a child please visit the website www.therainingseason.org.  If you want to say “yes” to going on a medical mission trip, please contact Lori Pyle at .  If you want to say “yes” to joining Warm Hearts Group, please email Lori Pyle at or Tiffany Johnson at

There are so many needs in Sierra Leone and you can help!!!

This is a mother and precious child who was severely malnourished in the Children’s Hospital.

We provided bread/water/and a small gift bag for them.

(photo above) This is Malige and Emmanuel at The Covering. Malige was just diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia and is 8 years old. Emmanuel is 4 but very close in size to his favorite buddy.

If you…or someone you know would be willing to give up 10 days to bring health and healing to some of our most vulnerable children please contact us as soon as possible. Please spread the word and once again….

Thank you for helping SAVE the ORPHAN