Spiritual Conviction

Mukama Yebaziwe-‘Praise the Lord’!

*NEW: Well, we have unexpectedly had a bit of change of plans. Due to the increasing risk of violence and rioting because of the upcoming presidential elections in February, Empower a Child is taking all safety precautions necessary in protecting their volunteers. For this reason they have asked us to leave between the months of February- March. I am in no immediate danger and as I said it is just a measure to ensure our safety. This is one thing that I did not financially plan for. I am still in the process of making a decision on where to go over this time.

Currently, I am looking into going to the UK, to stay with Porsche’s family because it is closer than flying home. With this being said I am looking for $1,500 to help cover the cost of the flight and necessities during this time. If you feel led or are able to give please let me know. Thank you!

Keep Uganda’s leaders in your prayers during this time.

 

 

 

 

Spiritual conviction

Choosing extraordinary when things are less than that.

·         What pushes you to be stronger and stand out when everyone else is pushing you to conform and be just like everyone else?

·         Why is it that we settle for less then what we deserve?

·         We sell ourselves short? For what? Approval. Personal gain. Outward appearance.

·         Where does spiritual conviction come from, what is it, and how should you respond?

Spiritual conviction: is the judgment or discernment that we have on those things that come up in our walk/ relationship with God.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please. Or worse, to avoid trouble.”

Every morning of the work week as a team we sit together and share in devotions. We spend some time singing praise and worship songs and then someone in the team shares what God has been teaching them in this season of their lives. It is great discipline to sit down as a team and to be seeing all of these things that the Lord is teaching us both individually and also as a team.

Typically, Tuesday mornings are “My” day.  I usually lead the team in a team bonding activity and tie a spiritual/ biblical element into it. Something that will get the wheels turning but also brings the team closer together. This week I woke up late on Tuesday morning and decided I was going to be a little more relaxed and we were going to play a game just for fun and because I had failed to plan a better activity. It was a last resort/ go-to game. During worship I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit more vividly then I ever had.

How? I was tired and unprepared to enter into the presence of the Lord during worship. Unengaged. And to be quite honest in a bit of a mood. You know the kind that you just don’t want anyone to mess with because you just might crack or have a mental breakdown?

As I sat there, the team as trickling in one by one along with the rain. It is currently rainy season. (If you read in my last post, you would have seen my other story about getting caught in the rain. It’s a good one.) I began making lists. I am a list maker. If I can write it down, I will. I started looking around the room looking at everyone’s outfit.  “Oh, I wish I could have showered today”, “Does my dirty shoes match my outfit”, “I can’t forget, I have to write an article about a staff member”, “I wonder when I will have to go to the ATM again”, “Where did I leave my favorite pen”, “Should we play four on a couch or fish bowl?”…some of the many thoughts literally while I was singing. These were the words that flooded my brain. So distracted in the time that I should have been looking and seeking the face of the Lord. I was distracted with trivial mindless thing that were not only distracting me but were completely senseless. I couldn’t get my mind off of me for more than five minutes to focus on the most important part of the day and just seek Him. By the time I caught on to this conviction I was mid-way through a song and was missing what I was meant to hear this morning. We were singing lyrics like “My one defense, my righteousness. Oh Lord, how I need you” and “The colors of the sunrise are inside of your eyes…you’re beautiful”, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship and it’s all about you. I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it and it’s all about YOU”

How can we sit there and miss out on lyrics like that?

I went on to spend the rest of the day in a café and continued to ponder this idea of spiritual conviction and how it related to me and if I am truly seeking the Lord in all things.

It came to my attention that if this organization is going to grow our team needs to be unified and in order to be unified- things are going to change. I, as Shannen Kennedy, cannot bring conviction but I can share mine and plant a seed that the Holy Spirit can use to bring that conviction.

How are you letting the spirit work in your life?

I want to challenge you today. Keep each other accountable for the things that you are studying in scripture. Ask hard questions and let’s not be shallow with one another. Lets seek God in a bigger way and share His love. Let’s let His love manifest in our lives.  

Follow your convictions and stick with them.

We are running into a new season here at Empower a Child and going into a time of planning so our management team has been working on an outline where we can be perfecting the way we plan and we can have a smooth transition into the new year of 2016.

Next week we are headed to the village where we can be far from distractions and we can be focused on what we want to accomplish and see the Lord work in for next year. I am excited to reflect on this last year here in Uganda and see how I can take what I have learned from volunteers coordinating and use it towards the Marketing and Media department.  Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to plan and prepare for the following year.                                                                                                                    

2016 is not only going to be a big year for Empower a Child but also for Uganda as a country.

 

What's new?

 

*September 26^th (My last week in Uganda before visiting home)

Last week I got stuck in the middle of a downpour in downtown Kampala and found shelter at a small café where I could wait out the storm. I don’t usually wear tank tops and had pulled out my white tank top just for something different. It was so hot outside and I wanted my shoulders to meet the sun for the first time in a long time. The dark clouds rolled in with the thunder and the rain began. I ran across the street looking for a safe and familiar haven at 1,000 cups coffee shop.  I found myself getting frustrated because there was no wifi, I didn’t carry my bible, and I was freezing because foolishly I had chosen the tank top instead of my go-to t-shirt. Just my luck. I had places to be and things that I wanted to get accomplished, but the Lord quieted my spirit and told me to sit down and stop making noise. (My loud clanging symbol was ringing at this point). Sometimes I get caught in crossfire of work and being so focused on the tasks at hand that I don’t stop to realize the opportunities that the Lord is allowing in my life. I want to be more observant.

How do you recap the busyness of life in a few short and simple words? Words that are meant to bring impact to somebody somewhere in the world. It is most possible that these ramblings are completely and perfectly for my own brain and that would be plenty enough. I am thankful that this is not a forced thing but an output to be able to fill with what God is revealing in my life. Through every valley and every storm He allows things to come into my life and still carries me to the next season. These blogs sometimes start so vague and can drag on like this forever so I want to cut to the chase and get straight to the point. How can I make my relationships more meaningful and deep rooted?

What is God teaching me right now?

-To rely on Him in EVERYTHING

-Even if I don’t have all the pieces I can still wait on the Lord while working towards a goal/ dream and be utilized by God in a specific way. To not lose my passion for Christ even in the busiest of seasons or experiences

-He has asked for my heart and I have willingly given it to him as a gift and I cannot take it back or modify my gift giving in any way. It belongs to Him wholly and completely.

-To not get caught up on the little distractions in life. If I am chasing after His heart- the rest will follow after: whether it be a job, family, or income.

-To guard my heart and thought life. I have total control of my mind and what I think about others and how I let them make me feel.

-How to make a genuine difference and utilize my gifts and talents to the best of my ability and to its fullest potential.

-To not rush what God is trying to do in my life- don’t move where He is supposed to move. Be still and quiet and calm. Wait on Him in all things.  

The one that has been the most highlighted in my life right now is that the Lord has blessed me with relationships like that of David and Jonathan. It has challenged me so much to think about all of my friendships. Like I said earlier, how can I make these relationships more meaningful and deep rooted?

1 Samuel 18

“Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”

-Saul took David in because he realized how much his son loved him and scripture says he did not allot him to go back to his father’s home

How can Saul become so hard hearted towards David in such a quack amount of time and how can we learn from their relationship?

Scripture says that Saul was in fearful awe of David and the favor that fell upon him and he was in awe. I think of the word awe and it is a beautiful picture of just amazement almost to a point of disbelief. So much so that he just wanted to see David fail. He gave his daughter Michal to him and David loved her and she loved him very much. He went and killed 200 Philistines as the bride price for her. At one point while Saul was plotting against David- Michal heard of the plan and helped him escape and put pillows and goats hair in the place that he should sleep. Jonathan continued to keep tabs on his father’s plan and made him aware of what was going on.

Can my friendships be this genuine?

Where would you draw the line? How far would you be willing to go for the sake of a friendship? What does it take? What does that look like?

Seeking the kingdom first, building your relationship with Christ, and modeling the love that Christ has for the church. It looks like laying everything down and humbling yourself and putting others before your desires. Sometimes these simple truths that we hear so often just go in one ear and right out the other. How do you make it stick?

Can you be genuine in every action? Thought? And response?

 

David and Jonathan had every right to be jealous of one another. They both were heirs to the throne one by birth the other by marriage. They were both great and  courageous soldiers. But they put everything aside and above all odds became the best of friends:

“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:13-15).

 

*October 26^th , Present Day

One month later: 

After finally (8  long months) getting my approved work permit I thought that it might be a fun idea to take it for a test drive and get the opportunity to leave the country and not be questioned or probed in any way. I was so excited I could walk through immigration with confidence knowing that I know hold a piece of paper in my hand that says I temporarily belong to the country of Uganda. Through a series of Skype calls with my dad and texts from my recently engaged sister, who is only 11 months younger than me, I decided after being away from home for nine long months I would walk through that airport and take the long journey to the other place I call home and catch up. Surprise! It was a quick decision that I made in an instant with my dad and we kept it a secret from the two people I connect with most: My mom and my sister.

I got to the airport in the early afternoon and walked to my gate while I was texting my family in both places. Sat in limbo sort of I guess you could say. After a quick 5 hour flight to Dubai followed by a 14 hour flight to Seattle I was home. As I flew into Seattle and all of the evergreen trees peaked out of the clouds that were covering above, tears filled my eyes, and my heart ached already for what God was going to be doing in my life over the next three weeks. It did not last long I assure you as the young girl in front of me turned around and peered through the crack in between the seat and the window. She stared at me until I shook my head and looked at her as if I was asking what she wanted. I wiped away the tears and walked with confidence through the airport that has seen my footsteps so many times. The escalator carried me to the lobby where I could pick my bags and met my dad standing there.

The days that followed were full of seeing people unexpectedly and watching their expressions when they saw me in a place that I shouldn’t be anymore. One thing that was on my heart so heavily is that I did not want to just come and go like the rushing wind. I wanted my time to be intentional and a time to encourage and equip others with what God has blessed me with. To all of you who I did not get to run into randomly or intentionally I am so sorry I missed you and I wish I could have packed more visiting in the three weeks I was home. I had the blessing of getting to have several speaking engagements and encouraging the children from my home church from 3 year olds all the way up to senior citizens in church. Let me tell you—I much prefer the three year olds. My story telling skills at the level is way more fun for both parties involved.  My conviction was really towards the youth this time around. I wanted to leave something that had meaning. Something that they could walk away with and use in their everyday lives. Something that I wish I could have had at that age. Someone who wasn’t much ahead of me. Encouraging. Sharing life. Someone who was doing life. So to all the youth reading this…ACCOUNTABILITY AND MENTORSHIP is what I want you to hear as much as I want to hear it for myself as well.

I am humbled and so incredibly beyond blessed to be able to be back in the country of Uganda serving alongside my “Jonathan” and building team unity amongst our ever- growing and changing team. What I want is for all of those who watch what I am doing and the things I am writing that it is absolutely and completely beyond me. The Lord is interworking in every area of my life. I fall short of His glory everyday and yet he picks me up and carries me to the places I did not think I had the strength to go.

What area of your life is God trying to get ahold of?

Shan

The Visa is in and I have BIG news

 

Reunited and it feels so good! I wish I could truly put into words the happiness in my heart at this point. My visa had expired in January while all of the paperwork for the work permit was being processed. Porsche and I have walked a long journey together of countless hours of stress and tears. Times where the devil was clearly trying to convince us that Uganda was not the place for us. Other times of just laughter so we wouldn’t go insane. While there were truly moments where I was ready to give up and walk away from that internal affairs office full of corruption and bribery- I am so thankful I got to do it alongside the most patient and humble Godly woman I have ever met. (for those that know me you know I don’t do so well with being patient). I am happy to say that I am an official volunteer at Empower A Child Uganda and have a valid work permit for a whole year. Thank you for all of your prayers and support you have no idea how much peace it brought into my life.

Round two comes next July- mark your calendars! J

Like I talked about in my last blog post- this summer was a crazy adventure. I am so thankful I have been here in the busy season to see all of the passion, talent, and energy that short term volunteers really bring into this organization.  I have been currently working as the MST (or volunteer) coordinator on ground as well as a communications intern. Communications has been a journey of keeping stories up to date  and posting content on Facebook. As far as the volunteers go- I act as a middle man in between staff and volunteers, share insight/personal experiences, and just answer questions as they come up. My bed is an office 24/7 open for encouragement or just someone to talk to for many volunteers that have come through. God has taught me so much about what good leadership looks like and, unfortunately, what it doesn’t look like. That a good leader is one who is the first to do the work. A good leader gives Godly insight in a humble way. Correction comes with a gentle word. And patience above all else is a must. At 20 years old I have seen so much of God’s hand so clearly move in my life. When I arrived last summer I missed a great team that came through but thankfully this summer was a lot of repeats from summer 2014 and I got to connect with the rest of the family.

 Every volunteer that comes through sees what I get to see every day and every month in and out. That this place is more than a mission field, more than a destination for someone seeking some adventure. It is the very place that Gods kingdom is being built and grown. It is a place where people find peace where they think they are going to fulfill some humanitarian desire. In the end they find that this place draws people closer to the Lord. It strips down every fear and every comfort zone. It pulls you into a place of unknown territory. Languages you can’t speak.  Food that you may not recognize. Spiritual warfare that goes far beyond our reach and scope from the state side.

Last week we visited Pastor Fred and his family at their home. It is a beautiful 25 minute walk away from the church through the bush and through pineapple gardens. The hot sun beating down and little footprints left in the dust on the travelled road in front of you. Fred’s wife and children have been suffering from being sick from Malaria to measles and everything in between for the past 3 months. As a projects team we wanted to go pray with them and just let them know that we are thinking of them and that we miss seeing them around. Freds wife (Ruth) works in our women women empowerment program as well as acting as the church treasurer. They have 9 children so they are very close to my heart as I am from a family of 8 children. A few of them are sponsored while others are not yet on the sponsorship list. Anyway when we arrived Ruth was very open with us about her story and just had shared how the doctors tried to inject her with meds or pull blood but were not able to do either. They couldn’t explain why she was sick. When they got back a home a pastor from Kampala came out to pray over her and her family. It is assumed that there is an older woman in the community not too far from Pastor Fred’s home that is heavily involved in witchcraft in hopes of being rich has brought some demonic spirits into the area. Ruth has had several manifestations where she was told that her children would fail exams and that it would kill her and her family. This being a God fearing home committed to praying for one another. Her children all fell very sick but after lots of prayer they are on the mend. This is one testimony of what our children and families here in the community of Zirobwe endure on a daily basis. Living in complete fear of what the devil is a part of. Something that our eyes are so shielded from in the states has such a heavy a saturated presence here.

SOOO….FOR THE BIG NEWS!

I am moving into a completely new season here at Empower A Child. I will be moving away from working with the international volunteers and focusing on the media aspect. We are starting up a Media and Marketing Department. Our purpose is to find local market within Uganda to be able to boost EAC and gain supporters. We will be working primarily on branding Empower as a whole and really bringing out the name of EAC for the community to recognize. We will also be working with external organizations to fundraise for our department- making documentaries and taking photos for them. This is a small department with BIG dreams and I am very confident that the Lord is going to big things through this department. I am looking forward to learning new things and gaining some new experiences. As many of you know our hope is to be relocating to the village as an organization and that will be coming up in the next few months. I will not be moving to the village and will reside in Kampala and work to build our name in the city. As this is a big change to what I had thought I am so excited and really looking forward to this new season. If you have any advice or encouragement as far as marketing goes I will take anything I can get. With this being said I would love to be able to get some new equipment and update my own personal software to be able to work on personal projects in a more professional way. I would like to update my camera and be able to present more quality work. I am looking for $3,000 to update everything. If you feel led or know someone who would be interested in helping me reach my goal I would be so grateful. Please share this on Facebook and pass it along to those via email that may want to give towards this goal. If you would like to give a one time donation please follow this link or scroll to the top of the page and click on the DONATE NOW button:

 https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=E2jxQr74M7mUczas95f-luW4O9tsDMJVxPVH16q0J_dOU6OZJxQ4grcWQ88&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d5c97cbf3d75cb63effe5661cdf3adb6d

Sweetly Broken



Doing the dishes with my sponsored kid and her brothers <3

 

Life is a funny thing.

Well actually it is not so much a funny thing, but rather a series of many seasons. Seasons that come together and fall apart at other times. In the last year I have spent here in Uganda with Empower A Child- I have learned so much about who God is and how he has worked and is working in my life to prepare me for the season at hand. He has also proven himself over and over again and revealed that I don’t have to be all over the place that I can just focus on today and not worry about what tomorrow is going to bring. Sometimes I sift through everything going on at the time and feel so desperately overwhelmed. It is just after those moment that I get to choose a response I get to decide whether I am going to make or break a situation and I am the only one who can be responsible about how I feel about a situation or season.

Summer. Summer is hard. And exciting. And exhausting. And incredible. Just like it would be anywhere else in the world. At one point this summer we had around 25 volunteers living under the same roof and breathing the same air. It was quite the experience.



Maggie just opened a beauty shop in the village

First off let’s just talk about the fact that my mom and sister, my two best friends on planet earth got to come be a part of what God is doing here. They got to speak the language, eat the food, and love on all my women and kids in Zirobwe. My heart was so full. While they were here there were times where it seemed to be difficult to have them relate to some of the things that I am used to for example: The squatty. We always got a good laugh out of mom trying to go in there and not throw up. They both stomached it so well. We got to take taxis into the city and ride a boda to my favorite restaurants. Those moments of sitting on her very springy hotel bed and laughing as we could smell the African air and sharing about life and just having that one on one time to be encouraged and just reenergized by one another. The first night they got here I spent the night at the hotel with my mom and we stayed up so late catching up on life and had a hard time going to sleep. It was a similar feeling to Christmas Eve when you are just too excited you can’t stand it. We eventually were able to fall asleep and then was awoken by a loud thumping around 3:00am she turned over looked right at me and asked in with a curious face, “WHAT IS THAT NOISE?!” I just chuckled and explained it was a club around the corner that was still going and she was shocked and I smiled and fell asleep again. It was those small things those small moments that are stuck in my head and just so much fun to have. Not to mention the fact that both Megs and my mom are able to picture where everything is now. That when I text them on whatsapp, “ I am going to walk to the school and then to the guesthouse,” they know that very distance because they have walked it. It was a HUGE blessing that I cannot fully explain to have the whole team here. The staff and community members were touched by their diversity and just shared that it is so obvious that our church family is truly like a family. I will never forget back in 2013 as I was preparing to come and one of the stipulations my mom gave me was that she would financially and  physically never be able to come visit me in Uganda if I chose to be here long term. The Lord provides. He always does.

Nothing like sharing village life with my favorite ladies

The friendships I have made this summer far surpass anything I could have ever imagined. The Lord has been so gracious to provide so many people from all over the world to serve with EAC and help grow our sweet community. We have had many MST’s come through and be a big part in their own way. I have been so touched by the generosity and the energy that they have had to give to this community and seeing how they relate to families is so beautiful. It is amazing to see how God works that each volunteer connects with a different family and a different child. It isn’t this motion of children picking a white person or vice versa but it is literally the grace of God that brings these people together. He lets peoples paths cross in a beautiful way. I am grateful for that.

While my mom was here we got to do a lot of singing- if you are from Port Orchard you know how we Kennedy girls sing all the time. It was so fun to break out into random harmonies and sing like we were home but on the other side of the world. One of the first weekends we got to sing with my sweet friend Rachel. She is a student in university right now and when I arrived a year ago we met for just a brief 24- hours.  I had immediately felt connected to her because she was a pastors kid but we were not able to spend too much time getting to know each other. When she went home we followed each other over Instagram and Facebook randomly commenting on different posts when she got back this summer it was like she had never left and she has become one of my good friends. She is heading home on Saturday and I am really going miss her she has been a true gem and encouragement to me. I am so thankful to have those friendships on the other side of the world of people who can completely relate to what I am going through.  After Megs left Porsche, my mom, and I got to sing at church for my mom’s last Sunday and we got to sing with the one and only Netron…Or Martin as I call him. He works with the organization with our sister company View Africa safaris and is a great gospel rap artist you can check out some of his stuff here: https://www.reverbnation.com/netron   He has been such a blessing and a good friend. I like having friends that appreciate good music, pizza, and Jesus as much as I do! 

 

 

Visa update: Still no luck on a visa. It has been expired for just over 4 months. Things here sometimes can take a long time. Our

administrator is heading to the internal affairs office today to see if she can get them for us. This has been a long process but this thing that was once stressing Porsche and I so much- we have such a peace about now. It is truly one of those things that you just have to give to God.

I have learned that delegation is key to success. That it is okay to ask for help. It is not a sign of weakness but a sign of good leadership if used in moderation.

My last blog post was about my sweet new friend Sylverio. Let me tell you a little bit about what has been going on with him. The local pastor goes and picks him up every Sunday bright and early for church. He often shares testimonies of what is going on in his life and how we should all live a Godly lifestyle. A few weeks ago I went to his home with a handful of volunteers and a staff member. We bought him some food and soap and some basic things that he would otherwise not have access to. We also brought some scrubbing brushes and a heart to help. We cleaned out his small home and mopped the floors, cleaned the dishes, and began cooking him a meal. When Sarah (our Community Development Coordinator) and I were mopping we noticed that his door had been shut and locked. We quickly unlatched it to look at the nature of the room. It was dark and musky, The mattress was covered in dirt. The whole house smelled of rat urine and there were dirty clothes everywhere. We asked him if he would allow us to enter and he quietly dismissed it and asked that we only mop the floor very briefly and then leave that place alone. After we finished we prayed over his life and his home that the Lord would continue to reveal himself in big ways. We left the pot of food cooking over the fire and walked away with such a peace in my heart. As we walked back to the church the sun was starting to set and clouds had rolled in and it was slightly drizzling. I was stopped by another village women and greeted them as they were heading home from a long days work in the garden I kneeled to my knees and greeted them in Luganda- asked about their day- and we laughed at my broken Luganda. They handed me one of their pineapples they had just got from the garden and invited me to come to their home for a meal.

 

                Later in that week we got news that Sylverios wife had come home after we left and was furious that we had entered her home without her around and she lashed out at her husband. She ate all the food we had cooked and told him that she was not going to take care of him anymore and that he could get a mzungu to do it for him. My heart sank as I had thought my heart was completely in the right place. It really made me reanalyze and question had I gone to clean his house for all the right reasons? Heavy hearted I just began to pray. Also realizing that she is a non believer with a hard heart and a desire to see our ministry fail. My heart began to break for her. In her old age being so stubborn and having so much anger and not realizing the peace and the freedom we have in Christ. I am not sure of her name but if you could pray for her and her heart to change. That the Lord would convict her of this I would be forever grateful.

 

As the summer winds down and the volunteers head back to work and school please be praying for our off season team. The Lord is already putting it together as we speak. Yesterday we just picked up a girl in her 30s from Scotland who is spending a year with us here in Uganda. I have only known her for a few short hours but I am already feeling like our friendship has been there for a long time. So incredible to see how the body of Christ operates. I know that he is going to be doing big things as we head into the fall and I am so hopeful to see where He leads me.

The Lord has also been teaching me how to be sweetly broken: That the Lord has been so gentle and gracious to me. That in every situation he truly gives me a way of escape. That I have the power to control my attitude and my response in every season that I don’t have to worry about what God is doing in the lives of others but my life. This little gift of life in me is the only thing I have to worry about.



Summer besties Rachel and Taylor <3

 

 

Recently Porsche and I met up with some friends of friends that are starting a new organization here in Uganda. They have spent quite a bit of time here and are hoping to be here long term. They are looking into citizenship and they live in a remote village that is about six hours outside of Kampala. We don’t get to see them often but when we do it is so fun to have a connection with people that are going through the same thing but in a different part of the country.  They spent Sunday afternoon catching up with us at our house and we exchanged funny stories of learning the culture and the language. It is truly a blessing.

Even as we go into this next season I know that the Lord is going to be glorified in every aspect of this Organization some of the area you can be praying for:

 

I am getting ready to enter into a new chapter and have some exciting news coming up so keep your eyes peeled on how God is going to be shaking things up a bit on this side of the globe. I will be keeping you posted. 

We just put glass into the windows in the guesthouse that is out in the village and hosted our first medical clinic in the new facilities. We saw over 1,700 people in the three days that we were there. On one of the days there was 22 people that had accepted Christ into their lives. That was just one morning after they had heard someone share the gospel message. We are slowly transitioning into that place as you are all very aware of and we are hoping to be relocated in the next couple months. It is incredible to think about how God has worked in that place and how he will continue to use this organization to bring change to the community. If you want to be a part of Empower a Child and get involved with what God is doing here through sponsoring a child for only $35 please visit: http://www.empowerachild.org/sponsor-a-child/list

 

Sylverio

 

 

To be honest I have tried to restart a blog about a million times before this one and just didn’t have the energy or the will to actually post something that didn’t have my whole heart in it. I have become so numb to just posting what happens on a day to day basis and giving details about a day. I feel like we are close enough for me to get real in these posts. To talk about peoples’ lives and how people interact with one another.

                This is how the week started and what I had written on Monday…

Well it is Monday morning and I am not sure where to begin. I want to tell you a little something about responsibility and conviction. I want to tell you why being a long term missionary in the midst of short term volunteers is hard. I want to share with you why God allows difficult individuals into your life that you end up being thankful for.

I am realizing slowly that when you are a long term volunteer your view begin to change slowly. I am not sure why but my frustrations come in waves and all at once. The honeymoon phase is long gone. A couple of weeks ago we were able to put on our first overnight with our youth in Zirobwe. It made for a long night but there was loud music, dancing, preaching, and LOTS of preaching of God’s word. We want to reach this community on a whole new level. Our short term volunteers are not able to see this goal as passionately as they haven’t seen the growth and the struggle that this community has gone through in the last year. Some people view a night like that loud and exhausting…and it was! But more than that is made an impact on that community that you could not replicate any other way.

It got me thinking about service and giving our heart to ministry and committing to being a part of something that is way bigger than me. Coming to Uganda with Empower A Child or any other organization you have to come with the mindset that you are coming to serve and not to be served. That coming here means sleeping on a concrete floor in a tent, three showers a week (a hot one if you are lucky), it means dirty hands and feet, it means foods that are not out first choice, cars that break down, late starts, late nights, and early mornings. I am not going to sugar coat it for you and I know I have said this a handful of times before but living here is not easy. “the sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning…”

The joy that comes from serving in ministry far surpasses any of the things listed above (among many others).

Then this week I had an interaction that encouraged me….

 

 

 A couple weeks ago our visit lost an older gentleman, Aaron, who was about 80 years old. He loved to sing praise and worship songs and gift the team with a few eggs. He had a lame arm and his eyesight was not top notch. He would often sing for church but didn’t even have the strength to hold the microphone. He LOVED when we would visit his home and he would share his life with us. Porsche and I attended his funeral and it was a sad loss for the whole community I didn’t realize the impact that Aaron had made on so many different individuals. He was a blessing to so many and he has left an impression on my heart and the hearts of others. I have felt convicted since his lost to reach out to the older community members and see how we can learn from them. That is not the man I want to tell you about though.

 

This week, our team went out into the little nooks of the village that we are often to neglect because we don’t know them so well. We had a survey that went over basic things like where they fetch their water from, medical history, Education, and the most important one the social issues and challenges within the village. We went to many homes over the course of two days. Even though it was structured each home had something so different and unique to bring to the table and it was a blessing to get to know different individuals. When we got to Aarons home we found his neighbor across the dirt path that looked to be about the same age as Aaron. When we asked him about the social issues of the community he told us that disobedient children is the biggest social issue we have right now and that is what we need to work on as an organization to help improve.

Sylverio , born in 1935, in a small village in Kenya. Grew up with 15 brothers and sisters. His parents were farmers. Their biggest source of income was the cotton that they grew; they received 40 shillings (less than a penny) to every kilogram of cotton that they sold which could buy them quite a few things in the time that he was growing up in. When he was a child some Catholics from France  came to his village and really fell in love with him and offered to take him and his mother to France to study. Men in Africa are supposed to be the ones to provide so Sylverio’s father refused them to go and the French men continued to find other children. His father became so enraged with Sylverio that he disowned him and told him not to return. For a long time he was travelling and sleeping in the forrest. He would get all kind of nightmares, and really felt a demonic presence in the area and said many nights that he slept with demons. When he would be going to sleep he could hear them bathing not too far away from where he was laying. The French men went looking for him and ended up finding him and taking him in. He stayed at the seminary with the Catholics for a number of years. There were two men that loved him and that would help take care of him. The older one ended up passing away and the other one got transferred to a different seminary so there was no one that would be around to take care of him and look out for him. By this time he was a young man. The French men gave him 50,000UGX shillings (like $20.00) which again he felt like he was a rich man. He chose not to return to his father’s village and settled in a different place. When he was about 35 Idi Amin came into office and all kind of politics came about and cause so much confusion within the country. A Ugandan president known as “The Butcher” and who is known for the cause of 300,000 deaths during his presidency. Sylverio told us that there were several really corrupt leaders around that time as well. He said that he has seen some of the most in humane treatments of individuals that are just unspeakable because of how horrible they were. During this time only 4 of his 15 brothers and sister survived these regimens. He told us at one point the soldiers would come in and just make people get onto their knees and they would pee on them and then shoot or kill them in any way that they would see fit.  When he was younger and the soldiers were around for a different corrupt leader he would go into hiding in the bush when he came home he had to be so careful, he shared that if the door was left open you knew the soldiers had gone out but if the door was shut you had to be so careful because they could be in your home. He didn’t share much about his wife, but he made sure to tell us that he was a man of one ring and the importance of having one wife. They had three children and only one survived the rest had died. After some time his wife became adulterous and he couldn’t bring himself to forgive her and his daughter chose to side with the mother on all occasions and forget about her father. He now lives in the same village as his daughter but has no relationship with her. I asked if he would ever go to her and ask her why they can’t have that relationship and he posed the question to me if it was your daughter would you run after her and try to encourage her to love you? He told us that he could never be the one to go to her. On two separate occasions he has given his daughter a large sum of money and has heard no thanks in return. She even kept a death of one of his grandchildren and their burial hidden from him because of the anger she has. I think it is possible there is some resentment within his own heart. He has a few acres of Coffee that he sells on a commercial basis and gets one meal a day.

He has a quick wit and likes to challenge what you say. When we first arrived he was trying to teach a few phrases in Luganda and he was speaking a million miles an hour. We started talking about Luganda that we both know and at one point he asked me why I was arguing and that I should listen to what he has to say. When we asked him what advice he would give to us he told us to stop quarreling with eachother. Let things go and just wait for the Lord.

Sylverio accepted Christ into his life 5 months ago from the example that Aaron had and has a strong desire to learn more about God. I told him about the bible classes held at the church and he wants to learn. He said that is the only education that he wants to learn. I have so much to learn from this man but at the same time I have so much that I can help him learn in the spirit. So thankful to have a grandfather figure in my life now that wants to learn about me and what I do! I am so thankful the Lord let our paths cross.

 

It got me thinking about genuine love- I have written a blog about being genuine so you can reference that if you want to feel my heart on that one. But that God calls us to love one another in a genuine way. A true. Real. And authentic way.

 

So all of this to say. Don’t be discouraged in the ministry God has you in right now. Be patient. Don’t quarrel. Let the Lord direct your steps and reach out to those who have more wisdom then you. Accept correction and rebuke. Learn from others. Look for the best in every situation.

Taking a walk

There is something so surreal about being able to slip my shoes on and walk through the compound, out through the gate and then down the dirt road to the market. Picking up fresh foods and bargaining prices with the local people in a different language. Being pulled so far out of your comfort zone that the Lord is the only thing you can rely on.

 

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind, but it always amazes me how the Lord reveals things in my life at just the right time.

This week we had a holiday program (The school year is split into three terms) As the first term is over they get a three week period off to revise their books and spend time with their families because many of them go to boarding schools far from their homes. So we as an organization spent some time pouring into our sponsored kids and having bible study/ letter writing/ health talks. I go to work with the 10^th- 12^th graders and I am so loving spending time with these kids. Not only do they scare me to death, they make me laugh and give me something to think about on my side. We talked through self- esteem and peer pressure mostly- but we also went into talking about how they are going to be the leaders of Empower A Child when we all leave. I am not just gaining names on our sponsorship list, but I am making friends. I will get to see these kids more during this year. I will get to be something that is stable in their life and get to encourage and love them and share more about God!

It got me thinking how can I use this for my future? What does the future hold for me and how can I get started on what God wants for me?

 

I started looking into Liberty University for starting to take online classes. I would love to be able to carve some time out and get going on my studies just something I am thinking about.

 

I am on a juice kick right now of butunda (passion fruit), oranges, water, and a little sugar. I can get all the things I need just around the corner from the house.

 Visa update- my volunteer work permit is being processed and should be finished up in the next two weeks. I am so thankful that this part is almost over and I won’t have to stress or worry about my visa expiring for another year.

We do a lot of what we call “bathroom worship” there are good acoustics in the bathroom area so last week all the girls got together and we just sang songs of worship to the Lord and shared what God was doing in our lives.

 I am getting so excited for the team from CRCC to get here and serve alongside them. This team has grown and morphed into what it is today. I have really enjoyed joining them via skype during their meetings and laughing and joking with them.

We are moving into the season Ugandans call Mzungu season- when all of the white people get out of school and come to visit Uganda. With that the organization is gaining and losing volunteers. During the winter we usually have a handful of long term volunteers. Well. All of them just left and we have new faces at the house. It is like a fresh start. Starting new and fresh. I was sad to see the people that had become my family move on to new things but also a huge privilege to see what God is going to do in their lives in the coming months. Also knowing that there is going to be a wave of volunteers coming in that either need or give encouragement to this team.  

I have been stepping up and working a lot more with the social media side of things: sending photo and story updates on what is going on here on ground.

We have been going into homes and helping the older people of the community of Zirobwe and just spent time listening to what is going on in their lives and asking them to share with what God is doing in their lives currently. An older man who is partially blind and struggles to walk to church was visited by us a few weeks back. He brought four eggs that were carefully wrapped to one of our staff members just to thank her for our visit.

 

My head feels like it is spinning-kind of like this blog just short and choppy. There is just so much going on I am not sure what to say. You know when you get into a lull? And you are not sure how to get out of it? I feel like that is where I am right now- going through the motions. Serving and giving my heart. It is just getting to a point where I feel like I am just fulfilling tasks without being able to fully recognize the blessings that the Lord is bring to my life through these experiences. I don’t have that same fresh look that I had when I first got here.

Facebook and other social media are so good at sugar coating things and making it look like I live a perfect life and that being a missionary is only about blessings. I can assure you, what you see on social media is true. Every story, every photo I post has so much life and joy in it. There is two sides to every story though. I just feel stuck.

It is hard; hard to be on the opposite end of the world. It is tiresome to have people constantly grabbing your arm or whistling for your attention. I am so over the carbs.

Just feeling Ezekiel 37.

Last week I was reading in 2 Corinthians about Paul receiving the thorn, a messenger from the devil as scripture says. Paul goes on to beg the Lord to take the thorn away and the Lord responds with, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” … Paul late says “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  That even through a period of weakness, even when I feel like there is a thorn in my flesh- that the Lord is still a sovereign God who will be there through anything that He makes me strong.

So continue praying with me- pray for the team. Pray for me personally that I would continue to seek God’s face even in the times I don’t “feel” Him working right here. Right now. Pray for the children that we are witnessing to and the street evangelism that we do on Friday during the day in a nearby slum area and in the nights with the prostitutes.

So even in the moments that I am just walking to the market, that I will find joy in just being alive and getting the opportunity to serve.

If you would like to send me some encouragement via snail mail or a care package I would be so thankful for that:

Shannen Kennedy

c/o Empower A Child

PO Box 33273

Kampala, Uganda  

 

Yours truly,

Shan

Awkward Transitions

Sweet and Innocent, Innocent.
- Photo credit to the one and only Porsche Dobinson

 

 

Awkward Transitions.

·         Learning to drive a car.

·         A friendship that turns into a first date.

·         Matching clothes with your sister(s).

·         High School…all of it.

·         Puberty.

·         Moving across the globe.

·         Living. Working. Breathing. Eating. With the same people that are not only your coworkers but also your best friends and your siblings in Christ.

·         Saying goodbye to long term friends.

All of these things and more are under the simple phrase of “awkward transitions”, because that is what life is made up of. Many little awkward transitions.

The dictionary definition of transition is: a passage from one stage, state, subject, or place from another.

Coming to a place in life. Where you will have to go through a passage or a change in scenery it is bound to happen to all of us at some point.

This week I have shared a little bit of my testimony with everyone about how I made my way back to Uganda and how it was completely God ordained. I remember getting back to the states after I came home from 6 months in Uganda in 2013. (September 2013- February 2014). I was ready to get going on University and had a deferred acceptance to my dream school. I was getting back into a routine at home and meeting up with friends and family for coffee. Most of the time it ended up being the Coffee Oasis in Port Orchard. I got a chai tea latte and BLT on sourdough every time I went. I just didn’t feel settled in my spirit and just attributed it to my experiences in Uganda. It was more. So much more. I just didn’t know it yet. One rainy Port Orchard morning I got a text from my sister, Megan- she wanted to get together for coffee of course at CO. She told me how I had not been myself lately and she really encouraged that I consider returning to Uganda. I hadn’t even considered it previously. I was going to go to school immediately. I was ready and prepared to get going on working towards the career path that I had chosen. Key word…I.  I secretly began praying about it, that God would reveal what HE wanted for my life and that he would make it obvious…he didn’t. I had my parents and a few of my biggest encouragers praying for this decision. I came to an awkward transition at this time, a fork in the road. I felt like God was leading me in three different directions which is so cool because 3 is such a biblical number between the trinity, raising on the third  day, and peter denying Christ and many other times.  a) I could stay at home and go to community college and be involved in student ministry with Jr. High age. I was teaching a 5^th and 6^th grade Sunday school class and God was teaching me so much through my kiddos in that class, b) I could grab that deferred acceptance, move to Phoenix and start the college life or c) I could go back to Uganda and continue to serve and give selflessly. All three are good. All three can be used to glorify God. I had peace knowing that He COULD use me but I just wanted a sign. That’s when I really felt God giving me a nudge in the right direction….

·         I was teaching about free will to my Sunday School class and I got an idea or the Lord really gave it to me I should say. (I am pretty sure everyone in Africa knows me by this analogy) It isn’t a perfect analogy, but I am a visual learner- so it really brings things into a good perspective. Anyway, I brought a real life bird into the classroom and it was in a cage. I asked the kids if this bird had free will, at first they all said no because it was stuck in a cage. Then I challenged them with asking them if the bird could get food? Sit on a choice of two different perches? Play with the toys in the cage? Use the bathroom? All the answers to these questions were ‘YES’. This was a great example of the free will that God gives us. Of course He already knows how we are going to react and what decision we are going to make. But I boldly believe that God gives us a choice. The cage is representative of God’s grace and protection. He protects us from the things we cannot see and that are out of our line of site. The unknown.

When I finally made the decision to come back to Africa, there was no fanfare or a 100% sign of confirmation right away. The Lord definitely honored my decision through the support of my friends and home church. He allowed people and encouragements into my life to let me know and assure me that He was going to use me and in a BIG way. He has taught me so much through my friendships here and just the importance of boundaries and learning to say ‘No’ to things that may be overwhelming at times. He has allowed some of those same young adults from my Sunday School class to reach out to me and tell me how excited they are to be following God’s will. After coming here and seeing what God is doing in my life I DON’T WANT YOU TO COME TO AFRICA. Okay, well I guess that is not true because I would be thrilled if you came to see me and seeing God’s ministry here. But truly all I want for the young people, all I want to see in this next generation… I want them to make bold decisions that are God ordained. Many parents might not agree with this next statement, but I am going to say it anyway. Maybe school is not for you. You don’t have to do what everyone else does because society says that is what comes next. If it is God’s will for you to go then go. My biggest challenge to you is:  are you in God’s will for your life? Are your decisions based off of what God wants for you? Are you leading by example in every area of your life? Are you making BOLD decisions? Are you in the middle of an awkward transition? Sometimes the Lord speaks loudest through those times and sometimes he remains silent.

As time is slipping through my fingers and as my two year commitment continues to shorten, I am beginning to think of where will God send me next? What is His purpose and His plan? And again I feel like 3 different options have come up. I am not going to share them with you quite yet because I am still in deliberation with the Lord and in persistent prayer about what His will is.

Will you commit to praying for me? Pray that the Lord will make Himself known in all of the awkward transitions and that I would be willing to go where He leads. Pray that satan will not be able to steal my joy and that I will choose joy every day not because I have to, but because I am genuinely happy/ content with where the Lord has brought me.

By the way thank you to those of you who have participated in the CRCC Awana penny war. I am so blessed and remember when I was a kid and I would get so competitive and try to beat the boys by bringing in a lot of pennies from and old water jug that my dad kept hidden in the closet. I never could have imagined that I would be on the other end of that penny and being one of the people receiving this huge blessing. It just made me start to think that one of the young children in that bible club could  grow up to be and adult that gets to receive such a blessing because they remembered what God has done for them and they will be living a life according to God’s purposes. Never underestimate the power of God. I am a bit partial towards Awana as it was on my way there that I received Christ when I was a kid.