Taylor Anne Contining the Great Ugandan Adventure!

October  15, 2016

My dear friends,   So many of you supported Taylor Anne and me on our journey to Uganda last December!  Both of our lives were changed as I was able to share this great land and people with Taylor Anne.  Our goal was to go back again this December together and continue this ministry.  After much thought and prayer, I will not be going on this trip in December (it truly breaks my heart) but Taylor Anne will be going with her Uncle Kyle Walter and Anastasia who is a teacher at Anderson University. 

The trip will include returning to the remote village of Buwooya and continue the work of building relationships.  They will be distributing Bibles as well as providing teacher training for the teachers at the Buwooya School.  I wish you could see this place.  Two hundred precious children in a dirt floor school (see the picture below) No desks or books.  Taylor Anne will specifically be working with the children providing crafts, games, dancing and the love of Christ.  They will also have the opportunity to visit Rafiki Children’s Home and encourage those precious friends in the important work that they do as well as visit with the children we sponsor and love.  

I asked Moses, our friend and local partner, what do you need for your school?  He replied instantly, “we need books, story books, any books so my students can practice reading. We have NO books!”  I did a book drive just at my work and received over 100 books for all ages.  Now we want to get those books to Moses during this next trip to help begin a library at his school in Buwooya.

So how can you help?  First and foremost, would you begin praying for Taylor Anne’s trip, the team that includes Kyle and Anastasia that God would prepare the way before them?  Secondly, Taylor Anne needs to raise her support.  The estimated cost is about $2800.  Any extra will be used to help with shipping more of these books for the school in Buwooya. 

So how do you give?   Over the Edge Missions has graciously agreed to partner with us to allow donations to be given through this 501C3 ministry.    All gifts are tax deductible.  (Please make out checks to “Over the Edge Missions” and put “Taylor Anne Wade” on the memo line as they have other ministries in Uganda) If you need the address, please send in donations to Over the Edge Missions, 8003 Agape Lane, Waxhaw, NC 28173.

Thanks again for your consideration and prayers.  Taylor Anne will be our hands and feet in Uganda and I can’t wait to see how God will use her during this trip. 

Blessings,

Patty and Taylor Anne

awadewithwords@hotmail.com

Uganda Bound in 11 days!!!

Deep in the remote area of Uganda, in a small village called Buwooya, stands a rickety building by our standards that is home of the Buwooya School that houses over 200 children.  No desks, no pencil or paper, no smart boards, no electricity and yet these precious children are being taught about respect and leadership.  My heart skips a beat to know that on Saturday December 12^th, Taylor Anne, her grandfather John Walter and I will begin our 24 hour journey to Entebbe Uganda.  We will join Tay’s Uncle Kyle and his friend Ryan Donald who will be there a week ahead of us.  The five of us will first assist at the Rafiki Orphanage and then journey deep into Uganda to reach our destination of Buwooya.   The living is primitive and yet the richness of the culture and the contentment of the Ugandans penetrates your soul and changes your view forever.  I am so delighted to return and even though we are going to minister to others; we know that ultimately it will be all of us who will be so blessed to be a part of God’s work there in this beautifully landscaped country that is riddled with orphans, disease and lack of resources.

From mid-September until now, many of you have given resources to take care of ALL of the monies needed to support the travel and living expenses for Taylor Anne and myself.  I called it a “giant” because from my vantage point, raising nearly $6000 in two months was an impossible task.  Our great God handles “giants” in extraordinary ways. I was reminded of this in “Jesus Calling” on November 19^th “Leave outcomes up to Me.  Follow Me wherever I lead without worrying about how it will all turn out.  Think of your life as an adventure with Me as Your Guide and Companion.”    Thank you to all who responded to God’s leading in your life to support this effort.  Our God continues to slay giants.  We just need to call upon Him!

Would you commit to praying for us during these last 11 days we remain at home?

·        Tay has exams next week (Dec 7-10) at Appalachian State. Pray she finishes this semester well.   We had a minor ER visit this past weekend trying to figure out a sharp pain in her abdomen.  After an ultrasound to rule out gall bladder issues, she got the all-clear to go on the trip (pain is unresolved but manageable and will need further review when we return).  By the way, some of you who are friends with Tay have seen her gofundme account. She is trying separately to raise her own money for expenses outside of travel and living to cover some supplies that she wants to take and some of her expenses such as shots needed. https://www.gofundme.com/TaylorAnne

Kyle, John, Tay and Patty - Ugandan Team

·        John Walter has a business he owns and operates. Pray for his wife Patti (Tay’s wonderful grandmother) as she oversees the business and that all will go well without John (and Kyle) in the country.

·        Pray for our families Jimmy and Tyler. It’s not easy to let your loved ones travel 24 hours away especially at the holidays and especially with the world situation in a somewhat difficult place.  Tay and I know we are to go and do so without any fear or reservation. 

·        Pray mostly that God will prepare every step of the way for us.  That we would be an encouragement to all we meet and be able in some way to impact their lives.  Our work will mostly be spent with children.  We have lots of crafts planned with the village children and the orphans at Rafiki.  We will also be distributing “readers” to the elderly in the village and we have an abundance of flip-flops to distribute. You can understand that the people have no resource for “readers” and many children and adults are barefooted.  Kyle and Ryan have raised money to bring Bibles and we will all be blessed during the distribution and conversations around these gifts to the village people.

Thank you for your encouragement in so many different ways.  That’s the beauty of friendships.  Each of us has different gifts to extend to one another.  I hope you will “journey” with me through this great adventure.  I’ll be blogging each day of the sights, sounds, people and places that we encounter and hopefully posting along the way as resource permits.  This adventure is about to get started!! We are so EXCITED to see what lies ahead of us!!!!   “Let them know that it is your hand, that you, Lord, have done it.”  Psalm 109:27

Uganda Again!

Precious Ugandan Woman Reading with her Readers

Another great adventure lies before us!  After our trip last February, so many of you, my friends,
supported our effort to gather Readers for Readers.  We were able to send many readers to Uganda when Kyle (our team leader and Tays' biological uncle) returned in May and several dozen went to the Charlotte Men's Shelter in June.  During June, Kyle made a decision to return to Uganda in early December along with his dad John Walter.  After much prayer and consideration, we decided it would be an opportune time for Taylor Anne and myself to join John and Kyle and return to Uganda to continue the work that has begun especially in the village of Buwooya.   Taylor Anne's heart is for the orphans and now she will get to experience first hand the beautiful people and children of Uganda.  To travel and experience these times with her biological grandfather and uncle is nothing short of a miracle from God's hand.    I've spent a lot of time this summer praying at a certain tree in the woods behind our home.  I affectionately call it "my Ugandan tree" for there I continue to have the privilege to pray over the precious friends and children we met.  Although the destination is Entebbe Uganda in December, the destination is not the only goal; it includes the process of walking each day before that time and watching how the details of this trip come together.  Documenting each step helps me to see how God cares about the details of our lives and has so much to teach us about trusting Him, EACH DAY and not just our arrival in Entebbe.  If you are a praying person, would you pray for us right now, that God would prepare our hearts and we would have wisdom regarding tickets, flights, scheduling and costs.  This is a difficult trip physically so we need to prepare for what lies ahead.  If you would like to help in any way, here's a link to our fund raising efforts and some items we would like to take: http://www.agcnc.org/missiontrips.html

Ugandan Tree

Post Script and Some Extra Pictures - Wed Feb 25 and Thur Feb 26

Today was another day of new experiences as I went to “buy” groceries for the week for this house of nearly 20 people!  We started at the open air market that literally went on forever.  The colors of the women’s fabrics were vibrant against the backdrop of red tomatoes, yellow bananas and green avocados.  Most Ugandans are farmers so this is huge to make enough to continue your crops and provide for your families. 

 Uganda, I will not miss the red dust in the air as I cannot breath with the layer of city smog from dirt roads, diesel engines,and  charcoal grills that are used in mostly every household.  My cough is obnoxious I know and I hate it but at least my voice is back so I can greet people and have conversations with those I have grown to love.   Speaking of conversations, Kyle, Patti and I really enjoyed having discussions with the young man Hadad who took care of us when we added international minutes to our cell phones.  We would routinely see him every couple days or so and he became our "friend" and we so appreciated his kindness.

Hadad - Our Cell Phone Friend!

 Lastly, on this little P.S., the two people I have been with as many of you know are Taylor Anne’s biological Grandmother “Memaw” Patti Walter and her Uncle Kyle Walter.  It’s nothing short of a miracle and a divine appointment planned by the God, that we would be of one mind to go 8000 miles away from our homes because of this girl we gratefully share together.  Patti and Kyle have been here for more than 20 days.  I know where Taylor Anne gets her determination and her strength.  Watching Patti with these kids has been amazing.  She’s gifted and strong and a joy to be with through heat, sweat, no water at times, no electricity, travelling for hours on dirt roads, she has encouraged my heart.  And Uncle Kyle, his love for the Ugandan people has been contagious for me to watch.  He so desires to share God’s love with the village of Buwooya and has a dream and a plan to help transform that village with his friend Moses to raise up Ugandan leaders.  It’s been with great joy that we have spent much time together and some of the Ugandan’s here have shared in our “story” of Taylor Anne and they too have been amazed at God’s plan for all of us.

 Thanks to Jimmy and John who so willingly sacrificed their families to go and serve.  One last prayer request is that we all get home safely with the pending snowstorms as we all fly back to Charlotte.  To God be the Glory.  P.S.S.  We all arrived home safe and sound.  I would say "The End" but I have a feeling that it's just "The Beginning."

Together Again!

Baptized by Ugandan Water and Submerged in Ugandan Love - Wed Feb 25

It's Wednesday morning.  We leave later today.  Our last night was marked by a campfire where each of the kids and adults who wanted to say something to us was given the opportunity.  It was a tearful night but sadness didn’t rule this party.  As a tradition when a volunteer is leaving, they are completely drenched with buckets of cold water.  Fortunately for us, there is no ice in most Ugandan homes!  The kids were dancing and screaming (and Patti, Kyle and I were also screaming).  The night ended with Ugandan smores by the campfire; just a slightly different version of ours!   The water may have been cold but the warm love that has been given and received here transcended cultural and language differences and for me was a reflection of God’s unconditional love for each of us.               

Baptized by Ugandan Water (very cold!)

                            

Uganda, Pearl of Africa, you are such a contradiction to me.  Your lush green landscapes with such a variety of fresh fruits make me think you are a rich land.  I cannot properly process your endless groupings of poverty-ridden districts.  Your overrun of orphans is disturbing to my soul but places like Rafiki and Sanyu Babies home and many others ministries here make me realize that God is the father to these fatherless and has placed it in the hearts of many to love and cherish these sweet precious ones.  Your people are in great need of basic infrastructure.  Things like water, electricity, shelter and food we believe are just basic rights as humans and yet most in your country struggle to have one or more of these basic necessities.  Your people are content, which shames me because of all my “things” that I sometimes forget are just “things” and are not essential.  Your children are strong, lovely and represent the next generation of great leaders for you and I am honored that I have witnessed some of the finest, smartest, kindest and bravest little ones who will be the catalytic for change in your country.  I am humbly reminded during this visit to your precious country, To Whom Much is Given, Much is Required.  Uganda, you have forever changed me and I look forward to the day I return to experience such richness again in a very poor land. 

Cocus with Soccer Ball!

Hadid, Cocus and Fasiya With Soccer Ball

Dearest friends, thanks for following along our daily experiences in Uganda.  Your notes have encouraged my heart.  Your prayers have sustained all of us and we thank God that in some way, this trip caused you to look to Him as you prayed for us.   I sat out under the moon last night and still can’t believe that I was privileged enough to take this journey and spend these days here in this country with these people.  Two nights from now I’ll be possibly sitting watching the moon from Waxhaw, NC and will know how to pray better and how to love my new friends in Uganda.    I will be back, Lord willing.

Love, Patty

11:30 pm Enteppe to Amsterdam Delta 9318 arriving 6:05 am (Amsterdam Time)

8:40 am Amsterdam to Detroit Delta 133 arriving 11:35 am (Detroit TIme)

1:50 pm Detroit to HOME!!! Delta 1330 arriving 3:40 PM!!!

Our gift to the Founders of Rafiki, Joseph and Sara

A Portrait of their Children painted by artist David Gage