On traveling, babies and prayer.

So, I suppose I should begin this by saying that I am safe and sound in Uganda and completely loving my time here already. I would like to tell you as much as I can about this past week, however, it is currently 12:12 am on Friday morning and we have breakfast at 7am, so I should probably attempt to get some rest!
Traveling here was long, and...well, long. We arrived at the hotel at 5:30am on Saturday, my direct flight to London left at 1:10pm. We had an eleven hour layover in London and we were able to leave the airport and experience the city. We rode the Underground, visited Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace (saw the changing of the guards), and Big Ben. You know, the works. It was quite wonderful until we arrived back to the airport to find that my baggage claim tickets were the only ones of the group that had been misplaced and they did not know where my luggage was. Due to the fact that I had not truly slept (with the exception of a two hour nap on the plane) since Thursday night, I broke down in tears. in the airport. in front of my team who were strangers to me. Not the highlight of the trip. Anyway, they were able to locate my luggage (personal and ministry bag) and I was able to identify it and see it put on the plane before we took off for Kenya. We had a four hour layover in Kenya and then landed in Uganda on Monday morning. Luckily, my ministry bag made it to the airport in Uganda, unfortunately my personal bag did not. Bummer. Long story short, it arrived by Wednesday. Yay for showers and clean clothes!
This year, our orphanage ministry in Jinja has been quite different because we are working at two different orphanages, instead of staying only at Amani like we did last year. My half of the orphanage team spent the first two days at Diedra's orphanage which is quite amazing. Diedra grew up in California, but moved to Uganda and started a beautiful orphanage which she built from the ground up. She also has a primary school (preschool) on site. Much of our time spent there was spent doing work projects such as washing the walls, curtains and cushions, painting and whatnot. The kids there were wonderful and it didnt take long for three of them to find their way into my arms and heart. One was Benja (short for Benjamin) who actually started out at Amani, but because he is HIV+ and had slim chances of being adopted was moved to Diedra's. That child was so full of life and energy that it was impossible not to smile when he was around. I dont really have huge stories for Robert and Nora, but they were precious as well. When I said goodbye to Robert, he said, "But Auntie, I love you!" and he kissed me on the cheek. Nora simply said, "I will just go with you." PRECIOUS.
Today (Thursday) and tomorrow was/will be spent at Amani. We are doing work projects in the morning and playing with the kids in the afternoon. This morning we cleaned all of the cribs and kid's beds, mopped floors, and cleaned walls. This afternoon, my heart was once again taken captive (maybe I am not holding onto it very tightly?) by an adorable toddler named Nathanael. He was the first child I picked up today and the last one I put down, for the sole reason that he would not LET me put him down. Tonight our whole team went and had dinner at Amani and they let the toddlers come out to visit. Immediately, I felt a tug on my arm and turned around to see him standing there with arms wide open. I picked him up and he stayed in my arms until he fell asleep and I layed him down at the end of the night. I can't wait to see him tomorrow!
I really need to get to bed, but I just wanted to share that we have implemented a 24-hour prayer room for the trip and people are allowed to sign up for hour-long blocks of time to pray. Well, two friends and I decided to take the hours of 4-6 am this morning. We didn't sleep well, so we went down to the room at 3:15 and stayed there until 6:30. There were six of us total in there praying for eachother, for our team, for the people of Uganda and for our families and friends back home. It was a really amazing time...probably the most memorable and powerful times I have ever spent in prayer. To show the effects of prayer, today was also the most AMAZING day of ministry for all of the teams! We serve a mighty God who is mighty to save and faithful to His people!
I wish I could go into more detail, but my time is up. I love you and thank you for your support. Amazing things are happening here. Continue to pray and I will do my best to update as often as possible. To those who have sent me emails, thank you! I read them all but dont have time to reply. Mom and Dad, I haven't been able to get the phone to work yet. My friend Tyler is going to take a look at it in the morning. We shall see. I love you guys big time!!