Wednesday, June 20, 2012

OUR FIRST KEY-HOLE GARDEN!!!


TED WITH FOURTUNATE, WINNIE AND REBECCA

TED AND HIS FRIEND MARGARET...SHE DANCES A JIG WHEN SHE SEE HIM!!

HOLDING A MIRACLE....BABY LORU DAVID....2 YEARS OLD

MISC. PICTURES!!!

MEDICAL CLINIC






SATURDAY, JUNE 9TH UPDATE ON JUNE 20TH!!!!

I just realized that I didn't update the blog on Saturday, June 9!!  We had our second IChooseYou Family day!  Let's see if I can remember everything that went on that day.  We started it at 2:00, all of the children and their moms came to the church....the sounds of laughter and the big smiles on their faces just make your heart smile :)

I probably won't have the order of our day correct but I do remembe WHAT we did!!

The mamas sang and danced, the Karamojong mamas sang and danced, the children had several wonderful programs for us...singing and dancing.

We handed out their gift bags...in the bags were letters and pictures from their sponsors, hand lotion, soap and shampoo, their new 2012 IChooseYou t-shirt and the most wonderful little dresses from Janice Johnson in Wimberley....THANK YOU JANICE....and bright colored t-shirts for the boys!!! 

We took their pictures with their new IChooseYou t-shirts on then we changed their clothes and put their new dresses and shirts on....oh how smart they looked!!!!

The team had several activities going on outside with the kids....Scott, Kady and Molly had the parachute out, David was teaching guitar to some of the kiddos, Haley and Deanna had the kids in a classroom making fun masks....everyone was helping and having so much fun!!!  Our IChooseYou children are all so happy....just wait until you see the pictures!!!  How blessed we all are!!

Well, that's about all for Sat. the 9th....I just wanted to say a big "THANK YOU", to Janice and her daughter-in-law for the love they put into those dresses and shirts....the kids could feel it!!!

Love and Blessings from Mbale, Uganda,

Becky

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

UGANDA IS WONDERFUL

Hi Friends,

Sorry about taking so long to update.  The internet at the hotel is soooo bad this year.  We are at Chat and Chinos tonight for dinner and they have internet!!

We have had many trips over the last several days to the main hospital in Mbale checking on Mama Irene and her little ones.  The  baby is much better....hoping to teach the mama HOW to be a mama...she is 30 years old and has 10 children.  Oh my...it is so hard to break the cycle here.  Please pray with us that she will understand how important for her to learn how to take care of her babies and to stop having them.

We have finished 5 gardens and the Lord is certainly doing His part.  It is raining every day here.  It does slow us down but we are trying to get out earlier in the mornings because it rains in the afternoon.  We put a garden in at Mama Beatrice's (Madina) home today.  It was interesting....she said that it was ready with manure already there.  Well....she was right!!!  It was very, very fresh manure....we had to think it through first then we got to it!!!  What a team I have....we were covered but got er done!!

I had some good office time with Sarah this afternoon.  She updated me on how each child is doing.  It was an encouraging time with her.  WE are so blessed to have her working for us and for the sweet and wonderful children that are in IChooseYou.  God has blessedus so much!!

We will be getting up and out early in the morning (Wednesday) to do a Small Wounds Clinic in Namatala.  Will try to report back on that tomorrow.

All is well in Uganda....hope all is well with everyone at home.

We all send our love to y'all,

Becky

OH....we went to my favorite resturant yesterday!!!!  The Pork Joint in Namatala....almost everyone ate....it was so good!!!!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

2nd DAY OF THE MEDICAL CLINIC

Well, we made it through another day in the world of medicine!!!  Namatala was a hopping place today.  We arrived at around 8:30 and we had a team meeting.  Had to get a few things settled with the two teams working together.  Meeting went well and we all got to work.  I'm not sure yet how many people we saw in the two days but it was a lot!!!  I have the sheets and will count them soon.  Saw many people with aches and pains, HIV, colds and of course malnutrition.  I found a mom with a month old baby girl that was probably just days away from death.  I took her to Dr. Bumba and he immediately told her to get the baby to the hospital.  Her little hand was so tiny....it looked like a skeleton with skin on it.  She didn't know how to suck so she was not able to nurse.  I'm going in the morning to the hospital to check on her.

Of course, the team was great!!!  They all worked so hard, I am very proud of them.  We are pretty tired after two days in the field with the medical team but very happy that we were able to serve the families of Namatala and our Lord in this way.

We are taking a break and are at Chat and Chinos for dinner.  Tomorrow the kids are going to climb Mount Wanale....that should be interesting.  It is the mountain behind our hotel...pray for them!!!  Just kidding, they will be fine!!

It's been a great trip so far....Hailey Littmann left today.  It was so wonderful having her here with us....it's been too long since we were here together.  Mark, Darby and Mollie leave on Friday....we will miss them so much!!!  The rest of the team will be back in Namatala digging and planting and probably have many small wounds clinics....we are becoming doctors and nurses!!!!....and pharmacists!!!!  Field work is great!!!

We all send our love....keep the prayers coming and I'll try to update again in a couple of days!!

God is Good...Becky

Monday, June 11, 2012

From the ichooseyou sewing club!

Greetings from Uganda and the ichooseyou sewing club!!
We’ve been working hard on some new things. They have some new fabrics as well as those brought from the U.S.

Some great news…Mt. Elgon is going to have the moms make some new chair cushion covers (60!) and headboard covers. This is big for them as they are getting their ‘foot in the door’ in an established business. Please pray that they will have more opportunities like this in the future and that they finish this project well, also that God will open doors for them for their business here.

It’s been good being here for a month! So nice to get to know the moms better and take more time showing them things and not feel rushed. We’ve been going over understanding how to use a pattern (some are still learning to read!), reinforcing how important a budget is for them and their business, and other things. I can see a difference from year one to now!

What a blessing to work with these families who teach US so much!
Today (and tomorrow) we had a medical clinic for the moms and their families who don’t have much of an opportunity to go to the Dr.

We’ll wrap up the week with filling some sewing orders for the teams that have already been here.
I can not say thanks enough for all the prayers for these families.

God is good ALL de time! Darby

FIRST DAY OF THE MEDICAL CLINIC

Just wanted to update what has been going on for the last few days.  Team One left last weekend and Team Two arrived on Tuesday of last week.  Boy did the dynamics change!!!  We have had two great teams!!!  We went to Namatala on the Wednesday so we could introduce them to the wonderful people there then ended up at Covenant School to see our IChooseYou kids when they got out of school.

On Thursday, we went back into Namatala and put a garden in at the home of Sarah and scouted out the location for our next garden.  Sarah is the young lady that works for IChooseYou and lives in Namatala. Then on Friday we went to Mama Irene's home and put in garden number 4.  Man there was a lot of digging going on!!  I have learned so much from these Ugandan mamas...we planted carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, kale, bell peppers and eggplant in all of our gardens.  I am hopeful that we can put at least 2 more in before we leave in 2 1/2 weeks.

Saturday we had our second "IChooseYou Family Day".  It was so much fun.  The children and the parents had several programs that they had prepared for us.  We gave the children their IChooseYou t-shirts, their new little dresses and shirts, took their school pictures and then group pictures.  They had so much fun with their art project with Hailey and Deanna.  Booth and Paul and Scott had a group singing, Scott, Mollie,  Kady and Hailey had a group playing with the parachute, Kristyn and Callie held babies...it was a fun day!!!

Sunday after church we had lunch at Morris and Aidah's house then went out to Lulwanda Children's Home to visit with the children.  It was such a treat, as always.  Darby had a wonderful treat...her little Davis had several "big" parts in the program!!  We met the new director, Patrick....what a nice man.  Natalie was such the wonderful hostess, giving us a tour and telling the team the history of Lulwanda.  It was a great day.

Now, for today....Monday.  Our first day of the medical clinc in Namatala.  On Sat. Mark and Ted and I met with the doctors and bought 4 million shillings worth of medical supplies....that's a lot!!!!  We met up at Aidah's this morning to sort them supplies then went to the Mustard Seed Church in Namatala and got set up.  We learned a lot about what all goes into a medical clinic.  The team was AMAZING!!!!  Always willing to help and finding ways to help without being asked....it was a hard and long day but we feel like we learned so much and we are ready for tomorrow.  We saw several hundred people today....we had a PA system set up with Hassen preaching and music playing.  There were a lot of dancing going on outside the clinic by the children and of course our amazing team set up a small wounds clinic and did some pretty amazing things that were NOT so small.

It's been a long day and we are off to bed so we can get started at 6:30 in the morning...I'll try to write more tomorrow.

We miss all of you but are so thankful for what all the Lord is doing in Namatala.  Thank you all for you prayers.

We all send our love,

The Second IChooseYou Team of 2012

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Saturday and Sunday, June 2nd and 3rd

Today we got to go see the land where the pig farm was. Good news, the pigs have been sold!!! It was so good for me especially to see the land since I have not seen it since 2009 when we first got it. It was so lush and green with so many veggies growing. We had aMAZEing maze, beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, and two mango trees.  We met the family that is tending the land and living there, it’s a couple and their two children.   It is amazing the difference in the land since I have seen it. God is so good in providing so many crops and keeping this land so healthy. On Sunday we woke up to go church which lasted almost 4 hours, but was AWESOME. We left to go to the children’s Sunday school room which was filled over 100 children and standing room only. I taught the Prodigal Son story to the kids which I think was a good message for those kids. I think it is good for these kids to hear that no matter where they go or how far they stray God will always be there with open arms wanting them back. It was good for Mark Muhlestein to hear Pastor Morris preach this Sunday for the first time. When Pastor Morris speaks he is quiet and calm and has little words, but when he preaches he is loud and animated and full of joy speaking from the lord. After church we went to momma Aidah’s house for lunch. It was so good to see her after her surgery. She is doing so good and regaining her strength and I’m sure will be back soon telling people what to do ha-ha. God is so good and is moving in so many ways here in Namatala and Mbale. Keep praying for us as we work with the kids and people here.   
God is Good…All de Time
Deanna Duke    

Friday June First

The weekend brought many adventures, both good and tough. Friday we were able to go see St. Kitzo’s baby home, this could be considered one of the tough parts as well as a good one.  We were able to take a tour and get basic information about the home and how it runs. There were around 35 kids at the home and 13 of them were infants. I (Deanna) was able to see my baby Peter that I met two years ago as an infant. It was so good to see that he was healthy and growing since he was one of triplets and the only one to survive at birth. He had a problem with his foot but they told us that that with much physical therapy he is walking like a champ at around two and half years old. Needless to say it was good for all to see the baby home but it can also be tough to see such sadness with babies being abandoned and parentless.  After the baby home we went to Namatala and split into two groups, half going to visit the sewing ladies houses and the other half working with some of the needs in Namatala. My group went to help a malnourished baby who is almost three but looks about eighteen months. We have been making some formula in empty water bottles and instructing the mother on how to help this baby eat and keep it down. We also gave some children’s cough syrup to his younger brother who was sick with a fever. This is the family of Mudua Irene who is in IChooseYou and her family has 10 children, and many of them are sick. We also checked on our garden and prayed for some rain for it. That night we arranged a party for our families to just hang out and enjoy each other’s company. This would also be a good goodbye for our first team. We arrived at seven and as soon as we did the down pour started. The kids and families were stuffed into our sewing room waiting on us and greeting us as true Africans do... LOUD and full of Joy.  We all moved into the house, and they then asked for the program. Becky then turned to me and Madison and said something along the lines of “Go ahead girls”, so we danced and sang songs. We praised with the kids, even trying to teach them the cha cha slide, until the rain stopped and we were instructed that the families needed to go home now because it would take a while for them to get there because of the weather. This was another one of the tough but good times because it was hard for the first team to say goodbye to the kids and families.

God is good …All the time or as they say in Uganda All de time…

Deanna Duke
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2012

FAMILY DAY!!!....and ANOTHER SLEEP OVER!!!

We have had another wonderful day with our IChooseYou family.

Waswa, Mama Flower and Jennifer picked us up at 9:00.  We then went to the church and everyone was there practicing for our time together.  The Karamojong mamas were practicing their dance and song under a group of trees, the

Friday, May 25, 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

Another great day in Uganda!! Waswa picked us up at 8:00 this morning to go chapel at Covenant School. It's so cute seeing the kids when we arrive anywhere that they are. We walked into the church and the clapping and yelling from the kids...sure makes your heart so smile. Someone even said that this might be what Brad Pitt feels like when their fans see him!!! (Mark) It was a wonderful morning with them. They sang songs, recited their Bible verses....it was such a special morning. We took Darby to the ladies sewing area where they got the sewing things organized and ready for Monday morning. Brandi and Jennifer started "Pink". Ted, Mark, Deanna, Kristyn, Madison and I went with Sarah and Esther to see Mama Sarah to see where we could start our first "Key Hole Garden". We talked about it then decided to just "do it". We found a spot and started working!! We laid out the garden using twine then we found some "bricks" and started stacking ( we hope the rain doesn't mess up the bricks)!! So it is started!! We found where we will get our manure on Monday and we will start collecting the cans and straw...we are getting there!!! We went to Mama Aidah's for lunch....it was great as usual. Christopher fixed us spaghetti....oh we are eating well!!! We have been organizing supplies and planning our American lunch for the families tomorrow,, we are now waiting for Waswa to bring Vicky over to have a sleep over....it should be fun!!! Well that's all for today....we send all of you love and hugs from Beautiful Uganda!! Becky. Ted Deanna. Madison Kristyn. Mark Jennifer.Brandi Darby

Thursday, May 24, 2012

WE ARE HERE!!!!

GREETINGS FROM UGANDA,

WOW...what a week!!!!....and.....what a GREAT TEAM!!!!

We all met at Bush Intercontintal Airport in Houston at 3:00 on Monday, May 2.  Checked in...made it with all of our bags weighing in at 50lbs or less....YEA!!!

Our flight left that evening at 6:30ish...flew to Dubai....14 1/2 hours!!!  Believe it or not it was not a bad flight.  Emerites is the airline to go with!!  The food was very good, good movies and I had two great neighbors....Ted :) and a sweet man from Pakistan.  The time really went by fast.  We landed around 7:30ish on Tuesday night.  We got to the hotel around 9:00 pm and had dinner.  We went outside of the hotel around 10:00 and two taxi drivers gave us a DEAL on a tour around the city....and it really did end up being a great time!!!  Dubai is a beautiful city but a night it is spectacular!!!  We saw the world's tallest building, the water fountan show, the world's largest mall, the only 7 star hotel in the shape of a sail boat (no, we did not stay there!), walked on the beach along the Perisian Gulf and then we saw the Atlantis Aquarium (at no charge because it was night!!))  Such a great night...got back to the hotel and to bed by 1:30ish then up at 5:00 for breakfast then off to the airport!!!  Arrived in Entebbe around 12:30 (it's Wednesday).  Glenn and Morris were there to pick us up...Aida is still recuperating from surgery so she wasn't there, we really miss her.  We left Entebbe about 2:00, stopped at Joyce's new school in Kampala to visit with her....it was wonderful to see her.  We are so proud of her!!  Then on to Ling Lings for lunch.  Made it to Mbale at 8:30 pm....they had dinner for us....yes, we are eating so much and it is all good!!!

Today....Thursday, May, 24:

Got up and met downstairs for breakfast around 8:00.  After breakfast we met in the Wanale Hut for prayer time before we left for the school.  We went by the school and the IChooseYou office to pick Sarah up.  Then headed over to see the mamas....yes, the greeting was AMAZING as always....they are so full of joy and love!!  We then went to Namatala to see everyone there.....oh, yes, kids, kids, kids and more kids and mamas....visited some of the IChooseYou homes.  The team was spending the day getting their "feet wet" just learning and seeing the area that we will be working in.  After spending several hours in Namatala we went to Glenn's Internet Cafe, Chat and Chino, to have lunch.  After lunch we went back to the school to see the kiddos during their break and then after school.  Oh, man.....what fun!!!!!!  They have grown so  much....well, it has been a year...but, oh, they are so big.  A lot of pictures were taken and a lot of love exchanged!!

Now, what you all have been waiting for....Baby Loru...now Baby David.
He is the cutest little thing you have ever seen...growing so much.  It was so amazing holding a little miracle today!!!  God is so good....seeing this little miracle and being able to hold him...what a blessing.  I LOVE this little boy....thank you Jesus for sharing this awesome time with us!!!!

Well, we have had dinner tonight and after a long while TRYING to get on the internet and hopefully I am still connected and will not lose this blog post...it is time for bed....will update tomorrow!!!

Love, hugs and blessings from Mbale, Uganda,

Becky
Ted
Madison
Deanna
Kristyn
Jennifer
Brandi
Darby
Mark



Wednesday, March 21, 2012

IChooseYou Fundraiser

I want to invite everyone to the

SECOND ANNUAL ICHOOSEYOU FUNDRAISER
SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 31
6:30 pm
CYPRESS CREEK CHURCH
WIMBERLEY, TEXAS

It is going to be a fun night with

Live Music
A Djembe Band...COME DRUM FOR FUN...from Ausin
Silent Auction
Beautiful hand-made items for sale by that IChooseYou Moms
IChooseYou T-Shirts
Stories and updates from last years trip
Amazing food...catered by MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER CATERING and TEXAS ROADHOUSE

Tickets are only $15.00 per person
Tickets available at Cypress Creek Church...512-847-1222

DON'T MISS THE FUN....YOU WON'T BE SORRY YOU CAME!!!

ALL MONEY RAISED GO TOWARDS, SCHOOL SHOES, BACKPACKS,MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND WHAREVER ELSE GOD HAS PLANNED!!!

Hope o see you there!!!

Becky

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

I missed someone!!!

One more lady that will be joining us is Lauri Bunch!!! This will be Lauri's 2nd trip and she brings so much with her!!! She has taught at a private Christian school in Austin for several years and is an amazing teacher!!! The children love her and are already excited to have her back with us this year! I'm sorry for the mistake but that is what happens when you can't sleep and you blog at 3:00 in the morning!!!

Good night all :)

HOW TIME FLYS!!!

It's hard to believ that we are gearing up to go back to Uganda!! Plans are being made and the team is set and we are so excited to see just what God is going to do this summer. We have 16 people going this year...some will be stayingfoes 2 weeks, some for a month and some for 6 weeks!!! we are hoping to have a medical team ready for us to put on two 2 days clinics in the Village of Namatala...they say that we will have THOUSANDS come through the clinic...I love seeing how God works these things out Nd puts a team together to help these wonderful people...people that have become our family. I'm not real sure what this will look like, I just know that the doctors and nurses said for us to be ready foe anything!!

We will of course spen time with our IChooseYou families and the children...I can't wait to see them all...they grow so much in a year. Right ow we have 46 children in school and hopefully will add 4 more this summer.

Our IChooseYou moms are still very busy sewing and making jewelry and doing so well with that work. They are so dedicated and work so hard. We are so proud of them. Darby is hoping to spend some real quality time with them this year taking them away to a new location and away from distractions so that they can concentrate better and so that they can feel a little special...because...these ladies ARE SO SPECIAL.

Brandi will be taking "Pink"....our ladies Bible study...to them again this year. This is such a blessing to the ladies...something that they look so forward to!

It is such a blessing to have 7 people return with us again this year!!! Darby Burleson, Brandi Silva and Deanna Duke will be returning for there 3rd year!!! Haley Littmannwill be returning for her 4th year, Callie Eacret returning for her 2nd year with hopes and dreams of returning for several months next January. Then there is Ted Ball returning for his 5th year...at the age of almost 82, the children probably wouldn't let us in the country without him...what a true blessing he is to the team and especially to the our IChooseYou family! Then this will be my 7th trip over to my "second" home...how blessed I am!!!

We have some amazing new faces on our team this year...Mark Muhlstien...yea another man!!! He will bring so much knowledge and so much love to the team,,,yea Mark!!! Also Kristyn Kicey, a graduating senior at Texas State will be ging foe the first time and will be staying foe 2 months....how exciting!! Next is Jennifer Thames....an amazing person, wife and super mom!! She will be graduating fromTexas State in May with a degree in accounting....oh is she needed....what a blessing she is!!! Then we have the life and the energy of the team...TEXAS STATE STUDENTS...Madison Nye...dance and theater major....will the kids love that!!! David Booth...no words to describe him....singer/songwriter...the Pied Piper with the kids..then we have Kady Gill and Scott Perez joining us with their energy, love and enthusiasm!!!! Also to friends fromKaty Texas will bw joining us....Haley and Scotty Jones....brother and sister that are amazing!!! 2nd year back or oth of them...Haley was with us some is last year....can't wait..It's going to be an amazing trip.

We would all love your prayers from May 21 - July 11. We know that we need your prayers and we as one them....this is not our team, our trip, or our IChooseYou ministry....it all belongs to our Lord...how blessed we are to be ale to be a part of this oth Him!!!

Now...would you like to join us and be a part of the big picture???? You are needed!!!

We are having our 2nd IChooseYou dinner and fundraiser on Saturday, March 31...6:30 at Cypress Creek Curch in Wimberley...tickets are just $15.00 each. What do you get for that $15.00 you ask...wonderful dinner catered by My Mother's Daughter Catering and Texas Roadhouse...Live entertainment....2 different bands; Chris Kipp and then a band from Austin that plays the African Djembe's....so cool!!! We will have a silent auction...IChooseYou t-shirts for sell...the opportunity to sponsor a child. We will have videos and great stories from last years trip. There will be bags, pillow cases and hand-made jewelry from the IChooseYou Mom's Sewing Club!!!! Last year was our first dinner and we had several people say that they had bad so much fun and if they had know what it was all about then they would have brought their friends....sooo...BRING YOUR FRIENDS AND COME HAVE A REALLY FUN EVENING!!!!

I know that is a lot of info....but we have a lot going on...SO COME ON OUT AND JOIN US!!!!

Tickets are being sold after each service the next two weeks, at the church office or from Brandi Silva, Darby Burleson, Emily Dudley or from me!!!! COME JOIN US!!!!

Keep watching foe updates....love and hugs to all of you.

Blessings,
Becky Ball

"For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the people's on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.".
Deuteronomy 7:6