Home

I am back in reality.

 

I arrived back to the states July 8^th and have been struggling with readjusting. I could not sleep the first night I was home and I missed Africa horribly!  I did not realize how much Uganda meant to me while I was in it, but now that I am gone, I realize. I miss the culture, the people, the land, and UGANDAN TIME.

 

Now I am on a new journey…

A Journey that I feel inadequate to take. A Journey that requires walking not running. A Journey through my homeland.

 

Let it rain

Sunday we prayed for rain in Chapel. Many families have suffering from the dry season and their harvest is few. Then today it RAINED and is still raining as we speak! Not just rain though... HAIL! Lindsey and I are now fit for sleep. I feel like I am home and it is a stormy Florida summer afternoon! 

Thank you Jesus for the RAIN! 

Journey Mercies

Pray for Journey Mercies. 

Tomorrow Morning Lindsey, Sarah and I will leave for Kampala. It is about a 7 hour drive. Then we will spend a week in Kampala going around town. 

Tuesday July 7th Lindsey and I start our LONG journey home. We fly out of Entebbe at 10:20 p.m. Ugandan time and arrive back in the states on Wednesday afternoon, July 8th. 

To Be Free.

 

Have you ever been an abyss of transgression? You are so low, at the bottom of the pit that there is no way you are coming up. You are broken, and the only person that can help you is Jesus. So you fall on your knees in an act of prostration to cry out to the ONE you turned your back on. The ONE you rebuked. The ONE you thought you did not need. The ONE who “…laid down His life for (you).” (1^st John 3:16) The ONE they call Redeemer. The ONE they call Messiah. The ONE they call Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, and before the Lord you humble yourself to ask for help. Then all of a sudden your giant doesn’t look so big. You realize that this bottomless chasm that you are in has a rope to climb out, and this rope is Jesus.

 

So the merciful and gracious Lord defeats your Goliath. You realize that you are weak and He is strong. You realize that He can do anything. You realize that you too can do anything when you hold hands with Jesus.

 

Time goes by and you forget. You forget that it was only because of God’s strength that your giant fell. You forget that you did NOTHING and He did EVERYTHING. You stop relying on the LORD. You stop falling at the CROSS. You stop because you think you can. Your pride gets the best of you.

 

“God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions; it is by grace you have been saved.” (Eph 2:4-5) He wants you to be FREE. Free to sing. Free to dance. Free to clap. Free to love and be loved in return. So why do we wait to be broken to accept this freedom? This freedom was given to us when Jesus died on the cross. This freedom we receive when we accept His Grace.

 

I confess that I am guilty of just this. Not fully accepting His Grace in my life. Not coming to the Lord with a humble heart everyday. Not giving him the daily routines of my life, and only coming to him with the BIG stuff. Oh my Pride, leave me be.

 

What would it look like to like a humble life? If I lived every waking moment for God’s glory and not my own, what would my life look life? Would I be still? Would I have peace? All I know is that I want to be FREE.  There is a burning desire in my soul to get to know the Lord. This is what I hear him saying to me:

 

“Come Lisa, come and know me. Let me show you who I AM.”

-GOD

 

Yes, God talks. He may not use a burning bush or a mighty storm, but He is talking and for once I am still.  Still enough to listen and hear His soft words. I finally realize why my friends in the wards are so peaceful. I believe it is because they truly know they cannot do it alone. They truly live a humble life. They are an inspiration to me, because when I listen to some of their stories my heart breaks yet many still have hope. They say that their life is in the Lord’s hands and come what may.  Their humbleness is a huge reminder for me.

 

“…Train yourself to be godly.” (1^st Timothy 4:7)

 

I cannot get so busy that I forget that these small things in my life are detrimental without the Lord.  So I am asking you to pray.  Pray that I can train myself to be godly by investing time in the word and reflecting.   Pray that I go to God with not just the big things but with the SMALL things.  Pray that the Creator of the Universe, the Star Breather, and the Lord my God will guide me always.  

 

I feel like God wanted me here in Uganda so he could remind me how much I need him!

 

 

 

 

And sometimes you just want to take them home with you.

I love children. I love it when they want to hold my hand or play silly games. I love it when they laugh. I love it when they want to be close to you. This little boy stole my heart. His name is Kenneth. He is a little boy from the village behind Kagando. He wanted love and I wanted to love him. I really just wanted to take him home with me.

Updates!!!!

About two weeks ago the only two girls in the fistula ward who spoke English left to go home. These two girls befriended me and so I was sad to see them go.  These two girls were Peace and Harriet.

 

So what do you do with a bunch of girls who do not speak your language? You SING! Lindsey and I spent Friday afternoon singing with them. We had no one to translate, but that did not stop God from allowing us to spend hours in fellowship! How great is God!

 

Afterwards we headed to the market in Kasinga with our friend Sarah who is also form the USA. We placed orders for skirts and dresses with our seamstress and then something amazing happened. Lindsey found the closest thing to a COOKIE. It was a hot, fried banana cookie wrapped in banana leaves. I think the best thing about it was Lindsey’s face. She was so excited about it!

 

The next day (Saturday) the three of us walked to the dam. It was a hot morning and since we were walking/hiking we all wore our trousers. We started on our journey with some bottles of water, cameras, and a map drawn out by Jane the elective student from Oxford who went back home. We finally made it to the dam after an hour. It was so beautiful and reminded me of the Swiss Family Robinson walk through at Disney World. We climbed up on the dam and then made our way up the river to a waterfall. As we forded the river we manage to completely soak our trousers. So since the walk home was about an hour and it was midday we waved down a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) and somehow all three of us plus our driver rode on it all the way home. We pulled up to Kagando Hospital with one too many riding on the boda boda, all of us girls wearing trousers (which is okay for hiking but still kind of awkward), and to top it off our trousers are wet therefore our driver’s trousers got wet!!! Yes, it was an adventure!

 

Sunday-

Went to Chapel and heard an awesome talk from Jessica who is apart of the Mother’s Union in Uganda. Then I went to St. Theresa’s Secondary School (High School) to give my testimony. Rev. Gideon and Sarah accompanied me.

 

Monday-Friday

Spent the week doing in OPD, Lab, and Palliative Care Outreach. It was a rough week, because I saw so many people with cancer. I saw the same woman who has stomach cancer when I went out for Palliative care. She wanted to go to another hospital or get treatment, she wanted to fight it but all they could give her was oral morphine. Then a woman in OPD came in to complain about discharge coming from her nipple. Her breast was enlarged and the doctor said that she most likely has breast cancer and there is nothing that they could do for her because they did not catch it early.  I saw a lot of subtle tears from women and children.

 

Friday night a group of us went to watch the stars at the MTN tower. Then yesterday (Sunday) Sarah and I went to visit the village her house Mom is from. Lillian (Mom who Sarah is living with) grew up just over the mountain in the valley. We walked there to meet her Mom. Her mother made us tea and we ate groundnuts from the garden. We also met about ten other children from the village who all were welcomed in the Mother’s house. We had a great time!

 

Tomorrow (Tuesday) Lindsey and I leave for Kampala. Sarah is also going to come with us because her cousin lives in Kampala. We will spend a week there having down time before we come home and exploring the capital of course!

 

I am most excited about 4^th of July in Uganda, because we will be spending our Saturday at the U.S. Embassy! How often do you get to go to the U.S. embassy to spend 4^th of July? NOT OFTEN! Possibly, NEVER! So while you all are cooking out and setting off fireworks we will be at the Embassy. 

Her song was her story.

Today we gathered to sing songs. The girls took turns singing in their local language, and afterward they would translate it for me. They sung songs about the glory of God in the midst of hardship, heartbreak, and despair. We clapped our hands, jumped around, put our hands in the air, and danced for Jesus today. We danced in laughter as I mimicked their dance moves. We danced as sisters do when they are little. Today Harriet danced without her bucket. Today she danced without a catheter. Today she danced for JOY.

 

A young woman who is waiting for the repair sang me her story. She once lived a party lifestyle.  She drank lots and danced the night away in local bars, until the Lord came to her. The Lord saved her and redeemed her, and now she SINGS about it!

 

Today I found a way to connect with the girls, today I found a way to have them share their story. Today I realized we all have a SONG.

 

What’s yours?

The day the girls sang for me :)

This is the sign in front of the hospital. 

How true... We as believers care, but it is GOD who heals! 

This was right before they started to sing

"We welcome you, We welcome you, Thank you for your coming"

These girls can really break it down for the LORD!

Harriet's solo. While she was singing she started to dance and as she moved forward she kicked her bucket with her! We all smiled with joy, because there was nothing that could stop this beautiful woman from dancing! 

"...Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:19)

Mountain ADVENTURE!

Half-way to the TOP of our 7 hour mountain adventure. I thought this view was great, but the TOP was even better :)

Made it to the top! Our guides told me that I could spend the night up there in a hut and that they would come back for me in the morning.... I passed. 

Yes, this was the hut. 

After we made it to the top. We hike down to a waterfall. 

WATERFALL

Once we made it here, our guides actually filled up empty water bottles with this water, because this water is considered clean. 

   

Bubbles.

This was the day I went to the orphanage with the girls from Oxford. This little girl loved to blow bubbles, she actually went through the whole bottle. I was very impressed, because I do not think I have ever seen an entire bottle of bubbles used in one day!

“Be still, and know that I am GOD.” (Ps 46:10)

I have an extreme personality. I am all or NOTHING. Many people would call me INTENSE or extravagant.

I am really great at DOING, but the hardest thing for me to DO is to be STILL.

So I keep my schedule packed and just continue to push through because the week is almost over or I only have one more month until break. I tend to keep my thoughts on the future and not the present. Then God sent me to UGANDA, where everything is “okay please.”

I was really struggling because I felt useless just hanging out in the wards not doing anything, so the personality type that I am, I sought out a job where I would be busy! I was practically begging someone to put me to work. I was sent to do paper work where, after completing the job, I was told to RELAX. I was told that I did not have to keep working that I should just sit and be still.

…And then He said to me,
“Be still, and know that I am GOD.” (Ps 46:10)

Yes I know you are God, but WHY do I have to be still? I think He brought me here so that He could free me from my bondage just as He freed the Israelites from Egypt.

There is no quick fix; I cannot simply undo who I am. I cannot simply rest and relax; there is a REASON why I keep myself busy, and a reason why I need to drink coffee ALL day long! I go, go, and go all the time and so I am exhausted. I am missing out on the good things that God has given me TODAY because my mind is already on TOMORROW. While I race around controlling my life by making lists and checking them off, I am missing out on “Life that is truly life.” (1Ti 6:19)

Being still means that I have to deal. Deal with feelings and emotions that I have so desperately tried to ignore. I desire to live a life of reckless abandonment to the Lord, but I have been hiding my pain and holding onto an idea. This idea of keeping myself busy enough not to feel has normally kept my feelings in the dark until NOW.
I could never wholly give my heart to the Lord, because I never really knew what was keeping me from Him. I could not discern His voice in all my CHAOS. I was my own worst enemy; I was a slave to my own suffering. My sorrows were such a disappointment that they were actually a BURDEN, that Jesus wanted to carry. Christ wanted Lordship over my life, He wanted my whole heart, but I still wanted my Dad.

A little girl longs to be in her father’s arms, because it is in that place that she can truly rest.

I have never loved anything or anyone the way I loved my Father. He was my comforter, protector, and my friend. I trusted him to protect me and keep me out of harm’s way. So when he led my five-year-old self to the back yard and told me I could keep the garden snake he found, I trusted that this snake would not harm me.

I loved that he cared so tenderly for God’s creatures, and I loved that he wanted to share the experience with me. Catching grasshoppers in our rose garden, rescuing a mole from our swimming pool, or the time he actually gave mouth to mouth when my cat gave birth to a dead kitten. I loved that every Saturday was Kid’s Day. I loved how helpless yet safe I felt in his arms as he threw me across the pool. I loved that I was his Precious, and that I was precious enough to go to work with him. I loved to dance with my toes on his toes and my hands in his hands.

Which is why I hate that when he got sick with CANCER, he never told me. I was angry, because the only man I ever loved broke my heart and left me the day he died. So in my mind I could never fully give my heart to the Lord, because I never really realized that my heart was broken over my Dad. So I kept myself busy for 13 years and NOW I can finally rest.

I KNOW that my Dad was just trying to protect me by not telling me, but it STILL hurt. I was angry, and God wanted me to forgive him just as Jesus forgave me. I had to make “restitution in full” (Lev 6:5). So that I could fully accept and understand the atonement Jesus made.

“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you.” (Zep 3:17-18)

God had to pull me into the desert so that I could be vulnerable enough to rely solely on Him. I NEED His daily bread, and daily it shall be! I am tired of running 100 miles an hour in front of where I actually need to be, and right now I need to be in the “pearl of Africa” (Winston Churchill), in Uganda, learning that no matter how BIG the issue of poverty, oppression, death, disease, and famine, there is no need to be anxious or worry because God is in control, so “Be still, and know that I am GOD.” (Ps 46:10)

I admire the Ugandan’s faith in the LORD as their provider and comforter.
My prayer is that I may learn how to relax in the LORD for all my needs. My prayer is that I may learn how to slow down and listen to His commands for my life. My prayer is that I may learn not to be a victim to the SYMPTOMS I perpetuate in order to maintain control: that I will live a life of reckless abandonment!

Alleluia! AMEN!

Palliative Care

Yesterday I went out into the villages to do PALLIATIVE CARE. This is for patients whose diseases are not treatable, so the hospital provides them with the drugs they need to ease their suffering. The nurses visit these patients every month to supply them with new drugs for that month. HOW they find the patients in villages and hills with no street signs or house numbers AMAZES me! I watched as the nurse explained to a 33 year old woman who has stomach cancer, that the drugs she was giving her where not going to cure her or extend her life, but that her life was completely in the hands of the LORD.

 

In Uganda there is NO CURE for cancer. They do not have the resources or funds to provide treatments. Just last week two men died in the wards from cancer, one was an elder but the other one was just a 9 year-old boy. 

PRAISE and ADORE HIM

Yesterday in the Fistula Ward. 

Peace a patient in the ward has become my official translator, but this week she has been sick we did not meet until Wednesday.

Peace's mother shared a story about a woman she knew who only had enough money to buy one piece of material to wear as clothing. As time passed this material became old and worn out. The woman CURSED God for her living conditions and so she went into the bush (the forest) to HANG herself. She was ready to take her life, tied a rope to a tree and removed the old piece of material. THEN a woman emerged from the bush who was NAKED and started running toward this woman's old material. The woman then PRAISED THE LORD and realized how BLESSED she truly was. 

A life with God is a union like a marriage between a man and a woman. It is for BETTER or WORSE. If only we could live a life of PRAISE no matter the circumstance! 

Tomorrow (friday) I will meet with the women again, please pray for our time together! 

Going into Town!

It is just after seven and Lindsey and I are getting ready to go into town. Another couple from the UK, Jane and Derek have graciously offered us a ride :) 

YESTERDAY...

Yesterday was a complete success! The ladies in the Fistula Ward had prepared about five songs to sing to me, they even sung them in english :) Afterwards I had prepared a talk on the Samaritan Woman, but as I sat there I just really felt a pressing need to tell them my story. So I told them my story and told them that I would love to hear their story too! We all have decided that everyday Monday-Friday we will get together in the afternoons to have two or three of them give there testimony, do a teaching from the bible, and have them sing songs! I am so excited for this opportunity and please be praying this time to be rich in fellowship! 

Goret and I were going to go on a run yesterday but Friday is Market Day so we decided to go there instead. I met her in front of the chapel at about 4:30 and we walked to her house where I met two of her friends who joined us. It was so great to hang out with Ugandans who are my age, and we had a lot of fun at the market! 

I am starting to love the markets here, they are overwhelming at times and quite chaotic but it is a great place to interact and be apart of Ugandan culture! 

Wabuchire means Good Morning in Lhukonzo.

Today... 

So I have still been trying to adjust to Ugandan time. Which means that I must slow down and just relax... a foreign concept for a busy American like myself.  Most days I feel like I have done nothing but sit around and chat with people, and I have realized that it is OKAY! I think I might have made my first true Ugandan friend. She is a nurse in the Fistula ward and her name is Goret. She is 21 years old and I have spent most days just getting to know her a little more. She told me before she became a nurse she thought she wanted to be a nun, and I asked her why and she said 

"All I want to do is proclaim the Good News!" 

Her willingness to obey and follow the Lord amazes me. For someone who makes 18,000 Ugandan Shillings (which is about US $9.00) a week and can not even afford to buy a BIBLE (which costs 20,000 Ugandan Shillings) and to be completely trusting in the goodness of God. Most days she does not eat lunch, she is lucky if she has 200 Ugandan shillings ( about 10 cents) so she can buy a mandaze (sort of like a small doughnut but not as sweet). 

One of my favorite things about Ugandan is that they talk in questions. For instance if they were trying to say that you need to wash your hands before you eat, they would say 

"you need to what? you need to wash your hands." It can be funny trying to hold a conversation because at first you think they want you to answer there question. 

Yesterday Goret said

"I trust in what?

I trust in HIS promises" 

WOW, how often do I let myself believe false truths or even worse forget the holy promises that my creator has made to me! 

I am so excited to get to know Goret even more. I have been saying how much I want to go on a run so today she is going to take me running! 

Pray for the women in the Fistula ward, because hopefully today we will start or try to do a group bible study (with a translator) . I am not sure how it will work out, so pray that somehow despite the language barrier that We can all connect with each other as sister's in Christ! 

Much LOVE!

Lisa

Lord, my eyes are all yours!

Recently I have been wondering why I am here. I have been feeling tired, bored, and stagnant! Today God allowed me to experience something wonderful and AWESOME! I am completely struck with awe. I just left theatre (surgery) where I saw a caesarean section and a fistula repair. When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that God had bought me front row tickets to see one of His children born! Then a woman from the Fistula Ward named Ruth got her fistula repaired, she will be in recovery for about three weeks. Sometime next week I hope to hear her story!!

Lord, my eyes are all yours!

the Time I felt MOST Ugandan!

So churches around here are normally packed! People stand outside peaking their head in the windows all the time. Anytime there is a big event everyone gathers! This past Sunday a local African KING visited the hospital. Lindsey Kayleen and I got down there late. As we walked up to the church there were crowds of people gathered outside. So there we stood peaking our heads in the windows of the Church just to get a glimpse of the African King. It was the closest I have felt to being Ugandan. Since we are American we get pointed out a lot that it is hard to go anywhere without being noticed (which can be very frustrating!) We were all hoping he would be wearing some amazing African Fabrics or a Lion's rug, but to my dismay he was in a suit wearing eye glasses!

My name is Lisa Biira

Hello Friends!

Internet is not as reliable as I had hoped, so here are some updates...
Our team traveled around South Rwenzori Diocese in Uganda visiting all the churches for about a week. Some days we would visit two churches in one day, it was quite exhausting. As tired as we all were, God totally provided! The youth had a great time and so did we! Each group would teach us a song in their native Language.

One day we went into the hills to visit a Church called St. Peter's in Uganda, as we were leaving the Priest of that Church gave us a CHICKEN (which is a huge honor)! It was really neat because he actually handed the chicken to me and it sat under my seat the whole two hours home! Two days later we watched Peter our cook kill it and then we had fried chicken for dinner... I even ate chicken liver and stomach!

Last week is when I gave my testimony. I gave it at three different churches. Since we only spent about 2-4 hours at each church we do not get a lot of one on one interaction. It was a really neat experience to share my story because I felt like for once I finally connected with the Ugandans! My prayer and hope was that the Ugandans saw me as a sister in Christ and not just someone from America, I wanted them to know that I still struggle and it is only by the grace of God that I am who I am today!

Last Friday our team woke up at 5:30 to go to Queen Elizabeth Park for a Safari. We saw elephants and even LIONS! Our van did a little off roading to get close to the Lions... it was very exciting!

Then Saturday our team left to go home and Lindsey Kayleen and I made our way to Kagando Hospital. I met 4 girls from the UK. Jane, Rachel, and Victoria attended Oxford and are finishing their last year of Med School and Rosie is about to start Med School. Monday afternoon we all walked to an orphanage where we gave the children balloons and bubbles! We played with them for about two hours... it was so much fun and they were so excited! I do not think I have ever seen children so thrilled over Balloons! Last night a husband and wife from the UK arrived and are staying in the guest house. After dinner we all sat around a watched an episode of Wallace and Gromit it was so nice to watch TV that for a moment I thought I was at home. I found it to be very interesting that the Husband from the UK said that he brought the DVDs because last time he was in Uganda he was experiencing such a HUGE culture shock that he could not sleep at night and that watching something familar comforted him and helped him go to sleep.

Sorry all this information is some what scattered, I am fighting with the internet connection in Uganda!

I hope to update you all soon, because so much is going on! Please pray for the women in the Fistula Ward, one shared her story with us today and it is just heartbreaking! I hope to share this story with you all sometime soon... Please pray for me, I am starting to feel a little worn out and tired! My sleeping patterns are still kind of off too. Pray that I can have the strength to do whatever it is that the Lord has in store for me (as I am still trying to figure that out).

By the way... for all of you who know how much I love coffee and tea, the Ugandans drink more TEA than anyone I know. Ugandan tea is made with warm milk and water and is very good! We have breakfast then tea, Lunch and tea again, and we even have tea sometimes after dinner! I am really enjoying their instant coffee too!

In Uganda!

After three days of travel we are finally here! We arrived in Uganda late Tuesday night and spent the night in a Women's hostile. Wednesday we spent the day (8 hours) traveling to Kasese. The country is beautiful, I am so in awe of the mountains and the valleys. I am so far away from home yet I feel so at home here! I know God has great plans for our group, and each individual on this journey.
Today we spent the day just relaxing from all our travel. Tomorrow we are suppose to give our testimonies to 200 Ugandans. Pray that God can use us and speak through us tomorrow morning!
I hope I can update this again soon, I have so much to say and so little time right now because I am borrowing Mama Mimi's computer and she has to take it back to her house!
Much Love and Peace to all of you!!!

Two MORE days!

Yesterday we had a group meeting, which consisted of PACKING! There are six of us going to Uganda; Father Jon, Chris, Angela, Kayleen, Anna, and myself. We will be traveling around Uganda for the first two weeks setting up Vacation Bible School, working with about 70 different groups. So we are bringing 4000 pipe cleaners, frisbees, and kazoos! Our plan is to teach the children a story, song, and most importantly we want to PLAY and build relationships with our brothers and sisters! Please pray for our group, that we can work together as the body of Christ and love people the way Jesus loves! 

Dear Friends and Family,

Jesus says, "It is not for you to know the time or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8).

This summer, God has given me the opportunity to serve Him in Uganda.

I will be staying at Kagando Mission Hospital in Kisinga, Uganda for the summer, to shadow doctors, nurses and even more importantly to serve this community.  This mission trip would expose me to real life in the medical field. I will be caring and getting to know the poor and underserved, as God has called us to do, and will come home to tell their story. 

About two years ago God revealed to me that if I did not change my life, I would miss out on everything He had in store for me. WOW, was he right! When it came time to decide where to go to college, Tallahassee kept pressing on my heart. I had been to 'Tally' in high school but the only thing I found there was partying and a lot of it! So when God was pushing Tallahassee on me, I was terrified! I was even advised several times not to go, but God kept saying that is where I want you. So I went to Tallahassee Community College, where I have been studying biology with the intentions of going to medical school. God sure did know what he was doing, despite my fears of reverting back to my old life. He provided me with friends, fellowship, and strength to stand firm in this crazy college town. When I first came to Tallahassee I was in a panic to find my church home, but I could not find where I fit. I church hopped for a year, until God pointed me to St. Peter's Anglican Church in Tallahassee. So it is of no surprise to me that our awesome God has opened this incredible door for me to learn, grow, and serve this summer as a representative of St. Peter's church in Uganda.

Currently I have been interning at the women's prison in Tallahassee filing all the medical paper work. I cannot deny that God has placed the desire in my heart to go into medicine, and it is something I want to actively pursue.

I will start my journey with a group of college students teaching Vacation Bible School from May 12-26. Our team will be teaching the children in Kasese, along with their teachers so that when we leave, the teachers can continue to share the Gospel with the children. Then Kayleen and I will depart our college friends to go live and work in the hospital community for about six weeks.