God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. He knows my heart. He knows that I tend to procrastinate. I'm being very open and honest with you guys. I went on a mission trip by the grace of God and the support of many friends, family, and loved ones this past July. I intended to blog about my experience right when I got back, but kept...well, putting it off. But His Word says in Romans 8:28, 'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.' So, here I am, finally sharing my experience with Healing Faith in Jinja, Uganda!!!
Working in the village was my favorite part of the trip. It started with a long drive down red dirt roads that were lined with tiny makeshift dwellings made out of whatever was available. From tin to wood, dried foliage, and sometimes brick, that sold anything from vegetables and raw meat, to cell phone minutes and electronics. As we pulled into the village at about 5 miles per hour, the kids chased our van and some of the older boys, about 10 years old, would jump on the back end of the van, which they apparently do every time. The driver slowed to a stop and told them to get off. The translator Miriam was very good at getting the kids to listen. At one point, she got out of the car and yelled something in Lugandan that made me feel like I was in trouble ha! It kept the kids off from then on that day. We pulled into the village after traveling down a windy dirt road, full of bumps from the dried dirt tire tracks. We are immediately greeted by the people of the village, especially the children, ready to participate in whatever we have for them.
The tasks varied per day, whether it was Malaria education or fun day with the children. Fun days consisted of making a huge circle, singing songs about Jesus, introducing the guests (our team), and playing a game of cat and mouse. Then, Jason would gather the children around for story time out of the children's Bible, which would be translated by John, who is a Healing Faith translator and very animated!! He sure knew how to make the kids laugh! Then, we had 4 stations that included freeze dance, attempts at volleyball, jump rope, and the huge parachute elementary kids here in America are very familiar with :). We rotated the groups divided by colored paper bracelet through each station. I think I can speak for the entire team by saying it was so much FUN!!
At the end of one of our play days, Jason and Kari were made aware that some children were not feeling well. What I found during my time there that was very awesome was, between the Segner family, the McMorris family, our team, and the two interns Katie and Greg, there were many sets of eyes to seek out a child that did not seem to be feeling very well. While we waited, we got our hair braided by the young girls and the boys played soccer.
Once it was time to go, Jason and Kari found about 5 children who tested positive for malaria. Each of them were under the age of 6 I believe. Thankfully, Jason and Kari have the ability to test and treat Malaria right there in the village if it's caught early. Sometimes they have to take the children into town if it is severe enough, all at no cost to the family. A test for malaria costs about $2 American dollars. As a very wise woman once said, that is the price of our Happy Hour sonic drink!!! But yet, children halfway around the world are unable to afford it. Healing Faith ministry is able to save tiny lives that otherwise would not be able to overcome this very treatable disease.
Children and pregnant women are the most at risk for getting malaria, which is a disease spread through mosquitoes that can be dehabilitating to children and babies if not deadly. The World Health Organization reports that one child dies every 60 seconds from malaria. Without access to healthcare and little knowledge of prevention or even cause and symptoms, death is high among malaria victims. But, our Mighty God has sent Jason and Kari Segner, along with their 5 children and many partners in Healing Faith like the missions teams, interns, the McMorris family, and friends that they have made in Uganda and the support from here in the states that help them provide education, treatment, and the power of prayer and faith while spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Uganda for the past few years now.
The Segners have developed a Malaria education program that they implement throughout the villages once the hand in hand relationships are built between themselves and the villagers. We covered a lot of ground between our mission team, the interns, Jason, and Dave. We parked the van and unloaded a wagon filled with mosquito nets, hanging supplies, and education material, which included easy to understand hand sketched information sheet and coloring books for the kids about malaria, drawn by Kari herself! A group of young boys, about 10 years and younger wanted to pull the wagon of supplies. They outlasted us that day! Without shoes or water, they were full of energy and we were exhausted as we traveled down the red dirt road from dwelling to dwelling. We would ask if they had nets already and if they did Katie, some of our team, and Miriam the translator would go over the education. The education material included how malaria gets spread, through mosquitoes and not bad spirits or because of past sins, which is a common belief. It shows who is most at risk, which are children and pregnant women, and how to prevent the mosquitoes from breeding in your area by keeping puddles of standing water away from your homes. If the home did not already have nets, Jason, Greg, Dave, and the rest of the team would go inside of their homes to hang the mosquito nets over their beds. We had to get very creative because most of the homes were made out of sticks and the red clay that had hardened from the sun. The dark rooms were small with few, if any windows, which lead us to using flash lights and the headband lights like the minions in Dispicable Me :) Finding somewhere to tie the strings was challenging, but made it all the more enjoyable to rely on the other team members to work together to get the job done. It was a humbling experience to go into their homes, to see where they sleep, and the simple means by which they live from day to day. They are so joyful with so little, it really opened my eyes to the simple things in life versus the always striving for more and better material things here at home. I know God places us where we are for a purpose. We are blessed where we are in order to bless others. The people of the village that day blessed me more than they will ever know.
Jason and Kari are incredibly amazing missionaries that are great stewards of each and every thing that God has blessed them with, from their time, talents, gifts, children, love, leadership skills, and the list could go on and on. I have, along with a few others, witnessed a small piece of their time and work in Jinja, and can honestly say that they are the REAL DEAL! They serve God with everything they have and trust in Him and His will completely, in every aspect possible.
This is where I tie in the 'good' that can come out of my procrastinating tendencies. Tuesday, November 18th, Healing Faith is having a benefit to raise awareness and funds to continue to be the Hands and Feet of Jesus here on Earth, specifically in and around Jinja, Uganda. I ask that you please consider attending this event. If you are unable to attend, I encourage you to please donate whatever the Holy Spirit leads your heart to support His ministry, Healing Faith, to continue to provide healing physically, emotionally, and spiritually to the people of Uganda.
Thank you and God bless!! Please check out the information for the benefit where the Segners will be live and in person, see below or feel free to contact me, Ana Hernandez at trubeliever143@gmail.com or private message me on Facebook.
I would love for you to join us at the Healing Faith Ministries Benefit Auction and Dinner on Tuesday November 18 at 6:30 pm at the Brazos Center. There will be a Nickels for Nets Kids Banquet happening at the same time for kids ages 4 and up at no charge! Dinner, fun activities and information about helping Nickels for Nets will be provided for the kiddos!
For just $35 a seat, you can enjoy perusing and bidding on some great auction items, a delicious meal from D’Vine Cuisine, good music and fellowship with great friends – all while the kids have a blast at their own banquet (kids event is included in price of ticket no matter how many kiddos you bring)!!
Click on the link below for additional information and to register the kiddos!! Hurry – there are limited spots available!!!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER KIDDOS FOR NICKELS FOR NETS BANQUET: (you can also order N4N shirts here)
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE HEALING FAITH EVENT ONLINE: (Please let me know if you purchase tickets this way so that I can place you at my table)
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