How many times have you told someone your story? Sharing mine is a relatively new thing for me to do, considering I was 20 years old before I discovered the freedom and the joy it brings. When I left for … Continue reading
Don’t Say No
Tag Archives: orphans
God’s Accomplishment
It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives. ~Ephesians … Continue reading
Let’s Talk Adoption
Orphan Sunday was yesterday, November 4th. As an adoptive parent I look forward to this day because it brings exposure to the plight of the orphan and the need for Christian adoptive parents. It also brings me to a point … Continue reading
Wrecked.
Wrecked is a word we’ve been hearing around Long Hollow and will continue to hear in the days ahead. What does that even mean? I vividly remember being “wrecked” on my first visit to Haiti. This particular trip was a … Continue reading
Common Things
In Jeremie, Haiti at the orphanage!
On a recent trip to Haiti, I was struck—not most by what vast differences there were between me and the people I met, but all that I had in common with these precious folks.
Obviously, we live in very different places. Though my family would be considered mostly middle class in this country, I was incredibly wealthy compared to those I encountered. I’m Caucasian; they’re dark skinned. I have a college degree. Most of them hardly have any type of formal education.
The differences are vast, no doubt.
But…we are a LOT alike!
What do we have in common? Sin. Death. The transforming power of the gospel, of human touch, of a smile. The language of music. The joy of knowing Jesus.
We were challenged to not look on the Haitians with pity, but with the knowledge that the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
“Thank You, Lord, for the privilege of seeing You at work in the lives of people everywhere and the reminder that Your love, grace, and mercy are for everyone, everywhere!”
Vivian
An African Adventure
I’ve traveled internationally on several occasions, but this trip put new meaning to international travel! On the way over, we traveled for forty-two hours before we reached our destination. We left Saturday, May 26th and got to Mbira, Uganda at 3:00 am on Monday, May 28th. Uganda is eight hours ahead of Nashville time, so needless to say it took our body clock awhile to catch up!
After arriving at the Mbira orphanage, you can only imagine how tired we were, but there was work to do before we slept! It took about an hour to get our cots set up and our living quarters in order before we were able to lay down for some rest. The following is a day-by-day journal of what we experienced:
Monday:
Spent the day getting acclimated. We slept in Monday morning and had 
an orientation that afternoon with Tony Applegate, the missionary who was our host for the week. We ate all of our evening meals with the Applegates. After dinner each evening, the ladies went to the girl’s home for devotions, and the guys went to the boy’s home. We all sat on the floor with a small lantern in the middle that provided light. My favorite part of devotion was hearing them sing! I could listen to them all night.
Tuesday:
We had the world’s longest VBS at Mbira. It lasted seven hours and was such a fun day! There was laughter and smiles everywhere. We did crafts, recreation and worship. The girls were extremely competitive! They also picked up the games faster!
Wednesday:
We loaded into two vans and went off-roading! The goal was to visit ten Jajas, the name affectionately given to widows. At each stop we gave them bags with sugar and soap. The joy and excitement on their faces was worth the effort. Some shouted, some danced but all were thrilled with the gift. Continue reading
Uganda
Uganda Team May 2012
By the time you read this, our Uganda team will be well into our first
day across the world. Right now we are sitting at the Detroit airport
for six hours before we depart! I’ve been asking around and here are some
words that describe what team members are feeling: excited, anxious,
blessed with the opportunity to go, tired, ready to get there, wondering what
God is going to do, and longing to see His face in a different place.
It is our privilege to go and minister in two different orphanages
that Long Hollow has helped to build in Mbira and Kyotera. We will be
doing VBS, serving the elderly in the village church, and ministering to
the women in the village. Tony and Kristi Applegate and their five
children will be our host for the week and we hope to provide them
encouragement and help.
Uganda has a population of 35,873,253. The life expectancy is 53. 49%
of the population is under the age of 15. The orphan population in
this country alone is 2,500,000.
Please pray for us. Our team is 15 strong and we are excited about
all that God has in store for us. If you want to be specific, please
pray for:
Our health and safety
Unity among team members
More than anything, pray that we make much of Jesus!
We will try to keep you updated through the week. Check Facebook or back
here on our blog!
Til He Shouts,
Julie Woodruff
Women’s Minister
Long Hollow Baptist Church
