And a few more days have gone by...

This weekend was full of new experiences for the Gonzalez family. On Saturday, the whole crew loaded up and headed out on an hour long drive…. Our first destination- the NILE! I was so excited when I heard that we were going to go to the famous river where a lot of history has taken place. When we arrived, we were bombarded by all the little shops that were occupied by the locals and their target being us, the tourists. Those of you who have been to Mexico, the shopping in Uganda is much like that. We are persuaded to come shop and then get the opportunity to bargain with them. It’s quite the experience.
Once we made our way past the shops, we all boarded long wooden boats (you can see them in the pics.) We got a tour of the Nile, well a small portion anyways. Lake Victoria, One of the top largest lakes in the world, dumps into the Nile. We got to see a ton of birds and little monkeys sitting up in the treetops. Our boat driver tore down a whole Aloe Vera plant for a guy on our boat that was kidding saying he wanted it. It was very funny. After our cruising we went to a restaurant right on the river and shared huge Talapia fish (also in the pictures.) They were amazing!
We loaded back onto the bus and went to Bujagali Falls. Talk about beautiful! The falls were one of the most spectacular things I’ve seen. We got to take another boat ride, but this time it was a little bit more bumpy. We saw thousands of bats hanging in trees and flying overhead- It was neat but also kind of eery. We stopped a few times to look at the falls from different perspectives and at one stop, one of the guys in our group proposed to his girlfriend who is also on the trip. It was cute. : )
On Sunday we went to a local church. The way that these people worship is truly fascinating. They are so genuine when they dance around and sing at the top of their lungs while sweating buckets. They love God with all of their heart and depend on Him for literally everything. I loved every minute of it and I now have a different perspective on what it means to worship God whole heartedly. After the two hour long service, we went to a Chinese restaurant. The food was different than our Chinese, it was basically Pineapple chicken, pineapple rice, and pineapple for dessert. Good thing I like pineapple!
This week we are continuing construction, but now get to do VBS as well. Today was the first day of VBS and it went great! The kids are so excited we are here. Not only are the orphans excited, but even the kids in the rest of the town. We walk home from the orphanage almost every day and as we walk down the street we are greeted by children waving and saying “bye Mazungu!” Mazungu means white people. We always giggle when we hear it.
Well it is time for me to go to bed- seeing as it is ten pm here. If you don’t see pictures on this blog right now, I promise you I will upload them sometime tomorrow. Thanks again for the prayers and I love reading your comments!!!
-Karlie

First days in Uganda!

We made it! I’m sure many of you were worried about us (especially Grams and Gramps) seeing as it’s been four days since we left and I still hadn’t blogged. Well, here it is….

As I was thinking about what to tell all of you, and how to put it, I realized there are really no words that could possibly describe our journey up to this point… but here is an attempt to describe it to you.
We arrived at our hotel in Seeta, Uganda at 10 pm (Uganda time) after twenty hours of flying. The next morning we had our very first team meeting and were told we were going into the Orphanage to “meet” the orphans and Mums*. I was excited, but really had no idea what to expect as all forty of us loaded up in vans and headed out.
We were less than a mile out and my uncle Bruce announced, “Okay so now would be a good time to grab your cameras!” We drove past a little boy who smiled really big and took off yelling and running in the direction our bus was headed. A moment later we heard children yelling in synchrony off in the distance. The sound got louder and louder until we came into contact with its source. (This is the part that is hard to describe to you.) We looked upon the faces of hundreds of children singing and reaching for our hands. Many of them held palms and branches and waved them towards us. The joy and excitement that each child shone on their face was so overwhelming that many of us couldn’t help but cry. It hit us in the face; God’s Holy Spirit was abounding in the lives of these children. We got off the bus and were instantly surrounded by little ones eager to hold our hand or talk to us. Put simply, It was pretty sweet!

The Work we are doing:
We started construction yesterday while we wait on our container*. We are helping build a new schoolhouse for the orphanage so that the kids can stay close to home. When were not doing physical labor, we are loving on each of the nine-hundred kids. It is such an awesome experience and I am so blessed to be a part of it!

Thank you for your prayers!
In Him,

Karlie or as the kids pronounce it “Kalrie”

*Mums: they are the women who take care of the orphans in the orphanage and take care of about twelve children each.
*Our container: We sent over a big dumpster looking thing that contains a bunch of items for Vacation Bible School. There were some technical difficulties that have delayed it, so it will be coming a week later than expected.

Plans for the trip!

The Gonzalez family is blessed to be a part of the "UKids" team heading to Seeta, Uganda June 21st and returning July 15th 2010. We are traveling with a group from Abundant Life Christian Church of Damascus, Oregon alongside my aunt and uncle Bruce and Debbie Douglas as well as several other church groups. To find out about the UKids mission, please visit ukids.org

*What are we going to be doing there?

Steve and Kirk: The guys get to be on "construction crew" building a school the first two weeks of the trip (in Seeta, Uganda.) The last week, they will be traveling to Lira to improve a basic orphanage kitchen.

Kristin, Mom (Pam), & Me (Karlie): We are a part of the Vacation Bible School team. We get to hang out with, minister to, and love on the orphans and "mums" (the women who are the mom's roughly twelve orphaned children) of the town.

We are so anxious and excited for the adventure that God has placed in our paths. My prayer is that God opens our eyes to reality and pulls us out of the bubble of comfortability and wealth we have bathed ourselves in. It's easy to just say "God, you're in control" but to FULLY trust Him whole-heartedly with my life is going to be the hardest part of this journey. We are in His hands and from here on out all of the blog posts will be evidence of Christ's work in Uganda.

We appreciate all your prayers and support!
Keep checking on the Blog 'cause there will be plenty of pictures and updates!

~Karlie

Romans 12:1-2 NIV "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to god- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do NOT conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.