Life Changing Promise

Seven years ago, we made the 10 minute drive to church and listened to a man talk about children in Uganda. That day we took home a little girl named Eva and began sponsoring her. I made a silent promise that day, one that would change my life. I promised to one day go and visit her.

It's amazing to me that in just 10 days I will be headed back to Uganda to see her for the 6th time.

Last week I received what I consider to be a very special early Christmas gift. I told you how I started sponsoring a little boy named Rodrigo from Peru. He's brought such joy to my life since then. My sweet friend Denise went with AMG on a Bundles of Love trip, which is the program they put on to give gifts to the children at Christmastime. She hopped on a plane headed for Peru and brought back some pictures of my handsome boy (and, yes. This is where I shamelessly brag about this sweet boy God blessed me with!)

I can hardly stand the cuteness!

With his sister and his Santa hat!

This is our friend Denise. I love the look he has on his face as she's showing him the hot wheels car!

As a result of that first sponsorship of Eva, my life has changed so much. Having our family sponsor her led me to Uganda where I met the girls I sponsor, Mariam and Sophie. Meeting them has had a lasting impact on my life. In fact, meeting them was why I chose to sponsor them in the first place. It led me to meet countless other children that I love with all my heart. But it also led me to Rodrigo.

When I started sponsoring him 2 months ago, I made another silent promise, one that I know will change my life. And one day I hope to go visit him. To see him and hug him and love him myself. And it is amazing to me how God has used these children, no more than a handful of years old, to a better understanding of His love for us and to allow me to do things and go places I hadn't imagined of before.

- Aly

Turning Someday into Today

I know, I know. I've been neglecting the blog lately. I've said it before, but I really can't begin to explain how crazy it is to work, coach, prepare for Christmas, and on top of all that prepare for the trip. I've never had to prepare for a trip this time of the year, and I must admit it's left me feeling a little off balance.

But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about today. My dear friend Karen wrote a blog post today about a girl she met in Uganda last summer. (You can read the post by clicking the link here.)


Her name is Angel. She was one of those kids that Karen just happened to find while out on home visits one day, but really I think Angel was meant to find Karen. You see, Karen hadn't been to Africa before. She works in the child sponsor department at AMG, so she has read the stories on paper. She's seen the faces through photos. But this trip, the stories and faces became real. And Angel is one such child.

After following Karen around, holding her hand, not wanting to leave her side it was finally time for us to get on the bus and leave. But just before we did, Karen found out that this sweet face that smiled at her, the precious hand that held hers all day long belonged to a child who is HIV positive. And a piece of her heart broke.

This child is a total orphan. If you read the information on Karen's blog you'll see that she was abandoned in a pile of garbage by her family after her parents died. She was literally plucked from the trash by a man who doesn't have the money to care for her. She's a child who is broken and in need of hope, so Karen is searching for someone to sponsor her.

Proverbs 3:27-28 says, "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, 'come back later; I'll give it tomorrow' -when you now have it with you."

I think so often we have this someday mentality. "I'll sponsor a child someday." "I'll get involved in ministry or missions or volunteer work someday." But according to this verse, if we have the time, resources, or talents to do something to help others right now then we need to do it.

We shouldn't spend our lives relying on someday because someday may never come. We may never have enough money, or have enough time, or get whatever it is we think we need before we can act. If we keep putting things off until someday then we will miss out on the blessing God has in store for us when we decide to act today.

So what do you say? Are you willing to turn your someday into today? Will you take a stand to help this child become who God has called her to be by sponsoring her for $28 a month? Today is the day you can change a life for eternity.


- Aly

Wondering Where I Went?

I spent the weekend visiting with my friends Karen and Ashley. I met Karen last April when I traveled to Chattanooga for meetings at AMG headquarters. We had been emailing before that and became instant friends. Karen was on the team that went to Uganda this past summer and she brought her friend Ashley. We all struck up quite a friendship in the two weeks we spent together and have been planning this get together for a few months now.

It was a time to spend hanging out, catching up on life, and enjoying each other's company. But it was also a time to just get away. Sometimes it's good to take a step back from everything. For me it was a time to gain some perspective on a few of the things that have been going on in my life recently. For one weekend I could just step back and have some fun instead of stressing over the trip (which starts in 24 days). Some things that had been cloudy in my mind are now a little clearer.

But just as everything else in life, it had to come to an end. I said good-bye yesterday, hopped on a couple planes and headed home. This morning I woke up, went back to work, and coached the girls in a hard-fought loss this evening. Life is still moving as quickly as it ever was, but after a few days away and a little perspective on things that I can tackle the obstacles ahead of me.

Just do me a favor. In a few days or weeks when the stress piles up again, remind me to take a step back and get some perspective again. I think I'll need it.

If you're finding yourself in over your head today, don't be afraid to take a moment to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Things may be rocky now, but God has a much bigger plan than what we see.

- Aly

Love One

Every 20 seconds, someone loses their life to AIDS. But the impact of those deaths reaches far beyond that one person. A mother just lost a son. A young girl just lost her best friend and playmate. A teenage boy just lost his mentor. A school just lost its best teacher. The shop down the street just lost its owner. And a hospital has one less nurse to treat the sick. Wives are left heart broken and children are left orphans without any hope.

In the time it took you to read that paragraph, another community lost an important member.

And over the next hour, 240 more will die of the terrible disease. Over the next year, approximately 2 million people will die of HIV/AIDS.

Out of all the areas of the world, sub-Saharan Africa has been affected the worst. This area of the world holds just 10% of the world's population but is home to 67% of people in the world living with AIDS. Most people don't know they have it. They are among the walking dead. And those who know they have it, often can't afford to buy the medication that will save their lives.

The people who are impacted the most are the children. They're left behind as the family's breadwinners, raising their younger siblings, growing up faster than any child should have to all because of this silent killer.

Today is World AIDS day, a day to raise awareness about this global pandemic that is now second only to the Black Death as the largest in history. It's a day to look at the facts before us and take a stand.

I'm wearing a special shirt in honor of my brothers and sisters at Upendo who've been affected in some way by this disease. These are sweet kids who have stolen my heart over the years.

On the front the shirt says 147 Million Orphans (the estimated number of children living without parents in our world today). On the back it says this:

That's all God calls us to do, just to love one. When we see the statistics they can feel overwhelming. 2 million people will die this year of AIDS alone. That doesn't include the million more that will die this year of malaria, or the millions more that will die from hunger. By ourselves we can't rid the world of these statistics. But we can make a difference if we would do what we could for one, if we fed one, if we helped give medical care to one. The world is much too big for one person to do all the work. But we can make a difference if we just love one.

- Aly

Voice of the Voiceless

As I wrote on Saturday, I have been beginning to really look into what God's word says about poverty. Today I read a passage from Deuteronomy.

When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don't go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don't go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. When you gather grapes in your vineyard, don't glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. - Deuteronomy 24:19-21

The Lord has given myself and also my family a heart for the widows and orphans of this world. These are some of the most vulnerable people on earth. They're considered easy targets. For widows, many of which live in male-dominated cultures, they have no men to protect them from those who would take advantage of them. In fact we've heard so many stories while in Uganda about people who have taken advantage of widows, using them to gain something whether it's receiving help for their own children at the widow's expense or taking over land or property. For the orphan, without parents to care for and watch over them, they are at the mercy of others. If a family agrees to take an orphaned child in and feed him so long as he works all day doing hard labor, that child has no choice but to do whatever will feed his stomach.

But God calls us to take a stand, to care for those who some consider sitting ducks. God is commanding us to look after orphans and widows. In the day that this passage was written, the illustration of fields, vineyards, and olive groves would have been easy to understand. While it still it, I think it's easy for us to say, "Well I don't harvest crops so this doesn't really apply to me." But that couldn't be less true. Whether we put a plow to the earth or not, we collect a harvest. We may not grow more rows of grain than we need, but do we make more money than we need? Notice I'm not talking about wants. I'm saying do we make more money than we need to cover our basic needs? We may not have olive trees, but do we something else to share, some talent or time to care for others?

If we love God as much as we claim to then we must obey Him. Part of that obedience is to take care of the widows and orphans of this world. We are to take a stand for those who have no voice to cry out for help, no strength to stand up for themselves, and no one else to turn to in a time of need.

- Aly

Hard to Believe

It's hard to believe that in a few short weeks I'll be walking these rusty dirt roads,

be greeted by street vendors,

seeing smiles on the faces of the children I love,

saying hello to ones I don't know yet,

blowing bubbles,

and joining together with my sweet brothers and sisters in Christ to make a difference.

It's hard to believe, but believe it I will because God has some big things in store, and I can't wait to take part in it all.


- Aly

A Gaping Hole

As I was reading my Bible this evening, I really felt God leading me to dive deeper into what His word says about the poor. After coming home from our last trip, I read A Hole in our Gospel, by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision. It is an amazing and eye-opening book that I highly recommend. So many sections stood out to me, but I want to share one that keeps coming to the forefront of my mind and is the inspiration of this study of what God says about poverty and helping the poor.

The author talks about his friend Jim Wallis who, as a seminary student, conducted an experiment with a few of his classmates. They perused all 66 books of the Bible, underlining every passage and verse dealing with poverty, wealth, justice, and oppression. After this, one of the men took scissors and cut out each of those verses leaving a tattered Bible that barely held together. When Jim would speak in public about poverty he would hold this Bible up and say, "Brothers and sisters, this is our American Bible; it is full of holes. Each one of us might as well take our Bibles, a pair of scissors, and begin cutting out all the scriptures we pay no attention to, all the biblical texts that we just ignore."

That is a very powerful illustration that at times is hard to accept. But unfortunately it is entirely accurate. If you don't believe me, then just watch the news. Did you see all the footage of the Black Friday madness? People were getting beat up, and crazy ladies were pepper spraying people because they tried to take an X-Box she wanted. I understand that's the extreme end of the spectrum but as Americans we live with a mentality that everyone in the world lives as we do. Unfortunately, it's just not so.

That thought is overwhelming me tonight. As I sit warm and safe in my own room, one of many rooms in my home, complete with a bed, electricity, the computer I'm typing on and more, there are young women just like me sleeping on the hard ground. They have no dressers filled with clothes. For some, what they are wearing might be all they own. There are children who went to bed hungry tonight, and tomorrow morning they will still be hungry because their families have no money for food. There are babies crying who won't be held, and old grandmothers who have no idea how they will provide for their grandchildren now that they have been left orphaned by AIDS.

Please know that it was not my intention to make anyone feel guilty, but rather I am trying to give perspective, as well as process all the thoughts in my head. What we see today, everything that surrounds us right now, it isn't the norm in this world. It's easy to think that because it's what we see immediately in front of us, but over 40% of people in this world live on less than $2 a day. That's almost half of the 6.5 billion people living and breathing on this earth.

And tonight, I can't quite seem to wrap my mind around that.

- Aly