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Crystal Springs Preschool Raises the Roof for HEED!

 

In 2009, Crystal Springs did their second bowl-a-thon for HEED to help build our first building on the land they helped us purchase the year before. Early this spring, Julie visited each of the classes to teach the kids a little bit about life in Uganda so they could understand why their family was raising funds and bowling for HEED. They learned about carrying water from a muddy water hole, parasites, and having to boil water before you can drink it- even when you are thirsty. It’s a privilege to help kids gain an appreciation of the conveniences we enjoy with our Western lifestyle.

The event was tons of fun, as always. Karen Gunderson and Lisa Revelle wrote and performed another certain hit for the event: “Building our Foundation…Keeping the Ball Rolling…” Watch for it on YouTube or American Idol someday! ;-)

Well, they certainly did keep the ball rolling toward finishing one of our first school buildings! Last year they raised $2646 to help build the foundation, and their goal was to raise enough to complete the rest of the building.

When we started the planning, we didn’t have a completed bid for the actual cost, but guessed we would need about $4000 to finish the building. At the end of the evening, they had raised $2740. A sizable total for one small preschool! Then the impossible seemed to happen. More donations came in, and the final total raised for the two events was $6391. The bid to construct the building came back just the week before the event-14,877,000 shillings. Guess what? At today’s exchange rate, the  building will cost $6391 to construct- the exact amount raised!

In this journey of faith, we have learned that God does in fact give us exactly what is needed!

Thank you, Crystal Springs for bowling ” a perfect score!”

Donations Reproduce!

Thanks to all who helped HEED purchase our land last year. Your donations are bearing fruit! Well, actually they are bearing beans and maize!  Acres of beans and maize just about ready for harvest on HEED’s recently purchased land in Uganda. This will provide food for the 300 kids in our school, plus much needed funds to help support the operating costs! Thank you to so many who have helped this come to pass.

Crystal Springs Preschool will Bowl for Bricks May 21, 2010

Last year Crystal Springs Co Op Preschool participated in a Bowl A Thon at Robinhood Lanes to help HEED raise funds for desks for the children at the HEED Primary Co Op School in the remote village of Myaliiro in Uganda. Not only did they have a terrific time, they raised over twice their goal! Those extra funds were put toward the purchase of acreage for a permanent site for the school. This year they are bowling again, and hoping to raise enough funds to help construct the first ever permanent school building on the site!

A little school with a BIG Heart! Thank you Crystal Springs!!

Help, Equip… Evangelize and Disciple.

The name HEED came from God’s original instructions. In late 2005, after my first visit to Uganda,  I began to understand God’s heart cry for the millions of orphaned children who were just waiting to be scooped up and loved into the kingdom of God. I felt God’s heart that He was broken  as I was for the overwhelming needs of the children for love, care and provision, but I felt an urgency  and almost an expectancy in the heart of God for the thousands of children who could come to know Him if the church would respond in obedience to the call to help the widows and orphans in their distress. I sensed anticipation of a great harvest that would come through that love, but was completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of the need, and still had no idea that God was going to ask me to be a part of His plan. I was just broken for the hopeless children I met, and God was showing me that He had a redemptive plan. He told me that it was like I was looking at the back of a tapestry where the threads look like a chaotic mess. He told me to turn it over, that He had a plan. When you look at the front side of a tapestry, the pattern emerges.  The next day, I woke up with four words running through my head:  help, evangelize, disciple, equip…. help, evangelize, disciple, equip…. I still remember where I was standing when God revealed, “That’s my plan. You help them with the physical needs, you give them the gospel, train them up in it, and then equip them for the future… In that order. And you are way back at the beginning with help! Just follow my plan.”

So, help, evangelize, disciple and equip became the game plan for the 17 children God had placed into our path, and He began to miraculously provide for them. Then, more than a year later when we needed a name for what was growing into a ministry, Heidi Davis in the US and Tomusange Silas in Uganda, who had never spoken, both contacted me to suggest rearranging the letters into  the name HEED on the same day. Heidi recalls that she was sitting at a red light on 196th & 76th in Lynnwood when God, said “HEED” to her. She quickly called Julie and left her a voicemail telling her the name God put onto her heart. Tom had sent a text message with the same name suggestion that arrived almost simultaneously.

Then I looked up the definition of HEED. It was: to stop and pay attention to, to take into account when acting. I cried.

So, God gave us both the game plan and the name in a way that confirmed the calling to follow Him in obedience to help, evangelize, disciple and equip  his orphaned and hurting children into the kingdom of God.

Join US! Sunday May 16, 2010

 You are INVITED!!

WHAT:         The 3rd Annual pamper yourself and change a life day of , MANICURES, ACRYLIC NAILS AND WAXING at MAGIC NAILS!

Magic Nails Salon will open it’s doors at 12 Noon till 5pm on Sunday,May 16th 2010, JUST FOR THE FRIENDS OF HEED

                                                        (that’s YOU!)

 ALL proceeds from the day will go directly to HEED! 

COME!  Bring your friends, bring your MOM, your daughter, your Sister, your Mother in-law, your neighbor, YOUR HUSBAND AND YOUR SONS ! 

Come, relax and be pampered while you change the life of hundreds of children!

 The monies from this event will go direct to the education of 225 (for now) students of the HEED Primary Co-op School!                 

WHEN:          Sunday, May 16th 2010

WHERE:       Magic Nails

                        8410 Main Street , Edmonds, WA 98026  (AT Five Corners)

RSVP:           Please call Tina, owner of Magic Nails at 425.670.3885 to make an appointment. 

                        We ask that you make an appointment to make sure enough staff is on hand to serve you.

                       The more appointments that are booked, the more gals Tina will bring in for this special event.  

If you have any questions, please contact Julie @ 425.239.6123 or Heidi @ 206.384.9584

          

Maama Julie and Julia Davis (HEED's youngest volunteer) at Magic Nails

 WE ARE SO LOOKING FORWARD TO SHARING THIS FUN TIME WITH YOU!

 

Cheri is changed forever after her journey to the field! (Spring 2010 Trip to the Field)

Back from Uganda (only physically!) 

Cheri found a friend and lost her heart in Myaliiro!

    I’m so excited to fill you in on my trip! Thank you ALL for your financial support and prayers.  This trip was a huge blessing to me in many ways.  Brett kept saying “you are in your element” and boy was I!!   From the very beginning of our trip we experienced God’s provision and attention to every little needed detail. It was life changing to personally see Him work in such real ways.

     In our first week, we focused on the children in HEED’s Full-care program. These kids came from a remote village called Myaliiro (about 7 miles from the main road on a very narrow, pot holed dirt trail of a road!) about 70 miles from the city. This village has no clean water or electricity and the people live well below poverty level in mostly mud or brick huts. Folks walk miles to carry water home from a dirty pond.  I was shocked at what I saw, but also impressed with how people do the best they can in all circumstances. Most of the adults are in the area are illiterate and live a subsistence existence.  Before HEED began working in the village, schooling options were almost non-existent.  With generosity from God’s people, they began a village school in 2007. Right now, their school buildings look like shacks with 50 kids/ classroom. Through God’s amazing grace HEED has purchased 8 acres of land for a permanent school campus and are trusting God for the funds to begin building this summer! HEED started by supporting a few kids through sponsorship, but after spending time in the village, it was clear that there was an endless number of needy children who couldn’t all be taken out of the village. The school has already grown to 225 children and the village has galvanized its support with its own PTA Organization!!  There are 7 teachers for all these kids, and I can see that the school is a beacon of hope to the entire village.

 Now back to the 21 Full-care kids in the city…..

      These children were once the neediest and most vulnerable in the village, but with full sponsorship are provided a quality Christian boarding school education (highly esteemed in Uganda), medical and dental care, clothing, shoes, and all the necessities to grow and become all that God intended them to be. It was touching to really get to know the kids, teachers, headmaster and the school nurse, who do so much in the lives of these kids with shockingly few resources.

     Our first day, kids at the boarding school treated us to an authentic African instrument dance and inspiring singing. I did some medical training, and had created a portable first aid kit for the school and it was put to almost immediate use. I saw my bandaids on knees the very next day! They needed everything I brought and more…  We also brought a few soccer balls/ jump ropes and had fun enjoying them with the kids. There are 600 happy kids at the school,  but there is almost no playground equipment to entertain them.

     It was  heartwarming to see the full-care kids warmly welcome “Maama Julie” who has cared for the children through HEED since 2005.  I learned about their life stories and where they have come from.  As you can imagine I fell in love with each one…

Teopista, Miriam, Janet, Winnie, Jovia, Stella Oliva, Agenes, Hannah, Simon, Henry, Gideon, Joshua, Kamukauma (Kam for short), Benjamin, William, Boy Jake, Justus, Owen and Jackson.  Most have no parents or they are vulnerable because of overwhelming poverty. But with HEED’s intervention, they now have a chance.  I absolutely loved the time I spent with these kids—my mommy heart was on overload.  Julie sees a remarkable the difference in them from when they came into the program until now.  The kids eagerly eat thin porridge for breakfast and rice and beans for lunch and dinner every day, but at least they never have to worry IF they will eat. Schooling is such a privilege that they all work so hard. Several of the children were running for school election positions and are considered leaders in the school. Most were years behind when they came to HEED-they have come a long way in such a short time!  The potential for these kids is so exciting.

Francine and Zach Argue travel to Uganda to meet the HEED kids, for Jesus’ sake! Spring 2010 Trip to the Field

Journal Notes from Francine Argue

My 3 goals for this trip are:

1) Meet Boy Jake, the boy I have sponsored for 5 years

2) Deliver OCC (Operation Christmas Child) gifts personally to all HEED kids

3) Be helpful to both the boarding and the village schools
Here are a few notes from my trip!

3/10/10 Wednesday
Today was a great day! We were able to go to the Alpha and Omega boarding school (over 700 students) where the full care kids go to school. Zach and I met Boy Jake for the first time-the boy I have sponsored for 5 years. This was very special for me to see this little boy who I pray for and support financially. Just like Pinochio’s father says, “He’s a real boy!” I have seen pictures and read about what his life was like before HEED. Now, he is a happy, healthy boy-what a difference in him!
Zach was a superstar on the playground with all the children, especially the boys although the older girls especially thought he was very cute! I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen him have so much fun! He was dripping with sweat playing soccer with the boys and sometimes sitting or standing with a huge crowd all around him. As we were leaving the school grounds they were shouting, “Bye Zach”! It was so cute!
I held a long jump rope on one side with another child (they took turns) and they had so much fun jumping rope. They really enjoyed the 2 extra long jump ropes and the soccer balls we brought for them. The children here are beautiful!
The music class performed dances, they sang and played instruments. It was heavenly-really! They were in perfect harmony and they loved to sing! They sang some songs in their native language (Lugandan) and some in English. Their instruments were all unique (hand-made, I think) but were similar to the xylophone, stringed instruments, maracas and African drums. Their rhythm and dancing was so fun to watch!
Cheri was able to take a large First Aid kit to the school nurse with lots of extra first aid supplies. The nurse and headmaster (Mr. Kentu Pattson) were very grateful!

3/11/10 Thursday
I got to spend several hours observing the classes and playing with the children at the boarding school. I was able to observe 3 classes at length today-Grade 6, Grade 5, and Grade 4. The 6th grade class had close to 100 kids but they were soon going to make it into 2 classes. The 4th and 5th grade had 50-60 kids in each. The children are very well behaved and very respectful to their teachers.
The children are very welcoming and they stand when they are called on to answer a question. They also sing a darling welcoming song whenever a visitor enters their classroom. “Welcome all guests to your classroom” was one class’s #1 class rule! They all speak very good English and no vernacular (their native language) talking is allowed (rule #2 in the same classroom). The teachers mostly teach by saying things and the children (all of them-together) repeat back what the teacher said. When the teacher has a question for the kids most kids raise their hands and know the answer. The only school supplies each classroom has are a chalkboard, an eraser and chalk. They have very old posters (hand-made mostly and not laminated) hanging on the walls about different things they learn about in their class. One might be math formulas, another one a map of Africa with all the countries (they were studying East African countries).
I was able to talk in each of the classes about American schools, tell them that $2,ooo schillings=$1 and then I played “around the world” with them with math flash cards. They loved it but it took a long time for all the children to get a turn! These teachers have so many more challenges than teachers in the US!
Zach stayed with me in the 6th grade class but besides that, he just played with the kids. He went into a 7th grade class (without me) and actually helped some of them with finding the area of a circle and there were some things he learned from them! Zach is very popular with all the children (all ages) and he is clearly enjoying every minute at the school. It is so wonderful to have him with our team!
We had a special time after school today to appreciate all the teachers with small gifts we brought to them. The favorite items were the sunglasses, small candles, small kitchen towels and the Puget Sound flashlight key chains (that Julie brought). The headmaster was very complimentary of the HEED children-their academics and their behavior. This was great to hear! Very encouraging to us!

3/12/ 2010 Friday
Zach and I spent about 9 hours at the school today. I visited grades 2 and 3 today at Alpha and Omega. Each class has 50-60 students! I am writing down a lot of the posters that are in their classrooms and hopefully future groups that return can bring them laminated posters with very strong tape to put them up in their classrooms. The one thing I would recommend more than anything would be manual pencil sharpeners (large ones that could be nailed into the wall). I was in a 2nd grade class where I witnessed the teacher sharpening a student’s pencil with a razor! She told me she has to do it for all her students because of course they might cut themselves (she never has, amazingly)! Top (Kindergarten) class and grades 1 and 2 use mostly pencils and Grades 3 and up use mainly pens-I think because they don’t have to sharpen them!
I’ve been in most of the classrooms and I am very impressed with the staff at Alpha and Omega. The teachers are totally dedicated and very qualified to teach. There are several male teachers which gives the children positive male role models. The students are on task most of the time (they are human!) and they are making the most of this opportunity to learn with very little resources.
Around 3-5 pm the entire school had an assembly so different students could campaign and run for different offices and jobs at the school. 3 of the HEED children made speeches. They did well and they seem to be very well liked by their peers. After the assembly, we had all the HEED children with us in 1 of the classrooms and they each got to make 2 bracelets with letter beads to spell their name and their friends’ names. They loved this! We also had prayer all together and every one of the HEED kids prayed and said what they were thankful for and for their sponsors. It was precious! They have so little yet they are so thankful!

March 13, Saturday
This was the best day to me so far because we were able to spend about 8-9 hours straight with the kids because they were only in class until noon (on Saturday!). At 1st we met in 1 of the classes and I did my lesson on “In His Image” with the scripture “I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful” Psalm 139:14. I told the story about how King Saul had become selfish and loved himself more than God so God sent the prophet Samuel (ISamuel 16) to Jesse to anoint 1 of his sons to be the future king. I lined up 8 of the HEED boys from biggest to smallest and I had Zach be Jesse and I was Samuel. I told how Samuel went down the line thinking the biggest, strongest son was going to be the future king and going all down the line of 7 of his sons. When Samuel got to the end God told him that none of those 7 brothers were to be king so Samuel ask Jesse if he had any other sons to which Jesse replied that he had 1 more but he was a small shepherd boy. But, because God looks at the heart instead of our outward appearance (the main point of my lesson), he told Samuel he had found the correct son to anoint in David as the future king. I then gave out small compact mirrors (with a pop-out brush inside too) and I talked to the children about how each of them was special and unique and how much God loves them. I told them they were made in God’s image, they were special and unique and they were a designer original in small parts where they repeated these things back to me as they were looking into their own mirrors. At the end I told them that every time they look into their new mirror I wanted them to remember our lesson and say those things to themselves so they will never forget it!
We were waiting on our bus so we gave out the small wooden crosses and different colors of permanent markers. They wrote their names on them and most of them wrote other wonderful things like, “Jesus saved me from my sins” or “Jesus loves me” or other great things.
Our bus finally arrived (a very nice one!) and we took all the HEED kids to Wonder World Water and Amusement Park. It was an amusement park with a few rides and a playground and inside play area too (Like a McDonald’s play land) and even a large dance floor where I was told William and others danced for Cheri and Julie! I wish I could have seen it!
Zach and I were busy swimming with the younger kids because we were the only ones with swimsuits and I was so glad to be in cool water on a hot day and even more blessed to get to swim with the small children who wouldn’t have been able to swim without an adult in the water! I was mainly with Tabby (Tom’s adopted daughter), Hannah, Agnes and Owen but Benjamin, Gideon and Boy Jake also spent a lot of time in the pool too. The best part of swimming with the kids was hearing Tabby squeal with delight every time she jumped into the pool to me! Her huge smile was so fun to see because she is normally very shy. Hearing her say, “Daddy, watch” to Tom was precious too.
After swimming I took the smaller ones to the small car ride where there were big smiles everywhere from the kids! Then we went to the big indoor play area and Zach and the kids had a great time but never any complaining or whining when we said it was time to go-or any other time either!
We took all 21 HEED kids (ranging from around 5-16 years old)to Mama Rabina’s guest house where we were all served a traditional African homemade meal-chicken (a rare thing because they give them eggs) with a beef yummy sauce, yellow rice, thin green beans and carrots and something like a think tortilla (I forgot the name of it). It was very good food! But before we ate, Tom asked the kids which child wanted to pray and Cam raised his hand and even though I couldn’t hear a word he said, it was beautiful to see.
The children got to have Fanta Orange Soda and have fresh pineapple too. Not one of the 21 kids said a word during dinner until they were finished because they were enjoying their meal so much! They used forks (and some knives too) and they normally eat with their hands (scooping it up from a bowl). I sat across from Jackson who nervously looked up at me as he was eating and trying not to drop rice or anything else. Most (if not all) of the kids went back for seconds. Jackson was the last one eating and he reminded me so much of Jacob –the amount of food he could put away and how slowly he ate and how he definitely enjoyed his food!
On the way back to Alpha and Omega School it was dark outside, the windows were open with a cool breeze and many of the children spontaneously started singing praise songs-some in English that we know and some in Lugandan (their native language). They did 2 and 3 part harmony all on their own without anyone leading them! It was truly heavenly. They obviously sing a lot!
When we got back to Alpha and Omega, we gave out the OCC care packages. My dream of seeing children open and enjoy these things that are collected all year had finally happened! Many of them hugged me and graciously thanked me. It was very rewarding but emotional too. They all promised to share with the other children at Alpha and Omega.

March 14, Sunday
This day was amazing! First we went to Mama Robinah’s kid’s street church. These children (It’s for kids but a few teenagers help lead worship) are from the slums of Kampala and they all walk to church by themselves-some holding a sibling on their back or holding their hand. Church starts at 7:30 a.m. so most of them would need to get up very early to get there on time. Their worship was precious and very moving to me-the words take on new meaning in this situation. They sang a song that went, “It’s not hard to do what’s right when you are walking in God’s light”. These children have nothing but they love God and he is their joy! I was pretty much a crying basket case after their worship and somehow I was supposed to teach them! Whenever I start crying it is so hard to stop but somehow the Lord helped me get control of myself and I was able to teach the same “In His Image” lesson to these children. It wasn’t what I had planned to do, but it was the right thing. After the story, we gave the kids a piece of candy (“sweetie” to them) and then they received a cup of porridge (possibly their only meal that day). We also met an American missionary family who had 3 boys-the oldest was Zach’s age. The dad is the administrator/director of the African Children’s Choir. He helped lead worship part of the time with his guitar. They had been in Kampala for 1 year and they said they had 2 more years to go.
Then we went to Alpha and Omega’s chapel service. Jovia (one of the HEED kids) led the worship team! The school’s wonderful musical group did “At the Cross” with one of the children standing on a table with a small garment wrapped around his middle and he closed his eyes and held both arms out like he was on the cross during the song. It was amazing to me how personal their worship is. After worship, Julie spoke to about 600 of the students (all but the little ones) about how God had put Uganda on her heart many years ago and she had to walk in obedience one step at a time. I think it was great for all of the children (mostly HEED kids) to hear her whole story of why she is here often and how she is not only helping them but the entire village of Myaliiro where HEED has started a village school with around 225 students.
After Julie spoke we all went down to the “little” church (Alpha and Omega’s youngest children) with around 100 little ones from 3-6 years old. Julie told the story of adults crowding around Jesus and how children wanted to listen, see and touch him. I helped with the kids to act this story out and we told them how much Jesus loves children. Then I spoke for a little while about how they are made in the image of God. Zach and I also taught them to count to 13 in Spanish!
After both services we drove for 3+ hours to Jinji where we saw the source of the Nile River (we put our feet in) where Lake Victoria (one of the largest lakes in the world) and the Nile come together. We took a little boat cruise (like a large canoe) and learned about all the birds, trees and fish (mostly Talopi and perch). There was also a beautiful waterfall where we saw 2 different Africans go over it-one swam and the other went over it in a 1 person kayak (with lots of drama)!

March 15, Monday
We had a box of clothes for the older HEED girls who each got 2 outfits and the 2 Matrons got an outfit too-we had just enough! They all looked so beautiful in their new clothes! Thank you Gina Messenger!
March 16, Tuesday
We made the 4 hour trip to a remote village called Myaliiro. What HEED is doing with the children at Alpha and Omega and now in the village starting a school that now 225 children attending is astounding! The children performed (in beautiful English) for us. Cheri videotaped it. I could watch it a million times and never tire of seeing their sweet smiling faces singing songs of praise to God and the enthusiastic way they dance.
Tom Silas, the African man who works for HEED and drives us everywhere is so nice! He really takes good care of us and I know he is very tired much of the time because of our long days and he does all the driving. He is wise beyond his 20 “something” years and he is totally committed to the children at Alpha and Omega and in the village.

March 17, Wednesday
We took pictures of every child with a name card so Julie can get them sponsors and then we got to hand out the OCC packages! It was amazing to see their little faces! They were very grateful and they enjoyed everything so much! There was just enough for every student, every teacher and 1 toddler that was with a teacher that wanted one! We even had enough for absent children! It was very moving to me and really made me feel even more that this project is pleasing to God for these children.
These are some things I learned for the future when packing the care packages: don’t pack anything chewy like tootsie rolls, starbursts or laffy taffy because they don’t like anything stuck in their teeth! Balls of any kind are great and so are Frisbees, yo yo’s, school supplies and hard candy! Smarties are great because there are lots of individual pieces and they like to share! We need to try to avoid toys or puzzles with lots of pieces because many times they didn’t know what to do with them. We really need toothpaste in all the packages. Many did not get toothpaste and I felt terrible (we had run out).
Before the gifts I forgot to say that Julie spoke about the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly and how God changes us into something beautiful when we give our lives to him. Many (100-200 of the 225 kids) asked Jesus into their hearts after her message! I held up pictures of the different stages that a caterpillar develops into a beautiful butterfly.

March 18, Thursday
Today when we got to the village Cheri and I passed out de-worming pills (with water) to the children and we took the pictures of the children who were absent yesterday when we did all the other children. Cheri typed up lists of all the children at the village school by their classrooms from a master list from Rusty. This will be very helpful for Julie to use in the future and for the individual quilt squares we are going to do for each child. Our plan is to make a few different quilts with every child having a quilt square with their name on it. We will do one quilt for the full-care kids who wrote their own names on their squares. Amanda Sandico will sew the squares together onto a blanket and then I plan to ask Terry Green to make them into quilts! It will be so neat to know that each square represents a sweet African child that we met and that touched our lives!
There were 2 boys named James (about 5 or 6) and Ivan (about 3 or 4) that were absent yesterday because they were attending their mother’s funeral! This was the saddest story but I was so glad to give them OCC care packages that we had saved for absent students. They slowly enjoyed the “sweeties” with brown somber eyes. I got out the little football that was in one of their packages and played catch with them. I got James to smile and Ivan to laugh. I hope the toys can be a good distraction. James has to take care of his little brother and no one is in charge of them. It’s absolutely heart-breaking!
Evaluation
This was an incredible experience that Zach and I will never, ever forget! We have so much to be thankful for in the United States. It seems so unfair that we have so much and the Africans have so little. However, in many ways, they are blessed far more than all of us! They live by faith every single day and appreciate everything that is given to them. They are continually nice, polite and very loving ALL the time! In many ways I want to be more like them! It is my responsibility to use my resources and my life to help children like the ones I met on this trip. I hope to speak for HEED about what I experienced and I hope to help bring more sponsors to the children of Myaliiro. I will continue to work collecting and purchasing items for OCC year round for those care packages that help to let the children that go to the village school know that they are loved and special and that the greatest gift ever given was Jesus Christ. I also hope to prepare future teams with educational materials that will really help the teachers at the boarding and village schools. I will continue to pray for Julie, HEEd and for Tom and the incredible journey that is happening and will continue to happen. I will pray for more Africans to come alongside Tom and Mama Rabina to assist with all that needs to be done. I will pray for Godly men and women to hear the call to help the village children in Myaliiro. We are all called by God to go and make disciples of all nations-this can look different for all of us. We can use our talents that God has given us and God will show us how to give back to Him. Sometimes he will use our weaknesses and we don’t always like this. Whatever His will, whatever his way, I want to do the will of God!

See the pictures of their trip at www.heeduganda.org
At the bottom of our homepage we have a link to Zach Argue’s presentation from his trip to Uganda.

Tom’s thoughts on those that serve God through HEED August 2009

“All in all I would like to thank you for your willing, humble and generous hearts. Thank you for all that you’re doing to make life better for those who don’t really know you, us all. I know it must be hard for you to know and understand how greatly you are blessing us; I may never be able to describe how your loving hearts have brought hope into our lives here. The other day when I was seated in the container all alone, looking at the books and all that is in it at the moment; seeing the kids playing happily on the outside through the window; I thought of how hard you’ve struggled, the sacrifices you have made, and my heart was overwhelmed with praises to God because of you. Someday, when we have all gone, one little one or someone faithful will testify of the Lords goodness and maybe will tell our story:).”  

Tom

Note:

In Africa, history is past on through stories.  May the story of HEED ALWAYS give glory to the one who sent us, the King of Kings. 

With hearts full of gratitude for what He has done for us, we gladly serve, so that the whole world may know! 

  Maama Heidi

His beauty is everywhere

The sun setting on Myaliiro

Mpact Girls of Edmonds, Washington bring water in Jesus’ name!

STARS Mpact Girls change lives!

STARS Mpact Girls change the lives of hundreds of children!

Magic Nails of Edmonds, GIVES ! Come Support their efforts!