kids, kids, and more kids

Greetings from Uganda!  After 22 hours of travel, being side roomed going through security in Chicago, almost missing my flight in Turkey and losing my bag in Uganda, I am finally here!  Being here is like a breath of fresh air.  Everything is so simple, the people are so genuine and friendly, and the kids are beyond amazing.  Last night (or I should say earlier this morning) I was picked up by Ruth and her fiance Daniel at the airport.  I can not tell you what a relief it was to see "Jenny, USA" on the sign they were holding for me!  From there we made the hour and a half drive around the outskirts of Kampala and Lake Victoria and strangely enough spent the whole car ride listening to Rihanna and Christina Agulara.  It was difficult to gain an understanding of my surroundings through the dark but I loved simply looking at the homes we were passing on either side and seeing the twinkle of street lights and homes through the rolling hills that surrounded us.

This morning I awoke just before noon as the first group of children began coming back from their preschool, Little Stars.  This children here are so wonderful.  Each of them have such big personalities and love to be held and cuddled.  I spent most of the day playing with the kids and getting to know some of the staff as tomorrow is our first "official" day of volunteering.  Around 3 o'clock we experienced a thunderstorm like nothing I have ever seen!  The rain came flooding down from the sky and sounded more like stones on the tin roof of the volunteer dorms and children's home.  Everything was completely flooded and then, within an hour, the sun was out, the heat was back, and all that was wet was made dry again.  Soon after, another volunteer named Francesca arrived after her flight from the UK.  She is a really sweet girl and it is very reassuring to have someone else around who is just as unsure and new to this as I am.  The rest of the evening was spent playing with the kids and doing Bible study which I will most likely begin teaching tomorrow night.

Being here has truly been wonderful.  It has only been a day but I have already learned so much in the few short conversations I have had with the director, Ruth, and other staff members and I know that God still has so much to teach me.  Thank you again for all of your prayers.  My flights here went off without a hitch and I actually kind of enjoyed them (crazy huh :) ).  My internet access will be much more frequent than I thought so I should be able to write 2 or 3 times a week.  For now, know that I am safe and already feel so comfortable here.  The people are loving and hospitable and truly want to take care of us -- even though we came all this way to take care of them.

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and that God is pouring out His endless blessings into your life.  Love to you all!

up, up, and away

Well, this is it.  Less than three hours from now I will be departing from the GR airport and will be one step closer to landing in Uganda.  It still hasn’t fully hit me that I am actually leaving but I am so glad that God has calmed my nerves and filled me with joy and excitement.  For me, the hardest part is going to be these next 24 hours of travel.  As many of you know, I am not the biggest fan of flying so the 11 hour flight from Chicago to Istanbul, Turkey is going to be a true adventure but I am praying that God grants me with a mind of peace and a wonderful night of restful sleep, as I know that only He can give.  He has done so much to calm my nerves already as we were able to speak with Ruth (the director of Another Hope) on the phone this morning!  It was so great to hear her voice and to know that I will soon be meeting her at the airport in Kampala.  It all still seems so far away but I know that reality will set in soon enough. 

Thank you to everyone who has been lifting me up in prayer.  I can definitely feel your prayers with me and I know I will be needing them these next few hours and throughout the duration of my stay.  It is such a comfort to know that there are so many who have been praying and to know that each step of my journey has already been planned by God.  I don’t know how I could be going forward without the comfort of having Him with me which makes me even more excited to spread His love to those who do not know him.

Here again is my mailing address and the caution that mail is slightly unpredictable so I suggest sending things asap. :) 

Mailing address:

Nombowa Ruth Bulyaba
Executive Director
Attn: Jenny Campfield
Another Hope Children's Ministry
P.O. Box 28407
Kampala, Uganda, East Africa

Well, this is it.  My stomach is in knots and I can not wait to be on the ground permanently -- or at least for the next month. :) I would love your prayers as I fly, for safe travels through the airports, and for a safe arrival in Kampala.  I wish I had some words of wisdom to leave you with but I'm slightly nervous. :) 

Next post to come from Uganda!  Have a wonderful evening everyone!  

God bless!

a piece of knowledge and encouragement

so God has placed this on my heart to share with all of you.  In the past few months, really since last summer, I have learned so much about the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority we have in Christ.  While I claim to be no expert and realize that I have much to learn in the areas of obedience and faith, I wanted to pass along this prayer that is found in the back of the book Captivating by Staci Eldredge.  There is so much truth in this prayer that we are often kept blinded to, especially in the Western Church.  If you are experiencing difficulty in your life or if you simply want to step into a deeper understanding of the Lord, I encourage you to pray this prayer aloud and allow God to minister to your heart.  While it is catered to women, the truths presented in this prayer apply to all.  Yes, it is long, but it is so incredibly worth it (the book is also amazing if you haven't had the chance to read it :) ).


A daily prayer for freedom:
My dear Lord Jesus, I come to you now to be restored in you–to renew my place in you, my allegiance to you , and to receive from you all the grace and merch I so desperately need this day. I honor you as my sovereign Lord,, and I surrender every aspect of my life totally and completely to you. I give you my body as a living sacrifice; I give you my heart, soul, mind and strength; and I give you my spirit as well. I cover myself with your blood–my spirit, my soul, and my body. And I ask your Holy Spirit to restore my union with you, seal me in you, and guide me in this time of prayer.

Dear God, holy and victorious Trinity, you alone are worthy of all my worship, my hearts’ devotion, all my praise and all my trust and all the glory of my life. I worship you, bow to you, and give myself over to you in my hearts’ search for life. You alone are Life, and you have become my life. I renounce all other gods, all idols, and I give you the place in my heart and in my life that you truly deserve. I confess here and now that it is all about you, God, and not about me. You are the Hero of this story and I belong to you. Forgive me for my every sin. Search me and know me and reveal to me any aspect of my life that is not pleasing to you, expose any agreements I have made with my Enemy, and grant me the grace of a deep and true repentance.

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and choosing me before you made the world. You are my true Father–my Creator, my Redeemer, my Sustainer, and the true end of all things, including my life. I love you; I trust you; I worship you. Thank you for proving your love for me by sending your only Son, Jesus, to be my sacrifice and my new life. I receive HIM and all HIS life and all HIS word, which you ordained for me. Thank you for including me in Christ, for forgiving me my sins, for granting me HIS righteousness, for making me complete in HIM. Thank you for making me alive with Christ, raising me with HIM, seating me with HIM at your right hand, granting me HIS authority and anointing me with your Holy Spirit. I receive it all with thanks and give it total claim to my life.

Jesus, thank you for coming for me, for ransoming me with your own life. I honor you as my Lord; I love you, worship you, trust you. I sincerely receive you as my redemption ; and I receive all the work and triumph of your crucifixion, whereby I am cleansed from all my sin through your shed blood, my old nature is removed, my heart is circumcised unto God , and every claim being made against me is disarmed. I take my place in your cross and death, whereby I have died with you to sin and to my flesh, to the world, and to the Evil One. I am crucified with Christ. I now take up my cross and crucify my flesh with all its pride, unbelief and idolatry. I put off the old man. I now bring the cross of Christ between me and all people, all spirits, all things. Holy Spirit, apply to me the fullness of the work of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.

Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my new life, my holiness and sanctification. And I receive all the work and triumph of your resurrection. Whereby, I have been raised with you to a new life, to walk in newness of life, dead to sin and alive to God. I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. I now take my place in your resurrection , whereby I have been made alive with you. I reign in life through you. I put on the new person in all holiness and humility, in all rightousness and purity and truth. Christ is now my life, the one who strengthens me. Holy Spirit, apply to me the fullness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.

Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my authority and rule, my everlasting victory over satan and his kingdom, and I receive all the work and triumph of your ascension, whereby satan has been judged and cast down, his rulers and authorities disarmed, all authority in heaven and on earth given to you, Jesus, and I have been given fullness in you who is the Head over all. I take my place in your ascension, whereby I have been raised with you as your own forever, to the right hand of the Father and established with you as ambassador/bride of Christ and to move in your authority and your victory.

I welcome your authority and your kingdom rule over my life, my family, my household and my domain. And now I bring the fullness of your work–your cross, resurrection, and ascension--- against satan, against his kingdom, against all his emissaries and all their work warring against me and my domain. Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. Christ has given me authority to overcome all the power of the Evil One, and I claim that authority now over and against every enemy, and I banish them in the name of Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, apply tome the fullness of the work of the ascension of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.

Holy Spirit, I sincerely receive you as my Counselor, m Comforter, my Strength and my Guide. Thank you for sealing me in Christ Jesus. I honor you as my Lord, and I ask you to lead me inot all truth, to anoint me fo all of my life and walk and acalling and to lead me deeper into Jesus today. I fully open my life to you in every dimension and aspect ‒ my body, my soul, and my spirit–choosing to be filled with you , to walk in ste with you in all things. Appl to me, blessed Holy Spirit, all the work and all the gifts in Pentecost. Fill me afresh, blessed Holy Spirit. I receive you with thanks and give you total claim to my life.

Heavenly Father, thank you for granting to me every spiritiual blessing in the heavenllies in Christ Jesus. I receive those blessings into my life today, and I ask the Holy Spirit to bring all those blessings into my life this day. Thank you for the blood of Jesus. Wash me once more from every sin and stain and evil device. I put on your whole armor–the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shows of readiness of the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation. I take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God and I wield these weapons against the Evil One in the power of God. I choose to pray at all times in the Spirit, to be strong in you, Lord, and in your might.

Father thank you for your angels. I summon them in the authority of Jesus Christ and release them to war for me and my household. May that guard me at all times this day. Thank you for those who pray for me; I confess I need their prayers. And I ask you to send forth your Spirit to rouse them, unite them, raising up the full canopy of prayer and intercession for me. I call forth the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ this day throughout my home , my family, my life and my domain. I pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, with all glory and honor and thanks to HIM.


1 Timothy 1:3-7
"I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."


T-minus 7 days to Africa.  Mega Kids Camp this week, then packing, donation collecting, and I'm off.  Stay blessed everyone :)

and the journey begins

Well here it all begins...the first blog post on my journey to Kampala, Uganda and in some small way the beginning of the realization that I am going to Africa.  Crazy.  Less that two weeks from now, I will be heading to Kampala, Uganda to spend one month at Another Hope Children's Ministries, an organization that reaches out to the children of the Wakiso District.  These children have all suffered similar stories of neglect, abuse, and abandonment due to HIV/AIDS.   Through the vision of director Ruth Bulyaba, these children have been given a second chance and have been welcomed into a family of love and hope.  It still amazes me that God has allowed me to become even the smallest part of their story and maybe, just maybe, I might be blessed with the chance to make an impact on even one life. 


The past few weeks since being home have been truly incredible.  Having the time and space to pour myself into God's word and see His beauty all around me has challenged my heart and transformed much of my nervousness into excitement and anticipation.  I am still constantly taken aback at the truly incredible way God engineers our circumstances, in both the big and small ways, to place us right where He wants us.  Do I have any idea what to expect going into this next big adventure?  Not a clue.  But the discomfort of not knowing exactly what steps are before me is what makes these unique opportunities so exciting.  We're not called to live in our daily comforts and sometimes the only way to find out if you're going in the right direction is to take a gigantic leap into the unknown.  


It has also been an amazing blessing to listen to and read about the stories of so many people who are going out each day to make a difference.  Whether it be at summer camps, volunteer projects, PGlobals, or in our own communities, it has been a great joy to see so many people with wonderful hearts showing love to people around the world.  So to all of you, I love you, I'm proud of you, and I'm praying for you. :)


And with that, here is my mailing address.  One small word of caution:  mail in Africa is less than predictable and can take any where from two weeks to two months to arrive so sending things sooner rather than later is always a great way to go :) . 
Mailing address:
Nombowa Ruth Bulyaba
Executive Director
Attn: Jenny Campfield
Another Hope Children's Ministry
P.O. Box 28407
Kampala, Uganda, East Africa


My internet connection will not be the greatest once I arrive at Another Hope but I will hopefully be able to visit an internet cafe once or twice a week to keep everyone updated.  For now, keep speadin the love of Jesus. :)


PS...here is a link to Another Hope's website if you'd like to learn more:
Another Hope Children's Ministries