A few pictures!

 Here I am feeding Baby Ann

 Baby Ann was pulling on my hair during this picture

 Baby Jane!! She is actually 5 months old right now..but is so tiny she looks like she isn't more than 2. Her grandmother couldn't feed her any more than avocados and water for the first 4 months of her life, so she was severely malnourished.

 Baby John is just over 2 months old. He came at 3 days old and weighted 3 pounds. He is now up to almost 7 pounds! :)

 We took our preschoolers out into the city for a little fun afternoon of painting, drawing, getting their faces painted, and drinking orange juice!

These are our preschoolers!

I have arrived!

Hello everyone! This story or rumor you might have heard happens to be true...I AM HERE! We may have had a few bumps in the road and delays along the way..but we made it. We made it through the airports, 18 hours of flying, 7 hours of layover, a 2 and a half hour drive to Jinja starting at 2 this morning, arriving and unloading our luggage at the baby cottage, repacking, and then going to the volunteer house and unloading again. We finally got settled around 6 and 3 of us slept for 4 hours while Mariah is still without sleep so she could go and see the boy she has been sponsoring for the past 7 years. Our surroundings here are beautiful. The front yard is nothing but green, trees, flowers, and the Nile. The babies, children, mommas, and other volunteers are amazing! I keep thanking God for giving me this opportunity to serve Him here of all places. Thank you all for your prayers, support, and thoughts. I appreciate it more than you even know.

Traveling

I just wanted to update everyone as I am in the vehicle right now with my parents while traveling to Minneapolis, MN. We are looking at stopping around Des Moines, IA for the night tonight. We will continue on to the airport where Mariah and I will meet up to go through baggage check and security together and get on the plane to depart on our first flight at about 3pm Central time. We appreciate everyone's prayers and support throughout this time. Thank you all and God Bless!! :)

John 14:18

I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

God is good! ALL the time!!

Today I was in Wayne, NE just checking out all the stores of my future home...and we happened to walk by a store of new and secondhand items for children...my mother and I of course stopped in and started picking up clothes for me to take to the children at the orphanage. Well the owner of the secondhand store wasn't around but someone was working in Jacob's Room..he told us that the secondhand store only took checks or cash..and I didn't have enough cash on hand because it's all just been in my savings account until I go over to Uganda..we asked if they would take my out of town check and he called his boss..his boss didn't actually own the secondhand store..they just wanted to make sure people could get in there if they needed to..she told him on the phone to have me just make the check out to her and she would cash it on Monday to give to the owner of the other store..and kept asking him if she was making a bad choice with the chance of the check bouncing...we told her multiple times it would not bounce and kept re-assuring her I had plenty of money in my account and told her what I was doing with the clothes and this mission trip I am going on...her attitude instantly shifted and I heard tears in her voice...she then gave us 10 baby books (a $70 value)..and anything else we would like to take that had a duplicate of for up to $50 in value...it turns out that she lost her son...and that's why she opened the store in the first place...God is so amazing for who He places in our paths..at all times...and we don't even have to meet in person! Thank You Lord!!!!

James 1:27

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

BURSTING AT THE SEAMS!!!

Currently as I am typing this, I keep looking through the Amani website, pictures of the babies, and talking to a woman I have come to call Mama Nicole. Nicole currently lives in Canada with an African Mama and twin daughters! Nicole has legally adopted all of them. She is at Amani right now and we have communicated throughout her entire stay. I am so grateful for everything she has shared with me and I cannot wait to go on this adventure for myself! Everyone that sees me and knows I am going on this trip continually asks me if I am getting excited...and I have to tell you, YES!! I tell everyone that I am excited but no one truly knows just how much excitement is in me. I literally am BURSTING AT THE SEAMS with excitement and anxiousness to be over there already!!!! I have a countdown on my phone until I take off on my first flight to get to Uganda. This countdown doesn't just have the days; but it has the hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds! I cannot wait to update you while I am in Uganda, but I guess for now you will just have to WAIT PATIENTLY UPON THE LORD, like I am doing myself. God Bless You for reading this, and THANK YOU!!!
Love ALWAYS,
Jennifer Rose