He's In Charge, Not Me

a major question i get asked around here a lot is, "so how long are you staying?"

i'm set to be leaving Mbale May 23rd and going to work through the summer to save up. for what, you may ask? i honestly have no idea.

i've been spending time in prayer asking God if this is where he wants me, show me. Lately, I've been feeling so comfortable in Uganda. Like it's home. 

everything just seems so confusing and too large to conquer. so many questions come to my mind when i think of where i will work, how will i fund myself, are you ready to be completely seperated from everything you once knew?

sometimes i dont know what God is doing in my life or why. but every day His plan is better than mine. and every day i am just so glad that He is in charge, not me!

Katie Sandy

Where Is Home

i've been in Mbale now for two months. 


this past week was the week i was overwhelming flooded with friendship. it was like the flood gates burst open and millions of friends flowed out. or maybe, eight.

as the sun awoke, so did i. i took one of my cuddly pups for a walk around town before going out for morning coffee with a sweet new friend i made a few days back. it was so warming to be surrounded by such a compassionate lady who is so close to me in age. we ended up talking about our families and what we think God will provide for us in the future over a nice warm cappuccino. 

later on, we went to the pool to meet up with yet another friend and we ended up talking for many hours about anything we could think of. it was such a relief to talk to someone new who actually understood what you saying, and then them giving you wise words in return.

with our freshly sunburned skin, we headed home to shower up and get ready to go out that evening. thankfully, one of my new friends had the total package: a hairdryer, a straightener, and make-up. i may live in africa, but i'm still a girlie-girl.

for dinner we sat outside under the wide open night sky eating pizza and laughing until we couldn't laugh anymore. i honestly have never met a better group of people that love Jesus and each other as much as they do. 

but as i'm riding home in the back of a pick-up surrounded by the african sky with my newest group of friends, i close my eyes and open them to make sure that this is all real. then i keep them closed in hope that it's a dream and it will go on forever, praying i never have to wake up.

i'm so grateful for times like this when i am feeling so far from home. or is this home?

Katie Sandy

He Cares For Each Of Us

Prayer is such a powerful tool.

Can you imagine, a God so large He could create the universe, yet so personal that He cares for each one of these children and meets their needs on an individual basis? How blessed I am to be a servant of such a Master.

"have you prayed about it as much as you've talked about it, friend?"

Katie Sandy

The Way That You Love

i cannot express the exhaustion, yet joyful long hours i spend at the clinic every monday. i am not joyful for the reasoning behind their comings to the clinic, but instead, joyful that they come seeking help and wisdom.

my favorite thing to do is to love these mothers and their children. although there are many times when my heart is not full of any love for the mothers that have created this issue for their child, but then He reminds me there is a purpose for why they were brought here.

He brought them there so i could share love. His love. His gracious, undying, unending love.

i do not consider myself an evangelist, and i don't hope to be one. but i believe that you can share Christ with others through the way you behave, the way that you love. i believe that God makes Himself known to these children and all i have to do is show them the reality of His love. i tell them stories of a God who has moved me to a country far from my home and captivated my heart and soul. i tell them stories of a God who has a plan for my life that is always greater than what i have in mind, a God who has a plan for them too. they cling to this hope. so i continue to share it. 

sincerely yours,

Katie Sandy

Then It Rains

sometimes working in a third world country makes me feel like i am emptying the ocean with an eye-dropper. and just when i have about half a cup full of water, it rains: more children from the villages migrate to our clinic in butiru, more abandoned and severely sick babies are found, more people are infected with aids and tb. it is enough to discourage even the most enthusiastic and passionate person. 

one of the staff members looked at me with nervous eyes, "this isn't even the rainy season yet..."

i am trying a new thing. i want to start listing a peak and a pit (AKA: praise and a prayer request):

PIT:
we had 80+ children at our clinic on monday.

we discharged 10 (praise the Lord), but sent 7 severely malnourished children to Serving His Children to be treated.

80+ sick babies. 

i become so overwhelmed at the thought of having more than 80 children seeking my help. & worst of all, the nurses tell me the rains have yet to come. I want to help them all, and in a perfect world, i could. my heart breaks over this fact.

please be in prayer with me and my family as we seek to share Christ with them and through Him alone, they can be saved not just physically but eternally.

PEAK:
WE HAVE GOATS. & WE MOVED INTO OUR NEW HOME.
these are the goats:

this is my humble abode:

sincerely yours,

Katie Sandy

Every Circumstance Is An Opportunity

i was in town the other day, shopping for some things for the house. i walked past a man sitting on the ground and i couldn't help but catch a glance at his broken body. once his eyes met mine, he started yelling and begging for me to help him, that he wanted money. but i just kept walking.

as i continued to walk, i could hear him speaking to me from afar. it was the hardest thing for me to turn my back on that man. i even wondered what Jesus would have done in that situation. He would not have turned His back on the man like i just did.

i feared for his life if i were to have given him the coins i had rattling in my left pocket. who knows if he is "working" for someone who is harming him to receive the gifts given to this poor man.

my heart breaks when i see men and women and even children sitting on the sidewalks with no arms or legs or crawling around helplessly. unfortunately, this is a common thing for people to do in countries like uganda. many times i wonder how my God, the creator of the universe, could let something like this happen. but then i remember about a story i read in john chapter nine a few weeks before i came on this journey.

when the disciples asked Jesus what the blind man did to deserve his condition, Jesus replied, “neither this man nor his parents sinned but this happened to him so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9:3) poverty is not a sin. i believe it is a condition, a circumstance that allows God’s work to be displayed.

every circumstance is an opportunity for God’s work to be displayed. will we do His work? will He be displayed in our lives?

UPDATE: time to put my craftiness to work! i've started putting things together in little baggies, such as fruits and a bottle of water, and carrying them in my bag to give to the people on the street. sometimes, if a ugandan is with me, we like to stop and chat with them! maybe i'll even post a picture of us someday!

Sincerely yours,

Katie Sandy

It's Universal

last night one of my sweet friends asked me: "how are you doing in Africa? i can only imagine how different it is being so far away and all..."

i wanted to respond back to him and say that i do miss living the "normal" teenage life, but really, i don't ever feel that way much anymore. i'm starting to feel pretty comfortable.

many people view Africa as another world, and in being here, it would be easy to think that, it IS different. but really, it is the same. human beings just hungry for God. hungry for a purpose, for love, for life. they want to be able to support their children, they want to be able to work, they want to be able to give back, they want to be good, noble people. they want to feel important, and needed, and beautiful. the children want to play, and to eat, and to learn, and to be loved. we are all the same. we do not live in different worlds, but the same one. the same God created us for the same purpose and that was to serve Him and to love and care for His people. it is universal.

sincerely yours,

Katie Sandy