"Flexibility"...the word I declared for 2012 as my word! Here
it is, 8 months later, and time for a check-up.
"How's that working for me" (in Dr. Phil style)?
It's been quite a stretch since I've blogged...and a couple
of dear followers have sent facebook
messages inquiring on my whereabouts. THANK-YOU for missing me...and I have
missed sharing. Much has taken place
this summer, and I am, in fact, still attempting to process it all. In a nutshell I led a mission team to Africa
for 18 days, followed by a brief respite at home; then my annual mission trip
to the Dominican Republic. I will leave
again soon for a much-needed vaca of pure rest and relaxation with a dear
friend to Cabo San Lucas. Being a travel
junkie it's been an amazing summer~ amazing vistas, some amazingly difficult
circumstances, amazing love being shown and received, amazingly long plane
rides, amazing revelations from the Lord (good
and bad), and amazingly awesome and lifetime relationships formed. It was simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Enough word play!
Years ago I felt God calling me to go to Africa. I didn't
know why, when, how, with whom...but I knew I was being called. For the last couple of years my husband and I
have served on the Board of Directors of H.E.A.L. Ministries . HEAL's initial mission focus was primarily
Latin America, with an occasional team to Jinja, Uganda. The Lord clarified the vision for our
Missions Director on one of those trips that we were to solely focus on
ministry in Uganda. We have been working
prayerfully and diligently to refine our vision and mission. Part of that process this summer included
taking 3 teams to Jinja, Uganda to work, explore, investigate, and to
experience life in a 3rd world country.
So my 8 fellow team members and I boarded a plane on June 7, bound for
Jinja via a 13 1/2 hour layover in London, then a short stop in Nairobi, Kenya
with a final landing in Entebbe, Uganda.
Our team consisted of 4 adults, a high school student, 2
college students and 2 recent high school graduates...all girls except one
adult male (poor Brian! Or, perhaps we should say lucky
Brian)! Most of our time was spent loving on widows,
and abandoned women and children while working alongside several ministries
(which I will feature over the next little bit) while brainstorming ideas for
our own ministry center there. I will
allow many photos to tell the story; words are not always needed or
helpful...nor are they adequate to describe the smells, sounds, sights and
emotions that run the gamut!
(Please allow me a
little PR here: I hope to lead another
team in June 2013 and would love to have you consider being a part of that
team. Please check often for exact dates of our 2013 trips. Your life will be forever changed; and you
will be a significant part in changing the lives of others, I promise you)!
A major theme for me on this trip was
"wonder"..."I wonder what is going on in the mind of this little
one...or that teen Mom...or that elderly lady sitting alone with so many fine
lines an wrinkles, a tattered dress barely clinging to her emaciated frame...or
that toothless man in tattered and torn clothing, begging for a morsel of food
or just a few shillings..." "I
wonder what their stories are"
"I wonder how life has treated them and what, if any, hope they
have for the future"...I wonder...I
wonder...
I left Jinja 18 days late feeling hopeful, because my Jesus
loves those people. He has a plan and
purpose for each of their lives just as He has for my life. I don't know what that plan looks like, and
will possibly never know, this side of Heaven.
But THIS I DO know: I have the
privilege of participating in that plan!
I also have a response-ability TO that plan, and I will do everything I
can to fulfill that response-ability. I
hope you will join me in any way you can...be it participating in a trip with
me, covering my team members, fellow Board Members and our Mission Director in
prayer, or with financial support. It is
all needed and it is all welcomed!
Please join me over the next weeks, maybe even month,s as I
try to share what I a processing, through the written word and through
photographs. Feel free to either leave a
comment or email me personally at lisaasyler@comcast.net (please note there
are 2 a's in the email address).
Blessings on your weekend,
Lisa/aka Lolli
