Welcome!

Welcome to the first entry of the blog!  For those who may not know me very well or who may join us later I will introduce myself and how I got here. My name is Becky and I am from Panama City, Florida, USA.  I quit my job of 13 years, sold everything I could, packed 4 suitcases of belongings and moved to Uganda. But let me back up a little…

Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans for hope and a future.”  This is one of my absolute favorite scriptures that I have held onto for several years.  Sometimes we do not expect what God puts in our path.  I could have never expected that as a shy and quiet Catholic girl from Panama City, Florida that I would be leading a ministry, move to Uganda, be a counselor to youth of all ages, and be a pastor’s wife and step-mother.  But this was not my plan at all…this was all God’s plan.

The calling to serve came several years ago when I visited Guatemala to visit my little nephew my sister was adopting.  I was praying one night and felt like I was supposed to go visit his foster families home.  I prayed 7 more nights about it before mentioning it to anyone because I knew we weren’t supposed to do that and the attorneys would be very angry if they found out.  But I knew that it was what I was supposed to do.  So, my mom and I went to visit their home.  When we pulled out of the driveway I was choking back tears and said “Thank you God for allowing me to see.  Thank you for giving me the courage to come and now there is no forgetting it.”

In July 2009, I went on a medical mission trip to El Salvador that one of the physicians I worked for was organizing.  Being in El Salvador was like Guatemala because they are neighbors and all the little kids reminded me of my nephew.  I really got to know my now best friend on that trip.  We were sharing one night about how we felt like we were both called to Africa and had felt that way for a very long time.  But neither of us knew when or how or where in Africa we would go.  Shortly after returning from El Salvador another physician I worked for stopped by my office on Friday afternoon and said “my pastor has talked me into going with him to Africa.”  I think I stopped breathing for a few seconds.  We talked about where he was going and I knew that it was time. I went to my best friends house that afternoon and we started looking at plane tickets to Uganda to see if we could even raise money fast enough to go on the trip with him.  By the grace of God everything worked out and the 3 of us embarked on what we called the “scouting trip” in January 2010. 

Many things have happened over the past 5 years. Much more than can ever be written about here.  We have learned a LOT!  We have formed a non-profit organization called Ezekiel 37 Ministry.  The focus of our work in a region of Uganda called Karamoja.  Karamoja is a remote region where the people are often referred to as the “forgotten people”.  They are decades behind modern civilization.  But when we visited there the first time we knew it was where we were supposed to be.  We also have a student sponsorship program with about 35 children in it currently…from Pre-K age to a University student.

Along the way, God brought a wonderful Ugandan man into my life named Abdu who is a pastor of a children’s church in the slums of Kampala.  He brought some children to one of our medical clinics in 2011 and then we visited his church briefly in early 2013.  You know the internet and Facebook shrunk the world and we became friends and it developed into more over time.  We got engaged on February 1, 2014 and will be married in January 2015.

As of right now I do not have a full time job.  As I have told people I am not unemployed…I am employed by the Lord except his paychecks won’t pay the rent.  Haha!  Ministry with Abdu’s church and Ezekiel 37 is going to be my focus for a few months in addition to wedding planning.  I would like a flexible online job if anyone out there knows anyone.  Working in an office would be very difficult for me with Karamoja being a 10-12 hour drive and when mission teams come I would need 2 weeks off of work a couple times a year.  It would be quite difficult to have the flexibility I need.

I cannot even count how many times people have asked me if I was crazy or insane for selling everything and moving to Uganda.  If I had not prayed so much about it and felt confident that this is what He wanted then I would be questioning myself.  There have been times when I don’t know if I am ready for everything that is coming my way but “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

I know this was pretty long but I had to try and cover as much history as possible.  I will be using this blog to post about my adventures in Uganda.  There will be a separate blog for the Ezekiel 37 Ministry work.  Stay tuned…

Blessings,

Becky