pure JOY!

THANK YOU to everyone who has joined in supporting the village both prayerfully and financially in Uganda, East Africa! Because of YOUR open hearts and obedience to God, We have had enough food for this week, the Greenhouse is FULLY funded and going up next week, and We will be purchasing LAND IN FULL for the babies home tomorrow! Please take a moment and say aloud "thank you, sweet Jesus Christ"

 --"..Your name and Your renown are the desire of our souls” Isaiah 26:8

an open heart.

Right now we are in a food crisis in Bulabakulu. Yes, can you believe it? There actually are places in the world that are not able to eat every day. We had temporarily cut back to one meal a day of “posho” and beans and porridge in the morning, until last Wednesday…when we completely ran out of food.

The Lord has provided three meals a day since Wednesday! An undeserved miracle for our village! We are unsure when this crisis will be alleviated (via a sustainable income). Therefore I am writing you today and asking that you pray about God using YOU to be tangible love in these people’s lives through the purchase of food.

For a mere $60 US dollars you can feed 100+ people three meals for one day! I understand this is not sustainable, however we are still moving forward with the greenhouse that will solve any future food crisis problem. If you would like to buy food for the village please donate on the right side of this blog. Just click on the yellow “donate” button and specify the donation for “food crisis”.

I didn’t want to mention this next need until later, but as usual God has nothing but impeccable timing when He wants to get ‘er-done.

So today, out of obedience, I am writing to you with an open heart.

Almost 3 weeks ago Joshua (my contact and friend) approached me and began to tell me about a serious need he wanted me to fill in the Wakiso district of Uganda, a babies home. Yes, you read that right and are probably overwhelmed with emotions, as was I. My heart was overwhelmed and excited and just speechless. But my head and all logical reasoning was pulling the plug on even entertaining the idea. So I just sat on this information. I wanted to pray and dream and think about the possibilities, but to be honest I was just too nervous about what the Father might require of me. So I just ignored it; trying to reconcile the differences between my heart and head.

To make a long story short (which I don’t do often), the Lord has given me and some others affirmation to move forward with His dream of an orphanage in the Wakiso district. To be honest, the Lord is opening doors quicker than I alone can walk through them. In fact we have been offered a piece of land at $5,125 US dollars (this includes the land title and processing fees). The owner has agreed to hold the land until this Saturday; with the understanding we pay a down payment of $3350 US dollars.
This dream of His is HUGE and we cannot do it alone. So I ask you to join me and many others in prayer over this dream; that we would be obedient when it is uncomfortable, courageous when following in faith, and refract all admiration to the Father who deserves it.

I could go on and on about how I feel about all of this, but the truth is, it is not about me, not on ounce. If you would like to give towards buying land for the babies home, please direct your payments via pay-pal by clicking on the yellow “donate” button on the right-side of this page—be sure to denote “babies home land”.

If you would like ANY further information on any of these matters or an alternate method to give money, PLEASE contact me via commenting on this blog thread or email at: arielleferrell@gmail.com  

I want to leave you with this verse:

“YES LORD walking in the way of Your truth, we wait eagerly for You, for Your name and Your renown are the desire of our souls” Isaiah 26:8



:)

ohh the possibilities...

Today I am writing to you on behalf of my community here in Uganda.  We are currently dealing with food security in our village, there is not always enough food to go around. In fact for the past 6 days we have been eating porridge at noon and one serving of posho for the “meal”, for the entire day. This problem is due to the rising cost of food in Uganda, as well as a drop in monetary funding from various supporters. Although this may seem to be sad news, these circumstances are pushing us to look into alternative solutions that empower the community in a sustainable way. I believe in a “hand-up” not a “hand-out”.

“Well let’s just plant a garden then!”  It’s not quite that simple….the seasons here are getting worse; extreme droughts followed by too much water when the rains come. These factors make farming very difficult and crop production unreliable.  Therefore we are turning to a widely used, age-old strategy used in countries around the world, such as Kuwait, Israel, and Philippines: greenhouse technology.

Balton Greenhouses is a local company whose goal is “improving food security and livelihoods for small scale farmers in Uganda”. The effects of constructing a greenhouse on our property would enhance numerous aspects of the welfare of our village and the surrounding community.

We will be able to grow continually throughout the year, making the crop yield up to 10-12 times larger (depending on the crop). We will be able to incorporate farming education into our schools curriculum, providing knowledge not only to our community but to the surrounding communities via the students that attend our school from outside. The most important benefit is the food security that it will provide. We will be able to sell off the excess vegetables and fruits to provide income for the staple foods, rice, posho and beans.

The total cost for this project is $3,710.42 USD. This includes EVERYTHING; Construction materials, seeds, irrigation tanks and drip lines, gardening tools and four people to be trained properly in this gardening technique. If you ask me, that’s a bargain for not only what we will be getting, but for what we will be able to give this vulnerable community.

I ask you to prayerfully consider giving to this project today. Donating is easy, just click on the yellow “donate” button on the right side of this page and please note it is for the greenhouse. If you would like an alternative method to give, please contact me. The greenhouse can be constructed as soon as we can pay the company, hopefully before I leave in May.  

I have more information about this greenhouse than you want to read about on here, including a PowerPoint and project proposal.  If you would like any more explanation about any aspect of this project please ask! Either via comment on this blog or email: arielleferrell@gmail.com

Pre-Sunrise Pictures

Recently I stood outside in the early morning with the intent of trying to capture the African sunrise. If you have ever tried to capture a sunrise or sunset you know it is nearly impossible to catch the beauty. So many mornings I just stare towards the sun as it rises, enjoying it more and more, as it gains intensity in color and splendor. As I was prepared with my camera in hand, I started clicking left and right, most of the pictures were before the sun was even visible. Thinking to myself “ohh THIS has got to be the best”…one minute later “ohh no this one!” All the while the dense hues of orange, purple, yellows and reds were just getting stronger and the sun rising higher and higher. Watching the sun intently, just peeking out and now fully visible and blazing. Once the sun had actually appeared and the full “sunrise” picture was captured I realized how grandiose and epic it was compared to my “pre-sunrise” photos.

And then it hit me… this is so much like life at times. We see the immediate situation, weather good or bad as the climax and settle for what that offers. But so many times God has a much more epic climax in the making. Building on experiences and situations, all adding to the intensity of the final shebang! It saddens me to think that too often we settle for “pre-sunrise” pictures, when there is actually something better in the making. Not to say we shouldn’t enjoy the “pre-sunrise” snapshots of life, but we must continue striving towards our romancer, Jesus Christ; settling and enjoying are two different things.

My prayer over this blog is that together, we don’t just settle for the “pre-sunrise”, 5^th grade art work, but we wait patiently for the Father’s masterpiece that blazes with beauty and immaculate intensity.