this precious life.: Uganda, Africa

Hands In Service is a self-sustaining ministry which was set up by Alfred & Carney Farris {Papa Alfred & Mama Carney} in 1981. {You can read much more about H.I.S. here and their work here.} Since Uncle Meredith is on their board, H.I.S. was the main reason for our trip to Uganda.

We were staying in Papa Alfred & Mama Carney’s Ugandan home with them and their daughter Evelyn so Eleanna and I got quite close to each of them. We also quickly met and became close with the rest of the H.I.S. team. It’s such a special group of people who have been through so much together and who love the Lord abundantly.

The H.I.S. welding shop/school, Opai orchard/farm and the John Eluru Memorial School in Kapelebyong are the branches of the ministry we spent time at. It’s incredible to see how these people have faught so hard to make things successful.

H.I.S. office/workshop

We made it to morning devotions at the H.I.S. office/shop many times each week we were there. This was a special time of singing and praying with the team to start the day.

Then often, if other things didn’t get in the way, we’d come back at lunch time for posho & beans cooked by Selena. I loved those times because it gave us opportunities to get to know the Ugandan H.I.S. team members much better.

Mama Carney's hand {79 yr. old mzungu} & Felicity's hand {82 yr. old African}

I can't believe I'm just now noticing what verse this was that they had painted over the doorway at H.I.S.! Colossians 3:23 is my name verse {the verse my parents chose to go with my name & it's meaning}

The welding shop

Cooking with Amunyo & Florence one day when Selena was sick

Amunyo is a young woman El & I got to know well who was crippled when she was young by a measles immunization shot which hit a nerve. She walks with a limp & brace and uses her arm-powered wheel chair to move long distances but Amuno is so on fire for God, continually praising Him for how he has provided and taken care of her! She works as a teacher in the welding shop at H.I.S. and sometimes fills in for Selena as cook.

I was *bawling* from cutting those onions!! Can you see the tears running down my cheeks?

The following video is of us singing Irai Ijo Lokalaunan {God Is Holy} in Ateso during one of our morning devotions. It quickly became of favorite for El & I! {thanks to El for the video}

John Eluru Memorial Secondary School

When we went to visit the school in Kapelebyong, they spent an hour and a half welcoming us and showing how the work of the H.I.S. ministry has paid off! It was built several years ago on the edge of a refugee camp-- and at the time, they could only hope and pray that it would be successful.

You see, in Uganda, when a school is built, the children don’t just come. It’s expensive for the parents to send them to school and they want to make sure it’s a good school and their money is going to be put to good use. There is so much corruption that they just don’t know who to trust and how to tell if the school will be good. But Moses, a student who traveled with us, just graduated from the J.E.M. School with one of the highest rankings in the country! Someone like Moses making it all the way through, and graduating with top honors, shows the other parents that this is a good school. A school worth sending their children to. It put John Eluru Memorial Secondary School on.the.map.

receiving a tour of the school

a thank you note they wrote to Papa Alfred

They spent a really long time thanking Papa Alfred for everything he has done for them and the school but when Papa Alfred had a chance to talk, he sent all the Glory straight to God!

just walking' across Africa. nbd.

TOMS. they were the bomb.diggity let me tell you. best shoe choice for Africa ever! {and they are pretty amazing for swing dancing too, I must say!}

relaxing and talking to our African/MiddleEastern taxi driver, Aziz

Kay with Moses!!

Kay is sponsoring Moses as he goes to University and as a thank you, his mother gave her a rooster & a hen! It made me laugh the way Papa Alfred held one as if it was a book in his arm!

Opai is an organic farm/orchard into which they have put lots and lots of thought & hard labor. Creating land that will thrive during the dry months requires extensive irrigation and lots of care. Two of the team members live on the property- Florence with her three girls and Geoffrey with his large family.