Let the journey begin...

This post is an emotional one for me (so bare with me!)....I can't quite believe I am sitting in New York airport waiting to board my international flight into Amsterdam and then to Uganda, Africa! As I sit here and reflect what has lead up into this point....I am truly humbled....humbled by God's goodness and mercies that he would allow me to be apart of something that is beyond bigger than me.

If you are reading by blog for the first time and want a little back ground info on how all this got started...check out Refuge 127 website and the work that we are doing in Uganda, Africa. But, before Africa was ever placed on my sister in laws heart my years ago...we started in our community with a little idea...with a little fundrasier...and never dreamed nearly 8 years later we would be in this place! Here are a few articles that were printed over the holiday season about Refuge 127 and how it all started! Check them out! One is  here (thanks to the Daily Comet for featuring us!) and the other article is here (The Houma Times - thanks to them too!) .

So here are a few details about the journey we are about to take...We have 15 people traveling up to Uganda, Africa all from the Houma-Thibodaux area and they begin their journey Dec. 31st! Me, Lacey Melancon, and Mike Garner all serve on the Refuge 127 board and have decided to leave 5 days early in order to travel to a few other places in Uganda, Africa that we have been desiring to see and explore. Thanks to soical media we have been able to connect with some missionaries who are living and working in Uganda and we are meeting up with them before we meet up with the rest of the group! Now that is the beautiful side of social media! Connecting like minds for the same purpose  - to serve the orphan, the needy, the hurting, and the lost!

We are traveling to the city of Jinja, Uganda first! Last year, I made a blog post about Katie Davis and the book I was reading at the time about what she was doing in Jinja, Uganda....well, well a year later I will be in that exact city! We will be staying at the Arise Africa Guest House (check out Arise Africa - they are doing mighty things in Africa and its a wonderful organization!) During our time in Jinja we will be visiting with a family who recently moved to Jinja, Uganda from the United States to become full time missionaries! They are part of a non-profit organization called Heart4Uganda . We are so excited to meet Vicki and here family and learn about their everyday life now in Uganda and the wonderful work they are doing for Heart4Uganda!

(Many years ago we started talking to our kids about helping others less fortunate than us...here is a picture of jacques making a special piggy bank for the orphans of Uganda about 3 or so years ago!)

Here is a map of Uganda

I am about to head out from New York, so I have to close this post out but I will be posting as much as possible! Stay tuned and keep us in your prayers!