House of Praise

Beautiful smiles

A sea of smiling faces surrounded the car, outstretched arms, the car hadn't even stopped yet. Immediately hands, arms were seized by eager, happy children. Bright yellow and green uniforms contrasted the red dirt. It was a beautiful sight. As soon as the car doors opened we were bombarded with hugs and children fighting to hold our hands, wrists, arms. There were four or five buildings on the ground we now stood, some were finished and some were not. A simple school building, a grass field, women cooking on a charcoal stove. We stood on the grounds of a place affectionately known as House of Praise. 

There were many incredible and inspiring people I
had met while working in Uganda but the story I am  about to retell here by far impacted me the most. House of Praise was named after a young Ugandan woman, Praise. She was full of laughter, smiles, joy. The children all greeted her and called her mommy. I asked her when her story of taking care of children began and this is what she told me. 

The new house being built by International Voice of the Orphan

Praise lost her father at a young age and her mother was not able to care for her so she lived with her grandmother until she was 14 years old. At 14, Praise's grandmother died, living her alone, an orphan. Praise had given her heart to the Lord and was welcomed into the home of a family at her church. Before Praise turned 15 she met her first child, a 9-year-old boy named Stephen who was living on the streets of Kampala, Uganda. Like Praise, Stephen was alone. Praise took him home, cleaned him up, gave him her own clothes to wear. But despite her efforts Praise could find no one willing to care for the boy. Eventually Praise found a place for him to sleep and she herself worked to care for him, his food, his schooling, everything he needed. She fed him from her back window and eventually, Praise was caring for eight more street boys, all who found themselves alone and deserted. 

Such Joy!

The School House

When the family Praise was living with found out she was caring for these children, they kicked her out of the house. Praise and her children moved into a one bedroom house with her mother. Praise continued to work to provide and care for her children and continued to take more and more children in. She cared for them, protected them, loved them. Eventually Praise had twelve children and once again Praise found herself without a home. At 17 years old, she worked enough to find places for them to stay, moving from place to place, trusting and relaying on God to provide. 

Over time the children were adopted, two were adopted by families in the United States and ten were adopted by families in Uganda. And Praise, as she says it, was free, free to make her own choices, to live her own life, to ensure her own future. But God had a different plan for Praise. She had a dream. In her dream a man came to her with two children who were bloodied and beaten, alone and deserted. The man told Praise she needed to take the children. When Praise resisted, he told her that they had no where else to go. The next morning, Praise received a call from the police, when she arrived at the station, Praise saw the very children from her dream, they were bloodied and beaten and they needed Praise. Praise knew then that she had to submit to the plan God had for her and that's what she has been doing ever since.

Loved spending time with these precious kids!

Today Praise is 26 years old and is currently caring for 36 children. She was able to buy property, build a village school and a house. She gives thanks God daily for His grace, His provision, His faithfulness. International Voice of the Orphan is currently building Praise a new home for her children. When you talk to Praise about her story, all she does is thank God, acknowledge His goodness. When I told her she was inspiring, she told me the people who inspire her are the ones who move to Uganda from blessed countries such as America because they have given up so much to come there (talk about humbling). Joy bubbles from this incredible woman who tells stories of sharing her one pair of shoes with Stephen so they could go to school, each wearing one shoe and pretending their other foot was injured. 

One of the things that has stuck with me since meeting Praise and hearing her story was the incredible amount of faith she has, how she has trusted God, how she continues to. I am so grateful to  live in a blessed country but sometimes I think my blessings, my resources, my security get in the way of me really trusting the Lord. 

I think it is no accident that right after delivering His people from Egypt, the Lord brought them to the Red Sea (Exodus 14). There were in a impossible situation in which the ONLY answer was the Lord. They had no other options, He was their only lifeline, their only hope. I began to ask myself if I have ever really been in that situation in my life, where God was my only solution, my only hope. Believe, I am grateful knowing that there is food in the fridge and money in bank account. I am grateful for my house, washing machine, health insurance plan, my job. But I began to wonder if I really knew what it meant to trust God.

Praise, such an inspiring woman!

 See Praise was living a life of faith. God was her only solution, her only option, her only hope. And just like Praise chose to follow God's plan, so can we also. There is a passage in the gospels about the "Rich Young Man" and to me this title could be given to many believers in the United States (granted we may not all be Bill Gates rich but compared to the rest of the world, many of us are fortunate). This young man was devout follower, he practiced all the rituals, he followed all the commandments but when presented with Jesus and what is meant to truly be a follower of Christ, he was given a choice to continue as he was or to "go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor...then come follow me" (Mark 10:21). The man couldn't do it, he turned away with sadness.

We will all encounter this same moment that this young man had. We will come to place of making a choice of learning to trust God or to trust our own resources. I'm not saying we should all quit our jobs, sell everything and live on faith. Living on faith doesn't mean we live irresponsibly but I think that God wants us to come to a place where we are believing for things that are so BIG He is the only possible solution. Exodus 14:14 "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still" (NIV). In the King James Version it says "ye shall hold your peace".  The thing is the Lord wants to fight for us, He wants to be our refuge, He wants to perform miracles on our behalf. Something that God has been showing me is that too often, I get in the way of Him doing that in my life. I call my mom, whip out my credit card and use my resources, blessings and wealth to keep me from seeing God do miracles in my life. 

The Lord performed an incredible miracle for the Israelites, one they never forgot. I think if that young man in the story had done what Jesus had told him, had sold everything, given it to the poor and followed God, he would have seen God do incredible miracles in his own life and the lives of others. Just like this man in the story and just like Praise, we are all going to encounter this moment. The moment we can choose to "only be still" let God fight for us, let God perform miracles, to give up our resources and learn to trust Him and see incredible things. The choice is ours. But this something God has been asking of me. He keeps saying to me, "Hope, are you going to stop doing this on your own now and let me take over? I want you to believe for big things this year because I have big things I wanna do". God wants me and you and all believers to do big things. It may not mean I sell everything, drop out of school and go on the mission field or I start taking in children or I stop using the blessings He has given me. But it might mean I believe that my entire city is going to get saved or I follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and support a missionary even when the budget is tight or I step out and tell someone about Jesus and pray for the sick, knowing that without God I am powerless to change their situation. I'm realizing that sometimes to see God do bigs things in my life means, I've gotta let go, I've gotta go to place past where my resources can provide, I've gotta have faith for things only God can do, I've gotta hold my peace and let God fight for me. 

Few of the many children Praise cares for!