BeZao.com: Tell us a little about yourself and how you ended up in Uganda?

By Faith...that is the way that Christ has asked us to live this Christian life.

Faith, the opposite of fear, is moving beyond your feelings, stepping out into the unknown, trusting that your foot will land on the solid Rock of Christ.

I'm never one to complain about snow. In my book, there is never enough on the ground. Winter is one of my favorite times of the year. It does have the draw back that you don't get to see your neighbor's much. Well, most winters at least.

This year we have had record snowfall. We currently have a little over 2 feet on the ground and most of that fell in the last 3 weeks.

While most of the time in the north country, people tend to stay indoors during the winter, (at least in our neighborhood) when we got our big dump of 14 inches of snow in 24 hours, people had to get out and shovel. So after the snow stopped falling, we headed out to shovel and dig each other out. I think on that one day, we met more neighbors then I have in the 4 years of living here. We met people that we never see.

I live in a big city with a large university and medical
center where people from all over the nation and the world come to "earn wisdom
and stature" before moving on. The nature
of the community is somewhat transient, which allows for some unique
elements. Conversations are always
bracing, friendships are diverse, and new thoughts and ideas are endless. I must admit, I love it! My church experience has been a bit less
thrilling. This town is large and spread
out, and our local church is not really central to anyone. Busy work and school schedules and travel distance
seem to prevent some of the “normal” things you might see in a medium sized
church from occurring.

Uganda is a poverty stricken country in Eastern Africa where public school doesn't exist, and if one wants to be educated, the $100-300 cost per term is nearly impossible to afford on a $300 annual income. If you're an orphan, as 2.4 million Ugandan children are, it's an unattainable dream.

Thankfully, my friends Mindy & Larisa created a foundation to sponsor HIV/AIDS orphans across Uganda. Kirabo Foundation. The education of students involved in the program is partially or fully provided along with simple school supplies and sometimes uniforms. They are sponsoring children of all ages from Primary through Secondary school.

It's a very small organization so almost 100% of your contributions go directly to the students!

Our beautiful student Esther A. 's picture is proudly displayed on our refridgerator and the kids pray for her daily. For only a few dollars every semester, we've been able to reach across the globe and share Christ's love with our favorite 2nd grader!

During a fantastic wind storm a few weeks ago, one of our pine trees nearly crushed the kid's playhouse in our backyard, and my unwanted Christmas gift came a few days early, when we hired a well-paid lumberjack to carefully get the tree on the ground without damaging anything in it's wake! Thankfully, it came down perfectly and left us with more firewood than you can shake a stick at!

So, it's the beginning of this idea that began with a conversation between a brother and a sister many months ago.  Although we live on opposite sides of the country, we found ourselves connecting over something that we couldn't quite put into words.  The questions kept popping up . . .

• what is our mission as a Christian?
• how would you define this mission in a way that makes sense to my generation?
• seriously, what does it mean to live as a Christ follower?
• how can I reach out to my community in a relevant way?
• does "sharing Christ" have to mean verbalizing His name?
• don't actions speak louder than words?
• how's this t-shirt  method really working?

. . . but the answers weren't that obvious.  Web searches came up with some vague ideas, but nothing concrete. 

Mona has been a friend for many years, and in the last few years she has become increasingly involved in the Macedonian Ministry at Campus Hill church.  It's an often difficult crown to reach: teen moms who are sometimes wards of the state.  But it has been deeply rewarding for her personally, for the church as a whole, and the program has made a lasting impact on the local community.  People know they can trust and lean on those involved, and Christ's light is visible on the faces of those who serve there.

BZ: Tell me a little about you. What do you do? Where are you from?

I'm a gypsy soul who's settled and bought a house. I'm a passionate pediatric nurse who recently left the bedside for a position where I mentor &  inspire new grad RNs to go above and beyond their job description to make the difference in a patient's day and life. I was born in Bucharest, Romania, and lived there until I was 4 years old. Now, I live among the few remaining citrus groves of Redlands, CA.