What the heck is eXile international?

Check out this short video clip of eXile international! Keep coming back to my blog to read stories from former child soldiers!

My IPAD GIVEAWAY!!!!

YOU can come on this adventure WITH ME as I join eXile international to provide hope centered trauma work with former child soldiers and Sixty Feet, serving children in prisons in Uganda. YOU can be apart of SENDING ME and win an IPAD in the process!!!!

1. Click Donate on top right of page

2. Enter 25.00 or more! (every 25.00 earns you an entry!)

3. Enter your Name and Mailing Address

That's it! Very simple!!
* Winner will be announced on my blog Friday May 11th
* Minimum of $500.00 needs to be raised in order to get the IPAD donated....so SHARE!!!
* No purchases necessary

Thank you for LOVING BIG!!!! 

IPAD GIVEAWAY!!!

If you have read my previous post, you know that I will be venturing to Uganda for 3 1/2 months! I leave on June 6 and for the first two weeks will be on a missions trip with Visiting Orphans, spending time in Ethiopia and Uganda. June 19th I will then head to Lira, Uganda to work with eXile international, walking alongside local leaders and assisting with the rehabilitation of former child soldiers. I will then end my time in Kampala, Uganda ministering with Sixty Feet, loving on children that are kept in prisons throughout Uganda.

I need YOUR HELP to make this all possible! You have an incredible opportunity to join me on this adventure!!!! So here it is......

With the donation of EVERY $25 your name will be entered to win a FREE BRAND NEW IPAD!!!

All you need to do is click the DONATE button that is on the top left of this page!

Starting today and for the next two weeks I will be advertising like crazy and filling the news feed of facebook :) Tuesday, May 8th I will post a video of the winner! Please share this link as much as you can over the next two weeks to help me raise support!

"Here I am, SEND ME!"- Summer in Uganda

It all started when I walked into my condo after returning home from my first-ever mission trip to Uganda and Ethiopia in the summer of 2010. My bags dropped from my arms and I immediately began sobbing. At first I thought it was culture shock, but then realized it was so much more than that; I had left my heart in Africa.

I knew that I had to go back and immediately signed up to return to Uganda next summer for another mission trip. I also knew that I wanted to commit to staying longer than just two weeks. I pondered it for awhile, prayed for a bit….but then I backed out due to fear and laziness. It was so easy to get comfortable again in my routine, my job, my way of living…so I settled for just the two week trip.

Let me share with you a little more about myself. I have been working with children and adolescents in a residential treatment facility for the past 4 ½ years and studying for my masters in social work. I love walking with others in the midst of their pain; probably because I was so lucky to have others do that for me years ago. So I have a heart that has fallen in love with Uganda and a heart that is passionate about meeting others in their hurt and knowing that true healing alone comes from God.

Fast forward with me now as I return home from my second trip to Uganda this past summer of 2011. Once again I could feel God tugging on my heart. I could hear Him whispering and leading. Through a series of God-ordained web searches and emails, He led me to Bethany Haley and eXile International. Bethany co-founded eXile International which provides hope and healing through expressive arts for former child soldiers. If Kony 2012 just popped in your head then you are thinking correctly. Bethany saw the need and decided to do something about it. She created the HOPE initiative to work with local leaders on the ground in Uganda and Congo to provide trauma training, hope-focused healing and expressive arts and to see these children become soldiers for peace rather than soldiers for war.

God has sown my two passions into one and I will be working with eXile this summer in Lira, Uganda and Children of Peace! I will be walking alongside Jane, a local leader who has invested so much in the lives of these innocent, abused and abducted children. I will be assisting with implementing some peace clubs in the schools, trauma workshops and leading some teams that will be coming from the states.

(photo by eXile International)

My arms ache to hold the boy who had to chop his mothers head off, or the girl who was raped thousands of times in the bush. My heart longs to wipe the tears of a young man who watched his family get murdered and pray with the boy who still wakes every night with night terrors. These children are REAL, their stories are REAL.

(Photo by eXile International)

I am not anyone special. I am not an expert. But I know how to love and trust in God’s healing love above all. If you have been watching and reading about Kony 2012 and have felt lost as to how to help you can assist me and eXile! I will be fundraising to cover my support while I am in Uganda for 3 months. YOU can be a part of this journey with me and help change the lives of these former child soldiers; renew their life, heart and mind.

Please visit Exile's website to learn more about their life-changing efforts under "My favorite links" top right of blog.

"I am preparing you for more"

I recently traveled to Haiti with Visiting Orphans for an experience of loving, serving and spending precious time with various ministry leaders and children. Throughout my time there and as I have had a chance to reflect upon my time there, I have realized that through many situations I heard God repeatedly say "Kari, I am preparing you for more".

My team and I spent two days in Port-Au-prince working with, Well Being Orphanage. These children recently moved into a building and they were previously living and sleeping out of tents. We met the most fascinating women who began this orphanage. She is in poor health, has already lost one leg and while we were there we heard that there was a possibility that she would soon lose her other leg. One thing that I have always noticed from my time in Africa, is the sheer joy these individuals have, no matter what their experiences have been. This women had a heart of gold and continues to choose to love and give deeply even though her physical health presents limitations.

We then jumped into some little planes to fly off into the mountains of Pignon! This is where God really began to speak to my heart. This is where my heart fell in love and then broke into pieces. This is where I met Rudy!

Many of you know the story of Rudy from following me on Facebook. Rudy was brought to Haiti Home of Hope on clinic day. Jennifer provides a  milk and formula program for mothers and babies. Rudy was on the brink of death when his mother brought him. God used Rudy in my life to stretch my faith so much and to truly increase my trust in the goodness of God. My time in Pignon was life-changing and I just want to give you a taste of the times that I heard God speak to me:

* Clinic day. Praying for the vulnerable, sweet women- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* Witnessing the witch doctor come foward and speak about desiring to come to God- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* Watching Jennifer and Bill sacrifice their own needs on a daily basis- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* Clinic day when Rudy and baby Amy were placed in our arms- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* Finding solace with God in the midst of the mountains and pain, wanting so badly to desire what His heart desires- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* As I made the choice to stay behind and help care for Rudy- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* Waking up in the night to care for Rudy- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* Rocking Rudy and feeling my heart fall in love- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* As plans kept changing in regards to who would care for Rudy- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

* Leaving Rudy, heart-broken- "Kari, I am preparing you for more"

I love how God works, how He plans and how He loves. I have a sense for what the "more" is....but that will be another post :)

In the Beginning....

7 yrs ago, I found myself on my face, sobbing, crying out for help. It was a very tiny whisper of help to God, but none the less, a cry for help. My heart and mind were in shambles and even though I wanted to reach out for God to pick me up, I was still very reserved that it would happen. You see, I knew God....well at least I thought I did. I had been in bible studies, leading my own bible studies, I had a mentor, went to a weekly worship gathering, so on and so forth. Yet, my heart had still never fully experienced God. Why would God want to rescue me? I had run away from Him. At times, hating Him for protecting me. Yet, all it took was that little whisper of faith....and my life has never looked the same.

Fast forward to just over a week ago. I had just returned home from Haiti. Once again, I found myself face down, tears streaming from my eyes. Yet, this time I was not crying out for help. I was crying out for more. My heart felt like it was literally going to burst from my chest. The ache was so deep. The love too great. I found myself desperately seeking God's face. 


I have learned through trials, heart-aches, sorrows and deep pain, that God is there through it all. I have learned that when I am nothing God can be everything. When I am at my weakest point, completely, utterly broken....God finds me the most beautiful. The more I am broken, the more beautiful God can be in my life. 
Join me on this broken journey. To seek beauty...genuine, authentic beauty.