standing in the gap

When Abdallah cut his foot open that night at central market we knew what to do after we heard the older street children tell him that they would kill him if he came back to the streets. We took him home and after a week he went to live with a really beautiful family here in uganda. We stood in the gap for Abdallah it wasn't easy but we knew what we had to do.

When Mama Yusuf was dying of AIDS we knew there was nothing we could do for her but stand in the gap and pray with her during her last few days and bring her beef stew. It was hard to say goodbye when she passed away but we knew it had to happen and we rejoiced at the thought of her not being forgotten anymore.

When we first met Becaham my heart stopped. Those big brown eyes and that smile made me melt. We stood in the gap for him for a small period of time caring for him loving him and then returning him back to his family in the village. It was hard but we had to do it and we were excited when he would visit jinja and we could see he started crawling and was a bit chunkier. I closed that gap and praised God for all he did in Becaham's life.

Until yesterday when that gap was ripped wide open.
We went to visit him in the village where he now lives with two moms (neither of which are his own) and his father. Friends, I wish it were as easy as giving his family a job or food or money - I wish it was only a matter of him just needing to go to the clinic. I wish it wasn't this hard family dynamic and lack of love. Our translator said that "he is good but not so good" and that sums it up completely. I wish there was some sort of closure he was either really bad or he was doing great. This time standing in the gap is hard and confusing and I have no idea what stepping out of this will look like.



Joe kept telling me yesterday that this is what being obedient to God looks like.
So here we are praying and waiting and filled with so much love for this little boy.
Please pray with us for his family we know that only God can place love in hearts and change lives drastically through it.

On earth as it is in heaven...

autumn update

hello dear blog readers!
we have a lot of exciting things happening over hear and a few not so exciting things.
I'll start with the not so exciting:
-Bennah has been SICK. malaria. She's just started eating and we are praying for a SPEEDY recovery because we really love her and she's making some stellar new designs.
-Our dear Norwegian friend Eirik left last week. We selfishly wished he could just stay forever or until we leave but we wish him all the luck in the world! Thank you for making us laugh and for introducing us to the Nyenga community, but importantly thank you for your friendship! we miss you!

now for exciting news!:
-We are meeting with a possible NEW TAILOR this Wednesday.
-We are starting the endeavor of teaching money management to our tailors - this doesn't sound that exciting right? well, it was THEIR idea. talk about self-empowerment!
- There are 11 kids right down the road from our house (ok so they're far down the main road branch left onto a very dusty dirt road slope right at the train tracks onto a "path" pass the evangelical world vision church and there they are!) who are part of an ever growing children's home.

(me & paulina)

(edward)


(ivan - one of the newest additions :)

The children's home also currently teaches kindergarten to children from the community who can't afford school and gives them each a nutritious meal a day. They also will be teaching English during school holidays. They have future hopes of building a clinic and a school. They currently do not have a clean water source...that's where tukula comes in and where YOU come in. The excess profits from the sale of the bags goes towards building them a rainwater harvesting tank (which we will start constructing in December for the home and in the future for the school!) - so keep shopping, friends!

lots of love,
The Terranova's

snaps

happy October, friends : )

sometimes...
I walk down the road and one of the neighbor kids will ask for money and I just smile at them...because honestly I just want to cry. why can't I give them money? I'm given reasons on a daily basis "they will come to expect it and that's not good... they cant be reliant on white people" "because then you will just give them reason to ask other mzungus for money" "because you're making their parents lazy" and I keep smiling and walking and wave bye when I get to the main road.

sometimes...
One of the tailors, or a shop owner, or someone I'm meeting with doesn't have what I asked for the days prior, is late, or has a long list of excuses about something and I can't get too frustrated because it's "African culture to be late" or "I dont know english" or "we're all out I have to go to kampala for it come back monday"... so I just smile and say "see you next week".

sometimes...
my husband asks me what happens if tukula doesn't work out and I have a panic attack and I smile and say "I've never thought about it before".

sometimes...
I miss a little boy named Becaham so much and I think why can't he just be mine - his family doesn't even care if he's with them or not. But I'm told everyday "he has a family" and I smile even though it doesn't make me feel better.and the toilets don't flush, there's a million ants on our "clean" dishes, I wish I had someone other than my husband to hang out with, some one is always at our gate asking for a job, our best friend is dealing with witch craft spells, It's rainy season and I get caught in the rain several times a week....I just want to pull out my hair...but then...
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

And I smile because I know there is a new day and God has placed me right here right now in the middle of Uganda for such a time as this. And I realize all this messiness that's inside of me isn't mine to carry alone. and if I threw in the towel then I would be saying that my best friend, the one who created me was wrong for bringing me here.
and He's not.
He says..."It's ok if you want to pull your hair out. I do too sometimes because of this mess you've created, but I love you....I love you with my whole life. So, stay here with me."so I stay and the same neighbor child dances in my front yard, and the tailor makes me laugh, the shop owner says "thank you for loving us" , If it doesn't work out I took a really beautiful risk, and Baby Becaham has a heavenly Father who wants him to be right where he is.

And I have absolutely nothing to worry about.

friends,
we recently finished this beautiful wholesale catalog.

A catalog with just the items we feel ok about wholesale-ing (meaning: the ones that we can pump out a lot faster than the ones we cannot because for some reason we can make 30 burlap clutches in a week but it's like pulling teeth to complete 10 wallets in a week...but I digress : )...) So we are asking that if you know of any boutiques or markets or anyone really who you think would want to purchase 10 (minimum) or more of our products at a whole sale price please send me an email (melissa@tukula.org) or leave their contact in a comment and I will send them our catalog! I promise you these ladies would be so grateful:


(esther, 31 years old: In the center of Madhavani Market you will most likely find Esther hard at work, making her neighbors laugh, or quite possibly both. She is a single mother of 4 children: Prince, Precious, Posh, and Shami - the most joyful family you will ever meet!)


(Prossy, 33 years old: The best friend and side-kick of Esther, Prossy is the shy one of the two. They became such good friends while Esther was teaching her how to sew. She is a hardworking single mother of 2 with an always sunny disposition [like Mary Poppins!])


(Bennah, 25 years old: This young newlywed was the first tailor to join the tukula team. She came to Jinja after finishing off tailoring school in Uganda's capital city [Kampala]. She always takes pride in her work and often tells us she will "try her level best"!)

thanks!
-m

Jesus asked me if I would be His disciple and I said "yes".
I remember thinking "this means I have to live and love like You"
I tried really hard and then all of a sudden... I gave up.

I'm currently living in a fantasy world where just because I moved to Uganda and spend time with dirt on my feet and extremely poor people I thought that was good enough. Dear friends let me tell you, it is not. So if you thought moving to africa, adopting an orphan, or giving your summer vacation money to a project in a developing country was "living and loving" like Jesus - you haven't even touched the surface.

He wants us to live and love like Him in EVERY situation. Living and loving like Him means we have to be genuine...in the words we speak and the thoughts we think. I have been affirmed time and time again for the things I am DOING but because no-one (but Christ) can say "your thoughts are on heaven - well done!" - no one can see my thoughts ...I get to think whatever I want and not be judged. This is where I stumble and this where I find myself thirsty. I was able to drop my plow and walk away and not be held accountable for the work I had left to do because everyone saw the work I have already done and in the eyes of the world it's good enough. But something is missing - the harvest is here ...and He wants EVERYTHING because He created us FOR HIM.

Can you imagine how different our actions and what we say would be if we CONTINUOUSLY thought about heaven? But not just that but how GENUINE our actions and words would be. Can you imagine how unimportant where you live, who you are with, even what you were doing would be?

I'm going to try this again - giving everything to follow Him.
I dare you to.

Yesterday our dear friend, Oneka Charles, passed away. The past couple of weeks had been so hard for him. He was in so much pain and fighting so hard. The last time we saw him was on Saturday right before he left for his homeland, Gulu. The moaning and groaning I heard that day haunted me for days I knew that things weren't good but still had hope that God could heal him if He wanted to. But today as sad as I am I also rejoice knowing that Charles is reuniting with His beloved creator and that they are having a huge celebration. : )



We will never forget our time with you and how excited you would get to see Joe. We are celebrating with you today and missing you so much! I feel so blessed to know you!



Amari Matek, dear brother!