Quietness

Have you every just stood still and listen to the sounds around you? Have you ever been quiet? I mean turn off the phone... TV off... Music off... Nothing around you but Go creation? 

I am talking about sitting in the back porch and listen to the bird chirp... Dogs barking.. The sound of a lawn mower running somewhere in the background.. Feeling the sun on your skin or  feeling the wind blowing on your face?

Or maybe you are at the beach and you hear the waves breaking all around you and the smell of the salty air is touching your skin? And the sound of birds flying above you.

Or maybe you are on top of a mountain and the fresh air of pines hit your sense. And the feeling of being free and being able to hear every animal that God created is singing their songs.

That is what I am talking when it comes to being quiet! The verse that keeps popping up in my devotions the last months has been..... Be still and know I  am God.

Most of us have no problem with knowing He is God. It is everywhere that we look! It is in the smile of a child... The rainbow after the rain... The hug from a love one...or maybe He has shown you through a difficult time... Or it is simply the cross where His Son hung for three days...

But a lot of us have a problem with being still. Yes being still!! That means sitting somewhere with nothing on and just letting your mind become blank (that is not hard for men.. This is not a slam against men... But it is proven fact that they can become blank) and let God be God. That means not thinking of anything and sit still. To us women this is hard to shut off our brains and just listen.

For me it was extremely hard for me... When I was on the field, I could feel Him everywhere and was able to hear Him clearly! But now that I am in the states it is harder

to hear Him. Day after day it became harder and harder to hear that small voice... But I had to slowly train myself to hear Him while in the states...

So when I started to become still His voice became louder and easier to hear.. Things became easier to follow His path! 

So I challenge you to be still and know that He is God!!!

Been Along Time

Wow... It has been awhile!!!

A lot has happen in the last months that I have been out. I have been silent because God has called me to rest and to seek Him fully. He has also asked me to mend old broken relationships and to let go of toxics ones... Which has been hard, but rewarding! 

I have a wonderful relationship with my mother and have seen her grown closer to God. I have let people go and brake the hold of toxics relationships. I have grown closer to friends who seemed to be far off and brought new ones into my life.

God has brought people closer to the mission work and has turn the wrong people away. He has broken ties to an old church and brought a new church who believes that a missionary with a broken past can be a missionary to Uganda. 

God has brought my children to a new understanding of what it means to truly follow God. What it truly means to pick up the cross and follow Him.

Once again I am truly bless to be part of His plan. So with that being said I have taken the steps to slowly start writing again and to share my experience of the last couple of months and what God has in store for me and my mission work!!!

Blessing,

Nikki McGann

Sarah's Heart for Second Chances

So now the New Year is upon us... Sarah, Chandia, Anna, and I want to share what is happening for this year. We have prayed, waited, and talked and we are ready to let the you all know what is going to take place in the next couple of months for Sarah's Heart for Second Chances!!! We are going forward to build our foundation!! Yes, we are moving forward with our global foundation!!

The foundation will consist of different projects and will function as one to provide ways for people to help the Ugandans, who are eager to learn the knowledge to better their lives and to empower themselves to have a brighter future for the next generation.

The first stage is to do different compounds:

The first compound will be a place for healing physically and mentally. We are breaking the mold and going into deep with herbal teas and herbal oils. We are looking into healing naturally and breaking away from the traditional medications while having the Farm in Karamoya (North of Uganda) and the production unit, natural healing in Kingfisher Jinja. This compound itself will be run by Sarah and Anna as the Head office. 

The second compound will be a place for the bio-piggery  as well as farming for all three compounds. We will be having different groups coming from different countries to help build the fence, the piggery... as while as coming to learn about agriculture in Uganda. This land was purchase last year and we are breaking ground at this compound this year!! We will be moving the piggery from Kingfisher to this new land. Chandia and Prescilla (one of the older children) will be  in charge of the compound!

The third compound is where the tailoring and spiritual aspect will take place. This compound will hold the classes for tailoring, smocking, crochet, knitting and all different crafts that will be sold in the USA. We also will be storing all the local crafts made by locals who are making a difference in the community before shipping to the USA to be sold. This will be a place for bibles studies and helping the locals learn the bible. And you guess it.. this is where I will be staying. Yes... this coming year I will be purchasing a compound of my own!!!! We have been looking at different sites and have found a couple that will be close by to both compounds!!!

With this being said  I will be leaving April 13 to stay for the next three months and come back to show that I have established myself in Uganda with a new foundation, a new job, and place to stay. I am proposing that I have 40 people that would pledge $80.00 a month for three months that I am in Uganda! That would equal to a $10,000 goal. With this being said I have partner up with Lion Ministries, Inc. and a easy way to give!! All you have to do is go to:

Donate

Click on the donate button and follow the directions. They take Paypal and credit cards. If you are a person that does not care about tax deduction you can send a check to:

Amber McGann

11710 NC HWY 96 N

Zebulon, NC 27597

I also have tons of stock that was made by the Uganda and would love to have people open their houses to have Uganda parties. The stock that is being sold will help with the foundations and will as the Uganda people. Most of the things that are in the stock are things that have been purchase to help the single mothers and children of Uganda. Please pray about having one of these parties!

I am also will be traveling to different places to help the foundation. Jamaica, California, New Jersey, and New York are just some of the places that I will be heading too!!! Please pray for my travels and for me to reach people that would love to become a part of this beautiful foundation. 

If you like for me to talk to your small group, a gathering, conference, club, or just a one on one conversations please contact me! I love to hear from all my supporters!!! I hope all have a wonderful year!! 

blessings,

Nikki

Mental disorder

A very dear friend wrote this.... Please take the time to read and pray for understanding.

A couple of months ago, someone relatively close to me made a comment that disgusted me. This person said that they were "too strong-willed and strong-minded" to be affected by a mental disorder. I was hurt by this, but I didn't let it show. The conversation was about another person.

Suffering from mental disorders is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of strength being applied to the wrong area. It takes an insane amount of strength and effort to fight against oneself every day when all one wants to do is lay down in bed and cry. It is hard to even want to get up some days or take a shower or go to school/work. It's hard to take care of one's family and spend time with friends. It's hard to care enough about life to even continue living it, and sometimes, these people make the strongest decision of all by taking their own life. It takes unimaginable strength to go through that.

Imagine waking up every day with no hope, love, and faith. Imagine struggling through the day, forcing yourself to get up and take care of your responsibilities. Imagine dealing with the stress of wanting to change for the better but being unable to do so. Imagine all of that fighting against your very being as you barely survive. You MUST be strong to deal with it!

People suffering from mental disorders don't need someone to tell them they're doing things wrong or that it is simple to get past what they are dealing with. They just need a friend to lean on. They need someone to show them compassion and to not be too intrusive. They need hope.

If you have a friend who is suffering from a mental disorder, comfort them. Tell them it's going to be alright. Tell them you are there for them and that you love them and that they will be alright one day, and leave it at that. If they want to talk to you, fine. Listen... and listen well. Don't talk, just listen. Give them a place to vent. Be the catalyst that allows them to see that maybe there's a way out... but don't ever force yourself on them and don't ever call them weak. Don't ever try to tell them to snap out of it. Don't ever tell them they have to be strong.

They are stronger than you will ever be.

There's an old joke I like about Psychology. It really applies to this.

Q: How many Psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Just one, but the light bulb has to really want to change first.

Trusting God

Most people, who meet me, think I am this strong woman who follows God without a doubt in her mine and that trusting Him comes naturally!!! I hate to burst their bubbles! BUT I have to ask God every morning to help me trust Him with every aspect of my life and when I start doubting Him, to remind me of what He had done in the past!!!    

We all doubt when God throws something in our path that seems impossible. To tell you the truth... God doesn't just throw things on us... if you look back in your lifetime; God has been preparing you for this impossible moment.  Do you see that machine that I am pointing too??? My father bought this for me when I was pregnant with my first child ten years before it was delivered to the rightful owner in Uganda! That machine has helped and will still be helping Ugandan to learn the art of smocking that can be sold in the states for funding that keeps the project alive in Jinja, Uganda.  

So when your loving, heavenly father asks you to do something impossible... take a step back and see if God has been preparing you for this moment!!! So what has God asked you to do this year? And what is keeping you for stepping out in faith?

The Path of an Unpredictable God

“For the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

When I accepted Christ in 2005… yes ten years ago… I knew what God’s calling on my life was… to be a missionary in Africa. That was all I got. He had called me to Africa and to spread the word of Jesus’ love to the continent of Africa. Now knowing this I like to tell you that I sign up to an agency and hopped a plane to the beautiful continent of Africa and have been doing this for the last ten years of my life…. Oh one could hope!!!!

No.. I was a married to a non-Christian man, with a two year old and one on the way living in the middle of a town where everyone knew my husband and I was outsider. I was a stay home mother who was just grasping the idea of living as a Christian with a husband who had problems with alcohol and drugs and trying to keep it together without going insane with the idea.. was my husband going to come home that night.  

Now looking back on what God did for my life and how He prepared me for the task ahead… just has me on my knees in front of him saying “WHATEVER!!!” Whatever you want me to do… I will do it… I have the faith that you will carry me through!!! I trust you whole heartily and I will obey your every command that you have on my life!!! Without question!!!

The journey to Africa was a very hard one… and to me a quick one… yes it was a nine year road of planning and trusting God in the hardest and darkest times in my life.  I lived through my husband leaving me, a move back to where I grew up, a bad job, to finding a new church, a new job and the possibility of my heart’s desire to be a missionary. When the possibility of going to Africa… Uganda…  I jumped to the possibility of finally living the life that God had plan for me.

 But it was not an easy road to this wonderful place that I now call home. I had to go through an ugly court case that left both of my children in the states while I traveled to Uganda for my first three month stay. That was the toughest decision I had to make and I got a lot of judgment from Christians and non-Christians about that choice. But I still obey God and went through with His plan.

For the first time in my life, when I step off the plane, I felt I had reached my home! I felt at peace, yet my heart ached for my children that I had to leave in the states. But like our bible verse says His ways are higher than mine! If I had brought my children the first time around I would never have seen God’s bigger picture! I never would have seen the vision He had on my life and the lives of my children. I never would be writing about the globe foundation that has come from this one little trip to Uganda.

To tell you the truth, both of my children have a better knowledge of God and what it takes to follow God when He calls you to do the impossible. Both have grown in ways that are far better then what I could do, and both trust God more than the day they believed that Jesus was their savior. Both are willing to give up the ways of the states and head to a place that their mother calls home now.

So when you hear the voice of God calling you to does something that does not line up with your lifestyle or seems impossible… just remember God’s ways are higher than your own! And He will push you to the place of impossible and then take over!!!

So the question is do you have the faith to believe that His ways are higher than your own?

Already There by Casting Crowns

Sarah's Heart for Second Chances

Hey Everyone!!!

So now the New Year is upon us... Sarah, Chandia, Anna, and I want to share what is happening for this year. We have prayed, waited, and talked and we are ready to let the you all know what is going to take place in the next couple of months for Sarah's Heart for Second Chances!!! We are going forward to build our foundation!! Yes, we are moving forward with our global foundation!!

The foundation will consist of different projects and will function as one to provide ways for people to help the Ugandans, who are eager to learn the knowledge to better their lives and to empower themselves to have a brighter future for the next generation.

The first stage is to do different compounds:

The first compound will be a place for healing physically and mentally. We are breaking the mold and going into deep with herbal teas and herbal oils. We are looking into healing naturally and breaking away from the traditional medications while having the Farm in Karamoya (North of Uganda) and the production unit, natural healing in Kingfisher Jinja. This compound itself will be run by Sarah and Anna as the Head office. 

The second compound will be a place for the bio-piggery  as well as farming for all three compounds. We will be having different groups coming from different countries to help build the fence, the piggery... as while as coming to learn about agriculture in Uganda. This land was purchase last year and we are breaking ground at this compound this year!! We will be moving the piggery from Kingfisher to this new land. Chandia and Prescilla (one of the older children) will be  in charge of the compound!

The third compound is where the tailoring and spiritual aspect will take place. This compound will hold the classes for tailoring, smocking, crochet, knitting and all different crafts that will be sold in the USA. We also will be storing all the local crafts made by locals who are making a difference in the community before shipping to the USA to be sold. This will be a place for bibles studies and helping the locals learn the bible. And you guess it.. this is where I will be staying. Yes... this coming year I will be purchasing a compound of my own!!!! We have been looking at different sites and have found a couple that will be close by to both compounds!!!

With this being said I like to say I will be leaving April 13 to stay for the next three months and come back to show that I have established myself in Uganda with a new foundation, a new job, and place to stay. I am proposing that I have 125 people that would pledge $80.00 a month that I am there in Uganda! That would equal to a $10,000 goal. With this being said I have partner up with Lion Ministries, Inc. and a easy way to give!! All you have to do is go to:

http://lionincc.wix.com/lioninc

Click on the donate button and follow the directions... to make sure that the money gets to my missions in the personal message box please put Nikki Missions. They take Paypal and credit cards. If you are a person that does not care about tax deduction you can send a check to:

Amber McGann

11710 NC HWY 96 N

Zebulon, NC 27597

I also have tons of stock that was made by the Uganda and would love to have people open their houses to have Uganda parties. The stock that is being sold will help with the foundations and will as the Uganda people. Most of the things that are in the stock are things that have been purchase to help the single mothers and children of Uganda. Please pray about having one of these parties!

I am also will be traveling to different places to help the foundation. Jamaica, California, New Jersey, and New York are just some of the places that I will be heading too!!! Please pray for my travels and for me to reach people that would love to become a part of this beautiful foundation. 

If you like for me to talk to your small group, a gathering, conference, club, or just a one on one conversations please contact me! I love to hear from all my supporters!!! I hope all have a wonderful year!! 

blessings,

Nikki