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182: Answering the Call - My Uganda Mission Story and Why You Should Go Too
59 Plays26 days ago
Hearts & Hope for Uganda has been featured on this podcast numerous times. The first appearance happened in Episodes 75 and 76, when Jill Devine talked to Andy Wiggins and Todd Larkin. Andy and Todd are the Co-Founders of Hearts & Hope for Uganda. Hearts & Hope is a St. Louis-area 501c3 nonprofit focused on transforming poor villages in Uganda through clean water, health & wellness, education, and small business development.
Our Vision
That every community and child of Uganda would see their full potential, and that we might have the will to help them achieve it.
Our Mission
To develop transformational relationships with the people of Uganda. To partner in the development of communities that would promote spiritual, physical, and socio-economic transformation.
Then, in Episodes 83 & 84, Sara Owens, Program Leader, and Kelly Turntine, Marketing & Business Development at Hearts & Hope, joined Jill to discuss the YES moment(s) that led to leaving their corporate jobs to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector.
In this week’s episode, Jill invited Nick Bennett, Partner and Donor Relations, a.k.a. “The Guy for Partner and Donor Relations”, at Hearts & Hope, on to discuss their time together in Uganda, Hearts & Hope’s 10-year anniversary, and what’s on the horizon for the nonprofit.
Interested in sponsoring a student like Jill and Nick do? Click here.
Have additional questions? Email Nick: nick.bennett@heartsandhope.org
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Normal Goes A Long Way is brought to you by Messiah St. Charles: https://messiahstcharles.org/
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Background
00:00:00
Speaker
The following podcast is a Jill Devine Media production.
Nick Bennett's Role and Hearts and Hope Overview
00:00:20
Speaker
Okay, Nick Bennett, what's your title at Hearts and Hope for Uganda? Hearts and Hope for Uganda. My technical title yes is I'm the guy for partner and donor relations.
00:00:33
Speaker
Does it say yeah the guy ah on your business card? In my emails, I say partner and donor relations guy because it sounds a little bit too like I know what I'm doing. Oh, okay. So I'm like, I throw guy in there and then they're like,
00:00:48
Speaker
So what does that mean? Partner and donor relations. So yeah, Hearts and Hope for Uganda has been around probably 10 years. You guys all
Growth and Strategy of Hearts and Hope
00:00:57
Speaker
know us. Yeah, because if you don't know, in the show notes, you can find the links to the episodes I've done in the past. We've had Andy on, we've had Todd on, the founders. We've had Sarah on and Kelly on They're your coworkers. So...
00:01:14
Speaker
We have some history with Arts and Hope here. Yes. So been around 10 years ish and been in the works for longer than that. And those 10 years, the way Todd and Andy would describe it, who are the two volunteer founders. Crazy.
00:01:32
Speaker
they these 10 years have been kind of figuring out how to do it and we get most of our support through church partners or individual partners and the way that i've heard todd say it is we've found these partners in spite of ourselves is what he always says there's never been an intentional seeking out or push to actually find partners, seek out prospects, and kind of get them tied up with us. So ok it's just been word of mouth.
00:02:10
Speaker
Church is hearing about us. we'll go to so They've gone to some conferences and stuff like that, but um it's just been the Holy Spirit working and pulling people together that are meant to be together and it's um it's really amazing. But they, from what I understand, they came together as a board last year and they were making a decision of whether they were going to keep things how they are, which is amazing. yeah Great success doing awesome things in Uganda or other side of the coin is
00:02:43
Speaker
targeting some rapid growth. um So with that came adding some staff, being a little bit more intentional about finding partners, seeking out prospects that would want to get involved.
Nick's Personal Connection and Experiences
00:02:54
Speaker
And that's kind of where I come into play. The guy gets hired. All right, Nick, we have to back up, though, because you didn't just fall upon Hearts and Hope for Uganda. Let's talk about your experience. How do you even know about this organization?
00:03:13
Speaker
So, yeah, that's a crazy story. My old man, Ken Bennett. Also known as dad. Yes. Some of you guys know him. Yeah. He's been involved with Hearts and Hope since before Hearts and Hope was even a thing. He went on the first trip.
00:03:27
Speaker
He was there. Buddies with Todd and Andy. And right away fell in love. How could you not? And so sponsored a kid since I was, I don't know, in middle school. Okay. So grew up, you know, pictures on the fridge of our sponsored students and sending letters and hearing about the amazing stories of the trips from my dad and always just fascinated by it.
00:03:55
Speaker
growing up. And then in 2019, I got my first opportunity to go on a trip to Uganda. I went with my mom, dad, and sister. was absolutely amazing. I went again in 23.
00:04:06
Speaker
And so, yeah, i just kind of grew up knowing about Hearts and Hope, loving what they do hearing about it in church, obviously, too.
Host's Family Connection and Mission Trip Preparations
00:04:15
Speaker
I've been longtime member at Messiah.
00:04:18
Speaker
um And Messiah's a bunch of superstars for Uganda. So, Okay, as a kid, and I'm just thinking about my two girls, when you're seeing the pictures on the fridge and your parents tell you you're doing this, like what do you remember thinking, like, what are we doing?
00:04:40
Speaker
Who is this kid? What is this place? Like, why? Absolutely. i mean, I learned about it at a young age, so I probably was – don know, I thought it was cool, but I couldn't even really wrap my head around where it was geographically, um how far of a distance that was, and then the whole concept of just developing relationships with people that are so, not only far away from you, but just live in such a drastically different culture and upbringing.
00:05:11
Speaker
So that's one of the things that I would say i definitely didn't have a grasp on until I started going and seeing it and meeting the people and seeing the situations that they're in So yeah, I would say that was something that came later for sure.
00:05:30
Speaker
Okay. In leading up to this conversation, like I said, I've had Andy and Todd on, I've had Sarah and Kelly on and The reason why we got connected, my family, we had, again, we're working for Messiah, learned, to but this is even, no, actually...
00:05:53
Speaker
I was working at the time for the church, but had heard about Hearts and Hope for Uganda and knew that this was a ah project that the church was a part of, but started getting involved by sponsoring a kiddo. His name is Derek. And that's that's where it started. And I...
00:06:13
Speaker
always knew in the back of my mind, I wanted to go on a mission trip and I didn't know exactly where that was. And then obviously you start getting invested and you start hearing people talk about it.
00:06:25
Speaker
So we're going to talk about my first mission trip and I wanted you to be a part of it because you led me on this mission trip. And i think it's important to talk about the experience And whether or not it's Uganda or someplace else, how it makes difference. And so fast forward to June 2025. Well, a lot of a lot of months leading up into then um making the decision to go.
Emotional Aspects of Mission Trips
00:07:01
Speaker
and represent the church doing so. And um i was very open with you, Nick, that there was nothing I was scared of about going except for leaving my girls.
00:07:14
Speaker
And i remember you and I having a really long talk and and about your mom. And i was also open with you that I was going to therapy to talk through these things. And she really helped me to prepare for that day that I left.
00:07:33
Speaker
And it's never easy leaving your kids. You said that about your your mom. She didn't want to leave because she went with you and one of your sisters and you have one more sister that didn't go. yeah but it was still hard for her. Oh my gosh, yeah.
00:07:49
Speaker
That was 2019. That was my first trip. And I remember... And i'm not I'm not trying to spill my mom's beans on the podcast, but to say going to get mad at me, isn't she? To say it. In short, she's leaving home for her is not...
00:08:06
Speaker
ever going to be the first option. She likes to travel, but it's like, when are we coming back? Same thing. So getting her to go on that trip, I remember my dad, uh, trying to swear and she knew how much it meant to him for her to go. But I would say she's definitely sees herself as more of a, at hearts and hope. We say that there's goers and there's senders. And she definitely always saw herself as a sender.
00:08:33
Speaker
Um, Dead set on the mission, always sending letters to the kids. um I'm not at all trying to discount her passion for the mission, but just going that far away was something that was a huge step for her.
00:08:47
Speaker
um And she did amazing. It was awesome. And she was with two of her three kids. Right. Which helps. Right. i My husband and I have said, because of the girls' age ages, they're young, we will not...
00:09:02
Speaker
go together, my husband and me, because of their ages, like I just mentioned. It's just not something that I'm comfortable with. So until they're of age to go, we will go separately.
00:09:17
Speaker
But the idea of going with them just excites me so much. yeah so Yes, I had a lot. and And I talked to your mom and we talked and said, you know, the hardest part is getting there.
Experiences and Reflections from Uganda
00:09:33
Speaker
And then once you're there, you're in it.
00:09:36
Speaker
And of course you're going to miss your kids, but you're going to be so busy. You're going to be doing so many things. It's going to be really, really, really hard to just focus on whatever ever is coming to mind about them.
00:09:49
Speaker
That really helped me because she's right. Once you get there, it's Game on. But I would love to offer anyone who is going to a mission trip or thinking about it, please reach out if it's about leaving your kids. Like I came up with a couple of different ideas to stay in touch with the girls when I was gone. um and just things, getting them in place and stuff and having hard conversations with my husband about the things that I'm feeling. And because also...
00:10:22
Speaker
you know, your partner is like, you don't trust me? Or I'm not saying that's what he was saying, but he was like, you you know, I got this. I'm like, it's not that I don't trust that you have this. It's me. It's fully me.
00:10:36
Speaker
yep So I can offer some counseling ah ah ears their listening ears if anybody is interested in that. Yeah, absolutely. um But the trip to Uganda was the most beautiful thing that I've experienced. And it feels weird for me to say that because there is so much brokenness.
00:11:00
Speaker
But it's hard to put into words. um Beauty and brokenness are two words. I don't know that I've heard that, but one, I like the alliteration, but it's also so, so true. It's just the most mind boggling thing.
00:11:19
Speaker
And that's something that we can get into kind of the juxtaposition between you're going thinking, that you're strictly going to serve these people that need help. And in a sense, it's true.
00:11:33
Speaker
um But it's such an exchange. It's such an exchange. And we talk about that all the time at the office. And that's something that you just truly cannot understand.
00:11:44
Speaker
we do Our marketing lady, Kelly, does an amazing job making videos and capturing the experience. But you just can't... you can't wrap your head around it until you go. it's like you're expecting the sadness and desperation because these people do not have what it takes to live a comfortable life. You know, they, they struggle to find the bare necessities, but every time I am just so blown away and caught off guard by the joy that's there and God's presence and
00:12:22
Speaker
They know that God is there. There's no doubt in their mind. And it is just so overwhelming. It it is weird. to put into words because there's so many things like, you know, I'm thinking like you write a paper and you have your points that you need to go in order and here's how we do it. And I can't do that with this interview because it's like, we can talk about the sponsorship of the kids. We can talk about what we do on a mission trip. We can talk about what you do when you come home and it's like all intermingled. And
00:12:58
Speaker
i Going to the sponsorship kids, I will say if you do sponsor a kid, it does change things when you are there and you get to see and meet your sponsored kid. There is this weird thing for me, at least, where I'm like, I can't believe I'm leaving. i can't believe i am invested in this kiddo who lives how many miles away from me? yeah And I'm with him for a couple hours and then I have to go home.
00:13:33
Speaker
Like that, that sucked. Like no sugarcoating it. But at the same time, to be able to say i actually got to meet him is so amazing. And so if you are interested in sponsorship,
00:13:49
Speaker
We have everything on at the show notes at normalgoesalongway.com where you can invest in a kiddo, get them an education, get them food, get them love. You get to talk to them through letters and that's that's really cool.
00:14:04
Speaker
um What I had said something to someone after we came back, I said, I would ah wish I could just drive there. I think I told you that I said, i just wish I could get my car and go there for the weekend. And everybody's like, well, you can't really do that. Jill. it's like No, I can't. But.
00:14:21
Speaker
I would go back in a second and it's not a vacation. I don't know how to explain it. It is not a vacation at all. And if you told me I could go this weekend, I would do it in a second.
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's exhausting. it's It's so exhausting. But, Nick, what i one of the things that you can do is Do the safari, which if you're going to go to Uganda, you got to do the safari, at least the first time that you go. And it was amazing. But my downtime at the safari, i thought I would lean into it and love it I, that was hard.
00:15:02
Speaker
Oh yeah. It's yeah. What a mind right there. like I get it. You go from working so hard and and being up really early and going to bed late and doing all these things. And then you go to a luxurious resort and you do see God's creation. Like, oh my gosh, I'll never forget seeing a lioness.
00:15:29
Speaker
And then you have downtime when you go back to your your resort and you're like, I'm ready to go home. It's time to go home. So there's that. But getting inside these villages and talking about Uganda.
00:15:50
Speaker
i am not a world traveler by any means. I've been to Mexico and Jamaica, probably the farthest I've been. So to put into words what going to Uganda was like is very, very hard. But I remember at one point thinking, holy cow, God is so crazy. Like, look at the difference. And and and and I was going good and bad. Like I was frustrated.
00:16:20
Speaker
And then I was in awe because you go there you're And as a white woman, I'm a minority and I've never been in that situation before.
00:16:32
Speaker
oh my gosh. Yeah. It's like head turning just right on the street. Everyone knows right away that person is not from here. Right. And if you've never been in that situation, it really puts your perspective into a whole nother level of, oh, we're, we're supposed to all kind of be together and blend in without those stairs. But There is separation. Yep.
00:16:57
Speaker
But there's also this beautiful community that we can learn from.
Cultural Insights and Shared Humanity
00:17:02
Speaker
i There is a lot more that happened that I i didn't realize. Yeah, that's something I noticed too, right? When I went to Uganda, I was like, when you get off the plane, I've traveled some. I'm not a world traveler either, like you said. I've been to a few different places out of the country, but I'm not...
00:17:22
Speaker
the kind of guy that's you know got a million boxes checked on his country list and so it's kind of crazy that i'm doing this now i've already been to uganda twice this year and i'm like how many times total have you been four times okay okay so go ahead twice before the gig and then i went twice this year doubled my numbers nice yeah But it really kind of feels like you're getting off a spaceship when you get off in Uganda. Everything's just so different.
00:17:51
Speaker
And there's really nothing to compare it to here. You're driving down the road and everything you thought you knew about, even things like just driving down the street, it's just completely different.
00:18:03
Speaker
The landscape is, there's nothing like it here. There's really not. But then, i don't know if you had this experience, but by the end of the trip, you have made these connections with different kids. Or for you, you were spending a lot of time with the moms.
00:18:20
Speaker
And it's this weird realization where their situation is so different. Their surrounding is so different. But... It kind of came full circle for me like, okay, these are people that are not any different from me.
00:18:38
Speaker
Their day-to-day looks a lot different. yeah But I've just had so countless connections with people in Uganda where i'm like, this guy thinks like me. like he Like he's just one one of the guys. If he lived in the U.S., s he would be one of the guys. If I lived here, the same thing. So it's it's so interesting. I can relate, like you said, with the moms.
00:18:59
Speaker
It's easy to talk to besides the the language its barrier, but it's easy to for someone who can translate like, hey, we can talk about being a mom. We can we can relate to that kind of stuff. We can relate to whatever it is but just being there for one another.
00:19:22
Speaker
When I'm meeting people for the first time or talking to people that I don't know or people that in my head I think are very different from me, I'm like fixated on what I'm saying and my words. And then if something good comes from the conversation,
00:19:44
Speaker
i always am thinking, oh, this must have been because of something that I said. I said the right things. And when you can't communicate, like in Uganda, when you're hanging out with the moms, they're um a lot of them have little to no education.
00:20:02
Speaker
um They speak a few different languages in Uganda depending on what region you grew up in. There's different dialects. um So there's really no way of...
00:20:13
Speaker
communicating with them. a lot of the time, a translator won't even help you because they speak different dialects. um Crazy. And there's just like, they're so happy that you're there. And they just, you can tell they just love you. They do.
00:20:28
Speaker
They do. And there's nothing you could have said that could have won their heart over or anything. It's literally the presence, the fact that you...
00:20:39
Speaker
came all that way, and it just shows to them that you care about them and that you love them or their kids or whatever it is.
00:20:50
Speaker
And that's like the mission trip in a nutshell
Building Connections and Overcoming Barriers
00:20:55
Speaker
to me. it's It's showing up. is what the mission trip is about and being present.
00:21:03
Speaker
And then we can get into the talking about what that means for the kids. a lot of the kids, you know, they don't have a father figure or a mother around. A lot of them are orphans. Some of them do. a lot of them live with grandparents or aunts and uncles. So, yeah.
00:21:19
Speaker
just having someone older than them, someone who's committed to seeing them and being there for them and supporting them.
00:21:29
Speaker
um Obviously, the money that you pay for a sponsorship helps with their education, but it's really the person that's paying the money that really, I think means the most to them.
00:21:43
Speaker
It's not the check. The check is a huge deal for sure, but someone, the person that is sending the check that believes in them and thinks that they're worth the money and sees the potential in them is really, mean, I talked to so many of these kids and they just, they're so unbelievably grateful for that.
00:22:05
Speaker
When you just mentioned, though, talking to the kids, we should say that some of them know some English. it's It's still getting there. And then what I found was really cool is meeting some of those older kiddos and watching them write the letters to their sponsors and them actually being able to to talk. We're having a conversation. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so cool. Like, this is the next generation.
00:22:32
Speaker
These are the kids that are going to be able to even ah talk about that impact even more. Yes. That was cool. So cool. And also when when you were talking about making a difference in these kids' lives, like um our sponsor, Boy, they have letters or activities that they all do for any of their sponsors. And um he put down that I was, it says, who's your best friend? And he wrote my name down.
00:23:00
Speaker
And I was like, and so we're opening it as a family. I'm like, guess who he said his best friend is. And Brian goes, you. And we were just joking around. I'm like, he sure did. And so it's like, oh my gosh. Like,
00:23:13
Speaker
isn't Not crazy. Crazy. It's so crazy. um Something else that you said about just a simple smile. That's that's the communication. i just remember these moms and these grandmas, like you said, I spent a lot of time with moms and grandmas um because so often you feel unseen.
00:23:36
Speaker
And I wanted these women to know that they were seeing, like, watching them walk down the street with buckets on their head filled with who knows what. Them doing all this work, like...
00:23:50
Speaker
my gosh, all the work, all the work, Nick, there was one village we went to and I was taking pictures in, in the classroom. And it was the, um, basically family relationships, like father, grandmother, aunt, uncle, sister, brother at the bottom was mom.
00:24:16
Speaker
I'm like, No, she needs to be up top. Isn't that weird? It's so weird. So weird to me. So just being able to, like, look them in in the eye and smile and have them smile back, you're like, I know you. i got you. Yeah, that was so cool.
00:24:32
Speaker
That was a huge part of the June trip. We had... um ample team members, which was a huge blessing. As you know, a huge team. um It was the biggest team we've ever taken to Uganda this past June.
00:24:45
Speaker
So we really had the flexibility to kind of split up, divide and conquer, and really pour into all of the different things that we're hoping to do on every mission trip. With smaller mission teams, you got to kind of um you know, focus on the things that need to get done. But having people to hang out with the sponsored kids and deliver all the packets and make sure that the photos get taken to send back to the sponsors and then the unsponsored students, someone to entertain them. And then you got all this different stuff going on.
00:25:24
Speaker
And then having you guys able to really pour into those women was such a cool thing. Thank you for saying that. I mean, it just felt natural.
00:25:35
Speaker
I'd love to actually explain though, how crazy different it is. So think about this. Think about never, ever, ever seen yourself ever.
00:25:51
Speaker
You don't have a mirror. I mean, where are you going to see yourself? So one thing that you all prepared us for is like the kids love your phones. And so, i mean, even the the women, you would take your their picture and you would show them and it was just like this aha moment.
00:26:12
Speaker
So one of the things that we did was, well, I was a little too ambitious. I wanted to do some sort of like paint by number kind of situation and had my packet all laminated and ready to go. and gosh, you know, naive, didn't know, never been. Got to be flexible. Flexible.
00:26:35
Speaker
So we had some paper and we had some paint and these women, some of them did not even know what to do with the paintbrush and the paint.
00:26:46
Speaker
And that was mind blowing. This also goes back to translation. I don't know, you do know some of this, but from even one village to the next, here's what happened on the very first, was it Nakabongo that I did the very first activity? That's where we went to church. So this was the first
Cultural Exchange and Personal Growth
00:27:07
Speaker
day that I led the women's craft slash activity. And I led it with a wonderful young woman, Ellie.
00:27:16
Speaker
We had a translator And i don't even really know how this transpired. I knew that we were going to just maybe have them draw their family.
00:27:27
Speaker
So I was talking and I said, um i want them to know how much they're seeing, how much that i think they're my heroes. And I explained, but I have this tattoo on my right inside arm and it's of an or an elephant. That's going to be the next one.
00:27:45
Speaker
it's good to be It's a mama bear because as mama bears, we protect our cub. And the translator's talking that through. And there's just this look of puzzlement on these women's faces. And then she says something else. This cheer happens. And like Ellie and I look at each other and I get goosebumps. And the translator says, they don't know what a bear is, but they sure know what a lioness does for her cub.
00:28:15
Speaker
And I was like, oh, oh my gosh. Yep. Okay. So then these women drew their family and they were giggling and laughing the whole time. They had no idea what to draw or how to represent their family. And it was amazing what they drew. Then we went to another village and we did the same thing. and this is how it translated. They started drawing animals and Because she was talking about the mama bear and then she talked about the lioness and then they started drawing like cats and snakes and dogs. I'm like, whatever, they're having fun. But it was just even seeing that, but just being there with these women, that was incredible. Did you have people drawing like more kids than they you ever would think they would have?
00:29:05
Speaker
So that was another thing I learned on our very first village that we went to. Nobody warned me about babies, little kids being scared of, what are what are we, Mzungos? Mzungos?
00:29:20
Speaker
Okay, so... This is so funny and sad at the same time. So I would see kids that would look at me and not smile. And you guys were really good about saying, like, sometimes if a kid's not smiling, they're sick. But I would see these kids, like, put their hands over their eyes And I was like, oh, I don't know what's going on. And it was some people on that had been on a mission trip before. They're like, oh, do you remember when that one girl screamed at you? And I said, oh, she was excited. And they're like no, she's scared. Yeah.
00:29:53
Speaker
In these villages, these communities, um the sense of community is very strong. So there's not a lot of strangers. You get a lot of the reason why I asked about the paintings of the family, sometimes you'll get 13 kids on there. Yeah. And then if you talk to one of the Ugandans that can speak English, they'll explain to you, not all of these kids are biological kids.
00:30:20
Speaker
they They have this village kind of mindset where, you know, they're they're putting kids on their family tree that are there might might be their neighbor's kids or their sister's kids or It could be anything. They're all kind of helping out, parent each other's kids. And so it's this kind of enclosed.
00:30:41
Speaker
The villages are very rural, so you don't get a lot of people passing through. um So for one, we're just... Strange. And two, we we do look very different. And a lot of them, you know, they they've never been into the city.
00:30:58
Speaker
They've never been on the Internet. Obviously, they don't have television. So it's yeah, a white person's a completely foreign thing. Yeah. So that happened to me and I was like, oh no. And anybody that knows me and my people pleasing self and wanting to be accepted, yeah i had a ah little girl, two little girls come and sit on my lap. I would say they were three and four and the younger one
00:31:30
Speaker
ended up like taking off and it was a while, like she was on my lap for a while and she left her flip-flops by me and I tracked her, I watched her and I saw her go to her mom and her mom is smiling across the way and waving and I have no idea what's happening and then I see her leave. Well, then she comes back and she's kind of standing by me And then mom comes and I'm trying to talk to her. i'm like, oh, here's her flip flops.
00:32:03
Speaker
And so one of our um James came over. He is with the LCU, correct? In Uganda. And he translates and he...
00:32:15
Speaker
Just says it so bluntly, like, she's afraid of you. i'm like, oh, oh my gosh. But so mom is trying to get the girl to sit on my lap. I'm like, no, I don't want her to sit on my lap if she's... Because she was crying.
00:32:28
Speaker
And I did learn later that sometimes... the moms or grandmas or the aunts, they want their kiddos to get used to the the white person that's there. So I didn't feel like I just, it was my first village. I didn't know what was going on. And so fast forward, we're all after lunch, everybody's out and about. And i am talking to who has now become a staple in my heart. Her name is Peyruth. She is part of the staff at Hearts and Hope in Uganda. And I said something about, i don't know how that all went down.
00:33:06
Speaker
And actually what happened was I found the mom of the little girl and I ran, I went over there and she gave me a hug. The mom did. And the little girl was there and mom said something to the little girl and then she gave me a hug.
00:33:21
Speaker
And another mom and these women were like, like you said, a community jumping around, playing, doing all kinds of things, looking after each other's kids.
00:33:32
Speaker
And so I had said to one mom, I'm like, how many kids do you have? And she said, many. And I said, oh, how many? And she said, eight, 10. And and then i Was kind of confused. And she asked me, I said, I have two. And she said, that's it? I said, yep. And she said, boys, girls? I said, two girls. So then later I talked to Pay Ruth about it. And she said, when we say many, that includes the village.
00:34:03
Speaker
It includes who we take care of. She said, if you want to know how many biological kids, you say, how many biological kids do you have? And that was another like, oh, my gosh, we're getting it wrong here.
00:34:16
Speaker
Yep. One of many learning opportunities on the Uganda mission trip. There's just, I have countless of those encounters where I'm like, why this seems so simple? Why are we not doing this back home?
00:34:30
Speaker
So simple and so object, objectively good. Right. And that's one of them. Just, I feel like here we, we come home from work. We pull into the garage, close the door behind us, go in. do Yeah. Just, I don't know, neighborliness.
00:34:45
Speaker
Well, and I describe the villages as this. It's kind of like a subdivision when you go into the villages because you see, i think when you hear village, you think everybody's like right there. And then we talk about the schools being there.
00:35:02
Speaker
It's like a subdivision. There's a school that's the center point of the village, if there is a school there. And then all along the way, you see these different homes and...
00:35:15
Speaker
But to Americans, they're shacks or they're straw huts. mud hut, yeah. So seeing that and seeing how they all come together, that is a lesson that we we need here.
00:35:28
Speaker
So for sure saw that.
Sustainable Mission Work and Empowerment
00:35:30
Speaker
um Something else that I wanted to bring up in our time together is when you come home and people are like what did you do there?
00:35:41
Speaker
And it's easy to say, we're just hanging out with everyone and they don't get it So many times you want people to go in or people want to go into these different countries and do something.
00:35:54
Speaker
Yeah, I get a lot of that. But they don't do it well. I heard recently after my time in Uganda, there was this a famous YouTuber who had all these wells installed throughout Uganda, but he had his people or whoever he contracted out to do it. And then they they are not operational.
00:36:15
Speaker
Hmm. So what did we do? Like I, I commend the guy for trying to do something amazing, but it's sustaining it. Yeah. When we started this podcast out, I talked about the first 10 years being figuring it out.
00:36:30
Speaker
And that's, you would be amazed sitting in on these staff meetings. I am just blown away hearing about the more logistical project side of the mission and how many lessons have been learned and Hearts and Hope's sitting at a really good spot now, but there's just so many, um you know, international missions is just such a fragile thing, especially in a third world country. There's so many pitfalls that you just could not even dream up that are so easy to fall into. And one of them is that. It's projecting the way we do things here on, one, a place that's just tangibly different.
00:37:10
Speaker
the You know, the... the dirt and the ecosystem and everything at all operates differently. So if you dig a well, how you do it here, a lot of the time it just doesn't work. Right. um So that's one side of it, which sounds like what happened to the YouTuber that we're talking about. And then there's like the, the economy that you're affecting.
00:37:34
Speaker
um If you go in and, We've learned this, like if you just bring a thousand pairs of shoes, because you go to Uganda and the kids don't, a lot of the kids don't have shoes and it's heartbreaking.
00:37:44
Speaker
So people, a lot of people come home and they're like, we got to get some shoes to Uganda, which makes sense. And that's out of the kindness of your heart. And it's so easy to think that kid doesn't have shoes.
00:37:56
Speaker
Let's get them some shoes. But there's just so many things like what about the guy down the street that is trying to feed his kids and he's the town shoe salesman and you bring everybody a pair of shoes and it's like, oh shoot.
00:38:10
Speaker
There's just so many things to it that they've learned along the way. There's so many moving parts. And that's what Todd and Andy say. The first 10 years they've been kind of getting a grasp on and.
00:38:22
Speaker
Still so much to learn. Yeah, it's it's a crazy, crazy, intricate thing that I'm just getting started. I haven't even been working here for a year, but I'm trying to wrap my head around it. And it's so crazy cool.
00:38:38
Speaker
Well, because, and and I think I said this to you too either in Uganda or shortly after, like, I'm sure everybody has an idea or an opinion and they come to you and they tell you this and you don't know. And speaking of Sarah and Kelly a lot, like I can, you know, tell that they're used to saying, okay, no, we understand what your, what your intention is, but this is what, like, that's a whole nother education.
00:39:08
Speaker
I ran into it shortly after Uganda, somebody approached me about, um, oh, we want to do these things for these girls there. But it's like, well, wait a minute.
00:39:19
Speaker
Some of the girls that are getting sponsored through Hearts and Hope are going on to vocational school where they're learning how to sew or they're learning how to bake or whatever. Like, let them keep it in their home and in their area.
00:39:34
Speaker
That's what we want for them. Yes. It's not a hand out. Nope. It's a, what's the, what do they, what do you say? It's a hand up. Like, you want to give them and empower them to do the things. Mm hmm.
00:39:50
Speaker
To be sustainable. Yes, that is the wow, you're you know it better than me. That is the core building block of Hearts and Hope is a mission. It's like all focused on that empowerment piece.
00:40:04
Speaker
It's in fact, what you said, like, what do we do when we go? We don't. We're not bringing our tool belts and building stuff because there's contractors in Uganda that are fully capable, not only capable, but more equipped to do the work than we are.
00:40:21
Speaker
And they could use the work. So why would we not... Utilize that. It helps that guy out and make sure that it's done the right way.
00:40:32
Speaker
And then we don't have to come in and try and act like we know what we're doing when in reality we really don't. No. So it's funny. On mission trip meetings or just talking to people in passing about mission trips, people are always...
00:40:47
Speaker
Basically, like, what do you do? what do you build? There's a slide on my mission trip meeting where it's, do you build something in quotations? And then the next slide is yes, dot, dot, dot relationships, which is so true. That's, I mean, that is what we believe is and should be our focus.
00:41:07
Speaker
Just thinking it through when you said that, I mean, we may, well, we'll probably never know in our lifetime, but if we continue what we're doing and your dad was a model for you and your sisters.
00:41:23
Speaker
I hope to be a model for my kiddos. If it just keeps going, that's a really cool to think about like the partnership. I mean, I know I just mentioned pay Ruth, but I just think about her so much and they're not that any of the other people that I met weren't, it just, that was my connection. You, you connect with certain people and I'm like, man,
00:41:46
Speaker
How do we work this out to where like generations to come where like we we can keep saying, oh, did you know that my mom met your mom? And then then they introduced me and they and like, how do I take some advice from her? How does she take some advice from me? And like it just it could be so cool to just connect in this faraway land that is so completely different than us. And it's totally possible in this day and age. it it is. I was reading, don't remember where I read it from, but
00:42:18
Speaker
It's this idea of as Christians we're called to love our neighbors. And with technology where it stands, can't you don't really have a good argument that Ugandans aren't our neighbors.
00:42:32
Speaker
mean, you can get there in a day and some change. yeah um And you can communicate with them from across the world. So it's like they are our neighbors the way I look at it.
00:42:43
Speaker
And it's such a symbiotic thing. It just feels so meant to be. Things like, you know, $35 a month is what it costs to sponsor a primary student. And for most Americans, a lot of Americans, that is something that we can fork over $35 a month. but That's like a meal. um And that's paying for a month of the kids' education, meals at school, uniforms, all of that.
00:43:14
Speaker
And then there's so many things, which we've already kind of tapped into this, that we're lacking here. some For some people, it's a sense of community. For some people, it's this spirit of gratefulness for the little things.
00:43:30
Speaker
Some people, it's just an unwavering, bold faith. And those are all things that when you go to Uganda, you would have to walk around blindfolded to not notice that are in the hearts of so many people over there.
00:43:47
Speaker
To me, it's such a no brainer. I am forever changed, but I'm also human. And there are things that I think about or get frustrated about that I really shouldn't. And sometimes it just takes the Holy Spirit to go Hey, remember,
00:44:03
Speaker
in June where you were and what you did and what they had and what you don't have and vice versa. Like, absolutely. I feel so blessed to be in a spot where I get to go a minimum of twice a year for work because it does not take me long to forget all my lessons I've learned and things I've witnessed. It's just like,
00:44:25
Speaker
I don't know if it's the culture we live in or human nature or everything combined, but it's just so easy. You get into the rigmarole of your day-to-day, and next thing you know, I blink my eyes and I'm ah her stressing the little things. yeah just And I would definitely say I don't, I've i've thought about this a lot. Like, what if one of the people that we met there came and lived here? Like, that's not the answer. Nope.
00:44:53
Speaker
And that's take that's where people need to be educated too. Okay, so we're going to wrap this up, Nick. What didn't I cover or what's something that you want someone to know or anything? I would, i don't know if you know this, but we've talked about the first 10 years of Hearts and Hope.
00:45:13
Speaker
Have you guys talked about the next 10 years? Yes. Okay. That's actually the breakdown is we have, we're looking at 10-year projections. so You hit the nail on the head
Education and Empowerment of Young Girls
00:45:25
Speaker
there. um We're looking to do a lot more of everything that we're doing right now. Just amping it up, continuing to tune in and looking for the ways that the Holy Spirit is already working around us and just trying to figure out where we fit into that and doing it to the best of our ability. So more schools, the more schools we can build, the better. The more kids we can get sponsored, the better.
00:45:52
Speaker
The more grants we can send over to build up the Lutheran Church of Uganda and to fund individual little business ventures and things for our students, we're just we're leaning in and pedal to the metal on all of it. So we hi we hired a couple new staff at the beginning of the year. i was one of them, and we're looking to hopefully have to keep doing that and just getting after it.
00:46:18
Speaker
One thing that I will say that I am also very passionate about that I think you guys are starting to do a little bit more is the education of the young girls and their monthly cycles and what that's like. Because what one thing that people don't realize is that a lot of those girls, when it's their to their time of month, like they can't go to school. And so...
Leadership, Team Dynamics, and Call to Action
00:46:43
Speaker
um That's something that I have heard other people are very excited and passionate about. And I did get to see witness one village where we had some of the mission trip goers from a church in California, hand out some materials to the young girls. And I was like,
00:47:03
Speaker
in my mind thinking, I hope I'm witnessing history here. Like I hope I'm witnessing the change of what's to come for these women. um So that's very exciting to think through.
00:47:14
Speaker
i hope to go on many more mission trips with you. And go I know, right? I know. I'm like, okay, did I rip the bandaid off and now I can leave the girls again? i mean, I can, I'll still need to go to therapy, but the floodgates are unleashed.
00:47:31
Speaker
It's so crazy. um so thank you. Thank you for leading me along the way. Like you were such a huge, huge help to me. And i saw how you rocked it when we were there. That is not an easy,
00:47:46
Speaker
and a lot that It can't be easy to wrangle a bunch of different personalities and opinions and all that, but you handled it amazingly.
00:47:56
Speaker
Thank you. I've been saying it, though. I really believe that that group, this June trip, the one that Jill went on was my first true leadership trip.
00:48:07
Speaker
in charge and i've um i truly believe that god curated that team because all the ends just it felt like everyone was just stepping up to the plate and there were things that happened i mean nothing drastic happened but little things go wrong here and there and you know you're in a foreign place away from your family like you said that's Just kind of puts you in an emotionally like heightened yes state. And everyone just really stepped up.
00:48:37
Speaker
And I felt extremely blessed, still do, that that was the team that I got to take for the first trip. And you were an incredible asset too. And I'm so glad you went because... You just have that gift of speaking about it and getting people amped up. And it's something that a lot of people can go and have an amazing trip. But I feel like you do a really good job of taking the next steps and sharing your experience.
00:49:03
Speaker
And yeah, it was amazing. Super grateful. All right. So all things Hearts and Hope, mission trip, sponsorship, building, schools, all of it. We will have the information normalgoesalongway.com with all the show notes. And then I'll put your information out there too, Nick, so people can get ahold of you. And let's do this. Let's just make it bigger and badder and not badder. That's word. You know what i mean. Yeah. Michael Jackson bad.
00:49:33
Speaker
Yes, fat with a PH, that kind of situation. So thank you for spending time with me today. Absolutely. And I want to say, too, there's so many ways to get involved in the mission. Sponsorship's not for everybody.
00:49:47
Speaker
Mission trips are surely not for everybody. um Everyone's at different points in their life. um Everyone has different ways to contribute. But one thing I will ask for is just prayers for the organization, for our friends in Uganda, our staff in Uganda, for all the kiddos, for the people who are involved in all the different ways. Mission teams, partners, church partners, donors, just... ah that God would be with us and steering us and helping us along the way.
00:50:22
Speaker
And if if that's what you contribute to the mission, that is more than we could ever ask. Amen.