In January 2014, Terri Harrison, International Liaison of Memory Books for Children, traveled to Uganda where she spent 3 1/2 weeks serving in two orphanages that we support. Below, she tells her story:
It was a great pleasure this last January to have traveled to Uganda alongside a multi-church team from Abundant Life Church in Oregon. We spent 3 1/2 weeks at two orphanages. Almost 1,000 children received a Memory Book and participated in the Memory Book Club. As we taught the lessons and did the crafts, the children began to give voice to their stories. Most of the children we encountered were from the Acholi tribe that suffered horrible atrocities at the hands of Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Many of the children told us how they watched rebels kill their families. The Memory Books were a vital tool in bringing healing from the past and hope for the future to many.
My involvement with Memory Books started six years ago when my daughter took a mission trip to an orphanage in Mexico. Tamara Faris, founder of Memory Books, offered to donate 100 Memory Books in Spanish if we would help assemble them. I can still remember a prayer Tamara offered the night of assembly. She said, “Lord, we take this simple paper, plastic, and cardboard that means nothing and we offer it to You. Take what we’ve done tonight and use it for Your glory in the lives of the children.”
I was hooked! I began volunteering two hours a week helping with the ministry in whatever way I could, gradually assisting more with administrative needs and eventually joining the Board.
When the opportunity came to visit Uganda, I jumped at it. Landing on Africa’s plains covered in the red dirt of Uganda was a moment when God poured into my heart the significance of the insignificant. As I unpacked the boxes of Memory Books and craft kits to give to the children, I was reminded of the work that went into each item to make such a ministry possible. I had spent years making books, cutting yarn, counting scissors, and packing boxes. Now I was on the other end seeing those efforts impacting the heart of a child.
Though this was my first time traveling internationally to serve the less fortunate, I realized then that I had in many ways entered the mission field a long time ago. I had touched hearts and lives around the world when I donated clothes or supplies. Any money I had given entered into the kingdom of God and became a weapon of love on the front lines. When I prayed, others were helped. Nothing was too small, nothing was insignificant. So many times we look for the big fanfare or fireworks in our actions. Yet it’s the choices in my daily routine that came together and made me an international missionary.
When it was time to get back on the plane, I realized that I’m not done with Uganda, or maybe Uganda isn’t done with me. Either way, I am looking forward to returning in the near future. I look forward to visiting more orphanages in other countries, bringing Memory Books and God’s love with me so that every child will know that they are somebody significant.