Car Wash for the Kyengera Orphanage

Several weeks ago my good friend Jackie Cuellar invited me to her group of teenagers during  the bible study she leads for them every Thursday night so I could share what we are doing with the orphanage in Uganda. I showed them the photos and told the story of how we met the orphans, how hard their life is, and what we feel we need to do to improve their lives.

This is her group of teens singing praise songs in Spanish.

These teenagers don’t have money to give the children in Uganda, but this doesn’t stop their hearts from being moved into action. They decided to do a car wash to raise money so the orphans could go to school. So there was no sleeping in yesterday morning! At nine in the morning they were at the McDonalds and Kroger spraying cars, soaping them up, and wiping them dry.

 

 We had so much fun spending the day in that parking lot with these teens. My boys jumped right into the suds and made instant friends with this group who have prayed for the same cause as we work towards every day: improving the lives of the children in Uganda. Sometimes it just leaves me speechless to see God move in people’s hearts. These students care so much and were willing to give their free day working for the cause. I love teenagers, I really do. 

There was another car wash on the other side of the parking lot, so we had competition. They were raising support for their swim team, that’s why the kids were silly and wrote this on their sign. The photo of the orphanage attracted a lot of attention. While people had their car washed I could explain to them the purpose behind our fundraiser. I never tire of sharing the story of the orphans in Kyengera Uganda. I want people to know they are there, and that they have hopes and dreams, and our small gifts can change their whole lives and help their hopes become realities.

There’s no need for me to explain who the main attraction was during the car wash. When Kira arrived after her nap she was mobbed, passed around, coddled and indulged. It was confirmation that our bonding is improving when she became overwhelmed she wanted mama. I was happy about that. But she doesn’t mind being center of attention.

I had such a good time meeting all of Jackie’s friends, the parents of these teens. They are so committed to helping to change the lives of the orphans on the other side of this world. It chokes me up to receive so much help. I am so thankful. In the middle of the afternoon I had to take Kevin to his theater production for the final performance so they counted the money…

People were so generous for the cause in exchange for a car wash. These kids raised over 800 dollars in a few hours of fun! All because they love God who moved in their hearts to help those in great need. To hear the cheers from the kids when they realized how much they raised I have to believe it was music to God’s ears. It was to mine.