hello.

this is a site i set up to keep people updated on my trip. below is the support letter i sent out.


Dear friends,
To say that God has been working in incredible ways in my life the last few months would be an understatement. He’s been teaching me a lot, especially about trusting and being obedient. I wanted to write you and let you know a little bit about what God is doing and how you can get involved.In February I went to Washington DC for a Passion Conferences event. Passion is a worship gathering for college students. This was the 3rd one that I have attended. They have all been life changing to say the least. Starting in May Passion is going on a World Tour. While we were in DC we learned about our partner city, Kampala in Uganda. Africa has been something that’s been on my heart since I learned about the current situation in Uganda at Passion 2 years ago. Last year at Passion I started praying about someday going. I started to feel like I should go, but I felt uneasy about it and had a lot of doubt. While at Passion that week Louie Giglio was speaking about missions and how we should step out and go. He made the statement “I don't need to know where. I don't need to know what. I don't need to know when, but i know who I'm going with. I’m going with Jesus Christ.” I’ve been thinking about those words since then. When we arrived at Passion this year I found out that Kampala was our partner city. I remember thinking that there was no way that this was just a coincidence. I started to feel God working in me in a powerful way during that weekend.

Christy Nockels, who helps lead worship during Passion, led us in a song called Hosanna. There is a line in the song that says “break my heart for what breaks Yours.” I remember thinking how powerful those words were when I heard the song last summer for the first time. While in DC I realized that it wasn’t enough for those to just be words and they took on a whole new meaning for me. While Christy was leading us in that song I was reminded of a blog that she wrote that I read a couple weeks before DC. She was talking about her experience at Passion in Boston a few months earlier. She wrote “sometimes I can hardly contain myself as I look out at their faces. I fall in love with their hearts to see God move - their prayers, their passion... we did a few new songs that are still ringing in my heart....partly because they are typical amazing Tomlin songs, and because they are confessions that are powerful when we sing them as we're sowing into the things of the Spirit. When you get the chance to see them worship like that - it changes you forever, mostly because I know they will put movement to those words - they are not just singing songs -some of them may eventually give their lives for this Jesus they are singing to and dancing for."

On the last night we were singing Hosanna again and I was reminded of Christy’s words again. During the song I said to God, “ok I mean it now. I want You to break my heart. I want to be uncomfortable.” It’s something that I’ll never be able to explain, but I felt it immediately. God wasn’t kidding when He said ask and you shall receive. Later that night we collected an offering to go to Passion in Kampala. I had a strong feeling that I was supposed to go.When I got home I began praying about going to Uganda to volunteer with Passion and then staying for a couple months of the summer to do some sort of volunteer work.

I emailed them to let them know I was interested. I had talked to 2 friends that were also at Passion in DC and they said they wanted to go to Uganda also. As much as I felt like I was being called to go, I still had a lot of doubts, my main one being how I was supposed to still be able to go to Haiti in April like I had been planning and also go to Uganda in May. I knew that if I was meant to do both, that God would provide. After a lot of prayer I felt like God was telling me not to go to Haiti this year. I love going to Haiti and it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. It was hard for me to be obedient and listen to what God was saying, but I knew that He had other plans for me.

I started researching places in Uganda to get involved with after Passion. A lady who had traveled to Kampala earlier this year told me about a great organization called Watoto. Watoto is a children’s ministry that works with kids who have been orphaned by AIDS and the war in Uganda. After reading about them I prayed about it and felt like this was the right place for me to get involved. After I found Watoto I was telling my friends who were going with me about it to see if that was something they were also interested in. They both told me that for different reasons they were no longer able to travel with me. I was immediately full of so much doubt. I starting doubting that I was making the right decision about going and maybe I shouldn’t have given up my trip to Haiti. I wondered if I shouldn’t have asked God to make me so uncomfortable.

So that brings us to today. I am still planning on going to Passion and volunteering with Watoto. There are still a lot of details to be finalized but right now the plan is to go to Uganda the last week of May for Passion then stay until sometime in July. I would be lying if I said I still didn’t have my doubts about this trip. It seems though as soon as I doubt God is quick to remind me that all of this is in His hands and not mine.

I ask that you would pray about contributing financially to my trip. I’m estimating the total trip will cost between $4000 and $5000. This will cover transportation costs, housing, and any other expenses I may have while in Uganda. Any amount you can give is greatly appreciated. I get a little overwhelmed when I try to think about how this trip is going to be paid for. But like I said earlier, God reminds me that this is all in His hands. What I need more than anything for this trip is prayer. I once heard a message from Andy Stanley called Pray Big and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing and ask that you do also. Even if you can’t contribute financially, I hope that you will pray for this trip. I know that this is only going to happen with a lot of prayer.

I set up a blog that you can visit to get updates about my trip (www.valsgoingtoafrica.blogspot.com). I also encourage you to visit Passion (www.268generation.com) and Watoto’s (www.watoto.com) sites to get a better idea of their ministries.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Valerie Hulme

break my heart for what breaks YOURS