Lisa Baldwin - The Total Wellness Doc |

Jinja Slum Tour

I am still in Uganda with a service team of 5 North Americans and 7 Ugandans. We have been doing a lot of things but this was a very impactful 2 1/2 hours.

We visited a slum neighborhood in Jinja, Uganda. It is one of at least 6 I know of in the city and most likely more.

I have seen pictures of kids and adults digging through garbage dumps in Nicaragua. Being present in those conditions and homes was very different. Two and half hours where it is no longer a story but a reality.

Here is my team member Kim Meyers perspective and story. I hope you can see past the poverty to the good.

Journey2Jinja, Day 5 – Jinja Slum tour

Still processing this. It is important to not look at these stories from your own perspective. Life here is very different and access to the basics is not as convenient as in the US. It is hard to see first hand some conditions, but with this being my third trip I see the good. I see where God is working 💜. Everything is built one step, one brick, one behavior at a time.

Our day started with a tour of the Jinja slums. We’ve been through the slums in Kampala and that was a city slum. The Jinja slum was very different. It was more of country slum. It didn’t seem to have the level of drugs or threat that the Kampala slum seemed to present.

Our guide was Steven from Faithful Servant International. An organization in Jinja that works in the slums to educate and improve conditions as well as build community and international relationships.

We designated one person to take pictures out of respect but Steven said it was ok to take pictures. It wasn’t too long into the tour that I could see it was very different than my experience in Kampala’s slums. There was a feeling that this may be their current situation but it wasn’t a permanent situation. So there was Hope.

Steven told us the parents struggle to feed their children and often go to the Central Marketplace (where we were a couple days ago) and go through the garbage to get food to feed their families. I can’t even begin to comprehend that. 😞

We were shown where and how they make various products to sell as well as some food shops. As we walked through we came across this house with people standing outside. Steven asked what was going on. He was told that a elderly lady who lived in that house passed away. She had been sick for a while and that morning someone was delivering food to her and found her dead. Again, it’s still processing.

We met up with a single mom named Sharon. We were invited to a open area and she showed us a mat that she made. It was made out of binding, like the material of Liz Beth’s bags we bring back. She has no money for buying materials so they get the scraps from the garbage. I can only imagine their beauty if made with new materials. 🤔

Then her 21 year old son emerged with jewelry 😲. No! Not jewelry! It is my Achilles tendon here in Uganda. I don’t shop, but when I do, I’m in Uganda 😂

Her smile grew with every necklace I placed in my arm. She jumped with joy as I paid her. We hugged and she shared that she is a single mother. I said, “So am I, how many kids do you have?” She said, “7.” Wow, I told her that she makes beautiful jewelry and to keep making it. I talked to Francis as we were leaving and told him I was proud of him and how he supports his mom. He proudly said, “I am the oldest.” My hearts melted.

We continued and our next stop was at the church. It is a wooden structure and the wall coverings were of the woven sacks the dried maze comes in. Most of the church sides were open and as we gathered, the pastor showed up. There was conversation and Pastor Peter talked about how there are no chance happenings. God plans it all. He then asked to pray for us. ✝️

We continued and Steven took us up to the clinic then on to a long hike here we reached the trash heap. The aroma was a bit overwhelming. However, the sight of those rummaging through the garbage is still processing. They look for plastic bottles to get money for food. 😞

We headed back with a stop at the community clinic then on to our vehicles. As we stopped to thank Steven, a lady approached us with…yes…more jewelry 😲😂😂. So I bought more 😂. This time I was the hold up in moving on. They are so beautiful and the stories, the heart felt work that goes into making each bead, no words can explain this feeling.”

The processing is still. 💜✝️

Did You Have a Mom?

by Lisa Baldwin Leave a Comment

I have been so blessed to have this incredible woman and mother raising me and being there for me and my children my whole life.

What do you think? Do we look alike? How about her and my daughter?

Being a mother now I understand we are not perfect, in fact we can make a whole lot of mistakes. But I can’t imagine life without a mother. Until…

I recently spent time with these kids who don’t have mothers. The only women figures they have are 2 women–the Matron Florence and Sharon the cook. We hope to hire a loving nurse soon, too.

I did not see any unloved children though. I saw loved, happy, beautiful children. I saw 73 children being miraculously loved through the power of Jesus Christ.

See, even the most loving mother will never be enough to fill our needs. Some of you have had terrible wounds instilled on you like some of these children. But the power of Yeshua (Jesus Christ) can heal all wounds, fill all voids, and LOVE US even in our unlovable states.

Whether you have lost your parents, you don’t have to be empty–you don’t have to be alone. And if you have been hurt, there is healing in Jesus Christ.

1. Accept Jesus into your heart to be your healer, leader, all things. Walk in faith that God sacrificed His Son to save you and rescue you–not through your goodness, but through Grace.

2. Forgive those who have hurt you. Below is a beautiful healing prayer written by MamaHug Barbara Stephens, a wonderful women who raised 54 foster children and went on to counsel thousands all over the world with her Solutions for an Abundant Life.

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Mother Wound
Suggested Oils: Acceptance, Geranium, Valor, Lemon

Prayer

Father, I come in Jesus’ name. I am grateful that Your heart is filled with compassion for the hurts in ________’s heart. Will you come and heal every area that has not been nurtured, every area where basic trust has not been formed? Heal every wound caused during the bonding process and during those early developmental years.

Father, I ask that You would come and comfort his/her heart. Would You give him/her an extra measure of grace to deal with the wounds? Thank You for pouring in the oil and the wine and for being a mother to all the places that have not been mothered in ______’s heart.

Father, in the areas where _______’s heart has not been able to mature, I ask that You provide the nurture, the love, and the training to grow. Thank You for Your commitment to _____________’s well-being.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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You can use the suggested Young Living Essential oils with these prayers. I can help you purchase them at a special price if you aren’t familiar with Young Living and learn how to use them in a variety of ways. Message me at drmary@starrhealth.com or call our office at 1-888-351-6850.

I love my mom and am so very grateful for her. But without the love of Christ, my life would be so empty. Please friend, open your heart to be loved by the most High.

I love you,

Mary Starr

The Total Wellness Doc and Mom

To follow Dr. Mary’s journey in Uganda, following her on Facebook or Instagram.

I Learned from this Man, How to be a WORLD CHANGER

by Lisa Baldwin Leave a Comment

The same day I ran this race to stop human trafficking, I won a motorcycle at an auction supporting the same cause. Little did I know that the events of this day would take my level of commitment to serve the underprivileged, those at risk, in poverty, and orphans, to a whole new level. The motorcycle has the birth and death year of a man who has been my mentor for 20 years.

His name is D. Gary Young. Gary’s vision was to change every home in the world no matter what resources or abilities they had. His life’s work and giving has changed my life and the lives of millions. He traveled the world and provided tools and solutions for individuals, families, and communities to live better lives. D. Gary Young was a radical WORLD CHANGER. I experienced some important wake up calls in the days and months following his death in May of 2018 that would lead me across the globe to 71 orphans in Jinja, Uganda.

Several years ago, two women, Jennifer Strickland and Wendy Clayton, followed Gary’s vision to change the world. At that time, the Uganda Orphan Childcare Ministries in Jinja, Uganda was struggling to feed the children daily and basic needs were going unmet. At that time, 32 of the orphans were living in foster homes because there simply was not enough room for them all after their move to Jinja from a village over an hour away. The community members who agreed to foster these children treated most of them like slaves.

Jennifer, Wendy, and 41 families stepped up to fund the basic needs of the children, paying for their schooling, building proper toilets and showers, and most recently, getting a dormitory built so that the fostered orphans could come home.

This past January, those women and a service group from the US were able to ReUNITE all the “fostered” children with their “brothers and sisters” at the orphanage. Watching these beautiful children via Facebook videos and pics, be so happy with such simple things, was a daily tear jerker.

So, I have decided to stop watching from Facebook and become a WORLD CHANGER with these women. From now until August, I, too will be working hard for these 71 orphans.

I will be working to help

get the orphanage two new toilets and showers that they so desperately need,
build a fence to prevent robbers from attempting to steal metal from the building and keep the children safe from sex traffickers, and
fund their self-sustaining chicken project because the Uganda Orphan Child Care Ministries in Jinja, Uganda doesn’t just want a hand out, but want to work.

They want to help their children receive a good education, learn life skills, and be able to have a life not dependent on others, but be valuable, productive citizens that help others.

My mentor, D. Gary Young, traveled the world not just seeing what it had to offer, but he traveled the world to CHANGE THE WORLD. In August, I will travel to Jinja, Uganda to see these 71 faces. From now until August, I want to look at these kids’ faces and know that I did my best for them. I am stepping up to be a WORLD CHANGER. Will you join me? Let’s help 71 orphans not just survive, but THRIVE. Let’s uphold my mentor’s legacy.

Want to help build two more bathrooms that are desperately needed now that all the kids are back in the orphanage? You can contribute to this POTTY PROJECT by purchasing a raffle ticket for just $5 and you could win some amazing Young Living essential oils.

Love, bless, write, and sponsor a child in the orphanage. Nine kids still need sponsors. Until all the kids have sponsors, there is no way to provide the food that gives the kids all the vitamins and minerals they need daily. Once this financial goal is met, there will be funds to purchase healthier vegetables and meat more than once a week.

Imagine your family, you and your extended family, or your team loving on a child by providing just $75 a month, writing, praying for, and loving on your child. Sponsors are so important to kids both financially and emotionally. This amount pays for their basic needs, food, and schooling for one month.

I pray that you will become a WORLD CHANGER with me. It’s not hard, you just have to DO IT!

I believe in you,

Mary Starr Carter
The Total Wellness Doc and Mom