I just wanted to officially announce that I will be moving to Uganda in June for at least a year. I know that so many of you have prayed for and with me about my love for Uganda and my future over the last year and a half. And now God has very faithfully provided. I am so excited to serve in a more long term capacity with Healing Faith! I hope this doesn’t come as a surprise to most of you, but if you just said WAIT WHAT let me explain myself a little.
In May I will be graduating from Asbury University with a bachelors degree in both Elementary Education and Special education. My prayer for years has been that God would use me to spread his love to children who have come from hard situations. I spent most of my senior year of high school volunteering at Hilltop Prime Time, and was able to work with kids from the inner city, many of whom were on free and reduced lunch and didn’t have parents at home to watch them, or help them with schoolwork. This opportunity had a profound effect on my future; it helped me recognize that I wanted to be a teacher, and that I really wanted to teach underprivileged kids. Then I had the opportunity to work for two summers with the Hillard Free Summer lunch program where God once again showed me how much I could learn from working with this population, and how much I loved them. After taking a trip to Uganda in January of 2014 I knew that Uganda was where God was calling me. I was able to apply for a grant and spent a little under 3 months this summer serving with Healing Faith Mininsties in Jinja, Uganda as my love of Uganda, the people, and culture continued to grow.
When I began applying for jobs this year I knew I wanted to apply to international schools and work with children in developing countries. When I was asked by Kari Segner, (the founder of Healing Faith, and the family that I served with this summer) if I would be interested in coming to Jinja to home school their 5 children I knew that was where I was supposed to be. Kari has amazing children who I have grown to love, and I know that schooling is an area of stress in the Segners’ lives. I continued to pray about it, to make sure that I wasn’t just being overly excited. But again and again, God has assured me that this is his plan. So for the next year I will be working with the Segner Family, teaching their 5 children, helping serve in any way possible in the village, and volunteering at other organizations when I have time. I could not be more thrilled. I left my heart in Uganda and Jesus has so plainly led me back there time and time again. I am most excited about having the opportunity to really learn as much as possible about Uganda and to get to spend time with so many people I have grown to love. I know a lot of you have had questions and opinions, and that is totally fine. I would love to sit down and talk with you at some point, but let me answer a few of the big hitters really quick!
Q-Where is Uganda?
Uganda is in East Africa. Uganda is where the Nile River begins, and it is surrounded by Kenya, Rwanda, DRC, and South Sudan.
Q-How close will you be to Ebola?
Not close at all. In fact, the distance between Uganda and the nearest outbreak of Ebola is the same distance from Dublin, Ohio to Dublin, Ireland. So I should be good, I think most of you are actually a lot closer to it here in the US then I will be.
Q- Where will you be living?
I will be living in the same place that I lived this summer. I will have all the basic amenities that we have here: a kitchen, running water, and electricity. I will be a block away from the Segner family and walking distance from town!
Q-Is it safe?
Well that’s a question I could ask you. Is anything truly safe? I honestly have never felt unsafe in Uganda. I would venture to say that it is safer than many parts of New York City. I honestly believe what a professor once told me, “The safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.” I never know what is going to happen to me in Kentucky or in Uganda. But for a more direct answer, there is not currently a war, or major civil unrest in Uganda. The house I will be staying in has a guard and a number of guard dogs so neighbors are not an issue, and (just like if I lived in New York City) I will take safety precautions like not walking around the streets at night.
Q- What will you eat?
Good question (and my favorite question). RICE AND BEANS, literally this is my favorite meal. I would do anything to be able to make rice and beans like the ones I have had in Uganda. PB&J, eggs, toast, milk, coffee, G-nuts (ground nuts, they are basically peanuts), posho, and then I will be eating a lot of meals with the Senger family, and Kari is the best cook ever. She makes a ton of great American food, so don’t worry. I will not be avoiding meals.
Q- Why Uganda?
Well in all honesty, the complete answer is God. He has so clearly laid Uganda on my heart and soul. I have been praying for the children in Uganda for years, but never really considered going until the oh-so-wonderful Grace Ries told me she was going during my junior year, and my heart literally stopped. I knew I had to go. The rest has been history. It’s a country that I have grown to love, and I want to learn so much more about it and the people who live there.
Q- What about being a teacher, why did you need a degree?
I have known from a young age that I wanted to be a teacher. Is this the path I saw it going? Nope. But isn’t that how God works? More than likely, I will return to the US in a year and find a job as a teacher. But right now I am unattached, have little responsibility, and so much passion for Uganda. I will be teaching the Segner kids full time and have the intentions of finding an organization who needs a teacher, or even trying to teach in the village that Healing Faith is in. I also believe that I need a degree because God calls me to give the best that I can offer. I can never be over qualified. But every child in Uganda deserves my best; they deserve someone who knows how to teach, and who has had the best possible training. Could I have found a job in Uganda that didn’t require a degree? Probably. But that’s not what they deserve. I honestly think that I will learn more from the kids in Uganda and the Segner family than anything I have ever been taught in school.
Q- How can I help?
The thing that I am going to need most over the next year is constant prayer. I would love to know that you are praying for me and that I am not in this alone! I am being supported by Healing Faith to come to Uganda, and will need to do some additionfundraising as well. I would love for you to partner with Healing Faith to help support me over the next year, as well as help further their mission of cultivating relationships through the treatment of Malaria. I will get you more information about this if you would like it! But for now I would really really love to know that over the next year or more you will be praying for me! Learn more about Healing Faith Here!
If you have more questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them! And I would really love to sit down and talk to you about my decision and my love of Uganda, Healing Faith, the Segners, pizza or whatever you would like to talk about!
If you have more questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them! And I would really love to sit down and talk to you about my decision and my love of Uganda, Healing Faith, the Segners, pizza or whatever you would like to talk about!
Unconditional Love in Uganda 
Hello my name is Hannah Cibulka and I too am pursuing international missions. I am blessed and pleased to hear that you are moving to Uganda to love and support a family who needs it as well as be immersed in another culture that you desire to pursue with the love of Christ. The Lord will bless you and keep you in perfect peace as your mind stays on Him and as you trust in Him. Praying and thanking The Lord for your desire to do as He has called all of us to.