STORIES FROM THE LULU TREE
All of life is made up of stories. The Lulu Tree is dedicated to preserving our family’s stories, and representing the glory of God in every story we share.
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Stories from the Past…
Fishing for Souls in Buleebi – Emily’s & Erica’s Trip to Uganda, 2022
Fishing for Souls in Buleebi - Emily's & Erica's Trip to Uganda, 2022 by Mommy Emily “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.” ~ 1...
The Lulu Tree Retreat in Texas, May 2022
The Lulu Tree Retreat in Texas, May 2022 by Jeanne In 1888, Ernest W. Shurtleff wrote the powerful warfare hymn, Lead on, O King Eternal. It begins with this verse: Lead on, O King Eternal, The day of march has come; Henceforth in fields of conquest Thy...
Happy Mother’s Day!! The Story of a Mother who’s Triumphing over Poverty
by Mommy Emily We found her sweeping streets as Uganda's sun stretched its arms awake. Dressed in a bright orange jersey with tired, swept-up hair, the brisk activity of her grass broom proved this thin woman was anything but what her name suggested. “Lazia” means...
To the Ends of the Earth – Emily’s & Erica’s Trip to Uganda, March 2022
by Erica We’ve driven through miles of dusty, rugged road, past fields where women work the rusty soil, their babies sleeping on their backs while the equatorial sun shines warm around them in the thick, humid air. We pass a cluster of brick kilns, great beehive-like...
Amina’s Story – How a Mama from the Slums is Going Sustainable (from Erica’s and Emily’s March 2022 trip)
Her dimples run deep, like furrows in brown soil, and her eyes turn up at the ends when she’s truly happy. I’ve known her for eight years, since Lulu’s birth. She’s my Amina. Her name means “Honest and Faithful” in Arabic, and that’s what she is, this mother of many...
Unless a Seed First Dies
by Erica Hale It’s Springtime in the Rockies, time to plan and plant a garden. And I’m thinking about seeds. How each year, it seems a miracle that you can plant such a small thing and harvest such an abundance, year after year after year. The Lord came...
The Grand Opening of the Birthing Clinic in Sierra Leone
By Mommy Emily She’d died alone on a cold stone floor giving birth to twins. The same day the birthing clinic opened. I wasn’t there, but I imagine a cotton tree might have drooped its head outside her home, a house built of the same clay earth it sat...
A Cathedral in the Slums of Kampala – Emily’s Trip to Africa, Continued
By Mommy Emily He brings us a cake. We’re lined up in our Sunday best, like colorful crayons arranged on plastic chairs in a small square room. It’s someone’s home in the slum of Kasuli, lent for use by the church. A warm breeze drifts in through the open...
Broken Down at the side of the road in Gulu, Uganda
By Mommy Emily The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. ~ Isaiah 9:2, NKJV We’re stopped on the side of the road, our van broken down outside of Gulu, Uganda. A...
African Tea, Mud Tukuls & Cockroaches in the South Sudan Refugee Camps – Emily’s Trip to Africa, October 2021
Sixty-four tribes take refuge here in eighteen settlements — more than 200,000 refugees. This particular camp is called Pagirinya, with most of its residents being mothers and children, the majority of whom were separated from each other during the war, all of them escaping across the river Nile like the Israelites fleeing the ruthless Egyptians. And for many, in Pagirinya camp, their Moses has been Pastor Santos.