Love Until it Hurts

Mother Teresa said it best: “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

Upon our return from Gulu, Laura, Josh, and I knew that we wanted to do more. We needed to do more. The summer flew by and we loved a lot of people along the way. The Acholi are so resilient, so peaceful; but they’ve experienced so much pain. Even still, the people of Gulu and its surrounding villages embraced us with more than their arms, but their hearts. Their hearts had been broken and mended thousands of times before, but they gave us the whole thing. We became apart of their family. And family takes care of each other. So we had to act.

We are so excited to bring you a piece of northern Uganda through our organization: Educate for Change. Throughout our time spent in schools through Invisible Children’s Teacher Exchange, we experienced first hand the necessity, but difficulty, of funding education in Uganda.  Without

universal secondary education, something we often take for granted in the United States, students are more likely to dropout of school than they are to complete their studies. The most vulnerable children, those who have been orphaned, abandoned, or who are suffering under extreme poverty, are significantly less likely to attend school at all. The kids we played with in the villages and at Mother Teresa’s Primary School and Orphanage are those children. Their amazing intelligence, wit, leadership, and energy will not fund their school fees. Their heart, faith, and resilience will not purchase their uniforms and supplies. So we had to act.

Moments really are much bigger than we realize. Looking back on it now, the moment I stepped foot onto Mother Teresa’s compound and in the minutes it took to follow Stella and Wilfred through the mud to Layibi village, I was changed. I was humbled by what Sister Hellen’s already doing with 250 kids in her care at the center and how one family can support so many beautiful children in the quaint, immaculate village. My unspoken fear of being inadequate does not matter. Being sad simply won’t help at all. I simply have to learn how to love until it hurts. That’s what we’re doing. We hope you will take the time to learn about our cause, read about our beautiful children halfway across the globe, and do what you can to support us. Share our stories, pictures, and videos. Try it with me and just love until it hurts.