This Is Me: Bus-Living, Africa-Loving, Entre-Musician, etc.

Hi!

My name is Caleb Allen...and I've had a crazy-awesome life.

I've decided to introduce myself to Steem by telling all you happy people a different story from my life every day for the next week. (Hold me to that would ya?)

For starters, let's explain the above picture.

Yes, that's me...and a giraffe.

It also represents one of the most incredible two week periods of my entire life.

In fact, I'm only one week removed from this experience...but I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).

I grew up on a bus.

No, really. When I was 5 years old, my parents packed all our stuff and my three siblings and I and we all hit the road in full-time music ministry.

This year we are celebrating 20 years of that ministry. Lots of things have changed. My three siblings turned into seven siblings, I got married and have three kids of my own, and our ministry became a global non-profit working in Africa.

That last one is what I want to talk about first.

Believe me, I have tons of great road-life stories and tales of my newly discovered Fatherhood...but all in good time.

Every good story has a moral. An impact. 

There is nothing more impactful for a first-world cultivated individual than to get down and dirty with real people and their real problems in a third-world country.

That's exactly why my family's non-profit started working in Uganda, Africa five years ago.

Three years ago we put the finishing touches on an orphanage building and moved our first twelve orphans into the newly christened "Hope Children's Village". 

One by one, the children showed up from their far away villages, each with their own heartbreaking story. There were no smiles that day; no laughter.

These poor children had grown up in poverty of the highest degree. Not only were they citizens of a third-world economy, but they had been orphaned and abused. They had nothing.

They were scared, helpless, and alone...before we found them.

I go on this trip every year to our orphanage in Uganda. I play with these precious children. I see their smiles and hear their laughter.

They aren't scared, helpless, or alone anymore.

They have hope.

We rescued them. But, more than that we're teaching them about hope. A hope they can bring to their people when they are grown. An eternal hope through Jesus Christ and His amazing rescuing love.

So, taking a selfie with a giraffe is an awesome experience...make no mistake.

But, it really can't compete with the beautiful smile of a child rescued. 

The giraffe selfie has nothing on HOPE.

Find out more about Hope Children's Village and our work in Uganda at http://buildingwithhope.com

Tomorrow, I'll tell you the story about how my family abandoned our big house and great job to go full-time on the road with on two dates on our schedule...it's a crazy story of faith and faithfulness you won't want to miss.