Rehemah

One of our sponsored children, Rehemah, went to Danville, CA, a couple of weeks ago in order to have eye surgery.   I just wanted to send out an update so that you all could be praying for her.  This is the update from Linda, who she is staying with:

 

An update on Rehemah. Her corneal transplant surgery on her left eye went well today, she was in surgery for two hours and in recovery for two hours past that. We arrived back home in Diablo at 4pm and she is resting. She is a trooper and did great. We will return to Santa Rosa tomorrow for a recheck. The doctor visited Mary Ann and I for a short visit between his surgeries. He reported the DALK procedure punctured the "bubble" protecting the corneal tissue requiring him to use a different transplant technique. The alternate procedure is still not as invasive as the PK procedure and did not require him to disturb the inner most corneal tissue. That is good news. He was very hopeful for a positive outcome, we will learn more tomorrow. Please continue to keep Rehemah in your prayers that the donor tissue is accepted by her body, no infection develops and the healing process continues as God has set forth in his plan to restore her vision.

Bible Study (Wednesday Dec 2)

I'm so excited!  Risa and I got to have a Bible study with four girls yesterday.  I invited about 10 girls since they are all out on holiday now from school.  A lot of them go back to their villages for the holiday so there were four that showed up.  It was perfect!  We started studying the book of John together.  The girls that came were: Brenda, who is sponsored by the Dillows, Eron, who is sponsored by Deana, Joweri, who was in my group from camp the first year I came, and another girl Josephine, whom I didn't invite but it was awesome that she came J  We read half of the first chapter together and then I started asking them some questions about the passage.  Brenda understood my English the best and so she answered a lot of my questions and sometimes would translate for the other girls.  (Next week I will have the questions all typed out for them.  I had them typed out this week but they were split into 3 groups which we didn't need to do since there were only 4 of them.)  I asked the girls if there was anything they did not understand in the passage.  Brenda said yes verse 19, what is going on there.  Why did they think John was Elijah.  Risa and I were like that's a very good question...we will have to get back to you on that.  (He was an incredible prophet that God used to perform miracles through but other than that I'm not sure why...)  We also explained what the word Messiah meant.  We both thoroughly enjoyed the time we got to spend with those girls discussing Scripture.  I am so thankful that I got to spend that time with them and look forward to next week's Bible study J

Thanksgiving Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our Ugandan Thanksgiving, it was SO fun. The only thing missing was cranberry sauce and our families of course, but it was fun having our Ugandan family over for dinner.

Samuel, Joseph, Rogers, Paul, Dennis' Aunt, and Dennis

Risa, Vicky, and Mary (and my food to the left :) )

Vincent, his wife Molly, Teo's roomate (Rose), Rehema, and Maureen

Here's our little 10 lb turkey. Joseph went and found a man to sell us his turkey. The man asked to be paid before he killed the turkey and skinned it. Nothing like an organic turkey :)

Our thanksgiving spread: green beans, sweet potato casserole, onions, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, stuffing, turkey, and Bonnie made a really good chicken dish (chicken, potatoes, and veggies wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over coals).

Junior Achievement in Kampala

Wednesday November 25th Risa, Dennis, Vicky, and I took about 25 students up to Kampala to attend the 2nd Junior Achievement Exhibition in Uganda. There were about 15 companies from various schools represented there. Some of the businesses that students had started up included: hair salon, selling popcorn, selling chapatti, selling fruit salad, selling paper bags and book covers for school, and embroidered cups, shirts, and pens. We arrived at the event when all of the schools were being judged on their businesses. So our students went around to each of the companies and asked them questions. After lunch we heard speeches from all of the companies regarding their successes and failures. Then they had a man come and speak (who had clearly spent a lot of time in the states because his accent almost sounded American!). He is a prominent businessman who shared with all of the students about the first company he started when he was 16 years old. He found a need and met it and was able to employ other kids and earned enough money to fly himself to Nairobi to go shopping! He said I know that Uganda has a lot of problems and a lot of poverty but you need to look at the problems as opportunities to make money! He did a great job of encouraging and inspiring the students to go out and create their own jobs in a country where the unemployment rate is high. Our students left that afternoon with some new ideas about businesses that they want to start creating here in Jinja. This afternoon (Dec 5) a group of the students that went to the event came over to the guesthouse to create a name for their new company. They are going to start producing “dirt shirts.” They have a lot of work ahead of them in terms of creating a business plan but they are creative and eager to start. We are so excited for these kids who are involved in our Junior Achievement Program.

This is the chairman of JA in Uganda, giving the overall award to this group of girls who's business was embrodiering mugs, pens, and shirts.

This was one of the many "companies" explaining their business. They were selling paper bags.

I LOVED the slogan on the bottom of this poster. This company made chapattis at school because kids could not get them at school. The slogan says "Try me once and buy me always"

This is one of our students who is in the JA program. Isn't she the cutest ever? She was modelling all of the things that one of the company's made and sold.

Sacrifice...Thankfulness

This week as Thanksgiving approaches and it does not feel like its
coming at all because there are no reminders of it here, however, I
have thought a lot about the word sacrifice in the past couple of
days. Many people around the world know the meaning of this word. I
could go on and on with many examples of those who sacrifice their
lives daily. Today I think about one of our students who has been
working on the building project during his holiday. He sometimes
misses school so that he can earn money in order to pay school fees
for younger siblings in his household. That is sacrifice. I think
about all my friends and family who have sacrificially given of their
prayers and finances that enable me to be here where I know God has
called me to be for this season of my life. I want to thank all of my
friends and family for that sacrifice as well as for the sacrifice
that comes with trying to keep in contact with someone on another
continent. I miss everyone a lot but this sacrifice that I am making
by being here is completely worth it. And finally as I think of the
word sacrifice my mind goes to the cross and meditates on that for a
while. For, it is because of the cross that I am here in Uganda. I
will never be able to fully comprehend what Jesus did for me on that
cross. He became sin and in so doing was separated from the Father.
I can not imagine the agony and pain He went through in those moments,
physically, emotionally, spiritually, all at once. So thank you Lord
for the cross, that enables me to have eternal life, live life to the
full, and love others the way You do. Thank you for my friends and
family who love me because it's often times through their love that I
feel You loving me. Happy Thanksgiving family and friends! We will
be taking our holiday off and cooking up a great American Thanksgiving
meal for our family here (the Children of Grace staff).

Continually Learning New Things Here

Last Wednesday (after the building dedication) the COG staff was invited to attend a meeting at St. Francis Medical Clinic.  COG has a partnership with this clinic so all of our children who get sick go here to receive free medical care.  The clinic was holding a seminar on HIV/AIDS and the stigma attached to it.  Headmasters from all around the area were invited to come.  The director of the clinic shared about some of things that St. Francis does.  They have a grandmother's (Jaja) project in which they support grandmothers who are now caring for their grandchildren due to AIDS taking away their children.  They also now have about 25 children that live at the clinic who are in stage 3 and 4 of AIDS so that they can get around the clock care.  They have about 10,000 patients and about 790 people on ARV treatment.  The director went on to talk about the word stigma.  He said it is not a word that is found in their Ugandan language so let us define what it means in English.  His definition was "a spoiled identity."  He talked about the fact that there unfortunately is still a stigma attached to AIDS in Uganda, many people do not think that is still a problem here but it is.  This is because it is not talked about!  The director appealed to the teachers in the room that they must be teaching their students about HIV/AIDS.  One of the COG staff spoke out and talked about how there are signs posted all around the schools here that talk about HIV/AIDS and about abstaining from sex, but nobody ever talks about it in the classroom so the children after seeing these messages posted so many times simply just walk by them without noticing them anymore.  He asked the teachers to please make this apart of their curriculum.  Another one of our COG staff spoke up about a child who's teacher basically announced to the whole class that he is positive.  Needless to say that little boy never came back to that school!  Could you even imagine having that "label" put on you?  When that label is put on a child here other children will stop being friends with them or they will make fun of them.  This is just unacceptable.  The director pleaded with the teachers to educate our children.  The director told all who were present in the room that these are our children that we are talking about, they are not any one person's child.  We need to work together as people who love and care about children to really find out their backgrounds and get to know them so that we can best care for them at school or wherever they are.  He reminded the headmasters that teaching is a vocation, the root of vocation means calling.  He told them as teachers they are called to love and care for the children.  He said you have a responsibility to care for these children because we all know the government is not going to do it.

Overall it was just really eye opening to hear the discussion between the clinic, COG, and headmasters in the area.  Throughout the day I could not stop thinking about the words spoiled identity.  I am SO glad that the clinic hosted a seminar such as this as these issues definitely need to be addressed.  Thank the Lord for these people who care so much about the well being of children who are so near and dear to Jesus' heart!

Most recent building pics

The walls are coming up!

I walked through the building this afternoon, to try and capture a picture of how high the walls are now.

The front door of the new building.

Group picture of all the workers and COG staff at the dedication last wednesday.

Update on the new building

(These images posted in the wrong order but hopefully you can just work backwards when viewing them.) This is Rehema and Sue signing a brick at the dedication of the new building this past Wednesday morning.

MaryAnn reading a passage from Ephesians that talks about Jesus as our cornerstone. We prayed that many children will come through these walls and feel the love of Jesus Christ in the years to come!

The "cornerstone"

The building with its first layer of bricks laid out where all of the rooms will be.

The concret slab was completed on November 7th.

Lacking parental love

Last week as I walked through a village with Teo I asked her how her
cousins were doing since I know Annet had just lost her mother a
little less than a year ago. When Teo's two cousins are on break from
school they both come and stay with her. Her other living relatives,
an Aunt and her grandfather are up in Northern Uganda. It's quite
expensive and quite a trek to get there. Anyways, I asked her how
Annet was doing emotionally. She told me that there are some days
that Teo does certain things that remind Annet of her mother and she
thanks Teo for doing those things. And then there are other days
where she just misses the way her mother would do things. I started
to tear up in thankfulness of thinking about my own parents and how
much love they have shown me and continue to. I can not image not
having them in my life right now. My heart breaks for the parentless
children who have been orphaned in this world. I told Teo that she is
such a blessing to her two cousins. I know that while their parents
are no longer alive to love them, they are receiving a lot of love
from their older cousin who cares for them so much. They are blessed
to have Teo in their life. It made me sad to think of all the
children (over 2 million orphans) in Uganda who do not receive this
substitute parental love. There are countless stories of guardains,
whether they are Aunts or Uncles or Grandparents or just friends, that
take on the responsibility of raising an orphan who do not love them
like their own children.

We met a sponsored boy yesterday who was working during his holiday
break from school at St. Francis Clinic on a building project there.
When we found that out we immediately asked him to come and work at
COG's building site. So today Risa and I walked him to the house. We
told him how proud we are of him for showing such initiative and
getting a job over his holiday break! I asked him who he stays with
and he told me he used to stay with his cousins in a house but when he
came back from boarding school they had left the house and sold the
property and there are new people living in there!! So he is now
homeless! He now stays with a friend of his during the holidays. He
told me both of his parents passed away about 5 years ago (so sad!).

Violence=Violence

Today I had the privilege of going to Bosmo which is a primary school.  I went along with Teo as the Phonics teaching is coming to an end since the children are going to get out for summer break soon.  We were giving the students an exam today.  I walked up and down their desks to make sure no one was cheating.  After they had all finished Teo and started to grade all of the test on a bench outside of the classroom.  The teacher was no where to be found.  Half way through grading the exams we both heard the sound of someone being canned.  Immediately we jumped up and ran into the classroom to find a boy, Isaac, canning three of his classmates who are girls.  Immediately Teo took the sticks from him.  I pulled the three little girls out of the classroom and Teo addressed Isaac asking him if he would like to be canned himself.  She asked him if it pains him.  He said yes.  Then Isaac got his things and walked out of the room.  Outside the classroom I gave those three little girls big hugs and tried to wipe away their tears.  I asked them why Isaac had hit them and they said no reason.  I looked all of them in the eyes and I told them what Isaac did is wrong.  No one should ever cane you!  I am so sorry this has happened to you!  After they went back into the classroom Teo came out to look for Isaac.  She then found out that Isaac had run away.  The gatekeeper chased him for a little while and then fell down so he came back to the school.  As Teo was gone I took the opprotunity to again address the class.  I told them all that what Isaac did is wrong.  No one should ever be canned.  I told them they are all made in God's image and He loves them very much and does not want them to every be hit like that.  As Teo and I went back to grading the papers the teacher reappears.  Teo tells him what happened and he goes over and talks to the gatekeeper not Teo.  He then goes into his classroom to ask the kids what happened. Immediately Teo went into the classroom with him.  In front of the teacher she told the class again canning is wrong.   You should never be canned!  If you see someone being canned or if you are being canned you need to write a letter to Children of Grace with the teacher's name on the paper and we will come and put a stop to it because we do not believe in canning.  Teo also told the teacher do not cane Isaac when he returns to school tomorrow!  (I was so proud of Teo for how she handled that situation!  We will follow up with that school to make sure Isaac does not get canned.  We need to stop this by empowering the students to stand up against this as it is very wrong!  I feel bad for poor Isaac as he is a product of his environment.  He has grown up seeing others being canned and probably being canned himself and so he does it to others.)

Simon

Saturday night after taking the three kids around it was time for us to take Simon back to school.  He has been staying with us for about 2 weeks now and is such a joy to be around.  I very much enjoyed him having fun dancing to music (Ugandans are SUCH good dancers!).  He is HIV positive and has been staying with us because he had pneumonia.  Dr. Emma told me this past week that he was well enough to go back to school.  And let me tell you, Simon was SO excited to be able to go back to school.  As much as he enjoys being with us, he really just loves learning at school.  Before he left the house Mary Ann asked him a lot of questions about school.  She found out that he really does not like it there and wants to go to a new school next year.  Why she asked.  The reason he does not like the school is because he is in boarding and so everyone sees that he is taking the ARVs.  (When he comes back from the clinic the guard at the gate of the school has searched his bag before and pulls out the medicine and exclaims "Eh! AIDS, you shouldn't be here."  When all of these people know that he is positive some of them decide not to be friends with him.  COG will be looking into putting him into a day school possibly next year so that he can take his medicine at home and be treated no differently from other kids at school.  My heart just breaks for Simon.  I cannot even imagine being in his shoes.  I pray that he continues to get stronger and continues to do well in school.

I talked to Maria, the COG staff who takes care of all the positive kids, about what Simon had told Mary Ann about school.  She told me yes there is definitely still a stigma on AIDS here.  It has improved over the years as people used to think you could get it from eating lunch with someone.  But unfortunately a lot of kids do not get educated on AIDS.  A lot of the kids have probably been affected by AIDS if they are not infected.  Whether it's a parent, relative, or classmate, they most likely know someone who is positive and most likely know someone who has died prematurely due to the disease.  She told me that there are still people who think that you can get it through saliva.  Even though scientist a while ago came out and proved that it is nearly impossible to get it through saliva.  She said the problem is most people have not heard that information.  So there is clearly still a lack of understanding about HIV/AIDS and COG is determined to do all that they can do to make sure our sponsored kids are well educated about it and do treat someone who is positive like they would treat anyone else.

Meeting physical needs first

"…the whole gospel involves more than preaching; it also means caring
about the whole person and finding ways to meet that individual's
needs." (pg. 248 The Hole in our Gospel)

I was so blessed to be able to live this out Saturday afternoon. This
past Wednesday Mary Ann and I met two young girls, Gloria and Diana.
We decided to take them shopping Saturday so on Saturday Dennis, their
mentor, graciously came over to the guest house and off we went to
their house. We stopped the car on the side of the road and got out
to walk back into a neighborhood. We walked past many houses and
eventually got to their single room house. Diana was the only one
there at the time so Mary Ann left with her to go find her younger
sister Gloria. Meanwhile Richard, the older brother who is not
sponsored, came home and Dennis started asking him questions. Dennis
finds out that both their parents have passed away and they have an
older sister who is probably only 18 who works at a salon so sometimes
has enough money to give her younger siblings dinner but not every
night. He also finds out that Richard carries water for the neighbors
in order to earn money so that he can go to school. He is not able to
pay the full amount and normally that would mean the school would not
let him come but his teachers feel sorry for him so that let him
continue even though his debt is high. Eventually Mary Ann came back
and we took Diana, Gloria, and Richard into town to get some lunch
since it had started to rain. They filled their plates and were all
smiles. (What a change it was to see them now from this past
Wednesday when we first met them!) After lunch Dennis took them
shopping (if we went with them they would have been charged mzungu
prices, so we hung back and bought them some other necessities). Then
we made our way over to another store to buy them all mattresses and
blankets. We loaded everything in the car and drove them back to
their house where offloaded everything. We also got them a new
padlock so that all of their new things would not get stolen.

And now with their physical needs met we were able to tell them how
much God loves them. What a blessing it is to be His hands and
feet!!!! Thank you Mary Ann for your heart to take care of these
kids! (Children of Grace does not have the budget to be able to do
that for all the kids that they encounter.)

Friday and Saturday pictures

On Friday Godfrey was helping pull out 30 cups of Poscho and Beans for him and his sister to eat. He is on the food distribuition program. I went out with the truck that afternoon to deliver some more food to others who could not make it to St. Francis.

We took Simon back to school Saturday evening (more about him in the next blog). But here he is with Michelle (she is the 9 month yr old daughter of Bonnie who cleans and cooks at the house).

The cute little neighborhood kids that I got to take lots of pictures of while we waited for Diana to go and find her sister Gloria.

Gloria, Diana, and Richard with all of the new things that we bought for them on Saturday (the next blog will talk more about that).

Brian and I at his school (my best friend Karen sponsors him).

Marital Unfaithfulness

This is what Risa just posted on her blog and she told me all about
the conversation so I really wanted to post it as well because I
thought it was so interesting/sad.

"While in a meeting about camp on Friday we diverted and soon Samuel,
Vicky, and I were in a deep conversation about AIDS and marriage in
Uganda. I have noticed that many children still have mothers alive,
however their mothers are HIV positive, and their fathers have died. I
have assumed this is from infidelity; deducting that if not more
children would be HIV positive. Since many children are negative and
have mothers who are positive, I must assume that their mothers
contracted the virus post-birth and thus their husbands extracted it
first and have since died from it, leaving a tragic situation. In
Uganda it is basically assumed that the husband will be unfaithful to
his wife, and this is widely accepted. Many men still take multiple
wives. Thus, the spread of HIV is so rampant. I asked about Christians
and they both were quick to add that it simply doesn't matter. Samuel
said, "What are they thinking about God if it's not Sunday?" Implying
that men follow Jesus on Sundays only.

Samuel has risen above a hard situation in which his father took two
wives, and he grew up watching his father love his second wife more
than his mother, leaving heartache. Needless to say, he is very
against men having multiple wives. This hurt is the same hope that we
have in America for the next generation of marriages. Hopefully the
pain of people's childhoods will inspire them not to pass on the pain
to their children's.

My heart began to break as I sat asking further clarifying questions.
Obviously, some women are unfaithful too, but in Ugandan culture,
women are at home caring for the children most of the time, making it
much more difficult for them to be unfaithful. I asked Vicky how she
planned to deal with this, as she is a very beautiful, educated young
woman. She replied, "Risa, that is why I told you I want a mzungu
boyfriend." I assured her that mzungus can be unfaithful too, and her
response was, "Yes, but at least in a mzungu marriage, when a man is
not satisfied with his wife, he will leave her rather than sleeping
around and thus eventually infecting her with HIV."

This point that Vicky made was new to me. I have pondered it for the
past few days. Here it is culturally unacceptable to leave one's
husband or wife, and in the States it is too culturally acceptable to
do so. However, I am grateful for each time a spouse is honest about
his or her infidelity and leaves when unsatisfied, freeing up the
family from his or her double life. But, WOW!!! I have been deeply
burdened by this. Change is necessary. Children need to be educated to
be faithful, starting while they are young. This needs to be modeled
though actions. And, we need to pray that men and women alike will
have self-control in the moment to do what is right.

As Vicky walked out of the room she pointed to Samuel and me while
saying adamantly "You know what they say, the answer to HIV starts
with me, with you, and with you!!!" "

In need of Godly wisdom

The question given to us last night at dinner: What do you do for a child who is sponsored who is 22 years old and has sickle cell?  He is in S3 and probably misses a lot of school due to his illness that is not curable.   COG helps him out with his medical needs right now because he is a student.  The only thing I can think about it, is what would I do if he was my child?  Everyone of these kids that God puts in our path here are loved by Him so much more than we could ever love them.  They are all made in His image.  So what is God requiring of us?  Please pray for wisdom for the COG staff.

My Wednesday and Thursday

Yesterday I had the privilege of going out with one of the mentors,
Dennis, to a couple of the schools that we have sponsored children at.
The first
school we went to was St. Andrew's. The little girl that I sponsor,
Rashida, goes there. It was SO fun to see her again. She has grown!
I
thought she was younger than she really is, I now think she is more
around the same age as Gloria. So therefore we are inviting her to
come to camp
:) After we encouraged the nine students there to do well on their
exams we made our way to the next school. Mpumudde Estate. As we
drove there it felt like we were out in the country. It was quite a
distance out there. There I got to see one of my best friend's
sponsored child :)

Next we went to Mpumudde Methodist, which was started by Methodist and
is now a government school. Since the government wants all kids in
school, the Primary 2 and 3 class sizes are RIDICULOUS! The Head
Master, who used to be one of Dennis' teachers, told us that there are
200 kids in a class with one teacher. WOW! I can not even imagine!
As we sat in the office two of our sponsored children came in to see
us. They are sisters, Gloria and Diana. We found out that they
"live" with their dad who is gone a lot during the week due to his
business. Their older sister sometimes brings food by for them to
have supper but not every night. Their mother passed away but we are
not sure how long ago. Upon looking at them in their tattered school
uniforms both Mary Ann and my heart just broke. They are not
performing well in school and it's not wonder with their living
conditions. I think we might take them shopping this Saturday. They
need some TLC!

After there we ventured back to the office where everyone got out of
the car that Pastor Godfrey is driving us in and we headed on to the
Guest House to pick up Simon and Gloria. I took my two little ones to
the clinic to have a check up on their health. We got there around
3:15 and Dr. Emma was not there so I found his phone number and called
him to see how much longer he'd be, he said 20 mins. So we waited.
When he came he had both of their blood taken and he checked out
Simon's chest since he had pneumonia previously. After a little more
waiting we found out that both of their hemoglobin counts had improved
and D. Emma said they were well enough to go back to school. So off
we went to Simon's school on our way home to pick up more books for
him so that he can catch up on his school work.

This morning we decided to take Gloria back to school but forgot to
also tell her that meant we were taking her back home as well. She
was all dressed in her uniform and ready to walk to school this
morning around 6:45am when I saw her. And I told her no you are not
walking to school. So she sat and waited for all of us to get ready.
And then I told her she needed to pack her clothes so we could take
her home as well and she was like oh I thought I was coming back.
(AWW! :( ) So we loaded into Pastor Godfrey's car this morning and
went to Gloria's house where I met her Aunt Milly. And then on to
school where we told the Head Master that her long school days need to
be shortened because we don't want her cd4 count dropping again! It
was so sad to take her back, I totally started crying. I miss her
already! I'm going to miss her saying my name 5 million times during
the day. I'll have to make many visits over there...

This past weekend in pictures

Update on the building project: The wall started going in yesterday!! It's so exciting to watch the progress everyday. (Sorry I forgot to rotate the picture before I uploaded, so just tilt your head to the right and it'll make more sense :) )
We went to Colin's mom's church this past Sunday. The women were peforming a song during worship time. It was AWESOME. I love their outfits!

Saturday we ventured to Kampala with Simon and Gloria and took them bowling for the first time. What a joy it was to be a blessing to them and share in this first experience with them. (Also I showed Gloria what a hand drier was, that was another new fun experience :) And on Risa's blog you'll see a picture of them on their first escalator:) )

I am so blessed that God has put Gloria into my life. I want to keep her forever!

Aww, Simon is so cute! He loves Jesus so much and loves to dance. Please pray for his body to continue to gain strength back so that he can go back to school. He really wants to go back to school but we are not allowing him to quite yet. He gets tired too easily still.

Pictures of the Girl's school I visited a few weeks ago

Me and Jalia at her school
Jalia's bed. I can't believe she sleeps on her bed with her trunk!

The girls told us that they were really "squeezed" in their dorm so I went to check it out. Sure enough they were not lying, look how cramped that space is! It's so ridiculous. It's no wonder they all get sick.

As we were walking away from the dorm I took a picture. Their dorm is up their to the left.

Two of the girls talking Teo's ears off as we walked through their school property.

Thank you for your prayers!!!

I am SO excited today to let all of you know that I went with Gloria
to St. Francis Clinic this afternoon to get more medicine for her and
to check on her latest cd4 count. I am SO happy to report that her
cd4 count went up to 318 (from being75) !!!!!!!!! She can not go on
the ARVs until her hemoglobin improves so please be praying for that.
So for the next week or so she is still going to live with us so we
can continue to provide her with good nutrition :) It's going to be
difficult to take her back home, I have grown quite attached to her!

Some updates through pictures :)

Me and Gloria the other day. I told her to make a funny face haha. I've grown very attached to her and I think it's likewise. She says my name like 50 times a day!
Aww! So precious! Saturday afternoon we took Gloria and Harriett shopping for some new clothes. This was taken Sunday before little Harriett went home.

Aww they are too cute!

Aww! Harriett tried on all of her new dresses when we got home Saturday afternoon from the market.

Just a picture of the progress that's been going on with the new building next to the guesthouse.

Some realities here...

The reality here is so different from what I have grown up in or could even imagine in the school system.  Yesterday one of the sponsored girls was going to be reprimanded for not having all of her books (she should have been given all of her books because COG paid for them).  Mary Ann went to the school and told the Head Master there that he had better not even think of canning her for something that is not her fault or for any reason for that matter!  The head master was silent and sort of agreed that he would not cane her.  Five hours later the office got a call from the little girl's guardian telling us that she had been canned at school!!!!!!!!!! OH MAN!  We were all livid!  I wanted to personally go over there and cane the person who canned her!  Mary Ann immediately drove over to the school to inquire about what happened.  The head master said he did not cane the girl but someone else did.  It just so happens that Mary Ann knows the Director (owner of the school) and so she talked to him about the situation and he assured her he would get to the bottom of it.  If things do not change Mary Ann will pull all of our 22 sponsored kids out of that school!

 

I woke up this morning thinking about the fact that we can not change the Ugandan school system but we can make a difference for that one girl that God has entrusted us with. She will most likely never forget about the adult (Mary Ann) who stood up for her when she was telling the truth.  Please pray for the Uganda schools and that we as Children of Grace would continue to be able to impact them about the correct ways to treat children!

 

Another reality I was faced with today in the school system is the sadness that comes with losing a classmate.  We went to Shield Standard this morning where Risa taught the class about the long and short o.  We sounded out words like poke, nose, and home.  Before the class began the teacher told us that last week one of the children in the class, Simon, was sick and then she heard a few days later that he had passed away.  These kids are probably about 8 or 9 years old.  I can not imagine losing a classmate at that young age much less a parent (which is also a part of the reality here).

 

Uganda's schools

I have a strong disliking for some of Uganda's schools!  Yesterday I heard about a conversation with a Head Master at Highway Primary School.  When asked about how he treated the children he said, first the children are treated as our friends.  Then a few minutes later a couple of children brought him his lunch and he yelled at them for coming in and "interrupting" his meeting!  Last time I checked we don't yell at our friends and demand them to wait on us hand and foot!  Oye! 

 

Ugandan school teachers "used to" cane students for discipline which often includes a child with a wrong answer or one who does not answer the question asked of them.  While canning has been outlawed it still happens sometimes because no one enforces the rules here.

 

Children of Grace is trying really hard to be a light in this dark world through the school system here.  We are trying to reeducate these teachers to help them to see that positive reinforcement is much more effective for the learning environment then hitting children.  Sometimes it can seem like a problem that is too large for us to tackle.  But we believe it starts with one teacher learning to change and others will see the difference and follow.  And on top of that, we pray that our children who are sponsored will grow up some day and become teachers who encourage students in stead of hitting them.

 

Something that we can not change that makes me SO upset is that the schools here do not want to put forth the money to treat the water to make it OK to drink.  Therefore a lot of our children suffer from Typhoid!  Water that is so essential to human beings should not be making them sick!  Yesterday they had to take a girl from school to the clinic because she suffers from Typhoid.  How are they supposed to do well in school if they keep getting sick from the school?!

New family members in the house

Thursday I was so excited to go back to the ministry guest house and
see Mary Ann and Mike McCoy, founders of Children of Grace. They will
be staying with us for the next two months. I am SO excited to spend
more time with them because I already know that they have such great
hearts! I cannot wait to learn even more about Children of Grace (as
I feel I learn more and more every time I talk to Mary Ann). Seeing
them and having them live here now is just another taste of America
and the people that I miss there so I am just so grateful they are
here now. (And Mary Ann brought a Bible study here from the states
that they are doing at CPC right now and Deana just told me how she's
been thinking about me so much while she's been doing the study. I am
SO excited to start doing this Bible study with the staff here!!) And
the McCoy's got a lot of GREAT food from Kampala. I had chicken
breast for dinner last night (Friday) – Thank you Jesus!!!

The night they got to Jinja the staff all came over and started
debriefing Mary Ann on some of their kids. My heart broke as I heard
the story of a girl who is HIV positive with a CD4 count of 75! Her
CD4 count was at 800 only 6 months ago! Immediately Mary Ann jumped
into action and said we are going to go pick that girl up tomorrow and
have her come and live with us. She is so susceptible to any kind of
illness with her CD4 count being so extremely low, therefore we do not
want her in school right now much less staying in her house that is
not as clean as where we live. The clinic told us that she needs to
receive more nutrition because she is also anemic before we can start
sticking her on the ARV's. This is why I love Mary Ann and I have so
much to learn from her and the heart God has given her for His
children. She is all about ACTION. So now I have a new little sister
living in the house with us. She is so precious! I taught her how to
play phase 10 this morning :) And today is her 14th birthday so we are
having cake! :) Please be praying for her CD4 count to go up quickly!

No more sickness, no more pain...a hope and a future

A couple of days ago I was sitting in the office working on Quickbooks
when I heard a guardian come into the office weeping. A few minutes
later Risa came into the office I am in to tell me that a 10 year old
girl just passed away that morning. We just sat there and wept. I
can not imagine the heart ache the guardian was feeling as I heard her
sobs. All I could think of was the fact that there will be a day when
there is no more pain and no more suffering. Hope. I have hope in
the future because I know that Jesus is up in Heaven seated at the
right hand of God the Father and He promised us in His Word that He
went to prepare a place for us. Heaven will be like nothing I can
even hope for or imagine here on Earth. It is unfathomable. The
Bible says that it cannot even be fully described. That is how
amazing it will be. I'm excited that I am working for an organization
like Children of Grace that desires to give kids hope and a future.
Please join me in praying for the family of this young girl and for
all the children here, that they would all come to know Jesus as their
Lord and Savior so that they will some day be with Him forever.

Some more pictures.

We were teaching Lydia how to make dough for pizza :)
Empowerment Program Meeting that we went to in Mbiiko.

The living room where we live.

The Kitchen.

My messy bed.

Pictures!

My backyard friends who steal the bananas!

A class at St. Abel, there are probably over 100 kids in this class. What kind of manageable class size is that!? Teo and Lydia do a great job of teaching phonics to these kids.

Joseph and I walking to work. It's almost a mile to the office from our house.

Aww cutie! This little kid just climbed up on my lap and sat there while Risa and I observed an empowerment meeting that Vicky was having with some women. They collectively are working together to pay back a loan that they were given.

The first Friday we were here Risa and I went out in this truck to help distribuit food to the COG kids who are in the food program. That is Godfrey there with us, Risa's family sponsors him.

Chicken Wrap!

So I have been craving a chicken wrap from Ozzie's in town ever since we arrived here.  It's quite expensive (Mzungu prices) so today we splurged for lunch.  Chicken, avocado, and chapatti what could be better?  Oh I know!  The connections we made while we were at Ozzie's. (haha)  At the table behind us we met a woman who runs a babies home in town.  They have 0-5 year old kids and have had about 40 over their time being here who have been adopted by Americans and Ugandans.  We told them where we lived and they said we lived right next to a woman who works at their Orphanage!  So next on the agenda, make some good old cookies and meet the neighbor!  Speaking of connections Risa and I made many over this past weekend.  First, on Saturday we went over to the Nester's house.  They have been missionaries here for the past 5 years.  Jen DeVries and Erin Beck met them in town when they were here last year.  Guess where they are from...Virginia!  LOVE IT!  Roanoke actually so they are HUGE VT fans, GO HOKIES! J  We met some other mzungus there who work at the YWAM base.  It was really refreshing to meet some other mzungus here.  Then comes Sunday...Risa and I ventured to Kampala early Sunday morning to go to a church there called Life Church.  Risa's friend Allison knows the pastor and his wife, who are from Oregon.  We got to Kampala around 8:30am and met up with our friend Colin at the taxi park (the crazy taxi park you've ever seen).  Then we got on to a taxi to go to the church.  A guy on the taxi told Colin he was going to the church we were headed to so we decided we would follow him.  Lo and behold a miscommunication occurred because he was not taking us to the church that Risa had been given directions for (when we found this out Colin said "Saved by the bell"  Risa and I died of laughter).  So we asked a boda boda driver on the road and he pointed us further down Entebbe Road.  We made it to Life Church and absolutely LOVED it.  I wish it were in Jinja!  They had a really cool blend of Uganda and America going on in worship time.  I really like the pastor and how much he knows the culture and used examples from the culture in his sermon.  We went to the newcomer meeting after the service and we were given sodas, yum!  After the service we met the pastor and his wife.  They have been here since January at the church.  His wife grew up as a missionaries' kid in Uganda when her dad started a church in the 60's!  So their breath of knowledge of Uganda is vast.  I really enjoyed asking him about the intertwining of witchcraft and Christianity that happens here.  After church we walked around Kampala with Colin and he brought us to the only Movie Theater and bowling alley in Uganda.  Some day we will go bowling with Colin J

Water

"Water is life, and because we have no water, life is miserable." –a voice from Kenya

This week Risa and I have been drinking a lot of water that we have to buy at the store.  We go through about 2 liters each a day because our bodies are not used to living here.  We can easily tell when we start to feel dehydrated.  As I sit here during the day drinking a lot of water I am so conflicted in my heart as I daily see  kids carrying water from who knows how far away daily.  Water is so essential to life.  I am reading "The Hole in our Gospel" by Richard Stearns right now and in this chapter he is talking about the problem of water around the world.  If we as Americans even stopped using water one day of our lives we would start to realize how much we use it.  We use it so much without thinking about it because we know that it is safe for us to drink.  But for a majority of the world that is not the case.  If suddenly our water supply was shut off "finding a way to get water would begin to consume our lives."  The book says as many as 5 million people die every year of water related illnesses.  (Joseph, the 19yr old who lives in the house behind ours, just told me one of his friends in school died of Typhoid-a water related illness.  He told me many people in the villages here simply do not even know that they need to boil their water to make it safe.)  Richard Stearns goes on to say that thousands of hours are lost seeking and hauling water, especially by women.  This task affects children too because millions of them are unable to attend school because of the hours they spend fetching water.  Richard Stearns then goes on to give an example of a community that was changed as the result of a borehole well that World Vision built in Ghana.  The well was built right near a school.  Before the well was built there were 40 students attending the school and now there are over 400.  This is because the women and children would spend five hours of their day fetching water several kilometers away.  This community is no longer riddled with Guinea worm disease either because that was in the contaminated water.  Clean water has improved their health.  There are also women now making skin lotions that are being bought by Bath and Body Works in the States.  (The only thing the women had needed to create this business was time and clean water, both of which were now available.)  Wow!  Water is life here in Africa.  May God lead us all to find ways to put an end to this water problem!

Friday, October 2, 2009

So far this was one of the best days that I have had here.  I started the day by going to Shield Standard with Risa, Teo, and Lydia for the phonics program.  Teo taught the class about the letter "I" and the sound that it makes.  Teo does a remarkable job at teaching these kids something that is totally new to them and her!  Then Risa and I went into town to Park Villa (a hotel that serves Ugandan food that we go to frequently).  After lunch we waited at the office for Vicky because we were going to go with her to her empowerment program meeting in Mbiiko.  Right before we were about to leave for the meeting, a girl with her guardian came into the office.  She looked extremely weak and had just come from St. Francis clinic where they had given her medicine.  We put her in the Director's car (she could barely get in there because she was so weak!).  Then we got a ride in to town and the Director to her and her guardian home.  She has medicine for malaria and typhoid.  (I just about lost it in the car sitting there with her.  She was crying because she was in pain and I thought about how horrible I feel when I have a fever.  I can't even imagine how she must feel!  As I started to tear up looking at her, I prayed for her and thanked God that we have medicine and that she is able to get medicine because she is sponsored!)  We then went with Vicky to Mbiiko and sat with six women who showed Vicky the books they were keeping.  We got to see one woman's store.  With the loan that she received from COG she was able to purchase larger quantities of poscho and rice so that when she sells them she can actually make a profit.  Every week Vicky visits these women and they are expected to pay back 5% of the loan.  These women have become a team.  One of them didn't have a big enough house to store logs to sell so another woman is letting her store her logs at her house!  What a blessing this program is to these women and the kids that they take care of. 

Next I had the privilege of going to Nakanyonyi Girls School with Mary and Vicky because the sponsored girls there wanted to tell them about issues they were having with the school.  (I went for two reasons, 1.Because I wanted to see Jalia (she is one of the girls who left a forever impression on me the first I met her at the January 2008 camp) and I wanted to see Deana's sponsored girl, Eron, and give her Deana's gift.  2. Because I did really want to see how the meeting would go with the girls and what their concerns were.

We opened up our time in prayer and then Vicky asked the girls to tell her what they were unhappy with.  None of them wanted to voice their opinions so we had them write their opinions.  Then Vicky and Mary read through what they had written and the discussions began.  Their lists included: electricity was out for three days so they were unable to work on their studies at night, there is not enough medicine in the nurse's station and they run out quickly, about 12 of them have not received sweaters that come with their uniform and they are cold, they are too squeezed in their dorm, and a teacher is not being very encouraging and helpful.  We talked through the issues with the girls and told them that we would bring up some of the issues with the school administration.  I absolutely loved how Mary and Vicky handled the complaints.  They gave a lot of great responses to the girls and at the end I told the girls how blessed they are to have Vicky and Mary and just reiterated things that they had said.

My first week of work:I love the Children of Grace staff in Jinja!

My first full week of working here has been incredible.  We have felt so very welcomed by the staff at COG.  I already feel like I am a part of their family.  The other day Vicky gave Risa and I Ugandan last names!  A couple of days this week I have gone into town to have lunch with the staff.  The great part about being here and working here is that I have the privilege to really spend time getting to know the staff each individually.  I also now have the ability to physically go with them and see everything that they do out in the field.  I am continually so impressed by them and how God uses them daily to care for the children who are sponsored.  Whether it is taking a sick child to St. Francis, checking up on a guardian, meeting with students at a school to hear their complaints about the school, making sure kids have new shoes, teaching phonics at a school, or meeting with women in the empowerment program, they are constantly out serving the children and have their needs as their number one priority.  I amazed at how they remember all of the intimate details of every single kid.  I can ask them about a girl that I know from camp and they instantly can tell me about how that child is doing.

My first weekend in Jinja

It's taken a few days but I think I am now adjusted to the time here.
On Friday Risa and I had the privilege of going out with the COG staff
for food distribution. Once a month COG goes out and gives food to
those in the food program. We started at St. Francis Clinic and we
helped load up 30 cups of poscho (corn maize) and beans into bags.
Then Risa and I got into the back of the truck with the food and off
we went to a couple of villages. (Precious moment of the day-walking
through one of the villages I was attacked by about 15 little kids who
all wanted to hold my hand at the same time. I walked with them and
then played a little ring around the posy.)

Risa and I are trying to learn what kinds of things we can make to eat
here. So on Saturday we went out to one of the grocery stores. We
found cereal, Rice Crispies, for about 8 American dollars!!! Yea we
won't be eating that while we are here. We bought some good old
Oatmeal :) We found some soy sauce and on Saturday we made some stir
fry, yummy! :) We also went downtown and found a coffee shop with
free wireless internet-WHAT?! I never thought I would find such a
place here!

Sunday we went with Joseph to his church in downtown Jinja. It was
probably about a 2 mile walk (I'm definitely going to get exercise
here.) The service went on for about 4 hours, a typical service lasts
about 3. The church is getting ready for the big conference that is
happening now. A lot of speakers are coming in from different places.
So we look forward to going to that at some point in the next week or
two. After the service we were really hungry so we ventured up to
main street to try and find a Rolex (chapatti with egg wrapped up in
the middle of it). Those are going to be the reason why I'm going to
need to walk 2 miles a day! haha. They are SO good. So we ended up
finding one which totally made my day! And then we went back to the
church to see Abraham (whom we know from the first trip that we took
here Jan 2008). On our long walk back to the house Joseph found us a
jackfruit!!! (He must think we are crazy because I've been asking him
about finding one ever since I arrived.) So another awesome part of
yesterday I finally got to eat some jackfruit :) SO YUMMY! and so
sticky! And then last night our friend Colin dropped by with his
brother and we had a great time visiting with them. After that we
taught Joseph how to play Uno (oh and I taught him to play phase 10 on
Saturday morning :)). Poor guy ended up almost taking the whole deck
into his hands haha. Good times had by all :)

We made it to Uganda safe and sound

Before I left the states I was really blessed by so many people.  So from the bottom of my heart thank you to all of you who have listened to my stories about Uganda, who have prayed over me and continue to, and who have supported me financially.  I still can not believe that I am here and am so blessed to get to share this experience with all of you. 

Tuesday morning before I left one of my friends with her two little girls came over to see me.  I was blown away by her 4 year old daughter who made a card for me AND gave me a book that she has been reading (which is one of her favorites!).  She gave me this book because her mom had told her that I was going to go to Uganda to help little kids learn how to read.   If that isn't the most precious thing ever I don't know what is!!

Thank you for all of your prayers!  We made it here safely and with all of our stuff! :)  The first flight I took I got to talk to a guy who works for some African country's government (I say some African country because he told me and I could never really understand what he was saying).  Anyways it was really cool because he told me a lot about African history and we talked about the LRA and Kony.  He's working to try and put an end to Kony and him abducting children to be soldiers.  He had just met with some NGO's  in Washington D.C. as well as some people on Capitol Hill.  It was just a great way to start my trip :)  The rest of the trip I watched movies and attempted to get some sleep and I think I was a little successful with that.  We got to the house around 11:30 pm last night.  It's really nice!  I'll upload some pictures soon.

Leaving on a jet plane

I am now leaving from Dulles on Tuesday night (September 22nd) and meeting up with Risa in Amsterdam before we head to Uganda together. I am so excited for what God is already doing in Uganda and how Risa and I get to just come and join that. Please be praying for a safe flight, for us to stay healthy, and for us emotionally as we leave friends and family and transition to our new home in a new culture.

I'm on my way to Uganda on September 15th!

Support Letter

When I first asked Jesus to take control of my life 7 years ago I could never have envisioned what He had in store for me. What an amazing God we serve! When I look back and see the wonderful ways He has blessed my life, and my relationship to Him and others, I’m truly speechless. In January 2008 God lead me to go to Jinja, Uganda with a missions team to run a summer camp with an organization called Children of Grace (COG). God has captured my heart, mind, and soul for the children who have been orphaned by AIDS, I have not been the same since. Mary Ann McCoy, founder and executive director of Children of Grace, was changed forever following her first trip to Uganda eight years ago. As a result, she was felt led to begin the ministry of COG. (To read more about her story please go to the website: www.children-of-grace.org.)

I have had the privilege of returning to Uganda in August 2008 and most recently in January 2009. Over the past 6 months I have been asking God repeatedly where my next step should be as my internship at the church out in CA ended in September and I moved back to Virginia in June 2009. God has faithfully answered my prayers in abundantly clear ways. I believe He desires to use me in Uganda working for Children of Grace for the next nine months. God is doing some really exciting things in Uganda right now and I am so excited to go and be a part of what He’s already doing.

A good friend of mine, Risa Cranmer (who has been to Uganda with COG a few times) has felt a special calling to move to Uganda in partnership with COG, from September to May and has since been praying for a partner in ministry. I am so incredibly blessed that God has not only answered Risa’s prayers, but also affirmed my call to go, by allowing us to be there at the same time.]

The first program we will be working on while in Jinja is a “Reading Enrichment Program”. This program is already in full swing, we will however; help bring more direction and guidance. The goal is to be able to equip the teachers, giving them ways to teach reading that will help these students excel in school. The second program is the “Junior Achievement Program,” which will allow us to go into schools and teach basic skills necessary for them to succeed in the business world following graduation. One of the things we are most excited about is the opportunity to go into some of the high schools and start up Bible studies. (One of our prayers is to really bring the truth of Jesus into the lives of students, especially in their culture where Christianity and Witchcraft often go hand in hand.) While in Uganda, I will also be working at the COG office updating “QuickBooks,” a financial software, as well as their database. This is a huge answer to prayer for the COG staff!

With all that being said here are ways you can support me prayerfully:

• For me to have consistent time in the Bible and in prayer so I can be used by Him
• For God to open up my eyes and my heart to see what He sees
• For God to break my heart for what breaks His and to remain constantly sensitive to the Holy Spirit working in and through me
• For God to protect me from spiritual warfare
• Praying through these verses for me: Colossians 1:9-12

· (If you would like to receive updated prayer requests while I am there please let me know.)

Ways to support me financially (for airfare, insurance, food, and phone usage (about $4300)):

• Donate online at http://sponsor.children-of-grace.org/index.php?cPath=25_26 (Click on General Donation and then write my name in a memo or send me an email and I will let COG know that you supported me online.)
• Send a check made out to Children of Grace with a note that says it is for me to P.O. Box 2394, Danville, CA 94506.

• If you want to donate monthly please let me know and I will give you the contact information to be able to set that up.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27