Thank you again to those who are following our blog,
providing prayer & financial support. God has blessed us so much by your
interest in our mission!
We would like to share a typical week with you, but there is
no normal week. Here are some highlights from last week:
Sunday: We are part
of the church which meets at the orphanage, called Bunga Bunga Bible
Fellowship. The past few weeks we have been without a weekend driver, so we
have been leaving at 8am for Dennis to transport people from Lira to the
church. We arrived at the church just in time for the prayer service at 9am.
Church begins at 9:30am. We have about 45 minutes of praise & worship,
offering & testimonies. While Pastor Dennis preaches the children go to
Children’s Church. We’ve been meeting in the school, spitting into 3 groups &
rotating for worship, Bible story & activities. We have about 130 children
each week. Margie teaches the Bible story three times with a House Mom
translating.
Monday: We both spent
the day at Calo Me Lare (Village of Redemption), the orphanage supported by
Project Hope Worldwide. Dennis planted watermelons on the orphanage grounds. He
worked with the welder & attended to electrical/plumbing issues, which is a
never-ending job.
We have been training the children &
staff at Calo with the Character First materials. During lunch every Monday I
introduce the character trait being emphasized that week with the staff. Last
week’s trait was “Gratefulness.” We are teaching everyone at the orphanage from
the kids to the guards at the gate, so everyone is working on the same thing.
At 1:30 I introduce the charactere trait to the staff & at 2:30 I introduce the character trait to the House Moms. We currently have 6
homes with 8 children & one mom in each home. As soon as this is finished I
check in Tony, who does our purchasing.
Tuesday: Last week
Dennis & the teachers marked off the soccer field by hoeing the edges &
down the center. Today Dennis & men from the community dug holes in which
to plant clumps of grass. They dug up the whole field with holes about a foot
apart.
I helped just be a
presence with the kids/guardians at the medical clinic for several potential
orphans to help fill the houses this fall. We have 14 identified & 2
possibilities. They have some medical testing before we take their applications
to help us determine how to best help them. None speak English, which is
typical. Seeing their condition would break your heart. They had to borrow
clothing from a neighbor for one little 3 year old guy. He had not clothes of
his own. It was pretty incredible watching him walk in shoes for the first time
in his life!!!
Wednesday: Staff
Meeting is every Wednesday at 9am. Dennis usually takes part in this &
sometimes I meet with them depending on what is being covered & my
workload. The department heads meet & the administrative staff meets after
that. He spends the rest of the day running errands & fixing things.
Thursday: Again men
from the community came to help Dennis with the soccer field. Dennis hired a
truck to transport the grass. The men dug the grass with a hoe & loaded it
by hand. They brought 4 truckloads of grass today. We prayed for rain because
the field was getting dry. PTL it rained!!!
We spent another day screening children, this time at the
Lira Medical Clinic. We gave the kids lunch & a soda & they were
ravenous! One little girl just looks like she can’t get any thinner, but the
next time we see her she looks even thinner. This little girl never has a
guardian who will come with her. Pray
for Prisca.
Friday: Dennis & others on the administrative staff interviewed for open positions at Calo. After the interview Dennis led a young lady to the Lord who was applying for a job!!! PTL! Dennis again worked on the Soccer Field. This was a
fun day for him because it was a workday for the children & they helped
plant the grass. The field was perfect after the great rain. I stayed home to
attend to bookkeeping.
Saturday: We normally
have Saturday off. We both worked at Calo. Dennis was happy to see about a
dozen men come to dig the grass to sprig & about a dozen teenagers (who
play soccer on our field) to plant it. Dennis worked out there all day because
when he stopped the kids did too. They dug & planted three more truckloads
of grass.
I began teaching the children about abstinence. We want them
to have a solid knowledge of what a family is according to the Bible. The
children love books. With Irene, our Social Worker translating, I shared a book
called, “The Story of Me”, which was recommended by a family ministry. We will
continue to follow up with this, including reading a second book to older children.
Sounds busy, but rewarding. Love you guys.
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