I figure by the time I get done with this e-mail it will be June 1. May has just flown by. Things are going well here. I have a nasty case of bronchitis, but I am taking cough medicine and a good antihistamine. I went to the doctor and they drew blood to check and that was fine, so it is probably viral. I stayed home from church on Sunday and Monday I spent most of the day in bed watching movies. Today I went to town to go and mail some letters and to pick up a few things. Then I came back and went back to bed. The cough medicine has codeine in it, so it makes me pretty sleepy. The boys are doing well, they all went back to school on May 23. The street program is going well also. I have REALLY enjoyed being with the ladies. I have been doing a Bible study with them and teaching computers. I have five keyboards and three laptops so for the last two weeks they have been learning how to manage with the keys. Tomorrow should have been their first day on the computers, but I am too sick to go. They are HIV positive and I don't want to give them my bug too. I have also been taking a couple of ladies to lunch on Wednesdays. So fun. One of the ladies, Beatrice, has a baby that is a week older than my grand-baby and I get to love on him! One of the older boys from the street got picked up in a riot in the slum and put in prison. I went with Amanda and Uncle Abdul to try to get him released. He is out but has to report back in June. I have decided that I never want to go to jail in Uganda. It seems funny to me that all of my years of working with kids in AWANA are now turning into a blessing for the boys. When we go to Grace house, an orphanage for 50 street boys, Amanda tells a Bible story and I sing and explain the story. Those that know me well, know I can't carry a tune in a bucket but I do know a lot of kids songs! There is a former street boy, his name is David-I call him Bead David because he runs the program for making the paper beads, has been hired for the summer. Bead David is a great young man and loves the boys so much. He asked me to come and share with Amanda to their little house at night. Two tiny rooms probably 8 X 15 feet each, no electricity, dirt floors, no mattresses, only cardboard. There are 40 - 50 boys that sleep there. So now I have a new audience to sing to. It is so very humbling. I don't know how I managed to get such a great assignment!
While I was in Phoenix I spoke to a Bible study that included Adam Mick the former youth pastor at MVBC. His Bible study folks were so awesome. They contributed money and along with another couple of people I came to Uganda with just over $200 dollars to buy a sewing machine, treadle of course. Here is the cool part... I bought it on Sunday from a guy who works at another orphanage, Uncle Abdul. Someone had donated it to them and no-one had ever used it. . They now can use the money for something that they really need and after I bought some needles, thread, oil, and a couple of spare parts I have about $5.00 left. God is so good! I will be using the machine to fix all of the uniforms for our boys, fix clothes for the boys living on the street and hopefully it will be used to train some of the women at Hope House (our program) to sew. Even a few of the boys are interested and maybe one of them will end up being a tailor!
Two Saturdays ago I made french toast for all of the boys for breakfast. Last week I made pancakes. We had so much fun. I have some photos that I will post on facebook. This week I am going to make fried rice with sweet and sour sauce. One of the people from my church, MVBC, gave me money to buy every boy a Bible. They now have their very own Bible. I have pictures of that too. (My camera is with Uncle David right now-but watch for the photos!)
I have found a new friend, one of the street boys named Joel. He is new to the street, about 16 and wants to be with me all of the time. He got beat up pretty badly his first or second week here and he got taken to the clinic by Bead David. One of his eyes was really damaged and he had drops that were a steroid to reduce swelling and an antibiotic to fight infection. No-one wanted to give him his drops so I did. I have put thousands of drops into kid and adult eyes. I guess the drops did it because whenever I am there he wants to hold my hand and talk to me. His English is pretty good. His story is really sad, they all are. But not many boys want to share with me so soon. Joel has though, and I am honored.
The work has begun on the new house on the new land. They have been digging trenches for the stem walls and clearing land. Still no water or electricity but the ball is rolling. The plans are so very nice. I was supposed to go to the land this week to take pictures and to look it over. I will be going to the land with the teams who are here to help us build so I need to know the way. I have been there several times but I have never really paid attention to HOW to get there. But I am too sick for that too. Hopefully later on this week. I love you all so much and I thank you for wanting to read my rambling posts, but most of all I thank you for your prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment