Jul 5th Update

Hey, my email friends and family in America!

It’s a fairly cool day here in Uganda – actually only in the low 70s. It’s been raining a LOT here, which makes walking a dangerous proposition. There are no sidewalks and only 2 paved roads in Budaka. Quite tricky to get around without falling. There’s LOTS of mud everywhere. On to more interesting things…

On Fridays, the children go for physical education to a field that is about a 10-minute walk from the orphanage. It is a community field that anyone may use as long as no one else is there at the time. The teachers asked if I would come and teach the children some American games. So, we did relay races (a new concept to them) and played Duck, Duck, Goose. They loved all of them! You would have pictures of the day except I apparently forgot to load them on my computer and don’t have my camera with me – we have not had electricity for 5 days, so it has not been as easy as possible. So, at the end of this week I will send the pictures (when I am in Kampala for a break).

Recently, I have felt the Lord asking me to take each child for some special time away from the orphanage with me. I have been doing that over the past couple of weeks. It’s very special and the kids get so excited about “walking with Pastor Laurie.” I spend about ½ - 1 hour and we go and do some errand and talk along the way. On Friday afternoon, I took Ben with me. He is our oldest boy. As we walked, he held my hand (can you imagine any 10 or 11-year-old boy doing that in the States!?) and kept saying, “Pastor Laurie, I love you!” Then, at one point he said, “Pastor Laurie, when I grow up I want to be a pastor.” I told him I thought that was great if that’s what he wants to be and what he feels God is asking him to do. Then he said, “And, Pastor Laurie, when you grow up I want you to be a doctor.” I tried to explain to him that I was already grown up, but he insisted that I should think about it, so I just dropped it. So, if you hear about me applying to medical school…

Some of you know that our littlest child, Charity, fell this last week as she was climbing from the top to the bottom bunk of her bunkbed. We had to take her to the hospital in Mbale in the evening as she was bleeding and hurting. I texted and asked some of you to pray. Thanks so much to those of you who prayed…and those who are always praying for us. I’m happy to report she is fine – some bruising, but she is now playing again and acting totally normal. It was an interesting experience in Mbale, though, as the clinic we went to had no electricity, so the doctor needed to examine her and has only a kerosene lantern. So I pulled out my small (but powerful) flashlight and held it while he examined her. Then they gave her an injection of antibiotics. Total bill for the time: Shs 7,000=, or $3.50. (They didn’t take any off for me providing the light.) Now the only problem is that she got used to Auntie Rachel sleeping with her for 3 nights and wants someone with her every night.

The children have finished their first paper bead necklaces – the same kind I brought back when I was in the States. We will continue making them and then send them over to be sold. There were 2 of you who said you would be glad to help with the U.S. sales in churches and to individuals. I will be contacting you separately as we get to the point where we have things to ship over. If you are interested in helping with this, please let me know. The ones I remember who have contacted me were Marisa and Doug. If you also told me you would help and I have forgotten, please email me again and forgive my old mind J.

Please be sure to check out the Cornerstone Ministries Uganda website – it has been updated! It is at www.cornerstoneministriesuganda.org. Thanks to Richard for setting it up and updating it!

I always feel like there is so much more to tell you…oh, well, I’ll have to wait till next week. Thank you to all of you who write emails back and keep me informed of what is happening in your world. As I write this (Saturday night sitting on my bed at home), I realize tomorrow is the 4th of July and I don’t have sparklers…or anyone to celebrate with! Hope your 4th was good!

Thanks for partnering with me in this great venture. Maybe next week I can tell you about how school plans are coming for opening a school in January. May the Lord continue to bless you as you faithfully give to help these children and this community.

In His great love,

Laurie