Apr 4th Update

Saturday School

Greetings, all of you on the other side of the world! It's great to think about you over there sleeping, just waiting to get up and experience your Monday! I'm in the middle of mine and just want to tell you it will be great.

The first picture today is from Saturday School this last weekend. We had 200 children come to play games, hear a Bible story, sing songs and get a snack. It was so wonderful to be back with them again! We played a kind of freeze tag game with them and Simon Says. Both were great hits and really fun to watch (Abby led both games.) Then I told them the story about King David bringing the ark back into Jerusalem and that every 6 steps they stopped and worshipped. So, the picture is of 2 of the teachers from the school carrying the "ark" and all of us counting 6 steps, then stopping to sing a song to the Lord. We were all laughing and having a great time!

View our our home

The second picture is taken from our new house's front porch as Abby and I sat there early Sunday morning having a cup of tea. It was only about 75 degrees out there, as opposed to well over 80 inside. Really a very pastoral view and feeling. A couple of minutes later, we had a mother chicken and her chicks walking through the yard, to the right a man leading his goats by our fence, several people walking by on the road either in front or to the left and waving and greeting us. Seems everyone knows that the buzungu are living here now. Our home is beautiful and we are getting used to no electricity. We have set up a toilet on top of the latrine hole, so it's almost like being at home :-). One night, we went out to the latrine at about 3am - we always go out at the same time for safety - and I looked up at the amazing stars and there was a shooting star. Our God is awesome!
I've got to share the score with you: Laurie - 3, spiders - 0! HA! I have taken out 3...well, only 1 large one, but nonetheless.

Thank you to all of you who ministered to me when I was in the States: meals, homes to stay in, cars to drive, so many things to take back to my kids or for our new home. Some of you shared financially in ways that have helped us get our house set up and helped us in getting here. I am so appreciative for your sensitivity and blessing. Thank you. Ladies from Curves in Newark - it was so great to be with you for dinner! I trust you are all doing well. I'd love to hear from you.

The children are doing so well! I will be sending pictures of them so they can be put up on the website (www.cornerstoneministriesuganda.org). I realized we have not updated the pictures since last March. It will probably take several weeks as the internet is slow and I only have a couple of hours a week to do it. I also will be sending pictures of our new staff (the teachers and the new hires for other jobs) so you can "meet" them. All the children received 2 sets of new clothes. It was such a great time! They kept clapping for each thing each person received. Thanks to all of you who participated in getting clothing to us to give out!
An amazing Acts-type story yesterday: a woman was led into church right in the middle of my preaching. She had gone blind (unknown cause...temporary? permanent? people really don't know here) in the past 2 weeks. She also had great pain in her chest. I didn't know this, only that her being brought in caused quite a disturbance among those who were listening - how could God interrupt my sermon?? lol. Anyway, after church, Pastor Rogers asked if I would go and pray for her as he was going to pray for the 5 who received Jesus during the service (hallelujah!). Since she was seated behind me, I had not seen her led into church, or that she was blind. So, I went over and through an interpreter asked what she needed. She said her husband had died 2 weeks ago and his family had turned her out. She had fallen sick and ended up at the police station in Budaka. They told her she should come to Cornerstone because we would pray for her. So, we prayed, and her eyes were opened and she said that whatever the pain was in her chest felt like it started going up and then went out through her shoulders and is gone. Praise the Lord! He continues to do miracles among His people.

Okay, this is enough for the day - so much more to share, but we will have to wait till next week. I do want to ask you to pray, though, for one thing: inflation is raging here - 11% since the first of the year. Many of our people have so little money already and this is putting everyone back. Our own prices for food have risen, sometimes by as much as 10% from one week to the next. Please pray that whatever is causing this will be stopped and we will be able to continue to feed our children in the way that is helping them be healthy and strong. Pray for the people in Cornerstone Christian Centre (the church) that they would turn and trust in God to help them in this time. Pray for a release of the finances needed to move forward. Thanks for joining with us in praying for these things! So nice to know there are others carrying this ministry with us.
God bless you all.

Laurie