It's Monday...

Greetings from Uganda! We have had a great week this week with the children coming home, having some relaxing time with them, having Saturday School, a great week of dividing up our Sunday School kids, and so much more.
The first picture I have sent is of some of the children arriving for Saturday School. The wheelchair was great - very resourceful of this family. They have nailed a lawn chair into a wheelchair base for this little girl to get around. It is her first time with us and we had fun involving her in games which normally a child with a handicap would not be included in. We played 4 Corners and Abby wheeled her around to the different corners. She so obviously was having fun - it was great!
We had 158 children this month - about 1/2 of what we have been having. Rogers says it's because of the rain. Children have to go and dig in the family garden to get crops ready. Without the crops, these people would not eat.
That reminds me that this morning, when I was having breakfast with the children, I asked them what they had at breakfast last week when they were home with their extended families (clans). Many of them kept quiet, and when I was able to get an answer from them, I found out they had nothing to eat for breakfast, or they had a cup of black tea. Silly me - I have to remember not to ask these kinds of questions. They were embarrassed for their families...that they don't have enough to feed the children when they are home. Some kids came back with stories of relatives who have died or are dying. We had 3 or 4 who asked if we could please take one of their siblings at the orphanage. I forget how life and death the existence is here! Friday night, when the kids came back, we had a great devotional about God's plans for their lives AND the lives of their families. It's so heartbreaking sometimes, but I know we are doing what we can with the 24 we have. Please continue to pray that we can expand and take in more of these vulnerable little ones. Thanks.
The second picture is of Jessica. She is the little girl who had some a horrible skin condition that the Lord healed last year. I wanted you to see an updated picture of her. The transformation from very sick young girl to one who is looking like a healthy pre-teen is amazing, isn't it? Praise God for His healing power and His love for every child here in Uganda...and particularly for those in Budaka.
Yesterday for the first time we split the Sunday School into older and younger kids. Thanks to those of you who are consistently giving to this ministry, we were able to buy some learning toys for the little ones and Abby took them into a room and got to spend time playing, singing and telling a Bible story to them while the older ones were with their regular teacher.  I have included a picture of this small class - there ended up being 9 in there, with Abby and 2 older children helping. The room is about 6'x6' and actually is an apartment in the building we rent for church. We use it for storage of the sound equipment during the week, but since it is empty during church, it will work well for a Sunday School class.
I am going to try and send some more pictures in another email, so let me finish this one for now. If you would like to see updated pictures of our kids, go to our website, www.cornerstoneministriesuganda.org. Richard has just put up the newest pictures of each child.
May God continue to bless you - you are a blessing to me...and to all of us at Cornerstone!
Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!
Laurie