Nov 28th - An added bonus today...

Okay, here's my regular weekly update of what's happening, but ALSO I have 3G internet here in Mbale with my internet stick and I can download a video to you. I sure hope you all can view it. It will give you a 7-second picture of what happened on Saturday at our Open Day, the day parents come at the end of the year to see what their children have done and how they have performed in school. In the video you will see:

• on the far right with the microphone is Natasha
• 2nd row on the far left is David
• 3rd row on the far left is Ronald
• 4th row, 4th person over is Sarah (our newest child - doesn't she look happy?) 
• 4th row, on the far right is Brenda 1

The rest of the kids are from the school, but are not among our orphans - this is the Cornerstone Learning Centre choir. They did a great job. All the classes also presented songs, dances, poems, readings, etc. throughout the time. They were quite entertaining, and apparently this is the first time this kind of thing has been done by any schools in Budaka. The parents were so pleased!

I have sent you a picture of Brenda praying at the beginning to start the program. I'm so proud of her outgoing nature and her relationship with God. She is an amazing young lady...and growing up so fast!

I have also sent you a picture of Brenda 2 (one of the children we got in May from Kabuna). When she came she couldn't speak English at all...as you can see in this picture, she is speaking in front of about 150 parents, along with 125 of her schoolmates. Amazing the changes in these children!

Other things about the day:

• Official start time: 8:30 am. Actual start time: 11:00 am. I kept calling Rogers, saying, "now is it time to go down?" and he would laugh and say, "no, Pastor Laurie, not yet. Don't worry." I just didn't want to miss anything the kids did. The byword for Uganda - wait...
• There have to be speeches by enough people to put you to sleep...I believe there were 8 speeches, one of which lasted 45 minutes. The others were not much shorter. The whole day was over at 4:30pm...5 1/2 hours!!! But, it was broken up by the kids doing their presentations, which almost made the speeches worthwhile.
• At one point, I felt something and looked down and there was a kind of yellow/orange streak on the back of my hand. What could it be? I asked Rogers, who was seated in front with me at the Directors' table and he leaned over and whispered, "It's wasp defecation." I looked up and sure enough there was a wasp. Who knew I would be the target? Another weird experience in Uganda. (Sorry, no picture for this one.)
• The Top Class (Kindergarten) did a poem all together with motions. It was all in English and was directed to their parents. I didn't catch all the words, but will ask for a copy to send to you. But, the part I heard was so entertaining from an American perspective. It was asking the parents to wash their hands before feeding their children so they would not get diarrhea. First time I've ever heard a poem with the word "diarrhea" in it...how about you? 
• Johnson is a great dancer and was leading the Top Class in a dance when his pants started falling off. I have a video (too long to send, sorry) of him dancing, pulling up his pants, tucking in his shirt, dancing, pulling up his pants, tucking in his shirt, etc., etc. It was so funny to watch. I told Headmaster David that kids' programs are the same around the world. We all have stories like that to tell about our kids' programs, don't we? 

So, Open Day was a great success, and great advertisement for the school for next year. All the pupils have gone home now and only our 31 kids are left for about 2 months. It's so fun to have them alone for awhile!

Only 2 other things to report today:

1. The chickens are doing so well...with a minor exception of the cannibalistic ones who ate their own last week. We found 2 chickens who had been pecked to death. "Murder in the Chicken House." 
2. I had a great Thanksgiving...3 great guests, homemade rolls, real butter (bought in Kampala last week), roasted chicken (turkey was too expensive!), mashed potatoes and gravy and even pumpkin pie for dessert (the cream didn't whip, but we just poured it over the pie - still tasty!). We played games, talked, did dishes, ate too much and generally had a Thanksgiving almost like home. It was our little bit of America in the midst of Uganda. We were thankful!! 

Okay, enough for today. So many more stories, but I will stop here. I so look forward to seeing those of you who are coming in January and February...2 teams in 2 months, and pray for your preparations. All of you - I'm excited to hear from you (this is a direct hint to send an email!!).

Thank you all for your support and love to make all the above things possible (yes, even the wasp defecation ;). It's great to continue partnering with you!

Laurie  

VIDEO: http://youtu.be/FaqNBhIaZTE

Nov 22nd - Great news!

Just a quick note to show you:

1. one of Mutwahiru's crutches
2. Mutwahiru in the doctor's office

We got great news yesterday from the doctor - Mutwahiru is doing so well, he is to walk with only 1 crutch until about Christmas and then NO CRUTCHES. It will have been about 3 years for him since he broke his leg, got it set incorrectly and has been on crutches!

As we sat there yesterday, the doctor said, "Mutwahiru, can you walk without them?" Mutwahiru said, "Yes," and proceeded to walk across the room. I exclaimed, "You can???!!!"

Anyway, bottom line is that within a year of this time, his legs will be the same length (they begin lengthening in February) and he will walk normally. We are so thankful to God!!

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for this boy...and to Mark and Sharon who were touched to help financially for this miracle to happen. Hallelujah! God uses many ways to accomplish His purposes.

God bless you all - this is a great Thanksgiving present!!

Laurie

Nov 21st update - It's Thanksgiving week! I'm thankful...

It's a week to reflect and be thankful for all we have. Although Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here in Uganda, I am truly thankful for so many things at this season. Just take the example of this week:

• We began having 2 services on Sunday mornings due to the lack of space for both the children and the adults in our present rental building. We expected maybe 10 people at the first service as it is at 8:30am. When we got there, there were already 20-30 people waiting. By the end of the service, we had 75 adults. There is a picture I took of the service 30 minutes into it. There were 28 kids at that service. Second service (10:30), then, we anticipated being smaller. But, it was almost the same size - there were 68 adults (taking away those that stayed 2 services) and 75 kids. So, this is our biggest attendance yet...246 total. God continues doing amazing things in Budaka! A woman (Rogers said an "old woman" - she was in her 50s...hmmm) came to get saved. She said a friend of hers got saved at Cornerstone 2 weeks ago and she kept asking her, "Why are you so happy now? So many bad things have happened to you, but you always are smiling and happy." The friend told her about Jesus, so she came to get saved too.
• In the past 3 weeks, we have begun having people coming from Naboa (about 10 km - 6 miles - from Budaka). One woman heard that we would pray for her and her marriage. Rogers prayed with her, her husband called that night and reconciled with her. She called the next day and wanted to get saved since Jesus is so powerful. The next Sunday, she brought her mother (they walked) who wanted to get saved after seeing what God could do for her daughter.
• A man was in town from Tirinyi, about 25 km (15 miles) for business and a businesswoman in town told him about her church, Cornerstone. He attended on Wednesday night and gave his life to Jesus. This was about 3 weeks ago. He comes every service now, walking and catching rides with a boda bicycle (taxi by bike - you ride on the back). He came out of a cult there in Tirinyi, and his family is still involved, so he is afraid to go to church in town. He is really on fire for God!
• We bought a refrigerator, stove and generator on Friday!! I'm so excited to get to start baking for Cornerstone! They are all in the other half of my duplex (the ministry office and guest house) and we will try to get them set up today or tomorrow. My goal is to start baking on Wednesday. Don't know if that will really happen - nothing is as quick as I think here ;).
• Thursday, Thanksgiving for all you Americans, I am taking the day off and I have invited 3 Peace Corps volunteers who live in or near Budaka to come and celebrate with me. I am going to Kampala tomorrow (to take Mutwahiru for a check up) and will shop at one of the expat stores there...hoping to find Stovetop Stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin filling and butter (for mashed potatoes). Whatever they have that even resembles any of that, I will get! The 3 Americans are Aubrey, Caroline and Ryan. So excited to play games, make "American" food and visit for the day!
• The 2nd picture is of Natasha with her new shoes on. You can see she loves them!! They have 3 little buckles...so cool! She is one of the kids who kept their shoes very well and so was rewarded with a "new" pair of shoes when I came back. 
• This Saturday is our Open Day - that's the day at the end of the school year when parents come to see how their children have done all year. There is music, dancing, singing and speeches. According to Rogers, it will be 5-6 hours long...yawn...but, I will try to stay cheery! I have to make a speech, but I guarantee you mine will be quite short! And I will talk about all of you, our supporters!
• A rumor is going around that our chickens have died...not so! We have not lost one. We are so glad!! Within about 6-8 weeks, they should begin laying. Then, the fun begins.

Just one more thing: I wanted to report great news: since January, we have taken in an average of Shs1,000,000 (about $370) per month from our various businesses. This represents about 9.25% of the needed monthly income. I am thrilled that we have come so far in this year, especially with the death of all our first chickens, the ruining of some of our crops by hail, others by cows and even termites. We have learned many things in these past 2 years about what will and won't work here in Budaka. Thank you for being along on the ride with us! And thank you to all of you who have given regularly and those who have given occasionally since we began. May the Lord bless you for your faithful giving. We are still heading toward the goal of being self-supporting. Thank you for joining us in this endeavor. Please keep praying with us that the Lord will give us wisdom as we proceed. Thank you.
In His great and awesome love,
Laurie

Nov 13 - It's Monday! (Road trip in Uganda after midnight)

It's great to be alive today! A few of you know that we had a rather harrowing trip on Friday with a group of 43 students from the school.

The plan was to go to Kampala to see the Mandela National Stadium - the only stadium in Uganda...where the Uganda Cranes play football (soccer for all you Americans), go to the National Zoo - the only zoo in Uganda, then to Wonder World, an amusement park - you guessed it, the only amusement park in Uganda. It took 4 hours to get to the stadium from Budaka. We got a tour of the stadium, and the kids were allowed to run around the track, as you can see from the picture above. Some were quite bored, as you can see from the Bored Brenda picture.

Before I go on, let me interject that this was a "study tour" which most schools do here in Uganda. Once a term, any students whose parents pay for it can go on the tour the school offers. Of our 117 school students, 43 went. Six of those were our own Cornerstone kids. We told our kids that if they got the top position in their class at the mid-term exams, we would pay for them to go on the study tour. I am so happy to report that our kids got top spot in all the classes! Both Rogers and I are so proud of them for this achievement! (And, by the way, Brenda 2 has only been in school since May, so it's quite an accomplishment to be top of her class! She couldn't even speak English when she came to us.) Our top scholars are, in order left to right and back row first in the picture:

• David - P1 (1st grade)
• John (eyes closed for the pic!) - P2 (2nd grade)
• Natasha - P3 (3rd grade)
• Johnson - Top Class (Kindergarten)
• Vanessa - Middle Class (Pre-K)
• Brenda 2 - Baby (Preschool) 

This picture was taken at the zoo, our 2nd stop of the day. We ate lunch out on the lawn in front (brought rice and meat with us) with about a zillion other school groups...good thing everyone wears their school uniforms so we can find our kids! As you might imagine, it was a first for all 6 of our kids. I'm sure many of the other 37 have not been to Kampala either. I was a little frightened by the enclosures for the animals. Some only had 5' high chain link fences between them and us. Doesn't seem real safe to me...at least the lions had an 8' fence, but still it was chain link. But, we weren't eaten by wild animals and we made it through the zoo in 45 minutes. That actually was the plan so we could get to all 3 things in a day.

We ended our time in Kampala at Wonder World - think a county fair and you will have a good picture of this. The kids were totally mesmerized, though, as they have never seen anything like this. I gave our 6 kids Shs2,000 each to buy tickets and go on rides. We spent just over an hour at the amusement park.

Here was the schedule of the day:

• 6:15 am Leave Budaka
• 10:10 Arrive Mandela Nat'l Stadium
• 11:40 Leave stadium and head to zoo
• 1:20 pm Arrive at zoo
• Eat lunch
• Do zoo
• 3:00 pm Leave zoo
• 4:50 pm Arrive at Wonder World
• 6:25 pm Leave Wonder World for Budaka
• 2:15 am Arrive in Budaka

Okay, you might have noticed that it was almost 8 hours to get home - that's where the "It's great to be alive" comment comes in. It took 2 hours to get out of Kampala due to bad traffic - about 15 miles in the 2 hours!! We should have been half way home at this point, but alas, we were only on the outskirts of Kampala (at the Coca Cola factory for all of you who have been to Uganda...). Then, a few miles later we were slowed down by a matatu (minivan taxi) that had been in an accident with a cow - both parties fared poorly in the tangle. Then we were on our way again, only to come upon a LONG line of cars stopped. Apparently there was a bad accident ahead and no vehicles could get through. Did I mention this is the only paved road to Budaka? Well, our driver decided to take a side road, along with all the other cars, matatus and small trucks. All of you 4-wheelers would have loved it! But, late at night in a small bus with 43 kids and 12 adults (26 seats on the bus, by the way) on muddy roads from a recent rain, it was quite treacherous. We had to turn around on 2 occasions because the road was impassable. Imagine a line of 20-30 vehicles on a single lane road in a forest trying to all turn around! Our bus got stuck in the mud and while all the other vehicles kept going we had to get all the kids out and stand on the road for about an hour in the pitch black (thankfully there was a full moon when the clouds parted several times) in mud...oh, and did I mention we were in the Mabira Forest - the only forest in Uganda? Where wild animals, snakes, etc roam? My imagination was running wild, my mouth was praying and my arms were around our kids trying to keep them warm and safe.

So, we finally got out of that situation, continued on the horrible road, almost getting stuck many more times, (prayer life definitely growing in all of us) and rejoiced as we got to the main road. We turned toward home and were excited there was no traffic (it was about 11 pm at this time - we had been scheduled to be back at 8:30)...

until...we found ourselves in a line of cars. We had not circumvented the accident at all. We were back in line (further along the line...but nonetheless back in line) behind the accident. Another hour of sitting and waiting and then we were able to squeeze by the accident. Then found out we were almost out of gas due to the circuitous route we took. Pulled into 3 stations (after midnight) to find no one had diesel. Finally found one and were able to be on our way. Got home at 2:15 am. Oh, did I mention we had had nothing to eat since 1pm, lunch at the zoo??

Okay, there are many more stories surrounding this, but I want to say 2 things:
Thank you to all of you who pray for us regularly. God protected us from peril at many turns.
Doesn't this account make all of you want to come over and visit? HA!

Enough for this week. More of regular life next week! I love you all.

Thanks to all of you Evergreen people who are sacrificing this season to help see that our children's home and the school get built! May God bless all your efforts.

In His care and protection,

Laurie

Nov 7th - Greetings from my home away from home

Oh, boy! So much to share...now to try to get it into a length that can be read in less than a day...

First, I came back late Tuesday night into Entebbe (where the airport is in Uganda - yes, there's only 1), then back to Budaka on Wednesday. Lost luggage, trip back to Kampala the next day. It's at the Brussels Airlines office in Kampala...but it's not...wait 3 hours...oh, yes, we found it here at the office...drive back to Budaka...all the while jet lagging...raining so hard the bridge over the Nile River (about 1/2 way home) was flooded with water up to the underside of the car. Did I mention that this is the ONLY road to Budaka from Kampala? Waiting...ah, Uganda. I remember...

The kids received me with singing and lots of hugs. And, there, in the midst was Moses just smiling up at me. When I lifted him up, he snuggled into my neck. Ah, sweet homecoming!

Church was awesome yesterday! There were well over 130 adults...in a space that is about 20' wide and 40' long. And about 80 kids (sorry - haven't heard the "official" counts yet). When the adult visitors introduced themselves during the service, 4 of the 10 said they had come to receive Jesus as their Savior. By the end of the service, another person came and said he wanted to get saved also. Last week was apparently very similar with 4 people getting saved. We are growing so fast right now...and with new Christians. As Rogers and I met today, we agreed that this next weekend we will talk with the church about 2 things: 1) we will be going to 2 services that are the same and everyone should choose 1 to go to, and 2) as individual members we must ask how we are to help in buying land and building a building. (As most of you know, we have land for the children's home and school - at this point there is not enough room to have the church there also.) I am so excited to see how people respond...many have already come to say we must do something. We will challenge them to be a part of the solution. Please pray with us.

2 weeks before I got home, our Headmaster David's home was broken into and they stole money, his phone, some clothes and my iPod. We use the iPod to play worship songs before and after services, as well as to teach the worship team new songs, both English and Luganda. Anyway, now that is gone - the police are looking, but very little chance it will be returned. If any of you have an iPod that you are no longer using and you'd love to have it used in this way, would you let me know and we will find a way to get it here with the next team that comes.

Saturday School was not this last weekend - we have changed the dates so it happens 1 month in Budaka, 1 in Kabuna and then 1 month we don't have it. Then the cycle repeats. Anyway, on our first not-having-Saturday-School day, just under 120 children showed up. See the picture of some of those kids...Rogers and I talked with them for a few minutes, gave them some crackers and sent them home. (We sang "I Like Bananas"...they all LOVE the song thanks to the Sunnyside team - thanks, guys!) Over half of those who showed up came from Kabuna (about 3 miles away), and they are SO excited we will be doing SS in their village! We also invited them to Sunday School the next day and Rogers said many showed up.

One of the things we got in the States was new (well, gently used anyway) shoes for all the children who had kept their shoes well for the past year. I gave these out to the kids on Saturday. The picture you have is of Sarah, our newest girl. This is her first pair of shoes ever. She has had sandals, but never shoes. She was SO excited, as you can see. The other children in the picture are Charity (in the yellow), William and Charles. Sarah has her trousers rolled up so you can see her shoes.

I also got to show the kids all the things we brought back that they will be able to buy with their allowance "money" in the coming weeks. We didn't "sell" any this weekend, but told them they would be available soon. Monicah told me that only the youngest children bought anything that day - they are waiting to buy the new stuff. This includes the Hot Wheels, stuffed animals, bouncy balls, crazy straws, etc., etc. - all things many of you gave for the kids. Thanks for being part of teaching them responsibility!

One more thing...so many more to say, but will limit it to this last one...you all sent so much VIA that I wasn't sure how many years it would take to drink it all. Abby had a great idea --- I took 150 packets to church yesterday and gave every adult one as a gift from the States. They were thrilled to receive something and to taste an American drink! And, now I estimate I only have 200 left. Enough for some time! I'll let you know their responses to American coffee...

Sure love you all. Thank you for your financial support, prayers, emotional support (through emails, texts and phone calls). The staff this morning saw pictures and videos of many of you and were so encouraged. God bless you.

Laurie

Nov 2nd - quick update

Cornerstone Friends,

2 quick things:

1. They found the luggage just as we arrived back in Budaka. So, we will turn around tomorrow for the 6-8 hour trip to pick it up. Oh, Uganda! (They can bring it here, but then you have several other groups of people with potential sticky fingers...can you have "potential" sticky fingers?...who might help themselves to the kids' shoes, matchbox and hotwheels cars, stuffed animals, etc.)
2. I bought an internet "stick" so I am actually sitting under my mosquito net, in bed, on the internet. What a concept!! So cool. Now, if we could get electricity back again so I can charge my computer when it runs out (in 46 minutes).

Love you all! It's good to be back home.

Laurie

Nov 1st - Back safely

Just a quick note to say I am in Uganda and all went well. Still in Kampala...one piece of luggage lost, so waiting till 11am today when a flight comes in from Rwanda to see if it is on there. Then off to see the kids! (That's a 3-hour drive...on a good day.)

I know I'm back in Uganda because:

• the electricity went off 2 times during the night, came back on, then went off permanently
• it's hot and humid
• at the airport, I was at the lost luggage desk and they tried to get me to take someone else's luggage that looks similar. 

Ah, there's no place like home!

Thanks again to all of you for participating in what God is doing here in Uganda! I will talk with all of you again via email next Monday.

Laurie