Jan 30th - It's Monday...

Greetings from Uganda in our HOT season. This past week, it has only been below 100 degrees at night, when it gets down into the 80s. I'm so looking forward to the middle of February, when the rains usually come and cool everything down a bit. I have received mail from several of you letting me know that your winters, for the most part, have been fairly mild with the exception of the northwest, where some of you had cold weather and lots of snow. It's hard to imagine when I sit in what is probably 105 degrees today. Probably as hard as it is for you to imagine as you sit in freezing temps!

An update on our bakery business: I needed coconut for a recipe, but couldn't find any packaged...so I bought a coconut at the "supermarket," got on line and found out how to drain it and break it open. Then, Betty (Rogers' wife) and I peeled it and then put it through the grater on my food processor. And, voilå! Shredded coconut. You can see what I'm talking about from the pictures. So, now I can make things with coconut. People haven't tasted it here before, so this is a new thing, but those who have had a bit to taste have enjoyed the flavor and texture.

I also have discovered that banana bread is a great thing to make here - there are lots of bananas of various varieties. And, so, I began making banana bread with the ones that were turning. People love it! I can sell a loaf for Shs10,000=/ ($4.33USD) and it costs just about shs5,000=/ ($2.16 USD) to make it. We are still trying to find our niche in the food world in Budaka and Mbale, so maybe this is it...

The chickens have not yet started laying, but it's looking promising. Again, my patience is being worked on!

Yesterday we gave out new school shoes and socks for the school year that begins today. I have included one of the kids, Junior, in his new shoes. We had them try them on with their play clothes so we could make sure they fit. You can see his new socks draped over his left shoulder. The other kids are sitting and waiting till their name is called. Thank you to all of you who support financially, as it is because of you that we are able to buy things like these shoes for our kids. Abby and I went to many resale shops in Oregon, Washington and California while we were on the road visiting you late last year and found all our kids their black school shoes (required color for school here). Most of the shoes we paid no more than $5 per pair and they are so much nicer than anything we can get here in Uganda! Thank you.

As I said, school begins today and we had 93 new children register to come to school. That would be an almost 100% increase over last year, if they all show up. Rogers says, from his experience, we can expect about 75 of them to actually show. Since the school is one of our businesses that will support the work, we are thrilled with this new group who want to come! If you have facebook, you can see the pics of our kids and the teachers this morning on their first day of school. I have included a picture of all our boys (except Moses) taken this morning right after their breakfast. Don't they look sharp??

I had a rather distressing time on Saturday - I heard gun shots while at my house and then got a call from Betty saying I should lock up the house and gate quickly. She made sure the orphanage got locked down also. I heard more gun shots...then saw people running down the road in front of my house away from town. "Can't be good..." I thought. I waited a couple of hours before I found out what had happened - some vigilantes wanted to take justice into their own hands and kill a suspected murderer who the police were holding. They stormed the police station, then burnt down a business. (They wanted to burn down the police station.) The police responded by shooting tear gas and then bullets. One man was killed, a woman passing by was shot in the side and a child was shot in the arm. The resistance was put down and most were arrested and put in jail. I had to be in lock-down for 3 hours...and it was 107 degrees outside! So hot inside with no windows open! At this kind of time, I wonder what in the world I am doing in Uganda??? Luckily, these kinds of things are few and far between. (One team just left and another is coming in 2 weeks - both missed this "wonderful" moment in Budaka. So glad you weren't here, Hillsboro and Hesperia teams!) Thanks to all of you who pray for us - God is protecting us. Thanks to Deb, our prayer chairman, who doesn't mind being awakened in the middle of the night to pray and encourage.

Enough for this week. We are excited that the Hesperia team comes to Mbale next Tuesday and to Budaka on Saturday and Sunday. We announced your coming yesterday and the church is delighted to receive you!

God bless you all! Thank you again for your participation in the Gospel. God is good!
Laurie

Jan 23 - Coming to you from Kampala today

Last night we put the E! team on the plane after a great 2 weeks with them. So sad to see them leave personally, but the impact on Cornerstone has been tremendous. Just a few things they were involved in:

• the 4 guys (Chuck, James, Nick and Seth) worked several days with our builders to see that the kids' home and school is built well. The Ugandan workers were impressed with the commitment and pace at which these guys worked. It was really hot, and they worked in the direct sunlight the whole time - the highest temperature was 106 degrees, but all days were 95 degrees plus. Thanks so much, you 4, for the impact you had on Cornerstone and Budaka! 
• Cayla helped me with numerous small projects that have been needing to be done, but not enough time to do them. It was great to work side-by-side with her and get so many little nagging things done. She also got to spend a lot of time with the kids while the guys were working. Thanks, Cayla, for investing in our kids...and me!
• All 5 played and had fun with the kids many times during their time here. They played ball (American football, Ugandan football - "soccer" in the States, basketball), played a geography game with the world globe balls and blow up balls and flat maps sent by some of you and ate almost all meals with the kids at the orphanage. 
• Cayla is my hairdresser in the States and she brought her scissors and cut my hair. It was such a big event for the kids - they get their heads shaved about once a month, but never cut with scissors. So, we did it at the orphanage. I have included a picture of the kids all around us as she cut my hair. We kept having to tell them to move back so she had room to work! Then, as it seemed they were losing interest, several kids started coming up with pieces of my hair. I have included a picture of what the boys did with the hair - look closely! Then, a picture of Moses and what he did with the hair. Cayla were laughing so hard. Charity even came with a hairball - in her hands - all the hair she had been able to collect! It's great to have my hair short in this extreme heat...and so fun to have the kids find fun in it also. 
• All 5 shared at church on Sunday mornings both weeks - they shared who they are the first week, then yesterday they shared what God has taught them since they have been in Uganda. It was great for the Cornerstone church members to hear that God speaks to even Americans ;) 
• We played games in the evenings - so fun to play with all of them. Mostly we played Spoons - wild and crazy with this group! 
• The whole team was a great shot in the arm for all of us. Thank you, Evergreen, for your commitment in finances and this team to help get this building going for our kids. 

School starts next Monday for the year. We have many people who are wanting to bring their children to the school (over 25 have registered at the last count) as they have heard how well our kids performed last year. This is great as the school is one of the businesses we are counting on to help support the work here as it becomes self-supporting. We know that we need about 200 children at the school for it to be supporting the ministry. We had a total of 119 last year at the end of the year...but not all of them paid their bills. We are tweaking some things this year to guarantee payment. When we have 200, the teachers' salaries will be paid by the school fees, our own orphans will have "free" education, and some money will come back into the running of the whole work. We are anticipating this happening by the end of this school year (November 2012).

Our chickens are scheduled (by us!) to begin laying in this next week. We should get 5 trays of eggs at least each day (that represents 3/4 of the birds laying each day). Each tray is 30 eggs and each egg sells for shs300=/ (about 13 cents), so should be bringing in shs45,000=/ per day, which is shs1,350,000 per month from the sale of the eggs. That is about 15% of our needed income for the month. We have decided that with the first profits, we will reinvest and get 200 more chicks so at some point we will have 400 chickens producing all the time.

Thanks to all of you who are praying for these endeavors...and to those who give each month so these businesses get started and we begin to see ourselves becoming self-supporting! God is doing a good thing in Budaka...in Cornerstone...in our 31 kids...in our 200+ church members...in our 19 staff people...in our 100+ students at the school. So much more to share, but do want you to read all of it, so will stop here. God bless you! Talk with you again next week. Please feel free to write. It's so nice to be in touch with you. BTW - I will be home sometime near the end of April, beginning of May for a few weeks on Cornerstone business. Hoping to see you all. Let me know if you would like me to schedule to be at your church, school or home for any of that time.

Thank you for partnering with us!
Laurie

Jan 16th - Greetings from Mbale!

Good afternoon (early morning to you in the States!), Friends and Family. We have been having a great week with the team from Evergreen...not sure if they will agree as it has been really hot. Friday was 106. The 4 guys work in the direct sunlight moving wheelbarrows of rock from place to place, tying rebar, shoveling sand and rock, dumping mortar to the guys building the brick foundation walls. They have all come back SO tired at lunch time, then some days they go back to do even more. A great and willing team! Cayla has been helping me in the bakery, organizing some clothing, etc., for the kids that has long needed to be organized. All 5 of the team have been so willing to do anything. Oh, did I mention that between these things they are down with the Cornerstone kids playing? And, they have had enough time to play Spoons with me - they even let me win once.

The first picture is of the team at their first breakfast with the kids at the Cornerstone Kids' Home. The second is of James holding Moses the next day.

The building is coming along well - if you have facebook, go to see more pictures of the process the album Cornerstone Children's Home and School. [please note, if this link does not work you many need to "Friend" Laurie in Facebook if you have not yet done so]. I have included one picture that is looking from the east end of the building. The 2 rooms closest to me are the kids' rooms that will become their home as soon as we can get it done! They don't do estimates in time here, so can't tell you exactly when. I am so impatient by Ugandan standards! Those of you who read this email know I don't like waiting...anyway, I will let you know as soon as I know when it will be done...or at least our kids' part done.

The Evergreen kids sent pillowcases and candy to the kids. Yesterday the E! team passed out the pillowcases (each child now has one with his/her name on it) and cards that the kids made for them. They were so excited. A bit later in the week, they will pass out some of the candy. The rest will be used as incentives for allowance and other things with our kids. THANK YOU, E! kids!! Our kids are so happy.

Thanks to all of you for your support, encouragement and love for our kids and the work here. May God bless you! Talk to you again next week...
Laurie

Jan 9th - more pics from our trip

First pic is of the kids on the coaster, holding up their Cornerstone Bakery rolls...a treat. They also got cookies at lunchtime from the same bakery ;).

Second is of all the kids at the Nile River. Notice Moses in front in his uniform. Pretty much like all the others, eh?

Third is of some of the boys eating lunch at what used to be Bujagali Falls...now just a steep hillside to a lake. The boys are, from the left, Bartholomew (sorry, his back side is to you), Mutwahiru drinking orange Fanta, Charles, John and Johnson.

to see more pics, go to FB.
Laurie

Jan 9th - Lovely Monday Greetings...

Good afternoon (at least here!) all of you on that side of the world. Here's a few things happening over here:

• The building is coming along - if you have facebook, go to my Cornerstone Children's Home and School album to see the progress. 
• We receive the Evergreen team tomorrow night. We're so excited! The kids are figuring out that there are more than 23 Americans they don't know. HA! They keep saying, "is Teacher Abby coming?", "Is Marissa coming?", "Is Dina coming?" and they continue naming all the 23 Americans they have met in the past 2 years, thinking there couldn't be that many Americans out there. So, they get to meet 5 more...Seth, James, Cayla, Nick and Chuck. Now they will know there are at least 28 Americans! Please pray for this team as they are coming from COLD weather to HOT days for working on the building. In the past week we have had one day of 111 and one of 112. They will need God's grace to make it. We know He will help them.
• Thanks to three of our friends in America, we took our kids on a great outing to Jinja on Thursday. They got to see Lake Victoria (the first pic is of all of us standing in front of it). The fishermen had just come in from their night's fishing and were mending their nets by the shore - I so felt that I was in the Gospels with Jesus as He walked among them and said, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." There's a picture of them for you too. 

1. From Lake Victoria, we went to Tip Top Bakery and went on a tour to see how bread is made. The picture is of the first room they took us to where the sacks of wheat flour are in the background. Do you recognize any of the kids? 
2. Then we went to the source of the Nile River (it's where Lake Victoria ends and the Nile begins). I will send more pictures with another email in a couple of minutes.
3. From there, we drove across the bridge and dam over the Nile River where the hydroelectric plant is (the only one in Uganda). 
4. Then we went to Bujagali Falls, a beautiful waterfall/rapids that, unfortunately is no longer there. Of course, no one told us that. They have dammed it up and now it is a lake. To all of you who have white water rafted down the falls, it's sad. It was a let down to those of us who have been there, but the kids had no idea and had a ball! I will send pictures of them there also. 
5. For our 7 newer kids (Brenda 2, Doreen, Lisa, Magdalene, Joel, Beatrice and Sarah), this was their first time in a coaster (small bus - 28 seats for 44 of us...so much room for a Ugandan group! They could have fit another 10 in easily.), their first time farther than a few kilometers from Budaka. 
6. My favorite line of the day: we were in Busembatia (about 45 minutes west of Budaka), many children were wondering out loud about different things they were seeing that they had never seen and I heard this: "Look, even the sun is going with us!" We are broadening their perspectives, for sure! 

• Okay, now I will get on to sending more pictures...and posting all our trip pictures on FB (if I have time). So love the 3G network here in Mbale! And electricity (we have had none for 36 hours).

God bless you all. Thanks for praying for us, sharing your thoughts and suggestions, giving of your own resources for these kids and adults of Budaka, and being good email and FB buddies to me!!

Laurie

Jan 4th - Happy 2012!

This is a few days late coming to you this week - another few things beyond my control. Sorry about that! Hope your New Year's celebration was great.

We spent the 2 hours before and 1 hour after midnight that night in praise for what God has done and listening to Him about what He is going to do in 2012. So fun to lead about 50 believers crammed into Rogers' house in rejoicing and looking forward. Hope yours was as fun.

As all of you who read last week's email know, we had a robbery and all our large pots were taken from the kitchen, along with forks, plates, etc. Thanks to those of you who offered to help replace them. We appreciate the gifts! We looked for pots in Mbale, but were unable to find the size and quality we need to feed all our kids...especially when school begins again and we are feeding well over 100 people at lunch time. So, Betty (Rogers' wife) went to a garage - yes, you read that right - and had 2 made. They are about 2 times the size of the ones we lost, and as you can see from the picture, they are clearly marked as Cornerstone's property. They look like something made in a garage, but they work well and are fairly sanitary ;).

The kids came back on Friday...some sad at leaving their families and others so excited to get back to a more normal schedule and food and loving care. Most come back sick and/or having skin diseases. So, we have had a lot of sicknesses this week. I have included a picture of Barthlomew - he is one of the ones who is so excited to get back. This was taken at Sunday School this past Sunday.

So, on New Year's Day, after church, Rogers invited the builders to come for lunch to celebrate. These were men who have come from Masaka to work on the building and so are a long way from family. We enjoyed our time together eating, and I wondered if they would then leave or what. Guess what happens in Uganda when someone has had a great time at your house eating? They apparently get up and start dancing! I have videos and pictures like this one of John (the foreman at the construction site) as all 5 of the men got up and started dancing. Rogers came home during this and he started dancing. Watching all these guys dancing after their meal was a new experience for me, I can assure you! What happens after a good meal in Uganda? A dance breaks out! It was so fun. After that we taught them to play Spoons, then the Rhythm Game. Lots of laughter and fun!

Sunnyside Team: we got your package of Christmas cards yesterday - you sent it Dec 9 and we got it on the 3rd of January. Anyway, the kids LOVE the cards and pictures. Thank you...and thanks for the dark chocolate - we will always be friends!

We are so excited that the building team from Evergreen will be here in less than a week. James, Chuck, Nick, Cayla and Seth - many people here are praying for you and rejoicing to get to receive you for the couple of weeks you'll be here. We will see you at the airport!!

God bless you all. Thank you so much for your incredible generosity toward Cornerstone. We are so blessed. Talk with you next week.
Laurie