- Today marks our 22nd straight day with no electricity. After getting the generator fixed 7 times, it seems to be holding its own and I run it about 3 hours 2 times a day to keep the refrigerated bakery things fresh. So, up at 5:30 this morning so it can be on 3 hours before I go to Mbale.
- Rogers and I got to Mbale about 9:30, and within 20 minutes got a call from Betty (Rogers' wife) that Oliver was having a seizure. This happened several months ago also with Oliver (a girl, by the way). We raced back to Budaka and picked them up and brought her to the good hospital here in Mbale. Turns out she has malaria again with convulsions, and they are suspecting epilepsy. She is on her way home now with medications for both the malaria and the seizures. We will bring her back in 2 weeks for a check up. Thanks for praying for her.
- Yesterday, the baby we prayed for a couple of weeks ago (with his mom, of course) was back and she said his head is becoming smaller. She was giving glory to God. I have included a picture of him. We continue to pray for his complete healing. Thanks for joining us in this.
- On Saturday and Sunday I repaired and/or sewed buttons on 33 of our children's pieces of clothing. I started by keeping track of how many buttons, but got overwhelmed...I know for sure 8 shirts with 3-4 buttons each that were missing. Thanks for the white buttons - can't remember right now who sent them, but they really came in handy this weekend. Thanks, too, for the sewing machine, thread, needles, etc. that several of you have sent. Couldn't repair these clothes without you!!
- One of our students at the school, Ephraim, died this week from Sickle Cell. I knew who he was, but didn't know him well. He was a 2nd grader and passed away on Tuesday night. We went to the burial on Wednesday with 5 of our students to represent the school, Headmaster David, 2 teachers, Rogers and Betty and me. So hard to watch this mother and father in such grief. The service and burial are all in one and occur within 1-2 days of death here. People are buried at their extended family home, so we travelled about 1/2 hour to get there (and got lost on the way...). As soon as we arrived, we were expected to see the body. Question always goes something like this, "Would you like to see the body now?" So, they open the casket and we all filed by. Then, they continued with the "service." Seems the father belongs to a cult, and so the head of this cult church talked for about 45 minutes - it was partially interpreted (from Lugwele to Luganda) and Rogers re-interpreted for me. Seems this cult believes among other things that, 1) people should not be wearing clothes (pretty unusual to hear at a burial...and BTW the speaker kept his clothes on), 2) that there is and never was anyone named Jesus Christ - there is only God, and 3) (apparently) the word "conclusion" doesn't mean the same in his "bible." He said 8 times, "And I conclude with this...". Also, I was not aware till he spoke that "all American weddings are so big because it is the homosexuals getting married. That's also why they have so many cars at weddings there!" Now, if you're not getting the past few statements, GOOD JOB! They didn't make any sense. But, I have to say, he was fervent! In the middle of his fervency, a woman jumped up (there were about 150 people there sitting under the various trees in the yard) and began yelling and running away. Other people followed her, until there was a steady stream of 3-4 dozen running. Seems her house caught on fire - she could see it from where we were. We found out later no one was hurt, only the contents of the house were destroyed. There are very few fire trucks here in Uganda, and certainly none out that far in the village. So, they had formed a bucket brigade to put out the fire. At least it was more interesting to us sitting there than the "sermon." Anyway, the 2nd picture today is of our 5 kids throwing dirt into the grave as Ephraim was buried. That is Brenda 1 looking at the camera. The other child you might recognize is Emma. The other 3 are day scholars. (Kids and adults are so used to death here that they seem to just take it in stride. On average, I would say Rogers goes to at least 2 burials a month of people from his village.)
- We did a baby dedication 2 weeks ago for a single mom, Harriet. There is a picture of us standing with her at church. She has so touched my heart. We take a baby outfit to each new baby that is born (thanks to one of you who gave several newborn outfits the last time I was home!), but somehow we missed her. So, after the dedication, I told Rogers we should invite her to my house and give one to her. We did, she came, and I gave her the clothes. She immediately put her head down in what we, in the US, would see as a sign of humility. She speaks no English, so I asked Rogers what was going on. He said this is the first gift she has received for the baby...and he's pretty sure the first gift she has ever received in her life. She looked up when he called her name and tears were streaming down her face. God wants to reach this woman with His intense love for her. Please pray with us for her and for this little one.
I love you all - sorry this email got so long...I have 3 other stories to tell, too, but you'll just have to wait till I'm back in the States in 5 weeks...
God bless you. Thank you for partnering with us to see kids and adults touched with the life of God.
Laurie
BTW - 3 stats:
- the chickens are laying 150 eggs a day!!
- we have over 200 children at the school
- we are selling over shs100,000 ($40.73 USD) every week from the bakery
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