Apr 28th - Hoping to see you!

Friends:

I am (finally!) over jet lag and in the west coast time zone in my head. Whew!!

Things are going well in Uganda, but, as you might guess, I'm missing the kids. When I left 2 of our kids had measles, but now everyone is okay. Rogers is overseeing the whole ministry and is doing a fine job, but is missing having a partner in the work. We have 3 main businesses that must be managed, 18 employees, 31 kids, and a church of 250. Please pray for him as he leads alone while I'm in the States.

I wanted to let all of you know where I will be and when. I hope that if you are close to any of these places, you will be able to join me as I share about what God is doing in Budaka.

• April 30-May 3 Austin
• May 6 Vancouver, WA
• May 8-14 Eugene
• May 17-21 Burley, ID
• May 26-31 Hesperia CA
• May 31-June 5 Fremont, CA
• June 8-10 Seattle, WA
• June 11 Vancouver, WA

If you would like details about where I will be speaking, let me know and I will send you the details. I will be in and out of Hillsboro during some of this time and will send an email about those times to you Hillsborians...

God bless you all! Thanks for your support on so many levels... Hope to see you while I'm in the States.

Laurie

Apr 11th - Happy Day!!

We have power...43 days without. Now, WITH!

Just thought I'd share our good news.
Laurie

Apr 10th - Post-resurrection greetings!

I hope you all had a great Easter! We had a great time at church, then had time with the kids. They got to watch the original The Little Princess (with Shirley Temple) and got some special food for lunch. Then, on Monday (a holiday called "Easter Monday" here in Uganda), they came for a pancake breakfast (see picture of them waiting for food), then games on the playground with Rogers. I kept 2 of the girls (Brenda and Natasha) and they helped me make a cake for the kids. So fun to show them how to bake. You can see them sitting on the bakery floor watching the oven as the cake baked. So funny - they kept saying, "this is like watching TV!". How many kids in America would sit and watch something in the oven cook??

We got electricity back for 3 minutes on Saturday night - then it went off again. Seems someone decided to go and try to hook it up themselves and got it to work for a minute...well, 3 actually...but couldn't get it connected for good. It was fun during that 3 minutes, anyway. I am going to Umeme (the electric company) today to find out what we can do. Maybe I will have to wait till I'm in the States.

The kids have 1 more week of school until their 3-week break for the end of the term. They are having exams this week. They're very excited to have a break. Sure wish the timing was different for going back so I could be here during their vacation - it was so fun to be with them this weekend without the school boarders - it was just our 31 kids. They are (mostly) such great kids!

That's all for today - sorry it's so short, but I will be leaving in a week and have many things to get together. Love you all! Thank you again for your help for our kids, the school and all that is Cornerstone. See you soon.
Laurie

Apr 6th - quick, late update

So good to be able to communicate with all of you today. Monday we were not able to come to Mbale, but today I'm here to rest...and write to you! Just a couple of quick things:
We are, today, on our 40th day with no electricity. An electric company worker came last week to say the transformer was there, but they needed a shs600,000 [$ 243.40 USD] "tip" or they would take it to another town. After careful calculation, we paid our portion (shs100,000 [$40.57 USD] - about $50). But, no electricity. Seems they hooked it up for someone else and left all of us who paid unhooked. More promises (I've heard "sometime today" now 4 different days...), but alas, no electricity.
We made over shs2,000,000 [ $811.35 USD ] (about 1/6th of our budget) in March from our businesses. That may not sound like much, but in January we took in only 1/2 of that amount from the businesses. We are excited as we see the 3 main businesses growing (the school, the bakery and the chickens) each month. I will also be bringing Ugandan items to sell in the States - if there is anything in particular you would like, just let me know and I will see if I can get it. I will tell you more when I visit with you in the States! (I sent you a picture of Monicah, who I am training to oversee the bakery in my absence. She is doing a fantastic job and exceeds my expectations in so many ways! Praise the Lord!)

I leave in less than 2 weeks to come and see all of you. So excited to visit 6 schools, 8 churches and many individuals. If you have not done so, please let me know if you have time for a visit. I will be in Idaho, northern and southern California, Texas, Oregon and Washington.
I also included a pic of Moses in his button down shirt and slacks. Just for fun...

Love you all! Thanks for your prayers - we've been through some very difficult times lately and it's good to know there are others supporting us. Have a wonderful Easter! See you in the next few weeks.
Laurie