Feb 16th Update (Prayer Request)

I just spoke with Rogers and he has asked us to pray for them. The elections are this Friday and there is violence around the country, although there has been none in Budaka this week. He said there are soldiers and policemen everywhere in town. 
The electricity has been out yesterday and today, which limits the ability of people to communicate, receive information, etc. People are blaming the government, others the opposition parties. It is causing people to think there is something hidden.
Please pray for peace in the country, as well as peace in peoples' souls. Pray for protection for Rogers and his family, our kids in the orphanage, and the church members. I will continue to update you as I hear from him.
A reminder that if you are in the Hillsboro area, I will be presenting pictures and videos and talking about the work in Budaka tomorrow night, Feb 17th, 7-8pm at Evergreen Christian Center, 4400 NW Glencoe Ave. in Hillsboro. We will pray for the Lord's comfort and protection together. I would love to see you there and be able to visit with you afterward. 
You all are a great part of the ministry as you pray and give financially. Thank you for your gifts of love!


Laurie 

Feb 8th Update

Greetings, Friends!
The school has been going now for a week and 2 days and things are going well. More children have been coming each day. Our kids are really enjoying having other children with whom to interact, the teachers are getting settled into their new jobs and there is a lot more activity around Cornerstone!
Peter is doing well - his arm is healing. He was playing with some of the kids on Sunday, though, and the arm got knocked and he was in a lot of pain. Those of you who have had broken arms or legs can relate, I'm sure!
The first picture I have included is of several of our kids peeling matooke. (You can see Moses sitting on the mat in the foreground - he is not peeling matooke!) This is a skill that they must learn as matooke is one of the primary foods they will eat. They peel the green bananas, which are put in a large pot and boiled for about 2 hours, then mashed to be eaten. I peeled it one time - very sticky! It's like having sap on your hands. It was very hard to get off.
The second picture is one which Rogers took when he had just told the children he was going to send a picture for all of you to see. As you can see, they love the thought that you will get to see them! Kids in the picture are, from left: Christine, Charity, Vanessa, one of the new school girls, Oliver and in the shade is Isaac.
The election is next week, Feb 18th. The government has asked all secondary schools to be closed for the week in case there is violence. They have not required it of primary schools (like ours), but Rogers said some of the parents will be keeping their children at home during the week for fear of violence. Our kids are safe, and if it looks like that changes, Rogers and the staff will take them out to one of the remote villages where they will be away from any violence. Please be in prayer that there will be peace and the election will be held fairly and all parties will lay down their animosity and get behind the person who is elected as president.
A reminder of places and dates if you would like to see more pictures/videos and hear more of what's happening at Cornerstone. Just email if you would like to know times and locations.

Feb 17 - Hillsboro, OR
Feb 20 - Vancouver, WA
Feb 27 - Burley, ID
Mar 6 - Hillsboro, OR
Mar 13 - Olympia, WA
Mar 20 - Eugene, OR

Thank you all for your prayer and financial support - you are making a difference in the lives of these children, and many in Budaka. God bless you!
Laurie

Feb 1st Update

Dear Friends,
There is a beautiful storm outside my window tonight. The wind is blowing the trees so hard they look like they might get up and walk away!
It's been a great visit here in Austin. I'm getting to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law, have reconnected with old friends, and later today get to show pictures and videos to a class of 3rd graders at a school here in town. It's great to be able to share with so many in so many places about what God is doing in Budaka, Uganda.
The Cornerstone school began on Monday and 30 of the 57 children showed up on the first day. This is typical in Uganda, and Rogers says they will be coming over the next 2 weeks. Also, others are watching to see if they want their children there and when they decide they do, those children will add in the middle of the term. We have room for 240 total, so with our kids (23) we have room for 160 more. Rogers feels they will come and we will be full by 2nd term. I will keep you posted. This is one of our money-making businesses, as the tuition of the other children will pay for our teachers, equipment and other school expenses, thus lessening the salaries Cornerstone has been paying this year. For awhile, it will be more expensive, but in 3-6 months, it should pay for itself and then some.
Last week I asked you to pray for our income as it was about 1/2 of what was needed for the month, and we only had 1 more week before it was wired to Uganda. The Lord moved as we prayed...thank You, Jesus, and thank you to all of you who prayed, and those who responded to His call. During the week we received a large check from someone who was moved by God. The Lord is moving in response to our prayers.
I would like to ask you to pray this week for Peter. I have included a picture so you know who you're praying for. Peter and Stephen were playing on Saturday and Peter fell and broke his arm. Rogers took him to the small hospital in Budaka, but they were unable to help him. So, he took him by matatu to Mbale. I asked if they had set his bone, but the language differences about medical procedures were too great. I do know his arm is in a sling. The bone that is broken is "near the elbow." Please pray that it will heal correctly and that Peter will be out of pain.
Another prayer request: a young couple from the church had their first child last week and the baby was born dead. This is the 2nd baby from the church in a month to not live through childbirth. In Uganda, the infant mortality rate is 64 deaths per 1,000 births. (In the U.S., our rate is 6 deaths per 1,000 births.) Please pray for at least these 2 things: 1) comfort for this couple. The wife's name is Miria. And, 2) that God will bring the people here with knowledge to help the medical personnel and all people with what is needed to lower this mortality rate so that the children will live.
Please remember, on Thursday, February 17th, there will be an information night about the work in Budaka at Evergreen Christian Center in Hillsboro, Oregon. If you are in the area, I would love to meet with you and share videos and pictures and tell stories about what God is doing in the children, the church and the school. It will be 7-8 pm at the church.
Also, I will be presenting Cornerstone in Vancouver, WA on Feb 20th, in Burley, Idaho on Feb 27th, in Hillsboro on March 5-6th, in Olympia March 13th, and in Eugene on March 20th. If you would like to be a part of any of those, email and I will give you times and locations.
Thank you again for partnering with God and with Rogers and I in this work in the people of Budaka, Uganda. Talk to you next week!
Laurie

Jan 24th Update

Greetings, Friends of Cornerstone!
It is great getting to see so many of you and share more about what is happening in Budaka, Uganda!
I talked with Rogers last night and here are some things that are happening:

• Cornerstone School begins next Monday. We have hired 5 new teachers and will have a school with preschool (called Baby Class there) through grade 4 (called P4 - Primary 4). Our children will be in school with others from the community, and they are so excited! If you can imagine, they get tired of "only" their 23 brothers and sisters! The teachers have been meeting all week to learn about Cornerstone and continue getting ready to teach all the children. 
• The first picture is of our new kitchen. It has dirt floors (compacted, but still dirt!) and venting at the top, as you can see. It is directly across the road from the orphanage. In the background of the picture is Pastor Herbert's church, which is across the other road from Rogers' house. So, the kids now walk out of the orphanage to get their food, then back over to eat. This is temporary (hopefully just one year) until we get the school built, along with the kitchen there at that property (about 1/2 mile from where we currently are renting). Building this temporary building gives us room to do the school, as well as house our kids and those who are boarding for school.kj;lkj;
• The second picture is of Mutwahiru, a young boy (about 10) who was brought by his mother to the church to be prayed for. He fell and broke his leg last year sometime - a compound fracture. When the doctors "fixed" it, they didn't do it right and he is on crutches and in constant pain. He has constant drainage from the site. I am sending you his picture to ask you to pray for him and his family. Thanks to two of you, I am taking money back to be able to take him to the International Hospital and have it fixed correctly. His family is Muslim, but have been very interested in the Gospel. As you look at his picture and pray for him, please know that there are MANY children in very similar circumstances. Please pray that we will have the wisdom in helping as God gives us the ability.

A couple of other things:

• This past year you have generously given so that we could set up the orphanage and church, feed and clothe the children, outreach to many in Budaka with the Good News and many other things. God has used your gifts and multiplied them to reach His loved ones. Thank you for your gifts!
  
• At this point in January, our income is only about 1/2 of what it needs to be to do what we are doing for the month. One of the things I want to ask you today is if you will pray with me that all needs will be met within the next 10 days before the monthly money is wired to Uganda. Thank you for praying!
• Thanks to all of you who have written about collecting clothing for us for the kids! They are going to be so excited to have new clothes...and from America!
• Here are some things we want to take back:
• clothing, sizes 4-12 (a few things in sizes 2-3 would be great for Moses, too)
• staplers - we need up to 10
• pens (medium point blue or red)
• scissors - we need up to 10 - adult size

Okay, enough for one day. Sure love you all. I'd love to hear from you. I'm in California currently (Bay Area) and will be in Texas (Austin) beginning Saturday.
God bless you!
Laurie

Jan 4th Update

Greetings, Friends!
The first picture today is of Auntie Betty (Rogers' wife) helping Moses to begin taking steps. She is holding him like that every day, coaxing him to walk. On Christmas day, for the first time, he pulled himself up using the wall. It was a great promise for all of us that he will one day walk on his own and is gaining strength all the time. All the children are so happy - they always cheer for him when he does something new. And, I was so happy to hear that he continues to gain strength. By the way, I don't think I have told you that he does NOT have cancer. The doctor had taken a biopsy of a large birthmark on his leg, thinking it was cancerous, but turns out not to be. God is doing a good thing in this little boy! He has been rescued from certain death and is moving on in his abilities and desire to do new things. Thanks to all of you who are praying for him!
I talked with Rogers yesterday and he said Charity and Margaret (ages 3 and 4 - I have included a picture of each of them - Charity has the hat on) were talking to him just before I called and wanted him to tell me to buy them some shoes, ice cream and clothes. Rogers said, "But I buy you guys that stuff, even when Pastor Laurie is here." They said, "No, you don't. Pastor Laurie always does." Kids are so funny! Rogers does almost always actually purchase the things when we go to town because when people see my white skin, they ramp the price up. When we go back to the orphanage and give the things to the children, we always do it together. But, somehow in Margret and Charity's minds, I am the one who always does it. I told him to be sure and tell them that I will not be bringing ice cream back from America for them!
Great news! The chicks have arrived!! Finally, on January 1st, we got our 200 chicks which we will raise. When they are about 6 months old, they will begin laying eggs and we will sell them. This is one of the businesses we have begun. John, the man we hired to oversee the businesses is working hard to nurture and help them grow. I am hoping to have pictures this week and will send them on when I get them.
I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who are faithfully giving each month to meet the needs of Cornerstone Ministries! We have some extra needs this month with starting the school, and enough came in to meet the regular monthly food, clothing, shelter, medical needs, as well as about 1/2 of what is needed for the school. I was so excited when I heard that there was extra! Thank you for responding to the Lord about what to give. He is meeting our needs in amazing ways!
For all of you in the Portland area who were unable to come to the meeting about Cornerstone in December, Evergreen will be hosting an evening of pictures, videos and information about Cornerstone on Thursday night, February 17th at 7pm. The address is 4400 NW Glencoe in Hillsboro. I'd love to share more with you about what God has done and what we have heard about this coming year. Everyone is welcome. If you have friends or family you think might want to experience what we are doing, please invite them to come too.
With this newsletter, I have attached the pictures in different ways. The first one is one way and the other 2 are different. Does either make a difference to you? Can you tell the difference? I think I will be able to send them faster from Uganda if I send them the 2nd way, but if they don't come through well, I need to know. Please send me an email and let me know.
I love you all and am so glad to be partnering with you...sometimes across the world, but always together in the Spirit.
Laurie

Charity

Margret

Dec 29th Update (Looking Back)

2010 has been such an eventful year for Cornerstone. I was talking with Pastor Rogers last night on the phone and we were remembering that last year at this time, he had moved to Budaka with his family and was getting all the things in order for us to begin the orphanage. We were unsure how everything would happen. Would the money needed to begin be there? Where would we get the staff to work with the kids? How would we begin a new church? So many questions...and a picture from the Lord. He had shown what He wanted to do. We were to walk it out with Him.
I began sharing the vision with all of you, and through our prayers and financial gifts, we were able to begin. What a year it has been! Here are some highlights:

• In January we visited several area churches and told them we were taking orphans, and we would take 2 from each church. In walking around town, a woman asked us to pray for her 2-month old who had malaria and she was instantly healed by our Father.
  
• In February we held a 3-day crusade in Budaka and then began the meeting as a church with 28 people on our first Sunday (10 of those "borrowed" and 8 family members)
• On February 15th, the orphans were brought to the orphanage and we began having a large family...
• In March school began for the orphans. Dina came to visit and stayed 2 weeks.
• In April, one of you gave money to purchase a sewing machine so someone in Budaka would be able to do tailoring as a trade
• In May, I came home for 3 weeks to present the need for land and buildings. (To date, we have received well over $30,000 for this cause! Praise the Lord. Thank you for responding to Him.)
• In June we had our 2nd visitation from relatives of the kids. They brought cassava, g-nuts, guava and oranges from their homes. The church attendance was at 94.
• In July we found 4 children who had been abandoned by their mom and brought them to the orphanage. Also, Jessica and her mom came to church and God began healing Jessica from the skin disease she had had since she was 2 months old.
  
• August we began Saturday School...with 190 kids from the community
• In September, Moses contracted tuberculosis and we rushed him to the hospital in Mbale. God has completely restored him.
• In October, we had a crusade in 3 villages and in Budaka and had over 2,000 in attendance and 280 come to know Jesus as their Savior. We purchased a little over an acre of land. We also had the World Race Team come and work with us for the month.
• In November, we had over 300 children come to Saturday School. The church attendance continued to increase and now about 175 come each week. We began working with the architect for a site plan so we can begin building an orphanage building for our kids to have a permanent home.
  
• This month, the kids got to celebrate Christmas with a special meal and going to church. On the 26th, Cornerstone held a Christmas party for the community and over 200 people came and got to hear the Gospel message.
  

So many other little and big things have happened this year, but I wanted to share these with you to say let's rejoice in what God has done and is doing through Cornerstone ministries in Budaka! You all are a part as you pray and give financially. Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry that God is calling into being. What a mighty God we serve!!
I am excited for this next year as we begin a school for the community (end of January), build a home for our kids and see God do more miraculous things in Budaka. Last year at this time we had no idea how many wonderful things He would do. We believe that this next year will be the same: we can't comprehend what He has prepared for our kids and the people of Budaka in 2011.
May God bless you as you continue to listen to Him and partner with us.
In gratefulness and love,
Laurie

Dec 23rd Update

Greetings, Friends!

It is 2 days before Christmas here in the States, but only 1 1/2 days for the kids. They are getting so excited. It's not for presents (people in Uganda don't exchange gifts for Christmas), but for the church service and special food. They will go to church on Christmas morning for at least 2 hours to praise and worship Jesus who came to Earth as a baby to save us from our sins. The children LOVE to go to church! They love to sing, they love the specialness of getting to go someplace on a different day than normal. They love to interact with other children and adults.

Then, they will go home and have a special meal. This will include:

• chicken (they have had chicken only 2x this year - it's quite expensive there)
• matooke (green bananas that have been boiled and mashed - this is a staple there)
• pineapple or watermelon
• rice
• cake
• soda

The internet has not been working well in Mbale, so I do not have current pictures from Rogers, but be sure to look at the video links to see a video showing all the kids. This was taken on their 4th time to have ice cream, thanks to the E! kids.

I have also included the picture of the 20 kids in March with their teachers, David on the left and Betty on the right. (This was before we had Natasha, Vanessa, Isaac and Moses.) Rogers will try again next week to get pictures to us.



I want to let you know about a couple of exciting things that are coming up. I will tell you more in the weeks to come, but here are the bare bones:

• As one of the self-supporting businesses we are doing, I will be starting a restaurant serving American foods, including cookies, cinnamon rolls, scones, hamburgers and other things that cater to the business people, diplomats and Ugandan business and political figures who drive the road through Budaka from Kampala to Mable (2nd largest city in Uganda). A couple of other orphanages have done this type of thing in other areas of Uganda and have helped support their works this way.
  
• The school for the community will begin at the end of January. Advertisements for staff and students are going out over the radio beginning this week in Mbale and Budaka. (Yes, Budaka does have a radio station. Can you believe it?) The school will be one of the self-supporting businesses within 2 years of beginning it - fees from students will cover the costs of our children's education.
  

Both of these things will be in addition to the ministry with our kids, the church, the chicken/egg business and the land and building project. Please be in prayer for us as we begin these things. Both of the new ventures will cost additional money, of course. We are interested in financing these through micro loans so that as they begin, the principal will be paid back each month over the next 5 years. If you are interested in helping Cornerstone in this way, please email and let me know. Or, perhaps you know someone who would be interested in helping the children and adults of Budaka in these ways.

Thank you to all of you who continue to give generously to the work God is doing in and through Cornerstone. As you give, the children are loved to Jesus, They are fed, clothed, educated, disciplined, encouraged and helped medically as needed. You are truly partnering with God and us to do a great work in Budaka Uganda. THANK YOU and have a wonderful Christmas!!

Laurie