Grace is all better. Thank you for praying for her. We are thankful no one else got it either. Well, we did talk to Sliedrech
t’s house help and all five of her children seem to have it. But we have had no contact with them so I don’t think we are to blame. Unfortunately, now Luka has croup. He has a bad cold. We are wiping his nose all day long. Last night was a long night. He had that awful barking cough, seem to struggle to breathe well with a stuffy nose and mucus in the chest, and had a fever. He slept right next to me. Actually, we didn’t get the most restful night sleep but we did get to sleep in. Thankfully, today he is still smiling. (And still snotty too.)Luka has this new high pitch squeal/scream he likes to do when he wants something or wants our attention. We are hoping he has out grown that by the time we fly. He is a mover so 18 hours in a airplane seat should be fun. I’ll put Luka by his toys in the sitting room walk into the kitchen only to see him army
crawl in behind me. He is rocking on his hands and knees so I am sure he will be even faster soon. I almost had a heart attack the other day. Our carpenter was working here and Luka crawled over and found the razor blade he left on the ground! Luka had it in his hands when I saw him and was about to put it in his mouth. He just smiled at me as I examined him only to find one little cut on his finger. Do you know how bad that could have been?! I was so scared and so thankful God protected him. Again I was reminded that God is with us and hears all our prayers.The girls have just learned Psalm 100! I am so proud of them. It is really cute too because they say it with motions and a lot of expressions. I really have no excuse not memorizing Bible verses if my three year old daughter can do it. I am excited to see God’s Word hide in their little hearts.
Josh continues to basketball with the Chinese about once a week. Our friends there are so sweet. They are always happy to see us and willing to serve us in anyway. The girls like going too. Sometimes one of the ladies gives them candy or the cook gives them bananas. The other night we even got to eat our first Chinese meal with them. It was a bit spicy so the girls didn’t eat much but they had fun trying with chop sticks. Josh and I enjoy trying new foods. They were very excited to share their food with us. We sat and talked to Tian and Fan for a while. It is interesting to learn about their culture. The other day I brought them a couple DVDs on Jesus birth and death. They were excited and thought I was very kind. We also invited them to a bar-b-q we hope to have the end of this month. I really enjoy our friendship with our Chinese friends. I know God is using it for His glory.
Lydia and Grace’s friends continue to come and play. The other day Lydia came in and told Josh that her friends wanted to talk about Jesus with him. I was preparing dinner so when Lydia came in she told me her friends were crying and prayed with Dad. I went out to find out what was happening. The girls had been at their church that day and a young girl was talking about how she talks with God. The girls wanted to know how to talk with God. Josh explained how we talk to God through prayer. He also gave them their own children’s Bible and read the first few stories with them. I decided to ask them more about their families. Spe (Spay) has a father and mother which is great but they both work all day leaving their three small children home alone. Spe is about 10 years old. Abela (Abaila) is 9 years old and also has a mother and father. Her mother goes to church and takes care of the family but her father has many wives all over. Sad to say this is all too common in Uganda. From what Abela said he has more than three wives. He is a driver for a church and has wives where he travels I guess. He also takes women home at night sometimes. I asked what her mother says about that. Abela said she just prays God will forgive him. Abela is the youngest of six children I think. She cried off and on as she told me her story. Betty is 11 years old. She hasn’t seen her mother since she was five years old. Her mother drinks, is with a lot of men, and from what they describe maybe a prostitute. Betty and her three younger siblings live with their grandmother. I guess the mother send home another child from time to time and Betty heard she is pregnant again. All the children have different fathers. Betty says she sees her father walking by from time to time but he denies that she is her daughter. So basically she is an orphan. She too cried as she shared. Her grandmother doesn’t have enough food for the kids and just begs people for handouts. She also drinks sometimes and when it is bad can abuse the kids. Betty said then she will say she is sorry the next day. Her grandmother does not go to church.
I sat there listening to these little girls stories with my heart wanting to explode. Two innocent young girls so hurt by the sins of their parents. Can you imagine your own 10 year old child going to church on their own or trying to get money just to go to school? What could I do to help them? As they told me about their families I kept asking them how it made them feel. I assured them that what their parents did was wrong and it was not their fault. That God is their perfect Father that always loves and cares for them. I am so angry with the parents – can they even be called that or deserve to?! The sad thing is the stories are all to common here. There are so many children in Soroti that suffer. I just don’t understand it. But I am beginning to see why Africa is in bondage. There is punishment for sin. The church will not grow until the people live out their faith. (I am not saying this about everyone. There are good Christians in Africa.) Then I think about HIV. How many of these girls are positive because of their parent’s sinful lifestyle? It is sin upon sin, suffering upon suffering. Innocent people hurt by others sin. There is consequence to sin. God have mercy! I began to wonder if we are doing anything here among the vast problems. Is it worth being here? There is so much more I should be doing. And what about the church here? Why are they allowing so much sin to happen in the lives of it’s members? Does being a Christian mean anything? So easily I can get discouraged and upset. Especially over sin – I hate sin and all it’s awful effects.
But I have to there is always hope. We are on the side of victory. God will not be defeated. This is my comfort and peace. We are here for a purpose and even if that purpose is to bless three little girls with the love of Jesus it is worth it. This brings glory to God. Each of us being His love to hurting people.
Then the girls left that day I hugged each of them. How long had it been since someone hugged them? Every child needs to be hugged. We also decided to take them Mbale with us for the day. I wanted the girls to enjoy being a kid and not have to think about all the other junk in their lives. Our family went over to meet their families and ask if we could take the girls for the day. We met Abela’s mom and Betty’s grandma (who I had met earlier). I was glad Lydia and Grace could see where their friends live. Mbale went well. The girls swam all day. They jumped right in the kiddy pool but were quite afraid in the big pool. They went in with rings and clung to the side. Josh said he heard one of them say I’m swimming like a fish as she beamed with a smile. Lydia told me she thought it was really nice that we took their friends and thanked me. I am glad it meant a lot to her too. We went out for supper before we came home. Boy did those girls eat! We got a huge plate of rice and meat for each of them and I thought we’d be taking left overs, but I was wrong. Even my own daughters ate it all. I think they were hungry for all their swimming.
We decided to give Betty, the girl with no parents, money for her school books. Sad to say it caused jealousy, lies, and anger. Josh and I were so disappointed. People here will get no where if this is how they react. God must get so sad when kindness is treated this way. It did all get worked out. They were all very concerned when they realized how upset we were. They did not want to ruin the friendship started.
That is it for now. I will fill you in more as our lives and ministry continue here. Josh and I are leading a marriage Bible study this weekend so you can be praying for that. Our kids all have cold and I am praying it doesn’t turn into more. I am sure the devil would like to see the Bible study canceled.
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