Months

The months are flying. We have now been in Uganda for seven months. In some ways it seems like that long, but in other ways it seems like we haven't been here for long. We miss our family, friends, and church family, and cannot wait to get back for a visit. We hope to do that in October. We are just waiting to see what Jonathon's schedule will be before we make definite plans.

Much has happened since we last posted. There have been many kidnappings. There are reports from all areas of Uganda of kidnappings of children and young people. Then they will demand money for the return of the kidnapped, but they never return. One young girl who works here was on a public taxi van. She was robbed and thrown out on the street. The people are beginning to take action against all of this. In a town nearby there was a man with a large plastic bag who boarded a taxi van. The people took the bag to look in it; inside there was a young girl. The people began stoning him until the police arrived. The police tried to rescue the man and shot into the angry crowd. Some people were shot. It all sounds like a movie except it is a town to which we have been many times. We haven't heard a new story in the past couple of weeks, so we are praying that this is going to settle down.

We had some reminders of home recently:

We had a visitor from America, Tyler Temples, who came to stay with us for two weeks. James has completed many projects over the years for Tyler's dad. He wanted to come to Uganda and give back to the Lord. We really enjoyed having him in our home. It was like having one of our boys with us. We REALLY enjoyed the Velveeta cheese and snacks he brought with him and then left for us to eat. ;-)

While we were repairing a dresser in the children's cottages, we saw a Nashville Mills pencil. We had brought some of these with us on our first mission trip.

This little girl continues to bless our heart:

Annette came up to us at church as we were walking in the door. She smiled and took my hand, just like she did the very first day I saw her on that first mission trip. Then she sat with me, leaned her head over on me, looked up at me, and smiled that sweet, beautiful smile that she smiled that very first day. I hope one day to communicate with this sweet girl. She does not speak a drop of English, but her face speaks volumes to me. God has been renewing our love and passion for Uganda. He is reminding us of all the reasons our hearts were drawn here.

The Children's Choir has returned:

I hope you all were able to see the Children's Choir while they were in America. We have missed these two sweet girls. Every time they see us, they run to hug us. They are a blessing. I know if you saw the choir, you were blessed. If you hosted them in your home, you were double blessed.

This is the road to Judy's house:

Not my house, but Judy, a little boy that God put in our path. He needs heart surgery. We are praying that he gets his healing soon. James and a driver, Dennis, had to travel some muddy roads to find his home.

This is Judy and his father.

This is a tree on a back road. The fruit looks like giant peanuts. The road to the Village of Eden has been very bad because of the rain. There are large washouts along the way to the highway, so we have been going a different route. This was on that route.

The boda boda (motorcyle taxi) drivers decided to block the road and make people pay to get the road repaired. If they didn't pay, they would hand them a shovel and tell them to dig some dirt from the side of the road to fill in the washouts. They also put stones and broken brick in the holes to fill them. The road is some better, but it has a long way to go.

This is the shadecloth we are purchasing and some medical supplies.

This is Samuel, his wife's cousin, and his son, Harrison. We had dinner in their home, and they were playing praise and worship. Harrison loves to play his little guitar. He is adorable.