Activity Report

These past three weeks have been extremely busy, as usual.

Book Ministry is going well but always slower than I wish. We are teaching the first 6 books through Moses and The Exodus in several places. On Saturday, June 12, Henry, Timo, and I will travel to Jinja, about 4 1/2 hours away to the seminary to have a mini-workshop with pastors and distribute books. As they are busy with course work during the week, we will meet Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon with those who are interested in having the books for a resource. We have always been very well-received there by the pastor/students who are anxious to have teaching materials. We will leave Saturday morning at 8am and return sometime on Monday.

There was a problem in the printing of Book Seven, so it is being reprinted and should be ready end of next week. Book Eight is ready to be printed, also. We are trying to get reprints of The Creation; the printer at the University has made two attempts, but there were many errors and they are trying once more.

We are getting great testimonies from those who are both teaching the books and learning from them.

At the fishing village on Tuesday, a Muslim woman invited one of the young men into her home to teach her. We are still sorting out the various challenges and trials in that village.

Children Ministry is keeping me busy. English Bible classes at the orphanage are going great. We are now in Luke 16. The reading is improving, the English is getting better, and I know that the Bible lessons on Jesus's teachings that the children are reading will be life-changing. We have 18-20 on Tuesday and Thursdays. I am expecting more Bibles to arrive with a group coming June 23. Maybe soon, each student will have his own Bible. Sunday School continues to go well. We are studying the book series and learning many English songs. Two Sundays ago, I had 50 children ages 4-24!! What an exciting time that has become! This group was previously unreached in a Sunday School.

Chicken Project is over for now. The chickens stopped laying eggs and we were only feeding them. We sold them for a good price and hope to be able to start up again with new chicks in the near future. The children are definitely missing the eggs and we are sorry for that loss of much-needed protein.

Pig Project is still on hold. We are waiting for funds and a suitable place to house the pigs.

Vegetable Garden is supplying the children with fresh beans, cassava, and sweet potatoes--all welcome changes in mealtimes. We also have Irish potatoes and eggplants planted.

New Dining Hall will hopefully get up or at least off to a good start when a volunteer team of 8 arrives in 10 days from University of Texas! They are willing to help construct and paint and we are hoping to make much progress with their assistance.

There is certainly no shortage of work that can be done here to nurture the Soul, Body, and the Mind. Thank you for your prayers and support and encouragement.

Bottom: David, 20 months, on left; Hannah, 8 months, on right

Little Baby Boy

The new baby David spent his first night at the orphanage on Wednesday night sleeping in a twin bed with Jackie and her baby girl, Hannah. When we drove up at dusk on Wednesday night, the children from the orphanage all came running to see him, hold him, and love him. He won't lack for attention.
I am holding David in the top picture inside Margaret's house yesterday evening. He is quite tall,but very thin. those are size 12month pants we bought in the market and he has them pulled up to his waist. In the second picture, Jackie's daughter Hannah is sitting next to David. She has just turned 8 months old. David is 20 months.

A Mission of Love

Pictures: Top: Timo holding the baby with grandparents. Second: going through the bush to LC--Becky, Timo, KrisAnn, her daughter Emily, and Jackie. Third: LC in the middle, Dan to his right with the legal pad; Jackie foreground and Timo holding the baby. Fourth: Jackie bathing baby in my kitchen.

We have been concerned for quite some time about a very ill little baby in the village of Nama. The little boy was abandoned by his parents and left in the care of the grandparents. We discovered him in January of this year, but didn't know the full story. In May we found that he was seriously malnourished and dehydrated. We took him to the hospital, bought medicine and food and gave the grandmother instructions for his care, but on subsequent check up visits we found him still suffering and often alone or in the care of small children. Dan and Timo had discussed the possibility of bringing him to the orphanage in order to nurse him back to health. Although there are no babies at the orphanage, the director, Margaret gave her permission for us to bring him. Timo and Dan also received the permission of the grandparents for us to take him. Jackie, Margaret's 25 year old granddaughter, who is also my houseworker, agreed to care for him. So on Wednesday, Dan, Timo, the missionary KrisAnn, her two children and Jackie and I loaded up in my vehicle to go to Nama and make all arrangements.

First, we met with the grandparents who were eager for us to take him; however, we wanted to meet with the LC, Local Chairman of that village, to prepare a document so there would be no misunderstandings as to our intentions. He is free to go back to the grandparents at any time. The LC was attending a burial ceremony, so we all tramped through the bush to find him. After preparing the document and stamping it with his credentials, we were on our way. We brought the baby to my house where we gave him a good bath with Johnsons baby soap. We bought baby petroleum jelly to put on his very dry skin and scalp. Kris Ann happened to have a can of powdered baby formula and one 3month size onesy outfit, which ironically had written on the front: "my mom is the best." Although he is 20 months old according to the grandparents and has a mouth full of teeth, he is very underdeveloped and quite small. The 3month outfit was too big and we had to ducktape the size large diapers we had picked up. (we have since bought size small) The only clothes we could quickly find in the village market in Mityana were also too big for now. But we will manage.

The child's name is DEO, but Timo had suggested that we give him a new name. He and Kris Ann decided on David, which of course, was fine with me. Henry calls him King David.

Timo remarked to me as we were walking out of the village with the baby, "Maybe one day, this baby will grow up to be a great man." (It is important that you know, that Timo became an orphan at age 2 and has grown up in his grandmother's orphanage. And all who know him believe that one day, he, too, will be a great man of God.) Please pray for David. He has a very long way to go to begin to stabilize. Thank goodness, the missionary family is going to take him tomorrow through the weekend to carefully monitor his food and liquid intake.

The Blessing of a New Vehicle!

Many thanks to all of you who have prayed for and made contributions towards a new vehicle for the ministry. On Monday, June 7, we picked up our Toyota Land Cruiser Prado fresh from Japan through the port of Mombasa in Kenya.

For those of you who know me well, I have always loved cars and enjoyed having a variety of new cars over the years; however, NEVER before have I been so thankful and thrilled to have a vehicle as I am now. I LOVE IT! Although this 4wheel drive is 16 years old, a 1994 model, it is considered "new" in Uganda because it has never been driven on these Uganda roads before. I thank God for it each time I drive it and pray that it will be a continued blessing for our work here. The Rav 4 engine blew up two weeks ago, and it has not been able to be moved from the mechanic's garage, but we think we have a buyer. Although the money is little, I will be grateful when that Rav 4 is GONE!

The Taylors

Many of you know Kathryn and Doug Taylor who came in January to the Uganda mission field. They serve with their three precious children in northwest Uganda in Aura. They were staying in Kampala on Sunday night, as I was, at the Baptist Mission Guest House. It was such a wonderful blessing to see them and visit with them as we shared our experiences, joys, and trials. Kathryn and I had come on the same volunteer trip with Istrouma in 2007; Henry, our project coordinator had been Kathryn's translator. They enjoyed seeing each other again.

Clean Water---Not for Everyone

It is hard for us in America to realize that not everyone in the world has access to clean water. My preferred water source at my house is rainwater which runs off the roof into gutters and into a large holding tank. From there it is run through pipes into my house. I am always thankful for every rain that keeps my tank full! In 2008, city water became available to some homes in the area. I also have a city water source which we use for washing clothes. As you can see in this picture, it is not always clean. Many Ugandans have installed faucets for city water.The water you see in the basin came directly from the faucet; we were not able to use it for washing that day. The orphanage only has 2 medium rain-holding tanks and 1 small one to provide drinking, washing, cooking and bathing water for over 85 people. They also have access to city water when it is available and clean! It would be a blessing to install more tanks when money is available. (cost would be less than $1,000) When the rain water is depleted, children must walk 2 hours to bring back a small jug of water. How can we be surprised when so many suffer with typhoid!