Before Buwooya, New Arrivals, Water Balloon Games Mon Feb 16th

Auntie Sarah, and Frank (my facebook friend)

View from our walk from school back to Rafiki

Such a joy to serve with Uncle Kyle and Auntie Patti One who broke the "rules" by walking with coffee!

While walking the school children to their school on Monday morning and each morning we were able to do that, we greeted people, suspecting white faces were not a common site in the neighborhood.  We noticed a high gated beautiful house amidst the poverty and ruins along the road and learned it was the priests home. It actually made me sad to see it with it's surroundings so in contrast to the beautiful structure.  How accessible were they?  How accessible am I?  I hope I'm not in my "ivory palace" removed from the dirtiness of the world.  May God's Spirit convict me of staying too clean, too removed.  May I want to be bothered and may my eyes never close of the heartache around me.  My "village" may not have the physical ruins but the people are still needy and still in need of a Savior. 

Hannah and Ruth

Shakira arrived with her brother, Mama Monica clipping her nails

I was able to witness the arrival of a brother and sister on Monday who had been neglected and needed to be relocated and Rafiki agreed to take them.  They were very dirty and non emotional when the arrived, living with their grandmother who was blind and is ill and who could no longer care for them and their mother died two years ago and she was one of four wives and their dad didn't care about them after she died.  They don't know it but they have landed in the most loving environment, very happy, unspoiled place and I just pray that they will understand God's great plan for their lives in arriving here.

The Monday night water balloon games were a highlight!  Kids are kids wherever you are at.  They want to laugh, run, have fun and get dirty.  The adults were just as competitive!  What a great night! Video is Fausiya and Auntie Patti One winning! 

James, Brenda and Cocus plotting their moves!

Uncle Kyle and Godfrey getting ready!

 

The end of every night ends with singing, drums, dancing, Bible Story, prayer with all the kids. It's a lively time and everyone is moving!  I was so impressed with the dancing and also the knowledge that these kids have on the Bible.  They can recite Bible stories and details.  The staff here live out the principles taught in the Bible and they are the "verb" to the word LOVE.  They are the hands and feet of God, literally.  The end of Monday night could not have been better.  After the kids go to bed (typical kids, you can hear them chattering and giggling in the beds, all the girls in one room and all the boys in another!), then the adults share special verses from scripture and pray for each other.  Kyle and Patti noticed that Auntie Sarah's Bible was falling apart and Kyle had brought Bibles to distribute in the village and realized right away that the first Bible was to go to Auntie Sarah.  She was so excited and we later learned that the children also noticed her Bible falling a part and they had prayed that God would send her a new one!  (wow, we take that for granted; when we have a need, we usually just go to the store and solve it - THEY PRAY and GOD MEETS THEIR NEED and then THEY ARE AMAZED AND THANK GOD FOR THE PROVISION!  Auntie Sarah taught me a lot about prayer and passion.  She prayed over many of the children who were sick and we were amazed the next day that their coughs and congestion were gone!  She is a woman of great prayer knowing she prayers to a GREATER GOD.  Once again I am reminded, do I REALLY PRAY, do I really believe that God will answer?  or am I going through the motions?  (First Video is the kids dancing with Uncle Kyle!)  Second Video is after Auntie Sarah received her Bible, Uncle Moses and her did a little victory dance with Uncle Kyle attempting the drums!