Tuesday, April 29, 2008 continued 9am

After blogging, I went back to the Home and started working on the wooden sign on the gate of the Home. I started sanding the wood and took off the varnish of the border and the African Map. I had to wait while someone went and got some finish sandpaper. Meanwhile, I took a few pictures of the kids. After I got the new sandpaper, I finished sanding the sign and started to varnish the sign. It improved the looks of the sign - see comparison pictures.

While I was working on the sign, Barbara was doing a couple of jobs that Mandy wanted done. She defrosted the freezer and cleaned out the refrigerator. However, as she let the freezer defrost, she had a bigger challenge.......to make chocolate chip cookies for the children and the staff. She mixed up six batches and started baking. The oven is not the best so she could only bake a couple of pans at a time. During this time, we lost all power so she could not cool the kitchen with a fan....and it has hot and humid in the kitchen. She baked and baked and baked and finally finished with 28 dozen cookies. She finished around 2pm and we stored the cookies in the office and locked the doors so they wouldn't "grow legs and walk off". The kids went down for a nap and We left to have lunch at the Source, trying to cool off. We got a fruit smoothie and it wasn't very cold. After lunch, we headed back to the home and the kids had finished their nap and was having their afternoon snack (watermelon) and Barbara started passing out the cookies. The children really liked the cookies....they got 2 each and then Barbara passed cookies out to the staff. Everyone was thrilled about the cookies. Barbara then put the remaining 12 dozen cookies in the freezer for a later day.

While we were stranded at the airport, we had met a security officer named Jack that help us some. While we talked with him, we found out that his Mother taught school at a Muslim school here in Jinja. He made sure that we were told he was a christian teaching in the Muslim school. We called her and Mandy took us to where we thought the school was. It was the wrong school and we had to call her back to get new directions to the school. Then one of the Muslim men offered to show where it was. We left and found the correct school and I gave the man some money to travel back to his school. We met Jack's Mother (Moma Jac) and she wanted pictures with us and she had her school photographer with her. We then went inside and we met the school officials and more pictures and then she wanted to take us on a grand tour, however, we realized they were looking for a handout from rich Americans and we decided to cut the tour short and we really needed to leave and go to hospital for Mandy to check on the other baby. At least we had full filled our commitment to Jack to meet his mother.

We went by the hospital and Mandy was disgusted with the Official as he was giving her a hard time about getting this child. He is exercising his power and she does not know what to do. We arrived back at the guest house and visited with the adoptive families until dinner was ready. We had dinner and mapped out what is happening tomorrow. The two adoptive families are waiting on the legal system (for a judge to sign the final papers) and they are getting discouraged. So, Mandy and the two families will go to Kampala to search out the lawyers and judges and try to wait them out for the proper signatures so one of the families, from Canada, can leave to go to Kenya where the Canadian consulate is and get the proper passports for their children. The other US family will try to get their passports at the US consulate in Kampala. It will be a long day.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Mandy and the families left at 5:30am to do what they can do today. We were up for breakfast and left for the Home. I had to finish putting new coats of varnish on the sign and Barbara wanted to look for things to do while we are in Entebbe before we leave. I worked on the sign and Barbara went online but the Internet was so slow so she didn't find anything. Barbara had wanted to look for an African outfit and I wanted to look for some African music so we took a couple of "Momas" and went downtown. Barbara went to a few dress shops but didn't find anything to her liking. We went to a music store (down the alley) where we found a young man that had hundreds of gospel video that we look at a few and selected enough to make 2 VCDs. I hope they work on US machines. Oh well, they were on $3/piece. We went back to the house and got Russell and Annemie and went to lunch. While we were eating, Sol came by and so did Mary Clark. We had a nice visit and Mary gave greetings to Bob, June and the rest of the congregation. After lunch, we went on a mission to find some of the Marsala spices used in some of the dishes that we have had. We went to Ozzi's and she told us what to get. I told them that I would get it while walking to the Internet cafe. I stopped at every "supermarket" along the way and did not find the Tandoori Marsala spices.....I'll keep looking. Well, I am here at the Internet cafe and it is about 3pm so I will send what I have now. Anyway, it looks like it will rain cats and dogs at any time so I might as well stay inside for awhile.

NOTE: I looked at some of the previous posts and I apologize for some of the mistakes when I cut and pasted....I will try to be more diligent.

Love all

DAD and MOM
Jerry & Barbara
Mema & Papa

Sunday, April 27, 2008 - continued

While I was blogging, Barbara came by the Internet cafe and told me she and Mandy was going out to Kakira to try to pick up a starving baby. The Dad talked to Mandy on Friday evening and wanted help in taking care of the baby. Mandy bought some milk for the baby and said she would return the next evening to see about helping. Saturday evening, she looked for the baby but one of the relatives had run off with it. They can't help the baby and don't understand what Mandy does. They are afraid that they will not get the baby back. Mandy is taking one of her workers, that speaks the mother's language, so they can explain that Mandy wants to care for the child until it is able to return to the parents. Hopefully, it will work.

I think it is about time to introduce the players of this trip:






This is Luke Sydo






This is Mandy Sydo







This is Russell Reed







This is Tallat Mohamed








This is Annemie and Alibert




This is one of the adoptive families: Anthony, Janet and adoptive children
This is the other adoptive family: Ron, Melanie and adoptive children

Barbara and Mandy returned after a few hours and told us the baby they were looking was taken to the hospital because she was so sick. Barbara and Mandy went to the hospital to see the baby and while they were there, they saw three more babies that needed help. Mandy is determined to help them so she will go back on Monday to see what she can do.

I went back to the Home and did a little painting in the toddlers room. I put the primer coat on the stucco patch. After that, I went to the guest house to get cleaned up and then everyone showed up and we were all going somewhere. There were four childre sister from one family) in the car and Mandy was taking them to see their Mother. Mandy does this for the families that can not afford to come to see them. She wants the families to see their kn (three brothers and oneids at least once a month. It was about a fifteen minute drive to the place she lives. We parked the car at the Nile resort and walked about a half mile down the railroad track to where her home was. When we got there, the hut was not there. At that time, one of the Mother's older daughter arrived and told us they had moved. So, we walked back to the car and the mother and her three other children were waiting for us. We took a few family photos (The four children with the newer clothes are from the Orphanage) and then we all got in and the Mother showed up where they had moved. We went to the mud hut and saw where the Mother and her four children stay. The hut was about ten feet by 15 feet. There were 3 beds and the rest of their belongings were there.....not much room. The children sang for us and then we had to leave. The four children that we took there were so happy to have seen their Mother. It is sad. You can only wonder what kind of life these four would have had if Mandy had not taken them in to feed and care for them.

After we returned the children back to the Home, we all went out to a pizza place for dinner. It was quite good and a nice change to the Ugandan food. The adoptive families also went with us. We had a good relaxing evening. Back to the guest house and to bed.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Up at 7:30am for breakfast as there were a lot of things to do early. After breakfast, I went to the Home to start painting and Barbara and the rest of the group went to the hospital to see if Mandy could rescue some of the sick babies.

Dennis and I painted one of the toddler's room and got it finished by noon. Mandy and the group arrived back and they had three of the babies with them and their Mothers. WARNING!!!!!!! IF YOU DON'T LIKE TO SEE VERY TINY BABIES THAT ARE STARVED OR HURTING, DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER ON THIS BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!

The baby (Joel) from Kakira was with the Mother and Mandy was going to take the baby to the clinic so they could treat him. Mandy indicated that it would take a month for him to recover from the starvation. His legs were swollen and stretched to almost a bursting point. He was dressed so you can't see how severely malnourished he really is.

The other two children were so bad, as you can see in the photo, that Mandy was sending them to Kampala for treatment at the hospital. The one baby had some condition that the skin was like it had been burned.....If you touch her skin, it would just peel off. She was only two weeks old. This one, Mandy will pay for the treatment (if she survives) until she is able to go home.

The other child was Susan and she was severely starved. When you see the photo, it is hard to believe that she is two months past her second birthday. She was just skin and bones, as you can see. Mandy was running around trying to find the officials to get them given to her for care and it took a lot of convincing but she did get the proper legal papers signed by the officials. Mandy then put them in a hired car for them to be taken to Kampala for treatment.

Once all this was done, we relaxed and decided it was time to go eat lunch. We lunched at the Source.......Mandy and Pastor Timothy joining us after another trip to the clinic. After lunch, we went back to the Home where I worked on my blog. Barbara went back to the guest house and did the wash. Mandy went back to the clinic and brought Joel back to the Orphanage to begin his rehabilitation. Everyone was mentally and physically exhausted. We decided to go back to the pizza place again for dinner. They have fries that is covered with a Marsala sauce that is very good. Back to the guest house to unwind and then to bed.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Up for breakfast at 7:30am. Surprise: Game 4 of the NBA playoff between Lakers and Nuggets was on the sports channel so we had breakfast and watched the game. A little bit of home. After the game was over, around 8:20am, Barbara, Russell, Alibert and Annemie headed to the orphanage and I headed for the Internet Cafe. This brings you up to 9am on Tuesday.

Love all

DAD and MOM
Jerry & Barbara
Mema & Papa

Thursday, April 24, 2008 - continued

After the blog upload, I took a motorcycle back to the guest house - cost at $0.60. I made it back in time for all of us to leave. Mandy and Luke wanted us to go on a boat ride to the actual source of the Nile River. Just outside of Jinja is a small inlet of Lake Victoria and that is where the springs are that is the starting point of the Nile. Before the lake was formed, the springs gushed out with a lot of force. Now, because they are covered with the lake, the springs are only seen as "glassy" parts of the lake where the springs come to the surface. There are several places on this area of the lake where this happens. These springs must be something to see uncovered as the Nile is a mighty river and flows with great force. All of us went including the adoptive families with the their children. The boat landing was at the Source Of The Nile Resort....a beautiful resort with large grassy areas and pretty flower displays. The pools and gardens were very nice. We got in a small boat and traveling around this small inlet of the lake. We went along the shoreline to see some of the bird life and looked for monkeys. We found a place where we saw some monkeys playing in the trees. There were quite a few of them. we continued along the shoreline and saw a large monitor lizard and an eagle, similar to the bald eagle in the US. The boat ride was very peaceful and relaxing......passing along some of the local fishermen in small boat fishing with individual lines. We were on the lake for about an hour and a half.

We returned back at the guest house for dinner. The food for the evening meals have been good....just basic rice, red beans, green beans, carrots, and either chicken or fish. We have plenty of fruit, pineapple, mango or papaya at each meal. The breakfast usually consists of plain omelets or cereal with fresh pineapple and toast plus coffee or tea. There is usually 16-17 of us, depending on any other guest at the house. A time of fellowship follows the evening meal and then to bed.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Today, another workday of painting. The previous finished room is now being used. The "Moms" emptied another room and we started sanding and preparing the room. However, Dennis got started before we arrived and was painting the raw patched walls with regular paint and not primer (even before sanding). So, we had to re-start him by re-sanding some of the painted areas. We started taping everything so we could start painting. We also noticed that Dennis had mixed the paint and it was like water.....so we added more paint to get it to a better consistency. It was still very thin......so, we made do with what we had. I started rolling and Dennis and Alibert (correct spelling) was painting with brushes....the primer and cutting around doors and fixtures. We made good time and by lunchtime, we were finished with the first coat. Then Alibert and Annemie (correct spelling) left for lunch with one of their Holland friends who they had not seen for a couple of years.

Barbara helped feed the babies and played with them. One of her favorites is Edwin, around 9 and 1/2 months old. He is so cute and smart. He has learned to blow on a whistle and he starts blowing and just keeps blowing for minutes at a time. She played with the babies for awhile. Then she went with Mandy to the market and picked up some veggies and she came back and washed with bleach-water, peeled, diced, sliced and shredded them for a salad - consisting of tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers and cauliflower. It was yummy - only the second time we have had a good salad since we have been here. Barbara opened some tuna and made a tuna salad and Mandy opened some "pork and beans". We had the salad, and tuna or beans on toast. Simple but good.

After lunch, I headed back to the room and put the final coat on the walls. Dennis had continued to paint the outer rooms and the whole preemie house was looking very clean and new. Alibert returned and started cleaning the floors and removing the tape and paper. While we were finishing up, Mandy rushed in and told us we needed to get cleaned up so we could leave for the crusade. She assigned Godfrey to finish cleaning and we left for a quick shower at the guest house.

A quick shower and we headed to the crusade. It was in a small town called Kerkari where the industry was sugar cane fields and a factory to process the sugar cane. It is a very poor town as evident of the kid's clothing or almost lack of clothing. BUT they were joyous and eager to hear of the Good News. One of the motorcycle teams comes to this town regularly and teaches the children. There is a lot of alcohol abuse in this town and we encountered a few drunks. William and his crew had already set up the platform.....it was very basic but sturdy. All of us arrived and the kids came out. As always, they loved to have their pictures taken. Mandy got some soap bubbles out and entertained the children for awhile. Once the sound system was set up, the music brought more children and more adults. The singing and music started the meeting. They love to sing and dance. After an hour of praise and worship, the local pastor introduced Mandy. She greeted the people and then introduced Tallat and he started preaching. He spoke on blind Barnabas with a lot of physical actions. The kids loved it and the few adults were attentive. I estimated approximately 80-100 children (all ages) and probably 50-75 adults hanging around the perimeter. As I said before, we had our share of drunks.....one lady was infatuated with Barbara.....dancing in front of her and to her and motioning to her. Barbara got a little frightened of her and she moved her chair. Someone finally shooed her away. We had another man, drunk, approach Barbara and tried to touch her but I stepped in and moved him along. Barbara was very uncomfortable at the meeting. The salvation and healing messages were well received and there were a good number that responded. We pray that there is some follow-up and the conversions are true and complete. It was a good start to the two-day crusade. We left and returned through the countryside on the roughest road (Barbara and I was in the back seat of the Prado bouncing all around) to the guest house for our evening meal. The meal was good and we fellowshipped until bedtime.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

We had a decent night of sleep and up for breakfast by 8am. We left with Mandy to go to the bank and have more money changed. We will pay our final bill at the guest house.......one more week - it is going fast. We returned back at the Home and Barbara went out and played with the babies. I carried some of our supplies out of the finished room and started my blog. Mandy had a board meeting with the Uganda Board Members. For lunch, Mandy invited us go with her and the board members to a local hotel. The food was typical Uganda food and good.

We enjoyed our time with Mandy and the board members. After lunch, we returned to the guest house and dropped Barbara off as she is not feeling well - parasite again, we think. Since she is not feeling well, we decided not to go to the crusade tonight. The rest of the group left and I went to the Home to finish this blog. I have tried to write it twice and the electricity goes off and I lose everything. Hope this time works. Well, it didn't work. I had to shut down everything and go to the house. I have been trying to update the blog and upload the pictures for 3 and 1/2 hours. Anyway, it is time for dinner at the guest house. I got to the house and Barbara was wondering where I had been. She was feeling better. Dinner was late tonight and we had just sat down to eat when the team return from the crusade. They had a bigger crowd than last night and they said it was a good service. Hopefully, this will add more people to the local congregation.

After dinner, Tallat left to go to Kampala. He was schedule three meetings tomorrow in two large churches in the capital city. He will be there for a couple of days. We sat around and talk of all the weeks activities and had a good time of fellowship. On to bed....it is a warm evening so the fan is running. Around 1am, the electricity went off and things got a little warm so sleep wasn't easy. Not a good night's sleep.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Finally, the power was restored by 6am and we were able to catch a little sleep. Up by 8am and in for breakfast - French Toast. We decided to go to the Home and have worship with the kids at home. The new van has a bad clutch so we don't have enough room to take them to church so we will have church at the home. It was a wonderful time with the children and their singing - "popcorn worship" - the Moms will point to one of the children, then he or she will stand and lead a song...then she will point to another child and they will stand up and lead a song. It is very cute but it also shows how much the songs are getting into their little hearts and they learn to worship early. After a couple of hours, we went to the guest house and took some of the remaining veggies from yesterday and prepared another salad for everyone. All this activity brings you up-to-date through 1pm on Sunday.

Love all

DAD and MOM
Jerry & Barbara
Mema & Papa

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - continued

Earlier today, a reported from the local paper came and interviewed Mandy for a story about the Home. Mandy invited him to the party tomorrow. Tonight is a relaxing evening. After returning from the Internet Cafe, we sat around and did some reading and just sitting. We had a good dinner and retired to our room to do some more reading and then to sleep.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Sleep seems to evade us, however, we get enough to keep going during the day. Up early for 7am breakfast. The guest house is hosting a government conference and it starts at 8am so we have to be finished with breakfast and out of the dining room.

Today is a work day. We arrived at the Home and went to the Preemie House to finish our painting on one of the rooms. Aliburt, Dennis and I started taping the room, painting the corners, trim and around the baseboards. Once that was done, we poured the paint and found it was very thick. So, we looked on the label and saw that we needed some turpentine to thin the paint. One of the guys jumped on a motorcycle and went to get some. Once he returned, we thinned the paint (it took forever - like mixing oil and water). Then we got serious about the painting. The room was previously painted a pastel yellow up to about 4 feet and then white to the 10 ft. ceiling. We now only had one color, white, so we would have to two a couple of coats to cover the yellow. I trimmed while the other two rolled and we finished with the first coat by a little after noon.
<----Finished
Barbara spent some of the morning running around with Mandy getting ready for the party this afternoon. Then she got all the toothbrushes we brought and she personalized each one with the name of the child. She then made the pudding for the party. We broke for lunch and went down to the Source for our meal. They make a good guacamole and chicken wrap. After lunch, we went across the street to get the cake and cupcakes for the party.....enough to feed the 60+ children plus guests and adults. We arrived back at the Home and I headed out to finish with the painting. I put the final coat on and did a little touch-up and cleaned up the pans and soaked the brushes. Barbara was helping Mandy finalize each of the adoptive children's folders...containing some school projects, report cards, records, etc. This will be a recording of their lives here at Welcome Home Africa.

In the house, everyone was busy blowing up balloons, making party decorations, taking tables out to the play area and doing what is needed to get ready for the party to begin. Signs had been made wishing blessings to the adopted children and their parents and also a sign for Papa Luke who goes home on Friday. Barbara made the whipped topping for the pudding.

The PARTY is something the Home does twice a year for birthdays and special events. In addition, there is always a Christmas party. But this party is a semi-annual event. Our granddaughter and her husband, Jennifer and Kevin Wensel, gave us some funds to be used at the Home. So, we had offered to use those funds for the party. Mandy said she could put on a great party with the amount of money contributed. So, THANKS, JENNIFER AND KEVIN WENSEL!

From the funds from Wal-mart and Target plus the wonderful people of Temescal Canyon Tabernacle, we were to outfit all the children with new clothes for the party. So, they dressed and all lined up with the "Moms" outside on the steps for a photo. Everyone had their cameras taking pictures. We had them be themselves, pictures with the workers, pictures with with Mandy, etc. After the group photo, we took the kids to the new van and filled the van with kids and took more pictures. Sister Elizabeth arrived with a few of her children and some of her workers. Then the party started. The workers brought out the balloons (about 150) for the kids to play with.....they love the balloons. I started making balloon animals but was almost attacked.....they were grabbing the half-made animals from my hands and then grabbing the balloons after I had blown them up and before I could fashion a animal. It was hectic. Luckily, the food started coming out so I was rescued. They is what the kids had to eat: 3 samosas (a meat filled empanada), matoke (smashed bananas), chicken, special drinks, pudding with whipped topping and, finally, cupcakes. The kids literally stuffed themselves and enjoyed every bit of food. These are special treats for the children and they look forward to them every time. It was fun watching the children work on the cupcakes.....icing and cake all over them and the new clothes. We had suggested them changing the clothes before they ate but Mandy said that we would just initiate the new clothes....so icing and cake was everywhere. The babies had a great time as they fed themselves the cake. Once the feeding frenzy was over, time to play, sing and dance. The children started singing as three of them was given a mike to lead the group in singing praises. It was great to listen to them sing the praise songs taught to them by the "Moms" and teachers. The adoptive families were here also so their children could say goodbye to the other children. The children was a little reluctant at first since this was the first time they had been back since they left over a week ago. Everyone had a great time. Then, the food for the workers came....they also had special food.....chicken, matoke, potatoes, veggies, rice and some other things that I am not sure what it was. But they chowed down and I have never seen such large servings (men and women alike) as they got. After the meal, then the gift-giving. Each of the adoptive families gave gifts to each of the "Moms" and workers for the good job they did. Then Mandy gave special gifts to each of the workers for the great job that they do. Everyone was happy after food and gifts. The adults started singing and dancing some African tunes and praise and worship songs. Once they start singing and dancing, the party goes up another notch. Then, Mandy brought out the special strawberry cake and Russell chocolates for the workers. More smiles. They also brought out some somosas for us, too. It was fun watching from the sidelines and taking photo of everything. I can't put enough photos on the blog to capture the joy of the afternoon. Over a thousand photos were taken....I took almost 400 myself. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful sunny day and had a little breeze so it wasn't too hot.

WOW! What an afternoon. Thanks again, Jennifer and Kevin Wensel - Great Party! By now, it was around 7pm and the party had gone on for 3 and a half hours. I went to check out the room and look what I found.....Potty-break after the party! It was time to escape back to the guest home. We got back and they had dinner for us.....we didn't eat very much because of all the food at the party. But we sat around and talked about the good time we had. Mandy told us as we was leaving that little Jeremiah (2 years old) asked if we could have another party tomorrow....:-). We were all pretty tired and ready to relax and get some rest. However, it was almost 10 by the time we got to bed.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Well, it had not rained for a couple of days but it hit at 4:30am with vengeance....rain, wind, thunder and lightning. But it stopped by the time we left the house. After breakfast, we headed back to the Home and did a little straightening up after the party. Almost all of our group went to Sister Elizabeth's orphanage to visit and to see the house. I stayed back to to this blog. I tried to upload my blog on the new connection at the Home but their browser setting was not
compatible with the sites I needed. Anyway, the group called and wanted me to meet them at the Source for lunch. Barbara and I got lasagnas from Ozzi's restaurant across from the Source. And we had a cinnamon roll - good. After lunch, I road a bodi-bodi (on the back of a bicycle) to the Internet cafe - cost at $0.30. This brings you to 2pm on Thursday.

Love all

DAD and MOM
Jerry & Barbara
Mema & Papa

Monday, April 21, 2008 - Continued - POWER BACK ON

We had a good dinner at the guest house tonight. After dinner, we went to the Home to see if we could get online with the new connection there, but the installation is not complete. So, we came back and visited until bedtime. Barbara is feeling much better and has only a lingering pain.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Not another good night of sleep - this trip has been different - good restful sleep is hard to come by. Correction - "feed 3 children and 50 workers each month" should have been "feed 63 children and 50 workers each month"! Barbara is feeling better again. Now, one of the adoptive family is down with a parasite. Tallat and I are the only ones that has not been sick and WE REFUSE TO ALLOW IT!

Today is work day for me.....Myself, Aliburt and Dennis (one of Mandy's workers) will be doing some painting. We left the guest house and went to the Home. Aliburt decided that he would go on the Island Ministry boat ride so it will be Dennis and I doing the painting today. We had to do a lot of scraping and sanding to get the wall in decent condition for the primer coat. We then painted the first primer coat. Now it is lunch time and we went with all to the Source. I went up and down Main Street looking for an Internet cafe that had power. No luck. (When the new Internet connection is installed at the Home, We won't have this problem as they fire up the generator if needed). After lunch, we went back and finished the primer coat so we are ready for the paint first thing tomorrow. Most of the town is still without power. This is the time we have had an extended time without power. This brings you up-to-date through 5:30pm on Tuesday.

Love all

DAD and MOM
Jerry & Barbara
Mema & Papa

Monday, April 21, 2008 - SPECIAL PRAISE REPORT -

We were informed by text message early yesterday (Sunday) that our granddaughter, Alyssa, was having severe pain and was headed to the ER. We started praying and, through text message, kept in contact with Tony and Cindy on her condition. We heard at around 10am that they confirmed that the problem was appendicitis and she would need surgery in a couple of hours. All here prayed for her. Later in the day, we heard that the surgery was successful and she was resting good. She had the type of surgery involving 2 small holes and a camera through the belly button. The latest is that she will go home sometime Monday. PTL She is doing good. I was hoping she would be home before I made it to the Internet cafe. But I had to add this.......WE LOVE YOU ALYSSA AND PRAYING THAT YOUR RECOVERY WILL BE SWIFT AND COMPLETE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR YOU......LOVE YOU....MEMA AND PAPA

Note: I have been trying to send this for a day. We have had no electricity and so the Internet has been down. Our Internet cafe are out of fuel in their generator.......

Saturday, April 19, 2009 - continued

We left the guest house and walked downtown to do a little shopping. Barbara needed a pair of earrings and I wanted to find some diet coke. We stopped by the Source first and got a bite to eat. Barbara had three samosas (meat-filled fried pie) and I had a large Chitpata (sp?), a large flour tortilla.

As we were eating, a young man asked if he could share our table. His name is David. We introduced ourselves and he asked if we were Christians. We said yes and he said he could tell. We talked awhile and he told us his life story. He is 30 years old and is now working with YWAM. His story was very interesting. He grew up in a Christian home and his Dad was called to establish a church in western Uganda where a large Muslim population resides. His Dad had a small congregation and his older brother help with the youth. The local Muslim did not like their presence there. The local police arrested his older brother for having a gang (youth group) and sent him off to jail. The parents looked for him but could not find him. They looked in all the local jails and prisons. No luck. The Officials came and took away his parents for teaching subversive activity (preaching the Good News). David was left with his sister. By now, he was 13-14 and became very afraid of someone coming for him so he ran away. He ended up many miles away and lived on the streets. The local street kids "befriended" him and he became a street kid....of course, that meant stealing, getting high, drugs and other things he said he is ashamed of. He did not want anything to do with Church or Jesus. He was mad because he thought that his Christian faith was the reason his family life was destroyed. Little did he know that he was right BUT he didn't realize that the attack came from the enemy. A man started to come around and offer the kids bananas. This was something to eat without going through the trashbin for food. Over a period of time, he started trusting the man. The man said he wanted to be his friend. He couldn't understand it why he cared for him. He started to talk to him about Jesus. David didn't listen at first but it started to sink in. The man finally invited him to his home and gave him a shirt and a pair of pants (that fit!). He invited him to eat with his family. He offered him a mattress to sleep on and a shower (It had been serveral years since he had a real shower). David finally came to the realization what he needed and he reaffirmed his faith commitment. Suddenly, the man disappeared and seen no more. David thinks it was an angel. He finally was re-united with this parents and sister. They found his brother in Rwanda where he had been in the prison where the political prisoners were kept. His brother started witnessing to the prison officials and the prisoners and one of the official became converted. He brought him to his home and the wife was "demonized" and he laid hands on her and prayed and prayed. She completely recovered and the news spread did about her because it was known about her previous state. His brother, Peter, was released and now has a ministry there. David is now studying to go and repay the "Angel" for what he did. That is why he is at YWAM. He has since learned to read and write. This was encouraging to us and I thought I would share it with you.

Luke and Mandy showed up and Mandy took us to meet Faith, one of her local people she helps in her gift and souvenir store. Barbara found her earrings. We walked to the Internet cafe and I blogged. Barbara walked back to the Source and Mandy was still there. She went back to the Home with them and then to the guest home. After finishing my blog and answering email, I walked to the guest home and found Barbara. We walked toward the Home and saw the children from the orphanage in the park. They saw us coming and ran hard to us and almost knocked us over....yelling Mema and Uncle Papa. We stayed and played with them for quite awhile. They sure enjoy being loved and love attention. They attach themselves to you and usually do not let go. It was a lot of fun. They love to have their pictures taken and when shown to them. They cry..."see more, uncle...see more". It is difficult to refuse them.

Barbara and I decided to forego the crusade tonight and stay and rest. Barbara is getting tired and not resting much at night. We have a large dog in the yard next door and barks all the time. We stayed at the guest home and visited with Annimae and Aliburt and watched American Idol with them on cable. It was the season last year. We visited until the rest of the group arrived from the crusade. They reported on a very successful meeting with a lot more adults attending. There were a few more conversions, three of which were women from a booze house (bar) and was instantly sober when they prayed. They told of some good testimonies of how God had touched the people. A full day and off to bed.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

A very loud night of rain and thunder and wind. It was not a night of good sleep. Barbara has not been sleeping too well so keep her in your prayers as she need to gain strengt
h and rest. Mandy shared with us that Joshua and his Dad were still at the clinic. Joshua's malaria count was still too high to be released. They will be giving him another IV. Hopefully, he will be home this afternoon.

This morning, there were two different groups going out. Luke and Tallat went with the ministry team to a service near the village where they ministered last night. When they arrived, there were more in the ministry team than the number at the church. It was very raw and rough. It consisted of 4 poles and a tarp with a box for a pulpit. And due to the rain, it was very muddy. There were a few more people that showed up but it was a small crowd.

The second group went to Pastor Robert and Justine's AG church. It was a full service, standing room only. Justine teaches the children at the orphanage songs and bible stories. Mandy has invested in their ministry. OUr group was Barbara and I, Mandy, the adoptive couple from Canada and their two new children, Annimae, Aliburt with the two new children from the Ohio family. Ron and Melanie were both with Joshua at the clinic. The service was good.....the worship was very strong and loud and Pastor Robert brought a good message.

After service, we all returned to the guest home and had some tuna sandwiches (a big meal is planned tonight). Barbara elected to go to the room for some needed rest. The rest of us sat around and discussed the ministry from last week. Later, everyone went to their room to relax and rest before going out tonight. We had planned to go to the source of the Nile......a boat ride to see where the Nile river starts. However, all were tired so we postponed this trip until next week.

At 5:30pm, we left to go to a resort for a nice dinner and relaxation. It appears that Barbara has contracted an parasite. She wasn't feeling well but decided to go and see if getting out would help. The place is called the Nile Resort. It is located at the headwaters of the Nile River. It is a beautiful place that is, at Ugandian standards, is high-end. The price for a double occupancy is around $250 US a night. The view was excellent, especially the sunset. Barbara didn't get much better, however, she did try the tomato soup and ended up getting rid of it and felt much better. We had a decent meal there. Some had the talapia, some had the beef and I had the chicken that was cooked in a special oven.....almost like a broasted flavor....good. One thing you learn in Uganda is it takes awhile to get your food once you order. So, it took a good hour.

After dinner, we returned to the guest house. Mandy went to the clinic to check on Joshua and learned he had the same as Barbara, as well as fighting the malaria.......poor baby. Mandy went by the Home and got some medicine for Barbara to fight the parasite. It takes about a day to knock it out. At bedtime, someone in the community was playing music and all you could hear is the "boom-boom" of the sub-woofer. It is hard to sleep with the booming noise.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The booming went on into the night. Even a sound machine did not help. Finally, it stopped at around 1:30am and we were able to sleep. Barbara felt a little better this morning and she came into the dining room and had breakfast. However, the meds are unsettling so she went back to the room to relax. I walked over to the Home and see if I could help. There is a large wooden map of Africa on the front gate and it is pretty weather-worn. So, I volunteered to sand it down and refinish it with varnish. So, I went to town with William to get the sandpaper, varnish and brushes. William was going to do the weekly grocery shopping so I went with him. It was an experience. We went to the open-air market and he started pointing at this and that and giving huge sums of money and then go to a different stall and do the same. We went to six different stalls while he ordered the groceries. We then went to the van and waited for the delivery. We sat and talked for a good hour and a half until all the stuff was delivered to the van. It was all wrapped, boxed and in sacks and I don't know all he got. We went to two other stops and got more things. One place, the people was unloading a semi-truck of bananas on stalks. Of course, he got a complete stalk. One or two stops later, we headed home, after spending 1,020,000 shillings..a little over $600 worth of items for the orphanage for the week. He will go two more times this week but will only spend 230,000 shillings. This doesn't include the 2 million shillings for milk each month. It takes a lot of money to feed 3 children and 50 workers each month.

After we returned to the Home, Barbara was there and the time was 12:30 and everyone was ready to eat lunch. All except Mandy, she came down with the same as Barbara so she didn't feel like eating. Most of the others went to a "hole-in-the-wall" called The Place but it didn't look to inviting to Barbara and her upset stomach. So, she and I went to the Source and had our "normal" food. After lunch, we walked back to the home and sat and visited with Mandy, Annemie and Aliburt. I then headed to the Internet place where this brings you to around 4pm on Monday.

We are half way through our month and it is going fast.

Love all

DAD and MOM
Jerry & Barbara
Mema & Papa