Good morning from Uganda!
April has brought several new projects, many celebrations and much rain. I woke early this morning to a downpour of rain – the type where there is an unspoken consensus that work will start late as no one dare walk through the newly formed creeks and burnt orange mud. But even still I trudged along, shoes slipping, determined, and returned with orange stained feet and a rain soaked sweater all for the purpose of writing and sending this email update!
I have felt innumerable gratitude for each of you who have thoughtfully supported me financially as well as in prayer and encouragement. I truly believe it was a Divine call to serve and to love here in Uganda and you each are being used to accomplish a greater Plan in my life and in the lives of those around me. With that, I wanted to share some very exciting and encouraging highlights with you all about what is taking place here at Father to the Fatherless Uganda and more specifically, what all your generous donations are going towards.
Brain MRI’s – two of our children, Aisha (10) and Joseph (4), suffer from seizures. Medical attention and treatment has been sought for months and although both their conditions have gradually improved, more testing was needed to offer additional insight into a proper diagnosis and more specified treatment. It was suggested that they receive MRI’s of their brains as the next step in diagnosing and treating.
On March 24th, through your donations, they were taken in for the MRI’s of their brains. Last Friday, we were given the results that offered more insight into the types of seizures they are having as well as the regions of the brain causing and affected by the seizures. We were encouraged by the doctor that as we continue with treatment they both have the potential to fully recover and be seizure free in the years to come.
Birthday celebrations - your donations have gone towards ensuring that each person here at Father to the Fatherless is celebrated on their birthday including all the children in our children’s home and those who work to keep the ministry up and running. We are a family and it only feels right that we would get to celebrate each person with cake, soda, and a circle of encouragement on their special day.
A chicken house - many of you have heard or read of our chicken situation in the children’s home but for those of you who have not:
We have stubborn chickens!
The chickens often come into our house and refuse to leave. We chase them, we make them run into doors and walls and fly and squawk and we laugh and tussle and catch them and take them outside yet they always meander back in. And too, we have an aggressive turkey that often chases the ladies . . . Aunt Liz and I . . . and is scared away by our three year old, Yahaya.
With all that said, your donations have made it possible for the chickens to have their own home instead of invading ours! It will have a capacity to house over 500 chickens and a space for them to lay and hatch their eggs - serving as an additional protein source for all of us here at F2F Uganda.
Women’s crafting group for single mothers, widows, and the elderly - as I heard the dreams of many women to start businesses, to transform their rickety and unstable mud huts for homes made of brick and stone, and to have better means to care for their family, I felt a tug on my heart and my thoughts continually wandered:
What could I do? How could I help them, empower them, encourage them in pursuit of their dreams?
And I felt shook with excitement when I realized we had all we needed - a Way had already been prepared.
Throughout the Old Testament we see Israel, God’s people, called to go and to battle and to use the knowledge, the wisdom, and the understanding bestowed on them to be blessed. In Exodus 31 we read how the Lord appoints people, from the craftsmanship given to them from above, to create His dwelling place among them (the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat). The Lord blesses Israel with the ultimate blessing - that He would dwell among them, go before them, and be with them as their God - by creating with their own hands!
We have just begun a women’s group where vulnerable women in our community are invited in and empowered to use their God given gifts and talents to craft and teach one another trade skills such as tailoring, knitting, weaving, and jewelry making.
Through your donations, F2F will be purchasing the crafting materials, we will meet twice a week as a group to learn, teach, and craft together, and the finished products will be bought by F2F and displayed in a storeroom where they will be available for purchase. Father to the Fatherless will purchase the finished crafts from the women at an agreed upon market price and the women will receive the full profit from all crafts they create. When the crafts are sold from the store, a small margin of additional profits will be set aside in a savings fund for upkeep, future expenses, and distribution among members after time.
This is all made physically possible through your donations. Not only are my needs being met through your donations, but the needs of many.
We all thank you with grateful and joyous hearts for your gifts and giving.
If you are curious and want to read more, check out my blog Loving the Little Children of the World.
And if you have a heart to donate, please refer to my Donation Page for more information.
With much love and many blessings,
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