Good morning dearest loved ones and warm greetings to you on this second day of February!
I imagine the frosty mornings when the earth begins to wake with the winter sun; the crackle of frozen grass from the nights dew; and the morning coffee nestled between your hands before the day's work calls your attention. So often I long for the chilly mornings and the overcast clouds that linger when snow is on the way. Colorado winters are precious to me – a steady and gracious reminder that we all need the quieter seasons to let our souls rest and reflect.
It is always a privilege to get to write and share with you each milestone that passes month to month. It reminds me where we’ve come from and where we are going; it orients my heart to gratitude.
Much has happened in the time since my last email:
Christmas and the celebration of our Lord’s birth has come and gone and we welcomed 2022 with a downpour of rain at our overnight service - a sweet reminder of the newness and redemption, that which has come and that which is coming. We were also blessed to be able to return, almost exactly a year later, to the remote village of Butambala and distribute holiday gift bags of sugar, rice, salt, and bread to single mothers, widows, and elderly women in the community.
We welcomed Mathias Mulumba, the director and founder of F2F, back to his Uganda home for the month of January along with two visitors. The first visitor was Diane Lockhart, originally from Ireland, she began a mid-wife ministry in the slums of Kampala and has been serving women in the community for over six years delivering healthy babies and offering prenatal care. She visited for a few days and was able to meet with, counsel, and distribute women's prenatal care to pregnant women in our community. And the second visitor, Cameron Cunningham, is the founder and director of a dance organization & ministry in Grand Junction, CO called Reverent Rhythms. She came for two weeks to teach and serve the children and community of F2F through dance – the ways we can worship and praise the Lord through body movement.
At the beginning of the month, we graduated over 30 young girls who had been coming to learn trade skills at our main F2F campus during the second wave of the COVID-19 lockdown. They each were given a three-month certificate of completion in each of the skills they pursued whether tailoring, hairdressing, computers, bead weaving or baking. Our hope was to not only combat the chaos the pandemic has caused in their lives and the disruption it has caused to their education but establish them as pioneers and leaders in their own future and share with them of a lasting and eternal hope. Tears gathered in my eyes as I watched young girls, for the first time in their lives, receive a certification and as I watched one young girl in particular, Jen, receive a small cash reward for being the most outstanding student in computers, having walked two hours one way each day for classes.
We officially opened Paradise Vocational Training Center in a nearby village as the hands-on training branch of Father to the Fatherless. Students have been and continue to register and classes officially started mid-January. The process of beginning a vocational school is a new and exciting endeavor for all of us here at F2F. We recognize our ultimate hopes, visions, and goals while also acknowledging our limited experience and expertise. Please pray with us as we continue to establish our vocational school as a quality institution of learning and a change agent in the community.
As we have welcomed in the beginning of classes at the vocational training center, we have also begun construction on a two-story building that will serve the faculty, staff, students, community members and guests at the school. We are so excited as we watch this building rise and blessed as we imagine the dwelling place it will serve as – the conversations, the meals, the joy, the invitation.
Not only has our vocational school began, but all schools in Uganda have officially reopened after nearly two years of the COVID-19 lockdown. All nine children at our children’s home are attending school and spending their days with big joy as they play with their friends and learn new words and ideas. And our women’s crafting group continues to meet weekly to craft and encourage one another along with F2F women’s saving group that meets monthly to collectively save and wisely manage their money.
We are overjoyed as we look ahead in anticipation of all that this year will hold. We know the One who leads us, the Shepherd of our souls, is exceedingly merciful and abounding in love. And we, simply called to love others out of devotion to Him, are strengthened and satisfied in His fullness. Love is flourishing in the pouring out - the endurance and love-action of meeting daily needs, sitting with empathy, and entering into meaningful conversation. And we are so humbled and grateful for each of you who has graciously and selflessly walked alongside us in prayer, encouragement, and giving - thank you.
To see more photos and read more contemplations checkout my blog Loving the Little Children of the World or pop over to Mathias' Facebook profile to watch some live footage of all that is happening here at F2F Uganda!
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