Fish in the Ocean

By Cathi Delp

Today is Tuesday and has been another wonderful day. We began once again by visiting the children at Rock of Ages school.  As soon as we got there it was Bible study time. I wish you all could have seen the excitement in those little faces when they gathered to hear about Jesus.
  

Soon afterwards Jared & I were blessed to stand beside Betty and hand out the Children's Bibles to the P3 & P4 classes! Thank you to all who helped make these little faces smile smile smile.  Before leaving we walked to the nearby city of Mbiko. This is a very small & poor village where many of the Rock of Ages students live. We stopped at the shop where the "Women of Faith" sell handmade items, as well as food for the people of Mbiko. It's always a joy to have the little ones run to see us and shake our hands as we walk along sharing stickers and balloons with them.

After a few hours of resting at home & finishing up the braiding, we visited the local children's hospital in Jinja. Our hearts are still melted from this experience. At the hospital parents wait on the lawn until time to feed their own children. They must supply bed sheets & blankets for their children. A nurse gave us a tour of the crowded facility and shared with us about the major diseases they deal with, which are malaria, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS & diarrhea  Throughout the tour we handed out plastic crosses to sick children and their parents and had opportunity to pray for some as well.

Team Outside Jinja Hospital

Dinner has ended and now we sit and listen as Abdu & Betty share their life stories of how God has worked along side them as they both followed the visions of their hearts...farming and teaching. We love them and their children, Sarah,Moses,Hannah & Abby so very much! They are a true blessing to all.  This morning during devotions Abdu planted a seed in us all with these simple words "..when you have never left the US, you are like a fish in a fish pond. But, when you fly 10,000 miles to Africa, and you find brothers & sisters worshiping the same God as you do, then you're like a fish in the ocean".

Note: Women of Faith (Karla Reynolds)

This  group was started this past  January  with a grant from a Rotary Club in Alaska.    It  brought to life   a vision that Betty had shared with us in April 2012 during a  team visit.  She hoped to get sewing machines and train some of the school moms to sew uniforms. The women would be compensated for their work, and once they had completed the project, they could use their newly acquired skills to  make money in other  sewing projects.  ROA would continue to use them as their uniform supplier year to year to help sustain the business.   The uniforms you see the kids wearing were all made by these women.  

This past April, while we were there, this group of woman shared  with us their dream of continuing to grow their sewing business. But they had another idea: to set up a food co-op where members (other school moms)  could buy at a discount and non-members  buy at retail.   A  generous donor gave them a small loan  to  rent a shop and set up the business.  The back room was to house the sewing machines  and provide work space for the  sewers. The front would be the shop.  

This was the shop the team visited today.  This project  has only been the works for two months  and we are still working out the kinks. Our goal is to help  these moms become self sufficient, while helping out the school and other parents.   With the help of Betty and Abdu, we are working on turning over the ROA supplemental food program to these ladies.  Since May, they have been buying, packing and distributing the supplemental food that some of our sponsors provide for their sponsored families.  Please pray for this venture and for women in this group. The road to self-sufficiency is difficult. 

The shop

 

Sewing Uniforms