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

Blessings to you all from Jinja!

By Cathi Delp

Jade, Katie, Sera and Cori

What a weekend we had...Saturday was a day of coffee on the patio for some & sleeping in for others. After that we took a quick trip to town then on to an afternoon at "Sera's Caring Place". Sera is one amazing young 26 year old woman..who a few yrs ago gave up her career to take in young boys and girls off the streets who needed the love of a mother!! She currently has the most respectable 26 boys & 4 girls r  We had a ball sharing & playing football, basketball & putting up a basketball hoop & net that was nailed to a tree. Keri led us in the kitchen as we prepared them a meal of 17 boxes of Mac & cheese, sausage & chocolate chip cookies. One little girl didn't even know what a cookie was. They blessed us with song and dance and so much heartwarming respect. After a long exhausting day, we returned to Betty&Abdu's to re-live our blessings of the day until 11p.m.

Sunday, we were up and off to "Jesus Life Church" with Betty&Abdu. We had CHURCH!!!! Worshiping and Praising The Lord in song and dancing...and an awesome message from Pastor Jmmy  regarding opportunity and seasoning our words. Quick trip home to change & eat before heading to the local pool with Sera and her 30 kids. This was a special gift to these children. Tyler, one of our team members known for his lifeguard skills jumped right in to enjoy swimming with the kids...and cut his foot on a jagged piece of tile.  Dr Randy & his trainee, team member Jared, came to the rescue!! Abdu rushed him home to get medical gear and right there at the pool, 13 stitches were put into his foot. Another quick trip home for us to change clothes, then on to a nice outdoor restaurant where we treated Sera and her kids, her cook Margaret & our cook Grace to a one of a kind outdoor restaurant meal along with a time of miniature golf, pictures & each one left proudly wearing a WWJD bracelet. Wore out again..but we were all on such a high that last night our bedtime extended to midnight. God is so amazing"

Shopping in the Market

Today, Monday, we went back to Rock of Ages school. We played, finished teaching toothbrushing hygiene, Randy taught the teachers some medical lessons, took a few children to the local hospital for HIV testing (Praise God all were negative). Corrie got to meet with her sponsored child's mother and Jordan & Katie met their new sponsored child's mother. Some visited Women of Faith & shopped in Mbiko, while the young hooligans & I headed downtown Jinja to shop for their favorite Ugandan foods! Fun never ends around here that's for sure. Two of our team, Katie and Corrie got full hair extensions today and two more of us get ours done tomorrow. Tonight as I type, we are blessed to have Sera with us sharing her unbelievable testimony.  She struggles financially with her ministry but her faith and trust in God as she loves and mothers these children is so humbling. Our prayers are to find resources to help Sera & Sera's Place thrive and that she will be blessed financially to provide a vehicle to transport these children to and from school.

Hygiene and Wound Care and Lots of Fun!

Post Health Fair

Hello again from Uganda.  What a wonderful day!  As mentioned yesterday we spent the morning at Rock of Ages school working with students and parents on hygiene.  There were approximately 75 parents there.  They received the info well and even had some medical questions of their own.

Bubbles

After leaving there, we proceeded on to visit Abdu's chicken farm and then to his dairy farm.  Both operations are amazingly run.  Some of the younger adults enjoyed letting the chickens peck at their fingers.  And, at the dairy farm we held baby goats and let the little baby cows "nurse" on their fingers! Lots of laughter !!On our way home we visited the Jaja's and came home with 8 loaves of freshly baked pumpkin and banana bread. 

Came home to some r&r time for some and another active game of volleyball for others... before enjoying a great meal prepared by Grace.  We've all begged her to come back to the States with us. Now preparing for a time of devotions to be led by Jayde.  Good night!

Volley Ball

The Team

Happy 4th of July from Uganda

Waiting for Physicals

Happy 4th of July from our medical team in Uganda!  We proudly wore our necklaces to display our love for America.  We have completed all the health updates on the Rock of Ages students & are now preparing for a day of personal hygiene training tomorrow for students and their parents. This will include CPR, dental/health hygiene & rehydration. It has been such a blessing to work with these children.  They have been excellent little patients!! 

During our free times, we've visited & shopped at downtown Jinja, visited Lake Victoria and had homemade ice cream from a local dairy farm. The last 2 evenings we've got to meet, fellowship and hear awesome testimonies from Malcolm & Lillian and Pastor Jimmy & Helen. No doubt you will all hear stories from the team about this! (written by Jayde Hair)

Cathy

The Medical Team Arrives Safely

Our entire group and all 18 duffle bags landed safely in Entebbe and were greeted by Abdu, Betty, Moses, Sara and Kennedy at the airport. When we finally made it to Abdu and Betty's home in Mbiko it was well past 1am in the morning.  We spent the next day sleeping off our jet lag, getting organized for the week and enjoying wonderful food prepared by Grace.  We are headed to ROA tomorrow to start physicals with the kids.  Everyone in the group is feeling very blessed and excited to serve over the next two weeks.  We will send more photos and updates tomorrow!

Corrine Fowler

Conlusion: Dust

       Uganda is covered in a red-clay soil.  It is soil that stains.  Soil that sticks to you...  When you walk on the Ugandan soil, the dust clings to you clothes and body.  You can not walk on this soil without getting some of it on you.  The red-orange dust grabs your clothes, your shoes, and your skin.  It does not let go easily.  Uganda does not let go easily.

       Since we have returned to the US, God continues to work in big ways at Rock of Ages.  Renovations are currently taking place on an existing but unused small building.  A holiday lunch program has started, to give students some meals, while school is not in session.  There is even talk of working with the Jinja rotary club for additional support.  Also, tremendously, Hands4Uganda received notice that it is being accepted for a five thousand dollar grant through the LWML to build new classrooms at Rock of Ages. 
       The Lord is pouring out His provision and blessing in response to the prayers and needs of His children.  Praise God!  Our heavenly Father is working in ways that we can not imagine.  He is bigger than any one team or organization.  I am thankful that we all get to be involved and hear the wonderful testimonies of His faithfullness.  Halleluiah!
       I meant this post to be a conclusion to the trip, but I don't think the trip really has a conclusion.  As you can see, the Lord has used this trip to prepare and begin His work not end it.   No. I can not write a finalizing conclusion to our blessed time in Uganda.  It is not time to turn our eyes to other adventures.  The Lord is moving in Uganda.  His heart still beats for the Ugandan people.  This story of God's love is still taking place.

       Don't tell the US customs, but I carried some of the Ugandan soil home with me.  The soil was on my feet.  My shoes will probably be permanently stained orange.  The dust of Uganda has stuck to me even though I am half way across the world.  Even more than the dust though, the people of Uganda have stuck to me.  Their love has remain in my heart and it lingers.  I remember the dust smeared on my arms by the children as they hung on me and laughed.  I remember their faces.  I remember the needs in their lives that still  go unmet.
       God touched all of our hearts in Africa.  He showed us that His heart is for His children, and many of His children live in Africa.  He is a big God, not just the Lord of one country or people.  We came home from this journey with more than pictures, dust stained clothes, and jet lag.  We returned with opened hearts, changed minds, and a vision for what God is doing in Uganda.

Habakkuk 1:5 "Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."

-May God bless you and keep you.
Mark Tatham