Pictures

We are down south getting supplies, getting dental work done, renewing visas, and waiting for Cody's family to come in, so I thought I would share some pictures while I can. Enjoy.



Joshua cutting onions. He tried to use goggles to prevent his eyes from watering. Didn't work so here was the second attempt........


It also failed. The next time he tried both together.




Samuel holding a sunflower from our garden. One of the only things we were able to harvest, due to the soil condition in our yard, and not enough shade :( There is always next year!


And you thought roads in America were bad. Now you see why we need a good vehicle. And to think this is not that bad! We did make it around those 2 trucks that were stuck.


Malachi and Eliana


Janaya and Rikot Williams


Carter and Slash. We finally were able to find him a tortoise for his birthday and he was so excited. The sad news is that he is now MIA after Carter played with him outside and accidentally left him there. Those tortoises are faster than they look, just ask the rabbit.


Joshua and Janaya teaching Lokong and Lopiye (Lucia's sons) how to write.

Eliana is almost 5 months if you can believe it!!

To See a Rose Among so Many Thorns

Tomorrow Akiar celebrates his 2 month birthday!



I make and nonchalantly distribute 9 bottles a day between the 2 babies staying with us, but for some reason this time I stop to "smell the roses". Something I don't always find myself doing because I feel at times I am surrounded by thorns. I have seen the thorns of babies dying in my arms; with that I stop to look at baby Akiar, and realize he is a rose.

Akiar is the baby that came from a large village about 7 miles from Kotido. His mother died giving birth to him and his family didn't give much hope for him, in fact they didn't even name him, expecting he would die. Another local NGO had given some supplies to help care for him, but his family had a lack of knowledge in caring for him. Here in Karamoja newborn babies don't survive without their mothers. He was a robust 10.5 pounds when he was born but after 2 weeks was down to a dwindling 6 pounds. They didn't know you should feed him more than twice a day.

His older sister and him came to stay with us when he was 2 weeks, and we are teaching and helping her to take care of him. It has been a rough road for little Akiar. After getting food and doing better, he had a severe case of pneumonia and then malaria. For a while it seems he was sick all the time, even suffering from different rashes. Not to mention his body was having a hard time on the formula.

His grandmother happened to come visit when he was very sick with pneumonia and again she gave up on him surviving. She ended up having to stay with us as she fell very ill while visiting for the day. We took her to get malaria tested and not only did she have malaria but also brucellosis. We were able to get her an IV and treatment from our house making it easier to care for her. Her staying for 2 weeks gave us the chance to share the gospel, and more of our love. Now when she comes to visit she smiles and has a hope for his survival. His uncles, and other family come to visit, now knowing he will survive.

As I stop to look at this beautiful rose God has planted, I am overcome with joy at the opportunity to get to see him thriving. Another rose pops in my mind-The opportunity to share the word of God with his sister and his family. For her to see Jesus's love in action.

Misty did a good job of naming him "Life" in Karamajong. Thank you Jesus for giving him life!
God has brought him through so much and he is now thriving instead of barely surviving.

The roses are there, you just have to stop long enough to look for them. You may even sometimes have to pick through the thorn bushes to find one.


Akiar's father coming to visit.

Hear from the Kids

I thought it might be fun to involve the kids in my blog so I had them answer the question, "What is your favorite thing about living in Uganda?"




Malachi-
"Church"







Carter-
"Swimming in Jinja first and then sliding rock second. Well maybe Red Chili first and swimming in Jinja second, then sliding rock 3rd."







Samuel-
"The thing I like about Uganda the most has always been my friends. My friend's names are Ezra, Zion, Izzy, Rikot, Veah, Selah, and Donian and there are more. They are really nice to me, they play with me. Most of the time, Ezra and Donian play football with me.







Janaya-
"The thing I like most about living in Uganda is a rock called slide rock. We sometimes go there to play with our friends."







Joshua-
"The thing I like most about Uganda is when I make friends and play football (soccer) with them. The other thing is when we go to football and play and then after that my dad tells them about Jesus. The other important thing I like about living here is helping people who are in need.

Lucia had her Baby!

Monday afternoon Lucia started to go into labor. She walked to the local clinic where they sent her back home to collect some things. We were on our way home from Jinja so were not able to help. She ended up delivering the baby on the road near the police bariks. A gentlemen assisted her and cut the umbilical cord for her. The baby was almost 7 lbs, so praise the Lord for that! She named the baby Michaela.
We have had some difficulties with Lucia since then. She didn't want to nurse the baby and was drunk for 24 hours (before we made it home). I was having to monitor her quite closely once we arrived home and made her nurse the baby since she had not done so yet. She is being rebellious about several things and it is beginning to show that she is having desires to go back to her old lifestyle. Please pray for her. Pray that her faith would take root, and that she could resist the temptation to follow her desires, but rather follow the desires of God. Pray that she would continue to want to be a good mother and would give love to her new daughter and her other children.