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so i forgot

Well, it's Thursday.  Been home since Saturday from Uganda.  Here is the run down of the events of my week:

Saturday- walked in my house and realized as my houseparent types had a posse here... "I have to move this week."

Sunday- stuffed my face with some amazing Chicken Enchiladas and 3 types of dip like I had not eaten in a month.  Caught up on at least 6 hours of tv in about 4 hours or less.  Went to Monkeytown, saw some of my fam, stopped at Krispy Kreme and got back to town

Monday- Back to work, left work at 2:30 whooped tired

Tuesday- woke up, couldn't walk straight, felt very strange all morning..almost (I stress ALMOST) to the point of going to the MD.  Prayer works (thanks peeps- you know who you are) and it got better.  And it wasn't my inner ear... Worked till 7pm. Moved a load to my future home.

Wednesday- work. And some sweet time with some sweet residents at work.

Thursday- Work and work.  Then home late and finally catching up on a few things.  

AND THEN IT HIT ME.  I haven't checked Google Reader in like...forever.  Since probably Amsterdam where I had crazy fast internet and posted the blog in record time. 

Why do I find this so astounding?  Because I suddenly felt lost.  There are friends I sort of keep up with from a distance through their blogs.  I felt disconnected.  Then I read their blogs and found I had not missed too much.  However there were a few that rocked my world.  God's faithfulness shining through their lives. I am thankful they share their lives and hearts in their blogs.  Other blogs I read folks...not so much.  So for you bloggy types- Thank you if you live transparently through your blogs and share what God is up to.  For those readers- Thank you for reading along and offering words of wisdom and encouragement with your sharing to me. Even if you are too chicken to post the comment and you email me instead :) I appreciate you sharing your life.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is: I feel connected to those of you out their who blog honestly.  Sharing your heart as God works in it.  If you know Him personally.  If you don't know Him- your honesty as you talk about that too.  So thanks. 

any takers for helping me move some stuff I got on Saturday...?

stuck

so here i am in the schipol amsterdam airport. watching the people walk by.  and i feel weird. 

 

as i sit here and watch the people walk by, using a crazy fast internet connection, i cannot help but think of what in the world is going on.  my friends in Buloba are just beginning to wake.  the roosters are probably crowing and the dawn is breaking.  and i am in a big airport with thousands of folks going to i don't know how many places.  the contrast is so stark.  

but as i sit here, i cannot help but think of my God.  our God.  and how he is intimately aware of everyone.  everything.  everywhere.  that as the sun rose when we were landing and the sky was beautiful pink and purple and the sun a brillant orange- HE. DID. THAT.  and it was good. 

and He loves me.  with an everlasting love.  and He loves you.  with a redeeming, overwhelming, everlasting, powerful love.  His word is TRUTH.  and i wonder how many people here in amsterdam, in this airport have no concept of these simple, eternity shifting truths.  and i pray and wonder- what can i do about that?  it almost makes me want to stand up at this rail behind me and shout at the top of my lungs- HE IS LORD.  HE LOVES YOU.  YOU NEED TO KNOW HIM.  not just 'know' Him.  but to know Him- as in saving knowledge.  the making Him Lord of your life.  as in, the flip your world upside down, and you will never be the same knowing.  and the knowing that makes you realize how blessed you are to be His, and how unimportant so many of the 'things' we 'value' are.  

i love my life.  i love Him more.  hope at the end of the day you do to. 

1 Peter 2:9- But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."

African names

So, we got to receive African names this week- here they are.  We are honored to have them.  And to have them chosen by our Ugandan friends.

Lauren- Mirembe which means peace

Jordan- Kirungi which means good thing

Catherine- Sanye which means joy, happiness, gladness

Amanda- Kirabo which means gift, a present

Andi- Namusoke which means, rainbow, a sign of redemption, God's covenant

Morgan- Kwagala which means Love

Josh- Agaba which means giving

So when you see us, be sure to call us by our new names.  We don't answer to the old ones...

random thoughts from a restless heart- Wed night

Okay, so it’s 3pm in the land that most of my stuff is.  It is 11pm where my body resides and my heart is currently caught up in what God is doing.  And since I have been trying to sleep for the past hour and it is not working I thought I would give up and get up and spend some time pondering aloud about what is going on here.  Less of a report of daily events and more of rambling thoughts about the goodness of God.  So here goes.

 

Sunday the Buloba church was proudly displaying their new speakers and amp set up (thanks Brian) but the generator wasn’t sufficient to power it continually so it cut off- protect mode.  So we bought them a new generator.  Got to deliver it today.  They were so excited they took it out and started it up.  With nothing to hook it up to.  Then they wanted to hook up the set up but the gas ran out… they will work on it tomorrow and be ready on Friday when we all say goodbye.  And what is great is the Jesus Film guy- Jonathan picked out this particular generator so it could power the sound system as well as lights for the church building when the lights get up.   Buloba Community Church is on the move up!  And they can use the system to show films in town or to do what they call crusades down in town to preach.  Such simple stuff that has been previously unattainable.  And they give glory to God for the gifts because they know that HE is answering prayers!

 

I cannot explain to you how proud I am of this team.  I wish I could express to you their excitement today about being able to share Christ during Door to door today.  They were sharing all the way from Buloba home about what went on and the stories they had.  Unfortunately I sit in the front of the van and could only hear about a third of what they were saying.  I am going to give them homework to turn in stories I can post next week. : )

 

And I am so proud of them as they hauled water from the protected well…the run off well.  They all hauled it up the ¾ mile trip with little complaint.  (Especially Lauren who had Pastor Isaac helping her…and she thought she could be tricky! : )  I know that Jordan just took off up the hill with the can on his head and didn’t look back.  Morgan had a few more issues with the leaking can all over her.  But little UPS Moses walked all the way with her.   About a third of the way up the trek Morgan stopped, grabbed her wet tshirt and said "I am SO sorry you have to do this every day."    He didn’t understand so we had to explain that she was proud of him being able to haul water every day and sorry that she he had to do it.  It was such a picture to me of the understanding we gain and the way we find fellowship with these people.  The blessing that we have to step briefly into their lives and experience a little of what they go through.  And it was a picture to me of Morgan's heart for the Ugandan people.  I saw it repeatedly in each team member at many points in time.  

 I learned a new phrase- You can do it!  But I have since forgotten…I didn’t write it down!  These people are servants.  And they love the kids.  Playing with them all the time, reading with them, drawing on the chalkboard to practice words, learning new things from them.  I have been blessed to see them in action. 

 

And it has been great to have time this trip to just sit and talk with people.  I went with Patrick downtown (away from main street) to a woman’s home that we visited last summer but she wasn’t there= she is in the hospital due to a mental issue.  While over there we asked if I could have the car tag off her car.  They said yes, for a price. So that was a fun detour.  After I got back to the church I got to spend some time with Sister Anna- she is the cook for the church/school/sponsor program and Alice- the aunt of Merci.  They asked a lot of questions about home and if I knew how to do certain things or how things worked back home.  They laughed a lot when I told them I did indeed know how to “dig.”  Because they think most Americans don’t.  I told them there are probably quite a few who don’t but girls down South raised in the country like myself do!  And to spend more time with Pastor Eva and Isaac and to get to know Brother Godfrey (the lead worker for the child sponsorship who was himself once a sponsored child with Compassion).  A-mazing.

 

And I haven’t shared about Joseph down the street- the day we went door to door across the swamp we were requested to stop and pray for a lady in a home.  Her grandson also needed prayer.  He looked to be about 3 and was deaf and lame in both arms and feet- it looked like he was born mentally and physically handicapped at birth.  He could barely crawl and just sat and drooled.  But he had this funny sort of smile on his face.  As I prayed I asked the Father “what do I pray?  What is YOUR will?  Will you set him free or will you teach his family to love him as he IS?”  We all prayed and Pastor Eva said that they should bring him to prayer services at the church.  Have I mentioned they have prayer service every other Friday night from 9 till about 4am?  They are SERIOUS about reaching their community!

 

To see and hear people almost daily coming to know Christ is just overwhelming to my heart.  To hear Amanda say with a smirk today “I got four.”  Then for her to continue by saying   “Four out of five people I visited today prayed to receive Christ.”  Wow.  I told her it was easy focheesy for her now so she better get on it when she gets home!  : )  It is so sweet to hear that people are trusting their lives to Christ and His saving power! 

 

And this morning little Resty- one of my sponsor kids (whom I realized Sunday has been at Buloba since my FIRST visit) brought me a gift- a handwoven mat by her grandmother.  She was so proud to present it to me.  And as the morning went on she was laying around on a bench outside and right before lunch they found me to tell me she had a fever and was laying down in Simon’s house.  She was just so still and pitiful.  And the ONE day I did not bring the first aid kit!  (you past teams will understand how severe that is that I FORGOT the first aid kit….my right hand!)  But I found some Tylenol in my bag and gave her a half of one- I figured it wouldn’t do too much liver damage.  In an hour and half or so she was getting back to her spunky self.  I think all the walking the past 2 days with us shoved her over the edge.  The kids would walk with us until their legs fall off I think!

 

And as I travel through Uganda I pray and ask the Lord what HIS plan for me in all this is… I love coming here and my heart breaks to leave and when I am not here.  But I feel so out of sorts when I am here…a white person trying to help.  Bringing in her Jesus to “fix” people.  But then in Buloba I walk with Eva and hear her heart for the people to know Him.  And I hear Pastor Isaac talk about God’s word to people and it delights my heart.  And I look down the road and see how things are ending for me in one way and I wonder where they are leading.  I desire to know so soon, but God continues to say “Be Available.  Give it to me.  Just say ‘Yes’ to the possibilities.”  And I have to simply say yes.  When it pains my heart to say I cannot.  I know HE can.  When it hurts to say I must finish things I love I know that there are other things coming that will be perfect in HIS time.  Does this mean I am moving to Uganda?  I don’t know.  I just know I have to say that right now I am not saying No to the idea if it is His plan. 

 

I know my heart will hurt Friday because I know that I will not be coming in the fall with the team.  I will miss my friends.  I will miss my kids.  I will miss this place my heart loves- because I see Jesus in the people here.  I have seen what His power through His people can do.  Both those in the states and the ones here.  The prayers and gifts of those in the states have enabled his people to do the work here.  And it has been amazing, life changing work.  And it will continue. 

 

To God be the honor and praise.  And I am thankful to Him beyond words because I have been a small part of it.  I have been able to be witness to it.  And I cannot wait to return to see what God has done in a year.  And to see my friends and family here in Uganda.  It is overwhelming to think of the God sized possibilities and those who will be part of the kingdom because of Buloba Community Church trusting in his Saving power and Truth.   I don’t know how to spell it but the word is “neanziza nnyo”  I am grateful.  

Last day

So it’s 1:15 am Saturday in my body and it is 5:18pm Friday in Alabama.  I am cruising at 35000 feet up and who knows how fast.  And my heart is broken in a billion pieces.  The good kind of hurt that makes you want to do more for the Lord and the kind of hurt because you wish you could do more. 

 

Here is a recap of the day…

We woke up a little later today because we got so much done on Thursday in Jinja and at the market.  We headed out to Buloba with a little apprehension knowing today was the day we would say goodbye.  We spent time hanging out, talking and playing with the adults and kids.  Some of the sponsor children were bringing us notes and little gifts to take home to some of the sponsors.  Mostly we sat and laughed and took it all in.  Lauren busted out the first aid kit and took care of some leg wounds for some of the kids.  It was great to see and some of the kids thought it was kind of humerous. 

 

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know that in the back of my head I was counting down the hours until it was time we had to leave.  My little friend Resty had come to greet us and had been playing.  Next thing I know she is standing in front of me with the most pitiful face.  Her grandmother was saying that her stomach hurt and she didn’t feel well.  I took her in my lap and was holding her on the couch…she was shaking with fever and then began to throw up.  We took her out back and she just sat in my lap shaking, being pitiful, and then getting up to throw up.  Her grandmother said that she had malaria.  My heart broke for her- something so simple to prevent and yet something that they deal with in Uganda.  I wanted to fix it for her, but I could not.  So I offered her words of reassurance and sat her back in my lap until they left to take her to the doctor (the sponsor program would pay for it).   Needless to say, as her grandmother carried her off my heart shattered and tears began to come. 

 

We ate lunch in the house and planned out in our minds what we wanted to share in our Goodbye time.  We headed over to the church building, sang some songs and then the team stepped up one by one. And once again  I cannot express how proud I am of this team.  They shared their hearts and shared God’s word.  They chose a passage they felt fitting of the moment and would encourage our brothers and sisters in Buloba.  It was a sweet time. 

 

Then we had to say goodbye.  We tried to get that done the fastest... it didn’t work so good.  As we drove out of Bulboa we hollered back at our friends along the road.  Once we got out of Bulboa we pretty much were silent for the 45 minute drive home.

 

We got back, packed up, had our last meal and headed off to the airport under a beautiful sunset.  We said by to Lauren and Catherine who are staying another 2 weeks and bye to David, Eddie and Patrick.  We were blessed.

 

And I am running out of battery so I will finish off now and post more later.

 

Thank you for reading.  Thank you for praying.  I am honored by your partnership in the gospel. 

Thursday- bungee and sweet goodness

Thursday May 21

 

Can you say Bungee?  I can.  So today we went to Jinja which is about an hour and a half to the East. We left at 6am and were greeted with a great sunrise as we drove out of Kampala.  We headed past the tea and sugar cane fields.  When we arrived at Jinja we went to the Bunjagali Falls.  It is an amazing display of power.  We paid a guy to swim over the falls holding the jerry can and nothing else.  No lifejacket or floatation device around.  If there had been a crowd they also would have gone around and collected tips. 

 

After the falls we headed down to the Adrift base camp which is a backpacking place meets whitewater rafting or kayaking and bungee jumping.  Lauren, Morgan and Jordan decided they would take the plunge.  Catherine and Amanda were still hanging on to deciding until after they saw the other team members go.  Lauren went first- beautiful swan dive down and her hands hit the water.  Morgan was up next- great leap and a dunk in the nile up to her waist.  (That would be two days in a row for Morgan and the wet tshirt).  Jordan was up next- a little technical difficulty on the leap but everything worked out and in the water he went up to his waist as well.

 

Catherine and Amanda decided to step up to the challenge and went for it.  Josh had a little moral encouragement from Josh.  Amanda needed a little bit of a second “One Two Three Bungee”  to make the jump.  Catherine took no time what so ever and just went for it.  Morgan went for round two regular bungee dive.  Lauren went for a backwards bungee- beautiful execution.  Amazing stuff. 

 

Then up for round three Morgan and Lauren.  They chose to do a front leap with a little bit of a running start.  Fun thing was that when they got done with the fall it was like a swing.  It was amazing stuff.  And the team didn’t believe me that I was nervous every time someone jumped I was incredibly nervous.  But I will tell you, after watching them I almost wanted to do it.  (I do not enjoy the falling feeling, it’s not the scaryness or safety concern.) 

 

After bungee we headed down to the Source of the Nile.  We all hopped in a boat to ride down to the island next to the “source.”  Lake Victoria is right there and the nile begins to flow north.  We got out of the boat and walked around while our guide explained how the source works.  The mile zero marker stone is there so Jordan, Josh, Eddie (our driver), and I crabbed our way across the water to the stone and safely made it back.  The wind was blowing really big so the waves made it a little wet.  We met some guys from Indonesia who wanted pictures with us.  One of the guys said to me “you know indonesia?”  Me- “yes”  Him- “yes, you know us?  The country that supposedly had the tsunami in 2004?”  Me- “oh yes, I know that one.”

 

Then we headed to one of my favorite Bed and Breakfast places on earth- Gately on the Nile.  We had an amazing lunch looking at the Nile/Lake Victoria.  Then we headed across the street to the Amani Baby Cottage- an orphanage for children 5 and under.  There is a woman from TX who moved to Uganda 8 years ago to begin the orphanage.  Danyne said that she is able to adopt out most children by the age of 5- the required age they cannot keep.  She said that they have a few more children but they are special needs- autistic and other types they have had a hard time adopting out.  So if you know anyone interested in special needs adoptions from Uganda Just let me know and I can hook you up! 

No internet

We have no internet. I will update blog Saturday night in Amsterdam.

waterloggged and tattooed

Let’s see…. Today we did eyeglass distribution, door to door, carrying water from the well, stopped again at the super supermarket and 4 team members got tattoos.  Good day. 

 

This morning we got a little bit slower start due to the party event last night.  When we got to Buloba there were probably 10 people sitting and waiting for us.  In total we gave away more than 230 pair of reading glasses.  Today there were quite a few who came in today and broke out with smiles as they put on their glasses.  It is such a joy to provide something so simple that is so life changing.  We are leaving the remaining glasses for the church to do other distribution possibly up at the main road at the market place as servant evangelism. 

 

While we were waiting for more people to come in for eyeglasses Lauren decided that she wanted Amos (our resident artist) to give her an African tattoo.  He willingly agreed.  Then Catherine decided to go for it, Morgan asked for a little one and Josh decided it was a good idea.  So we all watched and the Bulobans thought it was funny. 

 

We realized that we needed to head to the well to carry water back from the run off well down at the bottom of the bush.  So we headed off with the jerry cans and Bulobans following along.  After discussion from the Ugandans they said that round trip the journey is a mile and a half.  Every body survived and Morgan won the wettest Muzungu contest.  Turns out the cap for her jerry can wasn’t so water tight.  After the team got back to the church they all voiced their new appreciation for water that comes out of the faucet.  And we learned a new facet from the water journey- the kids that have to carry water on a regular basis typically are shorter and smaller.  Turns out that the weight of the jerry cans 2x a day compress their spines and keep them from growing like they should.  Until Buloba decides to have a water system piped into people’s homes this is something that won’t be easy to change.  We pray as we go that we would have an ability to create change for this too. 

 

This afternoon the team headed off in 4 teams and there was a lot of reaping going on.  Amanda headed off on a team by herself with church members and David our interpreter.  David knew her hesitation about sharing the gospel so he intentionally would walk away to “be on the phone” or “help” with one of the church members baby.  So out of the 5 homes 4 different people came to know Christ…with Amanda leading the way! : )

And other teams brought back great reports of conversations with Muslims who have questions and challenged the team.  It was a really challenging good time for everyone I think. 

 

And David is working on giving us African names.  I will unveil those tomorrow.  Tomorrow we head off to Jinja to be tourists.  For the Nile boat journey, the falls, the bunjee jumping and lunch at a wonderful bed and breakfast. 

 

Oh and about Amos- he is also our resident liar.  He gave the team tattoos with a sharpie marker.

 

Good night and matooke.  Pics will be posted in about 3 or 4 hours.  

Birthday Africa Style

Communication slowdown…sorry.  We were partying it up last night for Lauren’s 19^th birthday and did not get home til late.  So I blogged in the bed and posted this morning (Wednesday morning). 

 

Tuesday was a lazy type day.  We opened the day with some balloons and a party parachute for breakfast in celebration of Lauren’s Birthday then headed out.  Today was all day eyeglass distribution.  We ended up serving about 120 people today.  It was great to see people putting on their reading glasses then break out in a big smile when they realized they could see the words!  We even had a few younger people. 

 

One guy sat down with Pastor Isaac and Amanda and found that his vision was perfect.  He said that there are times when he loses his vision for 30 minutes or so then will be fine.  So Pastor Isaac and Amanda sat and prayed with him.  Amanda said that he was receiving Christ!  How crazy is that?  To pray for healing of his eyes (or whatever is going on) and pray to change your eternal future?  Wow.

 

After our sort of lazy, sitting around, kind of day we headed back to Kampala and got to go on a “diversion.”  That is the word we call a “detour.”  Seems the president that Catherine was asking yesterday morning about decided to come out to our part of town yesterday afternoon.  That means crazy detour through a neighborhood (read “dirt road in the hood.”)  It was fun to see a little more of Kampala I haven’t seen yet.  I got a copule of good pictures in cognito out the open window. 

 

We changed clothes and headed to the north east side of Kampala.  (We stay in the south east side and Buloba is on the West side).  Took us about an hour to get there but we made it to Pastor Eva’s home after a few U turns.  She lives in a NICE neighborhood.  Nice as in paved roads and really nice homes.  She had invited us over for dinner. 

 

When we got there the team ended up gravitating outside and we discovered that there were 7 people from Buloba back there cooking!  I wondered where they went after lunch today!  We had an amazing buffet and an amazing time listening to the history of Buloba as a team. (yep, I said amazing finally…)

 

Here is the thing- Eva got saved late in life.  2 days after trusting her life to Christ as her Savior a pastor prayed for her and told her she would minister to others with her life.  She pretty much ignored this call for over a year.  Finally after getting hit by a car in the President’s motorcade, being picked up by the President, and being in the hospital for over a week with a broken collarbone and skull she listened.  Another girl prayed for her and told her God wanted her to return to her homeland…which happens to be Buloba.

 

Eva and her sister Joyce shared that Buloba was a dark place they did not like to visit.  They only returned there if they had someone to bury.  (the family cemetery is there).  They began to pray for the darkness there that they inherited from past family sin.  They built the little house there and began the church in 2003. 

 

Eva said that she and her sisters helped fund the church, build it, and lead it there.  Keep in mind it takes Eva an hour and a half to 2 hours to get to Buloba when she goes! 

 

They used their funds to serve meals to get folks to come out to church.  They had people helping plant flowers and other tasks because they knew they would eventually come.  Even the drums they have were purchased by Eva’s sisters.  And the children who played the drums would come back to church because they loved to drum.  And that is how the church was built.  Prayers, vision, and hard work.  So then Cornerstone came in and helped them out so much that they cannot believe it themselves…how far the church has come.   And God is breaking down spiritual walls and setting people free in new ways!

 

We finished off our evening complete with goat meat and cake, and some prayer.  Seriously mouth watering stuff.  Josh ended up with something I thought was a rib- turns out he thinks it was the chicken neck!  Wow.  The cake was a divine thing and we all ate way too much food!  We were blessed to be in Eva’s home with her family and our Buloba friends.  Eva’s husband was not there- he works for a sugar company that had a meeting 120 miles away.  Please pray for Eva- her husband is not a believer.  And pray the Lord would give her traveling mercies each time she goes to Buloba- typically 3 times a week. 

 

Today (Wed.) is eyeglasses this morning and then door to door.  Our last work day in Buloba and sad to think our trip is almost over! So I won’t.  : )

 

I will pst pictures tonight for you to see the birthday hoo haa and everything else.

Love and green cake to all!

 

 

Monday- Jesus, Glasses and Good Times

Monday

 

Do you know what I am going to say?  Today was totally legit (thank you Morgan for the new adjective). 

 

We slept in today since we got home so late then headed off to Buloba.  This morning we were going door to door doing evangelism.  We headed off in three teams- Josh and Catherine with Pastor Isaac and Godfrey.  Amanda, Jordan along with interpreter Dave and some church family.  And then Morgan, Lauren, Me, and Pastor Eva with some church family. 

 

My group headed away from Buloba down through the swamp area up to the other side.  We encountered quite a few Christian brothers and sisters.  We also prayed in front of the Voodoo Shrine gate.  The voodoo shrine is used by those who still believe in witchcraft.  Animal sacrifices and at times human sacrifices occur there.  So we prayed as the spirit lead against the evil there. 

 

We met with a man who attended the Catholic church and was interested in a personal relationship with Jesus but was not willing to leave his church.  When we asked how we could pray for him he shared that his son had died and he wanted us to pray that he would be able to get into heaven if we prayed that.  Pastor Eva explained that it did not work that way.  So we prayed that the Lord would remove the hurt in their hearts over his death.  As we left after we prayed the wife was crying.  Turns out that the son was 15 and working for the voodoo shrine folks.  He went over to another area to shop for them and the people from that community thought he was a thief and stealing from their store.   So they beat him and 4 others then burned their bodies.  Our hearts broke for the hurt they must have.

 

We also spoke with another older catholic lady and shared Christ with her.  After that we headed back to Buloba Church.  As we walked we were called over to a woman’s home.  She shared that she had problems with alcohol and was interested in being a Christian.  We prayed for her and with her.  As we spoke with her there were several men playing cards behind us.  One of the church family tried to get them to stop so we could speak with them.  They said no, they were muslim and were not interested.  I wished I could speak Luganda so I could tell them that when their life ends it will not matter that they spent the afternoon playing cards.  That they had the opportunity to accept Christ that day and change their eternity.  I walked away saddened that their hearts were so hard they would not even stop to listen. 

 

I know the other teams had people come to know Christ as Savior.  Amanda’s sponsor child came to know Christ! And Josh’s team met with a muslim woman for quite some time as they shared with her and answered her questions about our faith and coming to know Christ.

 

When we got back it was great to sit around and share a little with the church family about the morning while we waited on the rest of the team.  And Lauren and Simon (a sponsor child) sat and read the Bible together.  It was a blessing to see Simon reading- he has learned so much this year!  And for him to be reading God’s word delighted my heart. 

 

After a late and abbreviated lunch we set up shop in one of the classrooms for reading glasses distribution.  We only had an hour and a half today and word has not really gotten around yet, but we distributed almost 50 pair!  We had quite a few elderly but also a few younger people and 4 policemen from the police station.  It was great to see the smiles on the faces of the people as they put on the glasses and began to read with them!  It was great.  We know that the word will get around and expect to have a bunch of folks tomorrow.  We have 500 pair total and pray that the people will come to all be served and we have none left and everyone gets a pair. 

 

We headed out and stopped at the supermarket on the way home for some random food and snacks.  ON our way home we ran into a guy that calls himself the World Champion Bike Rider.  We have seen him on the same piece of road 3 days so far.  He said he has never had a wreck and asks how Alabama is every time.  Funny stuff.  Then we headed over to the house Patrick has been building.  In the last year he has been able to get the roof on and now has some window frames and a door frame up.  It is his dream to have teams stay there when he gets it completed.  And Catherine decided she wanted to drive us home (see pictures when I post them : )

 

Tomorrow is eyeglass distribution all day.  Which is nice- it is sort of low key and we get to interact with new people.  It has been a joy to spend time with people more on this trip and build relationships.  Tomorrow night we are heading to Pastor Eva’s home for dinner and we will also celebrate Lauren’s 19^th birthday in some fun ways I am sure. 

 

Once again- thanks for the prayers.  So far we have been pretty situation free- which I contribute it to your prayers. 

 

I will post a few pics later from today.