I've got JOY down in my heart

This past week has been filled with so many great moments and memories that have filled my heart with JOY!!

Tuesday we went to the Abaana's Hope land and got to be there for the bore hole dedication. It was so awesome to see the how proud the workers were of their work that they put into making the bore hole and to know what an impact it will have in the community. These men are so dedicated to their work and work hard at what they do!

Us with the Abaana's Hope workers

We brought our new friends from Gulu, Sharon and Joyce, to the land and they helped translate for us with the people that we are forming relationships with. Having a language barrier makes it so hard to communicate with the people so we were all so thankful to have Sharon and Joyce come with us. These 2 girls are so sweet and both love the Lord! They are such a help and I look forward to getting to know them better as we spend more time at the land.

Joyce, Me, and Sharon

We also we went to the land again on Thursday with the goal of driving around to get more of an understanding of what is available in the community (drug stores, markets, doctors, etc.) We drove around for a while and discovered a drug store that was run by a woman who is a nurse runs. She was very nice and informed us that the local government run health center send patients to her for better diagnosis and for medicine... kind of ironic but definitely information we needed to know. We continued to drive some more and stopped to eat our lunch at the church/community center that is across the street from one of the primary schools. We got there right before the school let out for lunch and being that a group of muzungus (white people) are always an attraction, we attracted a crowd of students. We finished our sandwiches and started playing games and singing...which turned into dancing. It was so much fun being surrounding by so many children FILLED with joy! I love hearing African music and songs but especially when they are worshiping the Lord!

 

One of my favorite things to do is to walk the children from the village to school each morning. We get up and head to the village around 7:00 then walk about a mile down the road to Kasubi Central Primary School where most of the children attend. I walk with Irene, Winnie, and Charles and the time that I have walking with them is so sweet. We get to sing songs, learn bible verses, and just get to talk each morning. I continue to pray for this time that we will be able to use it for God's glory and get to learn and grown together.

Me and my sweet Irene

I love walking to school with these sweet siblings!

Today has been a lot of fun! We all spent the day in the village helping in the gardens, washing clothes, fetching water and doing other Saturday chores. But today was also hard because it was the last full day with the 5 June interns. They are leaving early tomorrow morning to make their way back to Kampala before flying back to the US on Tuesday. God truly blessed this group of girls this past month! We all bonded instantly and have learned so much from one another. Each one of them has different talents and interests but they are all such strong Christian girls. I have been encouraged by them daily not only in the words, but also by the way the life each day. They are all living examples of Christ and servants of Him. I will miss these girls but look forward to seeing them in the fall and I also look forward to to having the 3 new interns join us next week.

We love you girls and will miss you so much!

Please pray for the safety and travel of the 2 teams during the next week. Also continue to pray for Jamie and the baby. Little girl should be arriving any day now and Jamie asks for your prayers: that the midwife will be bale to get here safely and in time, that we will have power, that her anemia will not cause any complication, and that she and the baby will remain safe and healthy through it all.