The miracle of the bales

Kateh and I went to look for bales of clothes in Jinja, not knowing where to go or who to talk with. We walked along the street, and we prayed that Jesus would show us who to ask with. Kateh said let's go into that bookshop and ask if they know anything about bales of clothes. We talked with them; they said - let the white girl sit here in the shop with us - and one of us will go with you to require for it. I sat there, listening to music they were playing - which was Christian music. They offered me a coke, which I gladly took. Kateh and Mary came back after 1 hour. They had good information to give us, with prices and when they bales would possibly arrive.
We left the place, very encouraged.

Two days later we came back to Jinja, and the guy had a bale of t-shirts available. The seller needed the money, so we scram belled it together. Because the person that was supposed to give us the money wasn't able to come. Mary from the shop lent us what we didn't have. We got the bale and placed it in the bookshop. After paying we were left with no money.

That morning when we left Kamuli, where the orphanage is, I brought my foreign currency - why well, who knew we needed money... GOD.
I realized it was there, so we went to the exchange place and ....... we had money. God is so funny. The money had been given to me by a friend, cuz she was not returning to Kenya anymore and had some shillings.....
We were able to get some food, find a place to stay - cuz we needed to be in Jinja early the next morning.

It has been one blessing after another, God is so good - and takes good care of us.

132 children, what to do?

Living at an orphanage that now has 132 children, it’s quite something. There are so many things happening, quite fascinating watching what is going on. Then needing to bring some correction and helping them understand that they can’t hit their brother or sister. Cultural differences, tribal issues….so much to learn.

Some people have wondered about how long the children can stay at the orphanage! This is their home, and they are always welcome. The day they descide to move after they are 18, then they can. It's their home.

It hit me the other day that the kids here are orphans, the tears flooded. They don’t have parents, this is true – but I’ve never thought of how they lost their parents. Reading their stories made me cry even more. Most of their parents died in HIV/AIDS. Many of the kids from the north lost their parents when the rebels came into their village and set the huts on fire, or beheaded them, killed them on the spot, in crossfire….it hit me hard. I started thinking about my family….what a blessing it is to have one.

Two nights ago, we got a visitor coming with a child. The child, an 8 years old boy – don’t speak any other language than what his tribe does. At the orphanage, we don’t have anyone that comes from his tribe. He is all by himself, lost his mother in AIDS 3 weeks ago, his father died 7 years ago, coming into a home where nobody speaks his language…….imagine. He cried lots, which is understandable. The next day, we found out that there are similarities with another tribe’s language….which makes life easier for him. He is now playing with the smallest children, and seems to get along with life at the orphanage.