The More The Merrier

Has it already been over three months since I left America? Time is such a weird thing. Sometimes I feel as though it has been three years, and other times I feel like it's just been three weeks. Does it sometimes feel like a long time because of all the new experiences I've encountered? Does it sometimes feel like a short time because I still have so much to learn and experience? Thinking about it blows my mind, so I just go on taking one day at a time. And God fills each day with enough excitement of its own. Some days (ok, most days) it's chasing a lizard out of my room and other days it's welcoming new kids into GSF.

We had an especially exciting past few weeks welcoming five new boys into GSF. Whenever children are brought into GSF, I can't help but think of how much their life is changed. Abraham, Elijah, Godfrey, Joseph, and Pesto all made GSF their new home this week. Abraham and Elijah, ages 4 and (almost) 2, are brothers. They are attached at the hip, which makes me so glad that they have each other! Godfrey, Joseph, and Festo (ages 2 weeks, 2 years, and 5 years) are another sibling set of all brothers. It's been a delight to have all of these new boys around! But my heart aches knowing why they had to come in the first place.

Abraham and Elijah

Joseph and Festo

Godfrey

Thank you for your prayers concerning the toddler house. God has definitely been blessing the efforts to improve the house. With the increase of new GSF kids, we've jumped from 16 toddlers to 20 toddlers in this short amount of time. The house definitely feels maxed out, but the more the merrier....right? We also made some changes such as rearranging the bedrooms and playroom to improve interaction. However, I know that lasting change will only come as I come alongside of the Ugandan caregivers who log the real time with the children. For those who don't know, circle time refers to sitting in a circle (haha, just as the name implies), and doing group interactions, such as reading stories, singing, dialogue, and any other little activities. I modeled "circle time" on one day, and the caregivers caught on quickly. When I walked into the toddler house the other morning, two of the caregivers had all of the children in a (sort of) circle and were singing, reading a book, and encouraging call and response with the children. It was so precious and exciting to watch them interact with the children in such a nurturing way!

Leticia and Elijah

Speaking of toddlers, two of the little boys, Richard and Elijah, are in the clinic right now. Richard (you can see some pictures and read about him here!) is a little boy with sickle cell who is also fighting a blood infection. He's been in the clinic since Sunday as the doctor treats him to get rid of the infection. Elijah (one of the new boys! You can also read about him here) is struggling with a polyp and has to undergo a procedure to get it removed. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon in the clinic with the two boys. Health care is just so different here.. and I've never had a greater appreciation for the facilities and care that we get in America. But no matter the hospital or facility, I know God is in control and can heal His children. So please keep Richard and Elijah in your prayers!

Passing the time at the clinic with Richard

If you are from the Community Evangelical Free Church area in Elverson, PA you may remember me teaching missions emphasis at Vacation Bible School back in July. I taught about Uganda and focused on GSF. The last night of VBS each child made two crafts: one to take home as a reminder to pray for the GSF children, and one for me to take to GSF to encourage the children by letting them know they are being prayed for. I had been praying about a good time to give these out to the GSF children in a at least semi-orderly and meaningful way. I was given the opportunity to teach "junior church" for all of the GSF children on Sunday, and it ended up being a great time to go ahead and hand out the Africa cut-out crafts! The kids were so excited to receive the gift as well as look at the pictures of all of the "mzungu" (white) kids. I had the GSF kids sing "Higher Higher" as a thank you. Daniel had taught this African praise song to the children at Vacation Bible School, so I'm hoping that the kids who attended VBS still remember it! I included (at the end of this post) pictures of the kids receiving the Africa cut-outs as well as two "thank you" videos from the GSF kids, one being the "Higher Higher" song. I hope you enjoy!

In other news, I started taking Luganda language lessons last week. We will see how that goes =) Also, Daniel Iya, my boyfriends, just got accepted into the internship program for eMi (Engineering Ministries International). You can read more about the organization on their website, http://www.emiusa.org/. I'm very excited for Daniel; God is fulfilling Daniel's passion to use his gifts and education in missions work. I'm also VERY excited because it means that Daniel will be in Uganda for 6 months starting this January...!! It's awesome to see God working in Daniel and me, leading us both into missions work individually and in a way that brings our futures together.

Thank you for continuing to support me through your prayers - I really appreciate it! I have some updated requests to help guide your prayers.

- Pray for the five new boys who have joined GSF. Please pray that their transition would continue to go well and that they would feel comforted by the presence of God during this difficult time.

- Pray for Richard and Elijah, that God would give the doctors wisdom on how to best care for the children.

- Pray that God would continue to give me wisdom on how to expand and improve the sponsorship program.

- Pray for Daniel as he prepares for and raises money for his internship with eMi.

- Praise God that Casia has fully recovered from Malaria!

- Praise God for His work in the toddler house. Please pray that He would continue to have His hand in that house and that the children may experience God's love through their caregivers.

Here are the thank you videos!