Since then....

Yet again, the days got away from me and I see that it’s been over 2 months……
What has happened since then?

Well, let's think......
1) I have been diagnosed and treated for Typhoid, despite having had the rather painful vaccination in the UK. Shall I bother next time? Although my follow up blood tests show that my levels of Typhoid have reduced, I am still feeling rather wiped out and exhausted; please pray for energy to be restored and opportunities to truly rest!

2)We were attacked by a GIANT HAIRY CATERPILLAR! But thankfully our hero Kevin (don’t ask his age!)  from next door came to rescue us and chopped it in half with our Panga…..GO KEVIN!

3)There have been lots of children’s birthdays to celebrate and parties for Mary to enjoy as well as the usual activities of searching for Jack Fruit (see top photo) and making mud pies!

4) A new outdoor kitchen, store and staff bedroom has gone up at Hassan’s House so that in the next few weeks our Stella can move over there…….prayers appreciated for Stella not to feel rejected and to settle quickly and for my heart not feel too sad or guilty as I have become rather attached to this precious one in the year she has lived with us.

5) At work, we have been busy preparing for our Christmas bazaar (this saturday) and for Christmas in general; we had lots of fun taking pics of our kids dressed up in Christmas outfits in the pouring rain a few weeks back. 

Our Special Nativity photo where Mary is wearing a skimpy skirt, the shepherd is about to drop Santa's little Elf
and the Camel has eaten too much AND lost his head!!!!

We’ve also had another severely malnourished baby with cerebral palsy come to us in the last week. She is 22 months and 4.8kg so she and her mum are going to be staying with us for a while. We also registered a 12 year old boy with malnourishment on Friday. This child seems to be being starved by his step-mother deliberately as a punishment for being incontinent! Please pray with us about what we should do. The social services systems here are not great and yet we just don’t have the facilities to take in more children. His Father seems to genuinely love him but has to go out to work and comes back late…….Father God, please protect this little lads life and show us your solution!

6) There has been some progress in our adoption journey in that everyone has signed affidavits and our lawyer has filed our case. We are now waiting for a court date where the judge will decide whether to award me with legal guardianship of Mary. Please pray for a date SOON and for a favourable outcome! As I look ahead at the journey ahead, and hear of the struggles that friends are facing with corruption and inefficiency in different offices, it is hard not to get stressed and scared. But as I was reminded recently in a book that I am reading, I should not look down at the problem but UP to the one who is in control and has gone ahead of me!

7. Several weeks back, we also had a week that shook the emotions of many people here….On the wednesday we buried one of our secondary students Wizeye right behind our classroom. Death is so IN YOUR FACE here! Wizeye died from kidney failure but he died in faith and we all know that he is now with Jesus and is completely healed. But of course it is still sad and many of us are missing him and experiencing the real pain of his absence. On the Friday my neighbour Aunt Ketty, the mother of 6 children and P2 teacher in our primary school, received the news that she was cancer free. This is nothing short of a miracle as 6 months before she had been diagnosed with a cancer that has an 80-90% mortality rate! God is AMAZING!!! But can we understand why he chooses to heal some in this life and heal others in the next? NO!!!!! 

A.Ketty with her family.

The thing I will always remember about Wizeye was the day that Kimberly and I took him to Acacia Mall in Kampala. He had been seeing the Kidney Doctor but we decided to go into this new and very posh shopping mall to get some snacks for the way home. To understand the impact this seemed to have on Wizeye, you have to realise that he came from a very poor family, living deep in the village with no running water or electricity. So, as he entered and saw the shining elevators, tiled floors and lit fountains, his face was full of awe! Pointing at the decorative waterfall he turned to me and asked “Auntie, is that where they fetch water?” I had to try really hard to hide my laughter! Anyway, as we stood by his grave and watched them lower his casket into the ground, God brought the thought to my mind; ‘if Wizeye was amazed by Acacia Mall, just think how amazed he is now as Jesus is showing him around heaven!’ Later that evening, I read the passage in Revelation that speaks of the new heaven and the new earth and I could picture Jesus showing Wizeye around and see the look on his face. Perhaps he is asking Jesus if he can fill his jerry can from the river of life :)


So that's all for now folks, but we will leave you with a few more pics we've taken over the past few months. Life here is definitely a challenge but there are many beautiful moments in it which bring joy and refreshment and remind us that we are serving a truly amazing God who definitely has a sense of humour as well as awe inspiring creativity!

much love as always from Kate & Mary x x x x