Oasis of Life

Friends,

It is difficult to put the past two days into words. On Thursday K and I went shopping for basic necessities for the Oasis of Life Orphanage. You know how much I love to shop. So add to that the fact that I was shopping for children who needed it so badly...bliss. Our driver Godfrey, took us around town to buy all the things we were taking. We had to get a truck to get it all there! Thank you!!

There is something wrong with my computer so the picture above is the only one I can pull up right now, but I have lots more to share with you! This is a lot of the kids and to the left you can see the food, etc that we delivered.

We pulled up and friends, I just can’t describe to you their reaction. They all came running up to us and hugged us and they were clapping and saying, “It’s a miracle, It’s a miracle!” “God has sent you.” “It’s a miracle!” It was overwhelming to say the least and I could barely hold it together. We went inside the gate and they had us sit down and they sang to us song after song. They danced. They clapped. And they must have told us thank you a hundred times. Then they took us through the house, if you can call it that, and showed us their rooms. We went out back and saw that they didn’t have power or water because they couldn’t pay their bills.

There are about 30 kids there we think. The girls have a house and the boys stay a few roads over. The orphanage is run by a nearby church. They often have no food at all, and are lucky if they get one meal a day. So imagine when we pulled up with FOUR months worth of food!

Here's what we were able to do because of YOU!:

They have four months worth of food- Posho, beans, rice (staples in Uganda)

They have soap to bathe in and soap for clothes

They have electricity- we went to the power company and paid their debt and paid it forward so that they have at least 3 months of service.

They have toilet paper, toothbrushes, and toothpaste, vaseline for their skin

They have mattresses to sleep on. Some of the kids were sleeping on the wire part of the beds with no mattress. And they sleep 2 and 3 kids to a bed and several on the floor.

Their medical bills have been paid! The pastor was telling us that every time they need to take a child in they get hassled because they can't pay. We were able to go over to the doctor and clear their tab.

They ALL have shoes.

They ALL have mosquito nets.

Wow! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you just did for these kids! You are the hands and feet of Jesus! What you did for the least of these, you did for HIM!

When we went to the surgery (the doctor) there was a boy there from the orphanage. His teacher had beaten him so bad the day before that he couldn't walk or sit. He had to spend the night at the surgery. She beat him with a wire for not writing his name on his paper. Seriously, I was sick to my stomach.

School isn't free here and the teachers get upset because the orphanage can't pay for the students to go. So she took it out on poor Benjamin.

We prayed over Benjamin and paid his bill. I wish there was more I could have done. And I wanted to ring that teacher's neck! That's life here friends. It's hard.

This is not the last you will hear about this orphanage. Kim and I will be going home to talk and pray with our husbands about how to serve them in the future.

And lots more pictures when I figure out what's going on with my computer!

There is much work to be done here. I am grateful to be here. Doing this.