Shopping and Outreach

First, I have to say that we had the biggest storm last night. I don't think I have ever been in such a storm. The lightening was constant...the thunder shook the house and the rain poured! We tried to fall asleep...I think I only screamed twice:) The last two days have been filled with shopping for sponsored children. The items that we have been buying are....Trunks, mattresses, blankets, sugar, backpacks, bedsheets, shoe polish and brushes, jelly..what they call lotion for their skin, box files..for highschool paperwork, shower shoes, writing notebooks, pens and pencils, slips for under skirts, graph books, art pencils, socks, math sets, toothpaste and toothbrushes, towels, knives...they teach the girls how to peel and cut food, calculators, soap, snacks, sanitary pads for girls, and locks for the trunks. As you can see, it is a lot and it takes a long time to buy. We have not even started on shoes...I think we will go up to the school and measure feet first and then tackle shoes. It is not like the US where you can go into a big store and find everything you need and then leave. We go from shop to shop and African time is just slow. It is good to slow down though. There was one highschool boy that is not sponsored that we bought a mattress, bed sheets and blanket for. His name is Fred and he is the only boy at Fountain that is in a wheel chair. His bedding and mattress were very poor quality and it hurt his back. If they don't have a good mattress, they are just laying on wooden slats. We gave him his new stuff yesterday and he cried. He kept saying thank-you and God is so good. We said a prayer for him and then Sarah M. wheeled him back to class. If anyone feels that they can sponsor Fred, please contact Grace Giving. We also had bought beans, flour, sugar and rice for outreach. While myself, Todd, Sarah M. and Pastor went shopping, Mo, Marilyn and Martha stayed at the house and filled big ziplock bags with the food so we could hand them out in the afternoon. We did outreach in Bukeeka. Sarah S. had 5 older women that she wanted us to bless. The first we visited went prostrate on the ground when she saw us. She was so thankful that we were there. She lives all alone because her only daughter died. The second woman sleeps ona thin mat on the floor, so we will be going back to gift her with mattress as well. She had ten children, but all of them have died. The third woman was Muslim, and sick...Sarah S. says that we don't just visit the people associated with the school or church, they visit all those in need to win them to Christ. This Muslim woman wanted us to pray for her and her sickness. We will be taking her a mattress too...she is sleeping on the dirt floor. The fourth woman was a very serious woman, not many smiles. She is alone too...meaning, no family. Someone does come to help her cook. Finally the last one lives with her daughter, who is mute, and her her 7 grandchildren. The daughters husband had left the family. They only survive on blessings from others. At each house (hut) we prayed for each woman. They were all so very thankful for the food we brought. The group had some tears as well. I took lots of pictures. We are having trouble getting pictures to load in a timely manner. The two we have shared took about an hour, so that is why we have not posted many. When we got back to the Sityos we had dinner with Peter(our driver from our last two trips) and his wife Asiina and their daughter Precious. There were lots of laughs and Peter shared his story of how he came to be Born Again! (that's how they say they are a christian) Well, I am going to close. Breakfast is ready. If anyone has questions about anything, just ask it in the comments and we will answer. Have a blessed day.

Beth