a favorite picture

This is a picture I absolutely love.  Mark’s mom took it when she was here recently and I had thought about posting it.  In light of the fact that yesterday was Father’s Day, I thought I would post it in celebration of my best friend who is growing more and more into an incredible father.  What I admire all the more is the way, he loves all the children here and desires to be a picture to them of how much their Heavenly Father loves them.  He will be the first to tell you that he is not perfect, but I absolutely love the fact that one his highest priorities in life is to become more like His Heavenly Father. 

Angel, Joanne and their mom

The van pulled up right by our house and I walked out to greet our social worker and nurse along with 4 month old Angel, 5 year old Joanne and their mom.  Their mom was discharged from the hospital and was a little nervous about letting her kids go to an orphanage so the social worker wisely choose to bring the mom here to see where her girls would be staying.   Fortunately, their mom should be fine; we are hoping she just needs help getting back on her feet so her girls can move back with her eventually.  It is obvious she loves her girls.

 

When Joanne got out of the van she refused to shake my hand or even look at me.   Angel looked at me and her tiny face lit up with a big smile.  We took Joanne to see her new foster mother, Ursula and get her some new clothes.   Although, Joanne was unsure of this new place and this new woman who was going to be her foster mother, within 5 minutes she was clinging to Ursula and seemed to be more agreeable to the situation.  I left Angel with her mom at Joanne’s new house while I went to look for some clothes Angel’s size and a few more supplies for Joanne.  Several hours later, Ursula and Joanne brought Angel to our house with big smiles on their faces.  Joanne was on her way to the tailor to get her uniforms so she could start school on Monday.

 

Angel has done really well in our home.  She is very tiny so we are working on fattening upJ.  We are hoping to get her on a good schedule (which she is close to it already) and move her to the baby’s home soon.  Pray for Angel, Joanne and their mom for spiritual restoration, physical healing, and practical training  for their mom and that some day they will be able to be back together again.  One of our desires here at the orphanage is to begin training and working with mothers like Joanne and Angel’s so they can nurture and provide for their children. 

 

 

 

Angel

We were informed yesterday about a woman dying of AIDS at a local hospital.  Her 5 year old is taking care of her while she cares for the 4 month old baby.  At the hospitals here, each patient has to have their own person to stay with them and take care of their every need at the hospital.  GSF is taking the 5 year old and the baby in to GSF today.  The 5 year old will be put in one of the girls’ homes and we will be keeping the baby.  Their names are Joann and Angel.  Yes, we get the Angel J.  We’re praying she is J!

 

Angel

We were informed yesterday about a woman dying of AIDS at a local hospital.  Her 5 year old is taking care of her while she cares for the 4 month old baby.  At the hospitals here, each patient has to have their own person to stay with them and take care of their every need at the hospital.  GSF is taking the 5 year old and the baby in to GSF today.  The 5 year old will be put in one of the girls’ homes and we will be keeping the baby.  Their names are Joann and Angel.  Yes, we get the Angel J.  We’re praying she is J!

 

A new business

There is a town named Lugazi which is about 30 minutes from us that we pass every time we go to Kampala.  As we go by, we always look for our favorite sign and are sure to point it out to any visitor in the car with us.   While bringing the Gwartney family to GSF, our van overheated so it gave a great opportunity to take a picture. 

The Gwartney Team

At the beginning of May, we had some very special guests come visit us in Uganda. Mark's Mom, his brother and sister-in-law, Scott and Cathy, and their two girls, Christy and Casey were able to come, do Awana games with the kids at the orphanage during the school break and then go on Safari with us. Mark's mom was able to stay an another 10 days which was an extra blessing. One fun part of the trip was that our kids did not know that Christy and Casey were coming and were completely surprised when they walked through the airport door. What an incredible gift to be able to share with family what it is like to live and work here! We had a great time and so grateful for it!

Interns are In

Our five interns arrived Friday evening.   Most of them are staying for 7 weeks; one of them is staying for a year.  It has been a joy to have Ben, Chris, Margaret, Sarah and Zach with us these days.  They are all 20-24 years old and full of fresh life.  The interns are teaching Sunday School, helping the kids write to their sponsors, teaching in the school, working with our special needs kids daily, assisting with visiting teams and doing some manual work around the campus.

 

Zach is a friend from NICS who teaches at ICS Singapore.  Ben just graduated from Ole Miss.  Chris has been in junior college and has enrolled at Mississippi State for the fall.  Sarah and Margaret are both students at UNC-Chapel Hill.  We are grateful to have each of them here!