Prayers From a Child
"Dear Jesus, don’t let the little kids eat from the garbage anymore and give them mommies and daddies.” Esperanza softly prayed on the evening of July 7th. Earlier in the day we had played and ministered to a handful of street children. We also prayed for many in the hospital. In the midst of such adversity God still showed up. While ministering to the street children, the Lord gave me a very clear picture of one teen boy’s original design. I was able to pray it over him and really speak life into him. I could tell it hit home! Bruce also got to lead a teen to the Lord!
After lunch I swung Esperanza on my back with Bruce and Gryphin close behind we entered the women and children's ward at Uganda's Government hospital. We would go to a bed, talk to the patient or parent then pray.
As soon as I’d be done Esperanza would point to the next person and say “pray for that person mama”. So off I’d go to the next bed. We prayed for about 15 patients. Every person was so inviting and hungry for prayer. Some of the wounds were horrific. Bones protruding from the skin, facial and body burns, and large infected areas too ghastly for description. My heart ached as I saw small children in so much pain. We didn’t see anything miraculous that day but God doesn’t always heal right away so we will be back next week believing God to show up.
July 8th we found ourselves at the base all day helping with their garden and landscaping. Esperanza and Gryphin pulled 100 weeds all by them selves. They then helped me serve the others with fruit snacks and much needed water. It was hard manual labor and everyone was tired by lunch time. Naps were in order for kiddos and Taylor was kind enough to hang out in front of our house until they woke. While Bruce and I headed over to Emma (short for Emmanuel) and Betsy's house. They are one of the YWAM base leader’s here in Jinja. She has made some beautiful bracelets, necklace's, earrings, and varied selection of shoulder bags etc. Unfortunetly it has been difficult to get the word out about these hidden treasures. Bruce had a few girls/women from campus model them and we took photos of her entire catalog. Which is quite extensive considering each piece is handmade. I have begun creating a basic blog for her to share the jewelry. Once it is complete I will share with all of you!
The next day, July 9th, we had a day off. We adventured through downtown Jinja as a flurry of cars and bodas scurried about. Bodas are motorcycle taxi's who carry a rather circus like five, six even seven passengers at times. Usually about three. upwards The shops were in full swing and many wanted us to come in. Our highlights were that we got material so Bruce and Gryphin can get Uganda shirts made (we didn’t find material yet for Esperanza and I). We slurped down our first cold drink in a week and I got an internet stick. With the internet stick I can now stay atop of our blog and I can start working on the jewelry blog I talked about earlier.
Each day has held such a variety of experiences. Today we cleaned and painted a birthing clinic. Walking into the birthing clinic made me so appreciative for our medical services back home. While we cleaned the kids happily scrubbed away for over 30 minutes (that is a long time for a four and two year old)! They then proceeded to play outside with the surrounding children as we finished up. Monday the group will be heading out there once again to finish up.
Thank you all for your support! It truly has been a blessing! We have felt your prayers and are very encouraged to know we are not alone in this journey.
