a letter from Abby about the boys we sponsor

Here is a letter I received from Abby about the boys we sponsor:

Hey Gina,

About Eddy, he now comes to our street programs regularly and hopefully will begin sleeping in the church soon. There are 2 new homes opening up for 40 kids in our street programs to go into and we want Eddy to be given another chance in one of these homes (praise the Lord for them opening!) so within 2 weeks, as long as Eddy stays around in our programs, and I am sure because he is such a smart kid that he will, he will be going to a different home off of the streets.

Amos and Godfrey are also doing wonderfully! Amos adapted to the home the moment we brought him home. he is such a sweet, responsible, and caring kid. Godfrey is also doing great, he is passionate, caring, and loves to make people happy!

The boys are on school holiday now for 4 weeks which is exciting, Davis came home with us from boarding school and is having a blast. I bought 4 pairs of roller skates for the boys to share, it was the most hilarious thing watching them as they learned. They now have the hang of it and we often take them to the basketball court at the university nearby to practice. We are also reading through the Chronicles of Narnia series with the boys, especially on their holiday and they LOVE it, they just love books. It has all 6 or 7 of the books in one big, fat book and we ARE going to finish it! =-) We are also reading through a book about Jesus, (it goes through the New Testament- all of His teachings and His life, death, and resurection) for devotions each night and then talking about it after we read it

Pious, Dissan, and Shafik are composing more songs to sing at church- they are so cute, they love performing and writing songs to praise God for the new life that He has given them.

William, Peter, Amos, Shafik, and Kateregga also got special treats for being the "cleanest" boys in the house and doing such a great job working hard to wash their clothing and keep it clean.

God bless,

Abby

an update from Abby about Uganda

Hey family and friends

God has been so good to us, yesterday were able to move all of our big family out of the slums in Kivulu into a big and beautiful house in Wakalega, Kampala. Its a big and beautiful house were the boys can play away from the drugs, prostitution, clubs, and gambling of Kivulu! We are praying that everything will continue to move forward with our new land as well as our paperwork continues to pull through with A Perfect Injustice and as we look for land (we did find a really beautiful 22 acres at a great price and are just trying to tell now whether it is legitimate). Rent in our new home isnt cheap and we cant wait to have our own place in the village.

God is bringing many visitors in the next few months to help with the work which is also such a blessing. Please pray as we try and begin a new project for prostituted young women counseling them and teaching them how to make jewlery so that they can know how special they are and how much God loves them and have a life off of the street. It is overwhelming starting this project but I know that it is something that God has called me to do. Please pray that He will keep his hand over it, heal the girls that we are working with, and give us wisdom. We are hoping to model the project after our "bead guys" so that after a 4 or 5 months or so, lots of counseling, and love the girls will be able to run the business on their own, and that it will be "theirs". We will purchase the products from them and help them find other markets where they can sell them as well.

Things smoothed out in our street programs. We will be starting them up again in 2 months or so andd are already talking with other churches and people now about restarting them more organized then before, with as many people working together as possible to love on street children for Christ.

Thank you for all your prayers,

God bless,

Abby

Here at the airport

What a roller coaster ride. First I had a flight, then I was bumped, and now I have a flight again. So I am here at the airport and patiently waiting. I am so very excited to share with you about the work here in Africa. It is a heartbreaking and heartwarming work. Abby came with me to the airport to see me off and then got a call this morning that the official (mayor) of Kivulu (the slum) was not going to allow the street kids to sleep at the church. He said they were dirty and were little thieves. Uncle David called Abby and he told her that the man probably just wants money. It is almost funny to think that the mayor would be calling the street kids dirty and thieves. The slum is filled with drugs, prostitution, open sewers, and violence. But it is not surprising that he would want money. The suitcase that we filled with supplies for the kids is now filled with beaded necklaces. The sale of those necklaces funds well over half of what Abby does. So please buy a necklace! I met the young men that make the necklaces. Five of them sleep in a one room apartment. Several don't know how to read but would like to learn. They are former street kids. So they have gainful employment and Abby can fund so MANY different things. I will post more pictures once I get home. I have some truly special pictures that I know you will be blessed to see. Last night when Uncle Julius and Uncle David went down to the church to give the street boys some warm tea and a bun and to pray with them one of the boys wanted to use a cell phone to make a call to Abby. So David called Abby and one of the boys wanted to especially wish me a safe journey and for God to keep me safe. Very humbling. Because I feel like he was really praying for all of you too. May God give us the heart to help hurting people wherever we go; whether it is in Phoenix, Paraguay, Shonto, Uganda or whever He has us at the time. God bless you all and I will see you soon.

Here are some pictures

The birthday boy getting his card-he was so excited!

This is my shower

This is a man making bricks for the new house with African Hearts

This is Aslan and Abby.

Flight Cancelled

Well, I am certainly glad I bought travel insurance. The volcano in Iceland has spread ash all over Europe and British Airways is not flying and the rumor is two weeks to clear the ash. S I will be re booking probably with Emirates Airlines and going to Dubai. At least my clothing is pretty modest. But I may have a number of weird stops. I went to church today with Abby and Moreen. It was good but I really miss Bob's preaching. So like I tell of the volunteers, "flexibility is the name of the game in ministry." So I am getting a big spoonful of my own advice. I went to the market today and bought some videos for my trip. We also bought some new videos for the boys. They got August Rush, The Blind Side, Hachiko, and some animated videos. They love August Rush and she got a translated one for them. If you think about it it is sort of an Oliver twist type story. They can relate to a boy searching for his parents. The DVDs cost a dollar and most are current. They are legal videos here in Uganda, but I wonder about the US. Actually I am PRETTY sure they are copies. Especially since I saw the guy copying them, ha!
Yesterday we took the boys from the street to a big soccer field. The game was boys vs staff. they really had fun. One of the boys found a tiny little kitten and wanted to give it to me. My heart just melted. The street boys gave Abby a kitten and she named her Aslan, like the lion out of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. The kids have led such a violent life, she encourages them to be not only be kind to each other but also animals. Both houses have dogs. The house here in the slum has the sweetest dog. Spoiled rotten and he loves the boys.
I can't wait to see you but I don't know when that will be.
MY PHONE IS NOT WORKING-SORRY-I CAN'T SEND OR RECEIVE TEXTS.

Pictures from Uganda

Here are some pictures from Uganda:

Uganda Monday Evening

In Arizona it is lunch time and here in Uganda it is 10:30 PM. I have had a couple of truly amazing days. Sunday we went to a church, Calvary Chapel, that has an American Pastor. This church spoonsors a program called Front Line and is a ministry to street children. They have a lot of British and American volunteers come and help. They seem to stay anywhere from four to six months. It takes that long to aquire a little Logandan and to gain the trust of the kids. We took the kids from the house to church with us. We then went to lunch with some Ugandan and American and British leaders. That afternoon we went to the pool with all of the boys. They had so very much fun. Just like all kids do on a hot afternoon. They boys really consider themselves a family and the Ugandan men that are counsellors at the home are their mentors. The boys call the men Uncles and the women, like Abby, Auntie. They call me Jajja which means grandmother. I am honored. Then Sunday night we went to the orphanage in Senge. It is run by African Hearts. Abby volunteers with them. They are a Ugandan group that works with street boys too. But it was late when we arrived and I wasn't able to really meet the boys. The next morning they left early to go to school and I was still sleeping. We then returned to The Kivulu house, the safe house, in Kampala. I spent the afternoon using the wonderful facepaints that you donated with the street kids, but they had to bathe first. I really had fun and they did too. Monday, Wednesday and Friday they have a program for the kids, they have a short school lesson, then they feed them, play games with them and tell them a Bible story. The boys can also get soap, clothes and recieve medical care. Then tonight I told the Bible story to the boys. I watch thirty or forty boys curl up on cardboard, or a plastic burlap sack to go to sleep. Some had towels or sheets, but they all layed on a hard dirt floor. But at least it is safe. Abby has hird two guards to watch them. Tonight she had to remind them to not sleep. One of the boys gave me a bracelet to wear. I will wear it with joy. I ate posho and beans for dinner, the same thing the boys get almost every night. They had pineapple and they shared with me. Generosity in the midst of great poverty. It just goes to show that poverty of the purse does not mean poverty of the heart. Please pray for the boys and Abby and her team both Ugandan and American.

Here in Uganda

Today is Saturday and I am here in Uganda. I spent my first night here at the safe house (Half way House) for the boys who are off the street and attending school. There are 13 of them. I also attended a program on Friday for the street boys. They played games, heard a Bible story and had a nutritious lunch. Kampala is a bustling city filled with motorcycles, walking people and Toyota minivans. The streets at one time were paved but have never been repaired, so they are a mess. The colors and smells are vibrant and pungent. The people friendly and the weather warm and humid. I have already taken some great photos and I will try to post some later. I am sort of in a hurry today as Abby and I and some of the Ugandan staff are taking three boys to the zoo. This is a VERY special treat that they earned. One boy consistently keeps his bed neat and clean and takes good care of himself, one was the top of his class in school, and the other is the most self disciplined. Abby and the staff were thrilled to see the items that I brought (that the church gave). They were the most excited about the soccer balls, pumps, and art supplies. Note to self...Abby likes foo-foo tea and coffee! HA! Tonight I will be going to the Senge house and stay there for at least a day or two. I am excited to see another part of Uganda. The Safe house is truly a refuge in the storm. It is located in a slum surrounded by trash, bars and violence. They lock the doors tightly and regulate who can come in.
Abby bought all of the boys athletic suits (pants and t-shirts). They were thrilled! The three boys are, of course, wearing theirs to the zoo. Tonight we are taking all of the boys swimming and I will try to videotape as much as I can.
I love you all and I will write more when I can.

Mission Trip To Uganda

On my way to Uganda tomorrow. I leave Monday, April 5, at 7:20 at night on a direct flight to London-Heathrow. I will then have an eight hour layover and get on a plane to Uganda. I arrive there at 7:30 on April 7. Whew! The purpose of this trip is to investigate the efforts there in Kampala and see if that is a project we would be comfortable partnering with. I will be visiting Abby Tracy and her Ugandan co-workers as they minister to street children. My prayer is that I would be a blessing to Abby and the whole team, and I can't wait to meet the kids. I have all of my clothes in a carry-on and I have 5 bags! The bags have clothes, school supplies, and fun stuff like soccer balls and art supplies. I am also taking bandaids and antibiotic creme. I will be returning to Phoenix on April 20. I am hoping that I will be able to use this blog to communicate with you all. If not, I will definitely update it as soon as I get back. So check back often and pray for the ministry in Uganda.