Monday June 12

Today was a long and productive work day.  We spent the entire day at the Leganga Disabled School. We have now finished digging a 10 foot hole for a new latrine and have almost finished painting the entire kitchen area.  We were able to give walkers to 2 of the boys who desperately needed them.  The parents were thrilled at the simple gesture.  It was amazing to see how these parents brought their disabled children to school however they could.  Some came on motorcycle taxis, strapped to their parents with blankets, some being literally carried by parents on foot.  One boy's dad had turned a stool upside down and mounted it on the back of his bicycle using it as a type of child seat.  It's amazing to see how joyful they are despite such difficulties.   We will be going back tomorrow morning for the last day finishing up all our work projects and having a last meeting with the parents.   Hopefully, we will get to see the new stoves installed before we leave.  We have also been told they want Jon and I to plant a banana tree they bought in memory of our teams help as a token of thanks.

Tomorrow afternoon we will be doing our first day of VBS and are hoping for a good turnout.  Please pray that it will run smoothly and that the kids will learn the good news of Jesus clearly.

We are still waiting on direction regarding the Huruma Orphanage where we have planned to work.  As you know, we found out as soon as we got here that it had been shut down due to many needs the owner was unable to meet.  Jon and Steve went with our guides George and Felix to talk to some city officials today and had a great meeting.  We found out a lot of helpful information through this meeting.  The owner of the Orphanage was there for the meeting and has already accomplished much of the necessary changes they were written up and closed down for.  We are praying for discernment and clarity as to what our involvement should be.  We had already committed to helping them before the shut down, but we also want to be wise and discerning with the resources we have been entrusted with.

We found out that one of the things they were written up for was that the kids, as of May 2016, had not had a regular checkup from a doctor.  However, as some of you know, last year in June we took the entire group to the local hospital for full checkups.  The officials were unaware of this and were happy to check that off the list.  They informed us that they want the Orphanage to reopen since there are too few centers already and their main goal is to fix the problems and reopen it.  We were also told that if they meet all of the remaining requirements, they could file to have the kids brought back in as little as 2 or 3 days.  We are just beginning our relationship with the director of the Orphanage so we are guarded in trusting that she will meet all of the requirements, but we are also very aware that we may be the very help she has needed.  So please pray for guidance for us.  We must weigh the risks of trusting this Director with resources with our desired outcome of helping these children and ultimately showing them the love of Christ.  We will make every effort to be discerning and put safeguards and accountability in place.  We will keep you updated with decisions.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

Sincerely,

Jenni Millet for the group