The Kids That Steal Your Heart

A few days ago in the mail I got an envelope mailed to me by a missionary who had recently returned from Uganda. The kids were very excited to see Darren a second time, and many were running up to him asking if he could take this letter to Mark or that one to Jen and so on.

As I opened the envelope, I knew exactly what was inside it, notes from kids at Jireh, folded up, just the way they would be if they had handed me the note in person. I pulled them out one at a time, holding them in the palm of my hand. Each letter folded perfectly into a palm sized bundle that's easy to hold onto. They have a touch of Uganda on them, they even come complete with a little bit of red Ugandan dirt discoloring the edges of the bundles. Babra's letter was so thick it even required tape to hold it shut.

The kids at Jireh will steal your heart. You can't forget them, and they definitely will not forget you. I've gotten woken up at 5:30 in the morning with calls from a Ugandan cellphone. I have a guess who is on the other end--its teenagers at Jireh who've somehow convinced one of the visiting missionaries to spend a dollar on them and let them borrow their cellphone to call America.

As much as I don't generally appreciate calls that early in the morning, when you hear the delight in the voice of the kids to actually get to talk to you--even if only for a minute or two before their air-time expires--its priceless, and worth every ounce of lost sleep.

And then there's the letters. I just about always expect one from Babra--she took a liking to me from the moment I arrived at Jireh. At the going away party for our team, she was having her friends deliever me little folded notes--her way of offering a hand of friendship. And ever since, she really was my friend, with the closeness of a sister. You think you come to minister to them, but so many times she was ministering to me with a word that could have been straight from God or a shoulder to cry on.

"If only Uganda were a little closer..." I daydream, wishing I could just pop in on weekends to visit. Why does Uganda have to be so far away and so expensive to visit?

Even the ones that you wouldn't necessarily think would remember you, some of them will surprise you. This letter was from one of my S1 students last summer--I was in their classroom often, teaching bible lessons and helping them practice their English. There were a number of them, and I couldn't always keep all their names straight, but they always enjoyed stories about God's impact on my life and how funny and different America is from where they live.

The question isn't really "will I go back", the question is when... And unlike the last time, next time I will remember to bring a photo album to show them when they ask if I have any pictures of my family....

GOLF TOURNAMENT NOVEMBER 3, 2008

We are very excited to announce this special event!
Mark your calendar for November 3, 2008!!
Our first golf tournament is located in Orange County California, USA
Thank you to our sponsor Toyota of Huntington Beach http://www.toyotaofhb.com/index.htm
More to follow, we will keep you posted!

I prayed like..."Lord!! donot bypass these children."

I'm Samuel a Medical Student and I'm at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital for Clinical Practicals,so there is this day I was going back to our hostel for Lunch,we had just come from our Medical School to this Hospital,so my classmates used to lock the Gate every time we went to the wards.So this day I came and found the gate was locked and I stood outside the gate,it was just a hot day so you can imagine how I was feeling.so as I waited I saw some two bazungu just sitted on the other side of the Road,it was a Man and a lady,they were sitted on the hot sun and talking to primary children.
I was like let me go and say hello to them.I crossed the road and greeted them,we began talking,introduced each other and they told me they are here in Uganda as Missionaries to do God's Work by supporting the needy children in the Jireh Ministries and they have a School where these children study from,I was like this is great! You are blessed people because Children are gift from God and they deserve our love and care. As we shared I found out they were my neighbours and that was amazing,we exchanged our contacts and they directed me where they live,we really had a good time and i was blessed because they were so nice to me.

So they told me I can come and visit one day and may be also go and have a visit to the School and see the health conditions,talk to the children and staff about Health related issues and encourage the children not loose hope in life but to study hard and make sure they achieve their dreams.

I was like..! no problem!, I'm ready and willing to do that! so we kept on meeting each other,saying hi, and talking.

It was a Saturday when we went to the School and we left in the Afternoon like at 3:00 Pm, I took my Stethoscope,BP Machine in case i find any sick child .we took Motorcycles and we had a nice ride up to the Mountain,it was looking far because it was my to go there,we passed through lots of trees,steep hills and I was abit Scared but my cyclist was very careful and finally we reached up the hill.

I was amazed because the place had very good location with fresh are air to breathe,so as I breathed the fresh air I was praising the lord in my heart for the great work that was being done at the mountain. Me as i was coming I thought it was small place with few people there .But I was shocked to see a big place and with alot of activities occurring there.

We jumped off our motorcycles and we told them to come back and pick us later like at 5:30/ 6:00 Pm.
So I was left talking to Jim, And I was just amazed by the work he was doing on this mountain because at the back of my mind as I was coming I knew it was a small place with a few activities.
As we talked to the gate man,the Headmaster of the Primary School passed by and Jim requested him to join us during the tour around the school.

We began with the houses of the Staff,went around to their new bath rooms,their compound and toilet.
Next they told me we are going to visit around the families,so I thought it was really family which was related biologically but I was corrected later by the Headmaster when had visited some of the families when I kept on asking like.. "how did these biological families come to stay here and where are their other relatives?"
So as we entered the first family,I looked at the situation;how the young boys were having afew pop corns in their hands and that is what they were eating,I looked at their small room,where they were so many just packed in it,their double decker beds and sleeping with their small suit cases,their few clothes hanging in the roof,no adequate ventilation.so everything was just enough to make you feel pity for these young children.
I was just filled with sadness,I felt so weak and in my heart I was like...! what words can tell these children? I didn't even have the strength to tell them I'm at University,in a Medical School and Studying Medicine and Surgery,I was just filled with sorrow and sadness and I was like how will me introducing my self to them like this,help this needy child?
I remembered the Long way and struggle I have gone through ever since I began studying,I remembered my Lecturers,consultants,Professors in Medicine and other great people in other fields of Education and Life, how Scientists have gone with technology,how people on this earth are rich with Lots of wealth and my heart weakened the more and telling me to burst into tears,and I was like "God as you give blessings,as you visit and provide for your children,as distribute riches,as you visit Masaka, Please do not by pass these children. give them a double share and let you favour be upon them."
I just felt saying these words and presenting these children to the Lord will be the source of all the difference in their lives.
So we continued to tour around the other families and for sure these Children need our prayers,its really God that is protecting them from epidemics.because they are overcrowded in their rooms,they share basins and maybe other personal needs. The distance of the kitchen from the house,house from toilet,toilet from kitchen are not the right distances,its just God protecting them from epidemics.

Then as entered family by family I found some of the students were sick,One had serious abdominal pain due to some food she had eaten the previous night,the other one had Menstrual cramps, I took them to the School clinic,examined them and gave them drugs.
The Last one had an eye problem and was just lying helpless in the room,she couldn't open her eyes,she was just scratching them,and tears just falling,she was almost becoming blind,but we managed to take her to Masaka Regional Referral hospital the following week where she was Diagnosed to be having a lession on her cornea and was admitted for one night and she is now well. We thank the Lord for healing her

The visit was generally a blessing to my heart and I came back amazed about how the Lord has been able to sustain those children and I'm willing and ready to give myself off to do God's work and especially to save the lives of these young children and to bring a smile on their face.

SO YOU WANT TO SPONSOR A CHILD?

So you want to sponsor a child and you don't see them on our web site. Well, here are a few reasons to go ahead and get started now.

We know that we have had a lot of visitors to the Children's Center this year already, maybe since April about 150 missionaries. You see first hand the needs of all the children. And maybe you get attached to one child and want to help, but decide to wait until we have the photos up on our site.

We have to photo all the children and document the profiles etc. This is all done by our volunteers and most of it was done by one person, Janet Ohlig, our Child Sponsorship Coordinator. She had a few volunteers in February of 2007 and she had a few more volunteers this month helping her. Praise the Lord for all you volunteers to help us in all these areas!! But this all takes time and man power. This is why we get excited when people come forward to volunteer with us either back home or here in Uganda at the "project." We need volunteers in all areas. If your gift is in administration and you want to help, then we probably have a place for you. It is a great way to spend some time in another country and work in a ministry using the gifts God gave you. This is important to note; although you may want to help the children, it does not mean you need to work directly with them. We have people work in all areas because each of is unique and has something to offer. We have volunteer applications on our web site.

So if you know you want to sponsor a child and have a name or picture of him or her, then send it to us. You can start now, we just need to know which one or two or more that he / she is and you will be helping all of the children immediately.

Each time one child is sponsored it helps all of the children! We take care of all the children, by feeding and educating them along with housing, etc. We are able to do this with the combined funds of all the sponsored children, because if one is not sponsored we cannot just ignore them and wait to feed them when they finally get sponsored. The Lord Will Provide for us to take care of all the children He sends us. Often times the way the Lord Provides, is through people.

Start today by sending your check or go to our web site and click on the donations button and go to the button that says "$28.00 per month reoccurring donation" http://hewillprovide.org/giving/financial_donation.htm This will bring you to our Pay Pal site where you can enter all your billing information. In this area you will write in the notes /memo section the name of your child and description you have. They will eventually have an ID number assigned to them. This way you are helping NOW! You can do the same thing with your check, and you may pay monthly, quarterly or annually. You may also use the automatic bill payment with your bank and you won't have to think about remembering to send it each month. The bank system works well and we do not incur any service charges like Pay Pal.

You see, $28.00 in America, is not much these days, but here it is big! It all adds up and goes very far and makes a huge impact on the lives of these children and to the teachers and staff that we pay from these funds. This is less than a dollar a day, which everyone uses the cost of a cup of coffee at the premium gourmet coffee house for a few dollars a cup. We just need to compare it to the corner convienience store.

So you want to sponsor a child? We are ready! Are you?

H2O8 UPDATE 7/31/08

We recently received six donations from Tennessee! This was generated from the Franklin Christian Academy Missionary Team that was here in April.

They went back home and did some fund raising for our H2O8 Water Project.

We are now up to: Drum Roll Please! $5455.00

Praise the Lord for all of His Blessings!

THE MISSIONARY EFFECT

A missionary recently asked me; "What is your favorite thing about being here"?

My answer is seeing and working with all the missionaries that come to help. It is amazing seeing the Lord's work in action. He works through so many people in so many different ways. Each has their own special gift to give. And some don't even know what their gift is until it is unveiled. Each person leaves their mark, in people, in the children, in each other, in a building that they may have constructed or repaired. There are so many things a person can do.

We all were recently encouraged to see Melissa here from the BWO team. She was here in a wheel chair, with team members making accommodations for her to make it a little easier to get around. The rough terrain up here is not ADA compliant. The construction team came up with a way for her to use the toilet. Now the toilets here can make the strongest person gasp, but that was not a challenge for Melissa. She had children around her all the time, praying with them and showing them her bible and one day just showing the kids her little toes. Melissa is just so real and just loves life. She brought joy to everyone. And then you see her under the water tower with a pick helping to dig, she fit in there better than anyone else. What an inspiration to the children. What an inspiration to me!

In April we had about ten teens with their leaders here from Franklin Christian Academy from Tennessee who built six bathing areas. What a spiritually grounded group. They found time to build with bricks and mortar and then play with the kids. It is so great to see this young energetic enthusiasm for the Lord. They were up for all the challenges that came. They were here to serve and that's what they did. The leadership was superb!

In June, we had about 60 with Believers World Outreach, headquartered in Oklahoma, but from all over the USA. They came with a Medical Team, Evangelism Team, a Construction Team and a Children's Center Team. Wow! Amazing seeing a large group, so organized and Spiritually grounded! They practiced leadership faithfully and obediently. The things you throw at these teams are just no big deal for them. Because they all had Jesus in their heart. Challenges were welcome, hard work was expected by them, and they didn't know how to complain about anything. You need some holes dug and you hear "OK, where and how many do you need"! You need the medical team to see a whole bunch of kids in one day, "OK bring them on!" You need a team to pray or teach the kids and they are there. Even one day the Children's Center Team joined the Construction Team to help them get through their list. They left us with one more bonus... Lauren Chavez is staying on until August to help us with our Child Sponsorship Program. Praise the Lord, God bless Lauren, what a way to spend your summer break from the University!

Later in June the Texas team of about 12 came. Now they specialize in VBS and what a job they do! I loved seeing how they work with the kids teaching them praise and worship songs. Not just songs but pantomime sign language songs. The kids knew them all in no time and they really loved it. This group was with these kids all the time especially in the evening they would spend time with a different family every night doing worship and praise. They were staying on the mountain without any of the hotel amenities. In the day time they were helping in the classrooms. This group was so Spiritually grounded and they knew their purpose here. What did they leave behind? Well, besides all the great songs and love , they left us with Sara Perchan to be a teacher here for one year to teach a primary class. What a blessing she is, she gave up a home and a life in the USA to come here where there is no electricity, barely running water and definitely no hot water, and no salary, to work with kids! Raise your hand if you have Jesus in your heart!

Presently we have two groups from Livingstone of Holland here working at both Children's Centers in Kissagazi and Kyabazala working on construction projects. They are constructing dining buildings and classrooms. We are going to be blessed by a second set of teams in a few weeks.

We are looking forward to hosting a team from Israel in August. This will be their first visit to Jireh Ministries. We are looking forward to adding another nation and Mission Partner to our roster.

You may have noticed one common thread to a successful mission team. It is so important for a team to be Spiritually Grounded! Because one of my favorite things about "my favorite things" is, being with them at their evening worship time. This is where you hear how God has worked in peoples hearts and real stories that are making permanent changes in peoples lives!

God bless the missionaries! We thank all of the team members for a job well done.
Jim Fruehan