Gorden & Sally Update #7

April 6, 2008

Greetings from Nfuufu (dust) Village,

Yeah God! It is great to have a prayer team bold enough to ask for great things for His glory. You prayed, and today is the 6^th consecutive day of no rain. For the rainy season here this is somewhere between amazing and miraculous. Consequently we have excavated the footings for Building #5 (Jr. Staff housing) and we have cut the pad for Building #6 (The first classroom). The footings will begin soon. The only thing that could have been better happened also, as a PCA church in South Carolina committed the funds for Phase 1-B the morning after starting the last building pad. So I get to dig more dirt in a few days if the weather holds. The total project is moving well. Dorm #1 is in process of getting a roof. Dorm #2 has finished the ring beam and the top of the masonry. Dorm #3 will finish masonry work about Thursday of this week. The Jr. Staff housing foundation is about to be poured. (We have rock at one end and bad dirt at the other.) The two-story administration building begins the second floor concrete forming for concrete beams and floor slab. The first classroom foundation will begin Monday or Tuesday of this week unless we are bold and start the two-story classroom (the first building of Phase 1B). This project cannot move much faster because of some restricting factors. They are:

1. We cannot feed enough men to put on another crew.

2. We can’t seem to buy materials and have them delivered quickly enough

3. If the rain starts again it is extremely hard to truck materials in and dig below grade.

Please pray for wisdom to overcome or bypass these obstacles. The only structure remaining unaddressed in Building Phase 1A is the public toilet but since we don’t have a public yet, I have put it on the back burner. Phase 1B includes a two-story classroom, one additional men’s dorm, and a dining hall (obviously my favorite building), plus some grading. For security reasons I am feeling more pressure to gate and fence the property as foot traffic is increasing, not to mention the cows and goats, and thievery is always a problem here.

I worked with the roof crew one day this week, as the only Dutch gable my roof man had ever seen was one I had shown him a couple of weeks ago from the road. I asked to use his framing square and he provided one with a big smile. As I inspected the square it had no numbers or tables on it so I measured the graduations I would need and went to work. The workers were amazed that hip rafters fit, being cut on the ground and not held up and sawed off ten times.

Today I drove back to the job to see how the rock extraction was going, hoping to pour concrete on Monday. Surprisingly there was only one man with a large sledge hammer and a fire burning on some of the rocks (several boulders in the excavation.) They build a fire which cracks the boulder and then beat it with the hammer until it is level with the ground. If you choose to use this technique in the future, remember you heard it here first in the Muzungu Times and please publish the credits! Now I will turn it over to Sally:

We had the singles leadership team over for dinner and planning on Saturday evening. They are beginning to formulate plans for the singles ministry and will meet here again Friday night for dinner to continue brainstorming. Saturday evening will be the next fellowship event at our house where we expect about 35 young people. The leadership team is a wonderful group of guys and gals who have grown up in the church, been discipled, and are extensively involved in ministry. They are also “searching” as they call it—looking for God to provide a husband or wife so we will see what develops as friendships deepen. We treasure the times sharing together with them, laughing, encouraging, exhorting, praying, and bearing one another’s burdens. They are a huge blessing to us. They have all adopted my mom, Jean, as grandmother!

Daily my heart is stretched with greater appreciation and love for the people of Uganda, where suffering and death is the norm. We have much to learn from them. I want to give a few snapshots from this week that will hopefully give you a glimpse of life here.

Angela (different name) is a young mom of three who came into the clinic this week bleeding to death due to a miscarriage. She had lost several “basins” of blood prior to arriving and with the news from the doctor that she had lost her baby she began to silently weep. After helping her onto the table in the room where we would do the D & C I had opportunity to pray with her and her sister. We all cried over the loss of the precious life and asked for tangible help from the Great Comforter. Angela soon began to loose consciousness as her pressure was down to 70/40 and the bleeding was severe. We were able to get an IV started and I begged God to spare her life. As I assisted the doctor with the procedure I keep asking Angela every question I could think of in order to help keep her conscious. God was merciful and the bleeding stopped with the D & C. One soul taken and one remains. I was thankful that the clinic was there and that we were available for Angela when she needed help.

Everyone here is personally affected by AIDS. I have never known so many orphans in my life. Danielle (different name) is a little eight-year old girl who goes to the school at the church. She has some type of birth defect that has disfigured her face and affected her ability to talk. I have never heard her speak but she always has a smile and comes for a hug. She is the middle child of five. The dad and all other siblings died of AIDS. The mom has AIDS and God mercifully spared little Danielle. She lives with her aunt who is the cook at the Bible school. How wonderful that the school is here so she can get an education.

When we arrived in the village for the Saturday club about 35 youngsters were shouting and jumping up and down with glee that we had arrived to share some time trying to teach them. I have seen no toys here in Uganda other than a piece of flip flop cut in a circle and attached to a stick with a nail in the center to make a push toy. So when we arrive with some crayons and paper it is glorious to the children. They are like sponges soaking up everything as they are so eager to learn. We spent this past Saturday evaluating the children and dividing them into three groups. There was a girl, Miranda (different name), who is about 10, in my group that was trying to write her letters but it was impossible due to the crying baby that she held. I asked one of the mothers standing around if she could assist with the child. The child continued to cry. After a bit, the father of the baby showed up and was very upset that Miranda had come to the Saturday club as it was her responsibility to care for the four children at home. The other children are not Miranda’s siblings. Probably Miranda has been sold or given to this man to care for the children, and to do who knows what else. I feel anger that such injustice and suffering exists. So I pour out my anger and helplessness to the One who understands all kinds of suffering. In the midst of the joy of the glee of these children of the Saturday club is also a lot of hidden suffering.

Yesterday I met Frances (different name). She came into the clinic so I could measure her for an artificial leg. To make a long story short, God is providing her with a leg at no cost. A man in England is going to make it for her and a woman in the States will have it shipped Fed Ex so hopefully it will be here in a couple of weeks so I can help her get it adjusted if needed. Frances is a 50 year-old mom of three (ages seven, eleven, and sixteen) who was in an accident at work in 2002. She worked a grinder that made millet which they use for porridge here. Somehow her leg got caught in the grinder and was so damaged that they had to amputate above the knee. Her husband then abandoned her and the children for another woman whom he then married. Frances’s employer did nothing to help her with medical bills or compensate for her loss. She is a very strong woman in every way. Somehow she is surviving and God is meeting her needs. She is well known by the community here and has had a powerful effect on encouraging people to follow God with their whole heart. Her children are not able to attend school because they don’t have the money for school fees. There is no free public education here. My prayer is that this artificial leg will increase her mobility and allow her to work—perhaps garden and sell vegetables or raise chickens for eggs—so that she can better take care of her children and allow them to go to school. What a blessing to meet Frances and see God’s provision for her.

Each day we ask God to help us mesh into His plans for us here. It is a privilege (and often a challenge) to be able to serve here among the people of Uganda. Thank you for your prayers and support that are allowing us to be here.

Warmly,

Gorden, Sally and Jean

PS If anyone has a One Touch glucometer that they are no longer using please let me know. A man in the church is a new diabetic and we are able to get One Touch strips here. The glucometers are very expensive and so are the strips so any help would be appreciated. My brother is coming in a couple of weeks and could bring it.

Another need is a couple of 1-2 GB flash drives

Let me know if anyone can help in this area—Thanks!!!!