Gardening, Kids' Club, The Blind, etc...

I think this might be my last post until we get to Spain. Yesterday was a good day; it was nice not to have to teach for 3 hours during the heat of the day. I wouldn't trade the experience of being with the ugandan women for those 9 hours for the world, but it was very draining, so it was nice to have a change of pace. In the morning, we got up early to work in Tim & Angie's garden. They have been going non-stop since their return to Uganda, and they still have so much unpacking and settling in to do themselves. We wanted to serve them and make their lives less burdensome, so they asked us to get their garden ready for planting. Karin had done some weeding on Wednesday, and then yesterday, between Karin, Rebecca & myself, we not only got it ready for planting, but we did all of the planting, too. It felt good to dig in the dirt and do some physical work. Rebecca & Karin cleaned all of the cameras that have been collected for the pastors; they learn to use them, then get paid to take pictures at important family gatherings, etc... The ones that were in storage while the sleidrechts were in the states were dusty and the cases had gotten some mold on them, so karin and Rebecca got them all clean as new. We also helped Tim move some office furniture from the resource center to their house. They need to make more space in the resource center for all of the Bibles and books that were brought here by us and by Tim & Angie, so we removed a couple of desks to make it more spacious. It was good to help them, and now they can begin to get their office at home all set up and settled in.
In the afternoon, we had the kids' meeting one last time. Rebecca has taught the kids "We love you Lord" with the motions she learned at her GLIMPSE class at Byron Christian. Alll of the kids have learned it so well; on Sunday we will all sing it together at the worship service. We had been telling the children the story of Easter the previous two days, and yesterday we shared about the resurrection. I think we had the most kids yesterday of any other day. Rebecca likes the smaller groups better, but still, she did such a good job of leading the Bible story each time. She wants me to let Mr. Burgess know that she has been SO busy (and it's true) that she hasn't been able to do as much journaling or math as she had hoped. Maybe while we are in Spain...
After the kids' club, we went to SACAAB, which is the Christian association of the blind that the Shaardas' and Sleidrecht's work with. Each one of the blind people we met shared their story---how they lost their sight, and most importantly, how God opened the eyes of their heart to embrace Jesus Christ. Honestly, of all of the people we have met in uganda, these struck us as the most genuine, the most committed to their walk with God. They were an inspiration to us.
After our visit there, we drove to Pastor Patrick's house. he is the pastor of the church we will be going to on Sunday. We wanted to speak with him before Sunday because I am planning to do the teaching/preaching, and we just thought it wise to connect with him first. He is a wonderful man, and you can just see how much he loves the Lord and appreciates the work that Tim and Angie and Josh & Mandy are doing. He is excited to have me teach them; please pray that I speak what God wants me to speak. I will also meet for an hour-long study with the women after church tomorrow. So, those would be the things to have you praying about. Tomorrow afternoon, we will head out of soroti. We'll camp for the night in Sippi Falls. On the way, we will visit M'Bale where Team Beyond is hoping to start a new children's home. Then, Monday we'll head to Kampala, and Tuesday, we leave for Spain.
This morning we were up at 5:45 to climb Soroti Rock. We watched the sunrise---breathtakingly beautiful---and had our personal devotions. Then, we prayed together over Soroti. God placed a rainbow in the sky right over Nacatunya, which is the neigborhood where Tim and Angie live; a sign of hope for this dark place.
We had our last visit at Amacet, holding and praying over children and babies. Rahama, the little girl we saw the first day who had heart problems passed away this week; our hearts are heavy. We pray for a future and a hope for these precious little ones.
Well, again, thanks for praying for us. We don't know what mission lies ahead in spain, but we believe He has a purpose for us there, too. Please, keep us in your prayers. Pray for uganda.