V.I.F.F. aka Very Important Facts & Figures

To date, I have made 140 Jinja Jugs. 34 have been distributed.
30 are on reserve for Vacation Bible School in July.
76 are waiting in my kitchen for distribution.

The gift of $2000.00 has been wired to Nelson to complete the well.  Praise God!!!

Nelson informed me that he has taken in a few more children in addition to his own 3 children.  Now, there are 86 children for Jaja to hug, kiss and tickle.

Nelson’s website has been restored and the NEW address is: 

www.staouganda.org 

STAO is the acronym for Save The Aids Orphans. You can visit the website to learn more about the organization, Nelson’s large family, the local community and their needs.

Pastor Nelson Lufafa and his wife, Grace 

with McClain, Candace and Megan.

They are the three volunteers that visited Nelson, Grace and the children in April. Please watch the “must see” STAO video on their blog. It will give you a very current view of the Agape Children's Home and life in Jinja. The green building with the blue doors - near the beginning of the "drive through the village" video - will be the Agape Dental Clinic. Their blog address is:

www.livinghislove.blogspot.com

Please keep my pastor, Rich Anderson, in your prayers.
He has a serious medical concern that requires surgery in August.

It’s Time to Praise the Lord

This week was amazing!  Have you ever been so happy that you cried?

Well, it happened to me twice in the last 8 days. God is so wonderful. He provided the means to finish the digging of the well and I received a positive answer to a request that I hadn’t even made.
Here’s what happened…

Two Sundays ago, our Children’s Minister let me know that the Agape Dental Clinic was chosen to be the missions recipient for this year’s VBS offerings. I just had to cry because I had thought about asking for a sponsorship but hadn’t gotten the chance. Vacation Bible School will be held on July 19 – 22. I will give out 30 more Jinja Jugs because VBS will divide all of the children into 6 tribes and each tribe needs 5 jugs. In the Missions Tent, I will show the pictures of Nelson’s children receiving their toothbrushes and talk about the need for the Dental Clinic. The children will tell the story to their parents and friends.

Then, this past Sunday at church, I received a check for $2000.00 from a wonderful couple who has followed my adventure from the beginning. They knew from my blog that Nelson needed $2,000.00 to finish digging the well. As soon as I told my sister and stopped crying, I sent a text to Nelson. He immediately returned a text, letting me know that he received my text just as he and the children finished praying for provisions to finish the digging. The children went wild and everyone got to witness the power of prayer and God’s love for them.

And if that wasn’t enough, later that night, Nelson sent me another text letting me know that Grace gave birth to their 3rd child, a girl named Victoria. Nelson’s “Gifts from Heaven” are increasing. Now, there are 73 children for Jaja to visit.

As soon as Out of Africa finishes, please rejoice with me by singing along with Susan as she sings:

Who I Was Born To Be
 
When I was a child
I could see the wind in the trees
And I heard a song in the breeze
It was there singing out my name.

But I’m not a girl
I have known the taste of defeat
And I’ve finally grown to believe
It will all come around again.

Though I may not know the answers
I can finally say I’m free
And if the questions led me here, then
I am who I was born to be.

And so, here am I
Open arms and ready to stand
I’ve got the world in my hands
And it feels like my turn to fly.

Though I may not know the answers
I can finally say I’m free
And if the questions led me here, then
I am who I was born to be.

When I was a child
There were flowers that bloomed in the night
Unafraid to take in the light
Unashamed to have braved the dark.

Though I may not know the answers
I can finally say I’m free
If the questions led me here, then
I am who I was born to be,
I am who I was born to be.

THANK YOU LORD!!!

You ARE who you were born to be.
God IS in control and you’ll never again have to wonder
WHY ME, LORD!

Please pray that the drillers will come back quickly to finish their job and for all the children that will attend VBS in July.

Please continue to pray for the Jinja Juggers and everyone that hears the STAO story – that their hearts will be moved to contribute to the Agape Dental Clinic.

Gifts from Heaven

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.  How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them – Ps. 127:3-5

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it – Prov. 22:6

When I think about the children at The Agape Children’s Home and how they lost their parents, I just ache for them. But even though they are not with their natural parents and families, Nelson has created a loving and nurturing “family” for them. With 72 children, Nelson’s quiver is indeed a very full one and he is very blessed being their father. He and Grace are educating them and teaching them how to live godly and productive lives.  They, in turn, will be a blessing to their own families and the community of Jinja when they grow up.

Today is my son’s birthday. 27 years ago, God sent me a gift. When I held him for the first time, I cried. I didn’t realize it at the time just how much of a blessing he and I would be for each other. I am very proud to be his mom and I know that he is going to be a great husband and father someday.

Happy Birthday, Trevor!    I love you, Your Madre

Why me, Lord?

We’ve all asked this question at some point in our lives. I have asked it many times but it’s always been during the tough times in my life. Now, when I think about that question, I turn on Susan Boyle’s song “Who I Was Born To Be”. Susan was the runner-up in last year’s Britain’s Got Talent Contest. When her album came out last Christmas, this song touched me in a way no other song has ever done. I would play it over and over and then I started singing along with it because I could relate so much to it.

One day while I was sitting and singing at my computer, I came up with a really “off the wall” idea. I have never sung anything for anybody but I wanted to sing this song to Tillie Roosa, one of the residents at Atria San Juan.  We met in 2007 after my mom died of Alzheimer’s disease.  We connected in a very special way and have been very close ever since. The day that I chose to sing it to her just happened to be the day that my pastor, Rich Anderson, was hosting a fellowship group at Atria. I invited them both to Tillie’s apt. and told them that I had never done anything like this before but that I wanted to sing them a song for their Christmas present.  After I was done, my pastor asked me if I would like to make a recording of it. I was dumbfounded. I never thought I had any singing talent. Tillie has since asked me several times to sing it for people sitting in the lobby at Atria. Sometimes at night, Jud Wray will come down to the lobby to sing it with me as I work. Jud and Tillie are my “second set of parents” and we like to sing this song together. I also sang it with Nelson while we drove around and he would harmonize with me. It is one of those songs that really gives you a boost.

I am a sucker for true stories and this song was written just for Susan Boyle. It has become my song too. That’s why I chose it to be one of the 2 songs on my blog. My prayer for you is that it encourages you the way that it has me. The other song is the theme song for one of my favorite movies, “Out of Africa”, which seemed very appropriate and is also a true story. I hope you enjoy both of them as you follow my blog and realize who you were born to be.