Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers…thankfully, Melissa and I are almost back to 100% after our Malaria. We both continue to fight with a lack of energy, but that is normal and it seems to be getting a little better each day. Prayer requests will be included below in italics. : )

Being here has the potential to be very discouraging. It is easy to feel helpless, and to wonder if your being here is doing any good at all. At the same time, being here results in some very sweet moments. Basically, at least in my experiences here so far, there are many high moments and many low moments, with few in-between moments. As you can imagine, this can be very exhausting. I am thankful for the strength God gives and the reminders He gives me of my constant need for dependence on Him. I am thankful for the way He calls us to Himself and promises rest to those who answer that call.

When you pray for Melissa and I please remember these things…that He would fill us with humility and a willingness to depend on Him. That He would give us rest, and constantly fill us with His love for the children we work with and every person we meet throughout our time here.

A high moment:

On Wednesdays, Melissa and I have been volunteering for another organization separate from Every Child Ministries. It is called Zion Project, founded by Sarita Hartz (http://www.ZionProject.org). They have a home for several Acholi women who were formerly abducted, and their children. They also have a home for 10 young Congolese girls. Their mothers are prostitutes but did not want their daughters to grow up in that lifestyle, so they gave them to Zion Project. We tutor the children from both homes. On Wednesday, we stayed a little longer at the Congolese house after our class. Mama Miriam, the house mother for the Congolese girls, led us in worship and a time of prayer. Afterwards, she led the children to lay hands on Melissa and then on me and pray for us. As their prayers were in Kiswahili, I didn’t understand more than a couple of words…but I think it was one of the sweetest experiences I have ever had. Hearing them pour out their hearts to the Lord on mine and Melissa’s behalf was such a blessing to both of us.

Please pray for Sarita, her staff, and the women and children of Zion Project. The Acholi women are preparing to graduate from the program and move out on their own with new vocational skills. Sarita is busy helping them find homes and jobs, as well as schools for the Congolese girls to attend.

In other news…

I am thankful that Melissa is here for many reasons, but one of them is that she initiates many fun experiences that I would otherwise miss out on (Beanut Soup, for example). This time it meant trying a Jackfruit. These fruits are larger and heavier than a small baby, and they are prickly so when Melissa carried it across town to our house, it left her arms looking like she had carried a porcupine across town. Thankfully our friend Kosmas was around to help us cut it…

before you do so, you have to cover your hands with cooking oil because of the sticky white sap (think Elmer’s glue) that comes out of the skin…(armor?) of the fruit. When you get it open, the inside is divided into sections. It is very sweet and the taste reminded me of a cross between grapes and bubble gum.

I am also pleased to announce that we are slowly picking up bits of the Luo language. I passed a man on the road the other day and was surprised that I carried on an entire conversation with him. He greeted me, asked me how I was, and where I was going. I knew how to answer these questions, but what surprised me was that I understood him when he asked me. I have also learned how to say “Please talk slower,” so hopefully I will be able to comprehend more of what the children try to tell me.

The future…

Just this past week it hit us that we are only a month and a half away from our departure date. Gulu and the Acholi people have been on my heart for the last several years and I think it is going to be very painful to leave this place. I am willing to go wherever God sends me, and at this point I honestly have no idea if I am to come back here, remain home, or go somewhere else. Please pray with me as I seek His guidance and His will on this matter.

Thank you for reading.

With love,

Sarah