Dear Friends,
First of all, thank you so much to those of you who contributed to our emergency rice and beans donation last week! God provided $2500 for us to send specifically for food for our families and others who are suffering. Our team sprang into action and purchased what they could and delivered it right away.
It’s a good thing they did, for yesterday the government put out new guidelines that prohibited private transportation as well as public. That means that you can no longer drive to the store to purchase food. Herbert shared with me this morning that the food for his own family is at the church office (20 minutes away), and they are now on lockdown so he has no way to get to it. He is also concerned about his Jericho construction team that was working on a job outside of Kampala when the lockdown orders came through. They have to stay where they are and he has not been able to get food to them. He is hoping to get an emergency sticker from the government to enable him to drive his car, but that hasn’t happened yet. We pray that the guidelines will prevent the spread of the virus, yet there are many challenges that come along with them.
Please pray for our Grandma Imelda. She has raised our Annet, Ezra, Phionah, and has taken in many other children who had nowhere to go. She has been sick and unable to eat for weeks, and they just discovered a malignant tumor in her esophagus. She is a beautiful follower of Jesus, and has made an difference in the lives of many hurting children.
We also just got word that Teacher Sylvia’s baby Joash is in the hospital with pneumonia. Sylvia, who is expecting her third child, had to walk a long way to find a health facility to treat him. Pray for healing for little Joash!
Here is some good news that came just before the craziness of the virus hit…The second floor of Victory Primary School is now complete. Praise God! Our team has been working feverishly despite many setbacks, but it is now ready for our children when they return to school. This is going to give us 4 additional classrooms to be used by our school as well as our children’s church. Thank you so much to all of you who have contributed to this project!
Some of you have asked if we can still get letters to our children. That depends on where they live and if they have access to a phone. Normally the letters are printed in the church office and then delivered, but that is impossible for the next few weeks. So write as God prompts you to write, and we will trust that they will get the letters in God’s perfect timing.
A few of the children have written letters to their sponsors recently, and they are very concerned about you, and what’s happening in America. But all of them are relying on the Lord and the power of His Word.
Here’s an excerpt of a letter from our Zula…
“For us, the Lord’s children, he promised in Psalm 23:1 that the Lord is my Shepherd & I have everything I need. He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh waters. He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised. And this is the greatest. I wanted to inform you that even if I go through the deepest darkness, “the darkness of coronavirus in every country”, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me.”
We continue to trust our Almighty God, who is full of love and compassion and mercy, to protect all of you, our family in the USA, and our family in Uganda. Pray for your child, for Imelda and Abigail, for all of our families and our children, and pray for each other.
Don’t be afraid, my friends. He is with us! Use every opportunity to share His light and love and hope with a dark and anxious world.
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:1-2, 11
Much Love,
Jan