May Uganda Prayer

Dear Friends,

In the darkness, there is always light.  Today I am getting to share about the light, and I know you will be encouraged.  

First of all, the chaos and destruction in Uganda has stopped. The officials listened to the people who were in despair, and they have stopped - at least for the moment.  As Osborn says, there has been no promise of the government that it won't start again, but for now there is a respite and for that we are grateful.  The President signs papers to put him back in office on the 13th.  The suspicion is that once that is over, the destruction will start again, so we continue to pray.  
Osborn had a phone call from a Muslim women who is an administrator of a school.  She was given his number and called him saying she was desperate for help.  The school children were starting to get involved with drugs and other bad things, and they had not had that before, and didn't know how to handle it.  She asked for Osborn to come and work with the children at this school. She also wanted him to come and train her teachers.  The GSM team is putting together a training program and will go train teachers at this Muslim school, and will leave them a training program to use as they get more teachers.  And Osborn will begin working with the children.  Praise the Lord for this opportunity - our Christian team teaching at a Muslim school!  Only God can orchestrate that!

Headmaster Sula came to the school several years ago.  He was a Muslim, and one of 25 candidates they interviewed for the HM position.  He was the clear standout, so he was hired.  The first day he was there, Osborn said it is time for devotions and prayer with the children, would you like me to do it for you?   He said no - he wanted to, and he went out and did a wonderful job.  He has been a wonderful fit for the school, and prays and worships with the kids often.  This year, he went back to school for some further classes for himself.  He continued to work as the HM, but wasn't always there at the school.  Members of the GSM Board were coming regularly to the school and wouldn't find him there - and it frustrated them!  They kept telling Osborn that he needed to be fired, but Osborn kept saying no.  The class was finished, and HM is ready to graduate, and Osborn received a note from him.  It said  "Thank you for allowing me to finish my classes.  You probably think that I look up to you as a boss, but I look up to you as a father.  My father died when I was young, and you have treated me so well.  I will serve in Good Samaritan Ministries all of my life."   He needed to be loved, he didn't need to be fired.  Isn't that what we all need?

We had our fashion show fundraiser this spring, and were able to raise funds for their vocational sewing program.  They had one teacher with one machine and 60 students!  Can you imagine trying to learn to sew that way?  My daughter Katie, who helped with this fundraiser shared that she is a middle school math teacher, and her dream is for every one of her students to have a calculator...and this must be the dream for this teacher, too.  We were able to send funds and they are in the process of buying commercial and classroom sewing machines so these students can learn a trade for when they leave school.  We are so grateful for the generosity all who attended.  

Thanks for keeping this team, the teachers and the students in prayer, as well as the country of Uganda.  And thanks for celebrating the praises with us.  We wouldn't want to be doing this without you.  

Blessings,
Patty