Moving Forward

Well these past two weeks have been a bit all over the place. Definitely getting things done, but still not quite in a routine that I can clearly express in words as to what I’m doing. But I think that’s ok:) I have continued to be challenged in growing accustomed to how stuff gets done here, as well as just flat out learning. I finished a book called Orphan Justice earlier this week and am working on getting something together about that book, what I am learning about the Christian orphan movement in general, and then my heart behind what I am doing and why. It’s been a little bit more difficult than I thought it would be in just getting all my ideas on paper, so to speak, so until I get that finished, here is a bit of what’s been going on these past couple of weeks.

Last week Em H. (who runs school) was out of town, so I got to take the reigns on school and was really excited about being “back in the classroom”! Monday and Tuesday were both really wonderful and I loved getting to spend time with all of the kids, like I was used to from the fall. I was so impressed at the progress so many of them have made and it was just great being back in that setting. Unfortunately, Tuesday afternoon I started feeling pretty crummy, and by Wednesday morning felt pretty miserable – fever, headaches, body aches, and all over the board in feeling hot then cold then hot again. Spent pretty much all day of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on the couch. Started feeling better on Friday, and by the evening felt much better. On top of missing school, Emily W. and I also had a couple meetings for Thursday and Friday that had to get postponed since I couldn’t really move from the couch.. On Thursday we were supposed to meet with a lawyer in Kampala that represents an adoption agency that we are hoping to be able to partner with in seeking international adoption. I think we are still a while away from partnership, but meeting with the lawyers and being able to ask more questions and find out more would definitely be a step in the right direction! So that meeting is postponed, but prayers for that meeting and the possibility of moving forward with this agency would be great!

Then on Friday, we were supposed to go to a church that partners with Compassion International to talk, ask questions, and brainstorm with them about ways that we, as Ekisa, could begin partnering with local churches to encourage and support them in caring for orphans. I will talk more about this in my next post about what I’m learning surrounding this, but this is something big that I feel like we have big plans for but not something that I want to limit our God to! But again, meeting postponed, which just gives me time to get a better grasp on ideas and questions I want to present. Excited in moving forward with this too!

Big blessing last week too, with one of our little girls, Alice! She is about a year old and has been at Ekisa since February, I think. She is such a precious little one, but really sick and nobody was really sure what was going on with her, or what to do to really help. She has hydrocephalus, but the doctors were really worried that if they did surgery to put a shunt in her little body just wouldn’t be able to handle it. But last Tuesday, they admitted her into the hospital and did the surgery on Wednesday. She was home on Friday, and is doing much, much better. Still a long way to go in her recovery, but we are praying her body will keep getting stronger and she will keep gaining weight. Prayers for this little one would be great too, and I will try to keep updates on her as well:) Here’s a picture of her that was posted on the Ekisa Facebook page!

 

This week has continued to be busy, as I am trying to keep up on our resettlement case, and the three domestic adoption cases that we are working through right now. As these progress I will share some awesome stories at how the Lord continues to work in bog ways in ours’ and these kiddos’ lives! Oh and celebrating the Fourth here was fun, complete with an American style cookout with hamburgers and hotdogs, lots of red, white, and blue outfits, and volleyball! So very blessed!

"Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that His name in exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things ; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Isaiah 12:4-6