Baptism of Pius

Today was another wonderful day of rejoicing as our young friend, Pius, was baptized.  Pius is an all around great kid with an infectious smile.  He is one of many kids who attends our church without his family.  For various reasons his mom attends another church quite far from here, but she really appreciates him coming to our church.  Why?  He does not have a father in his life, so she wants Eric and Pastor Charles to be spiritual fathers to him.  She told them that it is now their job to "turn him into a man."  What a glorious task!  May God see fit to bring this good work done through the power of Jesus Christ to completion.  And may Pius live up to his name...may he become a man that cherishes God's word and truly seeks to bear good fruit of holiness in his life.

Healing

A few weeks ago, Eric and Pastor Charles Magala took a group from our church here, on their regular hospital visiting.  When they returned, my husband looked shell-shocked.

They were going from bed to bed, when they began to smell the stench of rotting flesh coming from one bed in particular.  There was a mama, with a baby that was a month old.  She had had a c-section and then the wound had gotten infected.  Not having money for medicine, it became worse and worse.  By the time our group arrived, it was a large open wound, rotting flesh with flies swarming over her.  The husband recognized pastor Charles.  Being a friend of the groom, he had been to the wedding of Pastor Charles' daughter.  They were believers from a church a couple hours away.  

Our group did as they normal do, they prayed and gave them a bar of soap and left.

When Eric returned home, he was obviously distraught.  We talked some more to Pastor Charles.  Pastor Charles remarked,

"We must realize that sometimes God brings us to the hospital on a certain day and to a certain ward in his good providence because he wants us to do more."

It was true.  We couldn't just leave her to die!  Such a young mother!  So Eric and Charles, returned immediately with resources for medicine.  We also asked our friends on facebook for prayers for her.  And one couple responded with not only prayers but also financial resources to completely take care of her needs. 

Here is a picture of the beautiful things that can happen when the Holy Spirit works upon the hearts of one member of the body of Christ to help another member of the body of Christ.  Geographical and cultural boundaries are not boundaries in God's economy.  

The smiles of a recovering mommy and her sweet baby... 

it is so beautiful!

Birthday Girl!

First Birthday: the child really doesn't know what's going on so this birthday really just celebrates the parents achievements in making it through the first 12 months.

Second Birthday: the child is a mixture of curiosity and mild excitement.

Third Birthday: the child all of the sudden clues in to what birthdays are actually about and the very next day starts counting down to...

The Fourth Birthday!!  And oh, is it exciting!!  :)

At least that's how it was for this little girl...

She had her dance class in the afternoon.  She was so excited to wear her new ballet outfit that our missionary associate brought with her.

And we were able to bring cupcakes for all of her friends to share.  So fun!

 After a supper of pancakes (by her choosing), we had her regular cake.

We praise the Lord for this little girl.  She is such a delight to our family!  When I recently asked her "Why does God want to take you to heaven when you die?"  She answered, "Because God wants princesses!"  I'm so thankful for her sweet, cheerful spirit.  It is such a joy to watch her grow!  Hard to believe my "baby" is four!!

Butaga Village Church

This morning we were able to worship with our brothers and sisters at Butaga Orthodox Presbyterian Church. 

New Life Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Mbale (the church that meets on our compound) donated all the iron sheets to Butaga for them to use on their building.  What generosity they are showing even as New Life is still trying to save money for their own church building.

This morning was also special as we were able to witness a former Muslim family receive the mark of baptism.  They also asked to all receive new Christian names (they had formally had all Muslim names).  I love this picture of the children looking to their daddy and mommy as they are baptized.  What a beautiful way to lead one's family to Christ!

And of course the little one came kicking and screaming to Christ...like so many of us did!