This is how I want to end the year...

The library is fully constructed.

Sigh

After weeks of rain and a little drama, Team Gulu finally has its library constructed with new friends...the construction workers. Praise Him!!! It is such a sigh of relief. As Simon and I were driving a lot today (tell you more later) we talked about how our kids will have a place to learn, to read and to grow!!! We talked about how we will make it mandatory for sponsored kids to be in the library Monday through Friday. We talked about how if anything, our kids MUST learn to read so they can read the Word of God. We talked about painting the room. We talked about each sponsored child putting their hand print on the wall with their signature, so they can leave their legacy. We talked about how village life is awesome and how we don't want to discourage them if they want to stay....we just want them to read to grow closer to God, to know God and be His servant. At that, I wanted to cry. The library will not only bring education and hope in terms of economics but it will bring the knowledge of our God and hope of our Savior to life at the palms of their hands. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!?!?!?!?

Wow.

And it is now raining.

If I could please ask for prayer on the rain issue...for real. It has caused us great delay in building homes. Some homes, which were done but without a roof, were destroyed. It is very frustrating because we had all the resources, man power and willingness to get it all done LAST WEEK...but the rain has not cooperated. Pray that the rain stops for two weeks...then we should be good.

On that note, our mission today was to approve and pay off the finished library and inspect and pay two family homes. Our first family was to Odong Kwo-tek. When we arrived we found Mama Kwo-Tek VERY ill. She had been sick for 6 days with no food or bowel movements...the worse part was that she wasn't smiling at all. Mama Kwo-Tek ALWAYS smiles, laughs and jokes around. Not today. It was serious. So we took her to the clinic only to find it closed; so we went to Lacor Hospital. After a day there we still do not know what was wrong. I told her to make some vegetable broth since she can't eat anything. She was smiling on the way home...so I think she is feeling a bit better...but keep Mama Kwo-Tek (Josephine) in your prayers, please.

We also found our Opio Erik and Akello Sunday with their grandmoter, Carmella, from the clinic only to find out that they had malaria but no access to medicine. So we made sure we picked it up when we were in town for Mama Kwo-tek.
When we drove them home we also took some little travelers with us....Ayir Sarah,
Alimocan Gloria, Piloya Mercy and, of course, Laker Lady. We sang, ate some delicious passion fruit, were loud and just had a good time driving really, really slow down the road from the village to school to camp. What lovely girls. I am still singing songs. :)



It is crazy how we thought we would be out of Tegot by 12...maybe 2 the latest...and we didn't leave until 6:30. Ai vi. Though we accomplished everything we had set today (well, at least we got info that Piloya and Kwo-tek's homes were getting done but slow due to the rain) it still managed to be a WHOLE day. No complaints...because we got some other stuff done too...Mama Kwo-tek, Sunday and Erik, chilling with the girls, and just seeing homes getting built.

I had to ask Simon....can you believe what we are doing? Can you believe that God chose us to work on this?
He then expressed how humbling it really is....
Good to have someone in the same boat...

The "Humbled-By-God-Everyday" boat....

This is how I want to live my life. This is how I end this year and want to head into 2010.

PG :)