Surprise....

This is Elicia and... I'm still in Africa!! God is good!! Sunday as we were getting ready to leave to go home there was some things happening that was just stirring up in me the desire and the need for me to stay a little longer and help out at The Redeemer House. And after calling my parents and Shauna being AMAZING and making the arrangements in 20 minutes I'm staying until next week!! I have a whole other week here!! God is awesome!

It has been flying by so far.. Sunday Kathy, Renee, and I dropped the guys off at the airport for a crazy plane ride back to the states and headed back to the orphanage. Luckily all the kids were already in bed asleep so I was able to sneak in without anyone seeing me since they didn't know I was staying. Monday morning I got to surprise the kids and spend a bunch of time with them in the morning. The best was when two little kids who spend the days during their school holiday at the house that I had really connected with showed up. Their mom was in tears when she told me how she had prayed that I could stay just a little longer to be able to play with and love on her kids. Moments like that will stick with me for a lifetime.

That afternoon the three of us muzungu's took the 4 oldest girls to Oweno Market. If you can imagine the biggest street fair you've ever seen... Multiplied by 20... With about 500 more vendors... And botta's, bicycles, and people carrying huge sacks on their heads while about 3,000 people weave their way in and out among people and haggle with the vendors.. That only begins to describe it.

A generous person had given money so that we could take all of the kids shopping and let them pick out what they wanted to spend it on. The kids were floored. They are beyond thankful for every little thing, so this blew their mind. The girls ended up with lots of clothes, backpacks and new shoes for church (The boys all wanted the same, plus some toys and army men). Because of our late start we didn't get to take the girls to sit down and have a soda in a restaurant like we'd hoped, but instead got them biscuits and some grasshoppers for the road which they were quite content with.

Tuesday Kathy, Renee and I went out to Bethany Village. It's an orphan village across Lake Victoria that is partnered with Africa Renewal Ministries... (I think, we've heard so many names it's hard to remember them all!) The village has a clinic, a primary school, and 11 homes with gardens, out houses, and out buildings (used for cooking and storage) that house up to 15 children and 1 mama. It may sound like a little bit of an institution, but it's not at all! We were able to see the Bethany Choir before they left for a trip across the lake for a competition against other choirs from projects run by Africa Renewal where the winning choir, plus the 3 best kids from all the other choirs, get to go to America for a concert tour. The kids were beyond excited to have the opportunity.

I started making balloon hats for the kids standing around me, some from the local fishing village and some from the choir. After the choir kids left the open air school where they had been practicing Renee and Kathy were able to pass our MUCH needed clothes to the village kids while I tied more than 100 balloons. Again, we prayed for fishes and loaves. And AGAIN God came through. Every kid left with a balloon hat and a new piece of clothing. God is good!

Yesterday we took the boys to the market and I was able to get "UP" (for a dollar!) to watch with the kids on Kathy's computer last night. It was super fun!! They loved it.

I have to wrap this up because the internet is about to go off, but today I got to spend the day with the team led by Dwight, who Justin came with last year, playing soccer and doing community clean up with a bunch of kids off the streets in a slum outside Kampala. They have a very different style, but they're awesome. And it's great to see how God is working through them too.

God is AMAZING. And so present here in Africa. Pray for The Redeemer House as it is going through a time of transition. Pray for wisdom and confidence in decisions for Kathy. And for Renee and I to be able to support her in the best way possible.