April 2023 Prayer Letter

Dear Praying Friends,

April was a month full of extreme emotions! We started by rejoicing with the angels over the many children who gave their lives to Christ. The following week our hearts were broken as we learned that the malnourished babies you have been praying for in one of the facilities where we work, were moved to another facility. Unfortunately we have had other children sent there in the past and some of them didn’t survive. We spent days crying out to the Lord to save these children and reunite them with their families. As I write this letter, some of the children have been reunited with their families, but others are still waiting. Please continue to pray for them!

The severely malnourished baby you have been praying for specifically since last January was reunited with her family in a miraculous way. One day I will be able to share the story. We found out she will be three in October. She was taken to the doctor and she only weighs 17.5 pounds. The doctor said her malnutrition has to be focused on before they can do any other testing to figure out her health/speech/chewing issues. Her family lives in the slum and is unable to care for her, so she is living with a wonderful caregiver, and we’re praying for a foster home for her.

Maama and Pastor took care of identical twin girls for four years after their mother abandoned them. Their father was located and when the girls finished 5th grade, he took them to live with him. He is a herdsman and unfortunately never put them back in school. He moved them from place to place and finally put them in a one room hut by themselves while he was off taking care of cattle. The girls took themselves to church on Sundays, and spent the rest of the time taking care of each other. The father would stop by periodically with various men to meet his beautiful girls. The day before Good Friday, one of the ladies from their church came and got them. She told them she just found out that their father was selling them the next day as child brides. Apparently the men who had been to see them were buying them! One girl was worth 16 cows and the other one worth 14. The woman asked if they had any place they could go where they would be safe. They told her they could go back to the foster home where they once lived. She gave them money to pay for their bus ticket and they went to Maama and Pastor’s. They arrived with only the clothes on their back. Please pray for them as they try to move forward. They are nearly 18 years old and one wants to go back to school and the other one desires vocational training in hairdressing or catering.

A wonderful donation of gnuts (like peanuts) was given for the orphanage where we work. We were thrilled, however, they were not shelled! What to do?!! We took them to our discipleship class and asked the teenagers if they would be willing to help the children in the orphanage by shelling gnuts. You have to understand that the kids LOVE gnuts and that was a lot to ask of teens who would love to eat them themselves!! We did give each of the kids two pieces of bread before they started shelling. Kirabo, our discipleship coordinator, told them it was a contest to see which group could shell the fastest. I have never seen 52 kids work any harder! In less than 30 minutes they shelled 4 1/2 gallons of gnuts! About half way through we told them we couldn’t possibly choose who was the fastest because they were all amazing and we were buying each of them a soda. They didn’t slow down until the last gnut was shelled, and then they took off their shoes to scoop up the shells off the floor. One boy made a broom out of weeds and the kids moved desks and completely cleaned the floor. The verse, Matthew 25:40 comes to mind. “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.’” These kids have stolen my heart!!!

We covet your prayers as we move into a new month!

Love,

Ava