DLM Newsletter August 2024

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Today I held Bible study at Dora’s house with 17 community kids and met from 2:15 - 5:30 pm. The children shaded (colored), sang songs, and had a snack. We answered some basic Biblical questions using their new Bibles. DLM recently purchased English ESV Study Bibles for the community kids because, of course, none of them had Bibles. They were so excited to receive their own Bible. The Bibles are very nice. I’m thankful for Pastor Bill who is the pastor of the church I attend in Kampala. He arranged for me to purchase them and brought them to me at church last Sunday. Each Bible was approximately $8.00. Glory to God!

Sunday, August 4, 2024

This morning I left home at 6:40 am to go to Kampala. I went to the mall to do some shopping before I picked up Mama Fab and Fab for church. After church, we went to Jeholand for Bible study. There was a smaller group of 15 today, as some of the other boarding kids were not there for the afternoon. We finished reading the book of Acts. Prayerfully, the kids have learned much about the early church and Paul’s missionary journeys, as well as the suffering that Christians are guaranteed to face in this world. They want to start reading in the book of Romans next so we will start that next Sunday, God willing. They played bingo, sang songs, and had their snack, too. I left at 4:45 pm and reached home at 6:50 pm. I’m so thankful for the continued safety God provides as I travel back and forth to Kampala. I’m also thankful for the time to study God’s Word with these kids. Glory to God Alone!

Friday, August 9, 2024

Beans from the garden to the bowl of rice on the table 

It is harvest time for the beans. All of the remaining beans in the picture will be shared with the local community and with the sponsored children in Kabowa. 

We used the extra space within the 2 acre DLM ministry home compound to plant a variety of vegetables. We were able to provide jobs for four community ladies who planted some Ugandan crops like beans, white sweet potatoes, and maize. I gave some maize to a few community families this week. They were so thankful! 

I have a smaller garden section that I plant other things like zucchini, squash, lettuce, cabbage, and watermelon. These are growing but not so great during this dry season; though only a few have died. Haha! 

Glory to God for the fertile soil that He has provided for us so that we can share and bless others!

Saturday, August 17, 2024

School children are now on holiday break for a few weeks. 

Today, I visited with one of our sponsored children and her jajja (grandmother) who is sick with cancer. We praise God that she believes in the Lord and proclaims to be born again in Him! We pray God has mercy on her and comforts her granddaughters! (Top 3 pictures)

I also visited Sandra and her family. As you can see, Sandra is physically doing great! She can even run. We truly thank God for His mercy and grace on Sandra’s life. He receives all the glory!! I am so thankful for everyone who has prayed for her and given specifically for her medical expenses last year. God has worked through your giving and prayers, and it’s amazing to see! (Bottom 3 pictures)

Monday, August 19, 2024

Arnold and I spent a few hours picking the remaining beans from the garden. Instead of beating the beans with a stick at first, I stepped on a pile to get the beans out. Then, our groundskeeper brought a huge tarp for us to put the bean bushes on so Arnold could beat them later in the afternoon. I did help Arnold by beating a couple of piles, but he beat like 5 or 6 piles. Finally, we threw the hulls outside for the goats. The beans are still on the tarp, so we can finish beating and separating them tomorrow.

Friday, August 23, 2024

The past week has been all about beans. I shared some pictures on Monday of all the dried beans laid out on the tarp. The next step was beating them with a stick. The locals use this method as it’s quicker to remove the beans from the hull. However, after Arnold and I went through the whole process, we disagree. Haha! It’s indeed easier to separate the beans from the hulls by beating them, but then you have to separate the beans from all the hulls, dirt and sticks. We didn’t want to be wasteful, so we also shelled by hand any that were missed during beating. 

Next time, Arnold and I think we will either shell them by hand or let DLM be a blessing to some community members and give them a job! Haha! It was a good experience, and we have God glory for the harvest and the ability to do the work. After finally getting all the beans separated and cleared from the dirt and debris, we packed little ziploc bags with a half a kilo of beans, which is about a pound or two cups. We will give them out soon to our sponsored children to bless their families! Here are some photos of the process during the week!! Glory to God Alone and Always!

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Today, Arnold and I went for Bible study in the community at Dora’s house. We are reading in Exodus about the story of Moses. Most of them have never even heard about Moses or other stories in the Bible like Noah. I’m blessed to be able to open the Scripture with them and let them grow in their knowledge of the Lord by reading His Word! We even had Bible study this past Wednesday. 

Bible study is a bit more difficult in the village because they don’t know English as well as the kids at the school in Kampala. Many schools in Kampala will cane or discipline the students for speaking the local language and not speaking English. This forces the kids in Kampala to learn English more quickly. I believe the schools in the village are a bit more lenient with speaking the local language.

I’m thankful to have Arnold with me for a few weeks while he’s on holiday. He helps me translate so the community kids understand better. The kids came with their files and their Bibles that DLM purchased and gave them. We shaded (colored) and even had our snack and soda. We had about 25 kids today. Glory to God!!

Sunday, August 25, 2024

I've been visiting the local "born again" church the past three Sundays while Arnold has been here during his school holiday. The sermon is preached in Luganda so having Arnold as my translator has been so helpful. Dora and other kids in the community Bible study attend this church and performed two of the Sundays with a song and dancing. It was definitely nice not having to drive 2.5 hours to Kampala for church these Sundays. However, I do miss my church's sound preaching and the "short" service of two hours instead of the local church's three hour service. Haha!!

Dora's Jajja and the family have been asking me to come visit their church, so they have been very excited that I have attended the past three Sundays. Dora's Jajja is a Christian and is always so enthusiastic about the kids learning the Bible during Bible study. The following video is Dora's Jajja (grandfather) as he is giving a testimony of praise to God for DLM.

Brian translated some of the testimony into English.

He thanked God for all He has done for him. Then he went on to specifically thank God for you (CiCi). "I thank God for Aunty/Mother CiCi. I am thankful for her and for the love she has shown me. God brought her in my life in a way I can’t explain. She loves me so much. I asked her to come and visit the church, and I’m happy I found her here today." The children told him that you (CiCi) would come to church, and he thought it was a joke and was happy to see you. "She has been a blessing and has done a lot for me… even the glasses you see me wearing today."

He told the church that you’ve done a lot for him, and He’s thankful to God for that and praying that God blesses you and expands. He also told the church that you love children and teach all of them without segregation, and He considers that a Miracle from God. He also mentioned at the beginning that the seat you were sitting in is yours going forward as you continue coming.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Arnold and I went to Kampala today to do some shopping and meet with the Bible study kids at Jeholand. Only half of the kids were there because it is still holiday time. So, we just did a trivia game over what we have read and learned in the book of Acts. They played bingo and received their snack, as usual. We also gave out some of the beans we packed to the kids who were going back home after learning today. The other kids are boarding so they live at the school. I took some maize for them to enjoy. Mama Fab and the kids were thankful to receive beans from Aunt CiCi's garden! Glory to God!

Friday, August 30, 2024

Arnold has been helping me in the garden by planting new vegetables since the rainy season should begin in the coming weeks. I have a hose pipe that I use to water the plants, but gardening is much easier during the rainy season. The rainy season is the planting season for the people here because they don't have the means to water their crops during the dry season.

Saturday, August 31, 2024

I've had community Bible study twice a week the past three weeks while the kids have been on holiday. The number continues to grow, as we are now having around 26 kids consistently. It's a bit difficult with the language barrier and the wide span of ages. The youngest child is about 2 years old, and the oldest is 16 years old. We are outgrowing Mama Dora's house living room. God willing, when the kitchen/cafeteria building is complete, we will be able to hold the community Bible study there with much more space.

Construction Update

The visitors' building and kitchen/cafeteria are almost complete. The plumber and electrician will be coming soon to hook everything up. Recently, the team completed the small verandah that goes around the base of the buildings. This will prevent erosion around the foundation during the two rainy seasons. They also mixed red oxide, which is in a powder form, with concrete to layer on top of the already smoothed out cement floor. They have also finished the brick design for the kitchen walls. This will protect the kitchen items from the weather and will also allow some ventilation from the smoke when cooking.

Visitors' Building

Kitchen/Cafeteria