DLM Newsletter February 2024
Saturday, February 3, 2024
I saw Sandra today!
She continues to improve!
Her handwriting has improved. She can now place her feet flat on the ground without them turning or rolling over. She knew what month we were in. I was surprised because we just started this month haha! She’s becoming more sharp.
This is such a blessing for sure considering we don't know how much damage the infection caused to her brain. It's a matter of time and lots of home rehabilitation to see how much she will overcome. She continues to the TB medication. We thank the many DLM supporters who gave for her medical treatment! God has been merciful in allowing her to get to this point. We trust His plan and thank Him for her life and all our undeserved blessings!
Glory to God alone!!
Monday, February 5, 2024
Today was the first day of school for one of our sponsored children, Galen, and his brother Gabe. Glory to God!!
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Construction Update
Last week, the construction team along with Brian and me staked off some of the school buildings like the kitchen/cafeteria, visitor block, and administrative building.
The team has also been busy slashing the grass around the property.
The construction team has constructed a new temporary structure that will house the materials during the building project.
Construction of the foundation of the kitchen/cafeteria for the primary boarding school has begun!!
We are so excited and thankful that God has provided the funds to begin the first phases of the kitchen/cafeteria and the visitors’ building. We are trusting that God will provide the needed funds to finish the buildings this summer.
Trenches are being dug from the ministry home’s deep well to the far side of the school property. Water pipes will carry the water from our well to the school’s tank. A water tank stand base is being built for the tank that will supply water for the construction and later will supply water for a few of the school’s buildings.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Glory to God alone!!
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Most days this week, I’ve been helping Galen and Gabe afterschool with their homework. I usually show them educational videos for fun! Today, Galen got to play a game about ABCs.
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Workers continue to dig the trench from the ministry home to the school site which is about a quarter of a mile. This water line will supply water for the school site.
The water tank stand is almost complete.
The trenches for the kitchen cafeteria foundation are complete.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
What a long 14 hour day! Today was reporting day for some of our secondary boarding students. The school is located almost 3 hours away from Kabowa where most of the kids live. Brian left Kampala this morning around 3 am heading to my house which is almost 2 hours from Kampala. He reached at 5:30 am, and we set out on our journey. We picked up two kids on the way to Kabowa. Five other kids were picked up in Kabowa along with two parents. Because we already maxed out on the van’s seating capacity, only two parents were able to go with us.
Children are required to bring a mattress and large metallic suitcase to store their belongings. Brian’s job was to climb on top of the van and tie down most of the 7 metallic suitcases and mattresses to the roof of the van while the remaining ones were squeezed inside the van.
We reached the school around 11 am and registered all of the kids. Returning students report earlier than the new students so our four Senior 2 DLM kids reported to school over a week ago. The seven students who were registered today are new to this school. Just before we left, I spent a few minutes with them as a group encouraging them in the Lord and praying with them before leaving for their first term of secondary school.
After everyone was settled, we left the school and dropped off one parent in Kampala. Brian was also dropped off so he could return to his home in Kampala, leaving me to drive the 2 hours back to my home. The second parent lives between Kampala and my house so I was able to drop her off on my way home.
I finally reached home about 7:30 pm. It was a very long day but filled with many blessings, especially the safe journeys…….all 272 miles that were driven today.
We thank the Lord for the educational sponsors for making it possible for these kids to go to secondary school. May God work in their lives and in their hearts even while they are away at school. Glory to Him Alone!!
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Today, Sam, the new DLM driver, drove me to Kampala for the first time. We visited Jeholand Junior School to see our educational sponsor children and to pay school fees for this term. I then shopped at the supermarket in town. We left home at 9 am and reached back home at 5 pm. We thank God for a safe journey there and back. Sam is a safe, conscientious driver! Praise the Lord!
Construction Update:
The projects are moving along. The kitchen/cafeteria footings are dug. Truck loads of stones have been brought to the site today. Those large stone rocks were placed in the footings as extra support due to the excessive water. Steel rod bases and columns have been placed in the footings where the actual columns will be placed for the building.
The water pipeline has been placed in the trench running all the way from my house to the corner of the property and has also been covered with soil. The tank stand is complete. Three young men carried the big water tank on wooden rods from the ministry home to the school property. Water will soon be available there and will be a necessity for the construction of the buildings.
A motor grader was brought to the property and will be used to upgrade the road from the main dirt road all the way to the ministry home driveway. Serious road work should begin tomorrow. Stay tuned for pics and updates of the road work, as well!
Glory to God!
Friday, February 16, 2024
Construction update.
Lots of activity is happening on the DLM property these days! The foundation of the kitchen/cafeteria continues being built up with stones now placed where the walls will be.
The trenches for the visitors' building are being dug.
The water pipes and the tank are now fully functioning. The tank base is complete.
The motor grader has plowed the existing road and even some areas where we will soon plant coffee trees! The road work should take about 3-4 weeks depending on the rains as rainy season is soon upon us. The road will now have murum which is a rocky type soil that doesn’t get muddy during the daily rains in rainy season. This is exciting to see!
We had to remove a tree to prevent any future damage to the foundation of a couple of buildings. This is how some people remove trees here…. by hand! Of course, there are tractors that can uproot the trees, but in order to give someone a job and to save money, by hand it is.
Glory to God for the progress!!
Listen to Gabe practicing his word “regeneration” which means a change of heart by God. Praise the Lord!
Monday, February 19, 2024
Sam drove me to Kampala today. We left this morning at 6:40 am. We dropped off Galen and Gabe at their school along the way.
Once we were closer to Kampala, there was a lot of jam (traffic) which is typical for morning hours. I had to have blood drawn by a certain time, so I got out of the van and took a boda boda (motorcycle) the remainder of the way into town which is about 30 minutes. By the time Sam finally arrived to pick me up, I had already finished the blood draw! That tells you how much jam he was stuck in!
Then, I went to the school to give out Bible study files to the primary 7 Bible study participants. The Bible study files contain copies of materials they will need for each session. I usually have Bible study after church on Sundays with those kids. Since I’m leaving for America this week and will be gone a month, I wanted to give them their files and explain that Mama Fab will be leading them until I come back. Since Easter is only 6 weeks away, and I will be returning right before Easter, the kids will be looking at Scriptures explaining everything Jesus did and taught during Holy Week. Glory to God! I’m looking forward to jumping back into studying the Bible with those kiddos when I return!
Mama Fab and I visited a few of our second group of secondary school kids who attend a day school near their homes. It was good to see them!
Finally, we made our journey back home but not before picking Galen and Gabe back up from school!
It’s been a tiring but blessed day. I'm so very thankful for Sam, the driver, and the safety God provided.
Glory to God for His many blessings!
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Construction update
Big trucks are coming to the property with murum, which according to the internet is a mixture of minerals, organic matters, gravels, rock particles, etc. The soil at the entrance of the property is very soft. Yesterday around 5 pm one of the big trucks became stuck. As you can see in the photo, this truck had all the other big trucks waiting in a line on the road leading to our property.
Finally, around 10 pm, trucks began to move again, and they continued coming about every 30 min all through the night even past 4 am. I’m not sure if they even stopped after that time. This morning another truck got stuck, so an excavator had to take the murum from the truck, put it on the ground and then pull the truck out. Then the machine dug out the soft soil, moved it to the side and filled the hole with the murum. This should allow the trucks to continue moving well as they deliver more murum to the property.
A roller was brought in today and has smoothed out some parts of the roads.
The foundation of the kitchen/cafeteria is coming along nicely.
The visitors' building is also coming along nicely. This is all so exciting to see!!
The property has many jackfruit trees. Today, one of the construction boys climbed the tree to see if any were ready. There were 3 that were ready so the construction team all shared the jackfruit. They really enjoyed it.
Glory to God for all of the blessings that He continues to provide, and we are especially thankful for the progress of the buildings!!
Shadow and I enjoy our daily walk around the compound along with Galen and Gabe. :)
Thursday, February 22, 2024
I left Uganda for America and reached home in the US on February 23rd. I’m thankful for the safe journey! I always miss my Shadow Lynn and 5 cats while I'm gone.
Thursday, February 29, 2024
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
The building supervisor has been sending me photos and videos of the progress of the construction of the kitchen/cafeteria and visitors’ building.
Kitchen/cafeteria Progress
Visitors' Building Progress
After building the foundation walls, murum was filled inside. Then it was compacted with the hand machine. Lastly, large stones were placed on top. The next step will be to place a large black tarp over the area and then put a layer of cement on top. That will help keep any moisture from affecting the foundation.
Check out the photos and videos!!
Glory to God Alone!!
Soli Deo Gloria ~ Glory to God Alone
