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Dear Prayer Partners,
Lam. 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
It is with great joy and anticipation that I look forward to what the Lord is going to do in 2020, and with thankfulness for his faithfulness in 2019.
How wonderful, refreshing, and exhausting to travel back to the US at the end of last year. I landed in 4 countries, 9 states and slept in 12 different beds. A huge thank you to everyone who hosted me!! It was an incredible time of reuniting with family and friends and getting to share what God is doing in Uganda through your faithful prayers.
I landed back in Uganda on January 10. On January 15, my friend Alison from Rivertree Church in AL, arrived to lead teacher training in the village of Bwerenga. What a joy to team teach and pour into the lives of the dedicated teachers at Gateway Nursery and Primary School. The teachers have very limited resources, but unlimited love for their students and zeal for teaching. We focused on keeping Christ in the center of everything we do, and to giving the students a love of reading and learning. The teachers have had very little experience with using games, centers, small groups, and student led activities as a way of teaching/reviewing. We incorporated all of those into our training and the teachers loved it. Please pray for this dedicated team of teachers as they start their school year on Feb. 3rd. One interesting fact that shocked me - most of the teachers had never seen a paper cutter before! When I showed them how to use it, they were overjoyed! Oh, the things I take for granted having been raised in the USA.
As I look back over 2019, the faithfulness of the Lord is in every chapter! These are but a few ways we saw God work.
We witnessed the miraculous healing of Henson. After falling from the jack fruit tree, laying unconscious for three days before being seen by a doctor, and then being sent home paralyzed, was totally healed by the Lord. He is now running and playing with his classmates.
Gloria also had a miraculous healing as they did surgery to remove the plastic that had been in her lung for over a month. The doctors said after surgery that she would be in intensive care for a week, then in the hospital for an additional two weeks to recover. God had other plans and within a week, Gloria was home and outside playing with her friends.
We had over 400 children from the streets of Kampala come to Kamp (the rehabilitation Center where we work) where our staff provided medical care for them and we got to love on them and then see the government resettle them.
Many of the young people at Kamp came to know the Lord last year. It was such a joy to see them reading God’s word on their own, attending bible study, sharing with others, and growing in the Lord!
Isaac and Habib, two of our boys from Kamp who had stayed years longer than their sentence, were successfully resettled in a wonderful Christian home. As I write this, they are thriving in their new environment. (I just talked to each of them today!!)
For the first time ever, Maama and Pastor were able to take all of their children on an outing. They went to the botanical gardens and the zoo, and it was the highlight of their Christmas.
Through your faithful giving we were able to provide such things as clothing, wash buckets, towels, drums, and snacks for the kids at Kamp, cancer treatment for one of our staff members, school supplies for many of our children, a copy machine, and electricity installation for Gateway Nursery and Primary School in Bwerenga, an all day party for the children at the government run orphanage where we work, school fees, and the list goes on and on. Thank you for being such an integral part of this ministry.
Thank you for your love and prayers.
Love
Ava
