November 2002

Hello All,

We have a little time off this week because the entire school is dismissed when P.7 takes the all-important exit exams. Now I have a bit of time to write. Here is the latest.

I am a soccer mom! Many of the children at the school need money so they can keep going to school. The Ministry has a program that sponsors this called "Prayer Partners." I like this term a lot better than "sponsor." Everyone I meet here wants a sponsor. As a sponsor, you just hand out money and the person being sponsored doesn't seem to have any responsibility. It makes it easy to think that handouts are the way to go—just look for more handouts.

Prayer Partners are different. You give money, but there is an exchange of concerns. You and the student are responsible for each other through prayer. I didn't do the Prayer Partner thing to avoid showing favoritism. Then two weeks ago, I got to school and saw a line of children being photographed in hopes of getting a Prayer Partner. At the end of the line was Andrew.

Andrew is often a pain, but I love him. He goes to great lengths to be well-groomed though he is probably one of the poorest children. He is so bright (though he often uses his brains to dodge teachers). The boy doesn't smile a lot, but when he does, it's worth having taken the time to notice, even if he's smiling at somebody else! A few months ago, he was walking around with a school workman and the workman was talking to him as an equal. Andrew was so proud. He has no father (no family at all that we know of) so you can imagine how he felt getting that attention. I could have kissed that man!

You can be a long-distance soccer mom/prayer partner. Connie Earwood runs the program in the U.S. Contact her at earwood@easystreet.com

My Birthday

I had calls from across an ocean and a visit from the ladies of the church bearing food and the most thoughtful gifts. The ladies sang the birthday song and other songs just because they do that. It was seriously the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. I got to eat a fish head too (and, no, I didn't eat the eyes.)

Mobile Library

That's me. We have 13 books at school, but the children hadn't been reading them. The director of studies said they would be stolen or ruined if the children got them, so I have been carefully checking them out. I carry the books around with a list of who has borrowed each book. As soon as one person returns a book someone else wants to read it so I don't always have books with me. Currently I'm lending books to P.5, P.6 and P.7. The books are at a first-grade level but these older children love them. They can use their reading skills successfully and for fun. And they like having attention from an adult as they check them out and return them. We need more books to keep up their interest in reading. Please pick out your favorite book (third grade level or below) and send it! Rubber cement a photo of yourself in the front with a message if you can. It would also be helpful if you could cover the book with clear Contac paper.

Thanks to Trinity Presbyterian of Louisville, Kentucky, for the "Ranger Rick" and "Your Big Backyard" nature magazine subscriptions. I check those out too and they go like hotcakes. And Caroline, the "Guideposts" magazine is really big among distinguishing readers. One student reads them, makes a list of unfamiliar words and asks teachers for help. (We got a school dictionary last month—Oxford, of course, because the children must learn British spellings.) It would be great to have more of Guideposts, old or new.

The children also fall over each other to get the newspaper from Kampala. (I bring one for the teachers too because otherwise they take it from the students!)

You can imagine how fun it is to see all this interest in reading. Sometimes when other things are bothering me, Fiona shows up to return a book or Sam comes to see if there is a "Ranger Rick." I love that. And I am amazed, once again, at the teachers at this school who have brought them so far with way too many pupils and never enough chalk. God must really want these kids to learn.

Babies at church

You can never be sure if the woman they are with is their mother unless they are nursing because young ones are constantly passed from person to person. That is how I met Rachel. She came to me in church last March. She grabbed handfuls of my hair and looked at my eyes. Not lots of smiling. I was just her property. There was a blessing time during the service, and I took her up. She really needed it. Her Mom was dead, likely of AIDS. Her little brother had died the week before. None of her family was left. People knew Rachel probably had AIDS herself and they talked about what a sad little life she had. But I don't know if she knew that.

Rachel wasn't a gentle little girl. She was clear of purpose. You were going to look her in the eyes voluntarily or she would make you do it under less pleasant circumstances. She died last week at age three, and it made me think about Jesus' three-year ministry. I think Jesus had intensity in his eyes like Rachel did—challenge, encouragement, pleased to be with you. I didn't get to go to Rachel's burial. I didn't really know the people who were taking care of her. I didn't see her often, but I'm glad I knew her. And I'm glad for you to know about her too. Rachel was a treasure.

More later.

Peace in Christ's name,

Ruth