NEW START BOYS CENTER

NEW START HOME FOR STREET CHILDREN UPDATE

HEY! I can't believe I'm e-mailing you right now. I am at our first assignment, the New Start Home for boys and the leader, Andrew, has internet and offered it to us! What a blessing. There is SO much to tell you, but I cannot spend the next half-hour on this computer. The home is for boys who lived on the streets of Kampala. Now they're being raised by Andrew and his friends in the knowledge of Christ and are an amazing bunch-- I just arrived, so I want to make sure I don't neglect them, but jumped at the chance to contact you.

It has only been a little over a week on this trip, but it feels like months. Every day is so full of wonder and unchartered territories for me. In the two days of orientation with our FOCUS (equivalent to IV in Uganda) students God has broken and challenged me in ways I cannot imagine. The students here just *get it*, you know? There's no cynicism or doubt, just pure and whole love for Jesus. I am inspired. They have spoken directly into my life many times so far and for that I am so thankful.

The camp we stayed at was pretty hardcore :) Showering from basins and going to the bathroom over a very deep hole in the ground. The home where I am now has western toilets (thank God!) but we'll still use the basins for showering. Oh and by the way I'm in Africa. AFRICA! The birds sound like monkeys! There are so many bugs! Last night they attacked my forehead, cheeks, and yes, my right nostril. Gah. The food is great, but I'm still being careful of what I eat and God has blessed me with health so far. I've caught the sunrise twice and it blows your mind. I took pictures, don't worry.

The boys here are adorable. Oh, I should explain: We're here in a very small group: three IV folks and two FOCUS students. Our little group will become my "caregroup" for the whole trip. And it's comprised of people I've already really connected with, which is awesome. We're only here for a week and then we go to work with one of Uganda's most famous gospel singers and preachers! How perfect is that?! Anyway, I was saying, the boys are awesome. We played frisbee, football (soccer) and chess so far. We've sung worship songs together and the boys made cake! It's in the oven right now. All that and we've only been here a few hours. I can't wait to see what God has in store for the week-- our responsibilities include leading bible studies and educational centers and learning from the boys, too.

I should go for now, but we have internet all week until Sunday (when we move again) so if you reply, there's a chance we can have a little correspondance!


In love and in Christ who is so BIG and present no matter where you are,
Erin


yesterday while the boys were in school, andrew and eric took us to the botanical gardens for a picnic. In america the main picnic pest is ants.... unfortunately the pests in uganda are much larger! about halfway through eating a monkey jumped up on the table and grabbed our bananas! once we scared it away we turned around... and saw about 20 more monkeys behind us staring and slowly moving forward. for the next 15 minutes or so we were fighting off monkeys. one of these pictures is of mary being chased by one. it was so funny! we eventually packed up and ran to the car, some of them tried to jump in with us but didnt succeed. we moved to a new location by the lake where we saw a black mambo snake (poisoness) swimming through the water. a little boy there threw rocks at it to keep it from coming to shore. then we saw an eagle! (i took a picture for you mom). After that we went to the land where New Start will be hopefully building a permanent home. Right now they rent. We prayed at the site, and then andrew told us that he had just recieved a $500 donation, which means that they can start building next month! I led the biblestudy that evening which went very well. I'm amazed by the faith the boys here have, especially after hearing some of their stories last night. I focused on God's healing power and asked if there was anything they needed healing from. some of them shared their past, and totally shocked me with what they have gone through. its so nice that they can be in a permanent home now with Andrew and Eric, where they finally have a home and access to school and everything they need. I'll be praying that the building process goes well and that someday New Start can expand to include girls too, and take in even more street kids. Its such a great program that they have here.

~Sarah~