This is the Lawyer.

These past few weeks we have been working closely with a YWAM Uganda ministry called Orphans Know More. Each day we go to a different house that is caring for orphans and spend the day with the family. Some families have 5 orphans and others have over 20! Orphans Know More is aiding the families in providing school fees for the children to receive an education while the family provides a safe place for the children to learn about Jesus with food and shelter. The help from Orphans Know More is good but these families are still struggling to provide food and sickness is like a plague to some of them. Malaria is very common in this region and the cost of caring for it is high. Some of the families have mosquito nets, but the young children are sleeping on floors with nothing preventing them from rolling out of the net and being bit! Despite the hardship of life just for a regular family living in an impoverished land, these families live by faith, trust God to provide, and open their doors to children whom the rest of the community refuses to help.

At one house we went to, I met a young man named William. He lost his father when he was very young and lost his mother around 12. When they died, William became the oldest at home with 3 younger siblings. For two years he worked different jobs and paid his own way through school. His aunts and uncles rejected him and his family, refusing to help them. He asked me if that would happen in the United States and I had no idea what to say. We do not have the orphan crisis that Uganda has—it is not common for both parents to die and leave behind children. In addition, so many families here already are struggling day to day to have food, shelter, and fees for school for their own children. William's question really challenged me. I can come here and be more than excited to love these children and spend time with them, but what if this was my life? Would I live in fear of how difficult a task it may be to care for more children or would I have an open heart and FAITH to let God surprise me by how He provides?After 2 years of praying, Orphans Know More came to William’s aid and now him and his siblings are all able to go to school. William is now 19 and studying at the university. He is a focused student and full of dreams to make it out of poverty. He said someone here can work in a field for a whole day and only make 3,000 shillings—about $1.50. I pray that God will open doors for him and show him favor in school and trying to get a job here.

Everything is going very well here. Our team has had a few sicknesses here and there but for the most part we are all staying healthy. I'm still trying to get rid of this ringworm on my arm. It's becoming a part of me now though so there may be separation anxiety when it finally leaves. We get around by taxi most of the time and even though they squish us, it is nothing compared to Mozambique where people sit on top of each other. A few times we have taken motorbikes to get around when it is just a short distance. Ladies are supposed to sit sideways on them and I tried the first few times, but it was hard! I don't know how these African women do it.So I have given up and I will settle with the African's wondering why I ride like a man. Also while we have been here, I have been given a few new names. Apparently Laura is difficult to understand. Every time I introduce myself, they think I say lawyer! So now Song, Stanley, and John have taken it that I become introduced as lawyer everywhere we go before I even have a chance to say Laura. Some people accept it, others stare at me strangely, and one man said "Finally, a lawyer for Christ!". Anyways, we have one more week here. So thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for our team health and safety.