Support an Angel...Provide them Wings

Since the beginning in 2010, people have asked me "What do you need next?"  These past years we have been so blessed to receive the items needed to almost complete our Home of Angels.
God provides....and that is a fact.  The farm compound accommodates the chickens, goats and gardens.  The main compound consists of enough housing for 50 children that we plan to raise and educate.

But here is where we really need your prayers.  The 2nd home that Northview so kindly donated funds for is finished and sitting empty until we find sponsors.  We are equipped to house up to 50 children but until we find sponsors for each child, we cannot bring them in.  Edwin and I would like to find children and have a waiting list like other organizations do, but the reality is, we must mention it to the child and if no one sponsors them, once again they are rejected.  We can't do that.

Needless to say, we did make an exception.  Currently we have 14 children who are sponsored and we have 15 children living with us.  Our latest little girl named Bridget is 6 years old.  She is very malnourished and we felt it in our hearts to bring her in immediately.  If anyone would like to sponsor this sweet child, you can reach me at jaajabarbshomeofangels@gmail.com and I will give you the details.


                     

Meet Bridget our new little princess.  She loves to make a crowns of flowers for her head to look pretty.  If anyone would like to sponsor her, please contact me and I will send you the information.

Thank you.   

Our cookhouse is looking much better with a special coat of weather protector paint on it.  The shelves and counters are finished inside and all that's left is painting the windows and door.  As you can see, it's very difficult to hide this red dirt on everything.

Meet our Home of Angels family.  In the front row we have our newest children with the exception of  Alan in the blue.  I want to also tell you that that avocado tree behind them is my 65th birthday present planted by the boys.

I am so happy to share this news with you all.  For some reason as soon as the construction was completed, my baking banana bread skills fell apart.  We always said "buy a loaf for a brick".  10,000 loaves later and construction completed, I struggled to bake this bread.  I believe that God was sending me a message telling me enough is enough.  The next thing I knew, Willy at Cobs bakery was offering to help me with these big fundraisers in the future.  For me to bake 4 at a time, sometimes baking 32 in the day took me all day.  Cobs ovens can bake 50 at a time in one hour.  Thank you so much Willy to consider it your ministry to help us and also, thank you Save on Foods for continuing to supply all the ingredients.  

Your wondering about the bandages on Alan and Bridget's hands?  They are cannulas
where you put the needle in to administer medicine into the body.  Both these kids have
malaria but you would never know it.  Once caught and meds administered, they are
usually OK.

Edwin managed to get a picture as the kids were coming out of the gardens with greens they had picked for meals.  I sure don't remember being this happy doing chores.  Look at little Yasin in the front.  From the mud hut with nothing to having hope and love, he is definitely not the same child.

Zakia received a letter from her sponsor and wanted to show me.  I'd like to share it with you to show you how happy they are receiving mail.  They treasure these letters and read them so much that it can help them to learn English.  Thank you Hannah.

Do you remember when the Gleaners sent 500,000 meals in our container to Uganda?  I wanted to show you all the dedication that goes behind cutting these vegetables.  Andy, on the right is 96 years old and spends most of his week cutting food for the needy.  Jake on the left is like a fixture too, always laughing and making people feel good.  He drives the forklift, emptying the containers of vegetables and making sure we all have enough product to cut.  Last year 11,500,000 servings were prepared and were sent to 18 countries.  Praise God.

I had a surprise this week.  Edwin bought a couple of goats with his pay cheque.  As they multiply rapidly, we currently have 5 with one mama expecting possibly 3 kids.  He has a vision for every child to have a goat so they can learn responsibility by taking care of it.  Good plan Edwin.


On more thing I would like to share with you and that is, we had a surprise today.  Our new friends in the UK sent us a message that the playground they had worked so hard to raise funds for is going to be built on our property very soon.  They came to Uganda last year to meet Edwin and the kids and measure out a piece of property where it would nicely fit.  The children don't know so it will be a very big surprise.

Thank you so much Rachel, Mark and all the people that participated.  You didn't even know us but you chose to make the children at our Home of Angels feel very special.  God bless you all.

play-away.org.uk

From Darkness to Hope

Our little family of "angels" is slowly increasing.  Thanks to Edwin, who goes far and wide to search for each child, we have recently been blessed with him finding two new little girls.  They are from a village in the north and although they come from the same village, they don't speak the same language.  In time, they will learn English and Luganda and probably have more languages under their belts than you and I.

We are so proud of our kids.  Edwin and I believe that if we include the children into the decision making process, it makes them feel that they are important and it gives them self worth.  We always talk it over first, listen to their ideas and make the decision.  When the child arrives, they have then prepared a welcome program and help that child adjust to a different way of living other than in the bush.  It is very frightening for a child to come into a walled compound where they are not allowed to leave except with an adult or their daily walk to school.  In time they adjust, loving the idea that so many people care for them and they don't have to struggle for food and water anymore.

The rains were 2 months late this year and many people lost their crops.  When they finally arrived, they came with a vengeance but our communities power has been affected.  The roads where we live are mud and not travelled as much, which means it's difficult for Edwin to get to places like the village where our goats are.  We presently have 56 goats and Edwin's father is still planting food for the workers as wages for helping him.  To ensure we receive only healthy goats, they are first inspected by a vet.  I am sure we will have pictures in the next update.

I would like to share the pictures we were able to get and I hope you can see how God is at work in our Home of Angels.

I would like you to meet Maureen, age 5.  After one month of searching, Edwin found this
child in a village north of us.  Both parents died and she was placed with the only living relative she had, her grandma.  Because this elderly grandma is very sick and cannot take care of her, she asked Edwin if he would help and he decided yes as there were no other living relatives.

I would also like you to meet Hadeja, age 6.  She too lost both her parents due to HIV/AIDS.  She went to live with Grandma but she too is very ill.  After time observing the situation and asking many questions in the village, Edwin felt this child would not be taken care of at all when the elderly woman passed.  We want children that have no other relatives to take care of them so he spends weeks searching and when satisfied, we will take them.

Thank you Northview Church

Our second children's home is finished except for some electrical installation.  We are so grateful to Northview church for caring enough to help us bring God's children into a safe and loving home.
Our prayer is that one day a team will come and baptize the kids and workers who have become Christians.

When we started in February 2010, these two men were there to help clear the land for building.  They helped their friend Edwin for 3 years without receiving anything but gratitude.  They are now in charge of 1000 chickens and a large passion fruit orchard and receiving a wage.  I cannot even imagine how we could have done it without them.  Sula, on the left has now changed his name to "Paul" as he has become a Christian and given his life to the Lord.

Couldn't resist this picture.  This is our little Alan.  He loves the feel of having his head shaved
and goes into a trance.  Edwin and our guard Frank (behind) shave the kids every few weeks to prevent any fungal diseases.

Our little Marian is giving out surprises to the widow's children on our path.

In our last update, I mentioned about Edwin spending his wages by helping the widows in our area start a business.  One family in Canada wanted to make a difference too, so they sent money to help the widows plant a garden after their gardens all dried up in the drought.  The rains finally arrived soon after receiving these seeds and they now have maize growing for the season.  Thank you Caroline and Warren for caring to help these beautiful people.

Thank you to the women in Creston B.C. for spending their time sewing 50 pillow cases for the children.  What a beautiful gift....we are very grateful to you all.

I have mentioned over the past 5 years about how our AMAZING kids are always wanting to help a less fortunate child.  This is another example of two children who want to make a difference to other kids who have nothing.  Hannah and Caleb gave up their allowance and also worked for charity, donating it all to our Home of Angels.  Edwin and I are so proud of you both.  Thank you so much.

I wanted to share what our gardens look like after all the rains.  Our passion fruit are thriving and will be ready in the near future.  And also, the kids are getting healthy greens daily to improve their health.  This is just a tiny part of the garden and look how it's thriving.



We know we are so blessed with all the wonderful things happening in our compounds and in our community.  As the rains ease, the people will be coming back into our grass hut to watch the Jesus video and the kids will be able to get out and help people like they had planned.  The sun and heat will reappear and it will be much easier to get around.  I'm excited to show you the goat project next update but in the meantime, thanks for standing with us and caring.

God bless you all....