EXCITING TIMES AHEAD

Greetings to all of you blog readers who have been left high and dry since Thanksgiving...SORRY! We are back in full force on the blog and wanted to bring everyone up to speed. Exciting times are happening in GRI's work in northern Uganda. GRI's goal since the beginning of the northern Uganda projects has been to raise up national leaders to manage the programs. We are thrilled that God has brought us some amazing leaders to run the daily programs and they are doing a great job. Each month we are able to give much needed medications, education, encouragement and support to over 1,200 people living with HIV/AIDS. Pictured above are the managers of our HIV/ministry programs.
We will try our best to keep you posted on the amazing things God is doing in Uganda. Thanks for hanging in there with us. Keep reading, writing, praying and giving! We are in this together!

Blessings,
GRI

Thanksgiving

Jolene here.

It has been quite a few years since I last had a family Thanksgiving. Christmas is the big holiday for us. I've been living too far away from my family and/or been too busy with school and work to take time out in November, too, to have the family meal and fellowship that we used to do every year.

I expected Thanksgiving this year to be just like my past years of not really celebrating since the holiday isn't even on Uganda's calendar, but we actually had a pretty special day. Our neighbors Bob and Carol invited 8 of us over for a Thanksgiving meal. The 8 of us are of similar age which is similar to the ages of Bob and Carol's kids. We all agreed that the time was very much like having a family gathering, which was just really really really nice being so far from "home".

The meal was incredible!!! There was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, carrots, waldorf salad (which is pretty incredible since you can't actually get any of the typical ingredients for it here and it was made entirely of things that aren't typically in it), fruit salad, stuffing, olives, homemade biscuits, cornbread ... I'm forgetting something, but EVERYTHING that is RIGHT about Thanksgiving meals was there. We didn't have yams, but we didn't even miss them. Maybe you don't understand that we don't get to eat these foods. It was amazing.

And I have to brag that Wes and I tag-teamed the pumpkin pie (started them less just over an hour before we were SUPPOSED to arrive ... thank goodness for "African time"!) and really pulled it off. Shau, you'll be jealous to know that Carol even asked me to teach her how I made the crust (did I mention this was my first time ever making pie?)!!!!!!!!!!! It went great with both Carol's homemade ice cream and my made-from-scratch vanilla pudding.

As if the food itself wasn't blissful enough, we just had a great time of fellowship sharing some of the things that we're thankful for, sharing some of our frustrations together, taking turns on the piano (I didn't touch it cuz my talent does NOT compare to the others who sat down after so long without playing and pulled out entire songs from memory!!!), and singing Christmas carols (dry season has hit with a vengence, so we needed a little something extra to take our minds off the sweat pouring from us to really believe it was Thanksgiving time). It was everything that I look forward to when I'm anticipating a family holiday, minus my actual family.

It makes me look forward with even more anticipation to the Christmas season and getting to do the real thing. It also makes me sad knowing that the same group will not all be together for a holiday again.

It's Official!!!

Praise the living God!!!  After over two years of paperwork and red tape, three different lawyers, sweat, effort, and much intense prayer, we have finally been approved as an official Ugandan NGO by the government of Uganda!!!  I don't even know how to contain myself!  God is faithful, that's all I can say, and He deserves all the fame!  The implications of this status are vast and far-reaching.  Basically, it means that our work here in northern Uganda can continue to expand and grow MUCH more freely as the Lord guides us to serve more and more people who need to know the love and hope of Christ in a tangible way.  Pictured here is the official Certificate of Registration, which is a key that will unlock many doors as our activities and plans are carried out in partnership with the Ugandan government.  I almost couldn't believe it until I saw the certificate with my own eyes.  I feel like a burden of a thousand tons has been lifted off of my back.  Again, praise God!  His faithfulness endures forever!  (Ps 117:1-2)

-Wes

Pay It Forward

Baby Tracey was admitted to the hospital in Lira not long after I first saw her at the Otwal Health Centre. You may recall my desperate prayer request posted on this blog previously. Tracey was severely malnourished and vomiting regularly. She spent the first two weeks in the hospital being treated with various antibiotics and not improving at all. She weighed only 1.9 kgs (4 lbs 3 oz) and despite the treatment was not gaining any weight at all. Jackson, our operations manager, was at the hospital every day, asking the nurses about her condition and encouraging the mother to not lose hope. It was a constant battle. We were concerned that the staff at the hospital was giving up on her. Two weeks into her stay the lead physician finally came to assess Tracey’s situation and determined that she needed intestinal surgery. We prayed fervently for this tiny child of God-that He would hold her and sustain her through this surgery. We were truly rejoicing when we heard that she not only survived the surgery, but finally began to improve.

Throughout this journey we were constantly encouraging the mother to love this baby and not give up hope. It was a hard road to walk because it seemed that she had distanced herself from Tracey as though she was afraid to love any more deeply, knowing that she may lose this precious child.

On my last day in Lira, I wanted to visit Tracey one more time. Amazingly, not only did I get to see her, but I got to be there as she was discharged from the hospital! I was able to hold this little one, who had made definite improvement. I was so aware of God’s grace to allow me to see the impact that we had been able to make in this baby’s life. As we drove the family to the nearby bus station to get transportation back to their village, Jackson talked with Tracey’s parents. They kept asking him what they could do to repay us. Jackson told them “when you go home tell the people in your village 'this baby is alive because of the power of Jesus Christ’”. When they asked again what they could do, Jackson told them, “The next time you see someone in need, hurting or dying, don’t forget what was done for you. Love them and support them as you have been supported.”

Something changed in Eunice, Tracey’s mom, that day. She held her baby closer, looked at her with different eyes. I think she finally allowed herself to love again.

Please continue to pray for Tracey and her parents. Her life is still so fragile as she still weighs only 2.2 kgs (4 lbs 13 oz). Pray that the love of Jesus Christ that they’ve experienced will continue to grow in them and through them.

Baby Tracey with chubby cheeks now. Looking so much healthier!

Jolene on Pastor Walter's Traditional Marriage Ceremony

(photos to come)

Working with a program where we're telling students not to have sex until they are "married" and having to think a lot about what being "married" actually means, it was quite interesting to attend a traditional Ugandan marriage. Churches here teach that the traditional marriage is not enough and that a church wedding must also take place. The reason for this is a man can take more than 1 wife the traditional way, but can only wed 1 woman in the church. People here will get married in the traditional way, which includes the start of the man paying the agreed upon bride-gift and moving in together, but the church wedding itself normally happens much, much later after the bride-gift has been paid in full and the couple has had enough time to save and collect money for an expensive ceremony in the church.

Walter as a pastor has been trying to do his marriage to Juliet in the most church-accepted way. We had the privilege of attending his traditional marriage ceremony last Saturday and are looking forward to the church wedding that will take place on 20 September. He refuses to take his maybe-almost-wife to stay with him until after the wedding even though her family seemed to expect him to.

At the traditional marriage ceremony, Walter's family and friends (including us) arrived at Juliet's family's home dressed in our best. They made us wait outside the "gate" of the homestead while they discussed something with Walter through delegates. It sounded like they were negotiating the bride-gift, but since that was also done later, I'm no longer sure what had to be agreed before we could pass.

Once that agreement was made, we were ushered in to seats under a tent for the ceremony. The first significant item on the agenda was for Walter to send delegates with the bride-gifts he'd brought in to Juliet's family. It took a significant amount of time for her family to receive the gifts and there were continually messages coming back to Walter as if in further negotiations about what additional gifts he would be bringing compared to what he'd already brought. Finally everything was in order and Juliet's family accepted the gifts and promises of future gifts.

Shortly thereafter, Juliet's family started to bring out girls dressed in their finest for Walter to "choose" from. They made up this cute story about how they were flying the girls in from an island and they could only bring a certain number at a time. The first batch consisted of 3 young girls and somehow a young boy. Walter and his men got up from their chairs and studied them all looking very very serious. After some time of studying, he informed the family that none were acceptable. In line with the story, he had to agree to pay enough money to cover transport costs to fly these girls back and collect more from the island. The next batch consisted of women of the right age, but none of them were Juliet. The process was repeated. The 3rd batch included Juliet with all the other girls from before. She's beautiful and couldn't stop smiling even though she was trying really hard to be serious.

After inspecting the 3rd batch for some time, Walter finally chose Juliet out of all of the women and announced that she was the one that he would marry. There was some talking but none was really translated to us, so the best I could get out of it was that she was asked if she was willing to marry him and she agreed. They exchanged rings, there was some more talking, and all the girls were guided back out.

Not long after this, Juliet came back out (in a different dress) for the cake cutting. She and her mother stood up together to cut the cake and serve it, first to Juliet's side and then to Walter's. It was supposed to symbolize the last time Juliet would serve a meal to her family and the first time she would to Walter's. By this time, Walter and his best man had been seated in seats of honor with 2 chairs remaining for Juliet and her maid of honor.

They sat with the best man between them as representatives from both families got up to introduce their family and guests and say some words to the couple. There was much preaching and praying done, but again, not much was translated for us, so we only picked up on a few things like homosexual, alcohol, and divorce (I have no idea!!!!). A pastor also spoke and there were a couple of prayers for the couple.

Juliet and Walter were both asked some questions during all of this speaking. Juliet said that she would go, so I take that to mean that she agreed to go as Walter's wife. Walter agreed to wed her and take care of her.

After all of the speeches were complete, Walter and Juliet lead the guests up to the food table for everyone to get a plate of food. Music was playing as if people might dance as we ate our food, but it was already after dark and we had a 2 hour drive through villages to get back home so we didn't stay to find out.

We were informed that Walter's ceremony was atypical because it was much more religious than is normally the case. Also, traditionally, there is alcohol and more dancing afterwards. Either way, I don't understand how that isn't sufficient as a wedding. Vows are made. There are consequences if either side doesn't live up to those vows. If the worry is due to the freedom to take multiple wives, it seems like that could be added as a stipulation in the agreements. If the worry is due to the fact that the wedding cannot be official until the bride-gift is fully paid, isn't that a bit like long-term prostitution? All that to say, we try to adhere to church norms in PRICELESS which say that being married takes more than the traditional marriage ceremony, but after all this time, I'm still not sure I agree with that.

Cruising On

Praise God!!! He has recently provided for the work of GRI-Uganda in an exciting way!  Thanks to the great generosity of a large donor, we have been able to purchase a new Land Cruiser for use in our future operations throughout northern Uganda and beyond.  This vehicle will meet so many needs, enabling us to continue to bring God's love to the poor and disadvantaged as we provide medical, educational, and spiritual help and healing.  We have already used the vehicle several times in the field, much to the surprise and excitement of our staff.  We understand that this vehicle is both a blessing and a responsibility.  Therefore, we are careful to manage and maintain it well so as to ensure its functioning for years to come.  God is always faithful to provide as we seek to glorify Him with our lives.  This is just one tangible way in which He has shown His faithfulness in the work of GRI in Uganda.  I pray we are able to reach more and more people with the good news of the Gospel as a result of this gift.  Pictured above are our Priceless teachers on their way to a weekly Bible study led by Jolene, our Priceless program director.  As you can see, the new vehicle has room for the whole family!

-Wes

Privileged to be Here

Wes and Jolene have been harassing me to introduce myself formally on this blog so here goes :)

My name is Nicole Geerlinks. I am a midwife who has spent the past 3 years in the Philippines, working at a couple of free maternity centers for the local poor. Throughout my life, I have had a constant draw to be involved in missions in Africa. I am so excited to be here now, doing the work that I have longed for since I was young.

I will be spending time at the Otwal Health Center, working with the local midwives and loving on the people of Oyam District. The Maternity Ward at the health center was built by an NGO, completed in September 2007. Since that time, the midwives at this health center have attended approximately 300 births. My hope is that by working with the local midwives we can together improve the conditions and services offered so that we can encourage more and more women to deliver at the health center. Currently in northern Uganda, only 20% of the births are attended by a “skilled birth attendant”, which is defined as a midwife, nurse or doctor. The remaining 80% give birth at home typically with a traditional birth attendant. In most cases these are untrained women who have chosen to sacrificially help women in their community that are in labour, oftentimes without pay or reward.

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend a birth at the health center with Judith, the local midwife. The mother was 18 years old, giving birth to her first baby. The baby’s heart beat was irregular for the last part of her labor but at 2:55 pm she gave birth to a little boy. It took a bit of support and persuasion to encourage him to breath but eventually he did. The people were not sure what to name him since he was a boy and couldn’t be given my name. J They decided they would give him my husband’s name, but since I don’t have one they settled with my brothers’. Baby Bradley is healthy and doing well. Opak Obanga! (Thank you God!)

I truly consider it a privilege to be here. My heart is broken daily by the injustices here, yet I know that God has called me to love these women and babies and be the hands and feet of Jesus at the Otwal Health Center.

-Nicole

This picture is baby Tracey. She was born over a month ago and weighed only 2.1 kgs (4 lbs 9 oz) when we took this picture. We transported her to the hospital in Lira where she is now admitted. Please pray for her as condition seems to be deteriorating. As of today her weight has decreased to 1.9 kgs (4 lbs 3 oz). Pray for wisdom for the doctors and for us as we advocate on her behalf.