How many more??

How many more? How many more have to suffer? How many more will die? How many more boney bodies with sunken eyes? How many more burial services with young wailing parentless kids will I have to attend? How many more bodies will I need to prepare and arrange transport for? How many more times will I have to walk back into the house and tell the other girls the news? Will it ever end? My heart is broken. Just when the tears dry, more begin to come. How many more?
This past month I feel like I have been on a wild goose chase. I have been meeting with everyone and their dog it seems trying to find out how many people are suffering with HIV here in northern Uganda and why it seems that so few people/organizations are doing anything about it. As we have been treating patients in the camps these past 7 months we have repeat patients that just aren’t healing. Powerful medicines that should be working aren’t working. It is obvious that we are treating secondary infections due to HIV/AIDS. The problem is here even if no one wants to talk about it.
For example, last Friday… another taste of reality for these people…
We traveled to one of the camps for a burial of a 50+ woman who had been sick for many years but was just recently diagnosed with AIDS last month. Her skeleton of a body was prepared by her younger sister who last week tested positive and a young orphan boy of 11 that they were taking care of. He is currently in the last stage of AIDS and without any family to care for him. I couldn’t fight back the tears as I saw the woman put her arm around the young boy, both of them crying as they lowered the body into the ground. Both of them not having the strength to keep going and fight this deadly disease.
We left the burial service early to attend the final session of this first abstinence class. It was a great time of celebration as many of the girls made commitments to abstain until marriage. A few of their moms even came, which we were thrilled about. As we began, the headmaster of the school stood up to give his formal welcome. He welcomed the girls, their mothers, the abstinence teachers, the translators and thanked personally the GRI medical staff for caring for his wife for many months. He then got very emotional as he was sorry to say she had passed away January 2 of this year. We had struggled for many months trying to get HIV meds for her. This was the most emotional response I have ever seen from a Ugandan man; he loved her so much. He now takes care of their 6 children, 5 of which are orphans. Bethany and MariAnne made my life when they asked me to be the guest speaker at the ceremony. I was thrilled! After a day like this, what was I supposed to say? The eyes of 40 young girls were pasted on the MUNO (white foreigner). My eyes started to water as I told them how special and beautiful they were. I begged little 9 and 11 year old girls to save their bodies and not give them away to any man. I told them all how much Jesus loves them and how if they wait for Him to provide, He’ll give them good husbands. Then I prayed for them that no man would violate them. “Oh please Lord, protect them!” This killer disease is running rampant in these camps and villages. He is stealing lives and breaking hearts and most don’t even know his name.
We have to help. GOD HAS TO HELP! This problem is God-sized!
I know it is hard to imagine all of this as you sit in the States, hearing very little about HIV. But, these are real people and they cry real tears. They have joint pains and fever and vomit just like we do when we get sick. And I know we have all told ourselves, “Well, they could have prevented this. They are just reaping what they sewn.”
But we have to be realistic. We all make mistakes, we all have sinned and we all are messed up. Most of us just don’t get AIDS.
They have to know. They have to be educated. And God has to show up here BIG TIME! All of us here are eagerly expecting a miracle! This problem is so huge, so detailed, so broad, yet so personal. We are surrounded by high mountains of problems and there is no place to look and no way out but UP. “I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2
This land, Uganda, Africa needs healing. We are believing God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14---
“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” HE WILL HEAR AND FORGIVE AND HEAL!
Please join us in begging our Lord to hear our/their cries, forgive us/them and heal this land!!!
Thanks-
Shaunessy

Preparations are Fun

Well, we are all back in Uganda again. Jaden arrived back in the country last week and a new addition, Corrie arrived just after him. We are totally excited as we are expecting two or three more new workers to join us in the next month or so. The work is needed so much! I wish it was just as easy as going to the camps everyday and feeling the amazing spirit that God places there through his people. However, just getting to the camps for one day seems to take about 10 days of preparation. Shaunessy and Corrie have been meeting with people constantly about constantly adapting our HIV work to the current situation. The problems we face with HIV are overwhelming. God has been blessing their meetings as they have pursued the best way to touch the millions in Uganda who are infected with HIV/AIDS.

Bethany and Marianne will graduate their first class of abstinence students this week! We are so excited as the progress made in the lives of these girls and their mothers has been so great! We are excited that another group will soon be going through the abstinence training.

One of our staff members, Denis, lost his aunt yesterday in such a tragic situation. There seem to be so many opportunistic infections that are attacking the HIV-positive population in the camps. It is so hard to stand back and see that the most serious cases are out of our control.

Please keep praying as God guides and directs our medical work, our abstinence teaching, our health education, ministry and HIV/AIDS work here in Uganda. God Bless you

-staff

PRICELESS

The PRICELESS program has taken off! The more time I spend here, the more I see the need for this training to occur. Marianne and I each have about 17 girls that are going through the abstinence course. Marianne's girls are 11-14 years old and mine are are 15-18 years old. The girls are really excited and attentive students as they are so intrigued and ready to learn. There are many things that we will be continually ironing out, but I feel great about how it is coming together thus far. The problems of worthlessness, being hopeless, child abuse, payment for sex, rape, and multiple wives have caused pain that runs deep. I want nothing more than to see these girls break the chains of this cycle of fear and hopelessness. I want them to really believe in Jesus as their Father, Lover, Healer, Friend, Hope, and Savior. They need to know that they are valuable and loved by God...the rest will follow. Will you pray that these girls understand the material that is so new to them. Will you also pray that they are able to attend all the meetings. I believe God's hand is molding their hearts to recieve him and honor their bodies. Abstinence and faithfulness within marriage is a Goliath that hasn't been really phased yet. With God's power we can be like David and defeat this darkness with these girls. Satan has no power and God will be victorious. If you would join with us in prayer and petition over these girls we would appreciate it very much!
Love- Bethany

Their names are as follows-
Bethany's class:
Rachel, Scovia, Jenifer, Esther, Grace, Agness, Sarah, Jennifer, Judith, Eunice, Rukia, Betty, Scovia, Judith, Babra, Harriet, Judith

Marianne's class:
Collin, Scovia, Brenda, Gloria, Emma, Stella, Margaret, Brenda, Brenda, Sarah, Jilian, Polly, Jacqueline, Rebecca, Monica, Lilian, Dilish, Barbra

GOD is the winner!

Greetings from very warm northern Uganda! God is definately blessing us with the sun these days. Here is a little story about how BIG our God is...
Thursday while having a clinic in one of the camps, a young woman with a baby approached me for help. Her 1 year old daughter, Sharon, had been sick for 2 weeks. The child appeared very fraile and had difficulty breathing. We decided to transport the mom and child to the closest health facility. The child's condition worsened drastically on the bumpy 2-hr ride to the hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital, the mother said she had been feeling sick and began having seizures. I hurried to grab the baby as the mom's arm went limp. She denied ever having had a seizure before. Then the little baby started convulsing too. The mother, Susan, started saying in her language, "Satan, leave me alone. You will not take my child from me." Over the past 2 days, the child's condition hasn't improved much and she is still very critical, but we have had a chance to get to know the mother better. She claims to be Catholic but has never accepted Jesus as her Savior. Susan is obviously overwhelmed with fear. In our conversation today we realized that when she was young, her aunt put a curse on her and said if she ever had a daughter, the daughter would die. Susan had believe this all these years. She was gripped by fear as Sharon is her only daughter. Today, Walter, our pastor visited her at the hospital and spent some time talking to her. He told her of God's power to wipe out curses and promised to never leave her or forsake her. Today, Susan expressed her concerns and fears and made the life-transforming decision to surrender to Christ. GLORY!!!!! I am going to the hospital now to visit her again. Please pray for little Sharon's health and that God would heal her little body. Also please lift up Susan that the peace of God will guard her heart and mind in Christ Jesus. I can't help but think of one of the most popular worship songs here in Uganda. It says over and over "Satan you are a loser but our God is a winner!!" It's true! Thanks for your love, prayers and support!! I'll keep you posted. OUR GOD IS BIG!
Shaunessy

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Greetings from Uganda and Happy New Year!
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. We're excited to get back to work and see all that God has in store for 2007! We are so thankful for each of you, your prayers and support. Please keep it all coming! There is so much to do!
Blessings!

--This is us in our front yard.

Back row L-R: Jackson, Bethany, Bonny, Rachele, Polly, Jaden, Denis

Front row L-R: Alex, Nicole, Shaunessy, Marianne

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to let everone know that the reason we haven't been writing lately is that all of us have left the country for a few weeks. Some have gone home for Christmas and others have left for some recovery time in other places in Africa. We definitely want you to continue to check up on the blog as we update you on what's going on in Uganda. I also want to thank everyone for their prayers for all of the sick patients and new believers. Please continue praying. Also, thank you to all of you who have been praying for our sick little girl Dillis. She went to be with the Lord this last weekend after more than a year of suffering. Please pray for her family during this tough time. Her family is one of the most supportive and loving families we have come across. We'll be in touch. Merry Christmas to all of you. God bless!

GRI Staff

Let it Rain!

It’s unbelievable how powerful our God is! He has absolutely been drawing me in with more adventure and life each day than I could have ever fathomed. It has been a hard last few weeks and I have been doing all I can to just hold on and abide in God… but he is working in this desperate land!
Though I’m just getting around to recording it…Thursday was such an amazing day. The same “mystery camp” that previously was closed off to us has started to reach out to us in the last couple of weeks. I know many of you have committed to pray for the new believers that Jaden wrote about, and God is honoring our prayers for these people. MariAnne and I met with the school’s headmaster and teachers and gave them a first aid kit and some materials to teach the kids on abstinence, having value and being made in God’s image, STI’s, and basic sex ed information (in case you didn’t know we are working on an abstinence curriculum). The teachers were so appreciative and eager to teach the lessen plan; even the scriptures. Afterwards our favorite orphanage leader and teacher, David, met us and asked if he could plan our program for the rest of the day. He took Marianne, Pastor Walter, and I to a meeting he had organized with the orphan’s caretakers and asked that we give words of encouragement and the word of God. We got to encourage the group, laugh together, and pray together. David had taken the initiative to bring them together for the purpose of eight receiving Jesus including himself. We were so excited because he is one of our favorite people in the camp who in the midst of all the corruption, genuinely cares for and loves the children in spite of having so little for himself. Next, a group of teenagers had prepared a skit on AIDS and abstinence that they wanted us to watch. They put chairs in the middle and put on a show for us and the entire community. It helped enhance our knowledge of the culture from the teenager’s perspective to write a more effective curriculum…and was hilarious.
The day ended with a huge downpour. We got in our car and started towards home and got stuck in the mud on the path that was “somehow a road, but more like a river” according to Dennis. After everyone pushed the car it flew into a ditch and to make a long story short…ended up in the bush with a broken wheel. We had the opportunity to walk several miles to the next camp barefoot, in the rain and mud alongside the Ugandans. It really seems like it brought us even more to their level as we got to slow down and just walk with them. They were so shocked to see this; and we were laughing the whole time as we were coated from head to toe. I wouldn’t have chosen to be anywhere else than on that rode in the middle of the rain surrounded by all that beauty. Obango Teck (Praise God)! It was an amazing day. He is sovereign and when we surrender each day to God we witness him moving in ways we wouldnt have imagined. Thank all of you who have been lifting up Uganda in prayer!

-Bethany