Perspective...Wednesday Sept 16th

So much is happening around me and everything is exciting and moving quickly in and about the designing of a new place to call home and a base for ministry to the community.  The view from the screens of laptops turning in every direction and from every angle challenges my simple mind and makes me want to grab a box of sidewalk chalk and crayons just to prove that I still have skills appropriate for my own generation.  

EMI is wonderful and flexible and listens and adjusts and readjusts and doesn't throw things at us when we change our minds yet again.

At the adjacent tables, others sit working on electrical engineering plans, water use and supply and how to best support the structures and some other really awesome stuff I won't go into because...well it is far beyond me.  

Every day we get to review the progress and they can show us this land development plan from every visual perspective.

Perspective...and then...yesterday...

We went back to Kakira, but the outskirts, far away from the more densely populated central area. We stopped off at one primary school...7 grade levels of students occupy their own classroom areas, sometimes separated by a wall, sometimes not.  Grade 5 and 6 sit with their backs to one another, in the same room, one group facing one 4 x 6 blackboard and listen, the other group facing the other blackboard.  Two teachers, two sets of lessons.  It made me wonder if these children weren't entirely distracted by each other, or if their ability to focus and be attentive was greater than most.

Some classrooms built of brick, the youngest primary students in rooms of mud/dung packed between sticks and they are grateful to have a roof of tin to keep the rain out.  

Janet took Josh and me and as usual, was our translator.  Chaos was controlled by our visiting every classroom, rather than waiting until lunch time to face 200+ students.  Preschool aged children are called "baby class". Kindergarten age are divided into "Middle" and "Top class".   We visited a bit with each room of darlings, briefly sharing our testimony, or a quick bible lesson.  Josh sang a song he knows in Swahili and the kids LOVED it.  They also laughed and wanted to touch the top of his bald Caucasian head. 

We left there and within a few minutes were back at the house of Jennifer, her baby Flores and 8 or so, siblings & nieces and nephews.  Children swarmed in as usual around the van and our fair skinned selves.  They stared, we tried to entertain them with candy while Janet tried to speak privately to Jennifer.  We soon discovered we needed to move inside in an attempt to get Jennifer to speak openly and freely.   In whispers, the two of them spoke in their local language, huddled close together, 8 month old, baby Flores sleeping soundly in her mother's 15 year old arms.  

We brought a bottle and the first delivery of formula and tried to explain the ratio of water to powder.  We spoke to both the grandmother who can see to measure and mother, who I really believe will be able to feel her way to measuring water somehow and mixing the two to feed her undersized child.  We talked about boiling the water and not saving any left over.  Janet cautioned them against eating the powder themselves, which only made sense when we heard that no one in the household had eaten yet today...jennifer and baby sleep on the wooden frame of a bench/sofa kind of thing.  Perspective...I'm not sure I will ever really find a comfortable way to see and hear such things.

Janet will go back in a week or two to check and see if the baby is growing and bring more formula.  To expect the tiniest in the family to get all of the formula and be helped is a high calling and unlikely.  God help them in their own desperation to make sure she gets enough.

We shared the gospel and talked about this momentary life compared to eternity; strength and courage in suffering and using this blip in time on Earth to share Christ and love others.
Its a universal call, but seems to demand much more courage and strength in this particular home.  

We stopped on the road way on the way back to do some investigation of another family.  A grandmother with 13 children.  Her son, the father died of AIDS, and the mother left when the youngest was 7 months old.  Each day the grandmother goes to look for work in someone's garden to get something to eat for the family.  Four children have been given to others to care for, I guess like fostering for now, and we are far too aware of the threat this presents to these "outside" kids . 

Grandma and the 9 others live and sleep in a 6x8 mud room.  Janet does not know her and she is nowhere near anybody she is connected to.  A man loaned the grandmother his phone and she called asking for help a week ago out of the blue...we still cannot figure out the connection.   

It was like cool water to a scorched spirit when we got to see the plans and progress on the drawing; at the same time, 100 homes would not protect and provide for the numbers.  

Being out...seeing again and sucking up the buckets of emotion that threaten to give me away brings perspective on what is happening this week with this design/engineering team.

God help us to do His will and provide for His children.  We certainly cannot do a thing more than he allows, directs and provides and we are grateful He loves better than we ever could on our own.