Raining Hope Chapter 11 Update #9

Raining Hope Incorporated
Chapter 11 – Update #9
Thursday & Friday, October 6 & 7, 2011

This update is backtracking a little bit! I was not able to send out the last updates before coming home. This covers Thursday & Friday’s activities which were important to include!
Thursday morning I was asked to lead the morning devotions during the staff fellowship. I shared the story of my “burning bush” experience in room 35. As we re-visited the familiar story in Exodus 3, the verses have become very personal to me. As I shared about the brilliant light that was at the top of the cloud, I was taken to Proverbs 4:18-19,
18 The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. 19 But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over.

Another passage of scripture that was a good prayer to follow for this New Year was Proverbs 4:20-27,

20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words, 21 Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, 22 for they bring life to those who find them, and healing
to their whole body. 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 24 Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. 25 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. 27 Don’t get sidetracked;
keep your feet from following evil.

We finished by reading Matthew 6:31-34 which is always a good reminder, 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Robert Otile & I were finally able to meet this morning. He gave me the copies of the paperwork for the land we have purchased! It was almost surreal to hold the official copy that shows we own the 4 acres on Lake Victoria! We discussed the items that we need to first accomplish. You will see in the prayer requests what we will be faced with first.
My tailor came by to drop off my clothes this morning. We were able to have some time to just sit and visit before she boarded a boda boda to make her back home to Wanyange.
Solomon & Annette came early so we could talk over the upcoming school issues. We made lists of what supplies were needed as well. Annette is going to be assuming much of the responsibility of the managing of the home! The unity in the home is so solid right now. We know we already have in place the ones God has chosen!
We were blessed by a visit from Sheila & Michael Kajumba! This time they traveled from Kampala to meet with us. We all had a very relaxing lunch in the garden at the hotel. They enjoyed the peace of Jinja so much compared to the busyness of Kampala! I had a very important mission…deliver the hugs from their son, Aaron who is going to college in Ventura! We exchanged gifts that I am now to deliver to Aaron…along with his hug from his parents!
By time we finished our lunch and sent them on their way, we did not have much time left in the afternoon. We did some shopping in town for necessary supplies. Thanks to all of you at home who have given financial support. This trip we were able to purchase necessary school supplies, home supplies, & food. They will all need new shoes for the new school year. We are going to be able to purchase those as well. Praise the Lord who provides!
Be in prayer about the mosquito nets. The supplier of the nets found out that we wanted to purchase them. However, my friend said her boss may not be able to sell them for the 3000 shillings because that price is for locals. Hmmm…I told her the nets were for the local children. I was not taking them back to America! Ha! They will still be negotiating with our home. Pray that they will honor the 3000 shilling price.
By time we arrived at the home, I only had enough time to be with them for devotions. But we had such a great time in a very short period! Because I have been sharing with the children from Exodus, Luis taught them the song, “Pharoah, Pharoah!” It was the funniest and cutest thing! I smiled and laughed so hard! They were so good! Oh of course we have also been doing our “Cupid Shuffle” nightly! They still love that song!
Mrs. Otile had invited me to dinner that evening at the hotel. It was such a nice time of fellowship. We rarely get the time to just sit one-on-one and enjoy sharing about our lives. For those new to my updates, Mr. & Mrs. Otile are the owners of the hotel. Robert Otile is their son and the General Manager. They are a tremendous family who are committed to the Lord. No wonder there is so much favor that rests upon the hotel!
Friday we had much to accomplish because it was my last full day in Jinja & at the home. We went to town so I could say goodbye to my friends in their shops. Rita was bringing her daughter, Mary to see me. When we pulled up in the car in front of her shop, little Mary greeted me at the car door! She gave me a big hug then took my camera case to carry it over her shoulder! Here the custom is to carry the visitor’s bags to be helpful. Little Mary was no exception! I took her with me to the various shops to see my other friends. It was precious!
We finished up as much shopping as we had time for. Miraculously, we were able to purchase most of what was on the list! There were just a few items that they will take care of after I come home. We also bought our soda and cakes for our soda party later in the afternoon. That is always a highlight of the trip. The only time the children get a bottle of soda is when I come and we have these special parties. They appreciate the soda so much because they only get one bottle about 4 times a year. Hard to imagine isn’t it!
The biggest blessing of Friday was that Robert Otile took us to visit our land! The fun part was we went by boat this time instead of car! We caught a boat at the Sunset Hotel next door. We travel down the Nile River, enter into Lake Victoria, and cross over the lake. Amazing! It was a beautiful, perfect day to take the boat. Robert brought his two boys, nephew and another cousin with us. They were so curious as to where we were going. They asked tons of questions all along the way. Yes, it was one of those, “Are we there yet?” journeys! Because the children were with us, the driver of the boat took extra time to point out sites. It took us a little longer going because we went along the shore to see birds etc. It was about a 35 minute boat ride. By car it takes about 40-45 minutes on a very rough road. Going back was only about 25 minutes as we headed straight back to the hotel. What a fun way to travel to our new land by boat! God is so good!
It was overwhelming to stand on our new land for the first time since owning it. This time Robert pointed out which of the four acres belongs to us. As we walked up the path from the Lake, we were greeting by some of the local children living right there in the area. One little girl in particular was all smiles as she wondered who exactly we were!
Four acres is really big! Our land goes all the way to the shore of the Lake. It was so emotionally overwhelming to walk on the land that God has given to us. At one point, we stopped to pray over the land and dedicate all to Him. I was overcome with a sense of joy. We were humbled to know our God loves us so much to provide His very best. I began weeping as we prayed, giving it all back to Him. We look forward to what God has in store for the future home of Raining Hope Children’s Home! This is the Promised Land.
After the boat ride back to the hotel, we went to visit Pastor Paul and his family. I had not been able to see him since Sunday! It was very nice to just sit in the living room and visit with the whole family. He asked about many of you and I was able to update the family on as much as I could. We had a time of precious time of prayer before I left.
We went by Pastor Gerald’s house before heading to the children’s home. We had a very quick visit with Ruth and the two boys. They again prayed for me their very sweet prayer. This time it was a little bit longer than, “God, Aunt Eydie, Amen!” They actually covered their little eyes and prayed quite some time before saying, “Amen.” Whatever it was they prayed from me I know it was heard by our God!
I had planned to stay at the home as long as I could this last evening. We had a great time during our devotions. I also ate dinner there that night. It was nice because we all ate together in the dining room! This was the first time we were able to do that. Even the fact that we have devotions in the living room is new. We used to have the devotions outside in the dining area set up for the children. For the first time, it really felt like a home.
As I shared one more time with the children from the Book of Exodus, we focused on how the Israelite children left Egypt. After crossing the Red Sea, they came to a point that they began grumbling. They even went as far to say they would rather be back in Egypt! The challenge I left with the children of Raining Hope was that we never be like the Israelite children. We also have left Egypt. God has provided us with so much. He is blessing us with such amazing things! We believe that the new land that we have waiting for us is our Promised Land. As much as we love the house we are in, it is just a stop along the way. God is asking us to be faithful with the journey. He has the Promised Land waiting. We are not going back to Egypt. We will be thankful for all He has done and will continue to do. May we never take that for granted. May we never forget who our God is.
Thank you for sharing this chapter in my story with me. Please continue praying for our children. They love you all and thank you for caring so deeply about them.
Prayer Requests:
1) Praise! We accomplished all that we needed in the short time frame given. God kept us on task and we finished what He wanted us to get done.
2) Continue to pray for the selection of new schools. We have narrowed it down. As soon as we have confirmation on the schools, I will be sending an update out as to what we need in terms of school fees.
3) We have come to a solution about the management of the home! Annette is going to take on more responsibilities of the daily management. We will continue working on this process. But they will all be working together as the unity between the staff is amazingly strong & God centered.
4) Praise that we were able to visit the new land.
a) Pray as we first need to plan boundary markers. We want to set up a boundary fence so others will know the land belongs to us. We are talking about planting trees that will serve as the boundary markers. We also need to purchase a sign post showing that Raining Hope Children’s Home will be occupying the land.
b) Pray that we seek God’s direction in the prioritizing of the order of building. We believe the first priority will be the actual children’s home. Future dreams include: guest house, school, vocational school, & church. We also have enough land to develop into farm land. That will help us with our food supply.
c) Pray for the necessary funds to begin building. We first need to pay off the loan we took out here in America to move out of the old home. We had incurred the debt here in order to pay off all of the schools and the landlord. Once that is all paid off, we can start a building fund campaign.
d) We are obligated to stay in the current home until at least October as we have 1 year lease. We would not move out until after the first of next year because of the school term ending in December. Pray with us this year as we seek Him to provide the funds to build.
5) Pray for our upcoming “Sit-A-Thon” on February 11-12, 2011. You have received information on this event under separate email. This is a big event for us. We are hoping that the funds raised will help us to pay off the loan and begin the building process. We also will have school fees to raise in the next two weeks.
6) Pray for the new ISP team from CBU that will be going to Uganda June 1-21, 2011. We just began our training. I travel to Riverside on Monday nights as we meet from 6-9 pm.
We want to be explained only by the miraculous! Stay tuned for more to come!
Kale,
Eydie