Angela writes from Uganda

Marvin spent the day laying brick with the Africans. He had a
wonderful time teaching them how to work as a team so that they would get
the work done faster. Clay helped to oversee the project and spent
time with the local children. I (Angela) spent time in the ultrasound
unit with the technician trying to figure out what was wrong with
Linda's child B2. She has been very ill for over a month. I also
spent time in the dental clinic trying to teach the dentist how to
give injections.
Laura, Robin & I went to Smile Africa and fed and sang with the
children again today. Laura used some of the money she had raised to
bring more beans and rice to the children. We also found a few kids
in need of clothing and decided to buy dresses from the widow
dressmakers to dress them.
Then we met up with Tom, Clay, Marvin, and
Kent in order to visit the farm. We saw the chickens and the pigs.
Of course, we all had to hold the piglet that Marvin got retrieved
from the sow. We also went to check on Scovia, in the afternoon. We
were very happy to see that she was looking better and feeling
better. The mosquito net had been put in and her sores were healing.
Later we headed into town to find pipe that will used to build soccer
goals with. All in all it was a wonderful day in Africa.

Angela Roberts writes from Uganda

We went to Nymyanga today and painted a church. We painted the inside white and cream and the shutters maroon. Then we painted the outside white, yellow, and purple. It really looked good when we were done. Marvin and Clay were the formen on the job, but stil worked pretty hard and made it come in on schedule and slightly underbudget. (this was all without a chalk line, laser level, ladder, or any paint brushes that could be considered decent) Laura, Pat, Dianne, & I (Angela) were really the slave labor along with 5 or so Africans. Their wives fed us lunch and guess what we had- yep African bread. Tom was thrilled to see it on the menu and couldn't get to the pot fast enough. Tom was obviously the replaceble one since Marvin put him on the top of the ladder for most of the day. (not in the steadiest of places ) Diane, Laura and I also worked with the Sunday school teachers to show them how to use the felt pieces to tell Bible stories. That is really important since these kids do not have Bibles of their own to learn the stories from. Well my ambian is kicking in and the screen seems to be moving in front of me so I will say goodnight. Angela

More from Uganda from Kent Dirks & Elizabeth Flynn

Sunday was our day of worship and the worship experience at True Vine
is a glimpse at what our worship and praise experience will be when
we're in heaven. Some of the team was at Pastor Wilbur's church while
others of us went to Pastor Peter's old church, both churches were
filled with dancing, singing, prayer and praise to God. My wife Laura and
I were able to visit our girl Cordilia after church. Elizabeth has
done a great job getting all of us an opportunity to visit with our
kids... where would we be with out her! The entire team also joined
several pastors and members of True Vine on a visit to the Tororo
hospital to pray for the sick. Although this was my second visit to
the hospital, it was still very difficult to be in a facility that is
so far from any standard of health care that I've seen in before. As
Eric Sabatini said, these people are living by the grace of God. We
were able to bring them sugar and soap that Gene Toth and other
friends of his from California are giving as a donation to help these
people out each month. Please pray for them! Our day ended with a
wonderful feast at Pastor Wilbur's house. Jane and the other women of
the church had set up a spread of food for twice the number of people
there. We could have stayed through the night eating till sunrise if
we wanted to. Kent Dirks

Monday we started giving out bikes funded by our partner church in
Prescott Arizona. When Tom spoke at their church one Sunday the
people of the church gave a large donation to buy bike for our orphans
and people that are in need. We gave out some bikes to our kids in
the program and they were so happy. These kids were chosen by the
field officers. They chose the kids that are in the greatest need of
a bike because they have a long way to school or a long way to get
water. They were very thankful and you can see that from the face on
these kids. We also are giving out the socks and underwear that this
same church gave to us. We are having fun with giving these out.
Another thing we are giving out are mattresses that some of the kids are
in need of. We are thankful to the donors that gave to our life kit
fund. Thanks to all of you donors.

Tom and the other team members went to Smile Africa to feed 408 Karamojong children.
They all said they were so touched being there and seeing how many kids are being fed. They also said that the kids were so well behaved. Rachel has done a great job in raising money to make this all happen. She is still raising money in this on going feeding center. When Pastor Ruth first introduced Rachel to the Karamojong children she was told this tribe is a despised group of people--treated much like the gypsies in parts of Europe. The kids were eating out of trash bins and when a little girl Maria died from eating a piece of poisoned meat we knew we had to step in. We began the program last August and each month pray we have enough money to continue. Currently the need is urgent and you can help by following the link on the home page of the website. Elizabeth Flynn

Uganda news from Angela and Robyn

Here are the stories of April 12th


Elizabeth took Linda Booker to see more of her kids. Donnie went along and had time to make more babies sweaters.

Kent, Laura, and I (Angela) went to Mumatumba on a medical and dental outreach. We enjoyed meeting the pastor Jessica, and set up a clinic in her church. Laura and I tried to teach the children how to play pat-a-cake during the times that we did not have patients. Laura and Kent became very capable dental assistants. Our last patient was our hardest, but the Lord came through as usual. Boy is He faithful. We got the last two stubborn teeth out with quite a bit of fanfare. The day was perfect, lots of kids and work. Laura got serenaded by the local children. They danced, sang, and played drums for her.


Tom, Clay, Diane, Pat, Bob,Laura P, Marv and myself (Robyn) went to see a village that was complete; one under construction and then a few that were open for sponsorship. We were able to mingle with the people, enjoyed playing with the children and passing out little suckers to everyone. We even had one village gather together and sing songs for us in African and then finished with English and praising the Lord. These villages were about 1 1/2 hours from the main campus and on very primitive roads. One highlight of the day was going out in the field and joining Tom eat "live white ants"....... Tom had told us that every time he had been here the locals had told him that he needed to eat white ants, but he never did. This was the trip!!!!!!!! Photos will definitely be posted showing this event.

More from Uganda

Our first day traveling outside of our site. Elizabeth and her orphan
workers took the team to a boarding school at Iganga. We were
introduced to the Orphan Worker Staff and were so impressed with their
dedication and especially the respect they have for Elizabeth.
Eleven of the True Vine Orphans are placed in this beautiful school.
Linda Booker saw her orphan and Pat & Diane Sullivan met the Jans
orphan. A delightful visit with the Administrator of the school who
had been educated at Notre Dame! A special treat along the way was a
stop for toasted corn on the cob from the street vendors. Tom took
the men to town... another great experience for them to be in Tororo
with Tom to watch him deal with the locals buying supplies for the
project as well as buying a $2,000 supply of Malaria medication for
the hospital. The progress on our site is amazing to see! We have to
remind ourselves that it has only been four years since Tom found this
wonderful project. We all feel blessed to be here and are very
excited about the coming days. Tomorrow we will travel with the
medical clinic to an outreach village as well as visiting the villages
that have been donated by so many supporters of Hope4Kids. God is
good!!


Written by: Elizabeth Flynn