Moses

We welcomed in another sweet little one this week!  His name is Moses Muwanguzi {which is a Luganda word meaning winner}.  GSF has worked with his family before and his siblings are the 2 little ones that came last week.  He is 4 years old, but is extremely malnourished and is about the same size as his 20 month old sister.
He does not move very much, but can scoot across the floor a little bit.   He has a possibility of scoliosis, which may have stunted his growth a little and made it hard for him to move.  He is not so sure about playing with the other kids yet, but loves all the new toys he is finding.  He especially likes the little baby piano and the shaker. He is settling in to his new home and is often found sitting away from the other kids or on someones lap, with his little tongue sticking out {as seen in the first picture}.  He is very shy at first, but will warm up eventually and gives lots of smiles and an occasional laugh.  Just as with all of our kids, it is sad that he had to come, because of his situation, but we are so glad he is here now!  It has been good to have the three siblings reunited, although they don't interact much.

{Sebastian and Moses will both be taken to the orthopedic hospital on Monday, Sebastian goes in just for a check up of his cleft pallet surgery and Moses will be going to get checked for Scoliosis.  Please be praying!}

Covered

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but you know ... I can't write a post without a picture.

L {age 6}: “Does God take your bones or just your heart?”

R {age 8}: “No, your bones go into the ground, into the dirt.”

S {age 9}: “Yes, don’t you know, we were made from dirt.”

L: “Eh, we were made from dust?”

S: Pointing to her dark skin “Yes, you see, made from dirt!”

L: “Caralina, were we made from the dirt?”

Me: “Yes, that’s what the Bible says.”

L: “What about you, you were made from dirt?”

Me: “Yes.”

S: “But you’re WHITE!”

Me: “Well, the Bible says we were all made from the dust.”

R: “And then God covered you?!?”

I had this conversation right after baby Maria passed away.  I held in my laughter until after I walked away, and then I couldn’t help but laugh.  It was a good little humor break to a rough day.

New Kids

We have had three new kids come in within the past two weeks.  GSF has been trying to keep an eye on little Anthony {AKA Tony} since he was about 8 months old.  His two older brothers came in at that time.  He is now 2 years old and it seemed like it would be best for him to move to GSF.  The three brothers have loved being reunited as they have not all three been together in almost 2 years.

Tony and his brothers, Gabriel and Jerald

On Wednesday, Shakira, 20 months, and Ibra, 7 weeks were welcomed into our 'family'.  GSF has also been keeping an eye on these sweet babies, for a few months.  Sweet Shakira had a harder time being in a new environment for the first day.  Now, she has adjusted well and loves playing with all her new friends.  Little Ibra slept most of his first day, but was awake a bit more yesterday.

Trying to figure out my white skin and the camera on her first day.

So much happier!

Sweet little Ibra sleeping

We have loved getting to know these kids and have them here.  Welcome to the family, sweet babies!

Safe in His Arms

Maria's first day at GSF

Late Friday night, baby Maria went to be with Jesus.  We know she is safe in his arms, but it is hard.  Please keep everyone at GSF and her family in your prayers.  We appreciate the prayers you lifted up for her in the short time she lived at GSF.

Photo credit: Dayna

Maria, we are so glad you got to be a part of our 'family' for a month.  We miss you.  Love you forever!

Mark

I have a story to tell today.  It is one that cannot quite be explained with words.

Mark lost his legs in an accident several years ago and was recently gone for 2 months

On Tuesday, Mark came back to GSF with legs!

Auntie Rose with Mark!

Mark and my dad {also named Mark}

An after picture

With a whole bunch of GSF kids

Big David and Mark - 2 men of God who have had the opportunity to get new legs!

 I {along with several others} was privileged to go take him home.  It was so amazing to watch people gather around as he came.  Here he is getting out of the car.

This truck from GSF pulled up no more than a minute after we did - perfect timing!

 Some very happy people to see Mark again - and with legs!

Showing them how he can take some steps!

Mark is a huge evangelist and is excited to have this opportunity to tell others about what God has done for him!

 This sweet little girl came and clung to Mark.  They spend a lot of time at his house listening to Bible stories and she was so excited he was back!  She is in the next couple of pictures as well.

The people in Mark's village.  He is in the middle.

Dennis and Maria!

Meet the 2 newest members of the GSF family, Dennis {age 3} and Maria {age 1 and 4 months}.

Please keep both of these little ones in your prayers as they adjust to life at GSF.  Please be especially praying for Maria as she only weighs 13 pounds and is very congested and is always sad.  She was taken to the clinic today to try to get her more comfortable and find out what is going on.  Please keep her in your prayers!

Update: Maria has severe TB.  Please keep her in your prayers!

God's timing

Today, 'blogging' for me means copying my mom's post and adding pictures.  She told me I could use it and I couldn't have written it much better.  Although, if you know me - you know how much I love pictures so I had to add pictures.

I wrote last Thursday in this blog regarding two new little boys, Charles and Inno. 

"Our hope and aim for these two boys are to nurse them back to health, help the family and return the boys to those in the village who love them."

Charles and his mom the other day.

Little did I know that the boys' mother would show up the very next day! She had left the family for a couple of months for personal reasons. We were skeptical at first but began counseling with her and her husband, invited her to come and spend time with the boys and invited the family to come to the local church. By Tuesday, it was obvious to all of us that it was better for all involved that the boys return home. The whole family came to church on Sunday, the mother spent a lot of time with the boys at GSF most days, and the boys and mom were distraught every time they had to leave one another. 

The boys' mom with Inno {right} and two of the other babies, Teddy and Godfrey.

So today, after the parents signed several agreements regarding the care of their boys, the family left GSF together. We believe this may be a record of the shortest time a child has been at GSF before returning to their home. We are helping with the education of the 5 older children, helping their father restart his garden (as he had lost much during a recent hospital stay), putting the two boys on our feeding program and facilitating counseling. 

Inno with his mom at the feeding program yesterday.

Please pray with us for this family that they will grow in their understanding of God, and that their lives will bring glory to Him.