"They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord
in their trouble and he delivered them
from their distress."
Psalm 107:5-6
It is a privilege to serve the families of Kamonkoli and we are delighted to see God working in the lives of so many families who have been blessed through sponsorship. Though many seek help for basic survival they also receive new hope for their future through faith in Jesus Christ. Our children come from impoverished families, some are with one or both parents and others with extended family members. One of the women in our widow's ministry, Esther, was left with 6 children to care for after her husband passed away. She also had the AIDS virus and sought my help to secure care for her children, asking if I could take at least one, her youngest daughter, Violet, into my tiny home. Nine months later, Esther went to heaven. As the sponsorship program grew we were able to help Esther's son, Allen, who is now a mechanic in Kampala. An older sister was forced to marry a Muslim and convert to Islam. I continue to pray for her.
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Their young brother, Junior, suffered from the AIDS virus as the parents did. He and his brother, Derrick, were not being fed by their extended family members. We tested Derrick to discover that he was not HIV positive and secured a sponsor to help the uncle care for him and he is now attending vocational training. Unfortunately for Junior, it was too late. I was blessed to spend Junior's last night on earth with him and share the love of Jesus and the Gospel with him. He cried and said, "Pray with me that I can believe." I returned in the morning and found him dead. I cannot describe what I felt that morning - to this day I cry for Junior and pray that the Lord took him home to be with him and love him.
It was hard to watch Violet suffer and cry silently. At the age of nine, she had already buried her father, her mother and now her brother. Though her life has been difficult, Violet loves the Lord Jesus. She graduated university with a degree in accounting and managed our clinic books and office for about a year. She recently secured a job at a good company near Kampala. We are proud of her and blessed to have been used by God to help her family and change their lives to His glory. I've shared more stories like this in my book last year. You can find it at our website and I will carry some with me as I visit my supporting churches.
It is a joy every year to return to the U.S. and see all of you. It was so special for me this year to have David here with me for a short time and to introduce him to some of you. I so wish more of you could have met him, but now that he's a responsible adult his time was short. He was able to experience the Atlantic Ocean while attending a conference for his work in Miami and Cindy and I, along with ministry friends from our churches in SW Colorado, were able to show him around there. Thank you to all of you for your faithful support.
Katherine
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