A Rich Heritage

On May 9th, 2014, Good Shepherd's Fold celebrated 20 years.

20 years since a double amputee, his wife, and their 9 adopted children moved to Uganda and started a home. Wayne Walker, along with his wife Bonnie Sue, took in hundreds of children to whom they became mom and dad. Although they had few resources, they had something greater to share - Jesus Christ. And share they did, to every child who entered Good Shepherd's Fold. 

20 years of abandoned, vulnerable, and disabled children finding hope and love in a family with the greatest bond of all -  Jesus Christ.

20 years of children transforming into men and women who embraced Jesus Christ as their Savior. Men and women who founded children's homes of their own. Worship leaders. Artists.  Pastors. Musicians. GSF's heritage is rich and powerful. 

20 years of a ministry with ramifications echoing into eternity.

Good Shepherd's Fold spent Friday, May 9th reflecting on the past 20 years of God's faithfulness, celebrating the present of what Good Shepherd's Fold is today, and looking forward to the things God has in store for us tomorrow - things greater than we can think or imagine and only because of our Lord and Savior. What a beautiful reunion it was. GSF children and staff came from all over Uganda, the founder of GSF flew from Texas, and hundreds of others who contribute to GSF on a daily basis, whether medical officials or members of the feeding program, gathered for the beautiful occasion.

But the anniversary didn't end on May 9th. It continued through the entire weekend. Saturday was an exclusive reunion where previous and current GSF children came together to have a more intimate time of testimonies as well as a wonderful chorus of praise and worship time for their great Father. There are no words to express the power of 200+ previous and current GSF children with no earthly father singing "I Have a Father / He Knows My Name." 

We wrapped up the weekend anniversary with a trip to the original GSF location - a single home in Wairaka that once housed hundreds of children. The trip back to the house was one exciting ride down memory line. The stories flowed from those who once lived there. What a special time. What a wonderful family reunion. What a beautiful foretaste of the reunion we will one day enjoy in Heaven. 

He knows my name, 

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that fall, 

and He hears me when I call.

The Hosanna Choir, made up of our GSF kids, presenting at the anniversary

In honor of Wayne Walker, our founder, the main road at GSF is now named "Wayne Lane."

Wayne

Me and my date =)

The GSF clan

A Sunday Service on the lawn of the original GSF house in Wairaka

Community, Water Harvesting, and a New Motorcycle

We come home every day to kids playing and neighbors mingling together. Although it may sound like a block party, it's just another evening at home. 

It's 4pm and the rain starts coming down. I'm at GSF and think of my clothes on the line at home that must've been dry...until the rain came. I arrive home and my neighbor hands me a pile of neatly folded, dry clothes.

Daniel and I wake up at 3:00 and realize that we left a few things outside. We get up, bring everything in, and lock up our home. The next day we have two of our neighbors check on us to make sure everything is ok. 

It's 10:00pm and I remember that I need to heat some water to store for bathing in the morning (otherwise it's cold bucket baths in the morning - no thank you). My neighbor sees and decides to empty his burning charcoal into my stove to give me a kick start. I breath a sigh of relief knowing that he just saved me a solid 30 minutes of getting my stove burning.

Boy am I thankful for the community and neighbors that God's given us. I was afraid that living in such a tight community would feel intrusive, that someone would always be watching. Where is the time for just me and will Daniel and I ever have a moment alone? God has opened my eyes to the blessing of neighbors to live alongside. I praise God for the way that He's poured grace into our lives through our neighbors. 

A quick update on the past few weeks..

Daniel did a soccer camp with the little boys of GSF ages 4-5. Although it was a challenge at times, Daniel enjoyed the time interacting with the kids and loved their enthusiasm. 

Part of my job as the sponsorship coordinator is to hand out packages sent to the children from sponsors. It's always a little highlight in my week as I watch their faces light up. Candy is always a home run. You can't fake this kind of excitement. 

Remember the little girl, Pinto, that I asked prayer for a few updates ago? Pinto is doing great. She's socializing very well with the other toddlers. She has a great appetite and loves her aunties. It's always neat to watch kids transform, physically and emotionally, during their first few months at GSF. 

I had the opportunity to go with our social worker to visit a few children who potentially needed a new home. The home visit was especially interesting as it was in Nyenga, near where Daniel and I live. 

We celebrated Easter with a church service at Light of the World and a great feast afterwards! The meal included rice, meat, matoke, chapati, potatoes, and soda. As you can imagine, the kids were loving it.

Like I've mentioned before, Daniel and I are regularly rearranging our house to get it "just right." Daniel frequently has to remind me that it's never going to be "like the magazines," but I can't help but try to make it the best that a 9.5x11ft room can be. Our latest change was hanging our pots and pans. Anything to utilize our vertical space and save on shelf or floor space is a win! 

We got a motorcycle! Thanks for praying that everything would come through. It's a huge blessing and over the past week and a half, Daniel's certainly been getting the hang of it. The roads gave him a bit of a run for his money this morning when the dirt turned into straight mud after several hours of rain. I've concluded that driving a motorcycle on such soft mud is much like driving a car on ice. 

The water situation in Nyenga continues to be a challenge. It turns out that the public water supply comes from Masese, which is quite a distance from Nyenga (it's on the other side of Jinja). What we've heard is that the water frequently doesn't make it to Nyenga due to insufficient water pressure. It's the rainy season, so Daniel and I are doing what we can to harvest rain water. When it rains, we just put our basins under the roof and wait for them to fill up! The first time we harvested rain, we filled over 70 liters...! We haven't been as successful since then, but it's definitely been very helpful. We certainly have a new appreciation for the rain =)

Thank you again for your continued encouragement, love, and support. Daniel and I are baffled by the grace poured into our lives every day, and it's because of people like you. We are honored to represent Community Evangelical Free Church here in Uganda, but even more honored to represent Jesus Christ. Thank you for coming alongside of us as we strive to do just that. Here are a few ways that you can pray for us in the coming weeks:

1) Daniel is still waiting for land issues and building permits to get sorted. Every day we feel like "This could be the day!" It could, yes, but after about 8 weeks of feeling like that, it can be a bit discouraging. Pray that the ball would get rolling.
2) We had a little boy named Wayne (named by GSF after our founder, Wayne Walker) join the GSF family a few weeks ago. Please pray for him as he gains strength and health! He's about 4 months old.
3) Praise God for a wonderful 20th anniversary celebration last weekend. More about that to come in a future post.
4) Pray for the 200+ abducted girls in Nigeria to be found and returned to their families, the victims of recent bomb blasts outside of the Nigeria capital city of Abuja, and wisdom for the government leaders as they deal with Boko Haram.