If you were to ever travel to Ibanda, you might miss our school. Tucked away behind a fading blue fence is our smallest PCM School.

We rent this space for just over $4 a day and everyone that attends knows that these 80+ children are receiving a terrific education.

We have 19  boarders and everyday get more requests. Our problem here is space. We can’t grow. This is the only place where we don’t own our land. That doesn’t limit the smiles though when we come to visit.

A greeting here from these children is worth every bit of effort made to make the journey.  Mbabazi has been here many times but this never gets old.

The dusty hands wrapping around you before you even get in the gates is a powerful testimony of the PCM way learned by these 80+ students.

Ibanda truly is a tucked away gem. We started with just 40 students 2 years ago.

The area where the school is located is right off the main road of the city, a place where Christians and Muslims have had their moments in the past. Pastor Emmy desperately wants a presence for PCM in such a battle for souls here.

One of the best moments of being here is that we have an instant stage right in our very own front yard. And with willing servants like Kiconco

we can make an impact with any presentation that we make. These children had never seen God or Noah in a short skit I am sure.

What the locals outside the fence have seen before is the smiles on the faces of children like Immaculate.

I don’t have to say much more about this picture except to ask the question, “Whose life is being more impacted?” You can be the judge here for sure. The needy are here and your impact can’t be ignored.

Our goal here in Ibanda is to find another land, a place that we won’t have to wait for our landlord to make improvements on our school facility. We need a place for these children to learn without sitting in a cramped classroom. We have been searching for an area to expand and would love to find an area with some structures already on location. Something we could help finish out. Pray for us here that we can expand our impact and continue to be a local smile generator through teaching the love of Jesus Christ.

Just about 45 minutes down the road sits our largest campus. Katyazo.

The sun is shining on the soon to be PCM epicenter of the world.

Right now there are 4 impressive structures with green roofs and a host of other buildings where 28 boys and 35 girls are a part of our secondary school.

Our children are most thrilled for their newest building, the first ever PCM science center.

Pastor Emmy would tell you the bar is being raised daily in this location. The potential of these kids is limitless to change the world for Christ.

Mbabazi and Kyomu were excited to show Jude and our other sponsored children this new building where they will learn basic sciences one day.

If you were to step inside, you might be a bit muddy as 4 of our team members experienced.

But inside, Chandler wouldn’t be the first to realize there is a wonder here that is limitless.

A place where all present realize that Jesus is present. This world is His and His alone. These children had a special message for the anonymous family who bought this building as a birthday present for the father.

Ninkukunda

“I love you.”

Your impact on successive generations will be limitless indeed.

I told my parents to grab a picture of Enos.  Many of you know him for his photogenic face.  If you ever want a great picture, you just go find Enos and stand next to him.  He was a part of the original PCM Choir 15 but for some reason the local officials in his village wouldn’t sign his papers.  We will have to wait someday for his presence to grace the US soil.

Until then Enos will be washing his clothes along with others on this beautiful land.

Nearly all of these children are sponsored and the prayers that they return for their sponsors are precious and impactful.

There is so much there, but oh so much needed as well.  Our PCM secondary school has a “football” team

Here is our current field.  It has the biggest slope of any pitch I have ever put my eyes on.

The team is especially proud that it defeated a neighborhood school many times our size.  Their requests are just a few:

• A set of uniforms with our school logo and numbers
• Some shoes for each team member

One day soon, when we start moving dirt at the bottom of our hill, we will level off an area that can be the site of our very own PCM Football field.

Until then our PCM tilapia ponds sit without a neighbor except the many fish growing inside.

Our Katyazo children are eating them an average of 3 x a month, a vast improvement in protein from prior to the ponds. A PCM poultry program has plans drawn up and is just waiting for the capital to raise chickens for egg and meat production.

There has been a lot of growth already.

Our two PCM banana plantations are producing fruit daily. We consume 100% of what we can grow.

Our famous “Check the Cow” has reproduced just like many of our other cows.

Supermom is truly unsure how many cows we have at Katyazo.  Enough to search for more farmland to grow food and let our current cows graze.

Our PCM banana plantation is producing fruit daily, and 100% of these crops are being eaten by our PCM children. Mukama Asiimewe!!         We truly can’t wait to acquire more farm land to increase our self sustainability.

Supermom and Emmy love “cow” but they do “like” bacon.

Here are our first ever PCM pigs.  We have three and are raising them to maturity.

Everyone that steps foot on this property is transformed by the blessings the Lord has put in place there. Many challenges remain like

• enough beds and desks for our new children next year
• another girls dormitory
• a cafetorium to eat our meals under a covered roof and to serve as a main hall during the week and a church structure on the weekends
• an administrative building for our teachers
• and probably our biggest need here is solar power. We have an estimate of just $11000 to light up our entire campus with a PCM powerhouse of solar panels and batteries.

In summary, Jesus is at work in our smallest school and at our biggest land. Thank you for making the dreams of these children come to a reality.

Building His Kingdom right alongside you,

Epa

Today’s blog will be a game of Do You Know: a way to test your PCM knowledge. 10 questions about what we are doing………..

1. Do You Know the significance of this home behind Pastor Emmy?

If you guessed the house he sold in 2007 to purchase a school for 128 orphan and needy children, you are correct.  PCM Team 21 has heard and read about this story and they wanted to see the home in person.  If you want to read the whole story of the beginning of PCM then go to Amazon.com for an electronic or hardcopy of “So Much More,” by Patrick Butler.

2. Do You Know the name of the man with the white shirt in this picture with Emmy and two Jeffs (one Warr and one Carr).

That’s right, Pastor Joseph.  He is not one of our 50 PCM pastors but serves PCM in a very crucial way.  He is our PCM vet and takes care of all of our cows.  He has been invited to the US by a ministry friend, and we are praying that the Lord will make a way for that to happen.  We see our Cows for the Kingdom program as not only a way to help provide for our pastors, but a way to share Christ with the community here in southwest Uganda, the land of cows.

3. Do you know the significance of this pile of sand and rocks just north of our PCM Mbarara campus that PCM 21er Trevor is looking at?

Of course, that’s correct. This mixer is about to be in full function – round the clock – concreting our PCM multipurpose building/church. We are nearly to our goal of finishing the roof on the first floor.

Here is PCM Team 21 at the site as it appears today.

These three men are making it happen. From left to right…… Robert the Roofer, Pastor Emmy, and builder extraordinaire, Pastor Charles.

They are standing on top of the building which we are about to concrete.  Due to the generosity of one family in Texas, we only lack about $12,000-15000 to pay for the rest of the concrete to make this building functional. Eventually the bottom will be a conference center and the top will be a worship center.

Why do we need such a structure? We will be able to have all 300 children in one room to address them for certain school functions.  Today they all squeeze in a room that should hold 40 “mzungus” or white people. The building’s main purpose on Sunday will be a place of worship for our Mbarara main church.  In addition this main hall will be in use for pastor’s conferences when school is not in session.  We have our biggest conference ever planned this December, when David Dykes of Green Acres Baptist church will be teaching our pastors and hundreds of more.

4. Do You Know Who This Man Is?

That is Lawrence. He is our oldest student at our PCM Mbarara campus. He is close to 80 and homeless, but he comes to eat with our children three times a day.  Driver Emmy is his teacher and is continually trying to get Lawrence to church on Sundays.  Lawrence is sponsored by a family in Tyler, Tx, and we are so grateful for their giving for his daily provision.

5. Do You Know This Lady?

This is a tough one……….. but for those of you who go way back with us at PCM, this is Petua (Pet- twa) , one of our original 8 teachers.  Why is she so special? Well, let me tell you.  Emmy lost everyone from his original group of teachers from 2007, except for this one.  For a whole year they were not paid and most left our ministry. All but one.  When we talk about putting your faith to action…… this is what it looks like.  We are thrilled with the love she is continually showing our children on a daily basis.

6. Do You Know What Having Your Sponsor Family on Site Means to a Child?

This is Pinson.  Quiet. Reserved. Very shy, normally.  This week with the Carr family in town, I have never seen her with a bigger smile in my time with PCM. What a thrill and blessing to bring together children and sponsoring families.

7 Do You Know Why This Child is Named Emmanuel?

It just so happens that Pastor Emmy has a child named after him.  He was attending a pastor’s conference for a fellow PCM pastor.  One of the pastors had a wife that was pregnant and could not be present at the event. One the way home, Pastor Emmy stopped by to check on her.  When he walked in the door, a request was made for his help in the delivery.  The mother was the only one at home.  Pastor Emmy got to cut the umbilical cord, and the rest is history. Now a son named after him.  What a great story.  Thank you, Emmy, for being there for your people always.

8 Do You Know How Much These Banana Bunches Weigh?

More than you would think.  Anywhere from 40-70 pounds each.  Mr Ha made it seem like quite easy work while hoisting it over his head.  Few PCM trippers have had as little difficulty as Mr Ha has doing this task.  We have loved having your muscles on PCM Team 21, but we have loved getting to know your heart even better. You are a treasure from heaven and everybody knows it.

9 Do You Know the Name of Our Smallest School?

That would be of course Parental Care School Ibanda.  We were late in arriving to the school this trip and found several members walking home.  We saw them and told them to return.  This is what we saw next.  A full sprint followed. I won’t describe the joy on their faces.

When we reached the school, we found a new sign up top, making our children look very “smart” as they say in Uganda.

The facts are that we are renting this school for $4 a day.  Pretty amazing, huh? Our rented location is just outside of town.  Someday we hope to own land there to build what we need for these children.

There are a ton of smiles in this humble place

We now have a small kitchen of our own where our children are fed every day,

a place to wash for our 20 boarding students,

and some restrooms for all the 100 children to use.

This place is all about joy.

We are so thankful for Jeff and Michelle Carr for bringing their entire family to Uganda and sharing Christ’s love with these PCM kids.

You have shared, encouraged, hugged and loved with all your heart all week.

Way to go Kaityln

and Kelsey

and Trevor.

Kelsey you and your lovely friend Mary have stayed longer than anyone ever has. Thank you for paving the way for others to serve longer than 1 trip.

We want to thank my own two children Mbabazi

and Kyomu for their service with Trip 21

It is with unspeakable joy that your mother Kiconco and I can see what the Lord is doing in this place.  Thank you for sharing it with us, serving with passion, and just being there with us on this journey.

To all the rest of you who are a part of our PCM

“Webale”

Epa and Kiconco

The VBS team had a chance to go to our Ibanda school earlier this week while the rest of the team was leading the teachers’ conference.  I rode up front next to Driver Emmy that day so that I could visit with him.  He is always the one I miss the most when I leave Uganda.

I could listen to him talk all day.  He is a gifted storyteller and I told him this morning that I wanted to hear one of his stories.  He thought about what to tell me and decided to tell me about the first time he left the village that he grew up in.  At first I thought he meant when he was a child, but then I realized that the first time he left was when he was 19 years old.  When he headed to Mbarara that very first time, he had 2400 Ugandan shillings with him, which is a little less than $1.  He didn’t have a job waiting for him or a place to stay, but he was stepping out in faith.  He told me his story in detail from the time he left his village until now, and I was so blessed to hear it.  It brings tears to my eyes even now as I think back to it.  It is an amazing testimony of God’s faithfulness and His plans for Emmy, even from the time he was born.  There are so many times in our lives that we can look back and think, “This is what God was preparing me for back then when I learned how to do this…or when I went through that…or when this certain thing happened to me.”

Before Emmy ever knew he would be Driver Emmy for PCM, way back when he was in the village, he learned how to drive his uncle’s car.  He later had driving training after coming to Mbarara, but God was preparing him even in the village for the job He would give him at PCM.  I have heard people who come on trips to Uganda say that they always wondered what the big deal about the drivers was, but now that they’ve been here, they understand.

The PCM drivers have servant hearts bigger than I have ever known.  They are waiting at the airport when you arrive and never leave you until you’re getting on the plane to go home.  They are funny, smart, and encouraging, but they can tell you a story about their pasts that will bring you to tears for them.  Thank you, Jesus, for using all of Driver Emmy’s past experiences to mold him into the husband, father, friend, and driver that he is today.  To God be the glory!

After telling me his story all the way to Ibanda, we arrived there and he jumped right into helping us.

The rest of the team did too and we had a wonderful time with the beautiful children and staff at Ibanda.  The days were similar to some of the other days we spent there, so I thought I’d let the pictures tell the story this time.

The sky was amazing that day and the visit was even better.  We’re signing off now as Team 19 heads home from a trip we will never forget.  Thank you for coming along with us!

You can blink and miss our school at Ibanda.  Just off a dusty dirt road, we are renting a school for $4 a day. Every school administrator’s dream. We have 100 total students, 18 boarders with their new beds and 4 classrooms.

I am going to let Kiconco share this story about a special blessing we delivered today:

Back in November I was taking our dog Gracie to Bark Avenue for her grooming.  When I walked in the door there was a lady sitting on the couch going through a pile of sundresses.  Inquisitively I asked about them.  This lady was named Terry Foote from Lafayette, Louisiana and she was the mother to the owner of the store.  She said the Lord told her to stop watching TV and start sewing.  And that is exactly what she has been doing with her mother.  She was giving this batch to orphans in Mexico her church was supporting.  I asked her if she would be willing to make some for our children in Uganda. She took some information about PCM and said she would pray about it.   By the end of the week she said she would love to help. By the end of January she had about 40 dresses made and delivered them to my home.

Upon arrival at the school, Supermom and I took the girls in the front of the school.  We had dresses from toddler to teenagers.

Each girl that was present at school today had  a custom fit dress.

Every little girl loves a new dress.

Our amazing God knows little girls.

What was Epa doing?  He was in the back having “funs” as Pastor Emmy says.

First he passed out the Valentine balloons he got on a discount.  There were no discounted smiles here.

Next came the Fun Dip.  Surprisingly no one had ever partaken. ;o)

Some may have gotten too much “funs”.

I am trying to find a way to get my dentist friends to come to Uganda. We’ll see if it works.

By this time the girls marched back to the back of school, the funs wouldn’t be over though.  We had time to thank the Lord for these blessings and then came another.  Community Christian School in Orange, TX has provided for apples.

These children here are new to our school and this was their first apple of their lives.  What a blessing to witness that!

Thank you Community Christian.  You have brought a smile to every single student at our campus.

We got to spend time with Dezz our new headmaster ( back left) , and some of the new teachers.  They are doing a phenomenal job teaching and as Believers are so glad to be working for a Christian school. They do love their hats too!!

If you want to check out how to help these children then hit the project button on our website and scroll down to look for the needs at Ibanda.

Blessings

Epa

PS – We also had an opportunity for a another “first”.  Back at Mbarara, we had the opportunity to feed apples to all the children up on the mountain!

The funds from Community Christian were enough to feed all the children at Ibanda and mbarara.

So, not only do apples help your teeth, they help your smiles as well!

Our team still has a few more days in Uganda, but we are excited that they are going to have two extra team members on the trip back.  Pastor Emmy and Supermom will be making the trip back with them!  This will be Supermom’s first trip to the United States, so you can imagine how excited she is!

Your first two opportunities to see them are on Sunday, October 30th.  They will be at Dean Baptist Church in Chandler in the morning and at Grace Fellowship Church in Flint in the evening.  Be sure to check out all our events on the home page of our website to see when you can have the opportunity to meet this wonderful couple!

Now here is some news from Ibanda!

Christie Hayes: Today we traveled to Ibanda, which is just about an hour down the road from Mbarara in the same direction as Rwemikoma.  Epa blogged about this on the last trip, but I was so excited to get there and see for myself the new beds for our Ibanda boarder students.  Last time I was here in January, I found them sleeping on the very bumpy floor!  You can see the floor here in this picture.

I was so thrilled today to see their happy smiles and their wonderful beds.

Beth Nelms: One of the hardest things about coming to Uganda and meeting the children at each school is seeing how many are not sponsored.  It’s so hard to look in their eyes and see the yearning and not want to take each of them under my wing.   Today, I had the privilege of meeting my sponsored child, Patience, as well as the children that my daughter and son-in-law also sponsor.

From the moment that Patience first laid eyes on me and before we ever had a chance to talk, her eyes lit up and it was obvious that she knew who I was.  She turned to several other friends and then they all looked at me.  When we had a chance to speak, I asked her if she knew me and she did!  To hear Patience refer to me as Mommy and to have her tell me to give greetings to her Daddy melted my heart.  Later in the morning, I met her younger sister, Dorcas, and discovered that she was not sponsored.  She held my hand and talked to me.  It was impossible for me to sit with them and know that one was getting a sponsor and the other was not.  So, I now have two children at Ibanda!

In addition to meeting the children, I also made time to walk through each classroom and look at the supplies that the teachers have.  As an educator, I have a heart for teachers.  I have been impressed with the quality of education that the students in Uganda are receiving without the textbooks and supplies that our students in America are accustomed to.  The teachers are doing this with little more than a simple chalkboard and composition notebooks for the students.

So, today I was excited to be able to sit with the teachers and talk about what they could use to help them as they teach.   It was exciting to see these teachers animatedly talk about what they could use.  I was able to present to them a few basic supplies such as crayons, index cards, pens and pencils.

Nicole Babineau: As we were teaching Bible study and doing music today at the school in Ibanda, I was drawn to a precious little girl with the most beautiful smile I have ever seen!

She kept smiling at me and coming over to me to hold her hand. As teacher Bruno was teaching class, I asked if he knew if she had a sponsor. He said she did not have a sponsor. So, I have been blessed with another beautiful girl. Editer has a contagious laugh that melts your heart. I am so blessed by the love and joy that the teachers and students at Ibanda have! We played games and sang while we were serving lunch. We taught the children…the Macarena! Oh how it is overwhelming to see that though these children have so little…they have so much more than we do in their faith! They are joyous despite their lack of material things.

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.

Emmy and Sarah’s Trip to the US

When Pastor Emmy and Supermom visit the US, one of the events they are looking forward to is Orphan Sunday.  This is actually a national event recognizing America’s need to minister to the fatherless.  Pastor Emmy will be preaching that morning at Green Acres Baptist Church and then we are going to have the opportunity to do a new kind of event that evening.

We are calling the event “From the Heart of an Orphan”.  As you have read on these blogs, the children in Uganda are so precious and have such a joy that is contagious yet lead such a different life than most of us.  So, we are dedicating an evening to help people to be able to experience life through their eyes.

With the help of Hope for 100, we are going to help you enter the world of an orphan.

This event will be at the Green Acres Crosswalk Conference Center, but it is open to the public.  We will have an experiential element from 5 – 5:30 and 6:30 – 7 where people can visit various tables which show a different part of an orphan’s life.  They can see clothes the children wear, taste food that they eat, drink purified water, and see what a school day looks like.

Then, from 5:30 – 6:30 we will have a program which will include worship with the children through video, interviews with Pastor Emmy and Supermom, video interviews with children, and a Q and A time.

We hope that you will join us for this event and bring some friends that you would like to introduce to Parental Care Ministries.

We left the hotel on time this morning meeting up with our PCM dump truck.  In the back would be beds for all of our boarder students in Ibanda.

The journey would take us just over an hour.  We trailed behind the truck with Driver Emmy in the Miracle Van.  At one point Driver Emmy said,  ”the dump truck looks very smart today, many people will be impressed with our truck carrying so many beds.”

At arrival you can imagine the scene.  A tiny rented school building holding 4 classrooms and 2 rooms for sleeping.  We rent this building and compound for a mere $4 a day.  Incredible.  As you can imagine Abson our headmaster and Hope our head teacher were waiting with the  kids.

It didn’t take long to make a scene with our next door neighbor friends.

One by One, who got his name by his insistence at doing things one at a time,  carefully led the removal party as only he was tiny enough to crawl into the space between these beds on his truck.

We later found out the police gave us a ticket for hauling too much cargo in a small little truck.  Price 40,000 shillings or $16 . Best fine I have ever paid in my life.

James, one of our employees, is our PCM welder and he along with one of our vocational students also named James made these beds with their  hands and some steel.

Some of our students struggle a bit at the higher grade levels and James is a shining success story of being able to learn a trade and be employed.  The beds were soon ready for putting in the room.

Now you can imagine the size of these rooms,  smaller than many walk in closets that many of us have in America.  The men wasted no time carefully orchestrating a delivery to a room with an uneven dirt floor surface.

The girls were entertaining many of the kids while all the work was going on.  Ambush had to join the action after the beds were put in place.

Epa and Emmy were handling “the press” as a single reporter from the local newspaper was doing a story on this great work funded by a single sunday school class in Tyler, Texas.  Thank you to the Gentry class of Green Acres Baptist Church!

Our arrival had interrupted morning porridge time but the children didn’t seem to mind. They finished quickly and made their way to wash their bowls and clean their hands.

The mattresses were ready for install.  John and others made quick work of getting them in position for the children.

The children were right behind them and seemed to be at total peace sitting on a real bed in a tiny closet of a room.  Some even had a view from their bed.  Rich and Page and myself stepped inside and just watched for a second.  We saw one child,  just giggling with joy, a smile so big she was covering up part of it with her hands.  Without any doubt, this was a heart filled with unmistakeable joy.  Moments later this swee girl was sponsored by the Wolowski family.  What a great addition to this family.

Moments later it was time to go back to Mbarara, but first we would praise and worship Jesus for this provision and what He had done today.

Psalms 37:4-5, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

Blessings and much thanks to our PCM family.

Epa

Today we visited a tiny school in Ibanda, a town about one hour from Mbarara. This school is small, but the headmaster’s name says it all. Her name is Hope. She is a tall woman with a beautiful face and a smile I can’t even begin to describe. Some of the children here have no sponsors and it is obviously the school most in need. But boy, they have HOPE!

While visiting all the schools, even as we travel the roads – you constantly are aware of the need. They need— well, you name it!  We have the small joy of handing out treats to the school children, and even at times throw out “sweeties” to the village children as we drive by.

What a delight and joy for them and us!  It’s a weird feeling of delight in our hearts mixed with – what good is that for?  Can’t I throw out water filtration systems or boxes of shoes or something more helpful?  In the back of your head you think – Oh, I can bring this! And do this! And help them with that!

But truly they know – even the smallest child in the school – they all know that God is their provider and they deeply depend on him. It’s refreshing and admonishing to us at the same time. They are aware of their need and are not ashamed of it. They just accept it. When we arrived in Ibanda there were lots of immediate needs so we asked Hope to make us a list and we would see what we could do to help. God blessed our efforts and we were able to purchase their needs at the market.

I guess my thoughts really go back to the sweeties. When we were in Rwemikoma there was a young boy named Charles that prayed over their juice and sweeties(smarties that day). He lifted his hands high in the air and all the children lifted up their juice drinks and their smarties. He said ” Lord, we need this. Thank you for giving it to us. Lord, we need this for our bodies, and you blessed us today.”

Uh, choke.choke. Thank you Lord. I need you today and you have given it to me.  And I’m feeling much better about throwing sweeties out the window because they need them!

Our time in Uganda is quickly drawing to a close. But the team has been using every spare minute to make a difference for the kingdom. Here are a few of their stories.

Ellen Winegeart:

I don’t really even know exactly how to convey what God has done in my heart the last two days.  He has stretched and pulled it. He has told me He loves me and He loves these children. Yesterday we went to a small school in Ibanda. I didn’t really know what to expect. When we got to the school we pulled up to see very small radiant faces smiling at us.

Most of the students at this school are very young. I found the little girl Glen and I have sponsored and she smiled a very large smile.

She never really said any words but her smile and her eyes said everything. We looked at the school and realized that it is very small. Their schoolrooms are tiny and then the children that stay there sleep in a 12” by 10” room on mattresses, two to a mattress.

Their little shoes were laid around the walls. The kitchen is just a room with a pot. My heart became very sad but then in the next minute I heard laughter and singing and I knew God was taking care of these children. When they sang and played their faces smiled from ear to ear. God gave me this verse this morning and it reminded me of these children. It says, Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.  Psalm 34:5

One of the other things that happened on this trip was when we went to Rwemikoma, Brad realized that the water filters weren’t working correctly. This was really frustrating because I know that dirty water is the reason for many of the health problems there. Today, when I got to the sight I found Brad working on a huge barrel with sand and rocks in it to filter the water first before he puts it in the filtration system we brought with us.

I was so excited to see the determination in Brad’s eyes. God is giving him wisdom to figure out how to get these precious children water. It has been so great to see God use all the different gifts that He has blessed this team with. I know that He chose each one of us to specifically be here at this time. Please continue to pray for clean water for Rwemikoma.

This is a very big need. Also pray for all the children here in Uganda.

Kimberly Holland:

The last two days God has really opened my eyes! First in Rwemikoma by allowing me to sponsor a precious little four year old girl named Mercy who stuck to my side all day long and then yesterday at Ibanda by allowing me to choose a child for my boyfriend to sponsor. Rwemikoma is a day school. Ibanda is also primarily a day school but twenty children board there.

At Ibanda God really tugged on my heart. The little six year old I chose to help sponsor was named Brian and he was one of the students who board there. I was asking about him and the teachers told me that his parents dropped him off at a local preachers house several years ago and the preacher brought him to the school two years ago and he has lived there ever sense.

Brian showed me where he slept. It was a small room off the side of the school building that was divided in half for boys and girls. In the room some children have trunks for their personal belongings and there are enough mattresses to sleep two to a bed. When I asked Brian to show me all that he owned he looked down at his clothes that he wore then looked back at me. His teacher was with me in the room and told me that he owned nothing but what he was wearing.

He wore a school uniform (Shirt and shorts) and had on a pair of socks and very torn up shoes. He did not have a toothbrush or even a pair of underwear. This broke my heart and I began to weep. I found Justin and told him that I could not leave my new child like this and that I had to go to town and get him at least a toothbrush and underwear. Justin and I talked and decided to present the team with a challenge…The challenge to the team was to pool our money and get together around $100 and buy toothbrushes, underwear, socks and towels for all of the children at the school. The money was very soon collected and I was able to accompany SuperMom into town to purchase the items. We even had enough money to buy the children soap and the boarding students tarps to lay under their mattresses.

I felt called to do a little more for Brian with my personal money that was provided by God through support prior to the trip and was able to purchase him a trunk and two pairs of clothes.

He was so excited and I was so happy to get to bless a child with what God has provided to me. About five children were sponsored at Ibanda yesterday and the excitement on their faces is something no one can express in words! There are still MANY more children that need sponsors and I know that God will provide for them, possibly through YOU!

Heather Thompson:

Every day here has been so meaningful and held many memorable moments. One that I’ll treasure was last night’s “movie night” at Mbarara. I was greeted with the usual barrage of hugs once I exited the van, but after the first handful of kids greeted me, my sponsored child, Apophia, & her dear friend Anna embraced me with a huge bear hug!

They didn’t let go quickly and we watched hours’ worth of Planet Earth & music videos with our arms around one another. The night was topped off with the classic sleepover party in the girls’ dormitories, with music, stories, and giggling.

We woke up around 5:45am to sing worship then climb a nearby mountain with the older kids. It was a good challenge, and I was humbled to see how effortlessly the young girls would hike in skirts and flip-flops.

It was a powerful moment once we’d reached the top and to watch all the kids dancing, running, singing… I was reminded of what was important in life and how to live in the moment. I think most of us on this team could write a long list of things we’ve learned from these kids and the whole experience of being here, but I know I have been impacted by the love, strength and joy of such young children with hardships most adults have never known.

Chris Shepperd:

I had the unique opportunity to break away from the rest of the group and join Murungi (Brad) as he started helping prepare the plot for the foundation for the new church building at Mbarara. I couldn’t help but pause yesterday as we were working away. I took a moment and just looked around me. If I had closed my eyes I would have never known I was in Uganda. Sounds, smells, all the same. But the view. Oh the view was amazing. I wish I had a picture to share with you.

I like to get my hands dirty. Don’t get me wrong, I love to play with the kids. Who could resist a face like this?

But at the same time I was really excited when I had a chance to go do some manual labor and help out. There is something about being in the trenches with someone. The Ugandans were so appreciative that we would put gloves on and jump in beside them to get work done. It was very fulfilling and very eye opening at the same time.

I was once again reminded that it isn’t always about the right or wrong way of doing things. It is about accepting differences. It has been a tiring but wonderful two days of construction. Hopefully we will be able to show you pictures tomorrow of them pouring the slab.

On another note, there are a lot of kids at the Mbarara school who are waiting to hold up a brick for the new Katyazo complex. All they need is for someone to pay for the brick. Maybe that someone is you!

If you would like to donate one or multiple bricks towards our PCM Katyazo school please contact Christie (christie@pcmonline.org).  You can purchase them individually for $500 or go in as a group and buy one together.

We made our way to the smallest PCM school, Ibanda this morning.  Immediately we were greeted by Pastor Abson and head teacher Hope.

This 5 room school is about the size of a small one bedroom apartment.  We are paying $4 a day for this privilege and able to teach Jesus to 89 students.  This is the first week of reporting and only 52 of the 89 were present.  What I saw this visit is many more of the nursery students and P1 students some nearly reaching my knee. The girls on the team loved this and soon went to work. First up was a Bible story compliments to Mike and Annette Childress. Hannah excelled here with animated enthusiasm. The children listened intently and then got to “shade.”

Next up were the traditional bubbles always a favorite with the kids.  Kelley and Mbabazi led the way here.

We moved to the back of the property which has now been cleared and made functional for play. We asked the children to share some dancing and they obliged making all of us laugh and smile many times.  Richard was hiliarious with his Ugandan dance moves.

Then it was time for apples and we are so grateful for Mrs Nan Timmons’ class as they gave funds to cover treats for the entire school.  Praise God for you all. The children really enjoyed themselves.  Some of them having their second apple ever in their life.

If you are sponsoring here, thank you for what you are doing for us. Your sacrifice and patience with us is so greatly appreciated.  We are trying so hard to educate and show parental love to as many children as we can in this town of Ibanda.  Many Christians have been persecuted here, but we know God is calling us to help. The turnover is greater and the communication is a challenge but please stick with us on this journey.  We are making a difference.

Upon leaving we got an update on our church site at Ibanda where all the support poles had been cut with a saw.  The mayor of the town admits to destroying our church because he has a land dispute with the owner of the land we have our church on. He wants to buy this land but the man who owns it doesn’t want to sell to him. We have no chance in the legal courts because he knows all the judges.  The clerk of the town said for us to find a new location and then get back with her and they will see what they can do.

Until then we will keep marching on.

Hey everybody, it’s Deuce (Justin) and DC (Christie) and we get the privilege of sharing our Christmas blog with you.

When we think of Christmas coming in these next few days we are so thankful for the precious gift that God gave to us in Jesus Christ.  It was the perfect gift that went right to our most foundational need.  But what makes it even better is knowing that He gave that same gift to everyone on earth regardless of their color, age, or status.  We all have the same need and we are all lost without Him.  In the same mindset we are all rich because of what he has done for us.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”  II Cor. 8:9

We have a great Father who cares for us more than anyone else on earth!  So, as you give presents this year and receive them I hope you will remember that no matter what your other gifts are we have all received the perfect gift from our perfect Father.

There have been so many of you who have asked us about Christmas presents for the children this year.  It makes me happy to think that these sweet kids are as much a part of your lives as your own families are.  We wanted to give you the details of the two Christmas projects we are focusing on this year.

Christmas Project I

As we thought about our first Christmas project we asked Pastor Emmy what some of the basic needs are that all our kids have right now.  He shared with us four things that the kids have been needing and would be a huge blessing for them.

These four things are:

a mattress for them to sleep on.  Their mattresses they have now are very old and worn out.  Because some of the children have to share a bed they get very uncomfortable.  Many of the children’s mattresses are so thin that they feel all of the metal bars of the beds.

a towel to bathe with. Our kids have one towel that they use for bathing and when they finish with it they hang it outside to dry.  The way our kids bathe is to fill a wash pan from the well water, like you see below, and pour the water over their heads with their hands.  They also receive a small bar of soap.

a new set of clothes.  We are happy that all our kids have uniforms and some other clothes.  However,  because they only have a few sets of clothes and keep all their possessions in shared trunks, their clothes wear out very quickly.

a new pair of shoes. Many of our kids still do not have shoes that they wear, and many that do have shoes are wearing mismatched shoes or shoes that are too big for their feet.

The price to provide all of these things for one child is $45.  Pastor Emmy told us if that’s too much then the kids could go without shoes for now.  That statement hit me pretty hard.  How many of us would let our kids go anywhere without shoes just one day?  What would they say at our kids’ schools if they showed up with no shoes on?  You can’t even go into McDonald’s without shoes!  So that’s why we told him that we will definitely put that in the Christmas package.

It is also funny that he said that about the shoes because of some other exciting news we have.  One of our big PCM friends, Dance n Drill of Tyler, decided for their Christmas project that they wanted to try to provide shoes for as many of our kids as possible.  They put a jar out for all their classes so that people could donate during this month.  Well, we just found out that they have raised enough money to provide shoes for 343 of our kids!  God is so good!  We are so excited about this because this means that between their shoe project and our Christmas project we have the potential to provide a new pair of shoes for all 500 of our kids!

Imagine going to visit our three schools in Uganda and not only do all the kids have uniforms, but they each have on a new pair of shoes that actually fit!

God is doing some incredible things, but he’s not keeping all the joy for Himself.  He is using hundreds of his children in the US to provide for hundreds of his children in Uganda.  Please take a minute to thank our God for his provision.  The verse that keeps popping into my head as I write this is Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Our hope with this project is to provide for all these needs for as many of our kids as possible before they come back for their spring term at the end of January.  So there is still plenty of time to give.

Christmas Project II

Our second Christmas project may not be as personal but is such a huge need for us right now.  Imagine buying a used mini van that has great seating capacity (trust me I know with my three kids in car seats) and then instead of driving it on roads most of the time, using it as your hunting truck.  Well, basically that is what has been done with the Miracle van times 100! (except for the hunting part of course!)  It has been through dirt roads, mud roads, no roads, pot holes, small ponds, banana plantations, and up small mountains.  It has truly been a miracle van, but this use is definitely taking its toll on it.

We are really in need of a four wheel drive vehicle.  This vehicle would still be able to seat 7 comfortably (or I’m sure at least 15 uncomfortably) and would help us to be able to visit each of our churches, do crusades in remote areas, and give us a second vehicle for transporting larger teams coming in.  On top of that, with all the work that is beginning to be done on our new land, it will be able to help us with added transportation of people and tools.

The four wheel drive vehicle would be about $22,000 and so far some gracious families have donated some money that will take care of about $4,000 of it.

Along with these Christmas projects please be in prayer for Parental Care Ministries in 2011.  At this point we already have 7 trips planned and hopefully a trip to the states for Pastor Emmy and Supermom.  Our next group will actually be leaving just before the new year so be prepared to take another trip in the miracle van with us as we start blogging.  (Note from DC:  I know those of you who sponsor children are going to ask, but this trip that leaves in about a week is NOT bringing mail for the children.  This team doesn’t have as much luggage room.  However, there is another team leaving in January that WILL be bringing mail.  I’ll e-mail to let you know when and where to get your letters to us!)

If you are interested in reading more new stories please check out our Stories button on our website.  There is a new story about Bonny that you won’t believe! Its title is :  Return of the Prodigal Father.

We also have some new pictures up from trip 7 on our Photos button. Nearly 400 with several videos.  Our Projects button has also been updated.

We pray that as God is blessing this ministry and our family in Uganda your family will also be blessed this Christmas.  Stay tuned late this weekend for an update from Christmas in Uganda as Pastor Emmy will share some photos and words with us.

Merry Christmas to all of you,

Love,

Deuce and DC