Annie

I wish you could meet Annie. Actually, I wish I could meet Annie! And I’m planning to, next weekend. Although I haven’t met Annie face to face yet, I know this about her:

Annie is a high school senior who has a heart for missions. In fact, she wants to be a missionary nurse. She’s not just a talker. She really means it. Annie wants God to use her.

For her senior project, she chose to do something that would make a difference, something that fit in with her passion. So next weekend, this teenage girl, not yet out of high school, is putting on a fundraiser to raise money for medical needs for orphans in Africa. In fact, she was in my son Justin’s junior high youth group, and knew that he is involved with Redeemer House Orphanage, so she is choosing to donate her funds to Redeemer House for the medical needs of our kids!

Wow! What Annie didn’t know when she chose Redeemer House is that we have a little girl, Sarah, 6 years old, who needs extensive dental surgery. She has three rows of teeth coming in, one behind the other, and sometimes it causes her a lot of pain. When I found out about her teeth, I had no idea how we would pay for the surgeries that needs to be done, but she is one of our kids, and we need to take care of her. We just don’t have the funds for something like this, so I asked the Lord to provide it. Next thing I know, Annie is planning an amazing fundraiser! She had no idea what a direct answer to prayer she was. But God – God knew! We have no idea how much Sarah’s surgeries will cost, or how much Annie’s fundraiser will bring in, but if is more than needed for Sarah, we will have funds for the rest of the kids’ medical needs. They are often sick, partly because they were so malnourished before they came to Redeemer House. They all get malaria, and last year three of them were so sick that if they has still been living on the streets, with no medical treatment, they almost certainly would have died. But God had other plans for them! Their medical needs have been a big budget item, in a small budget. Yes, those funds will be put to good use!

Annie is planning a Black Tie Pancake Supper at the Community Center in Yreka, CA, next Saturday, February 27. There will be an auction with some great items and a slide show, and she has asked me to share a few words about Redeemer House. It has been a big job to put it all together. She has some great people working with her to help make it happen. She has spoken at area churches, schools, and service groups about her project, which she calls Change for Children, and the local media has shared her project. If you’re anywhere close, please join us. It’s gonna be fun! And please pray for Annie as she finishes up all the last-minute details!

It’s amazing to see how God is already using Annie to make a difference for the kids of Africa. I can hardly wait to see where her heart to serve God will take her. I will be watching, and I will be praying for her and for those her lives will bless. Like mine. Like Sarah’s. Like all the kids of Redeemer House. You never know what God will do though you when you say yes. I’m so glad Annie said yes. And I’m so glad I get to meet her next weekend!

Elysia, our American gal-on-the-ground in Uganda, recently contracted malaria, and has come home for a couple of months. She is enjoying some much-needed time with her family. Please pray that this would be a time of real physical and spiritual refreshment for her before she heads back to the trenches, back to the kids who have grown to love her so much.

Some specific things you can pray about with us:

• Wisdom for the issues we will be taking care of while we are there.
• Wisdom for the Board as they make the decisions that guide our ministry.
• Good contacts in Uganda with people who can come along side Redeemer House as ministry partners there.
• My travel arrangments. I purchased a ticket to leave March 4th, and just received notice that the flight has been cancelled. I can’t deal with it until business hours tomorrow.
• My job situation. I have asked for a leave of absence from my job. (I work as an RN in a small community hospital.) If my employer can’t grant me the leave, I will be resigning my position so that I can go, and then looking for work when I come back. (I plan to be gone about 3 months.)
• Finances, both for me personally and for the orphanage. (I recently read: “If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill.” Redeemer House is His orphanage, and I know He will provide!)
• For our Ugandan employees who care for the children, and of course,
• For the kids themselves! I am SO excited to be seeing them soon!

If the things that we will be dealing with while I am there were easy, I would not be heading over now. God never promised that following Him would be easy, just that He would always be with us. He is The Faithful One! He has called us to follow Him, to stand up for justice, and to care for the orphans of this world. May we be faithful in doing just that!

My connection? While in Uganda in 2008, asking God to show me how He wanted me to serve His children there, I clearly heard Him ask me to open an orphange. On the morning I left, 10 days later, we dedicated Redeemer House to the glory of God and the rescue of Ugandan orphans. Gracious and Noah have done a wonderful job caring for the children, while I have been able to share here in America and help raise awareness of the plight of orphans in Africa. God has provided for the orphanage in awesome ways, including sending sponsors for each of the children. I returned to Uganda in September, 2009 with Elysia, a young lady from Prineville, OR, who is doing an amazing job as Country Director, care provider, and tutor. We were able to move to a beautiful new, larger facility, take in more orphans, and hire 3 women to help part-time with cooking, laundry, and gardening. I am currently working as a nurse in America, helping with the financial obligations of the orphanage, but my heart’s desire is to soon be working alongside Gracious, Noah and Elysia in Uganda, caring for the children God has entrusted to us.

I have recently returned from a month long trip to Uganda, to visit the Redeemer House, and take part in bringing in more children.

I have so much to tell you about my trip! It had it’s rough patches, but looking back, I can see the hand of God so clearly resting upon the work of the Redeemer House.

I will give a more detailed update a little later on, as I have time. But for now I ask that you continue to support the Redeemer House Orphanage with your prayers! We so greatly appreciate your partnership!

Blessings,

Kathy