Nalwire

Today we had the pleasure of visiting the village of Nalwire, partnered with Redeemer Lutheran Church in Redwood City, CA. What a magical day it was. Since the sponsorship program was just recently launched, it was the first time this village has ever received communication from their sponsors in the US. The students don’t fully understand what we meant when we said we had packets, but magical is the only word I can think of to describe the looks on these kids' faces when they saw the pictures and letters sent in from their sponsors. It was also incredible to drive up to this village and see over 70 students in nice, new uniforms and brand new shoes.  It was in stark contrast to our previous visits when we usually the only clothing we would see is ripped, old and dirty. A HUGE thanks to the people of Redeemer who sponsored those kids so quickly! Your support will be such a blessing to them and it will be an equal blessing to watch these beautiful children bloom through education.

The mission team jumped in to help with the confusion of this first time process while also entertaining the HUNDREDS of other kids from the community who gathered outside the school room to watch. This is a team of energetic and extremely compassionate people and today further proved that fact. As we had many students still available for sponsorship join the sponsored ones to make a craft, the team saw the many faces of the students still in need of a support for their education. When you put a face to an issue, it all becomes so much more real. As a result of this, we ended the day with 8 of those available students being sponsored by our team! It was such a blessing to see the team members be able to meet their new students face to face that day and to introduce themselves to these special little souls they bonded with and tell them that they were going to be able to join their friends in school this year! Jodi sponsored a little girl named Phoebe and with the pastor translating for her, she asked, “what is your favorite color?”  Phoebe sweetly answered “A uniform!”. Clearly she was thrilled and focused on now being able to get a nice new uniform with her sponsorship after seeing many of her friends outfitted in one. They take such pride in their education!!!

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The mission team also came together again in a very special way. Since Nalwire is in the beginning stages of partnership and sponsorship, they sometimes have trouble providing us lunch with their very limited funds. The team came together and collected MORE than enough to feed us and the school staff/village leaders, with some money leftover. It was decided by the team that the leftover funds would be used to buy 4 sheets of tin roofing so the school could finish or repair the school's current roofing. Amazing how much can be accomplished when kind hearts come together!

Tomorrow we head to Mbulamuti and then we will visit the unsponsored village of Namwendwa. This is always a good opportunity to see the contrast between different levels of support and how a partnership can impact the communities we serve.