Rosebud

Today I had to attend a required Teach For America event. The event was held on Rosebud Reservation in a little town called St. Francis. The drive is about two hours away. Last night I made plans to follow Rachel, the new 5th grade teacher and now a good friend of mine. However, this morning her and her roommate got up late and in the panic, they left without telling me. I therefore found myself alone, which I am used to. However, I have been having some troubles with my truck as my battery is dying and one of my front tires is leaking. I also didn't know how to get to St. Francis so I had to go to the school and print a map. As a result, I was pretty stressed as I tried to make it to St. Francis on time. Thankfully, I walked in right on schedule.

The three hour meeting was very good. It provided me with some really concrete action items to improve my plans for this year. I am really excited to make some revisions to my plans and be more strategic this year. It was also really nice to see the entire corps--all 62 of us. Because we are spread out across two reservations, there are some teachers that I almost never see. It was good to catch-up with a few friends.

After the meeting, Rachel decided to ride back with me so we could go to the Rosebud Fair, which is basically a pow-wow. Sadly, we couldn't find it and by the time we realized we had passed it, we decided not to turn around. Instead, we decided to take some time going home by stopping and taking some pictures. In particular, we stopped in Allen on Pine Ridge Rez near this absolutely stunning stretch of land chalk full of sunflowers. I snapped some photos. Here are a few:








Life is just beautiful.

B

P.S. By the way, I find it completely annoying that the pictures always look low-resolution when posted. However, if you want to, you can click to enlarge them and they will become higher quality.

Today was such a beautiful day in so many ways. I entered the classroom armed with a renewed resolve to fight for my children--even if I had to fight them in the process. I also purposed in my heart that I would do whatever I could to invest my children by simply getting to know them. And so today I did just that, got to know my children. Can I tell you how beautiful it was?

--Al is such a sweet little girl. She is bright and eager to please. I can tell that she has a supportive family at home that is invested in her education.
--Ad is without a doubt my biggest behavioral challenge. However, he is a natural leader whom I requested to be in my classroom. Of all of my students, I think that I can perhaps do the most for him in terms of altering his future.
--Ta is such an interesting kid. He is one of my most academically proficient students and has a clever sense of humor.
--Li is a gem. She reminds me so much of her cousin whom I had last year. She is probably my most academically advanced student and I find her presence to be refreshing.
--Ge, well I love to see that smile of his. I have to work extra hard to keep him engaged, but he is so worth it.
--Je is one of the most likable boys I have ever encountered. He is really sharp and so pleasant to be around. He is what you would call a "cool" kid, but he is real respectful just the same.
--Te is such a sweet little boy. He is sensitive and already loves his teacher. He brings me pencils and erasers and scoots real close to me so I will give him a hug. He has my heart.
--Ga is going to have his world rocked this year. You can just tell that he has suffered much already in his short life. He is often morose and withdrawn but when I can coax a smile, I feel like I have won the lottery.
--Hu is my last girl. I had her brother and know her sister. She is also sweet and intelligent but her home life is difficult. She is also one of those children I feel like I am fighting to save from a intense brokenness.
--Da is my lowest reader and writer. He is literally illiterate. He has really low self-esteem, but I am hoping to draw out the boy-wonder that I know is inside of him.
--An is my last student. He was labeled as a "monster" by his former teachers. This year is going to be different. By the end, the 4th grade teachers will be begging to have him.

Pray for my babies.

Love,
B

Photos

For those of you who don't have Facebook but would like to see some photos I've taken over the past few weeks, take a look:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066970&id=55300229&l=8b26166866

Love,

B

If Anything Would Ever Drive Me to the Bottle...

...the past week would do it.

I met my new class last Wednesday. It was probably the worst day of school I have had in the year I have taught here. I had 7 boys and three girls. The next day didn't get any better--except that I got one more boy. I now have 8 boys and 3 girls. And on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, I just cried my eyes out. I haven't cried this hard since my uncle died. In a way, I did feel as if I had lost someone--19 students to be exact. I missed my old students and just wept over the fact that we were no longer together. I was angry at the new kids for not being my old children and was even angry at their ridiculous behavior.

We have now had 5 teaching days. In that time I have had one student call another's sister a whore, one call another boy with a facial deformity "Chinese Butt," a situation where a student bolted--twice and I had to chase him down in my high-heels. (I caught him in the parking lot, curled up in fetal position, weeping. It took me a very long time to coax him back into the classroom and convince his grandmother not to let him go home, as he wanted.) In short, I have more behavioral problems over these last five days than I had all 165 combined last year. It is truly ridiculous. Please pray for me. Today I just got angry. I had enough of their disrespect and blatant disregard for rules and consequences.

On the flip side, I see that God has given me children who need me so much. Please pray that God gives me His heart for these children. Pray that I love them with everything that is within me.

Take care,

B

No Fear

Dear Father-

You know that I am so tired and more than a little frightened. It is past 9:00 and I have so much to do still. I don't even have all of my day planned yet. I feel disorganized and like a failure. There is a cricket somewhere in my house that is driving me crazy and my cell phone is lost. I had several teachers "warn" me about my future students. I can feel the battle waging around me.

I don't feel victorious. I feel weak and ill-equipped. But you know, Father I am going to choose to trust you. I know that your will is far superior to my weakness. I know that you can use a broken vessel like me to bring about positive change. I know that you have already won the battle. I know that you have chosen me and will never ever abandon me. And so Father, I lift up my head and cry out, "I AM YOURS!" May your will be done. I submit myself to you. I shall not be afraid. I will NOT be afraid or shaken. I am like a tree planted by the water of Life. I will be strong and courageous, I will not be terrified, I will not be discouraged for you are with me wherever I go.

I love you so much,

B

Bonding, Birthdays and Bullying

Yesterday I went to the Kyle Fair, though the actual event doesn't really jive with the traditional images of fair. Instead, it consists of a three day Pow-Wow and several vendors selling food, arts and crafts. Sunday was the last day, but the first I was able to get out to.

Unlike last year, I am really making an effort to get know the new corps members. So, before leaving for the fair I had dinner with the new 5th grade teacher, whom I am very fond of. I think she is going to be an excellent teacher. Joining us for dinner were three other TFA teachers. During that time I realized how truly jaded our generation is when it comes to issues of faith. One girl referred to religion as a "buffet" from which we choose what we like and don't like. I had to refrain from shuttering. I just let them talk, but noted the different views each of them had on faith.

R and I headed out to the fair after dinner. I brought my camera and had way too much fun. I saw so many of my students I couldn't help but snap away. The first shot is of our new 5th grade teacher.






I then went home to attend K's 9th birthday party. When I arrived, they had already eaten dinner, but we sang and we had some cake and ice cream. Here are a few shots from that event:








So after a short while at K's house, I decided to take her and her cousin to the fair. Here is K getting her shoes on. Don't you love her face?:


When we got back to the fair, K and I just walked round and round the pow-wow grounds, much like teens did at the football games in high school. After about two laps, we ran into a group of girls who were in the fifth grade last year. I know that most of the girls really like me a lot and want me to like them as well. However, they are undoubtedly the most disrespectful and rebellious kids in the elementary. Most of them are really into some heavy stuff. Anyway, K and I are walking but are soon stopped as this gang of girls literally surrounds us. They are really close and begin taunting me. They start running their hands through my hair and flicking it around. They called me names like "poodle" and "baby doll" referring to my hair. I was really really ticked off and a wave of emotions swelled over me. I haven't been degraded like that since I was a young girl and I really wanted to stick it to those girls. But K was with me and I didn't want to give them more power than they had. So I leaned forward and looked into the eyes of the ring-leader, a girl with so much pain in her heart. I said "Baby, one day you are going to have to make a choice whether to keep heading on the path you are on or get some help. When you are ready to change, I'll be here. I care about you." And then I took K and walked away.

K later asked me about the exchange I just told her that those girls were hurting and didn't know how to deal with it. My thoughts were only reaffirmed when the ring-leader and a friend tried to cut K and I off were their bicycle as we were walking to my truck to go home. She kept calling out for me saying things like, "I have a message from the boy you came with! He is waiting for you and wants to snag you. Hey you, come back here! Don't walk away from me when I am talking to you! Hey-you're not my friend anymore!" I never slowed down and never even acknowledged her, but she grieved me. I was pondering how to deal with her in the future and I feel like God is urging me to say this whenever she is asking out, "I am sorry you are hurting. I love you." Please pray for her and the other hurting girls on Pine Ridge.

B

My Parents

My parents are not exactly the most tech-savvy individuals, if you know what I mean. So, when I told them that I was starting a blog about my journey as a teacher on Pine Ridge, they had no idea what I meant. It still amuses me to think of all the explanation that was required in order to ensure that they could access this webpage. But of all the things I have since taught my parents to do on the internet, posting comments on my blog is not one of them. Why not, you ask? I think part of it was because they told me their comments over the phone during our daily conversations. If they posted them straight to my blog, I couldn't actually censor them :). But yesterday I broke down and walked my mamma through the simple steps, knowing that she would find great pleasure in posting ornery comments! And sure enough, one of the first things my mom had to say to me today was that she wanted to post a comment on my blog yesterday, but she couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't cheeky! I laughed really hard and this got me to thinking about my parents a little more.

I love my parents--a lot. In fact, I have encountered very few individuals indeed who are as close with their parents as I am. They are two truly unique individuals that I have not met the likes of in all my travels. In fact, I decided to make a list of some of the things I love about them. So mamma and daddy--this is for you.

Daddy:

1) I love how you reach out to all people. I have never met a person who reached out to strangers as often as you.
2) I love the way you willingly lend a hand to everybody and their brother despite the fact that you have more than enough work to do at home, never asking for payment in return.
3) I love your faith. Have I seen such faith in any other?
4) I love the way you rub your hands together after you have told a deliciously lame joke.
5) I love how you love my students so much that you stay awake at night thinking about ways for me to better reach them.
6) I love that you taught me how to work hard.
7) I love that you can still beat all the younger guys.
8) I love how you came to all my games and even my practices. You were as much a part of basketball for me as the rim.
9) I love that you taught me that the Brendsel's are too stupid to know when to quit.
10) I love that you are proud of me.

Mamma

1) I love your sense of humor. No one on this planet can make me laugh as hard as you can.
2) I love your generous heart. You give when it hurts and then give some more.
3) I love how you cry when you hear about the suffering of others, despite the fact that they are often thousands of miles from you.
4) I love it when you come home.
5) I love how you buy things in bulk just because you know that I once liked them.
6) I love how you love me unconditionally. Never in my whole life have I ever doubted that you loved me.
7) I love how all my life you have fought for me in so many ways.
8) I love how you pray for my husband.
9) I love how I if I go a single day without talking with you (and daddy through you), I feel it as keenly as if I skipped eating.
10) I love how I always feel like Jesus is hugging me when you hold me.

I love you two,

Brittany

Can you tell I got a camera?

Our Classroom

I thought I would share some images of our classroom as I get it ready for school on Monday.

Three more reasons that I Teach For America: K, K and K

Another School Year

Another school year is just around the bend--Monday of next week. Today in-service began for all teachers.

You would think that with a very successful year under my belt I would feel calm and confident about the year ahead. But the truth is, I think I am far more nervous about this year than last year. My program director says it is because I realize this year what I don't know. I think that is true to an extent. However, I think there is more to it. I think I currently am in the midst of an ugly spiritual battle.

There are indeed a lot of reasons for me to be anxious about this year, or even terrified. At the last minute I was switched from teaching Social Studies to Science, a subject I hated all throughout school. I can't even get started in planning it as the curriculum order got lost and wasn't placed. In addition, I am teaching Math this year which was undoubtedly the most difficult subject for me during my formal education. I also had a very bad experience in teaching it at Institute in Houston last year. Furthermore, the new group of third graders has more than a few children who in the past have struggled behaviorally. I also have a new TFA program director whom I am adjusting to. In addition, we also got three new TFA teachers in the elementary school. Though this is truly wonderful news as more students will receive an excellent education, I am insecure and intimidated and feel like they have it more together than I do. Finally, the bar for me and my children has been set extremely high because of last year's success. It almost seems unattainable. So, these are the reasons why I have been fighting back terror.

Today as I sat in my newly arranged classroom, tears streaming down my face, I realize something: I will most certainly fail. That is, I will most certainly fail if I attempt to repeat last year's success apart from the Lord. You see, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my babies learned so much and we were so blessed last year because the Lord was moving in my classroom. I was willing and so He used me. Last year I was praying for months for my future children. This year, all I can think about is how these won't be my first babies and I can't possibly love them as much as my first children. Last year I prayed as I/God picked my class. This year I have been fighting back the impulse to avoid having those students with behavioral challenges in my class. In other words, thus far this year I have relied on my own strength--a recipe for disaster.

And so, I would like to confess my sin and repent and seek God. Please pray with me:

Daddy,

Before the foundation of the earth was formed, you knew that I would one day be a teacher in Kyle, South Dakota. You knew the names of each of the children I would be so fortunate to teach and you always have their best interest at heart. Father I ask that you would forgive me for not remaining in You and seeking your will for this year. Abba I give this year back into your loving hands. I trust you and give the future of every one of my children--your children--to you. I pray that every desire and dream that you have for this year would be fulfilled through me. I ask that I would be obedient without question and faithful when I feel like surrendering. I pray that I would not look to human wisdom, but your wisdom. Oh God, I pray that the children would make supernatural academic growth. But even more than that, I pray that your children would tangibly feel your love this year. Walls will be broken down, deep wounds healed, lies banished. Instead of death, despair and deceit, Love will be poured out, Truth will be spoken and Hope firmly planted in the hearts of your babies. I ask Father is that you would use me this year, even when I don't want to be used. Move in a way that I have never seen before.

In You alone,

By the way...

I have posted the link to Abby's blog on the right hand side of this page. I encourage you to read it and post encouraging comments for her. If we get any news on the boys, I will post that on my blog too.

Looking Back

Today was an interesting day. I went to my classroom fulling intending on getting so much work done as school starts the Monday after next and orientation begins this Monday. I, however, made the tragic mistake of bringing a book. As you may have guessed, I ended up reading the entire book instead of working. I wasn't too worried about it as I had arranged to meet my literacy coach at 4:00 to work on improving my teaching this year. However, I ended up spending the next five hours learning to cook (more on that later) than working. During that time at my friend's house, one of the new Teach For America corps members came over. I like her very much and have done everything I can to help smooth this transition for her. However, I have over the last few days become increasingly unnerved by her progress in planning and my decided lack of progress.

It is past 10:00 pm right now and I am sitting in my classroom feeling just like a first-year-teacher. I feel inadequate and unprepared. I feel terrified that I am not going to be successful this year, as the bar set last year was so high. This new teacher is going to be amazing and she is so on top of things. I am honestly overjoyed by this and have done everything I can to get her to that place, but in comparing myself to her, I find myself lacking.

But then I began to read some of the first posts I wrote last year on this blog about my experience moving here and my feelings those first days before school. In doing so, I have been so encouraged. You see, I will undoubtedly fail this year if I try to be successful in my own strength. I have been forgetting that the only reason that we met with such success last year was because I relied on God. He empowered me to make a difference and blessed my classroom beyond all I could ever hope for or imagine. And you know what, I choose not live in fear. I choose to cling to hope and the nature of God. I know that He loves the children even more than I do and I know that He is not done with me yet. And so, I begin this next year the same way as I did last year, crying out to God for strength and wisdom. He is my sustainer, my hope, my everything.

Lord, this is your year.

B

A Message From Abby

Dear friends and family,

Thank you SO much for all of your prayers, support and encouragement. I am sorry that I have not responded to most of your emails, I have simply had no time to get on the internet (because here I have to go to an internet cafe and pay for it) but know that I have appreciated all of the emails you have sent me, they have encouraged me so much!

Yesterday as I was walking with some of the kids William (who everyone thougt was one of the boys kidnapped, although Sharrif our major source of information was the least sure about him although he WATCHED Nicholas and Mukenya be taken) came walking up to me. All the kids went crazy showing him to me and getting all excited. When we told him that we thought he had been one of the boys taken he gave a bit of an off reply saying that he had been sick. Jessie and I are not exactly sure that his story matches up or sounds completely rightso she is going to talk with him more today to see if there is anything else that he wants to tell us.

We know 4 boys were taken, 2 for sure (mukenya and Nicholas, the youngest) that have not been seen or heard of since and 1 who we thought was kidnapped but seems not to be. There is a streetboy named Fupi (another very young street boy) who saw everything happen and knows the names of all the kids but we have yet to be able to track him down in Kisenyi to find out the names of the other boys although we have been trying everyday.

What we do know is that Friday nioght at 3 in the morning 2 westerners,1 man and 1 female (which makes it seem even more like a set up to steal kids) and 1 Ugandan came into Kisenyi (one of the largest and most dangerous slums in Kampala). They were new to the community (which is also dangerous, you are not allowed to go into Kisenyi without the chairmans consent if you are not with someone who is living/involved there) and the kids said that they had never seen them before. I wish you guys could see Kisenyi, especially lately it has gotten so much worse, it is a place that even Ugandans do not go in the middle of the day. It is a very violent and oppressive night. POlice officers do not even go there in small groups at night because they get beaten up. Anyways, they gave out candy and bread to the kids (yes in the middle of the night) and then tried to snatch one of our 5 or 6 year olds, Sharrif. Sharrif is incredibly scrappy and a huge fighter, he fought them off and ran but watched as they carried off his sleeping best friend Nicholas. Nicholas is around 6 years old and a huge sweetheart. He is perpetually sick or tired and is very timid and shy. He is a sweet boy and not someone who would even be able to resist someone taking him because he has about the same amount of strength as a rabbit. He was one of the boys who was supposed to move into our house just 11 hours later. The other boy who was taken was a boy named Mukenya (Who was going to be in our house until we didn't see him in our programs and we had to give his spot away sense we never saw him). Mukenya is another boy who is so sweet and endearing. He is very smart and has a huge fear of abandonment and being left behind. I love him so much and was very close to him. It is especially hard for me that he was taken because Mukenya was a boy that I was very, very close to until he got, "too" close to me and got scared that I would leave him. There was a few times that he had misunderstood something that was said and thought that I was leaving, and he would begin to cry and get upset until it was explained to him that he had misunderstood./ Without any reason he stopped coming to our programs and being really moody. I gave him space because I just knew that eventually he would come around and see that I had never left him and was still right there for him as I had always been. But he was taken before that could happen. I wont get to restore the relationship with this boy that I love so much. There were 2 other boys that were also taken. They were put into a car and driven away. We have yet to discover who the other 2 boys are although we are sure that we know them and that they are in our programs. There are hundreds of street children that sleep in that slum and because we have so man kids in our programs and because street kids are constantly put into prison, moving around, getting sick and holing up somewhere for sometime and simply going missing there is no way for us to guess which kids they were simply by looking at which kids are not around anymore.

We have reported the incident to the police and chairman but know they are not going to do anything, police here don't care very much for a group of street children that end up missing.

All of the uncles we work with love the kids sooo much, and are always very optimistic about everything, they always believe anything is possible. When I asked them if they thought we would ever see Nicholas or Mukenya again, they just got really sad and said, "no... we wont..."

What is so hard for me is all of the uncertainty. I will never know what happened to them, whether they were sold, or sacrificed, or escaped. It is also so hard for me not knowing what other two boys were taken as well because we definitely knew them.

Every week we have kids that disapear from our programs, they are usually put in prison, they come everyday and then one day we never see them again.

Around the same time last week someone that lives in the community we work in said that there were 6 kids that had been grabbed by city council and were going to be put in prison that were crying out for me and asking me to come get them out. Jessie, Pastor Nelson, and Abbey (an amazing social we work with from Grace Church) went to the prison on Monday. The thing was that we had not been told the names of the kids that were asking for us and over the last two weeks we had SO many kids that had also disappeared. We went to the prison and found one boy and got a list of a few boys that had been taken to different places but we weren't able to figure out which boys they had in the prison and the man wouldn't tell us (because ALL the kids go by nicknames or different names, we know very few of the boys real FULL names which was what we needed, we have a list of them but the man wouldn't go through them and let us know). We knew that one of the boys as well was very young and had been asking for me, I could think of several boys that he could be. The kids go to sentencing at several different courts so we wouldn't have been able to know where they would be to speak for them because we wouldn't have known where they would be.

It hurt me so badly to know that there were kids that had been depending on me to get them out of prison and I completely failed them. I couldn't help but feel so discouraged when we were sitting on the car on the way back thinking of all the kids that I have fallen in love with since being here that have disappeared and I have no idea where they are. It made everything so real and final. All those kids that disappear I had just been hoping they would come back and telling myself that they were around and that they would return eventually when the reality is... they wont (and they don't). They are gone. I cant help but picture their faces in my mind... boys that just disappeared. I will never know what happened to Charles, and Robert, and Derek, and Mukenya, and Nicholas, and Sobote...

I appreciate so much the prayers of everyone for my kids that were kidnapped. I know that God can work miracles, and in fact He may have already done so with William, we are not sure yet. I am praying for it constantly that God will move in an incredible way. I am not giving up hope. it has just woken me up to the fact that the many, many kids that I had fallen in love with, noticed they were missing and was simply waiting for them to come back are most likely not coming. It is a grieving process for me for more than simply the kids that were stolen. It has been really hard for me. I know that God is a big God and that He is with them and experiences everything that they do. I do not feel hopeless just immensely sad and overwhelmed with the evil and suffering that I am surrounded by in my ministry to street kids.

Thank you so much for supporting me and for all of your encouragement, it has meant the world to me. I am so blessed by how many have come around me and my ministry and Jessie and our kids to pray

I love you all

Abby

Praying for Abby's Boys

My Lakota sister is having a math camp for girls, but they live very far out in the country so it is difficult for family's to get their children there. So, when I saw some girls walking on the street that were former students. I asked them if they wanted to come. When the quickly agreed, I spoke with their families and loaded them up into my truck and headed for the country. On our 45 minute journey, I heard such disturbing things about the lives of the three students in my truck. They have been exposed to such awful situations.


After we arrived, I stayed about an hour before deciding to head out. But before I could leave, I gathered his family and the rest of the girls into a circle. When all shuffled into place, there were 11 children standing a circle. He then quickly left and returned with the Prayer Staff.

The Prayer Staff is a staff that first came to IW in a vision several years ago. He was told in this vision to fashion a Prayer Staff which was to carry the prayers of the children to world leaders, that their voices may be heard regarding issues of peace and justice. This staff is wakan-sacred, and only he and the children may touch it. The staff has been all around the world and many little hands have touched it, but little hands alone for no adult may touch the children's staff.

Well, tonight, I saw the Prayer Staff for the first time after hearing about it for nearly a year. He brought it out so that the children whom I loved so deeply might pray for four boys whom they have never met, but have learned about this year and have come to call "Abby's Boys."

The smell of burning sage wafted in the air as I watched each of the children hold that staff and silently say a prayer. Almost instantly, a dam burst open within me and I began to weep. Tears streamed down my face, tears for innocence lost. As I cried, my 13 year-old niece silently but firmly slipped her arms around my waist and cradled me like a baby as I wept. My salty tears dampened her shirt but she just held me, her tears mixing with mine.

When the Prayer Staff came to another one of the children--the girl whom I have come to call Hannah Montana--I noticed that she too was weeping. Then I glanced over and saw that my nine-year-old niece was crying too. As I considered the children weeping around me for four boys they will likely never meet, my weeping soon became sobbing. And as my brother prayed and sang in Lakota, I could feel the Spirit of God.

When he was finished closing our prayer time, the girls who had cried with me, came to me. The four of just mourned in each other's arms. Again, I was struck and deeply moved by the compassion of my children. All they know of Abby and her boys is what I have told them and a few pictures they have seen. Yet they were weeping for those boys as if they were their own brothers. I soon realized that my heart was not only breaking for Abby and her precious babies, but for my precious babies. I felt moved to pray for them and for the calling God has on their lives. And so, I held each one of those girls, many of whom have had absolutely disastrous home lives, and spoke my love and God's love over them. I could feel hope just pouring over their hurt hearts and I was praising God inside.

As I drove off, three of the girls were still crying, perhaps for the boys, or perhaps for their own deep wounds. Either way, I witnessed a moment when Heaven touched earth tonight.

B

Note: I have no additional new from Abby except that they have filed a police report. I promise to pass on any and every detail I get. Your prayers mean so much to us.

Emergency Prayer Request

I received this email early this morning from one of my best friends. Abby works in Kampala, Uganda taking care of street children. She is one of the most incredible people I have ever met and the children she cares for are priceless beyond words. Here is the email--please forward it to your church, friends, etc. Pray.

Dear friends and family,

My heart today is absolutely breaking.

Yesterday, the opening of our house was a bittersweet day. We were
able to take 10 kids into our drop in center, and had a wonderful
celebration. However, we couldnt find two of the kids that were
supposed to come...

We found out that the night before at 3 in the morning 4 kids from our
programs were kidnapped in the middle of the night. Not just any 4
boys but dear, sweet, amazing young boys that I love sooo much.
William, Mukenya, Nicholas, and a 4th boy we have yet to figure out
who he is, although we can be sure we know him (because it was dark
and very crazy when it happened). They were forcibly took from the
slums in the middle of the night, put into a car and drove away. Of
all the boys in our programs they took some of our youngest and
absolutely sweetest kids (kids that would not fight back).

Child sacrifice is a huge problem here (the cover on a newspaper today
was about people convicted of sacrificing children) as well as child
trafficking (Uganda is on the US's child trafficing watch list). They
had tried to grab another one of our boys, Sharrif but he ran away and
so he watched them carry out his sleeping friend instead. He was
acting soooo badly the next day and towards the evening he finally
told us. There is no good reason that anyone would go into one of the
most dangerous slums in the middle of the night and grab children that
did not want to come, no reason at all. THey took our sweet precious
kids and we have no idea what they are doing to them.

PLEASE please please pray that God will return our kids to us and
that they will not be harmed. PLease pray


Abby