My friend Amy is currently in Jinji, Uganda. She has been there for 3 years. She left a great career, her home, family, friends - well - she left her life because she felt called to do a ONE YEAR missionary trip to an orphange in Jinji.
I was very proud of her for doing this and expected to see her back in "regular" life within a year!
As it turns out - when Amy returns to the United States - it will be with 2 little Ugandan boys that she is in the process of adopting. Emmett and Isaiah are the reason that Amy is still in Jinji and not home in comfort and safety.
Amy first fell in love with Emmett - he was only about 4 months old when she arrived at the orphanage. Emmett was skin and bones - he wouldn't eat or sleep and was very withdrawn and depressed and close to death. Over the following months - Emmett began to bond with Amy - he would eat for her and began to respond to her. Now he is a healthy, happy and very loved little boy.
About 17 months ago - Amy wrote about a baby boy that had been brought to the orphanage. He weighed less than 5 pounds - was about a week old and had been found on the side of the road in a heap of trash. The workers at the orphanage named him Isaiah which means "saved by God." Amy fell in love with Isaiah as she took care of him at the orphanage.
Amy had already decided to adopt Emmett and added Isaiah to the family as well. Now - she can't (won't) leave Uganda without them.
Amy's role has changed from orphanage worker to mother and advocate/helper for American's trying to adopt in Uganda. It is a very long and arduous process. She is not only going thru it for Emmett and Isaiah - but is now going through the process for several other families.
Amy hopes to bring her family back to NW Arkansas in late 2009 - but understands it could be several more years before she gets clearance from the Ugandan government.
These two little boys don't know it yet - but God has definitely intervened on their behalf. They were set to live in an orphange until they were in their early teens - then would have been put out to make their own way in a very poor and depressed country. God sent an angel to rescue them. In addition to being loved beyond belief by their very OWN mommy - their future should hold education and opportunities that their Ugandan peers will never have a chance at. In addition - God didn't just send them any ole Mommy - he sent them a Godly woman that loves the Lord with all of her heart and will raise them to know and Love HIM too.
Wow - I know that someday Emmett and Isaiah will "rise up and call their Mother blessed."
The following is from an email that Amy recently sent:
"As it draws nearer to the time when I can take the boys back to the States (at least I hope so, I have been waiting on the home study so I can get an official approval letter which has to go to Immigration in Fort Smith, Arkansas before the embassy in Kampala can process visas for my children) I am trying to get the boys their passports. If I have their passports once the right documents reach the US Embassy in Kampala I will be able to go apply for their visas. Over a month ago the babies' home social worker took paperwork to the district social worker so that I can have care orders for the boys. That is a document that goes through the local court making me legally their caregiver. With this document I will try to get their passports and I hope also legal guardianship (the US government requires legal guardianship before they will allow me to take them to the States, but I am not sure I want to spend the money to get legal guardianship when I still don't have a home study approval). I got the care orders Thursday but they didn't have a seal or stamp on them (rendering them basically worthless) so I have asked our social worker to take them back to the district social worker to get a court seal on them. Hopefully then I will be able to take the boys next Wednesday to Kampala to the Minister of Gender (for a passport recommendation letter; not just anyone can apply for a passport in Uganda like in the States) and then Immigration for passports. It seems like the last year my life has been spent waiting on paperwork while the dreaded thought of something changing in the Ugandan legal system which will bar me from being able to take my children home on legal guardianship for adoption in the States looms."
"The weather here has been incredibly hot since the middle of November. I would think that during the rainy season would be when most of the seasonal fruits would be “in season” but I have been noticing that there are seasonal things that are only “in season” in the dry season (now). This would include grasshoppers (the edible ones; this makes sense to me, though) and mangos. There is one thing that is “in season” right now that I could do without and that is the lake flies. They come out in droves in the two driest parts of the year (July and Dec/Jan). For weeks now they have been hording around outside of the houses close to the lake. My house is close to the lake so I suffer along with everyone else. I don't think they disturb the houses further from the lake (“the” lake would be Lake Victoria). I have been keeping my porch light off, which is a security risk, to avoid getting bizillions of them in my house in case I have to go outside after it is dark. They are worse at night, but they are also everywhere in the daytime, too. They park themselves on every available space outside (on the clothes line, the railing around the porch, etc.). At night if you are quiet you can hear them outside. The millions of them with their wings flapping make a rather loud droning sound. Two weeks of December were rather unpleasantly affected by both boys being sick. I suppose that is better than one being sick for two weeks and then the other one being sick for the other two weeks. They both had bacterial infections and Emmett had malaria and Isaiah had measles. Measles is common here because people don't get vaccinated for it. I thought both my kids were up-to-date on both their vaccines but only Emmett is. Isaiah is basically completely without inoculation against anything (so now that he is well I will be taking him to get all his vaccinations). Anyway, Isaiah was completely miserable with the measles. The last time Emmett had malaria he didn't even act sick but this time, coupled with the bacterial infection, he was quite unhappy. I had already given Emmett three quick-tests for malaria, three days in a row, because he had such a high fever that wouldn't go away. The fourth day I took him to the doctor. They have a machine that can see the parasite itself and he was infected with the malaria parasite. Now I don't have much faith in the quick-tests for detecting malaria. I have been keeping them around because if either of them gets a fever the first thing I do is test them for malaria, but now I am not sure I trust the results. Although I wasn't looking forward to spending another Christmas in Uganda away from my family it turned out to be quite nice. On Christmas Eve I went to dinner at a Mzungu-owned restaurant in town with two married couples that I am friends with. After dinner we went caroling. My wallet was no longer in my purse after I got home that night so somewhere along the caroling route it was lost/taken. That was a bit of a bummer because I had more money on me that night than I normally ever do (but I suppose on the bright side I had already paid for dinner). After we went caroling we went to someone's house and had warm apple cider and cookies. We didn't get home until quite late. The boys got up the next morning and opened their stockings and presents. Then we had lunch with a few people at the house of a friend of one of my friends and at night we had an early dinner at Jude's house (she is a 76 year old Australian lady who runs a restaurant here and does mission work). She doesn't live far from me so we walked to her house. There were quite a few people there that I knew, some that I vaguely knew and then that I didn't know at all. It was nice and the food was great. We had a pork roast which I haven't had since I have lived here (pork is a bit hard to get here because of the large Muslim population). The day after Christmas here is called Boxing Day. It is a carry-over from being a British colony. The Lords and Barons and such would have a big feast on Christmas Day and then the next day they would box up all the leftovers and give them to the servants and peasants. I went back over to Jude's house for Boxing Day and we ate leftovers for dinner. It was nice because it was just the boys and I and Jude and her adopted Ugandan daughter."
Please pray for Amy and her little boys. She needs everything to go quickly through all of the red tape in Uganda and she needs all approval's to happen right away. Please also pray for their health and safety. It is very difficult to get medical care and vacine's, etc. Both little boys have had maleria and other illnesses. They really need to come "home." Amy also needs money. When she left - she only planned to stay for one year and didn't plan to bring children back. One year as turned into three and her savings is almost depleted.
If you would like to contribute - let me know - and I will give you the address to send funds. Christian Life Cathedral in Fayetteville takes donations and then sends onto Amy. That way the contributor can claim on their income tax and Amy does not have to claim on her taxes.
Here are a couple of pictures of this little family.
