Paperwork!

I just wanted to post a quick update while I am in Kampala. I went to immigration today and received advice from the lady I spoke to last time to wait on the work permit and just get a special pass at this point and request an extension on the pass if necessary. I guess considering how long I have left here and the cost of a work permit and the time it takes to process it she didn't think it made sense to pursue this avenue---I agree, but it's nice when it is the immigration officer advising this.

I also ask that prayers continue for Kumi Hospital as the situation does not seem to be improving at this point and many people are feeling very discouraged and hopeless. Please pray that God would intervene and that somehow we would see God working good through this situation that seems so bleak right now. Please pray for wisdom for the hospital leadership and donors, and especially for the staff as many are struggling to get by and especially to pay school fees for their children who started school last month. The staff have not received their salaries for 2 months now which means, for some, their children have not been able to attend school or have been sent home from school.

Please pray for wisdom for me as well as I want to be able to be used by God in whatever way He chooses and yet it is so hard to know what to do and how to respond to various needs and requests. I also am not always sure how best to be supportive and also struggle with my attitude and how to "work" under these conditions currently. Pray that I would really hear from God clearly and that I would have the courage to act and have the faith to be obedient.

On a positive note I was really encouraged yesterday to see one of my patients, a 7 year old girl who had severe burns, walking almost "normally" with a walker. This was a big improvement!

I also have a new challenge of working with a 5 year old boy who has some fine motor delays. He is an outpatient so I hope I can work with him for awhile.

I will leave it at that for now. I still don't have pictures of my new place to post yet...:( But the girls I live with found a few new roommates in the hut they sleep in. I heard screams on Monday and then was told I needed to come see something. Apparently a rat (of which there were known to be few running around in the hut) had decided that the clothes cupboard made a good nest for her little ones. There were 3 tiny mice/rats crawling around in her clothes! We decided since none of us could outright kill them--they were after all rather cute-- that they would be disposed of in the field by our house to let nature take its course. A few minutes after this a bigger one, possibly the mother, emerged from a box on top of the cupboard while my roommate was cleaning up the mess, which evoked another scream! We have yet to find an effective rat eradicator---if you have any suggestions please pass them our way;)

More to come,

Thanks for the prayers and emails of encouragement. I'm not sure if anyone else heard of the land slide here, but since we heard about it first through family/friends overseas who were worried about our safety, I just wanted to say that where we are is fine. We live in a very flat area but the place affected I think is only a couple hrs away from us. They are estimating over 300 people have died, so please pray for those working to bring relief and aid to the victims of this natural disaster and the families affected as they grieve the loss of their loved ones.