Urgent Prayer Request and Financial Giving Opportunity

Folks, we are in need of some prayer.

The rains in this area stopped a few months ago during the most critical point in the growing season.  The lack of rain and the heat has led to most crops failing.  About two months ago Colin sat down with our pastors and they talked about what we were facing given that folks lost their crops.  At that time Pastor Robert said that families were already down to eating just one meal a day.  Things have gotten worse since that time.

Most everyone in our village supports their family through agriculture. No one is a large-scale farmer, but has several small gardens of .25 to 1 acres in size. Families work together to care for and tend the gardens. There are very few "cash crops", so people grow "food" crops. These food crops are eaten and if there is enough left over it is sold for money, and that money goes to pay for medical care, school fees, expenses, buying other foodstuffs, clothes, and household items. In a year of drought like we are currently facing, none of the crops produce so people must resort to buying food. There is very little money to buy food, and when the little money you have must go towards food it cannot be spent on medical care and school fees - so other areas suffer. Food is expensive to buy and money is limited, so most homes are down to eating one meal per day. Things will only worsen if the drought continues and we experience more severe famine. Keep in mind that this is the final growing season before our extended dry season from Dec.-April.

The church decided that we should help the 600 families in this village. We figured that each family has on average 6 children plus at least 2 adults.  So with the number of families, we are looking at around 4800 people that are needing help. It was decried that the church should try to distribute food to each of the homes in this village. The food distributed should be enough to last the average-sized family for a month. There have been many meetings and lots of prayer over the best plan of action.  We contacted our pastor in the U.S. along with some others and told them about what was going on and what we were thinking about doing.

The response we received was great.  However, Colin and I quickly started thinking of all that could go wrong with a major food distribution.  But again, we were reminded by a couple that we admire and respect that fear is not from God.  That even though this is a huge task, God is much bigger than all of it.

So we kept moving forward.  From the financial support that we have received thus far, we had enough to buy four hundred 100kg bags of posho (maize) flour.  We are so thankful for that.  But we are lacking the funds to buy the last 200 bags.

Would you please join us in prayer for the the following:

• The families in the area that are suffering due to the failed crops.  They might be able to plant for the second rainy season, but it will be at least three months until they can harvest.  Folks here are just one or two missed rains away from losing their crops.  Almost everyone is a subsistence farmer. It leads to a sense of hopelessness and you can see it on the faces of folks.
• For the handing out of the 400 bags that we already have.  Colin and I will not be the face of the distribution, but will allow the church to handle it.  However, jealousy is a HUGE problem here.
• For the funds to come in so we can buy the last 200 bags of posho flour.  Each bag cost $40.00 USD.  
• And that God to be glorified through the whole process.  

Colin and I are so thankful for all the support we have received over the 4 + years that we have been here.  We realize that as much as we would have liked to have been stateside at this time, we know that God has kept us here for such a time as this.  And for that we are happy to serve.  

Our little artist

Silas loves to draw/color/paint.  And he is pretty darn good for a 4 year old.  I know that I am bias because I am his mom, but I don't care.  He drew a picture of a fire breathing dragon a couple months ago and was very happy with himself.



Up close of his dragon.



I have kept lots of his little masterpieces that he has created over the last couple years.  It has been so neat to see him love to do something.  To develop a talent.  I hope that whenever we do get to go to the U.S. we can get him into some sort of art class.

His favorite things to draw are his family, airplanes, whales, and he just started drawing cats and dogs.

Corrie vs. Malaria

The littlest of the Rosser family, Ms. Corrie, is 7 months old, loves to eat most everything I put in front of her, and is currently cutting her top two teeth.

When she was cutting her bottom two teeth, her temperature went up like most children's do when their teeth are coming in.  I checked her for malaria then just to be sure the fever was only because her teeth were pushing through.  It was negative.

This past week though, her temp went up again.  Her top gums are swollen and she is always chewing on her fingers.  Naturally, I assumed it was just her teeth on top.  I took her with me to a friends house for Bible Study and we talked about how she was feeling because she was fussy.  (And she is always fussy at Bible study...never fails!!)  I even said that we should test her for malaria just to rule it out.  Well...I should have that night.

The next day her temperature kept going up and she was not herself.

So I was the bad guy and poked her little chubby finger to get a drop of blood for the malaria test.

Within a minute I could see the positive line showing up.

DARN IT!  I was going to start her on anti-malaria meds on Monday too!

So not only was she dealing with her top teeth cutting in, but now she was going to have to flight off malaria as well.

Thank the good Lord that we had the test kits on hand and the treatment meds.  We are most likely one of the only families out in the village that have test kits and treatment for malaria on hand.  I am thankful for that, but I wish others had access to the same treatments we do as quickly as we do.  Many folks have to go to the center for treatment, which is a good treatment, but costs money.  Money that many don't have.  (And readers...we are talking at MOST $5.00 for everything!)

I was also able to send text to family (grandparents and aunts) knowing that they would all be pounding on Jesus's door on Corrie's behalf.  



This is the face of a kiddo that doesn't feel good...



After her first dose of meds.  She slept on and off for the first two days.  The way that the treatments work is that if you have malaria you start to feel so much worse the first day and into the second.  The  malaria parasites are trying their hardest not to die, and the treatment is killing them.  As a result your body takes a beating from the inside out.  It is so very important to drink lots during the treatment to flush out the dead parasites and the meds from your kidneys, and to keep you from getting very very dehydrated.

Corrie hated the meds.  She needed 15 ml once a day for three days.  Worst. Thing. Ever. Ever. Ever!  But we did it, she finished, and she is back to her normal happy self!  Well, aside from those two top teeth that are still causing her irritation.

We thank God for healing Corrie and that we were able to get on top of the malaria and treat it so quickly.


 
Last day of treatment and we had watermelon to celebrate!

Aggie Darling turned 2

On the 8th of August, our little Aggie Darling turned 2.

She is such a blessing to our family.  Her personality is really starting to show itself, and I love it.
We were in Kampala for her special day so she got to eat some yummy food and do some fun things in the city.


She is very much loved by her Smother brother and little sis.


Her Kammy (my mom) sent her some new head phones because this little lady loves music.  But, really, could she be any darn cuter?!


and she got a purse so she can be like her mommy...


That smile...Goodness.  She is one happy little lady.


She is a momma's girl and I am very much okay with that.


I cannot wait to see what wonderful things this young, spirited little one will go on to do with her life.


Happy 2nd Birthday Aggie Hayes Rosser!

We love you.

drilling like crazy!

The self-supply well drilling is really exploding this year! So far the well clubs have drilled an impressive 63 water wells. We are so thrilled that all the hard work is paying off, and 63 families are now drinking clean water from their very own water wells. We are drilling in areas further from home now. Some of our well clubs are 1.5 hours away. This means the trainers have to go and camp for the two weeks it takes to properly train the club. Please pray for these trainers as they are sacrificing time with family and commitments at home to serve others. Being away from home so much can be a strain physically and relationally, so please do remember the trainers that are giving of their time to train others to get clean water.   We are in the process of photographing, mapping with GPS, and documenting all of the water wells that families are self-drilling.

In other news, the first season of production at the farm is underway. We are currently battling wild rabbits who every night come and eat our soybeans and bean plants. Finally the farm is fenced so we do not have to fight off cows and goats as well. As it is the first season this land has been farmed (by us) the production of the crops is uneven and varies greatly across the fields. As time goes on and we continue to steward this plot of land the soils will heal and begin to become more fertile and healthy. We planted two 1/4 acre plots with maize and beans, and about twelve smaller demonstration plots with vegetables and local crops. It is our hope that the farm is a place where we can teach others in the community and in this region how to farm better, to steward the land, and how farming (as with anything) is an act of worship when the work is done heartily for The Lord.

I'll get some pictures of the farm and water wells up soon!

ministering in deed and neglecting the Word

Today I spent the day driving around the village of Amakio Jelel with Terry and Kim looking at some of the newly drilled water wells and meeting with the members of that well club. Terry and Kim are here on their annual trip to visit us and see what has happened in the last year. This year is a little different from previous years because Terry will be staying a couple extra weeks to build windmills. It is our hope that we can begin fabricating windmills to put on some of the wells. We were able to spend time with one well club that had just competed their fifth well and were beginning their sixth. Since the beginning of this year, the well clubs have successfully drilled 31 water wells. We are so thankful God is allowing us to be a part of what He is doing here. It is always encouraging to see the fruit of one's labor.  One of the many benefits of being in the water well drilling business is that you get to see tangible results - almost instantly. Missionaries all over the world are doing great work, being obedient to the ministry God has called them to, and yet many times it is difficult to see fruit or to have any type of quantifiable result. It is difficult to measure spiritual transformation in any quantifiable way, but drilling water wells provides instant gratification. Water for All in Uganda is having a great year and God is really blessing the work and the well clubs with numerous successful water wells. The struggle is that it is easy to just fall into the trap of just drilling water wells and not coupling the humanitarian work with the spiritual. It is really easy to just want to drill wells and let the sharing of my faith and discipling take a backseat. However, meeting people's physical needs without addressing their spiritual needs leaves people in just as hopeless a situation as they were in before gaining access to water. So the struggle is to drill water wells but use that work as a platform, an in, or a tool to form relationships. Out of those relationships, you then have the opportunity to share "the reason" behind the humanitarian work. To share why you are doing what you are doing - God's love. Without a relationship I find most folks have no reason to sit down and talk about Jesus's love and why it compels us to love others as He loves us. Please pray we can fight against the temptation to just drill water wells and neglect the relationships and the sharing of faith that comes out of those relationships.

a blog to get you up to speed on some recent events

Well, I have sat down and dusted off the ol' keyboard.  Our blog has been seriously neglected over the last few months.  It is not that there hasn't been anything going on, rather that we have been so busy that we have been unable to sit down and fill folks in.
So here is my attempt to catch y'all up.
I'll just start in December of last year (2015).
We spent most of the month in the capital city of Kampala getting ready to welcome our daughter Corrie Lynn into the world.  Her due date was the 23rd of December, but we were also given the 21st and the 25th.  She decided to join us on the 30th, one week late via emergency c-section.

Colin took this picture of me right before we left for the hospital.  41 weeks pregnant.  I wish now that I had taken a nap that afternoon!  We were in for a long night.

Right after we were checked in.

Many many hours later, Corrie was here and this was my very tired husband's expression.  We both were exhausted!  I will spare you the picture of me at this time, because no one wants to see that.  I looked rough!

Just hours into her life in a new world.

Big sister Aggie was very excited to see mom, and Corrie.

Smother Brother was thrilled to have another sister to take care of.  He really is a great big brother for these two little ladies.

Before we left the city, we got to pick up Colin's dad, William, and his younger brother, Devin, who flew in for a 2 week visit.  

 

A few days after Colin took his dad and brother to the city to fly out, we had the newest members of the Water For All family join us here in Soroti.  Aaron and Hannah Mason are the newest WFA-ers and are prayerfully seeking where God wants them to work.  For now they will be joining us here and learning the drilling process a little better.  

Then, a little less than a week after Aaron and Hannah arrived, my mom came to visit.  This was her first time to meet Aggie and Corrie.  She came three years ago, shortly after we brought Silas home.  

We took mom to the capital and spent a few days in the city due to possible unrest surrounding the presidential elections.  Praise God there was nothing terrible and we were able to travel back home in a couple days.  But our visitors were not yet finished.  Our bosses Kim Edlund and Terry Waller are here now.  They came in this week.  Kim will head back to his family next week, but Terry is going to be staying for few more weeks to do some work with Colin and Aaron building windmills.  

The well drilling has been going wonderful so far this year.  Already we are at 29 water wells drilled this year.  God is really blessing the efforts of the men and women that are working so hard to get water for their families.  It is really great to see the fruits of their labor.  

Please be in prayer with us as we are still trying to get Corrie's Ugandan birth certificate, which we need in order to get her a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, and for the visa process for Silas and Aggie.  We really would love to be in the U.S. at some point this year, but things are just not moving forward because of the elections.  This whole process has taken much much longer than we expected.  We are now looking to see if it would be better for us to finalize the adoptions in Uganda.  That would of course delay our trip back to the U.S. to be with family and friends even longer.  However, we will just continue to pray and follow God's direction. 

We are again so thankful to everyone that continues to support us and pray for us.  We couldn't be here without it!