A few prayer requests

It is not very often that I feel the need to post about prayer needs, but this morning as I wait for it to get light enough to run I just can't get these few things off my mind.
First, three weeks ago Colin was trying to remove one of the Land Rover's tires so to fix a flat.  Here in Soroti you have to bring a tire iron and a jack if you want your tires fixed and you have to remove the tire and put it back on.  While he was doing this he managed to hurt his back.  Now three weeks later sitting, laying down, and driving are all painful, to the point where he physically looks like he is in pain.  Please pray for healing for him.  We really have no other way than the healing power of God in this matter.
Second and lastly, the NGO board has not met in about two months and our paper work for our work visa is sitting on their desk.  With the holidays coming it could be another month before they do meet.  Please just pray that our paper work does go through when they come together and the rest of the process is simple.  Having our work visa will allow us to attain legal guardianship of Silas and we can then work on getting him a passport so he can travel with us.  It also means that we will not have to leave country every six months, and at this point if we have to leave Silas can not go with us.
Thanks for all the prayers that are already offered up on our behalf.  We hope everyone enjoys the holiday season!

more stuff we've been doing lately

our chicken, Loretta Lynn, likes to come in the house and pick up all the food that Silas leaves in his wake.  She was given to us as a gift when we went and spoke at a church in Amuria.  Our other chickens are Wynonna and her chicks - the Judds, and our oldest and most loyal chicken is Reba.  We sort of have a country and western theme going on here with our chickens, not really sure why...

Dan demonstrating just how dirty you get with our drilling method.   This drilling method is called  the "cochina" method (cochino means pig in Spanish) in Boliva and the "baptist" method in other places - mainly because you get really muddy and you don't just get sprinkled but you get fully immersed in the mud.

these two snakes were killed at our church.  Colin wanted to hold them up to  show how long they were., but he isn't tall enough to do it justice.  Every snake that is killed is called a cobra, but I don't think we've seen even one true cobra yet.  Not that I'm looking!

Our friend Charla at Veribest ISD sent us Flat Stanley.  Flat stayed with us for a few weeks and toured Teso, hung out around Soroti, did some well drilling, worked in the gardens, went to market, met a lot of interesting people, and then made the long journey back to Veribest, TX.  In the background you can see Soroti Rock, which is the famous landmark for our town.  We'll miss you Flat!

We have been busy drilling wells, but also busy tweaking our drilling method, our materials, and our design.  When you move from one area or country to another you find different materials.  We have had to make some adjustments in our technology to accommodate the heavy use our wells are getting in this area.  As we drill more and more wells in a given area, the use on each particular well will reduce and we will not have to beef them up quite so much.  Here is a homemade piston we are using made from some inner tube, flip-flops (slippers), a bolt, a couple washers, and nuts.  Pretty simple, but it's bringing water to the surface for people to use.

update on whats been happening

We were busy this month putting in some more Farming God's Way gardens to be used as teaching and demonstration areas.  November marks the end of the rainy season so we are trying to get seeds in the ground and mulch cover before the rains completely stop and we have to start hauling water.  

The drilling was successful in Pingire, where 3 wells have been drilled in this village.  The community is very excited and the local church is serving and giving of their time to provide clean drinking water to their neighbors.  When the empowered local church is seen as the agent of change and not some big NGO from the west, then God gets the glory and the villagers do not become more and more dependent on man.

Colin shaved his mustache.  This was the final look.  

Silas discovered watermelon.  He absolutely loves it! We have to feed him outside though because he is too messy to feed indoors.  Fortunately we have a pet cat and a chicken and the three of them are good friends and love to help one another clean up after meals.

This is an old widow from the Pingire area.  She was the beneficiary of a water well drilled by her local church members.  This site was chosen by the church as they wanted to serve her in this way.  She was very grateful to have a well at her home, but for some reason she refused to pump the well for the picture.  I tried to explain that the picture is much more compelling when water is coming out of the well, but she wasn't having it.

Silas also discovered chocolate chip cookies.  His zeal for cookies  got a little weird. as you can see by his face.

October

I realize that it has been a long time since one of us has updated the blog, so here are a few pictures of life over the last month.

Washing clothes, dishes, clothes, dishes...I truly don't mind hand washing our clothes, but there are times when I wish I had a washing machine and dryer!  You can't get clothes near as soft and fluffy when they dry on a line.    

We took the Land Rover into the shop and borrowed our friends car while they are in the states.  Colin pulled in and a few hours later looked out and saw this little guy.  He belongs to our friends where the car came from.  He managed to ride under the engine (a 4 mile + drive on not so good roads) and hopped out once the ride was over.  

Colin has been working a ton in the village getting the Farming God's Way gardens going. 

Silas is a growing boy!  He has 6 teeth and just generally loves life. 

Our small group from our home church in San Angelo sent us THREE care packages!   Along with those 3, we also got one sent to us from College Station with a new SEC shirt for Colin and game day towels for him and Silas.

This is just a really cool piece of tapestry that was found here in the second hand market.  It was given to us by our friends for Silas.  I just love it and think it will make a really neat wall hanging! 

Dan and Emma working on the final touches of their first compost pile!  This didn't cost them anything to make, just their time and effort, but it will produce about $200.00 worth of fertilizer. 

Colin preached in a very small church in the bush a few weeks ago.  This area was hit hard by the LRA but God is healing the land !  

The drilling continues in Pingire.  They have drilled two more wells and start a third on Monday!

Just a small portion of what was used in the making of the compost pile.  MUCH more was needed.  But you can see the small well watered garden behind the piles.  The corn is now three times that size!

This was our first care package to arrive (second behind one from my mom that we recieved just a month or so after we arrived).  Thanks to our family, Jess and Audra, we got some great treats from home!!!  Colin is using the hot suace like crazy, but saving the pecans for a special occasion.  Love you guys!

And Silas got one too from our Community Life Group back in San Angelo.

And then I had to post this just because!  Yes I do leave him home alone with Silas...
Love this guy!

Just wanted to show everyone what we have been up to this last month.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!  

Ronnie

Global Care's new program

Tom washing the children's hands before lunch

Global Care in Soroti is starting a new program working with children from the area who have physical or mental handicaps.  Handicapped or disabled people in Soroti and probably all of Uganda are invisible for the most part.  Life is hard enough here already and if you are physically handicapped it can be overwhelmingly hard.  Simple things are not so simple when absolutely nothing is handicapped accessible.  Also there are few  if any programs designed to assist people with disabilities.  Global Care has recently launched a program to seek out and help these children that are invisible many.  So every Tuesday and Saturday a vehicle drives around Soroti town and even makes some trips to the nearby villages to pick up children and bring them to Global Care for a day of games, food, playing with others, interacting with other children and adults, being served, treated well, and cared for.  Yesterday we got to spend just a little while at the gazebo with all of the children.  The staff has their hands full with all the children, but the girls were more than happy to come and help and even the cook's children came and played and helped the kids.  Silas was loving all the children and the noises of the toys.  I hope we can be a part of this wonderful ministry.  I also pray God will instil in the heart of Silas a love and desire to serve and love others as he sees it being done weekly here at Global Care.

Some may be wondering why in the world did I put this picture on here???...Well, it is my first ever dog bite.  This morning on my run it finally happened.  I am actually grateful that it is not worse and that the lady who owned the mutt was standing nearby.  As you can see the skin was never broken, but I am one shirt fewer now.  

I was only 2 miles out so once the flea bag was back in its yard I kept going.  Next time I go out by myself I will carry pepper spray or a big stick!

Running here is always an adventure.  Its very amusing to the locals to see these white girls (usually two or three of us go) running just for the pure sake of it.  Some are supportive and even join in somtimes.  Most just smile or wave.  Others invite us to come to their home or help them in the garden.  And there are the occasional few that have something rude or annoying to say.  I always act like I can't hear those comments.  

The route we run is sort of a main road and we pass lots of school children on there way to school.  Most walk and need to leave around 6:30 (which is when the sun comes up and it is light enough to see) and other pack two or three on a bike and peddle to school.  I have no idea how far some of these kids travel to school, it could be miles if they attend senior classes.  

When the dry season is here I run towards the swamp and every time I go that way I meet the same little boy. He is most likely 7 and he always runs the last mile with me.  Its pretty darn cute.  Sad for me that I am running slow enough for a 7 year old with no shoes to keep up, but still fun.  

I am very thankful that I am able to run here.  It is something I love and know that the Lord does keep me safe as I go (and yes, I think the Lord's protection was with me when I got bit, it could have been far worse and I could be going through a rabies treatment).  Even with Silas I am still able to go.  I am thankful for Colin and him allowing me that time.  He enjoys it too because he gets to read his Bible, pray, drink his coffee, and get Silas up.  Then he gets some one on one time with him.  I like that they have that time together.  

This may not be the most enlightening post ever posted, but I just had to share that picture!  

Silas

For some time now we have been praying about adoption. When we got married we discussed having children and both of us felt we would like to adopt as well as have biological children. We also knew our first children would be adopted. For at least a year now we have been really praying and asking God to help shed some light on this process. Should we adopt? When should we adopt? Where do we look? Is this what you want for us God? Etc. Here recently, we have felt that we were now supposed to actively look into adoption. It was no longer just something we were praying about, discussing, and thinking about, but now we began looking into sites here, talking to friends about how they did it, and asking our friends to be in prayer with us because we were moving forward. 

We did not know that when we actually began taking steps to begin the adoption process it would be so incredibly fast. We went to Amecet on Saturday to meet the kids and staff and to spend time with the children that were in need of a home. When we asked what children were in need of a home the staff pointed us to one little boy they were calling “Levi” as they did not know his real name. The staff at Amecet guesses his age to be around 9 months. He had been there since June and needed a family to take him in, care for him, and love him. We spoke with the staff and inquired about how the process works and what the next steps would be should we decide to pursue the adoption of “Levi”. We went home and prayed together and sought God’s answer. We also asked a few friends to be praying along with us as we made this decision. We both had a peace and felt that we were indeed supposed to pursue the adoption of “Levi”. We spoke with the staff on Monday and began the process. The courts or social workers issued “Levi” a birth certificate on Tuesday and we were able to choose the name that went on his birth certificate. We named him Silas Gray Rosser. We have had a list of boys and girls baby names for the entire time we’ve been married. Silas has always been at the top of the list. Gray is a family name on Colin’s side and we liked the idea of giving our children as first or middle names, the last names of their ancestors. 

On Wednesday we brought Silas home. We are currently his foster parents and will foster to adopt for a period of three years. Under Ugandan adoption law, one must foster for three years before pursuing adoption. This is to prevent child trafficking. We are more than happy to foster Silas for three years knowing that he will be adopted into our family at the end of this period. He is already family. 

We told family on Saturday about meeting “Levi” and asked them to pray. We then notified them again on Wednesday to let them know we had a little boy. I think folks were a bit shocked to hear we already had a child. Not even sure if our parents had time to envision being new grandparents again or to get readily mentally and emotionally. We were also a bit surprised (GOOD surprised!!!) how quickly we were able to bring Silas home. I’m positive it does not always happen this quickly. We have felt so at peace and at ease through this process. Even the very fast pace of meeting one day and bringing a child home only four days later has felt natural. This is the way it was supposed to happen for us and Silas. Silas is too young to have been praying for a family, but we have been praying about adopting him and for him for years. We feel like God longs to hear us pray and longs to act upon our prayers. He invented communication for a reason. He is the inventor of prayer. We feel that through prayer, all our worries and cares and problems can be eliminated. God tells us that he hears us when we call Him and when we seek Him with ALL our hearts He will be found by us. He is actually very near and wants to be found. He is not hiding and does not remain far-off and un-reachable. God is indeed very close and desires intimate relationship. God put the desire for children and the desire to adopt into our hearts. He knew we wanted to adopt and He knew long before we did who we were to adopt and when. When we took the time to seek Him, seek His answer, seek His timing, seek His will over our own, only then did He bring a beautiful little boy and a couple eager to adopt - together. It was that easy. 

Not only did God bless us with a child, but He also blessed us in other ways this week that helped to get our home ready for Silas. Our friends and team members here in Ugandan found out on Monday that we would be getting Silas. By Tuesday we were completely out-fitted with baby stuff for our home. Our friends blessed us in a huge way by helping us with the process, going to Amecet with us and introducing us to the staff there, giving us baby things like car seats, clothes, baby wipes, diapers, bottles, blankets, and advice. We had not one thing for a baby in the house on Monday morning and our home was ready to welcome a child by Wednesday morning. It was such a blessing to have a group of folks come around us in such a supportive way and celebrate with us. Our team members all came to the house with welcoming presents, signs welcoming Silas, and little gifts for our new son. Having folks celebrate with you when you are so far away from home and family was and is so nice. Truly a blessing. We are very thankful for everyone and their support and guidance. We cannot wait for our families to meet their newest family member.

The Rosser Family