You think you have it bad?

Through all of our preparations to go to Africa in January we have also been watch our son, Mike prepare for his new adventure, 27 month in the Peace Corp in Vanuatu.  He has been an inspiration to us in his diligence to make sure he has the necessary items but no too much so that he can stay under the weight limit of 80 pounds total for his two years of living on an island.
Today he got on his plane and took off on the first leg of his journey.  He got off safely around 1:30 PM and is in the air right now.  His plane lands around 3 PM PT and he meets the Peace Corps tonight for registration.  Then tomorrow all day staging meeting wrapping up with the flight to Vanuatu by way of New Zealand.  about 24 hours of traveling all in all.  He is excited but a bit apprehensive of the possible home sickness.  We will miss him terribly but we know he is on a journey for God!  We have had a great summer with him and he is ready to be on his own now.  Drop him a line if you think of it or read a bit of his blog http://cogitoergocogito.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/hello-world/

So here we were in puddles of tears, already missing our baby boy of 23 years - he's no baby but we are  :) then to put it all in perspective, as we are walking back to the car we think of all of the many men and women leaving to go fight in a war and we felt very fortunate.

And we think of our daughter who's husband of only 6 months, is also deploying today for a place far far away in a war zone.  And the tears came right back.

Then we get a call, that our elderly aunt, who is already in hospice, has broken her hip and they don't expect her to live through it...maybe not even through the day :(  very sad. But she has the hope of Glory and knows her Savior well. She has lived a long full life and will be in heaven soon.

And then the final blow of the day, I received this email report of tragedy that occurred on Monday morning…

Hello Papa!

Just to let you know that we have had a tragedy this end! Winnie Kayaga, Kenneth Kibirango, mary Nakagiri, Dan Kalinda and Allen Nambi have lost their mother! She died this morning and cause of death is not acertained! She has been perfectly alright and after milking her cow, one of her step sons found her crying out in pain by the road side. In a few minutes she was dead. Suspected is either a heart attack or arthma attack or a freak accident of sorts! Well, I was meant  to visit the children at school which i did but sadly, she has been the one keen parent who visited along with me. Burial is tommorow monday and 4pm. Winnie fainted and was hospitalised on hearing the news. She was due for dressing on 13th over her recent swelling op.

Well Papa! Its a shame! Pliz let Dad know about this! God bless you Bye.

Rhona

This was a very shocking and sad email regarding a wonderful family whom we have served from the beginning of OBM. You might remember the story I sent out about them a year or two ago telling how the dad had been murdered by thieves attempting to rob their house, and now they have lost the mom. Winnie, the oldest, is a very loving young lady. You may also remember from the story that when the dad was killed, the mom disappeared for a while out of fear, and Winnie (at age 13) became the mom for the little ones who were left behind. Our plan is to send Winnie to vocational school after the first of the year. Kenneth and Allen (a girl - we would say Ellen) are two of our brighter students who hold very good prospects for making it to University in a few years. The loss of the mom will leave 2 small ones to be cared for and the older ones need to stay in school if possible. Please keep them all in prayer.

When situations like this occur, it reminds me of the strategic role that we play in the lives of these children and their families, and how thankful I am that Olive Branch has been there for them to bring resource and opportunity so they can have a future and a hope. Olive Branch will stand in the gap for this family - we just need wisdom and direction.

Thank you for standing with us and with them!  - Pastor Gary

And so the day has come full circle and we feel blessed to be planning a wonderful mission trip to be with these beloved African Children in Zziba.  As we prepare to go we will be praying harder than ever.