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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Dear Our Grand Mum and Father

I wanted to share this letter with my readers. It was written by two of the teen girls at the Good Samaritan Children's Home in Uganda where I lived for eleven days just a few, short weeks ago.

Edith and Rosette were chosen to stay with me in my very big, very clean, very empty room. I was prepared to sleep in a crowded, dirty, noisy room full of children. So when I was shown to my sleeping quarters, I asked,
 "No kids?"

 "All alone?"

 "Me?"

I was already speaking in short sentences to aid in communication. I learned quickly on that one.


They recognized my despair in the emptiness of the room, so they hustled out to the main living room and quickly tagged Edith and Rosette to be my roommates. I wasn't sure if they were pleased with this responsibility or wishing they would have picked someone else. They smiled politely, did a little bow and hustled over to my room with their mattress and one blanket between them.

The rest of the evening was filled with that incredible worship service I was swept away in and we fell into bed late, exhausted and with few words. '

I was awakened in the early morning by a low murmur of sound coming from somewhere in the room. I'm surprised I knew where I was. You know that feeling when you open your eyes and have no clue what planet you are on. Should have happened to me, being sleep deprived, in a different time zone with a bit of culture shock thrown in.

But I knew where I was and it slowly became apparent where the low rumble of sound was coming from. Edith and Rosette were dim silhouettes, kneeling on their mattress, talking to God in quiet yet earnest pleas. It was another jolt to my spirit. Last night's prayer service had left me humbled to the point of being invisible. Now I was witnessing two teenage girls welcoming the dawn with communication and fellowship with their God that was obviously a far cry from a boring ritual.

These girls were passionate in their prayers.
Another lump lodged in my throat.
Why did I wait so long to get over here?

But the letter.....let me share their letter. They wrote it while I was there. We had become fast friends in a matter of hours on my first full day there. I was showing them photos of my family and my dog and my parents. They seemed surprised that my parents were still living...ahem....and I told them how much they were loved by my mom and dad.....who love anyone who is loved by me. Edith and Rosette immediately set out to write my parents a letter, asking if they could have a piece of my notebook paper.


 And I just wanted to share the letter with you.

"Dear our Grand mum and father,

How are you and how is your country America's situation? Back to us we are okay because we are very happy to be with our mum Julie who has been putting us in good situation in our country. (I truly play a small role in their "good situation"...just so you know)

So before we thank God who has brought us our mum to us and rid her very well from America to Uganda, we are by names of Edith and Rosette from Uganda. We like America so much because it has mercy people who help the needy. We are orphans but mummy Julie has become our mum.

We are born again by religion and we pray hard so that even us we grow and become important people in our future. We love God so much because the Bible says that things which are impossible to the people are possible to God.

We love learning. We are in senior two class. We pray for you so much. We have our sisters and brothers they are greeting you.

So let us pray to God so that he may guard you well and keep your climate good. May the mighty God bless you very much.

From your beloved ones Edith and Rosette from Uganda."