This is the day that the Lord has made

Day 6 (10/5) - Seta Orphan Home Day

We were pumped about Orphan Day. We had brought lots of art supplies, clothes, and toys to pass out to children, but we had yet to do any passing (although there was no way we were going to give up our nerf footballs quite so soon). Being that we were so pumped about the orphans, we were super bummed when we found out that we couldn't go to the orphan home until after lunch. One of our prayers for the trip was that we would find it in us to be flexible with unexpected changes and uncertainty in our schedules. Therefore, we looked at this as an opportunity to do some more praying. After all, that was our mission.

We headed over to Namboole Stadium, which would be the site of the National Celebration the next day. We prayer walked the stadium in preparation for the events.



The team in the stadium right after Amanda and I may or may not have raced around the track...in our skirts.



Afterwards, we went back to Kolping where we would have lunch with the other American mission teams before heading to the Seta orphan homes on buses for the dedication ceremony.



Christian Life Ministries had developed an orphan home project up in Lira, Northern Uganda, and this would be the day that the new homes in Seta, a town just outside of Kampala, would be opened and dedicated. Adventure Village is the site for these homes that will accommodate 12 children. Each home has an orphan mom, who cares for the 12. The house has 4 rooms: 2 rooms for the children, one room for the mom, and a common area. The orphan mom is a single or widowed mother. These are women who were faced with giving up their children because they were in deep poverty with no job and no money. They now have the opportunity to live in a clean, sanitary environment, keep their children, and provide a loving home to other children without parents. Each home in the village cost between $10,000 and $15,000 to build. The village also relies on orphan sponsorship for the care of the children. To read more about the orphan program or see children in need of sponsors, please visit this website.

As our buses pulled up we could here the children singing "This is the day that the Lord has made." We turned the corner and saw our first glimpse of all the children praising God.



It brought tears to our eyes to see the differences between these kids and the kids that we had seen in the slums on evangelism day. We saw the love of God in their smiles and heard sheer joy in their songs.



As soon as we were seated, the ceremony began. Pastor Jackson Senyonga and his wife, Eve, told us of their vision for the orphan home and explained to us how the operation would work.



Unfortunately, the whole afternoon was already planned and we did not have an opportunity to interact with the children. We did, however, meet this little girl. We may or may not have tried to bring her home with us.



On the way back to the guest house that evening, we also had the opportunity to meet one of Esther's daughters. This is Cynthia. And her and I bonded in the taxi (as we were stuck in traffic for a LONG time).