Sponsorships from FFWBC Arkansas!!!

Sooo... it has been a LONG time since I have posted... Mainly because you all know I am home and I noticed fewer and fewer people reading my posts... so I stopped taking the time.. (Not offended at all, by the way! I completely underestand!) BUT, I have some things totally worth posting and reading about!!

1. Meet my precious guy Dennis!!

So... I never went to Uganda planning on finding a boy to sponsor. We all know that the Lord uses the body of Christ for different purposes.. and I just didn't feel like I was going to sponsor. BUT, Dennis completely transformed by heart. And he's a teenage boy!? Haha... Heading out to Uganda I was nervous about all of these teenage boys. I couldn't imagine holding Collin Lane or Cameron Lauckner lying their heads in my arms and crying while I am comforting them.. haha.. But it happened in Uganda with these teenage boys and the Lord truly changed my heart for them!

Dennis smiling away while Abel seems unsure of his face paint!

So here's the scoop on my Dennis. Dennis is getting older. He says he is about 16-17, we think he may be older than that. He has a wonderful servant's heart, a beautiful smile, and was one of the most helpful at our camp. (He was so helpful that some of the individuals on the team thought he was an actual uncle working for API!) Dennis has excellent English (comparing to the other boys) and would often help translate for the younger boys when we needed it. He was also found separating boys when they were fighting or holding boys back when they are upset to prevent a fight from evening beginning. Dennis would be awesome in a home, but he is simply becoming too old. People generally take in younger boys that they can invest in for a long time, but Dennis is too old. However, if Dennis doesn't get off of the streets and receive some sort of training or education, he will become another unproductive man on the streets, at risk for eventually getting into things he shouldn't.

Prepping chickens at camp! With my sunglasses
getting blood all over them!

BUT HE'S A GREAT KID!!!

 The evening of the chicken slaughter it was so sweet because a chicken with its head cut off ran into my leg and I had blood all over my leg... DISGUSTING! Sweet Dennis came over to me and said, "Auntie Lauren. You have blood on your leg. You need to bathe your leg. Come. Let me bathe your leg." And he took me to the the little water spigot and washed my leg off for me.

So... I talked to David, Abby, and uncle Abdul about him and they thought he would be an amazing guy to sponsor through mechanic or IT training! After casually talking with him about what he would like to do someday, they found out he would love to work in a garage as a mechanic. To make the rest of the long story short, before I left Uganda, I withdrew enough money to pay for him to live in an actual room (off of the street) for 1 year, we made a 1-year arrangement with a restaurant, and we were able to purchase everything he would need for mechanic training. Uncle Abdul took him all over Kampala one day and found a great garage for him to train! 

Dennis and I with his best friend, Gerald.

I will invest one year into Dennis' life. I feed him and provide lodging for him for just one year and the Lord is able to completely transform his life with this opportunity! I am so excited for him. I hear he is doing great and he is always sending his greetings to me! Here are a few more pictures of him!

And another cool thing, someone else here in the area heard me talking about Dennis and she said she is interested in doing the same thing and sponsor an older boy to go through a 1-year training program! I am praying with all my heart it can be Gerald, Dennis' best friend in the blue shirt below. We will see what the Lord has in store! So pumped!

Dennis and I after I told him I would sponsor
him to become a mechanic!!

2. Jewelry Sales! 

I just wanted to say THANK YOU! to anyone and everyone who has purchased jewelry and bags from me! Since I have been home I have been able to sell over $800 worth of jewelry to send back to API! I am really struggling with being back right now and my heart wanting to return to Uganda. However, someone told me "Lauren, you have a passion for returning, but there is a purpose for you being in America right now. Sometimes your purpose must override your passion." Gosh, well-spoken. Kills me, but I do understand there are reasons for me to be here. And finding sponsors and selling jewelry are a few of those reasons.... so, THANK YOU! again to everyone who has purchased jewelry and bags from me!

3. Last but Certainly Not Least 

THANK YOU to the people from our church and community who are choosing to support more boys. We have a few spots left in our younger boys' home and David and Abby much rather have sponsors lined up for those boys as soon as they come into the home. Three separate people/families in church have said that they would love to invest in the boys' lives and a life group is even considering a full sponsorship! 

Well, here is the first boy that is going into the home because of 3 people from the Russellville First Free Will Baptist Church! What an incredible story! Here is Fred.  Abby wrote to me about him this morning..

At the street program.

"Hey Lauren,

We have exciting news! I don't know if you know him or not but there is a really really sweet boy in our programs named Fred. His mother passed away and he was abandoned by his family. He is a sweet kid who is very respectful and loves to learn. We have been praying for sometime and feel that he is the boy we want to bring into our home! We are going to bring him home on Wed! =-) HURRAH!"

Abby with Fred at the street program.

So here is Fred, the first boy sponsored by our church members in Russellville! 

Please, please, please, pray about allowing the Lord to use you to sponsor a boy into the homes! Or, if one of the boys that I talked about in previous posts really burned a hole into your heart, you can become an additional sponsor to that boy. All of the boys have at least 2 sponsors, most have 3, and a few have 4. Our main goal is for them all to have at least 3 sponsors, but David actually thinks the best would be fore all of the boys to have 4. Let me know if you are interested!