Mondat, Oct. 4th

It is Monday here in Masese. I am pleasantly surprised that I got a
good nights sleep. Special thanks to my girls for talking me into
bringing an air mattress! What can I tell you about this place so
far...it is a bit overwhelming! There are 8 children here many of whom
are crying at any given time. They are being well cared for and loved.
It is amazing to look at the before pictures and see them now. It is
wonderful to see everyone working together toward a common goal.
Beyond the gates it is a different world. Everything is red dirt and
mud huts, roaming livestock and children running about. This is
AFRICA! It is a complete assault on the senses. It overwhelms you and
can make you feel completely overstimulated. Today is better than
yesterday with less jet lag, but it will take time to adjust.

Yesterday driving in to town my senses could not take it all in. So
many things to see, people and animals and the landscape and culture
and cliches come to life. The thing that hit me the most was the
smell. I had forgotten how Africa smelled. It is difficult to
describe, but it is the smell of heat, and fish and smoke and food and
sickness and human and animal waste all hitting you together at once.
It confuses the mind and leaves you not knowing how to respond. And
that is just one of the five senses.

Renee is simply amazing. She seems to have no fear, maybe not a good
thing, maybe so, time will tell. What she does have is FAITH, and
compassion. She sees a need and tries to meet it. I was so touched
just watching her feed Betty. Betty is the young girl you can read
about on the Renee's blog. Fourteen with CP and the size of a thin 6
or 7 year old. It breaks your heart to look at her, and then she looks
up into Renee's eyes as she is eating and you see a connection,
understanding, and love. It fills the heart and you know that you are
witnessing the heart of Christ lived out before your eyes. An
abundance of imput and it is just the first full day here.

Continue to pray for all of us in the days to come. I hope to get the
communication thing worked out soon. For now I am writing from Renee's
laptop and have no phone.