Good Times with Good Friends

This last week has been a special one at Cornerstone.  Ann, Glenn, Kevin, Emily and Caley, who are all from Evergreen Christian Center, have been visiting us in Budaka.  It has been a great seven days with friends, and getting to share the passion of Cornerstone Ministries.  The team has taught the kids softball, played Simon Says, and just loved on the kids in more individual ways.  I always struggle with the fact that I am only one person, and that reaching 30 kids is impossible.  But having a group like thi come creates opportunities for the kids to have so more concentrated love and affection, which is wonderful to watch.  The team already knows the names of most of the children, and every time they come into the orphanage, the kids run and give them hugs.
Here's a picture of the kids lined up to play baseball with the team.  The girl trying not to smile is Sarah, one of our oldest girls, as she waits her turn to bat.

Another great thing for me this week was to celebrate my birthday on Monday.  I couldn't think of a better way to start the day than by waking up at 5:15am, drinking a cup of tea during my quiet time, and then going down to see the Cornerstone kids for breakfast.  Then as a treat, my mom and I went by ourselves into Mbale town and had nature burgers (they call them "chicken" burgers, but there's no meat in them!).  It was a nice, quiet lunch with a little nap as I dozed on the way back to Budaka.  In the evening, I shared my birthday cake (it was a delicious carrot cake variety) with my mom, the kids, staff, and American team at the orphanage.  Each of the kids shared what their favorite thing is about me, and it was cool to hear what they said.  Mostly the children answered, "She brings movies for us to watch," or "She plays hide-n-seek with us."  As we munched on carrot cake, we also had tropical punch to drink, and the kids loved it.  Many children came up afterwards to thank my mom and I for celebrating with them.  Oh, how I love these kids!

Here is a picture from the party with Ann, Emily and Caley in the background.  It was a fun celebration!