Home Visits

One of the highlights is visiting the homes of the children we sponsor who are day students. The grandmothers, aunties or mothers greet us with joy and gush with gratitude! New Hope's mission is "bringing the fatherhood of Christ to the fatherless" so the day students are not total orphans; they have a caregiver they live with. We love their beautiful families!

Robinah's....

Giving the traditional Ugandan greeting/blessing (they actually bow in front of you!)...

She gifted us with popcorn and a whole basket of avocados!

We even got to keep the basket! :)

Robinah & her sister...

Of course Jonas found where the mother hen was hiding her chicks!

Rashida's....

Her sweet Jaja (Grandmother)...

The mat she made for us...

Robinah's sister Nasifa...

Mmmm, coffee.....

This little neighbor girl wouldn't let go of my hand the whole visit at Rashida's...

....her grandmother explained that the girl's mother just died.

Sandra's new foster family (they took her out of the grandmother's home, because it was not a good living situation). She's doing so much better now!

They have solar power so she can study at night.

Her foster mom....

Ally meeting the family of Carol, the girl she sponsors, for the first time....

Her grandmother is such a joyful woman...now we know where Carol gets her giggle from! 

Hanging out in her bedroom, looking at photos, like teenagers tend to do...

The kitchen...

Stalks of sugar cane propping the tree up..

Zephaniah's.....

His aunt.....

His cousin's wife....she was pregnant with this baby 2 yrs ago....

It's a tradition for Jonas to climb the avocado tree....

They sent us home with a bag of them! More to add to our collection!

Zziwa Godfrey's...

Laughing with his mother over a funny memory from the last time we visited...

Their cow....

Jackfruit...

The tasty G-nuts she gave us....

Rosemary's...

Their current house is crumbling because the builder mixed the sand with cow dung instead of cement to lay in between the bricks. A few mths ago, New Hope emailed us asking if we would help buy the building materials for a new home. Of course we said yes. Here are the bricks & sand we purchased for them to start building soon!

Don't ask what Jonas is chasing....

It's a cultural tradition that when a boy reaches 12 years old, he has to build his own banta and can't sleep with the females in the house anymore. Rosemary's brother built this one...

With her sister, Sylvia, who is Alea's age....

A cross hanging on the wall that we gave Rosemary last time we were here (a craft kit she cooled herself)....

Her mother....

Right in the middle of our visit, a chicken laid an egg on the bed!

Wait for it, wait for it.....

Of course Jonas was thrilled to see that happen right before his eyes!

Kato Joshua's....

His stunning mother, beautiful inside & out!

Finally getting to meet his twin sister, Joanna! (She was on an internship off-site last time we were here) Both his sisters are sooo sweet to our kids! Beautiful hearts like their mother!

The only sad part was not having Joshua there while we visited his precious family (we visited him at the college where he is doing pre-med coursework). 

Enjoying a time of worship around the dinner table, led by Joshua's brother, Joel.

Aunt Lydia (Joshua's mom) invited us back the next weekend again for dinner & more worship. We spent 2 hrs on the porch singing! It was an amazing time of adoring the Father who unites us as family!