Joshua

Dear Joshua,
I have not stopped thinking of you since the day we drove down the steep hill and away from  Minekye. I remember watching you timidly look around as your class mates and friends hugged and greeted my team as we tried to make our way up the hill upon our arrival. When I saw you, you reminded me of my sweet Madelyn. She's a little smaller than you, but for this mom, your little cheeks did something for my soul. I gave you a hug and then you looked up at me with the sweetest little eyes.

You held your arms up, just like my little girl does when she longs to be held.

And so, I held you.

I was pretty much worthless as a member of our team from then on. They handed out snacks, picked up trash, danced, sang, distributed packets and I, well...I held you.

You wanted to be held.

I wanted to hold you.

I did take some pictures of some other children there. I would put you down for a brief moment and you would wait for me to pick you up again.

And so I would.

One of the teachers at the school, David, saw me holding you and began to share with me a little of your story. The more he told, the more questions I asked. He told me that you are his neighbor in the village at the bottom of the mountain. That your mother and father had passed, most likely from aids. That you and your siblings live in a hut with your aging grandmother who struggles to provide food for you. That your possessions are few and that you sleep on the bumpy ground.

The next thing he told me showed me yet again, as it had been proven time and time again on my trip and in the years leading up to it, that the work Pastor Emmy and his beautiful wife Sarah (aka Supermom) began in Uganda is a work that is of the Lord, a work that He is continuing to use and is blessing. Joshua, he told me that he was so excited when classes were starting to be held for the first time at Minekye not long before our arrival. He never mentioned anything about teaching there without pay (as is the current situation). Or the long, up hill trek to work each day. He told me that he invited you and your siblings to come to the school with him because he cares about you. That he wants you all to learn. That he wants you to have a bright future. That he knew if he brought you to the school at Minekye you would learn about Jesus.

Teacher David asked me when I would be returning. I told him that I did not know, but that if the Lord willed I would definitely be back as soon as I could convince PCM to let me come. He told me that when I returned I would return to a smiling Joshua.

One who is happy.

One who is learning.

One who is healthy.

One who knows the Lord.

That I would return to a young man whose life had been impacted by the school there.

Sweet Joshua, my time with you was too short. Leaving you was hard for me. But I am confident that what Teacher David said was true. Some day I will return to see you thriving.

Thriving because of a neighbor who cared enough about you to invite you to his school.

Thriving because of a young couple and his wife whose hearts for orphans led them to sell their house and start the first Parental Care Ministries school before you were even born.

Thriving because of a God who loves us so much that He wants the best for you and provides a way.

With love sweet Joshua until I see you again,
Kathryn


www.pcmonline.org to see how you can get involved in the life of an orphan like Joshua.