Care packages

I wrote in a previous post that we now have a PO box in Jinja. Many of you responded with asking what you could send. That made us feel very loved! But before giving you our list of "wants" from America, I feel the need to put in a few qualifiers. Living in a country where there is so much poverty and many people are hungry and lack the money for medical treatment when they are sick, really puts things into perspective. We drive through villages each day where there is no clean water or electricity. Today I also overheard a conversation about a young woman who has grown up at GSF and done well in school, but the funds are not available to send her on to college. Her basic needs were taken care of at GSF, but they now want to help equip her to provide for herself and care for her family down the road. So before you send us a care package of treats, please consider sponsoring a child at GSF or helping with a scholarship for one of the older kids. If you are interested click here to see the sponsorship blog. It has been really fun to watch the children at GSF in the sponsorship program receive packages from their sponsors on their birthdays or just for fun. Here is Latisha right after she received a ball and two new dresses from her sponsor. She is such a cutie!

Speaking of receiving packages on birthdays. Elijah's birthday is coming up soon and he would love to get some birthday cards from the states! Since I know my children (and David and I) would also be happy to receive a package with treats, I will tell you the things we are missing the most here:

• our family and friends (consider coming to visit or at least send us a picture of yourself.)
• tortilla chips
• pretzels
• taco seasoning
• cumin
• Tony Chachere's Famous creole seasoning
• tortilla chips
• Honey Nut Cheerios
• chocolate chips (although I don't know if they will melt in transit and we still have a few.)
• ranch dressing mix packets
• funny TV shows on DVD for David and I to watch after kids are in bed

Please do not feel obligated to send us anything. We have so much more than we could ever need! These are just a few of the comforts of "home" we have been missing. But it is also good to remember that this world is not our home. Thank you for asking about this. Here is our address in case you missed it before: PO Box 1960, Jinja, Uganda, East Africa