Thursday at Court

When we arrived at the court house, we were welcomed by a family

who were there adopting 3 children from the north.

It was their first time to be at court.

They were nervous, 

just like we were

They did not know what to expect, 

just like we did not know what to expect.

With their case, they had to search far and wide to find the children's grandmother

After about 1 1/2 months of no success,

they found her. She lives in a remote part of Uganda, called Karamoja

Uganda, the district of Karamoja is in Red.

Come to find out, the mother had died

and the grandmother began to take care of the children.

She was not able to feed them, so she went from village to village begging for food.

After months of not being able to care for her grandchildren 

she took them, in September, to Kampala and dropped them off

 at an orphanage.

She was there in the room with us and Jethro was rolling his car to her and she was playing with him.

Although she was happy they were getting the care they needed,

you could see real sadness in her eyes, her walk and the way she spoke.

I truly felt for her. 

I wanted to go over to her and talk to here and 

tell her that she is strong.

That she has such love for her grandchildren that she is 

willing to let them go so they can get the care they need. 

I wanted to tell her that Jesus loves her.

Tell her that she is a princess.

But, no one could speak her language 

and she could not speak ours.

I could not imagine the pain she is feeling.

I cannot imagine how much strength a grandmother would have to have to give up her grandchildren

so they might have a future.

To never see them again.

She has been burned into my memory and I truly felt her pain.

Today, please life her up in your prayers.

People of Karamoja praying

 After waiting about 2 1/2 hours to see the judge, 

we FINALLY got to go in

As we walked in, I began to get very nervous

Enough that Shawn had to tell me to calm down...many times

We were the first case he took

As he was reading, I could not hear most of what he was saying 

because Jethro was being very loud

singing, laughing at the chair, making noises with his mouth.

This made me even more nervous

Then he read the ruling.....

"I feel that it is in the best interest of Jethro Isaiah Mukisa to go to a 

family that can provide him with all the necessities of life.

Food, clothing, shelter, love and care,

all of which cannot be provided at an institution.

Therefore, I believe the a Shawn Ray Ferrell and a Sarah D'Aun Ferrell

CAN provide all these things for Jethro."

So, today was the day we received a YES from the judge.

Jethro is now a Ferrell.

He has always been our son and now he is legally.

(minus getting his citizenship and finalizing the

adoption in the states)

Everyone, Jethro Mukisa Ferrell.  

Welcome Agree

Today I was sitting on the front porch reading and waiting for David to arrive so we could go to program. I heard him walk up and he was talking with some one, actually it was two someones. There where two young boys about 15. This was not out of the norm but one of them was holding an accordion. An accordion is not the normal instrument of choice for a Ugandan, I have never seen one played by an African. 

They came in while we waited for Abby to show up. Brian, Agree's friend was guiding him in to the house. David leaned over and let me know that Agree was blind. I later came to find out that he has been blind since birth. We sat down and Agree started playing and singing. 

The second he started to sing I knew that he knew Jesus. The way you could seen it in his face was so real. I really loved his voice. When I think of an accordion I think of Chevy Chase, Polka music and the back of a Ryder van. (Home Alone) He played it so well. 

Agree came to program to play and speak to the boys. It was such a blessing for them to see someone who could not see but did not let his disability stop him from God's plans in his life. I have been doing a series on Moses and today was the last day. I talked about how God has bigger dreams for us than we can imagine. Agree was a great example. He told me that he picked up the accordion and started playing it. He knew that God wanted him to play it and that is why he was able to. 

Playing at the street program

Agree sang a song about the hardships of being born blind. He talked about how people treat him. About how his parents  would rather say they only have one other child than to say they have a blind son. They think that he was a curse to the family he is disowned. What if your family has disowned you for your faults would you let that be your crux or would you have the faith and strength to keep looking to God and go strong. Follow his dreams for your life. 

Welcome Agree.

America Day

America, home of the free and land of the brave,

also home of great food and land of cool weather.

I am starting to miss home a little bit so,

I decided to start a new holiday here in Africa

I am officially calling it....

America Day

This is one day when I feel I just need a piece of home

a piece of America.

What America Day en-tells;

Doing as many things that are American as possible!

First thing we did was got up and ate cereal for breakfast

(cold milk is rare and cereal is very expensive, which a friend bought)

Jethro not quite sure how all this supposed to work

Jethro loving Rice Krispies

Then, we went to a coffee shop and got a cappuccino 

and browsed the internet

Next, we ate a chicken sandwich for lunch

Then, we went shopping at this new supermarket downtown that is at least the size of a large Wal-Mart.

(it was amazing, and the prices were like Wal-Mart too!)

Driving and honking the horn at the Supermarket

And last but not least, we ate a wonderful American dinner

complete with BBQ pork tenderloin,

fresh green beans,

corn out of a can (which is a real treat),

and garlic toast!

Man I love America Day!