Too Good...

You all just blessed us too much with the Oasis of Life Project, so much so that it shut down my PayPal account. Ha! But seriously, I do not have access to the donations. Apparently they thought it was fishy to have nearly $20,000 come in within 48 hours. I thought it was pretty crazy myself! I am glad that they look out for these types of things, but it has caused a problem for us. So, I have to refund all of the money donated through PayPal. I am now asking you to give your donations through the non-profit “The Hope Venture” which is partnering with our Oasis of Life project. If you made a donation through PayPal you’ll receive a refund notice and an email telling you how to give through The Hope Venture. I am so sorry for the confusion and extra hassle. I also fear that this may lower our donation total. I am asking you to please take the extra few minutes to continue with your donation on the other website. The sooner we can get access to your donation dollars, the sooner I can bless these children with the food, clothes, and education they desperately need.
In other Oasis news… It was another big day for the kids. Remember a while back I told you about the amazing woman who writes on the blog “A Place Called Simplicity”. Her husband is here leading a mission team. When I met his team for dinner last week he mentioned that their plans for today fell through. I told him about Oasis and he said they’d love to help. So the whole team came today and blessed the children in so many ways. Some of the team washed and scrubbed all of the walls and then put up a fresh coat of paint on the inside of the girls’ house. It looks amazing and it makes such a difference to the rooms! The rest of the team spent time singing and playing with the kids. Some of them worked to make paper beads, others had their hair braided, and others just rocked and loved on the little ones. They even treated everyone to a soda with their lunch. The kids were pumped up about it. It was truly a blessing and it always amazes me how much work can get done with a large group of eager and willing volunteers! The team was able to prep the boys’ house for paint, but they didn’t get a chance to actually paint it. But guess what?? This afternoon I met with a team of college students from my Alma Mater ( OBU, Go Bison!) and they are looking for things to do in the Kampala area. They agreed to come paint the boys’ house on Thursday. I love it!!

On a side note, I love how small the world really is. Today I met a woman on the mission team who lives about 5 minutes from my house and we know lots of the same people. Then I met with the OBU team, and although they make me feel ancient, we still knew people in common. And this won’t mean anything to most of you, but two of the guys are members of the “Daad Club” at OBU. I can’t believe the legend of my husband and his crazy friends is still alive and well on Bison Hill.

I didn’t have time to copy and of the pictures from today, but I promise to post some soon. And thanks to my awesome friend Stephanie for taking lots of awesome pictures when I am running around not thinking about it.

To make a donation through “The Hope Venture” go to their donation page, click on “general donation” and then write “Oasis of Life” in the comments section. And look for an “Oasis” donation option very soon, maybe by the end of this week!