When fear and darkness reign...

During our second week in the US, we got a short message letting us know that the mom of 2 of our students had passed away. We tried to get clarity on what happened, but communication was very limited. Now that were back, we got a little more information. 

The actual cause of her death is not known, which led to another problem. Her death was very sudden and unexpected. Since it couldn't be explained, people come to their own conclusions. The people in her village decided that another couple was responsible for her death. The villagers accused this couple of bewitching the woman. They said this use of witch craft caused her death. 

The villagers went to this couples home and tore down the walls. They stole all of their belongings. They torched the couples shop. Then they turned on the couple. By the time the police arrived, the damage was done. The police took the couple with them to jail. Of course, the police were looking into the accusations, but they also needed to put the couple in jail to protect them from the angry villagers. 

It just so happens that this couple is the parents of another one of our boarding students. They spent two days in the jail. The police determined that there was no evidence to suggest that the couple had done anything to the woman and they should find a safe place to go. The mom was taken to her mother's home in another village and the dad is staying with his brother. The boy remains at our school.

Our head mistress was able to talk with the dad just a few days ago. He has no idea what to do now because they have lost everything. They can no longer afford to pay for school. Even if they wanted to rebuild their home, they are still afraid of returning to their village. In fact, they are so afraid that they didn't even come to visitation day at our school. They sent the child's grandmother to visit in their place. 

Now, this all happened nearly a month ago. The two children who lost their mother were day students. Since their mother's death, they have an aunt who is willing to care for them but she has no resources to pay for school. She also is too far away for the children to be day students, so the cost of school is even higher. 

So, now we have 3 students whose lives have been completely turned upside down. Our staff have been caring for them awaiting our return. They told the adults involved that when we got back, we would try to figure something out. We had left plenty of food and supplies for while we were gone, so they didn't have to worry about caring for them until our return. 

I wasn't posting this in order to mention sponsorship. I actually just wanted to share an example of what it is like when you live in an area where witch craft and other forms of darkness are common. In my opinion, this reaction is really out of fear. I don't know what brought on the suspicions, but once they surfaced, people did not want to take any chance on something happening again.

I don't know why this happened, but I know that God is in control. He is with these children and the people involved. He will heal their broken hearts and bind up their wounds. He will bring beauty from these ashes. I don't know when or how, but I trust that he will. 

As the situation happens to be, these 3 children now need a full sponsorship to stay in school. Two of them because they've lost their mother and are now orphans. One because his parents were falsely accused and their livelihood destroyed. Fortunately, I already confirmed a sponsor for one of them! 

Please join me in praying for sponsors for these children and for all of our children that are waiting. If you can spare $22 or $36 a month, you could sponsor a child. You can email me at tstanley@wellsofjoyuganda.org to partner with us today.

Also, please pray for the children involved in this situation - the 2 who lost their mother and the 1 whose parents have been attacked and chased away.