Story of Rehema

Ivan and I met a young girl named Rehema this Sunday in church. She shared a heartbreaking story with us and we asked her if we could share with others for prayer and support and said yes. Here is Rehema’s story.

Rehema is 22 years old and now has a baby that is a couple months old now. Rehema was born due to a rape. Her mother was raped by men during some cultural ceremony and she later conceived due to the rape. When the mother went back to her home and the family found out she was pregnant, they told her to go look for the father. She went out but couldn’t find the father because there were so many in the ceremony (gang rape). When she gave birth to Rehema, her parents told her they could not take care of both so she either had to find the father or leave. Since she didn’t have anywhere to go, she decided to dispose of the baby. Another women heard she was about to kill the baby and told her not to do it and she would take care of the baby for her. The women took her baby (Rehema) and raised her. She put her through P-5 (5^th grade) and then the lady died. Now, Rehema had nowhere to go and could no longer put herself through school.  The rest of the ladies family denied knowing her after that and told her to go. They would not take care of her. So Rehema left and was living day by day by people giving her food but had no place to live. Due to these hard circumstances, she developed a bad infection on her lower body that is extremely painful and surgery is the only way to correct it. She heard of a radio station that shares people’s stories in Jinja and will find them help. So, she went to the radio station to share her story and to see if someone out there would help her. Through this, a witch doctor called and said he would be able to heal her. So she went to his place (shrine) to seek healing from him. He wasn’t alone; he had 2 other men in there with him. When she went in, the 2 men held her down while the witch doctor raped her. She conceived from the witch doctor, still in pain with the infection that she really needed a surgery for. He did not help her, just raped her. Later she tried to go back and find him to tell him that she was pregnant but after he raped her, he changed locations. He was no longer there. So, she went back to the radio station to share her story again and to see if he could hear her.  A caller heard her plea, called the station, and told her of a pastor who could help. Said that this pastor has also helped me and I am sure that if you go to him, he can help you too. They gave her the directions to get to Sonrise Community Church. Just as we are finishing church, a lady with a baby comes to church on a boda looking for Pastor Ivan. Ivan sat and listened to her story and was heartbroken by what he heard. So he called me to also come and listen to her and to see what we could do for her. She is desperately needing a surgery but there is not much we can do financially right now. We gave her 20,000 UGX ($9) and told her to come back next Sunday so it will give us some time to figure out what to do. So we told her we would share her story for prayers that the finances will come in for her to be able to get the surgery that she needs. The surgery will cost $200. So pray that the funds are provided for her. Please gather in prayer with us this week for Rehema.



If you would like to make a contribution towards Rehema please go to the link below and in the comment box - for Rehema

http://sonrisechildren.com/one-time-gift

Heart is heavy tonight...

Today was hard day. I don't really even know how to express what I saw today.

A close friend of Sonrise (Ida) lost her son today. She is the lady that found and brought Brenda, James, John, and Mark to sonrise. Ida had told her son (9 years old) to stay away from the River Nile because it was dangerous and he couldn't swim. Her son decided he wanted to go swimming with his friends this morning in the river. Well, he got caught in a whirl pool. Boys came and told the mom that he drowned. Ida sat by the river all day and waited for his body to come back to the top. He eventually did. We went to Ida house tonight to give our condolences..I was not ready. As we walked through the village the crowd was getting bigger. Got there and so many people were around the little house. Saw Ida and we went right up to the front of the crowd where she was. We had to pass the small casket to get to her. I thought he was already in there. The farther up we went, I saw him. Her son was just lying there on a table. His little lifeless body. So small. He just wanted to go for a swim, not knowing that he would never come back. Cotton was shoved up his nose. The doctor was preparing his body (injecting him) to put in the casket so he wouldn't smell for the upcoming 4 hour trip to Ida's mothers home to bury him. It was so hard to see him like that, and so hard to see his mother hurting. Ida started wailing and walking around wailing. I have never heard someone like that. It was so loud. I have never seen anything like it. Broke my heart. Only the family around was crying. It was like an old movie you see with people wailing over a loss. I was holding my breath to try not to cry. No one else was crying around me. Just somber faces. People staring at me to see how the mazungu would react to death. I know this will not be the last time I will ever have to experience a day like this. Pray for sweet Ida and her family. I have no idea if her son knew the Lord.

Jigger Clinics/School Supplies/Games

We drove to a school to run a jigger removal clinic, hand out school supplies, tell bible stories, and play games with the kids. So many kids at this little school.

 

Don't know what a jigger is? Ready for this? Its a small flea like bug that lives in the dirt. You can't even see it when it lands on you. If you don't keep you feet and hands clean, these little things bury into the skin (usually in the feet and fingers) and grow. They will multiply in the skin quickly. They feast on your blood. The bigger they get, blisters and infections occur. Sometimes resulting in losing the toenails and fingernails. It's extremely itchy and painful. Most of the time, when children get them, they are not removed. We came in to remove them.  

 

These ladies are ready to start removing jiggers. This is where the donations of medical supplies came in. THANK YOU!!

 

Here are a few of the children

Setting up for the clinic.

She is ready to get started!

Thank you for the flip flop donations! We are able to give them shoes after the jiggers are removed. 

Washing Feet

Also cleaned up and bandaged opened wounds of all sorts. 

 

She was a little scared but was comforted and given sweeties

Removing Jiggers. These children are tough. Rarely saw any shed a tear while we are digging in their feet and hands. 

While the rest waited to be treated. We sang, danced, told bible stories and had a puppet show. 

 

Tug of War game. The Muzungus against the Ugandans.

Dance Game

 

The School House

Handing out school supplies

Peeking out at me from in between the boards of the school. 

Children's Party

Catching up on some of my blogging (: A few weeks back a team from Canada threw a party for the Sonrise Children, Mirembe Girls, and the local Village Children. Big success! They planned for 100 kids, around 300 came!

Bubbles!

Jumping Ropes

Face Drawings (:

Canadian Stickers Anyone?

The hit of the party. So much fun!

The majority put the stickers on their heads.

Cat, Cat, Mouse (Duck, Duck, Goose) with Water Balls

Snack Time! Juice and Popcorn for everyone!

They enjoyed the snacks and games!

Transitions from the Old to the New Church

The church has moved! This is a huge blessing. The church was growing and we were losing space. Everyone was not able to fit under the shelter and were sitting on the ground around the shelter. Through prayer, we decided to move the church off the children's home land and to another lot down the road where more people can see where we are. We ordered the tent in town for the new church. While it was being made, the church went on a few day fast to pray over that land and tent. After much prayer, God said that was not the land the church needed to be on. Found another piece of land 2 lots next to the baby home for less rent and the perfect space! Praise God! The tent was finished and being delivered. Last Tuesday the tent started going up. Thursday the old church was being torn down. Bittersweet moment.

The Old Church - a few weeks before our 3 year anniversary

Here is the process of the new church being built

Taking a break...

My favorite picture

The chicken family that roams the church yard

 

 

 Here it is!

And taking down the old....

We would like to thank everyone who prayed and gave financially for us to buy the tent and rent the land! It is a blessing to be here and we have room to grow. This Sept. 1st was our first Sunday in the new church and we had a good turn out. Had 8 visitors and a couple people came to know the Lord that day. Thankful for a pastor who teaches the Word.