By MARK MAYNARD / AFA
MOYO, Uganda – As the days pass, the more popular the Amy For Africa / Samaritan’s Feet shoe distribution seems to become.
Two more stops have been added to the already crowded tour, meaning the team will be split on Tuesday with the expectation of handing out 8,000 shoes or more. One of those stops will be in Aliba, where the fifth Penne Paris Nursery School was started last September. Aliba is an all-musilim village but one that has welcomed United Christian Expeditions. It’s an usual situation for sure but at the PPNS there is no substitute for teaching the students about Jesus.
The leaders in Aliba understand that. Besides the shoes, AFA will be delivering some bibles to the area. Six will be going to Aliba and the rest of the team will be at Altua where a large crowd is expected. Also, on Wednesday, the AFA team will be giving shoes to the children who live in the area near the compound.
On Monday, the AFA team went to Laropi, the home of the first Penne Paris Nursery School, and were greeted warmly by students at the school. They were so talented, stopping in front of the AFA team and singing their hearts out about being members of the Penne Paris School and singing another song about Penne Paris being in the clear blue sky. It was such a sweet song and their English was so good. One little girl, who was maybe 9 years old, took the microphone and sang like she was born with it in her hand.
Dignitaries spoke highly of Amy For Africa and the mission trip. They all want to be part of what is happening in Moyo and, like any politician, wants to take some credit for it.
The school presented Amy Compston with her second goat, which she named Beth after my wife. Her pregnant goat from Panyanga has been named Mandi, after Amy’s sister, and the baby will be Ian, after Mandi’s new baby. AFA then gave the school a suit case full of school supplies, collected by Rose Hill Christian and Twin Forks Nazarene Church. The eight teachers from the school all introduced themselves and were thrilled to receive the gift of school supplies.
The preachers in the area who have been enlisted to help have been a godsend. It certainly couldn’t be done without them.
We were finished early and took a trip to the UCE model farm where the shoes are being stored. We toured the farm area and it’s incredible the work that has been done, all by hand, as an example to the Ma’di people in the rural areas. They can learn about production farming from watching the UCE model farm. It’s a program that has been highly endorsed by local government.
While there, we collected about 150 pairs of shoes to take the Moyo Babies Home. This was the second visit to the orphanage and it has become one of our favorite places. The young children greet us with smiles, giggles and outstretched arms simply wanting to be loved. They were hugged on, loved on and then shed tears of sadness when it was time for us to go.
All in all, another productive day that grew the UCE goat farm and gave hope to a small corner of the world that needs a lot of love.