www.HinesKids.org - 2008 February/March Newsletter Children are a gift from God. I have often heard this said. Jesus said that we should never hinder one of these children in coming to Him. We should never hurt, abuse or cause one of them to stumble. I want to introduce to you the girl in the picture. Her name is Alpha Namuyanja. Alpha is now 11 years old. She is in the 7th grade. Alpha loves to sing in the children's choir and loves attending Sunday School and Church. Alpha loves the Lord. Her 11 years have been very hard for her. She lives in an orphan home at the HUM orphanage property with a housemother and 3 other orphans. Alpha lost her father when she was four years old when he died from AIDS. Her mother has been dying slowly from the same virus. Alpha stayed with her mother for as long as she could. She was the last born of five children. When her mother became too ill to care for Alpha came to us. She is thankful that her mother is a Christian. She says her father was not. We praise the Lord that Alpha is growing near to the Lord and that she loves school and church. Her house mother's name is Phyllis. Phyllis, the housemother, says that Alpha is truly a gift from God, that she is so helpful around the home and does whatever she is asked. She works hard in the gardens when asked. She is a joy to be around. Alpha says she has a future because the Lord came and took control of her life. He gave her a sponsor through HUM and she is able to go to school because of this. We give thanks to all the people who sponsor children and youth. May the Lord bless you so much. Alpha is just an example of one life that has been changed because of help from a sponsor. Your faithfulness in your giving helps them more than you can imagine. May the Lord bless you. In April all of the children and youth will be writing to their sponsors. Some of you have asked me about when they write. They write to you in April and August and at Christmas, when you receive a new picture. Often the children and youth do not know what to write. I encourage you to write to them and ask questions so that they know what to write about. Their letters say the same thing very often because they do not know what to tell you. Their lives are very different from yours. We are excited to have a young man with us until next October. His name is Jon Jarvis. He is doing a lot of hard work so pray for him. The weather has not been good, as it is dry season and very hot at this time of the year. We have another young man coming at the end of April named Andy Kallander who will join in with Jon in the work. He is going to stay if the Lord wills, for a year. Please pray for both of them as it is trying to be in a country where there is little infrastructure. Already, since Jon arrived the electricity has been off for very many days. Last week it was off for 4 days, and already this week for 3 days. Pray for Uganda as it works through this problem. We are so thankful to all the individuals and churches who gave funds to the matching gift. God bless you all. We are working hard on the orphanage and can see a change already. We had hoped to move in this month, but like all good construction projects they are never on schedule. We hope to move in in May. We are working on the fencing as a Sunday School class in Pittsburgh, Texas has helped make this possible. We are also helping some of our boys who have grown up in the ministry begin construction on their small homes. They will contribute much of their own funds and effort as they begin their successful adult lives. I just want to express the thanks I feel in my heart for all of you who give so generously to the glory of God. Right now all the children and youth are in school. We have put 63 children into primary school this year and four are in nursery school. We have 10 youth in University now and over a hundred in boarding schools for secondary education (high school). This is a real gift to these children. They see hope in their lives, in a future, and they believe that the Lord has provided for them through each of you that sponsor them. I believe this to be true. We do still have many children and some youth that need sponsors, so if anyone would like to sponsor a child, check out our website or contact the office at 303-847-9522. We have Ken & Elizabeth Christensen returning again this year, it will be the third year in a row for Elizabeth and the fourth year in a row for Ken. They will help our two young men with the construction of their homes, as well has complete another home that they have been helping with for several years. They will also install kitchen cabinets into my kitchen at the new orphanage, something not easily attainable around here. They will teach our Bible studies, including a married couple's study, something not regularly done in Uganda. Please pray for them while they are here and that the Lord will use them mightily again. We also have several teams coming this year and I feel blessed to have so many visitors coming. Again, thank you and please know how much I love you all. May the Lord bless you all so much. God bless you, Katherine