Reaching TOP - Jamil

Hello to all of our Due Unto supporters, friends and family.  I write this blog on my way home from Palissa.  We have spent the last 6 days working in Mayuge, Soroti and then the last two days in Palissa.  Palissa is not a part of Africa Renewal Ministries (ARM) or the Renewal Health Network, but they graciously allowed us to add this stop onto our trip to NE Uganda.  We wanted to stop there, because this is the home of our good buddy Jamil.  As you probably recall, Jamil is a young man that your support and prayers has allowed to recover from a very large tumor behind his right eye.

When we arrived in Palissa yesterday, Pastor Fred led us back into Nat Geo nowhere, where we found Jamil’s home.  Jamil lives with his grandparents, and his Uncle Joseph’s family.  They were all waiting for us.  They had tied flowers to the trees and were lined up to great us, like royalty, when we arrived.  They had a mat and chairs set out for us.  Jamil’s grandparents each got on their knees and thanked us and you profusely for the help that had been afforded to Jamil.  They talked about how many people, especially children, around the village avoided him because they did not want to look at his eye.  The amount of money needed for his care was unobtainable for them, so they had pretty much written him off as dead.  Now that is changing.   Jamil is gaining self-confidence and has been cleared to start school.  He is 10, but will start in the first grade.  He is small for 10 and seems very bright, so I have no doubt that he will progress quickly to catch up with his peers.  The family brought us bananas, mangos, fresh eggs and 2 live chickens (I kid you not.  They had their legs tied together and laid them in front us panting and frightened).  Jamil’s grandmother was so happy that she started screaming and dancing. 
 http://youtu.be/8OxUsVGgp08

It almost made me blush as Jamil’s grandfather joined in!   We had this group photo made with Jamil’s family and the Due Unto team. 

We gave Jamil a Due Unto Others t-shirt and a pair of shoes that our friend Craig at OK Runner Norman donated for us.

Today, during the clinic, Jamil hung out around my station quite a bit.  He learned how to use an otoscope and a stethoscope.  He also got good at demanding that the children open their mouths for me.  Through Due Unto support, we were able to pay for Jamil’s school, boarding and supplies through the end of 2012!  I challenged him and told him that we saw greatness in him and that we expected he would study hard and live up to his ability.  Tears welled up in both of our eyes when I had Fred translate to Jamil that we probably would not see him again until next year.  His next doctor’s appointment is in August, and we will be gone by then.   Jamil is a good kid and his life has been changed because we were able to identify “That One Person” that needed something special. 

I am going to start a new slogan and possibly some t-shirts that say: “My mission is: Reaching TOP for Jesus”!  TOP stands for That One Person, and hopefully people will ask me what it stands for.  Every day that I am in Uganda, I feel more convinced that this is how we are to reach a lost world.  We are to be searching for TOP!