Funeral held for Dr. Oronje's daughter
Nick and several members of the SCF returned this morning from Dr. Oronje's daughter's funeral. It was held about 7 hours away from the town of Eldoret - and many on the team assisted with cooking and other preparations for the service. Dr. Oronje wanted to thank everyone for the support and prayers during the past several days.




Joseph Kony breaks his silence
The leader of the LRA - a rebel movement that has killed thousands in the past couple decades - spoke to British media recently - denying any involvement in the massacres and abductions that the group is notorious for. Full article here.

Lahash Event raises $600 for orphan Education
This past Saturday, Karin Rosain hosted an event to raise awareness and funds for the Sudanese orphan kids we are partnered with. We had a great turnout - and raised $600 that will head over this month for the kids at St. Bartholomew's and Amazing Grace Orphanages. Thank you to all of you who stopped in, and thanks to the 5 ladies that assisted Karin with the planning and preparation for the event!

The event was from 7 PM to 10 PM on Saturday.

There were plenty of snacks, information on the Sudanese orphans, and music from East Africa.

It was held on Alberta Street in North Portland.

Karin Rosain was the coordinator and event hostess!

Funeral held for Laura Oronje
And we continue to remember Laura Oronje - Dr. Oronje's 7 month old girl who passed away late last week. The funeral was held today with several members of the Silas Christian Foundation and the Renew program attending the services. Please continue to pray for the family.

Dr. Oronje wrote me this morning with the news that his precious daughter Laura passed away yesterday unexpectedly. Please pray for the family during this time. The funeral will be held upcountry. To email your thoughts to Dr. Oronje, please send emails to: osloronje2007@yahoo.com

Trip to Kibera and Munyaka Slums
Nick sent some photos of the trip that he and Dr. Oronje and Jo French made to Mama Margaret's Tenderfeet Center. They were touring and offering medical assistance in Africa's largest slums. The photo above is of the Pastor, Jo French, and Mama Margaret.


Nick has been extremely busy recently with all of the work in Eldoret. Jo French returned to Dodoma Tanzania, and reports that the children in the sponsorship program are busy writing letters - she has a report on her blog with some more stunning photos. The children are grateful for the letters and especially the photos of their sponsors! Thank you!



The Lahash Board

We had a Lahash Board meeting yesterday in downtown Portland. The faces in the photo above are: Karin Rosain (Chairperson), Dan Holcomb (President), Erin Willett (Secretary), and Leisha Adams (Treasurer).

Kenya News
I got a call while I was in church the other day - from the team in Kenya. Jo French was calling to say hi, and she was traveling with Dr. Oronje and Nick up to Eldoret for a few days. The three were just returning from a couple days in the capital city of Nairobi, where they were paying a visit to Margaret and the orphan school in Kibera. The photos below are from Nick and the ambulance car carrying a lame girl to the doctor's clinic in Munyaka.





Word from Susan
Susan and the Amazing Grace team continue to host Michael and Chris. Please pray that these couple of weeks will go well, and that the visitors and kids will really bond. Recently I've been assisting Kim Davey with her plans of traveling to Uganda and Sudan. She'll be spending three weeks at each orphanage, and taking a trunk of school supplies from high school students in the Portland, Oregon area. Susan wrote recently to express her gratitude at the visitors to the orphanages.

"I always ask God to send visitors who would show GOD's love and Glory to these children, widows and the disabled. As Africans, orphans, widows and the disabled are mostly regarded as useless or unworthy to live normal life.

When we started the tiny orphanage in 1994 in Oliji refugees camp life was more like the Israelite's being in the deseret. Children sometimes drink half cooked porridge just because we do not have money for food and fire wood. Sometimes they just pass a day eating roasted birds and rats that were hunted by the older children in the bush or forest. I prostrated myself many times weeping before the Lord asking Him to rescue the children from hunger and nakedness.

Today, I am the proudest happiest mum because of the way our Mighty God is responding to our prayers. He has enriched the once useless poor children with the necessary basic needs as well as enriching them with many visitors from far countries. It seems God loves us more. Praise Him."

Thanks for the computer!
On Thursday I returned home after a walk and found a houseful of friends and family and the gift of a new computer! They all scraped together their earnings to meet the need that came up - and I'm blown away by the kindness and support. Thank you to all of you for your generosity. I hope to catch up now with some of the video and DVD work that was slipping behind.

Michael Christmas and Chris Westbrook have arrived in Kampala and stayed with Susan at the home in Uganda's capital city for 2 days. Susan said that the orphans and kids from the area surrounded them enjoying their company. Today they will be traveling through Gulu for an overnight stay, and then on to Amazing Grace!

Kay Warren was interviewed by CNN and this is what she had so say about AIDS:
"Christians are just as guilty as non-Christians of wanting to look the other way when it comes to the problems confronting our world, the topics that make us uncomfortable. But we need to be seriously disturbed about homelessness, child prostitution, rape, poverty, injustice, and HIV/AIDS.

Twenty-five years into the AIDS pandemic, being HIV-positive still carries stigma and shame. But God cares for the sick and so must we.

It's not a sin to be sick. The Bible tells us Jesus was repeatedly "filled with compassion" as he encountered broken bodies and broken minds. While polite society vigorously avoided contact with those they considered diseased outcasts, Jesus responded in a radical way: He cared, he touched, he healed."

And Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki announces free AIDS drugs in the country! This is great news for the 1.2 million Kenya's with the virus.

New Laptop needed for the Lahash office
Hello friends of Lahash! I've been using a laptop for the past 3 years to do all of my design, editing, and promotional materials. It's seen some heavy use. A while back the firewire ports (used for editing videos) went out - and so I've borrowed other computers to do that work recently. Now in the past week my DVD burner went dead. The repair technicians tell me that it is going to cost $1100 to repair - which doesn't make much sense - that's almost the price of a new computer. So if anyone would like to jump on that project, let me know!

Also, I've created an auxiliary website to let people know about personal needs and the status of my support. Thank you all so much for your help in the past! If anyone would like to begin supporting me personally, you can email me for more details.

News for East Africa
Dr. Oronje emailed me relieved and grateful this morning that his daughter was feeling better. Thank you to all of you who've been praying for his little girl Laura.

Michael Christmas and Chris Westbrook should have arrived in Kampala by now, and will be heading up to Gulu tonight to meet with some of the staff from Invisible Children. Tomorrow they should be at the Amazing Grace Orphanage. Please continue to pray for their safety, along with Ezbon who is escorting them on the trip.

Urgent Needs in Sudan

When we visited the St. Bartholomew Orphanage in November of last year, we stopped in at the school that the kids at the orphanage use for classes. It was a mud and brick structure with a decaying roof. The picture on the left is what the building looked like at the time. Now Susan writes:

"There were heavy rains in Kajokeji last month accompanied by winds. The weather destroyed the shabby temporary primary and nursery school where the children attend lessons. IWASSRU constructed the Shabby School because we can't keep the children without schooling and there is no other school in the area up to now.

In short there's no change in Kajokeji town regarding schooling and what we appreciate from the Government is security. Thus if we don't act or renew that shabby blown school, the children would definitely not study well this year.

I shall appreciate if you could share this burden with others and put it to the Lord for provision. Also the St. Bartholomew's orphanage was fenced with barbed wire to prevent strangers from passing through the children'’s compound.

Unfortunately, it has fallen and we need to renew it for security reasons especially during the night. The girls also need a separate bathroom and the budgets are as follows:"

St. Bartholomew School Building $860 for the following supplies: fencing poles, roofing poles, nails, sisal ropes, long bundled grass, transport, labor, and papyrus mats for the floor.

St. Bartholomew Fencing materials $840 for the following supplies: poles, nails, barbed wire, transporting materials and labor.

New Girls' Bathroom $180 for the following supplies: bricks, cement, and labor.

In Other News:
Lahash now has a bank account, and checks can be made out to "Lahash" as of June 1! Thanks to everyone for your patience. The paperwork is still processing through the IRS, so it isn't tax deductible yet, but you can make donations to Lahash at this point.