February 12, 2025

Hi everyone! Thanks for being patient as it's taken us a minute to get a new update out- we are adjusting to life with two sweet littles ones...time to sit still and write seems even less than when we just had one :) 

As I (Lizzy) sat down to write, I realized that I was writing about an event that I had written about last year, and it struck me that we have been here long enough for recurring events to happen. It feels like we got here just yesterday, but lots of time has already passed and we have lived a lot of life since then. Our family has learned, grown (literally and figuratively), grieved, celebrated, and been so faithfully sustained by the Lord in this time. We are thankful that he's brought us through another year here and we are eager to see what he has in store for this next one. 

So now to the real exciting news- we celebrated "Night to Shine" this last week with our Ekisa friends! For those that haven't heard of Night to Shine before, it is  a beautiful event put on by churches all around the world to celebrate people with disabilities who often don't get invited to dances and parties. Our Night to Shine looked a little different this year, but was no less special. Usually we invite the ~250 children we work with from the community to the event and all get to celebrate together, but a week prior there had been a few cases of Ebola found in Uganda, and we didn't want to put any of these precious children at risk by gathering such a large group of people together. Our Residential children (the ones that live at Ekisa full time) had been looking forward to this night for many weeks now, so we still wanted to do something special for them at the home- plus all the cake was already made...so we just haddd to have an excuse to eat it :) We all rallied together to make a special little party for the 17 children living at Ekisa, and it did not disappoint! A red carpet, music, cake, friends, and balloons- these amazing kids are so easy to celebrate!

There are few things more wonderful than seeing these children, children abandoned by their families because they were seen as cursed, coming down the red carpet with huge smiles on their faces as they are celebrated as worthy treasures of the King! It is a little glimpse of heaven that my words can't do justice, so I'll just leave these pictures here for you to see for yourself! 

We are so thankful we serve a God who loves each of us, no matter our ability, as His beloved children- and we got to see that on full display at Night to Shine! 

Burrus and Caroline also enjoyed lots of fun alongside their friends! It's been sweet to watch them grow up around brothers and sisters from such different backgrounds with such different abilities and the way they simply see them as any other friend or neighbor. We pray the Lord always keeps their hearts tender towards the marginalized and the outcast. 

Please pray alongside us that we can still have the official Night to Shine with all the community kids once it is safe. The children and their families look forward to this event every year and we'd love to have the chance to celebrate each of them! 

We can never finish an update without saying thank you because we are truly so grateful for all of your love and support that allow us to be here. Every prayer, donation, and message of encouragement leaves us blown away by the body of Christ coming together to support us. We love all of you and are so grateful for you!