As a church family, we are all incredibly proud of the work that Christie Crouse is doing in Uganda. For those of you that aren’t as familiar with her and her story, here is a recap: Christie, daughter of Roger and Theresa, has always had a heart to see Jesus and His Word brought to Africa. Over the last year or so, God has granted this desire and she is currently living in Uganda for the next several months to a year. She is overseeing medical care for many people who have no other hope of getting it, along with the spiritual care they so badly need as well. Here is her most current update on the amazing work our powerful and living God is doing half a world away.
“Hi Church family!!! Hope you are all well, I miss you all :)I have lots I want to share with you so I will try to write another update in a week or so to tell you about all that is happening. The school that is part of the ministry we work with here in Uganda, My Father’s House, is on break so we have had some free time to roam around, which has been fun. This past weekend we headed up North to an area called Soroti to visit with a pastor who is a friend of my friend here Caitlin. He is an awesome man of God and we had the best time there. The area where we were was in a civil war in the 90s and Kony and the LRA came through for 6 months in 2003 and murdered thousands of people. The people there are still suffering from the effects of the time Kony was there and apparently the majority of people outside of Africa don’t know of the things that happened in Soroti. On Saturday we spent the day in a nearby village visiting families. I have to be honest it was one of the hardest things I have ever seen. The stories we heard and the faces of those who sat hopeless in front of us was a lot to take in.
We met a widow who was in her twenties. She had six children, one who was a newborn at three weeks old. Her husband died very recently when he came to the city for work. He was found dead in a hotel but they don’t know what happened to him. This was one of the hardest things I have ever witnessed. This mother with six kids, has no 
strength to farm to provide food for her kids. She was very weak when we were there and noticeably shaky. There were only a couple chickens and no other food around. Her husband’s father lives near and tries to help them, but they only have one meal a day. The meal consists of the leaves of some of the bushes growing around the huts. Basically they are starving and just trying to put something their bellies. These people were so hospitable and happy to have us and said a white person had never come to visit them. The most humbling thing I have ever experienced happened next. To bless us for visiting and blessing them, they caught one of their chickens of the couple they had, to give to us to honor us. So there we were with full bellies, staring at these precious people who are starving and giving us food that they desperately need. I really don’t know how to explain what that felt like.
When we were praying for God to provide for them I asked God why these people are hungry and in need and not being provided for I felt the Lord speak and say, “I am providing for them. I sent My church.” When we got back from the village we sat down with a pastor and talked about what we had seen and what we could do. I have to say thank you all so much for your generous donations that you gave before I came here. We bought enough food to support them for two months. We also bought a years worth of seeds 
for growing other things that will be ready to eat in 2 months, so they will have continuous food and then can also use the seeds to replant every year. This way, they can sell some of their crops in the market to generate an income. The children are all small and their mother has difficulty paying their school fees, but with the help of the food and seeds, their needs will all be met! This was the family that gave us a chicken (in picture). The pastor said the widow was shocked that someone would help her and was very thankful. Just wanted to give you a little update and thank you all again for blessing the people here. Love you all!!!”
*In the above photo, you can see the bags full of seeds that were given to the family.