Stensaas Family

The rainy season is here!  With the daily rains, our dirt roads are becoming rougher each day.  Sunday night when we arrived home, we were greeted by the sound of rushing air when we stepped out of the van.  Because of the dirt being washed away with the rain, sharp rocks protrude out of the ground amongst the gullies in the road in front of the house, and one of those rocks put a good size gash in the tire.  Praise the Lord that it happened on the way home and not on the way to church!

Many have asked for an update on the Applegate family, and let me say that they greatly appreciate your prayers.  As of Wednesday Kristy is now on complete bed rest.  Her blood pressure went past the limit, so the doctor has increased her medication as well as restricted her to bed.  They will be returning to the States on the 23^rd of this month, but they are trying to move out of their house before leaving.  We have been helping them pack, clean & move, so that they will be able to move in with us on Monday and stay with us until they go to Kampala. 

From Monday throughout June, we will be blessed with constant company.  The children are diligently working ahead in their schoolwork so that they are able to spend more time socializing rather than schooling.  One of our visitors coming from the States is proficient in computers and has promised to teach Shane as much as he can.  Shane is very excited and looking forward to learning the ins and outs of computers.

Stanley’s character of being slow and steady carries over to his growth.  Shane grows so quickly that his pants have plenty of wear left in them for Stanley.  Stanley, however, is in the same size for so long that some of his pants have patches upon patches and will not be able to be saved for Shiloh.  I think the day will soon come when Shiloh and Stanley will be sharing the same clothes.  In our morning devotions, we have read several stories lately of men that accomplished great things although they were small of stature or sickly, and, yes, Stanley suffers more illnesses and is more accident prone than the others.  But Stanley is resting content with the way God made him and is determined to not let his little size discourage him.

Shae-Lynn is really becoming a book worm and enjoys reading aloud or having Rebekah read to her.  It is encouraging to see her pick more lengthy books to complete and to see her expanding her interests.

Shiloh turns seven tomorrow, but we will wait until Monday to have his party.  He has requested either an Africa shape cake or a Texas shape cake.  Nothing too simple, of course!  For tomorrow, he has requested waffles for breakfast and a lunch of macaroni & cheese with pigs-in-a-blanket – foods that I seldom fix.

Skyler is recovering from a wasp sting on his finger yesterday.  His hand painfully swelled up like a giant marshmallow, and he couldn’t bend his fingers.  However, this afternoon he came up to me and said, “Push it, mom.”  He was showing me that although it was still fat, it was no longer painful. 

Savannah loves markers and unfortunately found a permanent black marker and her daddy’s iPod one day.   I took one look at her art that totally covered the iPod and knew that all hope of removing every last trace without ruining the screen was lost.  I was skeptical about trying any liquids as I didn’t know how it would react to the glass, but then read how someone had used Mr. Eraser sponge with miraculous results.  Truly, it did work a miracle and the day was saved.  Besides her beautiful artistic abilities, Savannah has come up with some comical faces and keeps us laughing.  She tattles on her siblings by coming up to me and pointing her finger at the offender while rattling off a string of words.

The church is doing well with a full attendance even during our new Sunday night services.  We have had some interesting times lately.  One night a drunk came in and nearly sat on Shiloh.  I had Shiloh move to a different seat; but then every time that Stanley would look down at his Bible, this man would pat him on the shoulder and try to get him to look back up to the front.  So I had Stanley move to a different bench.  One of our church men had to finally lead him out of the service as he began to cause too much of a disturbance.  Then one Sunday as I was closing the ladies’ class in prayer, a young lady fainted and fell off the bench.  She doesn’t like to eat and thus is sick quite often. 

Our landlady has decided to raise our rent, so we are keeping our eyes open for another place.  There is a house being built just across from the church, but it is much smaller without the additional rooms we like to have for frequent guests.  Having a place in close proximity to the church would save a lot on fuel as well as wear and tear on our van besides being convenient.  Please join us in prayer as we ask God to provide us a new place with cheaper rent that is closer to the church but still has adequate space.

God is so good to us and this past month was full of “little blessings” that were big in our lives.  After paying our bills in March, we had just $21 left to live on for the month.  However, God sent us food through two other missionaries, provided us with a full tank of gas, inspired one of the families of our church to volunteer to feed the prison workers for us every other week, and blessed us in several other ways that helped us through the month.  God did not promise an easy road for the Christian, but He did promise “never to leave us nor forsake us” and grace sufficient for every trial.

Thank you for faithfully praying for us.  We serve a risen Savior that lives!

Sally Jo Stensaas