Today was a slow day for us here in Kampala, Uganda. We went next door to Agape House to play with the kids this morning. It was raining ("I bless the rains down in Africa" was running through my head all day) so we were inside the home with the kids. This complicates things because the space is small. Also, bath time is usually done outside in two wading pools, one to wash and one to rinse. It's rather amusing to see 30 plus toddlers running around the yard naked waiting their turn to be washed. But I digress. Today it rained.

Jesus tells us to love the least of these, and these kids truly are that. Rose has been writing biographies of the kids with the help of their social worker, and they are all so tragic. Kids left in outhouses, left with neighbors and never returned for, AIDS orphans...

I confess I came here with a bit of a misconception of orphans. I think I watched "Annie" too many times, or read Jim Thorpe's autobiography at too young of an age. Many of these kids are sweet and affectionate, but they are, like all preschoolers, demanding of attention and, understandably, excessively clingy. When I tried to roll a ball back and forth with one boy, six others crashed our game and the poor little guy missed out on some special attention. So many need so much attention that it's hard to give some to anyone. Being indoors with all those toddlers grabbing at my legs and screaming to be picked up , I confess, brought to mind Psalm 137:9 more than once today. (Go ahead. Look it up. Then please understand I'm joking.)

Loving the least of these, as Jesus commanded, means loving the orphans when they aren't spunky little red heads or future athletic superstars. It means getting peed on, pulled on and piled on. It's hard, and I'm not always good at it. But then there's the times I get to throw kids in the air and catch them like I did with my own daughters years ago. There's the time a little guy fell asleep in my arms. There's the little guy just beginning to toddle around whose pants kept falling down. (He reminded me of some relatives on New Years Eve). These times are precious beyond words.

On a different note, we've become considerably braver at shopping at the local booths out on the street beyond our little neighborhood. The produce is really very good. Tomorrow I plan to go out there and juggle; not a show really, just an ice breaker beyond our neighborhood where I've already done a show. Then Saturday, when there's more people around, I'm planning a full show out there.

Thanks for reading and keep us in prayer.