We enjoyed a wonderful 3 day “respite” with Pastor Micah and Grace. We have so enjoyed the hospitality and the joyful personalities of all of Grace’s dear sisters, nieces and of course their daughters Reba and Grace. We have been able to sleep in, take naps, Pastor Micah taught Jonas some tips when playing checkers, played UNO with Grace, soccer in the backyard, the kids even got to watch a little TV!, got caught up on some laundry, delicious meals, and lots and lots of tea (chai)! It has been a perfect break in between our busy schedules and full agendas, and so nice to be able to just “hang out”. And of course the worship at UCF on Sunday was a powerful, refreshing experience….a dream come true to be under that green and white striped tent! We are hoping the next time we get to worship with them it will be under the roof of their new building!
We are all doing great health-wise! We cannot tell you how much we appreciate all your prayers as we have not had one single episode of stomach or bowel issues! (The one time Alea threw up was from overheating on the bus with no air, it was not an intestinal issue). And we’ve barely seen any mosquitos! Alea has lots of other little bites (not sure what they are) but they do not itch or bother her at all. Jonas has lots of chigger bites on his legs, everyone has sunburns that are peeling, but we are seriously doing great! The food situation has been the opposite of what you’d expect….we are usually so stuffed! Definitely not losing any weight here! Even just the large amounts of tea that we drink fill our bellies! And the kids have drank more pop here in Africa than they have in their whole lives (we don't let them have it back home in the US!) Sad to think that soda is more readily available to drink here than clean water! Also, the only cold showers we've had so far were at Mombasa (at the coast), and it was so hot and we were so sunburned that they felt good!
We just got back to Kampala (using Micah and Grace's house as our "home base"....seriously feels like we are coming home....we are welcomed so lovingly and cheerfully!) after a wonderful visit out to Musana Camp (where Syd & Andrea Sparks serve with New Hope) on beautiful Lake Victoria! It was a loong bumpy ride to get there, but it was such a great time of fellowship with the other missionaries and staff there. We had an extensive tour of the camp, enjoyed more delicious food, slept in a tent, and swam in the lake. The kids all had fun playing together and running around the camp. It was neat to see all the development and progress the camp has made and to hear about the wonderful plans in store that God has for the future of the camp! It is definitely a very special place! (more photos and a very special story to come).
Tommorrow we are meeting up with our 2nd team to head out to Kasana Children's Center (with New Hope) and will get to finally meet our 10 kids!!! That is when the cold showers and mosquitos will begin. Uganda has definitely been hotter than Kenya...there were many times that we were down-right cold in Kenya.
Thank you for your patience as we have had such limited access to internet. The electricity goes out here in Kampala every-other-night, Pastor Micah's computer was giving us trouble....so there's always something. Uploading pictures has been very slow. For every picture we post, there are 25 more we are not posting. And for every picture we take, there are 100s more we are not taking. Our famous last words are "that would've been an awesome picture...." as we go zooming past in the van. Often it has not been appropriate to take pictures where we are....the people are human beings not scenery. We must protect their dignity. Often it is not safe to have our camera out. We just have to pray that these sights and images we are seeing will be permanently impressed on our hearts and minds. You truly have to be here yourself to capture it...a picture does not even come close. Thank you again to all of you who have allowed our family this tremendous opportunity to see and experience it all....we are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude!
No comments:
Post a Comment