Thursday, October 22, 2009

Time is flying quickly by

Wow, it's hard to believe that we have already been in Uganda for over a week. We only have a week and a half left. Today I am taking a break from being out and about with the kids. They are beginning to get grumpy and whine, so we are staying at the house to see if we can recoup and return to good and joyful attitudes :)

This week has been a very busy week. Monday afternoon we went to go visit Stanley's father, and he gave Kara, Lydia, and Andy each a chicken. The kids also helped to pick oranges so we have enjoyed eating green oranges (they are ripe, they just don't turn orange). Also on Monday, we took a walk around the property and Mom showed us the banana orchard with lots of pineapple plants. We also walked past some orange trees. JA told Andy that these were orange trees, and Andy's first response was "No Daddy, those trees are green" He though JA was talking about the color of the trees :) The property also has a few Elephant Coconut trees, mango trees, and a garden that the kids have planted casaba, potatoes, and egg plant (probably some other things also, but I didn't know what they were).

Tuesday was a relatively quiet day. The kids spent a lot of time playing with their new friends, and I went to the supermarket with mom to get some dry milk and a lot more water. Our family of six goes through about 10 - 11 liters of water a day. I didn't realize we drank that much water until we started drinking out of bottles. Then, Tuesday night we attended devotions with the children at the property.

Wednesday morning, JA was gone from the house at 7:30 since he was speaking in chapel. After JA returned, Kara and I took some meat over to the property to get it started in the crock pot for supper, then we walked with Beatrice to the market. I must say that I am very proud and surprised at Kara. We walked an hour in the heat just to get to the market, and she did not complain. We had emptied her backpack, and once I bought the potatoes and carrots for dinner she was eager to have them placed in her backpack. I think Kara enjoyed the market, and she took a lot of pictures (I can't upload any more pictures until later b/c we have to go to the radio station to upload). Then we stopped at the supermarket and each of us bought a soda which we had to drink there since we have to return the bottles (it doesn't make much sense to me, but that's what they do). Then as we got ready to head home, we met what Beatrice called a crazy man probably from prison. He was asking me for sunscreen. I don't know why since the Ugandans don't burn, so maybe he was a little crazy.

We spent the afternoon resting, and then we went back to the property for dinner with mom. At five o'clock we attended prayer meeting. I was not able to pick Pastor Milton's English last night, but the sermon by Dad Dwire (the missionary we are staying with) was very good. We came home, and we were all in bed by 8:00. I think if we were back home and going to bed at 8:00 I would think we had gone crazy.

That brings us up to today where my kids are currently resting, and I have been preparing to speak to the ladies on Monday. Please be in prayer for Monday afternoon. I do want the Lord to use me as I minister to these women and share what God has been teaching me this past year. This will also be my first time speaking through an interpreter, so please pray that I will be able to speak slowly and remember to pause after each phrase and sentence.

JA is preparing to go visit a village with mom tonight. I know most of you who read my blog are currently sleeping, so have a good night --I'm going to go get ready to fix lunch now.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Works of God Monday


Wow, God has been so good and gracious to us. We safely arrived in Uganda on Wednesday, and while we had a morning of illness among a couple of the kids, we are all healthy.

I am continually amazed at what an awesome God we serve. We have been planning this trip for years (never really sure it would ever happen as our family continued to increase in size). Yet, here we are with two more weeks to interact with the people and minister.

I am thankful for how God has given the kids the ability to adjust to the climate, the traveling, and even the lack of sleep without a whole lot of fussing and whining.

I count it such a privilege to be able to have a taste of my childhood dream of being a missionary to Africa. While that has not been my dream in quite some years I feel blessed to know that God answered my prayer as a little girl to send me to Africa.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Travel through Jinja

Today was quite a day of travel. I have to say it seems like we have been traveling for days just to get here to Soroti. We left Kampala at about 10:00 this morning and traveled up to Jinja where we saw the source of the Nile. As full as our truck was, it was quite empty compared to the Taxi's and trucks we passed with people hanging out every which way. Andy sat on Mamayi Stanley's lap (Uncle Stanley since mom has taken him in as a son). Kara sat in the middle, and Lydia say on JA's lap.
I don't have a picture, but Ezekiel rode on my lap for the entire trip. He did surprisingly well and slept most of the day. I even took a couple of catnap's in the truck as my internal clock is not yet on this new schedule.We stopped in Jinja for lunch and took a few minutes to visit the Nile river and see the source of the river where Lake Victoria empties into the Nile River.The source begins just on the other side of the island in the picture above.

And for all of you who know I enjoy a good cup of tea every now and again, we passed a few different tea plantations on our way up to Soroti. Below is the picture of the plantation as we drove past.
Tonight I was given a great honor. Stanley asked me to play the part of an Auntie in his introduction ceremony tomorrow. Unfortunately I am not able to since mom's Gomez (a traditional African style dress) does not fit me -- a requirement for the ceremony. I will be content with taking pictures and video taping parts of it. Depending on what time we get back tomorrow night I will try to update.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Greetings from Kampala, Uganda, East Africa

Wow, I can hardly believe that we left Kansas on Monday. I hardly even know what day it is today. This has been a very eventful and exciting week for our family.The first leg of our journey (after driving to Kansas City) started off with spending 1 hour and 45 minutes just checking in at the counter (not standing in line -- let me just say DON"T fly American Airlines). The kids had a fabulous time on the first flight from Kansas City to Chicago. We had a rush when we got off the plane to get to our next gate as they were already making the final boarding call when we stepped off the plane. Quite the rush :) Well, we made it on time and then sat on the tarmac for another hour with computer issues -- I guess we didn't need to hurry as fast as we thought!The nine hour flight from Chicago to London was also not to bad. The kids did great -- especially Lydia and Andy since they slept most of the way. Kara didn't sleep much but she did well, as did Ezekiel. He only fussed a little wanting to get down and explore.We had a great 10 hour layover in London. The kids enjoyed all the new books and toys that Tata had bought for them to play with. Ezekiel LOVED the opportunity to get down and crawl and get out his energy since he'd been strapped in for all of Monday and Monday night.

Our last flight from London to Entebbe also went well. Lydia and Ezekiel were asleep before we even ascended into the air, and Kara shortly after. I was even able to get about four or five hours of sleep on the eight hour flight.

We had no difficulty getting through customs and all of our bags arrived :) Three gentlemen met us at the airport and transported us to Kampala where we have spent the last two nights with Paul and Amanda Hudson and their family. The kids have enjoyed playing with their children, and last night we attended service at Gospel Light Baptist Church. (Right now I am watching a gecko crawling around our bedroom walls -- If I can get a good picture of him, I'll try to post it).

This morning we awoke after a wonderful nights sleep and had our first discovery of the difficulty of the travel on the kids -- Lydia was throwing up. About an hour later, Andy joined her in the sick room. After spending the morning throwing up they both took a nap, and praise the Lord, they seem to be healthy now. They were even feeling well enough for us to go out to dinner at a restaurant overlooking Lake Victoria.
The kids enjoyed looking over the balcony at Lake Victoria and the city of Kampala.

The restaurant was fabulous! I had the most wonderful Tilapia fresh from Lake Victoria. The kids split a fish and chips, and they were eager for more.We had a wonderful waitress who really enjoyed Ezekiel.

After eating mom took us to go visit another missionary family the Wallace family. We had a wonderful visit with them, and now have the children in bed since we have an early start tomorrow to drive to Soroti (a six hour drive and hopefully a stop in Jinja -- the source of the Nile -- on the way).

To see more photos of our first two days visit here

Monday, October 12, 2009

Works of God Monday


Well, I have several things I can praise God for. We had a wonderful ladies luncheon a week ago, and the other big thing is that today we leave for Uganda. God has provided for our entire family to take a trip to go visit TaTa.

I will try to update while we are gone, but can guarantee nothing. Thank you all for your prayers.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Family Fun






We greatly enjoy our family. We have started a new family tradition of having family camp outs on Sunday nights. Since we don't have a tent large enough for our family to sleep comfortably (and it's a little cool outside right now), we are having our camp outs in the living room, but hopefully next spring we'll be able to get a larger tent and find someplace local where we can take the family and our dog with us to camp out.

September Parades

September is the month for celebrations in our community. We have two local parades we were able to attend and the children had a blast. The first parade, Kara was able to ride in and throw candy. The second parade the kids enjoyed working together to collect as much candy as they could. Kara keeps telling everyone that she is going to share the candy with the boys and girls in Uganda when we leave next week.Ezekiel and I were waiting for the parade to begin.


Kara running out to collect the candy while Andy faithfully holds the bag. I'm not quite sure what Lydia's job was.
The kids loved all the bouncy inflatables at both parades.
I just had to show you Ezekiel loves eating the bounty from the garden -- especially the red tomatoes. We had to keep him blocked from entering the kitchen until I had my tomatoes canned because he kept going after them. I was continuously finding him eating my tomatoes.
Kara in her first parade. You can see her in the front corner of the wagon.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Children's Museum

After the girls first violin lesson this year, we took the afternoon and took the kids to the children's museum. They had a blast as you can see below.
Ezekiel playing in the house we built

Kara building a house
Lydia and Andy helping to build the house
Andy our little tree frog
Lydia a little monkey

It's a Dog's Party


Thank you everyone who let me know who you are. Our curiosity has been partially satisfied :)

Ok, I will be having lots of posts in a short amount of time.

Back in August, our small community had a special day dedicated to dogs called Bark in the Park. They literally had several vendors dedicated to selling doggy treats, apparel, and other doggy services. They also had paw painting, hot dog diving, and the opportunity to swim in the pool with your dog (obviously this was the last day before they drained the pool).

Shalom had an interesting day and while she enjoyed the bobbing for hot dogs, she did not appreciate swimming in the pool with JA.