Howdy!

I haven’t really provided a person-by-person update so I thought that this might be an appropriate time to do so. From youngest to oldest:

Collin: He is probably doing better than anyone. He says that he likes it here and enjoys going to school. He is so diligent that learning and doing schoolwork is actually fun to him. He has more “stars” at school than any other student, and his teachers really like him. He eats better here than in the US and likes Ugandan food more than anyone else in our family. He still cries a lot, and I guess that he will always be the baby of the family. Many of the Ugandans think that he is a girl because of his hair and delicate features. (They sometimes think that Blake is a girl, too, which doesn’t set well with Blake!). They love to come up and touch Collin’s soft, blonde hair. Collin likes being with his family and having routine, and now that we are starting to get a routine of sorts, he is doing well.

Addison: Addison would probably be happy anywhere on earth, and so he is fine in Uganda. We were having some discipline issues with Addison the first few weeks here, but he is doing much better now. He still has moments when he has bursts of anger and a lack of self control, but the moments are much less frequent. He also likes school and has several friends there. He is very competitive in soccer and apparently pretty good, because it is sometimes Addison vs. the rest of his class. We really need to expose our family to orphan work because they have not really gotten any exposure to ministry beyond the campus work. He asks when we are going to help the orphans.

Blake: Blake doesn’t like Uganda and is quick to let us know. He asks almost everyday if/when we are going back to Niceville. He says that if we ever visit that he will run away on the day that we go to the airport and hide out until we leave. He plans to live with either Ethan Shelton or Zander Huff. He doesn’t have a preference as long as he can be in Niceville with his friends. It looks like he is having fun to me, but he never wanted to leave Niceville and often looks back. I think that he will do better with time, especially if we can do some “African things” like safari, fishing, or finding cool lizards or birds. He is doing well in school, even though he hates it. His reading and writing have improved dramatically in just two months. His teacher pushes him, and he doesn’t like it. She sees that he can do better than he thinks he can. He has a good friend at school that lives next door (Musa) and they play most days. Please pray that he will find joy in being here.

Christian: Christian has good days and bad days. Sometimes he seems to be content and doing well, then other times he is quite homesick. On the homesick days he says that he hates Africa. Much like Blake, I think that he will do better when we get to really see Africa. He had lots of expectations of seeing African wildlife before we left America, and we just don’t really get to see Africa in this city of Kampala. We all hope that God leads us to a different part of Uganda or Africa, though we know this is where we are to be now. Christian relates very well to the Ugandans, especially the men in their twenties. He is doing well in school and likes his teacher. We will try to set him up an aquarium soon and get a parrot. He also needs to see purpose in us being here, so getting more involved in ministry will provide purpose to our drastic change in life circumstances.

Pamela: (I will let her tell you how she is doing rather than me trying to assess.) Well, how am I doing? Let’s just say that I am most thankful that Christ is the stability of my times because it has been so hard for us here. Each day, I have died to the flesh that wants to look back and instead I seek to embrace God’s truth for each day and for this time. As a mother, I carry not only my own emotions of what is going on here but the emotions of our boys who have struggled as well. Although, our feelings are similar, I find that as I seek to encourage them in the truth of God’s calling on our lives I am speaking God’s truth over myself. It is my heart’s desire to be at peace here and begin to minister here in Uganda. On the occasions that we have had opportunity to minister, I have found myself so encouraged in our mission. So, I know that in time as we get settled and begin to minister on a regular basis, we will also begin to feel more at home here.

With the holidays coming, I have often found myself teary as I think of our family and friends gathering without us but once again, I must focus on Christ and what He has called us to. There are so many sacrifices being made in this calling and Christ name being exalted among all the tribes is worth everyone. He is worthy and we will press on in this journey enduring the heartache of being away from you all at this time. We do hope that many of you are beginning to get your passports ready for travel our way this spring or summer. Our boys have been asking often if someone would be coming for Christmas. I know a familiar face from home would cheer all our hearts.

We live next to a compound of a woman and small child. The little boys name is “Davey”. Every time we leave our compound and pass by his, he comes running and waving his little hand. He is about two years old. Last Saturday, I took a gift for Davey and his mother and went for a visit. I took Addison and Collin with me giving them a chance also to find purpose in what God has called us here to do. We sat on the concrete porch, shared our gifts and our hearts for sometime. It was so refreshing to me to have the opportunity to connect with this Ugandan woman. Her neighbor saw me there on the porch and came to visit as well. I look forward to opportunities to share with them in the future.

I would like to say thank you to the many who contributed various gift items for us to distribute here. We have had opportunity to share some already and as I have organized them I have thought of many ways to use them. Thank you for allowing us to bless others through your generosity. In time, I will share testimony and photos of this gift-giving ministry.

Kevin: I am kind of like Christian, with good days and bad days. So far, it seems like we are spending way too much time trying to just live and far too little time in ministry. It doesn’t seem very efficient or meaningful. It is very clear that God needed us to have preparation time before plowing into ministry. We have been humbled and taught to wait upon the Lord while we seek where to minister. It looks like I will be preaching on a regular basis and have ample Bible teaching opportunities with KIU. I am also making more and more business connections and trying to discern where God is leading in that area. Some good news for me…I have lost twenty pounds since we arrived here and at 220 pounds am the lightest that I have been in over a decade. I am more active, eat less, and have had several bouts with stomach ailments to contribute to the reduction.

House status: We have our electrical inverter set up now, so we have lights 24/7. We just got our washing machine hooked up yesterday so we can stop washing by hand. We hope to have our dryer available soon. We cannot use many of our appliances when we are on inverter such as iron, washing machine, or water heaters. However, we can make coffee and use our DVD player. We are close to having all of our boxes unpacked with mostly just books remaining. We cannot do them until we get some bookshelves. We are not sure whether to have them made or to purchase them. The furniture quality is quite variable and you can never be quite sure what you are purchasing. We haven’t found a dog yet, but we are looking. We will likely wait on a black lab puppy that will be available in February but would also like to get another more mature dog for now. Also, it is rainy season and it rains everyday. It is nice because it keeps it cool, but the mud is getting annoying. It is supposed to stop in December and get much warmer.

LIVE UPDATE: We are writing this blog from a swimming pool that we joined, and the boys just found their first chameleons. They are so excited and Blake just announced that this is “the best day yet!” God is good to give such a simple thing that brings much joy! They are having a blast putting the chameleons on different colored clothing and watching them change colors. The Ugandans are terrified that we would let our boys play with something so dangerous since they think all lizards are poisonous.