Long Time, No Blog

First off, I wish to apologize for our lack of communication. We have been without internet access for 2 or 3 weeks now for two reasons. The first reason is that our at-home internet quit working, but has now been corrected…hopefully for good. The second reason is that we could not do email away from home because water was spilled on my Apple laptop almost two weeks ago. It is still not working, and we are very concerned. I took it to a reputable computer shop and they said that it could cost hundreds of dollars to repair. However, they also told me that if the computer is accessed that any applicable warranties will be null and void. Therefore, we are trying to determine the proper way to approach this dilemma by ascertaining as to whether or not we even have a warranty. If not, then we will try to get it repaired here and then resort to shipping back to America if that fails. Please pray that it will be a simple fix.

It has been so long since I last wrote that I am not sure where to start. We did go on a 4-day safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda and had a wonderful experience. We saw lots of elephants from a very close distance. We also found a family of lions one evening and were able to get within about 12 feet of them. There were two adults and two cubs. We got some great pictures. The park we were in did not have zebras or giraffes, but we saw plenty of everything else including antelope, buffalo, waterbucks, warthogs, and hippos. We also saw a large monitor lizard and two pythons. We stayed in a very nice safari lodge that sat on a bluff overlooking the park. It was a tremendous experience and a nice retreat. The drive was pleasant too, as we were able to view some awesome scenery and the picturesque Rwenzori Mountains along the Congo/Uganda border. This is an incredibly beautiful country once you get outside of the city. The soil is rich, the trees are huge, and the flowers are abundant. I hope that we get additional opportunities to see more of Africa in the future.

The boys are back in school this week and “summer break” is over. We are already seeing the evidence of how much more ministry time this allows. We have had some exciting things develop in recent weeks and we are getting more established in university ministry. Please pray for us as we seek God’s location for a Christian student center, which is our highest priority at this time.

Tony Gibson, President of Heart of the Bride Ministries (our sending agency) spent last week with us. We had some great meetings with potential partners in orphan ministry. We met a young lady named Grace who shared an encouraging and uplifting testimony of how God led her to help rescue street people in Kampala. They are mostly widows and their children, as well as orphans, and she has helped a total of 792 people. These are people who were displaced by war in the northern part of the country and came to the capital city hoping to find work and a better life. Unfortunately, they found out that being homeless and jobless in Kampala is worse than being in the war-torn north. They had been living destitute lives of begging and poverty with no hope of returning to their homes. Grace worked with the Ugandan government and several humanitarian organizations to get them transportation (it’s a 12-hr drive away), land, housing, food, clothing, and blankets. She is now striving to start a school and an orphanage for the nearly 300 children who have no parents. It is truly an amazing testimony of faith and prayer as she had no money or political connections and relied totally on God.

We have received communication that our next container was successfully shipped from Niceville this past weekend. Huge thanks to Karen van de Voorde, Dan Brink and crew for getting it properly sent. I am scared to start listing everyone who helped until I know for sure because I will undoubtedly leave out a name. It is mostly full of gym equipment that we will use in the student center. It also contains some items that we were missing from America, like cereal and chocolate chips. Thank you to the many people who helped contribute to our needs and wants. I haven’t received all of the information on who helped, but I did hear that my former SAIC office in Shalimar and the Koinonia ABF were major providers. I will properly thank all of you very soon now that our communication has been reestablished. Speaking of which…I am very concerned that many of my email messages are not reaching their intended recipients. I have sent numerous emails that I would have expected a reply to. I have called some people and know that they did not receive the email. I need to find a more reliable way to ensure that messages are getting out. This is troubling and aggravating.

Paska has not killed any more monkeys, but we were scared that baboons were coming after us while on safari. While driving along the road, we stopped to get pictures of a large group of baboons (what do you call a group of monkeys?). We had some french fries in the car and the boys were trying to feed them. Well, one of the mommy baboons decided to get a little closer and jumped onto the car and was about to come in the window. Pamela was busy getting the camera ready when she looked up to see a baboon inches from her face. Fortunately the baboon decided that the hood was close enough and afforded us an opportunity to get some up-close photographs. It was quite an experience.

I will write more soon and start providing more regular updates. For now, know that we are doing very well and feeling quite adjusted. We have made many new friends, both Americans and Ugandans. God leads us to new people on a daily basis and in interesting ways. Homesickness has greatly subsided, though we still miss our family and friends very much. The care packages in recent weeks really helped lift our spirits and gave us a taste of home. We received our most recent package from the Finleys in Colorado just as we were leaving for our safari. We have been drinking iced tea and Kool Aid, eating chocolate chip cookies, and were able to make a cake for Addison’s birthday party that was just held this past weekend. Pamela and I were just commenting today on how quickly the time is passing. The first two months were very difficult for many reasons. November and December brought the holidays and a lot of homesickness. However, January was a blur, and we are already a week into February. Our student ministry plan is getting quite firm, and opportunities to help with orphan ministry are coming frequently. It seems that we have turned a corner and are doing much better. I am not sure when it occurred, but probably as soon as Christmas was over and the university students returned. We are excited about what God has before us and appreciate your many prayers for our family. God is working in tremendous ways and it is imperative that we hear from Him and know His will and plan for our path forward.

Blessings to you all!