Kevin is fascinated by birds. There was a beautiful one on top of our roof. They stood looking at each other for quite awhile until the bird flew away and Kevin went on with the rest of his exploration for the day . . .

Acacia and Anya enjoying their stuffed animals during their extended sleep over!!! We started before supper on Friday night and she stayed and played until almost 4 pm the next day!!!! What great friends!

Kevin and Toby crawled back into bed last Saturday morning and built star wars legos. It was so nice to have the boys and girls playing and enjoying their time together.

Usually on Saturdays Geoff gets up early and works in the garden. That's his therapy after a busy week. Unfortunately, on this particular Saturday a trip to Kampala was in order. He bought stuff for the house and some items for kids' bike repair (an ongoing activity here.) It turned out to be an enjoyable Saturday for all of us.

Two of our David family girls had a banana muffin business over the recent school holiday and brought in $25.00 of profit. This is almost enough for them to buy a small exotic pig. That's their plan at the moment. Our pigs from the enterprise farm will be producing in about a month and after a time with the mother will be available for purchase. It's great to see our kids looking forward and planning for their futures!!!!

Today is the graduation of the current New Hope Institute of Childcare and Family. Our kids are very excited to go as their "Uncle Nique" (Monique) is part of the class. Our duplex neighbors, Tony and Sarah Muwanguzi are also graduating as is Amy Zilverburg, a special friend who has been involved with our David family while she's been here. Pray for these and their classmates as they move on---taking great strides in growth and understanding of their Father God's heart for them and the orphan and widow. Pray for our three kids as it is always difficult for them to say goodbye to good friends. (Tony and Sarah of course aren't going anywhere, but Monique and Amy and the others who came from around the world will be returning home).

Blessings to you,

The Brittons

THANK YOU!!!!

Well you can say that we are a bit late on these, but if I have any encouragement for myself is that we are actually getting it done (even if it is late)

THANK YOU’s need to go out to a couple of people that have shown some extra special generosity and care for both our children here at New Hope and the staff that labor so diligently to bring the Fatherhood of God to the fatherless.

My mother (Geoff that is) took on this project at Christmas time and the kids loved it so much, she made shirts for each one of us in David family. The shirts have our name on the front and then David family on the back. Yesterday we finally got everyone together for a picture wearing our shirts. Since the sickness and the accident we really struggled to get this done, but now that we are fully recovered from both we made it happen. After the photo we all watched Prince Caspian the movie, ate pop corn and drank soda. David family just finished reading the book together and we promised them after reading the book we could watch the movie.

Another big thank you goes out to Mary’s mother who helped the staff women with a bible study by Beth Moore. 33 of our staff ladies were able to participate, be sharpened and were all incredibly blessed by the gift. Often in ministry those ministering are left behind by the work due to the busy schedule and focus on the children, so having an opportunity for them to be ministered to was fantastic. Thanks Mom!!!!

Another long over due thank you is to a Colorado business “Above and Beyond Sewing” who donated some sewing machines to our tailoring program. The bulk of the program is designed around simple machines that are powered by your feet. Jut like grandma use to use, these machines are treadle powered. But Above and Beyond donated 3 serger machines that have helped in our advanced training. The girls now have the opportunity to learn some specialized skills that a small percentage of tailoring students in Uganda receive.

Thank you to all of you who faithfully support us, the work here in Uganda, around the world and even in your own backyard. One of the things I truly love about being in this type of ministry is watching everyone come together for the good of the Kingdom and the children God has placed in our care. May God bless you all

At the source

Jinja, Uganda, boasts the source of the Nile. A perfect place to go to reconnect and relax with fellow missionaries who claim God as their one true source.

Last week we spent 4 days in Jinja at our annual foreign staff retreat. We enjoyed swimming, talking, laughing, relaxing and eating together as we took some time away from our responsibilities at New Hope Uganda. This most recent family picture was taken at Bujagali Falls.





One afternoon as we all enjoyed our swimming, Geoff "gently encouraged" Kevin to squirt Kathryn Brown with a very effective water gun!!! Kathryn then schemed with Toby to return the "favor." On Saturday morning most of the staff anticipated the moment when we lured Geoff unaware, to the poolside to see what the kids were leaning over intently to see. Just one little push from Steve Brown sent Geoff into the deep end of the pool ...and the kids and everyone else got to see what they were intently waiting to see, paybacks to Geoff!!




It's difficult to distinguish faces in this picture, but it gives you an idea of how much the ministry has grown in recent years. It's quite an undertaking to get all of us together for the few days we meet in Jinja, but so worth it. We are all so engaged in our different areas of ministry here at New Hope that we might go days without seeing some of the staff. It is especially important to connect now and then with those who come from the same culture, and so the retreat enhances our relationships with one another in a unique way.

new and improved??? . . . well . . .

Yes, we now have a DIFFERENT internet set up, but better???? Not sure on that one. It now only works in one place in the house . . . on top of our very large oversized dresser in the living room. You must stand up to use it as the height of the VERY LARGE OVERSIZED dresser is too tall for the ordinary chair. Why is the VERY LARGE OVERSIZED dresser in the living room???? Because it is soooo big it won’t fit through the door of the bedroom for which it was intended. Why do we have such a big dresser? Because we have a disease called, “acquire furniture too big to fit comfortably in your house.” We’ve had this disease since we lived in our very small 800 sq ft domicile in Pueblo, CO. There, we bought furniture so large that when it came time to sell the house, the real estate agent suggested we move a few pieces out to help sell the structure. She must have known something because the house sold in 7 days.

Once we move into our new house, the dresser will fit in our bedroom. Mostly because it is a straight shot from the VERY LARGE front door, down the WIDE hallway to the BIG door of our bedroom. And the house is scheduled to be ready to move into in 4 weeks. YEP, just like Chinese food is always ready in “10 minute”, our house is perpetually ready in “4 weeks.” I’ll believe it when I’m moving boxes and VERY LARGE furniture. And, hopefully, in our new larger domicile, our furniture will fit comfortably and our internet will work in more than one place in the abode.