El Pollo Loco for Passover?

As the Britton family, we've never celebrated Easter Sunday in Long Beach, CA. My Mom is so excited to be coloring eggs, filling baskets, and buying Easter clothes for the kids.

Happy Grammie!

Mom has had so much fun she couldn't resist buying this singing chicken that also lays eggs, "Squawk! There it is!"

Tomorrow morning we will celebrate at the Long Beach church by enjoying breakfast and an egg hunt for the kids and an afternoon ham supper here at Mom's house with the extended family.

The kids with their Easter baskets complete with dyed eggs.

The kids have had lots of questions about the eggs and the Easter Bunny and how they managed to get all mixed up with the resurrection of Jesus. It's been interesting to explain some of the history and spend time with them focusing on how we can celebrate Jesus' gift of life to us while also encouraging them to enjoy the festivities with their friends and their grandma. (We've never celebrated "Easter" as a family, but "Resurrection Sunday").

Joe Powers blessed us by dropping by tonight with beautiful Easter Lilies! Thanks Mr. Powers!

Last Thursday we threw some additional confusion into the holiday mix when we attended a Sader at the Long Beach church. Geoff and I had experienced a Sader about 15 years ago, but the kids had never been.  We had a front row seat as we participated by being at the head table and serving as the "mother," "child," and "narrator" of the event, which was led by David Cron.

Toby reads the part of the child during the Sader 

I lit the candles as I read the part of the mother.

It was an excellent opportunity to teach the kids about the history of the Sader and how the symbols used have even more indepth meaning in the fulfilled promise of the Messiah.

This was a happier Sader moment than the one in which Kevin took a HUMONGOUS bite of  horseradish and was brought to tears!

To be honest, I was not looking forward to the Sader meal as I assumed lamb would be served (one of my least favorite meats.) At home, before we left for the Sader, I was wondering aloud about how I would graciously handle eating something I don't like. My Mom (who also doesn't enjoy eating lamb) was happy to announce that we would NOT be eating lamb, but El Pollo Loco--at which point I busted out laughing!!!! I was as confused about how crazy chicken got mixed up in a traditional Jewish meal, as my kids were about how the Easter Bunny and eggs got mixed up in Jesus' resurrection!! As it turns out, the Sader at the Long Beach church is celebrated with each element in small portions only while the symbols are explained, and the event is given historical perspective with songs and narrative. The organizers have found that the easiest type of meal to have catered is chicken, beans and tortillas from the local El Pollo Loco restaurant. Who knew!

There was great audience participation as many took turns leading the song "Dayeinu" This particular enthusiastic rendition by Ian Hay and Bob Rash inspired Geoff to lean over and whisper to me, "This is the part of the Sader where I bet REAL wine greatly contributes to the festivities." 

It was a great night!
--Mary

FRIENDS

One thing that a life as a missionary has shown us is the value of friendship.  Over the past 7 years we have met some of the most amazing people, fellow missionaries, visitors to Uganda, church families who host us during our visits to the states and many others.  It is a huge blessing!  But one thing that has also proven to be true is the difficulties in saying good bye.  As awesome as it has been to meet all these wonderful people it is equally difficult to say good bye.  Relationships are built but inevitably we must say good bye as the visits are over, peoples time in Uganda ends or the season of serving along side us comes to a close.  One thing I never thought of when we began our journey as missionaries was the hardship of saying good bye so often.

As we traverse this life God has given us, many seek earthly treasures building up wealth, houses, cars, planning vacations and retirement.  All things I can not fault people for, but one thing I have found that carries more value than physical wealth is the gift God gives us in people.  So close to God’s heart are His people that He even tells us that blessing others is the same as blessing Him.  There will be times of prosperity as well as lack but I will forever be wealthy due to the people God has given me in my life.  My wife and children first, but also all the great people God has brought across my path.  

Yesterday was special as we were able to spend the day with some great people who all have one thing in common, Jesus and the love for Uganda.  Despite all the good byes we have experienced in ministry there are those that you really never say good bye to.  Those who God really joins in your heart, that was what yesterday was about.  Some we had not seen for over 2 years, others much sooner but as we prayed together,  shared what’s happening, talked of struggles and the direction for tomorrow it felt like home.  

Thanks to Katie Catalina for bringing us together and the Mitchells for making the long drive.  Uncle ‘Nique, and Auntie Chick-pea you are wonderful Aunts to my kids and great friends to Mary and me.  To all reading this may God give you the appreciation for the people God brings into your life and bless you just as I have been blessed. 

--Geoff

How the Search Engine Rocked Our World

I don't need to tell you that Google is a "'stinkin' awesome" tool. Your own experience resonates with that truth. But, what I do want to tell you is how it recently exponentially delivered for us.

All of us give of ourselves daily through sacrifices of time, money, insight, expertise, love...the list goes on. Each gift is a personal reflection of our priorities and unique God-given talents. At the end of the proverbial day, what refills, refuels, and refreshes a giver is the act itself of having given--the satisfaction of bettering a life.

When the "business" you're in is giving good news--the TRUE good news of Jesus, the dividends are endless on your investment. A parallel truth remains, however, that for those who consistently give, though the intrinsic reward is great, there is also a time to receive, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven," Ecclesiastes 3:1.

As we prepared to take a furlough from our life and work at New Hope Uganda, on our "must have" radar was a Bible conference for Geoff and me.  Solid teaching that would refill, refresh, and refuel us was a desire for which we would not compromise, so Geoff began searching "Google" for conferences. He searched by date, topic and speaker and narrowed it down to three from which to choose. I won't mention the others, but it's pretty much a "no brainer" when you have some fairly solid line-ups in various states and one of them is Hawaii. We'd never heard of HIM (Hawaiian Islands Ministries), but when we saw that the speaker list included names like Francis Chan, Tony Campolo, Gary Chapman, Jack Deere and Tenth Avenue North it just added to the "no-brainier" component of the decision!

Although we've traveled to many places, Geoff and I have never been to Hawaii and it has been a real treat to enjoy a new place together. The conference started on Thursday with a special session for pastors and their spouses. We received encouraging teaching throughout the day and also met some wonderful people during the lunch break. Compassion sponsored the session and we were blessed to meet two of their leaders who are based in southern California not too far from where we are right now. They introduced us to Dan Chun who, with his wife, founded HIM 30 years ago. Given that most attendees have been coming for years, and that most of them are from the Islands, it was quite fun to tell him that we are from Uganda and were at the conference for the first time because of a Google search!

Over and over we met friendly new people who are doing great things in and for the Kingdom of God. Sharing stories and a few details of the ministries we're involved in was an unexpected blessing for us! We threw a few of our prayer cards in my purse as we were packing on Wednesday, just in case someone showed an interest. Of the 50+ cards we brought, we have only a small handful remaining! We were surprised at the genuine interest people showed in us and New Hope. Megan, whom we affectionately termed  the "elevator lady" because we first met her in the elevator in our hotel, and then we just kept running into her, wants to have a group of kids she ministers to write letters and send gifts to our kids. Alanna, Kaleigh, Keoki and Kate--young ladies whom I met when God moved me to speak out of my comfort zone and I found them to be passionate of heart and action. A beautiful Japanese couple serving in the pastorate and loving the people in their church, Couples who have been in ministry for 25, 35, and 45 years! Two ministers named Daven, pronounced differently, not related and of two different generations, but working together in ministry. One of them asked what we needed--we just came to get some good teaching and certainly weren't expecting to give anyone a "wish list"! He has already been in email contact with some pretty exciting possibilities. A photographer, Phil Spalding who has a joyful countenance and kept us smiling. A precious woman who creates beautiful T-shirts with powerful messages combining Hawaiian culture with scripture--her husband serves with the police. Numerous seminar speakers whom we had the privilege of meeting and sharing stories with and two couples Brent and Linda and Rich and Denise whom we seem to have met because of God's own appointment given the connection we enjoyed in a matter of moments. And some sweet random people on the escalator who decided to take our prayer card to the morning prayer session where we were prayed for! I know this first hand because someone tapped me later in the day as I was going down the escalator and excitedly told me, "Hey! We prayed for you a LOT this morning!" I'm humbled. Only God knows all the reasons we were so abundantly blessed!

One thing I DO know is that if I EVER get an opportunity to attend a HIM conference again, I'll jump on it without a second thought! The sessions started at 8 a.m. and ended just before 10 p.m.!  The schedule was packed and Geoff and I took time and prayer in deciding which sessions to choose from as almost 20 offerings were available each time! We ate from God's word as we heard His truths shared by Francis Chan, Tony Campolo, Don Cousins, Doug Fields, Patti Pierce, Nancy Duarte, Victor Marx, Jim Burns, Don Piper, Gary Chapman, and Jeff Schulte. Worship was led by Cory Oliveros and was beautiful. We are so thankful to have "happened" upon this conference-- all by God's design, of course.

Some people go to Hawaii for the beaches, the weather, the outdoor sports and personal enjoyment, but we have found the spiritual wealth and a passion for Jesus in the Islands that has amazed us!  Praise God for having led us here!

These two men, along with many others, spent a full day in prayer for the conference 

--Mary