BRITTON CURRENT EVENTS

The Ultra-Spiritual Missionary and her dog

2012-01-19T08:56:00.003-08:00

You know, if I wanted to impress you that I'm a really great missionary I'd do a "Day In The Life" blog entry. I'd choose to highlight a Sunday because, in this missionary's life that's a day laden with spiritually meaningful activity.

But instead, taste with me some of our more mundane life stressors. Before anyone is tempted to think crazy thoughts such as life as a missionary in East AFrica MUST certainly be continually exciting and perhaps even "glamourous," permit me to infuse a bit o' ridiculous reality.

We own a spayed dog (we are responsible missionaries at the very least.) In the last two years she has developed a very common side effect of spaying--incontinence (extreme glamour). Our good friend Dale, a vet in TX, bless him, provided us with more than a years worth of medicine to control the problem. Back in November I noted the medicine would run out mid-January and knowing there is "no hurry in Africa" I immediately contacted the vet here in Kampala. She said it was on order and to call back in December, which I did. "None yet, call back in January." I called two days ago and her assistant delivered GREAT NEWS -- they had it in stock! But, yesterday the vet herself called me to say that her assistant was mistaken and the order was still missing. I had just given Bubbly (the dog) her last tablet. StReSs level INCREASE! Yes, we have cement floors and no carpet, but that is not enough to chill me out at the thought of cleaning up "accidents" for an indefinite amount of time!!!!

I shot a panic email to the Z's, fellow New Hope missionaries scheduled to fly this Friday. Then I called Dale in TX to make the request for the medicine. No one answered the phone, but I left a message and sent a follow-up email. He never heard the phone message, but saw the email within the hour. Within four hours he had sent the med FedEx to the Z's and I'm looking at NOT having to clean up any accidents (of THAT type at least) for the next year!!!! Hallelujah for God's miracles especially amongst the little things in life!!!!

That was about 5 hours of stress I endured not because I was praying for a child, or mentoring someone, or tending to the sick, or teaching or preparing a Bible study lesson, but because I was out of the medicine needed by our canine with a pea-sized brain. Yup, being a missionary means just one exciting thing after another!!!

A Day in Kampala

2012-01-10T09:41:00.001-08:00

A trip into Kampala every four weeks is a must for us. Not because we so totally enjoy the city, but because there are some items in the "BIG" city we cannot buy out here in the village. The trip in and out is colorful, stressful, DUSTY in the dry season and full of traffic jams. Enjoy a quick vicarious trip with us into Uganda's capital city.
The City sky-line.

Traffic!!!! Everyone tries to selfishly edge their way in!!

Shoprite--one of the staple shops for western foods.

No day in Kampala is complete without being stopped by the police!

buying shoes out of garbage bags on the side of the road!!

cows, a roadside hazard

hauling water

We buy most of our fruits and vegetables at roadside stands on the way home from Kampala at the end of the day

A motorcycle is a very common mode of transport. The woman in the picture is tying up her traditional dress-gomesi-in preparing to ride.
DUST!!!!!! You can't avoid it! Our last 18km is a dirt road and is VERY DUSTY in the dry season (December-Feb)

Hope you enjoyed this short trip with us!

Abundance for 2012

2012-01-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was walking in my garden praying, enjoying the cooler morning air I was drawn to a certain banana plant that is growing there. To give you a bit of explanation, bananas grow on a plant that is continually starting new plants around the base of the large one. Typically you find one mature plant with other young ones of different ages around it. The interesting thing about this plant is that there seemed to be three mature plants in one. These three plants all are bearing fruit of a large size--highly unusual. As I looked at the plant I felt I could hear God speaking to me about our lives. What I felt was that this plant was symbolic of the coming year, 2012 for the Britton family. God is going to bring abundance...

Often when someone talks about abundance or prosperity, our minds are drawn to physical wealth. We think of big cars, full bank accounts and large screen televisions. But when living day in and day out with the poorest of the poor, expectations come in a different form. Animist cultures (such as Uganda) typically live life in a state of fear concerning the spirit world, often living a life of appeasement to the spirits before them. The impressions of “God” are of a police officer keeping them in line, where if they get out of line punishment comes. But the Bible paints such a different picture of our God. The Bible tells us that God leads the bound into prosperity and that when we delight ourselves in the Lord He will give us the desire of our hearts (Psalms 68 & 37). For the poorest of the poor they are only hoping to not annoy the spirits, and often can’t imagine God giving them good things. Much of the prosperity message has not left room for other biblical topics like suffering or hardships. The poor of the world have struggled to find themselves within the message and actually believe they are poor because they are cursed or have done something wrong. The problem is not the message of prosperity, but the way we view prosperity, and, for many, the way we view God. God is inherently good and despite our opinion of what it means to prosper, He desires good things for our lives. If we don’t truly believe God is good and has a good plan, when suffering or hardship comes we quickly lose sight of God’s goodness. We question, “what have I done?” and we struggle to trust and believe for a good outcome rather than draw close to Him and feed on His faithfulness (Ps 37) How do you see God? Do you see a good Father who enjoys giving good things to His children (Matthew 7) or are you just hoping to survive?

As God has spoken the word of abundance into my life, I am not so much expecting financial riches (though I won’t refuse). I am expecting an abundance of fruit, a deepening relationship with the God who loves me and along the way having more than enough for my physical needs, enabling me to share with those around me.

Today God used me to deliver a message to our church here in Uganda that I am praying will truly kick start our year. Encouraging our church, which is dominated by the poor and orphans, that God is good and we need to approach Him with that understanding. The understanding of God being a good father (Matt 7) who gives good gifts to His children. Feeling free in his presence to ask for and believe that He will provide good. And to understand that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11), are you willing to seek Him? May 2012 be a year of seeking and finding. A year of God’s provision in all areas of life spiritual, emotional and physical.

Picture Captions

2011-12-18T05:15:00.000-08:00

This will give the captions to the photos I included in the previous blog. Seems I am still not able to say I am completely adept at this whole apple thingamajig.

#1 A beautiful sea star on the south coast of Kenya. It seems to be waving to you!

#2 Toby! Toby received an award at the primary school for Best Library User in his class. We are very proud of him for his efforts to study and be a part of the primary school!

#3 A gorgeous sunrise at Sand Island Tiwi Beach, where we were able to spend a week relaxing in the HOT sun.

#4-#5 A Christmas tree for you made out of sea stars!!! We had an opportunity to snorkel off the reef. God's creation is breathtaking!!! Barracuda, anemones, urchins, sting rays, parrot fish, clown fish, bat fish, crabs, sea snakes, angelfish and so much more that I can't remember them all!

#6 On December 2nd we celebrated the graduation of the students in S4 ( the equivalent of 10th grade.) This is a major milestone in their education and we host a banquet in their honor. This year the girls dressed up at our house and I'm thankful to have such a part in their special day!

#7 The New Hope Institute of Childcare and Family graduated their second class this year in Mid-November. They are commissioned to go out and live the things they've learned and to be ambassadors of the truths of God. In this picture is a time of prayer for the students.

#8 -#9 - #10 The New Hope Vocational Institute held their graduation on November 30th and 14 students graduated in the areas of catering, building and concrete placement, carpentry and tailoring. This particular class was highlighted as one exhibiting an excellent work ethic. The parents were quite proud of their children and swamped them as they received their certificates and congratulations. Picture #10 is of one of our children from Kasana Children's Center (many of the vocational students have not been a part of New Hope until their entry to the vocational school.) Mugabe has been at Kasana since 2003 and graduated in building and concrete placement. He is currently working on a small building project with another one of the graduates.

#11 Vicki Dangers and I took time to pose for a snapshot at the NHICF graduation. We value our friendship highly, yet can't seem to find enough time to spend together!!! We felt like a photo needed to mark our being in the same place at the same time!

#12 Also in mid-November we celebrated as a community the completion of our reading together of the Chronological Bible! The day was filled with dramas, song and testimony from our own children, those who listen to our radio station (Musana FM), church members and local community leaders. I shared about Jennifer's (one of our David Family girls) new-found love of reading the scriptures. She told of how she rarely read the Word before we began reading chronologically together, but now she loves to read and looks forward to what is revealed to her as she reads.

#13 We said good-bye to Jenny Aitken, an RN who had been working here for the past year. She was dear to our family and we were sad to see her go!

#14-#15 At the end of the year the guardians/parents of the children come to the children's center to receive the gifts that have been sent from the sponsors of the children. For those children who live on site with us, there is also a parents meeting regarding the holiday schedule and requirements. I had a very nice surprise visit one afternoon from the Jajja (grandma) of the girl we sponsor. She had not come to the parents' meeting the day before (which was not a surprise as she is in her 90s and is not always very well). She came to tell us thank you for the bed we had given her, so I made some tea and we sat together and talked. I don't understand everything she says, but she is a character and keeps me laughing anyway!! She is quite a joker! At one point she leaned over to the chair next to her and just stared. Then she exclaimed, "Banange!!" I asked her granddaughter if she was ok and she replied, "yes, she is fine, she is just amazed at your furniture!" Talk about being uncomfortable!!! Until that point I rarely thought about my furniture, but when someone who didn't even have an adequate place to sleep marvels at your chair as if it belongs in a palace, the disparity in the ways we live come glaring!!!!

#16 This is another picture of the S4 girls at our house getting ready for the banquet.

#17 Our family picture at the Indian Ocean!!!

#18 Our animals co-exist together quite well!

#19 Acacia's birthday party guests had a great time with cake, games and gifts!!!

#20-#21 After the NHVI graduation, the guests were given the opportunity to purchase items that the students had made in the course of their vocational training.

#22 Geoff holds a new size for the bags of posho flour we sell at the maize mill. A 10kg bag is a better option for smaller families and singles and so far is selling quite well.

Sorry for having to put the captions separate from the pictures. We'll see how much I can improve on this apple contraption over the next few months!!!!!

Christmas blessings to you!

Mary, for all the Brittons!

BANANGE!!!!!!

2011-12-16T21:52:00.000-08:00

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19

#20
#21
#22

Banange! Literally translated "my people" but as used colloquially is better explained "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!" -- An appropriate exclamation as I look back on this and that of the month of November and the end of the year activities around here!!

As we approached the end of the school year we prepared for graduations, end of year celebrations, parents' meetings, school closings, a New Hope Staff party, staff send-off get togethers as some left permanently, a maize roast, sending the kids off to their families in the surrounding villages, and a much-needed and well-enjoyed week of rest for our immediate family on the Kenyan coast.

I apologize that it has been awhile since you've heard anything from us in this space. I (mary) am the one typically keeping you up-to-date with our news from here and I have to confess to defeat in the whole transfer from oranges to apples. (In early November the Costa Mesa team brought us our new apple computer and we switched from HP to apple. In the process of new fruit navigation my brain became scrambled eggs.) How to load a picture, move a picture, paste, etc, etc, etc, was just too much for me to learn amidst all the activities and events of the end of the year! Banange!

Geoff and the kids open the new apple!!

Exercising Thanks

2011-10-29T02:39:00.000-07:00

Because I prefer to begin a blog with at least one picture, let me start with my thanks for the abundant harvest in our gardens!!!

Geoff, Kakande and Medie returned yesterday from our garden with some of the harvest of our black beans, yellow beans and another pumpkin!!! Soon we will be enjoying more sweet bananas and carrots!! YUM YUM

I exercised this morning. I am thankful.

I am thankful that I am able to exercise. Two and a half years ago we were in a serious automobile accident and for quite a few months I was unable to do my favorite stretches or even take a leisurely walk a short distance without pain. As I walked with my friend, Tiffany, and my dog this morning over on the farm I realized what a blessing it is to be able to walk. Then later as I was kneeling for a certain stretch exercise, I was again reminded that my ability to do so is a blessing.

I don’t take lightly my ability to freely move about.

My children are “grounded” this week from their usual weekend iPad games. They were careless with their privilege last weekend and as a result, they are spending this weekend “electronic game-free”. I smiled as I spent the morning listening to them playing nicely together – they played football and nerf missile outside and inside they enjoyed “The Dangerous Book for Boys” board game for about an hour. Then they happily trotted off to the secondary side to spend some time playing with the Anderson’s children. I am thankful that they play so well together! I am blessed by their laughter, smiles and jokes. I am glad they are free to move about as well! As I opened my journal to write this morning I found that it was the first entry I’ve made since mid-August!!!!! My previous writings were words of thanks. I looked back over the weeks since August and realized that I’ve not spent anytime at all writing down what I am thankful for, and I am the less for it! Seeing before me my neglect has been a catalyst for exercising thanks and nurturing a thankful heart—I am now on the lookout again for blessings!

This week I was able to weed in the garden with a few of the kids from David family. I so enjoy getting out in the dirt and spending some quiet moments with the kids. . . .especially because after the quietness I was blessed to talk for quite awhile with one of my favorite kids!

We were able to share supper with someone almost every night this week!!! On Monday we welcomed back Aunt Nancy who has been in the U.S. since May. We are so happy to have her back here—AND she brought us two bags of our addictive substance (STARBUCKS!!!!) On Wednesday we had Aunt Kate over and shared a meal, smiles and some prayer time. On Thursday we enjoyed Uncle John for the last time as he is leaving to return to the U.S. for an extended amount of time. He brought his DVD of Tim Hawkins—a comic who makes us laugh!!!! And last night we were blessed with one of Geoff’s former NHVI students, Kambo, and his brother. They survived eating our mzungu food after Geoff and the boys had gone out to see the land Kambo has been working on this past year. They all left this morning at 6 to travel beyond Jinja for a wedding of one of Kambo’s brothers.

So, here I am in the quiet of my house—Geoff at the wedding, kids at the Anderson’s and no visitors for the past hour or so.

Aunt Lydia and I, the wife of a fellow staff member and a dear friend, don't get to spend a great deal of time together, but we sure enjoy it when we find the time!

I am thankful to God for so many things—where we live, what our “work” is, who we live near, the kids we have the privilege of loving and teaching and all the fresh fruits and vegetables you can imagine. A fellow staff member, Uncle Godfrey, who enjoys the abundance of our garden!!! He and his wife, Olga are always looking for another branch of matooke (bananas for steaming)!!

This afternoon I am walking 4km to the Kiwoko market with Aziza—one of my very favorite kids of all time. She tells it like it is!!! Last year when all the other girls wanted me to get my hair braided in corn rows, she looked straight at me and said, “Aunt, that would look BAD!!!” When I showed up to work with her in the garden for the second week in a row (normally I am busy with other things and not able to go), she stopped her work and asked, “Aunt, WHY are you here?” and last year when I brought her a pretty little scented candle from the U.S. she queried, “Aunt, what is the purpose of this?” (After all, it was too small to read by its light). So, in a few hours I’m off to the market and most likely I will receive along the way many more things for which to be thankful, and more quotable quotes from Aziza!!!!!
Uh oh, a knock at the door . . . Oh, it is the loaf of bread I ordered from the David family bakery . . .warm and smelling heavenly!!! The reasons to be thankful just keep on coming . . .

Bless you on this day and may you find MANY things for which to give thanks!!

Multiplication

2011-10-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

A simple multiplication math lesson for our blog today . . . five years ago I taught the girls in our David Family how to make bread. They have turned it into a successful family business. One of the girls then taught our houseworker to make bread (it was easier for her to teach in Luganda--instead of me in English--as Jessca, our worker speaks limited English). This past week, a catering student from the New Hope Vocational Institute was taught by Jessca how to make bread. When Josephine (who washes our laundry) heard there was a bread-making lesson going on in the kitchen, she joined in to take notes and learn as well!!!!! I love that something I taught five years ago is still yielding fruit!!!!! (and great tasting bread!)

This past Tuesday a few of the staff ladies went to Kampala to celebrate two of our birthdays! (Jill's and mine). We ate breakfast at the Rocks and Roses Tea Room. From front left, Kim, Marian, me, Vicki, Jill

Same group and place minus me and add in Tiffany! Multiplication lesson: ladies x laughter x lots of yummy breakfast treats equals joy (and a few more calories to exercise off!)

Feeling in the mood for a natural, organic snack?? We have white ants (termites) in abundance this week! Kevin and his friends took advantage of the afternoon flight from the ground to the sky--catching and eating many!!! Multiplication PROBLEM: little children x white ants = stomach aches (but, they are good protein--they are even listed on the nutrition charts for East Africa!!)

Left to Right: Acacia, Kevin, Sammy, Joshua, Solomon

What’s up with maize

2011-10-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

I have heard that this is Mary’s blog since I never write here…Well today I thought I would dispel that rumor. One of the things that I am involved with that is a large part of what I do here is the Enterprise Maize Mill. The mill has now been functioning since 2008 and this year it began fulfilling it’s purpose. We have began funding $400 per month to the ministry general fund with expectations of that growing in the months to come. The past 2 weeks have really been busy there as the harvest has fully come in. This week we purchased about 16,000 KG.

One thing that is always interesting to see is the guys off load the truck as it arrives. To off load a shipment it usually takes 4 guys, 2 to offload the bags from the truck and then 2 to carry them into place. But this week we had a truck show up with only 3 guys and 4,000 KG, due to the shortage of workers 1 guy carried all 4,000 kg by him self. Can you imagine 225 kg at a time until 4,000 has been put away? Impressive. It is amazing how God has given some of these people the ability to work.

Right now we have over 55,000 kg in stock. That is enough maize to keep our business going for the next 4 months. The concept is buy when the maize prices are low and as the market prices increase farther from the harvest we see our profits increase.

Pray that we continue to make good business decisions as things are constantly changing and this business is key in funding the ministry into the future

New levels of understanding . . .

2011-09-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

We recently were blessed by a team of volunteers from the state of Washington. Most team members were medical professionals in some capacity and ALL of them desired to be a blessing and succeeded in being a blessing to the ministry of New Hope Uganda. They worked diligently in our Kasana clinic, serving the needs of our staff and children and then traveled quite a few hours east to hold village clinics in the vicinity of our Musana Camps site. The ways in which they gave were far-reaching, even in part only known to God Himself, as we never truly know the extent to which He uses us when we are submitted to Him.

They further blessed us as staff by showing an interest in us as individuals. In an effort to strengthen us as we work here long-term, they brought books, DVDs and CDs to give to us. Geoff and I received a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer which is absolutely fascinating and extremely encouraging as well as challenging us to deeper layers of commitment to our God. We also are devouring “Radical” by David Platt. If you haven’t read it, you NEED to get a copy and start chewing. “Radical” has motivated me to take a good, hard look at the Gospel I am teaching to the kids here at New Hope. I’ve begun analyzing my words and bent as I disciple and mentor children and staff here. What has been my overall emphasis as I teach with both my words and my life? Am I presenting a Gospel—good news—that is centered only on what God has done for us as individuals rather than moving beyond our personal salvation and setting a focus on His Kingdom agenda? Of course I have an interest in the individual hearts of the children to whom I minister. I want them to KNOW the love of God and that He is FOR them. But does that message of truth drown out the full scope of who He is, what he has done for ALL of creation, the BIG picture of His sovereignty and subsequently what He demands of us?

The other day I spent about an hour with a young man who wrestles greatly with the sin of stealing. He had come to me asking for a job in order to earn back the money he had the night before taken from a family member. First, I wanted to talk with him in order to revisit the reason for the repeated problem. We thought he had progressed past that sin and I wondered why we were back again in the struggle. This is a child whom we brought in from the village a few years ago and who has demonstrated growth in his overall attitude, behavior and interaction with others. He loves to pray for others and frequently remembers to pray for those who are battling health issues. As we talked I assumed I was speaking to a “saved” person and approached the discussion based on that assumption. After talking for a few minutes, the Holy Spirit stopped me mid-sentence and said, “Ask him if he is saved.” I did. He said, “No.” Wow. Face-to-face with the reality that sometimes I just don’t have a clue as to what is really going on in the deepest places of the hearts of the kids with whom we live!!! One on one is the best way to delve deeper to be sure!

As a side-note here, let me say that as a ministry we are currently honing and intensifying our focus on the kids--are all 500+ known by us? Where are we lacking? We sent a list around to all staff so that we could write our names next to the ones we know. Likewise, we asked to kids to name staff members with whom they comfortably relate. Some kids were identified by many staff members as known, but some of the same kids said they were not close to anyone. EYE-OPENER!!! It is true that working with “orphans” requires an understanding of the hurts unique to their histories and realizing that they often relate in a guarded, mistrusting way. We are very aware that issues of rejection become prime motivators in interaction and lack thereof. Yet, for all of our “awareness,” we still are sometimes surprised at what we find behind the smiles and agreeable words--words usually aimed at “telling the staff what they want to hear.” And often there are walls up of which we may not be aware.

Going back to my conversation with the young man. . . the entire conversation shifted with his honest admission and I was grateful. I want to KNOW him and what he is dealing with, his heart and what he has come to believe or NOT believe regarding God. I certainly didn’t want to spend time talking one thing when he was not in a mind to hear it!!! So, we backed up. Before his honest confession, we were trying to find out why he was still struggling with the same sin over and over. I now realize that there will not be victory over that sin until he allows Jesus to change him! But, he couldn’t clearly tell me who Jesus is or why He died as a sacrifice for man. Often the kids “hear” the elements of the Gospel, but they label it the “white man’s Gospel” and so tune it out, even though there is solid evidence that Christianity was present in this part of Africa hundreds of years before the first European missionaries arrived! So, I backed up further. We started in the garden. We visited Abraham and his faith. We visited Moses and the Law. We visited the Israelites and their inability to live successfully by the Law. We visited the need for One to bring us into a right relationship with our Creator God—a relationship that the Law ultimately couldn’t give. We visited the prophets and their news of the One Messiah to come who would be a perfect, once-for-all sacrifice and WHY He was qualified to be The One. We visited other religions whose leaders had also died, but DIDN’T RISE to life again!! We visited the power of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, coming and living among people and ultimately making things right again between God and His creation! From the garden to the cross and resurrection and beyond! What a journey in 40 minutes! I did not push him to tell me anything further, but I prayed for him and told him he needed to decide for himself what he would believe about Jesus. I certainly didn’t want to hear a confession of belief in Jesus just because we were sitting together and I was waiting, staring at him!!! I hate hearing words that are said for my benefit only! I’d much rather wait a long time for a real change of heart rather than a quick “Sunday School” answer complete with a “put-on” smile!!!

During this past week, he hasn’t yet said anything further to me regarding what he believes about Jesus. He worked hard last week and paid off his debt. I continue to pray for him to be TRULY changed by Jesus. It’s his decision. I invite you to pray with me for him.

So, what are we doing and what Gospel are we preaching??? Is the power of who God is and the power of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our central focus? Or are we ourselves and OUR ministry our main focus? Do we seek most of all to be “comfortable” and/or “comforted” in what we do, or are we set on responding to and doing what God has asked us to do regardless of the “stretch” it may require of us?

Just like my young friend who needs to decide what he believes about Jesus, and ultimately how he will relate to the truths of God, I leave you to also decide your response. . .

Appetizing pictures

2011-09-28T01:03:00.000-07:00

I am currently writing another blog, but in the meantime I'm posting these pictures as an appetizer! We are coming to the end of September and it has flown by! This month has seen the first four weeks of the final term of the school year, two teams of visitors, the return of a former staff member who is here to clean out their things so that they may minister to aging parents at home in the U.S., a visit to Kampala to see where the Browns are now living, two days of rest in Entebbe, and the ongoing work of the maize mill, timber mill, enterprise farm, vocational school, mentoring and teaching/preaching. In addition, I was privileged to work in the clinic two days one week in order to help out when our medical staff numbers were down.This is a bug we call, "Acacia's jackfruit bug" because we frequently find it hovering around the jackfruit trees
beautiful roses in our garden

Kathryn graciously cut off Toby's surfer hair, which I love, but he hates . . .

Havin' a bit'o tea because, for crying out loud, the Browns are English!!!!!
Acacia and Anya also enjoy a cuppa
The boys and Joel Brown hanging on the Brown's balcony in Kampala. We visited them two weeks ago in Kampala where they now live as a satellite house for our older children who have internships and advanced school in the city.
Acacia and Kevin practice a duet for their piano lessons
Toby dances to his own beat
Crystal is a great mouser! Yummy!
"Bite they lil' heads off . . ."
Bubbly gets a bath
"Do you see the trouble they put me through for NOTHING????? In five minutes I'm gonna go roll in something nasty anyway!!!"

AWESOME AUGUST!!!!!!

2011-09-03T01:03:00.000-07:00

In July, as we looked toward August, we anticipated a month full of activity!!! And so it was! Somedays I found myself just trying to "hang on" for the next thing, while other times I flowed freely from happening to happening. All in all it was a wonderful month of friends, celebration, harvest, planning, sharing and just being together!!! We culminated the month with a "mini-envisioning" meeting in which we revisited our reason for being here and looked indepth at why and how we can effectively continue to minister to the children of New Hope Uganda. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. My computer is not allowing me to see the pics, though so I hope I put the proper captions on the right pictures!!!!
Toby and Joel harvesting maize by beating it off the cob, while Medie, Acacia, Kevin and Geoff bag it for taking to the mill.
Thanksgiving with the New Hope family! We are so blessed!!

Kambo and Geoff talking about planting.
The McFarland's taking a family walk
Anya and Acacia
Anya and Acacia visit together while Anya gets her hair done . . . an almost 20 hr process over 2 days!!
Toby holding the most unusual fruit we've found to date!! Around here they call it the "upnut" because it has nuts inside and grows UP on the tree :)
The Brown's moved to Kampala :(

Movie night with David Family
holiday means a lot more visits from friends!!!

I spent a great deal of time planning school for this next term and everytime I snuck away to plan, the kids followed me . . . they LOVE to read!

The kids will read anytime, anywhere!!!
Kakulu enjoyed that his brothers and sisters from David Family were around more during the holiday, they took him on many walks . . . he and Bubbly greet each other when they walk by the house.
Ronald came over almost every afternoon of the holiday to play the guitar.
Stella and Acacia enjoyed playing together quite a bit this August holiday

Kalera's and Scovia's wedding was a beautiful event!!

Especially for Nancy!!!!!

2011-08-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

Faces you LOVE!!!!!

I have to comment on this one!!!!! Kakande gulped this soda--had it tipped in the air for quite a few seconds--and when it was complete he put the bottle down on the table and shouted, "AMINA!" and we all busted out laughing!!!

We love you Aunt Nancy!!!!! Thank you for your letters!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-08-15T02:11:00.000-07:00

What are you thankful for today?? This month?? This year??? As a New Hope family we took time this month to reflect on our blessings and together said THANK YOU to our loving Father!!!! We held a special Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. Families, departments, family groups, community groups, neighborhoods and individuals built "booths" (based on the Tabernacle of Booths celebrated by the Israelites in the Old Testament) to show our thanks to God for what He has done for us this year. We filled our booths with various items including pictures, signs listing our specific thanks, garden harvests, plans for the future and victories from this past year. After marching into the church area and praising God for quite awhile, we heard powerful individual testimonies to God's goodness, as well as commissioning our Emmanuel Youth Outreach team for their outreach next week in Masaka. Uncle Jonnes also informed us of the continued ministry of the radio and we took an offering for special projects in the communities included in the area where the radio signal is transmitted. After an energizing time of praise and worship we moved out to the compound where all the booths were set up, and we visited each one to see what the Lord has done in and through us this past year as members of New Hope and the church community! We finished out the day with a meal of which most of the food was provided by our own gardens!!!!! We wish you all could have been here!!!!

Thanksgiving list of the primary 2 school students

Anthony praising as we enter the church

There were little booths being built all over the place!!!! Everyone wanted to take part!!!

Great friends in David family walk to the church area together

The Baby House booth highlighted their thanks by showing pictures of the babies for which they care. On the right Jay, Vicki and Julia Dangers.

Mercy, one of our children in the baby house, was so pleased to show everyone who stopped by ALL the babies in the house. She pointed to the pictures and told the names of each child. SO CUTE!!!!

This is a primary 4 student who was happy to tell us how she has been blessed.

Richard, one of our dear sons and a carpentry student sits proudly in the vocational school booth which displayed the marketable items made by the institute students. The students themselves made a beautiful booth which will become a permanent fixture for shade in our compound!!

Visitors to the David Family booth.

We are very grateful for the peace we've experienced as a country and to show it we placed the Ugandan flag on our booth and put a sign saying PEACE on the flag.

The crowd gathering into the church structure after marching around together.

Marching and praising!!!

I love this photo. It is the father of one of our special needs children who is seen here praising the Lord!!!

The DAvid family moves together with our sign

These next photos are from when we were preparing to march in praise together. They were taken in the David FAmily compound before we moved to the church compound.

Geoff moved around a lot on Saturday getting things ready for the celebration. Everyone was happy to join in . . . especially if it meant a motorbike ride. Five crammed on a small motorbike, woohoo!

Geoff and Kakande took off on the motorbike on Sunday morning to make a final check before the procession started.

Reviewing the events for the day and making sure everyone knows what is to happen.

Our family group poses for a pic just before we begin to march.

One of our dear David FAmily associates, Jessica and two of her relatives that joined us for the day.

Uncles Okoth and Eric ready to march!

Toby and Kevin worked on their own booth on Saturday and I loved seeing them enjoying the process and each other!

Acacia and her friend Katelyn (whose family lives at Musana camps of New Hope) worked on their own booth as well.

Geoff hauled the booth for the vocational school on the top of his van, down the road 4km from the school to the main site. He sure got a lot of STARES as he traveled road!!

We love that Ugandan is experiencing peace!!! We're thankful and we will pray for its continuance.

Setting up the David Family booth with Kiweewa

We had so many visitors for Thanksgiving that we had to set up three extra tents!!!! Our board members were present, as well as local officials, and many longtime friends of the ministry. It was a fantastic day!!!!!!!!

Harvest and Holiday

2011-08-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

The kids are finishing their second term of school this next week and are looking forward to a deserved holiday. However, this holiday will be a VERY BUSY one!!!!! Hang on - - - here's the list: Two weddings, an outreach for EYO, an IY retreat, "mini-envisioning"staff meetings, visiting relatives of our children--especially aging grandparents, but also aunts and others, a worship conference, shopping for banquet dresses for the girls in our family that will be finishing their 4th year of secondary school this year, the return of the Dangers' family, our New Hope founders and the exodus of many others who are taking home assignments in the U.S., saying goodbye to the Brown family who is moving to Kampala to start another extension of the Invesment Year program, the special week of activities for the Primary 7 students which we call "p7 week", our Annual General Meeting and special New Hope Thanksgiving Sunday celebration, and lastly, Luganda language lessons for our Britton family. WOW. We won't be involved in all of the above, but it all makes for a busy atmosphere!!!!!

The above photo is from our recent maize harvest from the David family gardens. We celebrate as a family each of our two harvest with a bonfire where we roast fresh maize--yumyum.

Dodovico enjoys roasting the maize for us.

Also during the holiday we will continue our piano lessons with our teacher who comes weekly from Kampala. He teaches our three and one other from a fellow staff family.

The kids' favorite part of the maize harvest is taking a stick to the cobs. Instead of peeling the kernels off the cob, they put them in a bag and beat them with a stick. Joel (Brown) and Toby are having a great time here while Acacia, Kevin and Medie load the kernels into a sack.

Kevin and Acacia take a turn . . .

Toby and Acacia

In our own personal garden out by our school banda, we found monitor lizard eggs (at least according to our compound helper) Acacia and Kevin dig up the eggs

We are also growing pumpkins in our garden! If you've never eaten pumpkin plain, you're missing out!!!!

We've had a great personal maize harvest this year. Geoff estimates we may get around 50 kg!! This really helps offset our food bill! We also have recently harvested ground nuts, pumpkin, tomatoes, herbs, sweet potatoes, beans both black and red, sweet bananas and cooking bananas, onions and greens (collards).

Please continue to pray with us as our most important harvest focus is the effect of the Love of God in the hearts of the kids to whom we minister. Currently our devotional focus in David Family is Ephesians 6 regarding the armor of God and His power in us.

Happy Birthday Kate!

2011-07-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

These are "Fifteens" and are a dessert unique to Northern Ireland. I had them for the first time on Saturday at Kate's Birthday Tea. They are made of 15 marshmallows, 15 cherries, 15 digestive biscuits(like a graham cracker) and mixed with condensed milk. Then shaped into a log, rolled in coconut and placed in the frig for awhile. When they are served the log is cut into 15 pieces. Yummy!!!

Kate's (our lovely woman who heads up our special needs department here at New Hope) birthday was Saturday and she and a few friends celebrated with a true English style tea (with, among other yummies, the above pictured "Fifteens".) We ate a lot of sweets, talked, ate some more sweets and talked some more!!! It was an enjoyable afternoon and we are happy to have celebrated our friend Kate!!! The Friday night before, the David Family and our family snuck up quietly to her house and startled her with a shower of balloons and our loud rendition of Happy Birthday!!!!! We shared cake and smiles and left the balloons to decorate her house while the kids went on to our Friday night prayer meeting. (The last week of every month is a week of prayer in which we dedicate each night to prayer at the church structure. The turnout lately has been encouraging as the kids have truly enjoyed going!)

This picture is a classic!!! Benel dropped some of his cake on the floor! His face says it all!!! :)

on being thankful . . .

2011-07-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

I am dedicating this blog post to dear Aunt Olga K!!!!!!! It's her birthday today!!!!!!! Happy 27th birthday!!!!! She also told me today that she faithfully reads this blog, so if no one else reads this, at least I know she'll see her birthday greetings in print!!!!

I wrote this a few weeks ago and decided to post it today in honor of being thankful for Olga!!!! She and her husband, Godfrey are staff members with a deep passion and heart for the vision of New Hope Uganda and it is a privilege to serve here with them!

Thankfulness. Simple? Easy? Hmmmmm . . . It is simple AND easy once you DETERMINE you are going to be thankful. If you don’t consciously make an effort to be thankful, you will default into grumbling and complaining. I know that personally to be the case and I do not think I’m alone in my observation.

There are so many things for which to be thankful, yet being consistently thankful takes unrelenting effort. That is a fact of life. None of what I am saying is new to anyone of us. However, realizing how very negative and unexercised in thankfulness I had become led me to a fresh determination to look for God’s good in all circumstances. The good is there along with the negative, but what is more prominently in our view? (and spewing from out mouths????) From within only myself I can’t tell you exactly why I came to a reawakening for the need to be thankful, but from the perspective of a loving Father who wants the best for us, I see that the time for thankfulness was long overdue. He didn’t force me to become thankful again, but began gently placing in my path His truths regarding how thankfulness is the key to unlocking and keeping open the doors to joy, peace and a calm that is stayed regardless of the circumstance. I took notice when I began seeing the theme of thankfulness being woven before my very eyes through Bible studies, friends’ comments, worship songs, devotional books and scripture, so I responded. I took those God-given opportunities to step up and put the extra effort into looking for reasons to give thanks. Yes, initially, I had to really look for reasons to be thankful. As I began, I found it difficult to quickly list reasons to be thankful. Reasons did not fluidly stream into my mind. For so long an “under the radar,” low-level of grumbling permeated everything I did and thought which made my determination to be thankful a task at first. But, I knew I had to do something or I would continue to have the life drained slowly out of me. My life is God-given and He desires to bless me abundantly, but if I have a wall of dissatisfaction up it presents a barrier to me SEEING His abundant gifts and inhibits free-flowing thankfulness. So, I began to not just list things silently in my head, but took pen to paper and began writing. God’s goodness impacted me more throughout my day and set a tone for joy when I wrote about God’s goodness in what I saw and experienced. I found that by writing them I was breaking the negative thoughts that can so quickly follow a positive thought. You know how it goes, “Lord, thank you for X, though it often is a struggle because . . . “ and off goes the mind to negative land.

God takes things out from under the blanket of discontent where we’ve stuffed them and blows off the dust as He infuses us with real joy in His truths. We don’t even realize our negative bent until He opens our eyes to see things that have always been there. It’s as if we walk shrouded in a vision-reducing cloud of negativism until we look clearly again at Him and His truths in scripture and allow Him to sharpen our eyesight to His blessings--real blessings we have simply walked by unable to acknowledge.

His truths don’t change. We, unfortunately, change our perspectives and our focus and what follows is trouble. Lord, I ask to have my eyes opened every moment to Your goodness that surrounds me. I do not deny that this life is challenging, difficult and often tragic, but You, God, are always good, always present and always the truth on which we can stand strong. In all my days and in every situation may I be settled and stayed on the truth that You are good and in everything there is thanks to be given.

Waitin' for friends . . .

2011-07-12T03:01:00.000-07:00

The beauty that is all around us is staggering if we actually OPEN our eyes to enjoy the view!!!

Today we are "hanging around" enjoying the beauty of FRIENDS!!!!! Our good friends, The Browns, are returning today after being on home assignment for three months. The kids are so excited for them to arrive that they don't want to come home for lunch, but instead are waiting for their friends by hanging in their tree. At first sighting I expect to hear shrieks of delight!!!!!

Tradition here at New Hope is to welcome back friends by posting notes on their door. These are some of the well wishes awaiting the Browns.

Some flowers from our garden were an appropriate welcome gift as we reflect on the beauty of our friendship with the Browns. We've enjoyed the past five years -- here's to many more!!!!!!!!!

Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!

2011-07-10T02:47:00.000-07:00

Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!

Who can forget the seagulls in “Finding Nemo”?! Their annoying and seemingly unending screeching of “MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!” as they fight for what they want around a small buoy serves as a not so gentle reminder to us. How often we ourselves screech MINE! MINE! MINE! We don’t even realize the annoying noise we are making because we are so focused on ourselves. If we take a quick glance at Colossians 3:18-21 it’s as if the brightest lighthouse light illuminates our vast selfishness trying to balance on a tiny little buoy of self-focus in a huge ocean of God’s truth. Wives end up not willingly submitting to their husbands because they are set on their own ideas of what is needed; husbands don’t show love to their wives because of their own agenda for themselves; children don’t obey their parents because they are determined to get what they think they need and Fathers end up frustrating their children to the point of discouragement because they are so focused on themselves that they can’t see how they are too hard on the kids.

This morning, as the Britton family, we visited a few scriptures in an effort to set our focus on God and His ways rather than allow our focus to remain on our own selfish interests. Take a quick tour here of the truths we sighted along our journey to selflessness.

After we read Colossians 3:18-21 and saw how each one of us is called to live a life for others beyond seeking what WE think we need, we took another important stop in Galatians 2. In verse 20 we see that we ourselves no longer live—as Christians our own selfish desires died and now Christ lives in us. The life we now live in this body we have is lived immersed in faith, not pushed along being directed by cues given us by the flesh. We remember that Christ Jesus is the Son of God and He loves us and willingly gave Himself up for us. Moving on to Colossians 3 we see that we were raised up with Christ and so now need to set our sights on things above—where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. We are to set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth because we died and our life is hidden with Christ in God.

As we were reading this section at the beginning of Colossians 3 regarding “set your minds on things above”, I heard “set your MINES on things above.” Your “mines”, your selfishness like the seagulls who fought for what they wanted for themselves, need to no longer be set on things of this earth, but on things of Christ Jesus. But, how do we shift from the screeching selfishness to the selflessness of those in Jesus? Well, in two ways that are shown in verses 8-10 and then in verses 12-17, we see what we shouldn’t do and what we should do.

What we are NOT to do: live in anger, wrath, revenge, filthy language, deceit, lying. All those are born of selfishness and a focus on ourselves rather than out of any effort to seek what would be good for those living around us. We need to have an intolerance for any of the above finding a safe harbor in our lives.

What we ARE to do: remember we are of God, holy, loved and therefore asked by God to show kindness, patience, humility, forgiveness, love, thankfulness and to lovingly endure others when they are failing to live up to how they should behave. Above all we are to love and let God’s peace and wisdom have the most prominent place in our hearts.

I pray that we all set our “Mines” on God’s ways that are above what our limited eyesight can see. Our prayer is for a selfless, thankful outlook that will enable us to honor God in all that we do. I’ll finish here with Colossians 3:17, “And whatever we do in word or deed, we do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Language Challenges and the "Cone of Shame"

2011-06-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Uganda . . . serving alongside Ugandan staff and loving the children --with whom we live and we are privileged to know. Some of you may think our lives as missionaries are difficult, beyond what you might want to endure, but our reality is one of enjoyment, fulfillment and contentment as we are where God has called us. The days do not come challenge-free, however. And all the challenges do not exclusively fall to the ex-patriot types such as ourselves. Take our dear fellow staff member and friend, Isaac. In the picture you see his broad smile--mostly a permanent fixture on his face--he and his wife, Christine just had their first child within the last few weeks. He and his wife are not originally from this part of Uganda. They are northerners who have come to serve the children here in the central area of the country. Yesterday Isaac sent a message for Geoff to come quickly as he was dealing with a frustrating situation. Seems he had ordered 4 kg of meat for a special meal for the Sunday School helpers whom he leads. Seems the butcher heard 40 kg. Isaac is a dear friend whose 4th language is Luganda! He only wanted 4 kg and only budgeted for 4 kg, but the butcher who is used to larger orders heard 40 kg. Who was to blame? Probably both of them. The difference between 4 and 40 is very slight and extremely subtle in Luganda. Isaac did his best, but as so frequently happens, the language challenges rose and conquered. Not to worry, though, Geoff and Uncle Simon were able to talk the butcher down on his price and made a quick decision to buy all 40 kgs, giving the extra to our children's family groups. All and all it came at a good time as they are beginning midterms this week and can use a few extra grams of protein!!!! When you pray for the work here, please remember the Ugandan nationals who are from other areas and tribes and are not familiar with the culture and language of this area. There is almost MORE pressure on them to "perform" as they are given less grace than we are by the villagers of this area when they make mistakes.

Twice a week I read to the primary school students. On Tuesdays I read the selection in the Chronological Bible reading to the students in the primary 2 class. We are reading through the Bible together as staff, children and church members and will conclude this November! It has been exciting and wonderful to see the story of the Bible unfold as we read together. In these three pictures, I am reading to the primary 5 class (Toby's class). On Thursdays I choose a book to read that will, hopefully, get them excited and interested in reading on their own. So far we've explored with Marco Polo, visited ancient Pompeii at the base of Mt. Vesuvius and in these pictures we went to Egypt with Howard Carter as he uncovered King Tut's tomb. And speaking of language challenges, I have to be careful what I choose and must be aware of words in the book that may not translate easily to Ugandan English. It is a welcome challenge, however, as I love seeing the joy in their faces at having "explored" yet another foreign land!

Bubbly and Geoff share a moment. Geoff was heading off to weigh our black bean harvest. We started with a Walmart package of black beans and our harvest this year is approaching 30 kg!

Ahhhhh....here we are at the section of our blog entitled, "Cone of Shame" (phrase stolen from the wonderful movie, "Up") Just look at that face . . . our little kitties were spayed last Friday and in an effort to keep them from tearing out their stitches they are wearing these plastic cones. It's been quite a conversation piece around here. Some thought we were putting special hats on them for decoration!!!!! And the heaviness of the cone makes them walk a bit funny as well, so a lot of laughter has been directed their way! Poor little kitties. We will be able to take the cones off later this week. A little comfort for all the mocking that has gone on . . .
commiserating together out near the bamboo in our yard . . . The rest of the pictures are from Toby's birthday party we held on Saturday. Just as it was starting a huge rainstorm came up and they all ran around trying to catch leaves and raindrops! After the rain we went back outside to swing on our tire swing--freshly up and running just for the occasion!!! They also played a local version of hide and seek called kick the can, and our own Britton version of basketball, called "Verandah Basketball". We served them frozen juice pops with the cake and it was new to many of them as ice is not common out here in the village.

Stuart guards the can during hide and seek

The awesome tire swing!!!

Sammy hiding in the bamboo

Lots of fun for everyone!

Stuart swings as he swings

Toby guarding the can

Abraham is spoon fed his juice pop

Stuart

Buyinza

Emma

The whole gang trying to get the most out of the ice pops!!!

Time for CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Abraham plays Verandah Basketball

They each cheered the other on! It was great to watch!

Kakande heard the cheers and came running over to be a part of the fun! The kids were so gracious and cheered him on as he took his turn. He was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. I love his face in this picture!

Abraham and Kevin

Catching leaves and raindrops

This invited friend walked 5 km to come to the party. He arrived more than one hour late, having been caught by the rainstorm. Geoff and Toby took him home on the motorbike and visited briefly with the grandparents who care for him.

Birthday Weekend!!!!!

2011-06-20T01:03:00.000-07:00

We had the Peterson kids staying with us toward the end of last week and Kara's birthday was on Friday. Toby made her a yummy chocolate cake and I made her homemade sourdough pizza. (OK, the pizza was for all of us, but it was VERY good!)Singing happy birthday to Kara brought a LOT of smiles!!! That thing looks like it's ablaze, but it wasn't as bad as it looks in the picture!!!Toby's birthday was on Sunday and he also made HIS cake!!!! It was lemon, but he wanted to color it red! The icing was supposed to be blue, but somehow it came out green. Oh well, it tastes wonderful no matter what color it is!!! He and Acacia made the icing, put it together, iced it, decorated it and we ALL ate it!! I can't believe Toby is into the double digits!!!

My Mom sent some things with Uncle Cody to bring to us. Acacia received two of the princess parable books that our friend Jeanna Young wrote. She loves reading them and looking at the pictures!

Toby sneaks a peak at a princess parable book . . . Kevin received fuzzy monkey slippers and couldn't wait to put them on . . .

The best part of the night was receiving his "Dangerous Book for Boys" and the Dangerous Book for Boys Game that Grammie sent!!!

These photos are out of order, but at least they posted!!!! This was at the guest house on the morning of Toby's birthday. We gave him the 2011 Guiness Book of World Records and his friends, the Peterson's, gave him two new Asterix and Obelix comic books. Aunt Constance made him a prince crown to wear for the morning!

For supper we went to the Gately and the boys quickly found the couch and books to read . . .

Two good friends, Tim Peterson and Geoff, enjoying visiting with each other at the guest house.

Posing for the camera . . .

Uncle Cody

Aunt Marian and Aunt Constance

It was a great weekend with friends and family!!!!! Happy birthday again to Kara and Toby!!

Wish I could provide sound effects . . .

2011-06-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

All in the course of 30 minutes our house blew wide open . . .

Geoff rewired the solar set-up in order to keep the govt power from going through our inverter . . . NO, he didn't blow anything up, but I'm not sure how he was able to concentrate with all the mayhem that was going on . . .
Alex, who collects water for us came by and he ALWAYS likes to talk . . .

Kara (and her brother Micah are staying the night with us for two nights) and Acacia got busy in the kitchen making pie crust for a pumpkin pie from total scratch . . .

Fun times and lots of noise

Joel, who takes piano lessons with our kids on Thursday mornings, came by to practice and to have me photocopy his theory lessons . . .

Perez, from the IY program and EYO (Emmanuel Youth Outreach) and Joel, from the IY program came by to complete some planning and computer work . . .

Toby, Micah, Elisha and Kevin decided to make a jungle gym out of the boys' room--lots of noise there!!!!! And the dog just needed to scratch . . . (which reminds me that not too long before all this happened, I found PART of a bloody mouse tail on the floor of my guest room, with guts smashed into the curtain . . .)For an introvert, I handled the chaos quite well I think. And now I need to go because we are having company for dinner . . . oh my

On the shores of Lake Victoria

2011-06-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we traveled to Musana Camps, New Hope Uganda's land on the shores of Lake Victoria. The vocational school staff enjoyed a retreat together in an absolutely beautiful setting. Many had never been swimming before and they enthusiastically jumped in!! We hiked, waded in the stream, swam, ate fish, and meditated on God's word while soaking in the magnificence of His creation! At the campfires each evening we sang, laughed and looked again at passages of scripture--applying what they mean for us as leaders of children in the school and in our own families. The camp staff did an amazing job of keeping us comfortable, fed, entertained and warm!! (It was freezing our last night!!!!! The wind was blowing hard and even the camp staff who are originally from the East Coast of the U.S. were bundled up around the campfire!!)Aunt Diana and son, Silas, enjoy swinging.

Damilie, our staff weaver, and Kate, one of our tailoring instructors enjoying the time to just sit and visit in the beauty of the campsite.

Uncle Shylock, our carpentry instructor and his wife and youngest child look out over the lake as we take a tour of the land.

Uncle Robert, our building instructor, and his wife Diana. Uncle Dan, our driver, and Aunt Irene, our cashier for the maize and timber mills, listen as Uncle Dave shows us the creek from the fresh spring.

Looking at the tall trees which grow down by the creek.

Acacia and Katelyn were sooooooooo excited to finally see each other again. Katelyn is the oldest daughter of Camp staff members, Dave and Andrea Bouffard.

Dave did a great job of showing us what the plans are for development of the site. Nala, one of the two dogs who live on site, kept a close watch on all of us.

Sam, our headmaster of the vocational school and his wife, Irene.

Enjoying some volleyball together.

Getting the campfire started each evening was a favorite activity. The little boy is John, son of Nathan and Kendra, camp staff members, and he has an amazing vocabulary for not yet being 2!

Nathan and the 4-wheeler. Kevin took the opportunity to make a quick trip with him back to the house to retrieve something for the campfire. Aunt Hailey is a short term camp staff member, and Bambino is the other camp dog seen here.

My camp hair! It's a good thing I have a sexy husband or this picture would be a loss!

Everyone wanted to take home fish!!!!! We bought oodles of it the last morning and strapped them all over the top and sides of the van for the ride home.

A group picture on our last morning, just before we left for home.

Every morning we took an hour alone for quiet, reflective time with God. Sooooo peaceful!

Geoff went on an explore with Kevin, Katelyn and Acacia---they fully immersed themselves, clothes and all, in the creek!!!

Nathan took Sam and Dan to observe the construction on the newest building going up on site.
Nathan involved Toby as he worked on the vehicles and Toby was in heaven!!! Toby chose working with Nathan over taking a hike with Geoff and the other kids!!!

So much FUN!!!!!!

We played games that taught us trust and gave us a unique perspective on the hand of God and others in our lives.

The view from our safari tent.

Our three monkeys splashing in the creek.

Toby begged me to buzz off his long locks, so we went to Nathan and borrowed his clippers. This last bit of hair was stubborn and it took a long time to finally get it all buzzed!!!!! Everytime we go to the camp Kevin spends a good amount of time climbing the rocks! This trip was our 3rd visit.

Here we are hiking together as we get an idea of the vast amount of land we have the opportunity to develop and use for God's glory in the lives of young people!!!!!!

The trees are unique!!

We'd love it if you came to visit us sometime!!!!!! We'll take you to the shores of Lake Victoria and beyond!!!!

The Store

2011-05-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hey! How ya doin? Just swinging by with a little story from daily life here . . .

I (Mary) sent someone to the store this week to buy a case of flour (12 1kg pkts), a small pkt of salt (250mg) and 4kg of beans. He called from the store, which by the way is not called “the store” here. “The Store” is actually your storage place—like a garden shed or garage—an appropriate name for the place you store things. Here, “the store” as in a grocery store, is called a “shop”. So, back to the store-y :) . . . he called from “the shop” to say that I had not sent enough money to get a case of flour and the other items. So, I revised the order to 2 1kg pkts of flour, 1 pkt of salt and 4kg beans.

Let me just say one word and those of you who have lived in foreign countries for a good amount of time will laugh----- C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. Where does the breakdown occur??? In what I said? Yes. In what he heard? Yes. In what a person in this culture normally buys in salt content that I know NOTHING of??? Yes, apparently.

He returned home and gave me the change while I was teaching in the banda with the kids. We went on with what we were doing. He left. Two hours later we took a break and I went into the kitchen and saw on the counter SEVEN 500mg packets of salt, 6 1kg pkts of flour, and the beans! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH 3 1/2 kg of salt????????? I started laughing! Someone nearby giggled and said, “well, at least it’s not expensive!!” She’s right, of course, but that is not the point. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean I need to buy it!! I didn’t even try to talk to the person who ran the errand that day for fear I would bust out laughing. Yesterday I finally asked why he bought 7 pkts. He replied that in his little village when you give the shopkeeper 2,000 shillings they give you 4 pkts of salt, but in the village he shopped in for me he was surprised that 2,000 shillings gets you 7 pkts. The whole time he was talking I'm sure I had a surprised look on my face--just for different reasons than his! (At this point I decided it might be worth remembering that perhaps salt is commonly bought in 2,000 shilling increments.) I had said nothing about buying 2,000 shillings worth, only that I wanted 1 pkt. Without realizing it, he immediately translated in his mind from 1 pkt to 1 group of pkts worth 2,000 shillings. You’re all probably bored at this point, but I find it fascinating that I have lived here for 5 years next week and I still have so little clue sometimes as to what constitutes normal daily life around here!

As we come up on our 5 year anniversary on June 5th we are looking back as well as looking forward. We have learned so much and changed so much, but we still have so far to go!!!! Obviously!!!!!

We took a short trip to Entebbee last week and found ourselves at the same guest house as fellow New Hope missionaries, The Zimmerman's. Now that was a FUN surprise!!!

P.S. Anybody need any salt???

"Home Assignment"

2011-05-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight we said goodbye to our dear friend and David Family Associate, Nancy. She is

going home to the U.S. for 5 months. It's hard to believe that it was one year ago this weekend that we left Uganda for our 5 month leave in the U.S. Going "home" is such an interesting time in the life of a missionary. So many emotions. While looking forward to "rest" from the many cultural challenges and the "work", the reality is that "rest" can sometimes be hard to achieve. There will be many visits, speaking engagements, presentations and detailed explanations to give on the nature of our work here. However, amidst all of that is the joy of seeing dear friends and family and spending time reconnecting with them. Pray with us as we pray for Nancy's time at "home." I set that apart with quotes because the longer we live in another country, the more it becomes home to us. Leaving one home to be home in another place is always a mixed bag. You're never fully home no matter where you are because parts of you are scattered among the places and people that are dear to you. Thank you for your prayers for us and for Nancy. Actually, this seems to be a year filled with many on home assignment. Since January we've been saying goodbye each month to dear friends and co-workers. One just returned this week and others will be returning throughout the year, but most of them will be away until next January. Numerous and frequent Hellos and Goodbyes are a huge part of being a missionary!!!!!

Ends and Beginnings

2011-05-18T03:36:00.000-07:00

This week marks the end of holiday for Ugandan schools before the kids return next Monday for 2nd term. I usually have a long "to-do" list and hopes for what I will accomplish during the holiday. My wishes vary from academic pursuits with my own three kids to visiting relatives with our David Family kids to spending more time just talking to kids that live on site here at Kasana Children's Centre. And usually, at the end of the holiday, the list of what I actually accomplished looks very different from what I originally set out to do!!! (The dog, on the other hand, has a very short "to do" list and usually consists mainly of the above.)

This holiday season yielded very little academic time with my own three, though we still attempted school a couple days a week. Not only had I shortened our school day from finishing at 1 p.m. to finishing at 10:30 a.m., but many days the unexpected jumped in to take even that short amount of time. At the beginning of the holiday sicknesses and even the death of one of our primary school teachers took precedent over regular schedules for several days.

Two weeks ago was the youth camp here in which a number of our children who are now young adults, planned and executed a program for 140 youth! We hosted a dear friend and former staff member one night as he was a featured speaker the next day at the camp. The following days both Geoff and I spoke at different times. VERY ENJOYABLE, though it kept us busier than our usual schedules.

Geoff meets with some of the leaders of the youth camp. Though Geoff provided guidance and wisdom, the young men planned and executed the entire program.

Last week was pleasantly crammed full of visiting relatives. On Monday I went to visit with one of our daughters at her Aunt's home. Tuesday I spent all day (6 a.m. - 10 p.m.) away from home as I traveled with one of our daughters to Mulago Hospital for some medical tests. After we finished at the hospital she got to visit with one of her older brothers who works in town. Wednesday I spent most of the day being "house girl" in addition to my usual teacher and mom roles. The wonderful lady who helps in our house 4 days a week had been sick for a number of days which meant I was doing more than my usual share of the cooking, cleaning and housework, plus trying to keep up with what I normally try to check off my list for one day! On Thursday morning I went with yet another daughter to visit her grandmother. It was a great visit and we got some pictures which we'd been planning on taking for more than a year now. Grandma seems to be aging a bit quicker these days and a picture of her before she is gone is sooooooooooo important to this daughter! On Friday we were back at Mulago to finish up some tests we had started on Tuesday. Whew!

My main disappointment when I look back over these last 3 weeks is that I didn't get to accomplish all that I wanted to accomplish academically with Toby especially. Being that he is in the primary a few hours each day, I had planned to catch up on his history and math lessons, but as you can see from the above paragraphs, it didn't happen. It's comforting to know that he is ahead of his agemates, so not too many worries there. The positive of the sum of the holiday is that we've spent some good time with different ones in David Family. Some one on one time has happened in some cases and some good group times have also been a blessing.

Tonight we are starting a movie on the life of Mother Teresa. It is a LONG movie, so we'll split it into two nights of viewing. It will be great to have the kids crammed into our living room yet again!!!

On Friday night we will have a huge feast as we say farewell to Nancy Kirsch, our fellow David Family Associate. She will be on home assignment in the U.S. from this weekend through October. She has served faithfully and loved the kids for more than 12 years here at New Hope. It is a pleasure and an honor to send her off FULL of Ugandan food and love. :) It will be a great time for her to be in the states and we ask you to pray for her during this time of rest. She will be visiting family, friends and churches during the next few months and we desire that her time with others will rejuvenate and bless her. She is a joy to serve with here at New Hope!!!!!

2011-05-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

Our rowdy kids who love to dress up and goof around . . .

This is the lovely grandmother of one of our David Family daughters. She and I (Mary) went for a visit on Thursday. She kept us laughing!!!

We are so thankful to God for His hand on the life of this daughter. She is a testimony to His goodness and love to those who will trust Him.

Acacia and her little kitty, Brandy

Our older youth put on a youth camp last week. Both Geoff and I spoke at different times and we were very impressed with the kids' ability to pull off a quality program!!! Here are a few of our David Family kids getting ready for "Weird Night" in which they dress in crazy garb and try to win the prize for the weirdest outfit.

The Fort

2011-05-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

In our recent monsoon-like storms we have lost many trees and bananas. Everywhere you go there is evidence of the devastation. The kids capitalized on the destruction for their creative advantage and made the most glorious tree house/fort you could imagine. As the days have gone by, the banana leaves have dried and the felled trees been stripped of most of their leaves (due to climbing children!!), so yesterday Geoff and I went to see their creation before it was completely gone.

Stella and Acacia staking their claim

Kevin, Jesse, Acacia and Joshua climbing on felled limbs

Jesse and Kevin enjoy their hiding place

Jesse--King of the fort

He determines our times and seasons

2011-04-28T01:44:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to write something in this space since Monday, but have struggled for what to say . . . I have been filled with sadness and the few memories I have of a lovely person whom we knew for a very short time. Each time I have thought about what to say my mind has instead kept words back in favor of more time to process.

Easter Sunday was wonderful! We worshiped with the church and I have to say that the worship was the best I've experienced in a long time. Uncle Jonnes passionately spoke of what Jesus' sacrificial death accomplished--an open way for each of us to the Father; relationship with Him based on love and forgiveness. The day was enjoyable.

Monday, Easter Monday here, started off quiet and peaceful. At mid-morning, however, we received news that one of our new primary teachers, Julius Robert Kwapi, had died sometime in the night. He had been with us on Easter morning, eaten supper with his housemates Sunday evening and talked with friends on the phone during the evening. In the morning the housemates got up and started on their day, but realized about 9 that Julius hadn't been seen yet. They found him already dead in his room. Shocking and jolting. He was a quiet, kind young man, with so much promise. For his family back home he was the one providing for his younger siblings and ill mother. For us here at New Hope he was a good teacher and brother in the Lord who loved teaching here with us. I had planned to have him over to our house during this school holiday. Toby thought so much of him and we wanted to get to know him better. We have been filled with sadness and the reminder that the length of our lives is not under our control, but the Father's.

It was also a particularly tense time for us as Uncle Julius was new to us, having come from another part of the country. We did not know how we would be received by his family when we took his body home for burial. Those who traveled and those of us who stayed behind prayed fervently for the favor and wisdom of God to be with those meeting and grieving with the family. After much discussion into the early hours of Tuesday morning we indeed can say we were received well. A van with a few of our staff left Monday afternoon with Uncle Julius' body, picked up some of his relatives along the way and arrived after midnight in the Kumi area. A second van, driven by Geoff, left at 4 a.m. and arrived in Kumi around 11:30 Tuesday morning. Toby and two of his classmates were also able to go along with more staff members from here. New Hope was able to take up the costs of transportation, burial items, food and miscellaneous needs. These sudden, unexpected expenses are a burden to a grieving family and our ability to provide financially and materially immensely blessed the family of Uncle Julius. Some of the family members are believers in God and their statement was that it was evident that it was God's timing and there is nothing else to say. Their understanding that God is in control and we were not to blame significantly influenced the tenor of the environment. Our people were able to stay with them until about 4:30 Tuesday afternoon at which time they started the long journey back to Kasana. Geoff, Toby and his classmate from David Family arrived home just before 1 a.m. Yesterday was quite a blur as we were all so tired from the previous days.

I have found my strength in this time from my favorite passage of scripture:

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' " Acts 17

Yesterday was Wednesday and we spend each Wednesday evening with David Family. We eat with them and lead a time of devotion to God's word. Last night we shared from Acts 17 and talked of our God who is in control and who loves us. There are many rumors, lies and superstitions that surface during the time surrounding death. We encouraged them to take their thoughts and fears and still them with the truth.

Please pray for the children and for us as we seek to listen and help them process Uncle Julius' death. Many of them are even still dealing with the death of young Rachel, our secondary school daughter who recently died. The village rumors and lies are abundant and usually attribute these events to witchcraft. We need God's wisdom, guidance, peace and truth to fill us as we lead the children in this time.

Pray for our own strength as it has been a very tiring week for all of us.

Culture of forgiveness

2011-04-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

The importance of understanding what God offers us in Christ, do we take it for granted? Or do we deeply live in a state of forgiveness and repentance? Recently I have again been reminded of God’s goodness and how He reconciles all things to himself. We often judge our value or worth by results or numbers. But in the face of what some might deem as failure can we still find God’s pleasure in us? This Easter season should magnify the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice. That in the midst of our failures and our strivings to perform…His love is based upon Jesus not our performance. To do the will and good purpose of God means to live in a state of repentance. That living in forgiveness means living in God’s presence working hard not to obey rules, but draw near to Him.

Living in a foreign culture and a community like ours here at New Hope we definitely experience the need for grace. In much of Africa there is baggage that comes from colonial times where the whites ruled/oppressed the local population. Additionally educational background and experience can easily give whites an appearance of being superior. Combine that with an African culture that puts the “Chief” or leader in a place of being un-touchable or un-human can create a separation between us and the locals. We have seen that in-order to be effective in our ministry it requires a deep humility and constant evaluation of behaviors and attitudes. To be ever aware of how your words and actions can be mis-interpreted and actually hinder what God is doing.

Thus the reminder that it truly is about God’s grace and the need to allow His love and character to flow though us. May God’s goodness be experienced by all in this resurrection season.

Every tribe,tongue and nation . . .

2011-04-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

We are thankful and blessed to live here in Uganda!! Not because of WHERE we live as much as WHO we live among!!!! I have been reflecting on last Sunday and looking forward to this coming Resurrection Sunday!!! I'm rememberinng the dedications we had last week in which we dedicated to the Lord babies from the baby house, children who have just joined the New Hope family this year in the primary, secondary and vocational schools, and our own two children, Kevin and Acacia whom we had never publically dedicated to the Lord. It was a morning of heightened awareness of the blessings of God in the form of the children He has given us. One of the warmest times of that morning was when I had my hands on my children, eyes closed, tucked tightly in the crowd who had come to lay hands on the children and I felt an arm go around my back and firmly pull me closer. When I opened my eyes I saw Aunt Adhe and I smiled BIG! My friend had come to support me and give her love during a time of importance for my family. I was grateful and overwhelmed with thankfulness for the true friends I have here!

In the center is Aunt Adhe with Acacia and I near her.

When I walked into the church building last week my eyes were met with the special outfits of our young kids who sing with Aunt Grace in our "Echoes of Hope" choir. They looked so sharp in their outfits and yet, I know that what Aunt Grace is instilling in them as she works with them is immeasurably more valuable than a sweet outfit!! I am thankful to Aunt Grace for her years of love and service to the children and staff of New Hope Uganda. She is a constant and gentle presence in the lives of so many--including mine!!!!! We started together at Kasana Children's Centre in 1994 and though I took a 12 year hiatus, she has never left!!!! Today our friendship is strong and growing.

"Echoes of Hope" shared their songs with us last Sunday.

As we look forward to Sunday we are thankful to be here all together: different nationalities, colors, tribes and denominational backgrounds. Nowhere can this combination work successfully together than under the love and guidance of our Mighty God!!!!!!!!!!! Though we have our differences and sometimes we make mistakes in our relationships due to cultural misunderstandings, we KNOW that we are equal in value because of our God who loves us!

May you enthusiastically celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, because true, vibrant living comes from Him--the risen and living King. "For You, the Lamb of God, were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood, out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation" Revelation 5.

gAs MAsKs REqUiReD

2011-04-16T06:31:00.000-07:00

When Toby and Kevin changed the kitty litter box today, Kevin said it was so stinky he needed to take extra measures . . .

Garden Lovelies

2011-04-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our BOOT garden!!! After working in the garden, mud boots are washed out and hung on sticks for thorough drying---something that is not so easy to come by in the rainy season!

MMMMMmmmmmm. . . yummy bananas from our garden!!!! We are currently growing more than 70 plants of three different varieties. We have so much we have been able to sell some for a little extra income! I LOVE FRESH FRUIT!!!!!

Another scrumptious plant in our garden is Ebo. It is a green spinach-like leaf that is native to the Soroti area. Our friends from Soroti brought us some seeds and when the leaves came ready, they came over to show us how to prepare it properly. Geoff and Sam work together at the vocational institute. Sam, the headmaster of the institute, has been God's gift to Geoff in the day to day smooth running of the vocational program.

Sam's wife, Irene, is a sweet, vibrant young woman who serves as our cashier for the maize and timber mills in Kiwoko. In this picture, she and I are sorting the Ebo leaves for wilting in the sunshine.

There is never a dull moment in the "garden of children" at our house. This shows Jesse, our neighbor and Kevin's best friend, and Sammy swinging exuberantly on our porch poles.

Often on the weekend we forego a huge supper meal and have smoothies and popcorn for supper! Geoff was the chef this past weekend. Fresh pineapple, passion fruit and bananas filled our cups and the kids thoroughly enjoyed. Kevin enjoyed so much he and his full stomach fell fast asleep on the couch early in the evening!

"Ready In Season and Out of Season"

2011-03-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

God's timing is perfect. In the recent blog post I shared about our weekend away. We were pretty tired going into the weekend and yet, we immediately felt relaxation come over us when we reached our destination. The whole weekend was a great time of family and rest. God knew we would need it for this week . . .

On Monday afternoon a dear staff member, whom I mentor, approached our house with a bent determination and serious concern on her face. "WHAT is the matter?!" I asked before she even reached the doorstep. She barely got into the house when she burst into tears, "I just took a child to the hospital and she died!" And thus began our most recent journey into the grief of losing a child of New Hope Uganda. There has been both numbness and heaviness in the air since the death. Her mother and father were also children of New Hope many years ago. Her father passed away in 2005 and her mother lives nearby and works in one of our staff members' homes. On Tuesday many traveled almost two hours to the burial site. With a passion to equip our children to experience their grief with hope and strength, our manager, Tal Anderson, called an all-staff, all-children assembly yesterday. It was a time in which we were able to address the various beliefs about death: scientifically, spiritually, animistically (sp?) and God-centered. Geoff approached me just before we started and said, "In season and out of season, right?" I smiled thinking that he had been asked at the last minute to share something. He held his smile and fixed his gaze on me . . . "YOU mean I need to be ready in season and out of season--RIGHT NOW?" Smiling he replied, "Yep, it's you this time." I explained from a medical perspective the reason for the death. The doctors had proclaimed the death as a result of a cranial hemorrhage, so I explained in SIMPLE terms the anatomy of the brain tissues and skull and physiological aspects of such an occurrence.

Though it has been very difficult this week, I am thankful for the opporutnity to talk candidly with our kids, both our own and the David Family, and with other staff members. As one of our fellow staff said to me yesterday, "Death is just very raw here. It all happens so fast and is very in your face." There is no prettying up the body, no waiting for a convenient time to bury, no preparation of any kind. Most burials take place within 24 hours of the death. There is no coroner who transports the body to the burial site--it is all up to the family to get the body from the place of death to the grave.

And so, as always, we are thankful to God for the strength He has placed in us that we are ready in season and out of season to give His love, truth and grace to those around us. . . especially in times like this.

In less somber news, we visited with one of our "old boys" (former New Hope children) this week. We went to his current school and met his administrators. We talked openly and challenged him to continue pushing forward to accomplish his goals WITH God.

And lastly a picture of me digging a jigger out of Geoff's foot, YUCK!!!

photos finally!

2011-03-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

We went to the Kingfisher in Jinja last weekend for a little rest and relaxation. We heard about and decided to try a different route through the bush. Nothing like chartering unknown territory!!! We didn't get lost and we shaved off about 30km from the mileage, but didn't make much better time--still about 3 hours! It was great fun knowing that we succeeded in finding our way though there are NO road signs other than "this bush" and "that bush"! Once we arrived we jumped into the pool. Sadly, our beloved shark didn't survive the weekend, c'est la vie! But, we swam, ate wonderful food, took a short boat ride to the source of the Nile, and rested. Beautiful.

We went to the Jinja market one afternoon and found baseball hats for the kids. Toby was SOOOOOOOOOO excited about his dominos pizza hat. Not sure why :)

Goggle girl, Acacia

The Kingfisher has a new mini-golf area which the kids enjoyed. Not fancy, by any means, but great fun.

Acacia and Kevin enjoyed floating and laughing.

Toby makes friends everywhere he goes. Not sure what they were talking about, but they were all having a great time.

Kevin and Me at the miniature golf area.

There was an absolutely impossible hole at the hippo. We figure the hippo wasn't too excited about a golf ball passing through him and kept every attempt from succeeding!

another toothless grin from Kevy

Daddy and the kids enjoying a walk together

Great News!!!!

2011-03-26T05:45:00.000-07:00

We just received news from the Dr. James that "there was no cancer seen" in Annet's biopsy!!!!! THANK YOU so much to those of you who prayed for her. We are away from New Hope this weekend which means we will have to wait to give Annet BIG hugs!!!!! But, again, THANKS for your prayers! We are very thankful and happy with the results!

Too Long

2011-03-22T05:01:00.000-07:00

It’s been too long since I (Mary) last posted. It has been a crazy busy month! With multiple visits to the hospital, surprise visitors landing on our door for three days, a convalescing teenager who’s spending a week with us at present, sleepovers, baptism services, preaching, midterms, our school banda finally getting finished, helping out with special reading times in the primary school, and Kevin’s 7th birthday (tomorrow) we have been a bit occupied.

Yep, Kevin turns 7 tomorrow, but he doesn’t want a party. Instead, he had a friend over last Friday to spend the night and that was just enough for him. They ran around like wild monkeys, watched cartoons, iced cupcakes and stayed up late. Tomorrow morning I’ll make dutch pancakes for him for breakfast, yum yum. Oh, he also lost both of his front teeth this past month.

I’ve been to the hospital many times lately as one of our dear girls in David Family, who has an abnormal bone growth, needed a biopsy. We won’t find out results for another week at least, and for this week she is staying with us so that I can change her dressings and keep on top of her pain and antibiotic medicine schedule.

Two weeks ago a young man arrived at our door unannounced. He was interested in studying at the vocational school and had traveled from Sudan! He stayed with us while he spent a few days getting acquainted with what is available to him here. It was a very pleasant time, though “not on the schedule.” Often life-the way it plays out, is not according to “our” ideal schedule anyway, so it’s best to grin, ENJOY it, and praise God for His timing!

Since early this year a number of our children and church members attended classes on baptism. The class culminated with them getting baptized a few weeks ago--it was an exciting Sunday, especially because four of our girls were part of the celebration!! Geoff and three other church leaders performed the baptisms in our local dam.

And finally we are in our school banda!!!! We put our finishing touches on the paint two weekends ago and moved in!!! It is so helpful to be out of the dining room and out of the highly trafficked area of the house!!!! Our house sits on a main path and we frequently had people stopping by to greet while we were trying to “do school”. Now that we are at the rear part of the compound, out of sight, we are getting so much more accomplished in a day!!!!! The kids love it, too, because we have room for each of them to have their books on their own shelves.

Because we moved out to the banda, I left all the reading books we’ve finished in the house library. The David Family kids have been voracious readers lately and they love all the new selections! As they come and choose books, often their siblings come to play the piano or guitar.

I love that they feel welcomed into our home!!!

I wanted to include more pictures here . . . of the baptism Sunday, Kevin's little "one-friend" birthday party, and some miscellaneous photos, but my patience ran out! I truthfully spent more than four hours trying to upload pictures and finally gave up!!!!!

As I end for now, I want to ask that you would please pray for our girl who is awaiting the news from the biopsy. Please pray that whatever is there is benign. Pray for her strength and our wisdom as we guide her through her healing. Thanks so much!

Just words

2011-03-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

What can be said about life the past few months? Well a lot! I have really seen the joy of ministering in Africa, but also have felt some struggle and disappointments. At times the work never seems to let up and that is where the joy comes from it also leads to weariness and disappointments. There have been many times that I have rejoiced at the opportunities God has given us as a family here in Uganda and I still stand on the fact that we have seen and been involved in more day to day ministering of God’s love than I could ever imagine. But that very joy also at times leaves us with a degree of tension over the continual demand that is put on us.

The past three weeks we sent our manager and Ugandan founder off the U.S. for a fundraising tour, which left me (Geoff) as the acting manager. Add that to my usual schedule and preaching a couple of times in the month of February, I feel I needed a bit of a break. So Sunday morning we stayed home from church, prayed together as a family then set down and played “The Farming Game”. Oh to enjoy the simple life as a farmer, cows, wheat, hey and such… I think somewhere I was born in the wrong time as I love the idea of farming. Actually here in Uganda I have begun developing more land for our personal support. I have majored in Matooke which is the banana here in Uganda that you steam and eat like mashed potatoes. But additionally we are planting sweet potatoes, beans, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, greens and some other miscellaneous vegetables. The rains have finally arrived, actually about two weeks late but we are rejoicing as water is life here in Africa. I find peace and solitude in the garden as it seems to provide relief from the daily stress of ministry. Additionally it helps provide some spending money…

Of Banana Slugs and Frogs

2011-02-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon: Acacia and I worked together on preparing supper. She wanted a special shape for the biscuits she made and when she finished it looked like a banana slug. So, for anyone who went to UCSB (Uncle Nique!!!!!) these are for you!! (Ummm . . . pardon me, but I've been corrected! The slugs are Santa Cruz--who knew?? everybody but me, I guess)

As she finished the biscuits, I started to wash the lettuce. Inside the first layer was this little frog. You just never know what kind of extra protein you might find around here . . .

On Thursday we celebrated Geoff's 42nd birthday!!!! The kids are always so excited to give gifts and they were cracking us up with their antics. Sorry, can't remember now what they were saying at that moment, but I'll share a funny of Kevin's from a previous day . . . one afternoon Geoff and I noticed his palms were almost black from dirt. Geoff said, "Kevin, you need to go wash your hands. What is all that black stuff?" Kevin shot back exasperated, "I DON'T KNOW, that black stuff just keeps tracking me!!!"

On Saturday Gabe, a fellow staff member, called to ask if he could come over and hook up to our amp and play his newly finished handmade guitar. Of course we turned it up LOUD and enjoyed the beauty of the instrument and the rock-n-roll. The kids and Kakande were immediately attracted to the music and came running to add in their part. Toby grabbed a "baseball bat guitar" and Kakande danced and laughed.

An update on the animals: they are quickly becoming good friends, though the dog is still not too keen on the playfulness of the kitty.

A little news: On Saturday I will be taking three of our girls to the Kiwoko hospital for some medical care that we are unable to offer here at Kasana. I don't relish the thought of spending all day sitting around the local hospital, but I AM looking forward to spending the day with the girls!!!

I hope by now you all have heard that President Museveni won the elections here and the process was very peaceful. PRAISE GOD!!!!!

2011-02-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

This morning Acacia and I were a little late arriving at the church service. She had spent the night last night at the Anderson's with 3 other girls and they had a wonderful time--even stayed up until almost midnight. Then they were up early and all that made for a very tired Acacia this morning. It was a struggle getting out the door because every little thing for her (read: "interaction with her brothers") was a BIG DEAL and tears followed. I sent the boys ahead to the service and Acacia and I followed.

When we arrived, there were only a few seats left so we sat a fair bit away from the David Family where we usually plant ourselves. We sat next to a family from a nearby village: a sweet lady and her two children. Acacia leaned over about 15 minutes after we sat down and asked if she could sit next to me instead of next to the woman. I asked why and she explained that they were staring at her and she was feeling uncomfortable being the object of stares. She was about to cry again, but I told her to stay put. I reached over and grabbed her hand to console her and tell her all was well--being stared at is a small thing in the big picture of life. Two minutes later I looked down and saw that our benchmates apparently interpreted my hand-holding with Acacia as the thing to do. The mom had grabbed Kevin's hand and one of the little girls had grabbed Acacia's hand. There we all were, holding hands--some of us were enjoying this new activity (the woman and her children) and some of us were EVEN MORE uncomfortable than we were before!!!!! (Acacia and Kevin). I thought: "Isn't that just the way of the Lord, we get stretched a little and when we think we are about to bust, He stretches us a bit more, and though we may be increasingly uncomfortable, we survive and are stronger for it."

May you all be blessed and STRENGTHENED, however that may occur!

Matters of prayer...

2011-02-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

I can say I truly understand why the Bible teaches us to pray always and without ceasing. There are so many issues I could write here that are currently captivating my prayer life. But the question is how much faith do we really have in prayer? Some people throw up prayers with little hope of seeing them answered or they pray out of religious habit but don’t really expect to see God move on their behalf. But if we are Bible believers then we have to lay hold of statements made by the early prophets like “…the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Life here in Uganda is often held together by prayer and the courage and strength to go on comes only from times with the Father and promises like that.

Recently I have had to deeply depend on God, not that I normally don’t but honestly you know how easy it is to fall back on our own strength. Continual challenges and opportunities to get discouraged have presented themselves in abundance. I won’t go into detail, but know that if God has been leading you to pray for us then you are in tune with what’s happening. The continual blessing of daily ministry is at times overwhelming and we are definitely looking to God to bring results.

A few notes to join us in petitioning our Father are…

· Elections – Uganda is voting this Friday and in it’s history Uganda has never seen a power change peacefully. We know how the world has seen elections and political change of late.
· The Maize Mill – Management has given us the challenge to increase profits and contribute more to the operating costs of the ministry. At the same time the maize harvest this last season was poor and we are already seeing a shortage in the supply chain around.
· NHVI – The new school year has begun and with the political situation our enrollment has been low. I have the feeling God wants to bring increase but we are yet to see it.

Really that is enough, but additionally I would ask you to keep our Ugandan children in prayer as personally I have seen some succumbing to the power of the orphan heart and keeping God’s healing hand at a distance.

Blessings in prayer until I write again

Becoming Friends

2011-02-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

"Crystal" in her new bed

Two new friends sizing each other up . . .

Bubbly contemplates the nature of her new existence . . . having to contend with a pip-squeak!

The new cat and the old dog are gettin it worked out---slowly! The kitty LOVES the dog and doesn't understand the BIG deal the dog makes about HER bed and HER bowl and HER privacy. Go figure. We got some pictures tonight of them getting along. Bubbly was eating some biscuits and the cat was very calmly just sitting on BUBBLY'S bed watching the process. I think the dog did quite well for someone being in her business when she was trying to eat!!

Another Sunday!

2011-02-13T00:33:00.000-08:00

I've been intending to post this blog since last Sunday! Either the internet has been unavailable or I have!! It's now Sunday again and I'd like to recap the week with pictures.

Geoff preached, complete with skits (!), from Ephesians ch.1 last Sunday. The message was impacting as it centered around our being redeemed (purchased back from sin by God) and then lavished on by His love and grace. Some of our David family kids helped with the skits (Junju, Dodo, Sharon, Margaret and Kintu and Toby). After the message numerous people responded by coming up to the front to state they were accepting God's redemption. Geoff was also encouraged to receive many texts afterwards sharing how God blessed people through the Word. We also took time last Sunday to dedicate three new babies, the Kibeti's, Vogt's and Otim's. It was a rich time of family celebrating the gifts of God---babies and His grace and provision!!!!!

Geoff with Kintu and Junju, explaining the important points of the skit.

Kiweewa, our oldest son currently in the family, frequently translates when Geoff preaches. Here he is also helping to narrate the skit.

Toby and Dodo played "evil" and "sin" as they captured Junju and held him captive. Kintu "bought back"--"redeemed" Junju and set him free.

Kintu and the girls then lavished gifts upon Junju in an effort to begin to illustrate just how much God gives us in His love and grace.

They ran through the skit on our porch in the morning before church.

Love that preacher man!

Geoff was privileged to hold baby Jonathan Vogt as the elders prayed for each child.

Following the dedications, Geoff took a private moment to offer a special encouragement to Uncle Kokas Otim.

On Monday, the house was full in the afternoon after school!!! The kids were racing cars on the dining room table!! Notice to the lower right is Junju with a sling on his arm!!!!! He came to the door with tears in his eyes, holding his wrist. "Aunt, I fell out of the jackfruit tree" Let me just say that they climb HIGH up to get the fruit, so I have no idea how high he was, but I know that it wasn't a short distance to be sure!!!!! In the midst of the activity I took time to ice it, medicate him, make a sling and explain how an x-ray works--(many adults and children here are afraid of x-rays because they don't know it's just a "picture").

The kids prayed for him and it visibly infused him with peace! It was wonderful to watch!

After supper (during which I had two extra mouths to feed unexpectedly--Junju and Emma, who wanted to accompany everyone to the hospital for the x-ray), Geoff, Toby, Junju and Emma left for Kiwoko and found that the break was only a small greenstick requiring only an ace bandage. Hallelujah!

This bird showed up Tuesday morning and is beautiful!! Wish you could see it better!!!

And last, but not least, we now have a new cat. She showed up in the vicinity of our house on Friday night and by Saturday morning our hearts were melted and soft. Kevin is the proud owner and she's been named, "Crystal" after her pretty crystal blue eyes.

My turn...

2011-02-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

OK, let me try this. Mary is our regular blogger, but one of my friends sent me an email this week and said Mary is doing a great job, but what about you? I guess I better post something...

Let me first start by saying the greatest thing I can tell you about today is what God is doing in my own heart. Take a look at Ephesians 1:7-10 and LORD willing you will experience some of the same glory I have been swimming in this week. I am preaching tomorrow from this text and the reality of God's grace is truly awesome. The ESV version translates verse 7&8 "...according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us..." The idea of God lavishing His grace upon me is just taking me back. HE IS SO GOOD!!!

In a lesser note, we have been seeing some great progress in many areas, mainly relational with some of our Ugandan children. But in addition the other works are also progressing. The maize mill that I started and have been overseeing the development is doing well, with the exception of our power issues. The government has been stingy with electricity lately and we actually have not had stable power for over two weeks now. It is hard to run production at a factory without power. But thanks to some diesel milling and ingenious decissions by the mill manager we are pushing forward. Thursday we loaded 5 tons of maize on a truck and drove it about 12 miles to the nearest maize mill and milled it into a flour for distribution to our customers. This really cuts into our profits, but at least it keeps us in business.

The vocational school is off to a slow start but we are seeing new students turn up for this year and are hoping they will continue over the next few weeks. Likewise at the school the lack of power has proven to be a challenge. My staff there is doing a great job with the limitations we put on them. With the beginning of the year we have new students to get to know and hopefully minister God's goodness as we teach them skills for their future.

Ok enough for now, but I will try to do my part in this blog space :-)

A busy week!

2011-02-05T06:06:00.000-08:00

With a rare dull moment around here, we headed to Kampala last weekend for a change of pace. We were privileged to stay with an English friend who has been working in East Africa for the past 30 years. She has a large home in Kampala and we enjoyed visiting and eating meals in with her. We swam most of the day on Saturday and truly rested. Sunday we were up a little earlier in order to hit the shops before they got too crazy. Monday was the first day of school country-wide and many children were heading both into and out of the city to their respective schools after the long Christmas holiday. We got in and out of the shops without too much of a crowd, but getting out of Kampala was tough . . . THREE hours of sitting in traffic. With one of the few vehicles on site that has air conditioning, we were COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS!!!

Kevin LOVES playing with his friends, Jesse, Joshua and Sammy. Others often come to join, but those four are often inseparable. They played a little football (soccer) in our compound today before heading off to a larger field.

When Monday came we got into our school studies again. I teach Kevin and Acacia all morning and Toby splits his time between the primary school here at Kasana Children's Centre and our homeschool. I am teaching him Math, Science, History and English. At the primary school he is taking mainly Science, Christian Religious Education and Social Studies. Trying to juggle him being here only part time is a challenge, especially when he comes back and says the time schedule was changed and he missed a lesson!!! Once we get past the first couple of weeks I think most of the bugs will be worked out. On Friday the primary school spent the morning at the Enterprise Farm clearing the remains of last semesters maize harvest. Though we slathered him up with sunscreen, he came home burned, thirsty, hungry and tired!!!! He took a quick shower, ate some lunch and headed off again for the afternoon at school. The only time he's complained about going to the school is when he finds out that he missed a good lunch at home. (We usually have beans and posho for lunch, but some days I surprise everyone with a little something American here at the house.) The picture at left is of Acacia and Stella from this afternoon. They are both at Anya's tonight having a sleepover.

Shortly before Acacia and Stella left for Anya's, Geoff took off to the secondary school site with Toby and Abraham to play some basketball in the 106F heat!!!!!

Geoff spent the morning today at the vocational institute and maize mill, and the afternoon sorting out transportation business (he is currently heading up the New Hope vehicle department) so some exercise in the late afternoon is welcome even if it is HOT!!!!! The vocational school also started a new school year this week and has a new course addition of catering. All previously offered courses continue to go well and new students have been arriving all week.

And now for some pictures of Bubbly!!!! She and Acacia were snuggling in the sunshine a few days ago.

Bubbly LOVES Jackfruit!!!!! It is a large green fruit with yellow, sticky insides. She finds a piece somewhere in the bush everyday and tears into it!

Showing me her sticky side!

About mid-week, Kevin, Acacia and Toby decided to dig a hole in a currently unused portion of the garden. No plans whatsoever for its future, just a need to dig!

First Day of School!!!

2011-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the beginning of the new school year here at Kasana Children’s Centre of New Hope Uganda. In an effort to more fully integrate our Western kids into the Ugandan culture and to aid them in making more Ugandan friends, many have joined the primary and secondary schools. As Toby left for the morning assembly, he was so excited!!!!! Earlier Geoff had walked with him to meet the headmaster and to settle on the exact schedule. Toby will be taking Christian Religious Education, Science and Social Studies. He will also be able to be present for some mid-morning breaks and lunches, P.E. and gardening times. It will be a challenge for me to learn to adjust to this new arrangement as he will be in and out of our school schedule, but I’m thankful we have the ability to give him this rich experience!

Enjoying the Offspring!

2011-01-22T06:42:00.000-08:00

I have truly enjoyed my day with the kids!!! Acacia’s friend, Anya, has been here most of the day and the two girls have had fun with baking! Kevin spent most of the day running around with his friend Jesse, but when Jesse suddenly had to return home, Kevin decided he would make pancakes!!!!! So, instead of a quick nap this afternoon, I found myself in the kitchen assisting the process of making chocolate chip cookies and pancakes!!! Yum. Yum.

My little bakers and I in our kitchen.

Kevin thoroughly enjoyed making and cooking his pancakes. He gave some to a friend who had a birthday today--now that's a unique birthday present!!

All the makings for yummy pancakes from the recipe from our sonlight curriculum book, "Nate, the Great".

Tonight will be quite a different night. Geoff left at 4:45 this afternoon traveling to Kampala International Hospital with our new nurse, Jenny, and Caleb & Alair Mitchell. Caleb has been very sick for some time and is not improving. We arranged for him to be seen by a specialist who agreed to see him at 6:30 tonight. They will all need to stay in town as it is too dangerous to drive after dark. The kids and I are keeping Nico, the 3-yr-old of the Mitchell’s. In addition, Anya will also be staying over with us, so the house will be full of children! What a joy it will be as we have borrowed a Thomas the Tank Engine video to help keep Nico feeling “at home.” With all the sickness and trips to the Dr. lately, he’s been feeling a bit out of sorts. We ask that you pray for the Mitchell family as they have been struggling with their health since Christmas.

Nico is enjoying Kevin's pup tent as he sorts the Thomas the Tank Engine playing cards.

Hope--Stable and Growing!

2011-01-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

New Hope Uganda. Hope. New. And might I add, Always Present and Ever Increasing when based and settled in the love and fatherhood of God Himself. Having taken in the first ten children in 1988, the ministry of Kasana Children’s Centre has a history of 23 years of caring for and instilling hope in the fatherless of this central region of Uganda.

We are thankful to God for the opportunity and privilege of loving and caring for His children. In the almost five years we’ve been here, we’ve come to love and appreciate so many children---and some have become extra-dear to us. Medie Kanyike is one of the extra-dear. He was Geoff’s first intern at the Vocational Institute and set such a high standard for subsequent interns!!! Medie is competent, accomplished, diligent, attentive, bright, purposed and hard-working. He has since that time completed University, been one of three founding members of a vibrant youth outreach group called EYO here at Kasana Children’s Centre, purchased, cleared, and farmed land for profit, and now has plans and materials for a house on his property. Earlier this week Geoff, the kids, Medie and another staff member and close friend of Medie’s, Syd Sparks visited his land. It was an important time of viewing tangibly the result of the Father’s hope living in Medie’s heart. He knows and loves his Father God and trusts Him for his future. Walking on the land and sensing the excitement in Medie stirred in Geoff, Syd and the kids a deep thankfulness for the hand of God on Medie’s life.

Not all of our children here at New Hope Uganda (comprised of Kasana Children’s Centre, Kobwin Children’s Centre & Musana camps) come to an understanding of God’s love and His gift of life. Many reject His love and care and leave us with bitterness in their hearts and without hope. Medie blesses us as he whole-heartedly takes in the truth of God’s love and lives genuinely for his Father God. He is an example and encouragement for other children—his life speaks loud of the faithfulness and compassion of our God!
Syd and Medie surveying the property

Syd and Medie position themselves on the pile of bricks, ready for house assembly.

History!

2011-01-18T06:42:00.000-08:00

After five days of teaching, encouragement, instruction and updates our annual envisioning meetings culminated in communion today. The time of revisiting why we do what we do seems to get better every year. And with the Dangers having been out of the country for more than a year, it was a blessing to have them with us for the event.

One of the highlights of each envisioning is our cultural night in which we focus on one of the ethnic groups represented among our children and staff. This year the Western area of Uganda fed us an amazing meal, complete with special dress, seating and eating instructions, and followed by dancing and story-telling. The night was rich with laughter and enjoyment. May you enjoy some of the captured moments.

Good friends and smiles!

2011-01-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

Julia, Katelyn, Anya and Acacia. All of them had a sleepover at our house on Saturday night. It was a real treat as Julia is here just for a short two week visit from the states and Katelyn lives a few hours away at the Musana Camps site on Lake Victoria. The girls had a wonderful time together!

Good Ol' Fashioned Rough Housin'

2011-01-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

Today marked the end of a second full day of our annual Envisioning meetings. We've been together as a staff from 8:30-4:30 both days and look forward to tomorrow as the content has been both rich and challenging. However, all day meetings means we are away from the kids more than we are used to and we're all missin' each other! So, this afternoon the kids were begging to "Rough House" with Geoff. The neighbors, Jesse and Joshua joined in as well and they all had loads of fun and only a few minor injuries (including an ant bite for Acacia!)

I participate by kissing the injured!

Black Mamba!

2011-01-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

Monday morning . . . our workers begin work and the place is buzzing with activity . . . . . "MOM! Come see the BLACK MAMBA Medie just killed!!!" Medie, our compound worker, whose self-proclaimed personal goal is to make our compound the 'most beautiful at New Hope' (thank you, Medie!) was getting water out of the cistern and found this little gem hiding under the cistern lid! Black Mamba discoveries always provide a nice adrenalin rush--the amount of noise around here went up a notch!

This will be a busy week as we prepare for our annual Envisioning week which begins on Wednesday! The David Family girls are busy today cleaning houses in preparation for staff who work at our other sites (Musana camps and Kobwin). The place is lit with excitement in anticipation of all of us being together and revisiting the foundation and vision for why we do what we do!!!!!

2011-01-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

At 8:30 this morning Geoff, Toby and Kasule, one of our older boys, began a journey to preach at a church quite far from us. They traveled through many villages until they reached the small village church of our maize mill manager. Along the way, however, the van broke down and Geoff had to call our friend and New Hope mechanic, Dan. They were already 45 min from home and only 15 min from the church when they broke down. Dan brought them another van and stayed with ours until he got it running again. There were more things gone awry than what had stopped them, but Dan was at least able to get it home. They arrived at the church at 10:30. Geoff preached, Kasule interpreted and even Toby greeted the congregation. The church graciously fed them lunch and then loaded them up with pineapple, passion fruit, jackfruit and eggs as gifts for having come. (Toby got a jackfruit--a HUGE fruit that is sticky and sweet! Upon arriving home later, he immediately wanted to go over to David Family and share it!)

When I returned home from church our van was already in the driveway thanks to Dan. I fed the kids lunch and then went over to David Family to visit with the girls. While we were relaxing and talking Kevin came to say that a mechanic was at the house and wanted me to come talk with him about the van. Well, needless to say, I didn't know what to tell him!!!! I put him on the phone with Geoff (who was now on his way home) and he explained the problems. The mechanic, Fred, proceeded to work while I met with the girls for Bible study. Geoff arrived home about an hour later and worked with Fred to diagnose the issues. How blessed we are to have a mechanic who makes house calls! In the picture-L to R: Fred, our neighbor Uncle Joseph, Geoff

Rhythm of Life

2011-01-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

Kevin's newfound chameleon friend.

The kids love to ride on top of the van when we are going short distances around New Hope. Here they are with our neighbors, Jesse and Joshua.

The annual New Year's Day potluck at the Anderson's. A great time of fellowship and good eats!!

Uncle Stu, who is now heading up the baby house ministry with his wife, Sarah. They are such a blessing to New Hope and the babies we care for!

When a vehicle moves, many come running for a ride!! Over capacity is how we move in the village!!

Good morning snuggles from our early riser! He wakes up happy and making jokes!!!

Dinner last night with the newly returned McFarland's!!!!! Staff who have been away on furlough and/or the holidays are returning and the place is getting noisy again!!! Hallelujah!

Here’s another snippet of how we, living in a foreign country, come face to face with a different rhythm of life:

How would you react if you were told that the item you ordered was ready, but when you attempted to retrieve it you were then told, by the same person, that it was not actually ready for pick-up. Before you answer completely, let’s add more components to the mix: You had to drive more than an hour into town and then fight chaotic traffic before the person bothered to inform you of their mistake (read, “lie”); the one who bought your old item had made special arrangements to receive it, but then had to wait; you had to schedule yet another trip into town, with hopes (and doubts) that it would truly be finished!

Let’s present another scenario: You travel early in the day from your remote village and into the city. Once there, you maneuver your way across traffic to make an order for paint. The sales person tells you it will be ready at 1 p.m. You get busy with other obligations and at 3 p.m. you call to check on the status. The sales person informs you that the paint is ready, so you fight traffic all the way back across town (with tired children in tow). When you arrive at the paint store the sales person (same one) tells you there is “no way it can be ready today, come back tomorrow!” How did we react??? We demanded our money back and never returned again to the store. (Keep in mind, that to return the next day is practically impossible being that we live far out from the city and have many events and responsibilities with the ministry daily—we schedule a trip into town about once a month as it is expensive (financially and timewise).

So, how did we react in the first situation? We could do nothing else but to wait. Of course, we told the owner that she would be deducting off the price the cost of our transportation for having to make an extra trip back into town. My main reaction was impatience with myself for having fallen again for the promise of ready goods. I’m not sure why this is a common situation here. Many in this culture fear confrontation and will avoid it at all costs. So, I’m wondering, is it considered a “confrontation” to tell someone “No, it’s not ready.”? But, if they tell us on the phone it is ready in an effort to avoid having to say, “No, it’s not ready,” how does that avoid the confrontation in person when we arrive and find the contrary??? I can’t suppose I will sort this all out anytime soon, but the longer we live here the more I learn about the intricacies of relational interaction. I pray that with each new “lesson” I react with patience.

Today is the day Geoff made yet another trip into town to pick up a new bed. We can’t just go in whenever we want: Geoff has to schedule around meetings with management, elders, vocational school, personal mentoring, and timber/maize mill obligations. He would never go in JUST to pick up a bed, but has to wait until the trip is WORTHWHILE on all accounts!!! So, he waited until there was other ministry business to be done and combined many duties into one daytrip. He called the furniture place this a.m. to make sure (again, how sure can we be? . . .) that the bed is ready. She assured him that it is indeed ready. We’ll see.

Just My Size!

2011-01-01T01:28:00.000-08:00

With a New Year comes renewed resolve (termed “resolutions” by most—I was just trying to be different) ANYWAY . . . as the kids grow we are involving them in more of the day to day business of life—dishes, cooking, washing, etc. Here in Uganda every child, from not too long after they learn to walk(!), goes to the bore hole to draw water for the days duties. We desire our kids to be fully involved in life here, not on the sidelines, so, having resolved to put this plan into action, we bought 10L, 5L and 3L jerry cans last week in preparation for them to make a daily trip to the bore hole.

Kevin has NOT had a problem incorporating this into his schedule!!!! I've actually lost count of how many times he's been to the bore hole today! Since 8 a.m. he's gone just about every hour--sometimes twice an hour!! As I've been cooking and washing dishes in the kitchen, he's been hounding me about whether or not I've emptied his jerry can yet so he can go again!!! I'm glad he's so excited about it all! I guess we should have bought smaller jerry cans a long time ago!

Sleepover times two!!!

2010-12-27T09:21:00.000-08:00

Today we got the call that yet another of our pregnant staff members was blessed with a new, healthy baby!!! The message also came with a request to take dinner to the hospital (the hospitals here do not provide food to the patient, it is the responsibility of the family to provide.) We had a full house of kids at that point. Probably about 12 of them running around and having a great time. When the girls heard I was going to see the new baby they all asked to go with. On the way home they asked if they could have a "sleep over times two". When I asked what that was they explained it meant BOTH Anya and Stella could sleep over with Acacia tonight. (I guess they don't know it can be called a slumber party!) Kevin, Anya and Stella are seen here at the supper table tonight.

Proud parents of Hannah Faith: Kendra and Nathan Jackson

Ssaba Jennifer was anxious to hold baby Hannah.

The young girls (L-R: Anya, Kasana, Stella, Acacia) were awestruck.

The girls each prayed for the new baby and parents, we left them some supper and went on our way.

"Kate the Great" -- Ode to Kate

2010-12-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

New Hope Uganda has a definite, focused mission--bring the Fatherhood of God to the fatherless. We take this vision from Psalm 68:5-6 which reads, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.” We have more than 110 staff members of various positions within the ministry —the majority of which are from Uganda. We love this aspect of the ministry, a true partnership between the Ugandan and foreign staff (of whom the latter are less than 30% of the staff make-up.) If we as foreign staff had to leave the country for any reason en masse, the work with the fatherless would be able to continue, and we love that reality! In our short 4 ½ years here we have seen both victory and disappointment as we seek to bring God’s fatherhood to His children here in central Uganda. The work is altogether challenging and rewarding to be sure.

We have come to know and love those with whom we serve. So many of the staff serve tirelessly beyond a “job-description”. One of those I want to highlight here is Kate Tolhurst. She works with our “special needs” children. Because of her passion for their well-being we have taken in more children with special needs in this past year than we have in all of our 23 years of existence as a ministry. She has gathered a staff to help her as she ministers, yet, she seems to keep extremely occupied with all the doings, coming and goings related to caring for the kids—hospital visits, village visits, classes, feeding, bathing, organizing, etc. When does she get a day off??? Well, they are scheduled, but rarely materialize!!!!

Today I went over to see her before the Christmas morning church service. There she was at Hassan’s house (our boy with cerebral palsy who lives on site with us in his own house) taking care of Hassan, Kakande (our developmentally delayed adult), Brian (a boy from the village with spina bifida who is in with us for wound care at the moment), and Kakulu, who has mild cp and is currently battling hepatitis. Church was due to start soon and I asked if I could help her with anything. She said, “No, I’m fine, I just have to feed Hassan, get Brian out of his wheelchair, change Kakulu and get ready.” THAT’S FINE???? It was at that point I decided to highlight her dedication in this humble blog space! Two hours previous I had made a visit to her and learned that her night had been spent cleaning up Kakulu who had a bout with explosive diarrhea. While she was relating that story to me, Hassan’s feeding tube spontaneously disconnected and Kakande was making a mess on the floor as he attempted to get all his breakfast in his mouth. She seems to take it all in stride, but I know there are days that stretch her to her maximum (today might have been one of them!) She does all of this with a smile on her face and is so very pleasant. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to tell you about her and her unwavering passion for these kids. And as you are praying, tell God THANK YOU for Kate! She is a sincere blessing to many of the fatherless in central Uganda and a joy to the rest of the New Hope staff!

Kate bathes Kakulu before the church service this a.m.

Resetting the feeding tube for Hassan as Kakande eats breakfast (most, but not all of it gets in his mouth!)
Smiling as she flushes Hassan's gastric tube.

Adjusting Hassan in his wheelchair.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-25T06:09:00.000-08:00

Cinnamon rolls for breakfast and great family time!!!! After opening presents and enjoying breakfast we attended church and worshiped and praised God for His gift of Jesus!!! It was a fantastic morning!! We pray you had a beautiful Christmas. May the truth of God's gift of life to us in Jesus Christ move you to love the One who created you and who has good plans for you!

Geoff and Acacia

Acacia and her "American Girl" doll, Melody, in her handmade baby crib--made by the same carpenter who built our kitchen. SO TALENTED!

Toby and his legos

Mary and Ssaba Jennifer (one of our David Family girls). Jennifer is spending the holidays with us. She was so excited about all of her presents!

Who knew a coin purse could bring such joy??

Kevin and his robotic bug

Apparently all the excitement killed the dog . . .

Opening our stockings--one of our favorite things!

Yum Yum cinnamon rolls!!! We (Mary, Nabukeera, Jennifer and Acacia) baked all day yesterday: cinnamon rolls, wheat rolls, sweet potato pie, herbed irish potatoes, roast, fresh green beans, pumpkin and apple pie!!!!! Jennie Dangers had supper with us. This is her first Christmas without her family and we wanted to be a part of helping her to KNOW she is loved and cared for!!!

Nabukeera and Acacia put marshmallows on the sweet potato pie!

A little taste says it will do fine . . .

May your Christmas be wonderful and enjoyable!

Joy, Laughter, Song and Sweets in the Holidays!!!!

2010-12-22T22:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the few of us who are here for the holidays gathered at the Dendy’s and Mitchell’s to bake and frost Christmas cookies with the children. The delight in their eyes as they created the treats brought joy to those of us fortunate enough to be with them. Children small and big took special care to design their cookies. After about two hours of creating, anticipation was rewarded when the cookies were set out on the dining table as the rest of the staff and children joined us--all squeezing together into the Dendy’s great room to eat cookies and sing Christmas carols. Aunt Nancy had done a small bit of research on the origins of each carol and then shared with us the stories, while Aunt Sarah accompanied on the piano. Singing, laughing, eating and sharing made the reality of Christmas come alive, despite the near 100 degree weather lately!!! The joy of being together and the excitement in the children truly enhanced our celebration of Jesus’ birth, Immanuel, God with us. We pray that you enjoy your Christmas celebration this year—may His joy and peace fill you to overflowing!!!!! Merry Christmas!

Can I come in and have some FUN, TOO???

2010-12-16T23:26:00.000-08:00

In recent days we celebrated the Christmas season together as a staff. Before many staff left for the holidays we took time to say thank you to each other and to enjoy some games and snacks. Uncle Joseph said a special thanks to those who serve as parents for our family groups, of which we have seven.

After honoring each set of parents and giving them a gift, we took time to pray for them. The sacrifices they make each day go well beyond the confines of a "job description." Often they are awake into the night hours and up early the next day as they parent more than 20 children per family group. They are on the "frontlines" as we say. Their devotion to the children in their families is to be honored and we were happy to highlight their dedication and loving attention to those who live with us at New Hope.

Uncle Okoth, Geoff and Kevin enjoy games with the other staff.

Uncle Steve, mastermind of games, instructs Uncle Julius on how to keep another staff member from stealing the keys. Of course, he blindfolded him first and then tried to tell him how to defend his post!!!!

This morning, Geoff left for an "introduction" in which the groom presents gifts (the dowry) to the family of the bride. It is tradition for the men to wear a kanzu--the dress you see on Geoff. He just texted from the event to say it is HOT and running behind schedule--no surprises there!!!

One of my favorite pictures--a snapshot of life here. Geoff and Medie are starting Uncle Jonnes' van
by connecting jumper cables, counting to three, and yelling "OK, START!" to the one who is sitting ready in the drivers' seat.

On last Friday we made cinnamon rolls. The girls and I worked from 9:30-5:30 and delivered almost 100 cinnamon rolls as gifts to fellow staff members. Of course the David family members ate heartily!!!!!!

Biru has such a wonderful smile--even when she is goofing around!

Imma is checking the recipe as the others mix.

They all worked so well together. It was a really fun time and I'm glad we were able to do it before they left for the holidays!!!!!

Second Harvest!!!!!!!

2010-12-13T23:39:00.000-08:00

Uganda enjoys two harvests in one calendar year!!! The "Pearl of Africa" contains abundant fertile land and there is tremendous opportunity for agricultural advancement! However, our favorite part of having two harvests is the maize roast we have in David Family each time we bring the maize in from our fields! Though we spent five months in the U.S. this year, we still enjoyed the maize roast before we left in May, and just last week. Our kids were so excited to find out that we hadn't missed the roast this time! It was one of the main things they questioned when we decided to extend our stay in the U.S.---"But, will we miss the maize roast with David Family?????" Sitting around the fire together, drinking soda, laughing, joking and watching the kids have wheelbarrow races is one of our most favorite things in Uganda!!! Great memories!!!

Uncle Geoff and Junju talk together before the fire gets started.

Preparing the firewood for the bonfire.

James and Kevin racing Dodo and Toby.

Toby and Dodo setting up for the next race.

Joyce returns from the Saturday Kiwoko open market just in time to enjoy the harvest!

More racing!

Have you ever...?

2010-12-09T05:06:00.000-08:00

It's a good question, Have you ever...? Fill in the blank.

I was blessed to officiate one of our family Sundays here in Kasana. We turn our regular Sunday morning church service into a celebration of family and all that surrounds family. We had baby dedications, prayed for pregnant women, (currently New Hope has no less than 7) and even celebrated a wedding for a couple who were "village" married ten years ago, but had never made a covenant in the church. After the service we finished the day with a big meal for all. But for me (Geoff) it wasn't over yet...I was invited as a special guest at a village school about 10 miles away for their end of year program. It was good though the car I was using would not start and I had to quickly borrow another to get us there. Toby went with me as well as one of our sons from the family group. The meeting was filled with speeches, songs and dancing. The funny thing was as I was excusing myself to come home at 6pm the host insisted that I stay a bit longer so they could serve me some "lunch". Yes you heard me correctly, lunch at 6pm.

A few days earlier I had gone into Kampala with our mini-bus for some new tires and repairs, and servicing those type of things. My goal was to be home by 6 when we were having dinner with a special friend. The ladies were preparing enchiladas, Mmmmmm. One of my favorites. Well, as things usually go here in Africa, we actually didn't leave Kampala until 8:30 only to have the bus break down in a very sketchy neighborhood. So at 9pm we were trying to get a mechanic so we could get the bus home. I was trying to not be noticed too much as being the only white guy in a neighborhood like that after dark is not always safe. We finally reached home after midnight with me having to drive the bus 20km down the dirt road after dropping the driver off at his home. Needless to say I missed out on the meal, thanks anyway Monique.

You never know what might happen in the course of the day here in Uganda, I think that is one of the things I like so much about living and doing minstry here.

Holiday Prep

2010-12-02T22:06:00.000-08:00

Our school year in Uganda runs from January-December. Our "summer" vacation begins the 1st week in December and lasts until the end of January. Many of our children who live on site with us have relatives in their home villages. The relative might be an aunt or uncle, an older brother or sister or for some, a mother. During this holiday time many of our children spend a few weeks with their extended family. What they find when they reach their home village is varied:both good and bad influences; social or religious pressure to conform to community norms; and regular ole peer pressure. With his usual enthusiasm and humor, Uncle Jonnes addresses the secondary school students.

The importance of preparing our children for what they might see and experience when on holiday cannot be understated. Uncle Jonnes released the staff from their usual work for the day making us available to counsel and pray with the students once he had addressed each group. This photo is of Nabukeera, one of our dear David family girls, reading a Bible passage, chosen by Uncle Jonnes, to the secondary school students. The majority of Jonnes' words were devoted to ensuring the students know how much we love and care for them. I was very encouraged by the attention and respect they gave to him, as well as elated to see the effort they put into reflecting on the specific challenges of what they might face. We as staff spoke one on one with many of the students before praying together in smaller groups. The morning was spent with the secondary students, followed by an assembly with the primary school students. Uncle Jonnes spoke with passion and fervor. He highlighted their accomplishments, congratulated them on finishing the year well, and challenged them to remain faithful to the truths of the gospel during their few weeks away from New Hope. Sitting amongst FAMILY--witnessing the love the staff has for the kids and the kids' appreciation for our efforts to prepare them, smiles exchanged--there is no other place I'd rather be!

"As you go . . .go prepared."

Our primary school students listened, watched and laughed as an animated Uncle Jonnes entertained with full-body illustrations of what he wants them to remember!

"You say it's your birthday . . ."

2010-11-28T02:57:00.000-08:00

Acacia turns 8 on Monday, so we celebrated with some of her favorite people Saturday afternoon.

The whole goofy group!! L to R back: Faith, Mary, Kara, Jonica, Annet, Monique. front: Stella, Ava, Acacia, Anya, Vicky

Annet and Acacia swing together on the porch poles

Eating lots of sweets and some yummy, rich chocolate cake!

fun games

and crafts

We love our little princess!!!!

Extreme Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

A day of intense sunshine, then a torrential rainstorm complete with hail and driving winds.

It all began at 7 a.m. with the turkey slaughter x 2. Toby begged us to wake him early so as not to miss the action. The Biedler's found and purchased the turkeys last week in a far away village. Thankfully, that meant that the slaughter took place at THEIR house, NOT MINE!! :)

While the turkeys met their demise, Geoff worked in our bananas with Kakande. Kakande is a developmentally delayed man who has relatives in nearby villages. Often people with Kakande's disability are discarded by society. Auntie Katie (who is passionate caregiver to many of the community's special needs kids) has involved herself in caring for Kakande. He is onsite everyday and currently sleeps in one of our clinic rooms. She keeps him active and busy and teaches him daily skills. A few days ago, she and two of our David Family children accompanied him to the clinic to teach him how to make his bed. Everyday he collects and carries water and helps around Hassan's house. Hassan is our child with cerebral palsy who lives in his own house, overseen by Katie, in our David Family compound. In these pictures, kakande is helping Geoff weed the bananas.

The hard hat belongs to Toby. Kakande thought it was more fun to weed with a special hat.

In keeping with the tradition of the First Thanksgiving, we celebrated our own harvest of bananas a few days ago. Here Geoff carries the banana stalk, which is cut down after harvest. Oh, such good bananas--talk about fresh and organic!!

Toby "harvested" turkey feathers from the slaughter. He and Acacia made "Indian" headdresses for the occasion.

At 6 we headed down to the McFarland house (where the Peterson's are currently living). What a time of laughing, joking, catching up with each other and realizing how very blessed we all are to be together to celebrate God's goodness!!!!! We are thankful to be from a free country and currently living in a free country!!!!

Acacia's little fan club kept her busy with wrestling and tickling!

Though we live in close proximity, we may go days without seeing some of the staff due to the individual nature of our involvement with the ministry. We thoroughly enjoyed being together!!!

Especially since the men were in the kitchen!!!! Some were helpful--here Gabe whips up some awesome turkey gravey.

While the rest are . . . just there.

Chris and "a little something for the platter . . . a little something for me . . ."

Are we excited about PIE??? Oh, yeah!

Kim Peterson and Naomi Vogt.

Kara Peterson, Acacia, and Jonica Biedler

The Zimmerman's and the Mitchell's.

The table where we sat with the William's, Peterson's, Vogt's, and Monique. I haven't laughed as much in a LONG time! I'm so thankful for good friends who have a great sense of humor!!!!!

Nancy and Hannah's friend, Kara, Andrew and Janessa

Trying to get into the spirit of the season, the kids "sledded" together on the mat.

And then they crashed, just like in real sledding!

We pray you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving! "In EVERYTHING give thanks!" I Thessalonians 5:18

TWINS!!!

2010-11-24T23:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I posted a prayer request for the ladies of New Hope who are expecting! Later on in the day I went to the hospital to be with Aunt Ketty as she was laboring with twins. Now that is quick answer to prayer!!!!!

In the past four years, the two previous times I've accompanied her to the hospital for delivery she has delivered QUICKLY--one time within moments of getting on the laboring table! She welcomed me with a big smile and said, "Auntie Mary, the times you've been with me I have delivered quickly! Praise God you're here, you have the anointing!"

This time was different, however. She was not progressing. I monitored the babies' heartbeats and they were doing well, but she was not having any effective contractions, though her water had broken very early that morning. At 3p.m. the doctor examined her and decided to take her for a C-Section. At 4 p.m. she went for the section and I left to return to New Hope and get the message to the one she requested to come be with her for the night. By 5 p.m. we celebrated the arrival of Miramu and Israel, girl and boy blessings for the Okoth Family!!!! All are doing well! Praise God!!

Keep praying for safe deliveries for the rest of our ladies. There are 6 due to deliver in the next 4 months, many within the next few weeks.

All your children . . .

2010-11-23T19:51:00.000-08:00

"All your children will be taught by the Lord and great will be your children's peace."
Isaiah 54:13

This is a verse that I remember daily. As I am the primary teacher for my own kids, I often bring this promise to mind. This one brings tremendous encouragement, especially when I feel I might not be covering all topics well. But, more than academics, it brings great comfort knowing that God is active in training and teaching my children in all areas of life. Being ever aware of my imperfections can sometimes bring temptation to fret concerning the overall outcome of the development of my children, but there is no need for worry. God is teaching my children and He knows what is best for them. Our memory verse last week was, "This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, I AM the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you and who directs you in the way you should go." What an all-encompassing promise for now and the future!

And continuing on the topic of children . . . we have numerous ladies here at New Hope that are set to deliver babies in the next 60 days. The due dates of some are imminent and others are due toward the end of January. Please pray for their strength, reliance on the Lord, health and safe deliveries.

Thank you!!!

Is this the way?

2010-11-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

OK imagine trying to find someone’s house where there are no addresses, no street signs and the environment and land marks are ever changing. That was our challenge today, one benefit is that I had been to the man’s house before. Well I guess that could be a benefit but today it didn’t seem to help. Toby and I (Geoff) set out to pay a home visit to a man in the village. We went by land marks I remembered and I think were in the general area, but the one person I stopped to possibly ask turned out to be a drunk and insisted that I help him with a sore tooth. Needless to say I didn’t ask anyone else. After looking for about thirty minutes we gave up. Along the way we also met a snake sunning itself across the path. I decided to run it over and as I did it rose up and tried to bite me. If you can imagine Toby and I going by, me with my feet up on the air, shouting look out SNAKE… To quote Toby “Daddy that was scary!!” Praise God it didn’t get us! We came home only slightly disappointed because half of the adventure is the effort.

Feeling at Home Again

2010-11-18T10:33:00.001-08:00

We have now been here for a full two weeks and in that time we have had the privilege of visiting in the homes of friends everyday, many times over a meal. In reconnecting with friends we've been blessed and reminded of the uniqueness of the place in which we live. Having neighbors all around us, who understand God's passion for the orphan, encourages and strengthens us as we seek to bring God's Father love to the children with whom we live and love.

With all the activity of unpacking, organizing and visiting other staff, we had not yet been a part of David family's nightly devotion and evening meal. We've been over to their compound frequently to greet the children and have short one on one visits, but being with the whole family hadn't yet happened until this past Tuesday. I couldn't wait to get over there and be in the middle of them!!!! I love those kids so much and it is a true privilege to know them. We all journeyed to America together as we shared pictures of our time in the U.S. What a treat to explain the Golden Gate Bridge, enjoy the beauty of Catalina Island, be amazed at the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, be awed at Old Faithful, show them an American farm, and see faces of people we visited whom they know and love!

Being that it is final exam week and they wanted to study, we stayed for only a short while after eating with them. Geoff helped Joyce with math and our kids ran around with the younger kids whose exams don't start until next week. I encouraged a few in their studies, but mostly I just enjoyed being in their presence! Kevin said the beans we had that night were the best he'd ever had!!!! Way to go Emma--the cook for that night!

It is fantastic to be home again with David family!!!

Annet, Acacia's best friend in David family. They are so happy to be together again!

Sweet Margaret is a diligent student!!

This picture shows a larger view of the family dining banda. It is where we have devotions, meals, studies and special meetings together.

Dodovico enjoying his posho and beans with his "local fork".

Geoff helps Joyce with a math problem, while Jennifer tries to concentrate.