FOR - E - VER

FOR - E - VER as in that is how long it takes to upload pictures!!! I got up at midnight in the rain to bring in the galoshes the kids left standing upright under the gutter spout. I decided now might be the time to upload those pictures I'd been promising the fam - n - friends. Now at 1:15 a.m. this is all the internet could manage and I just need to get some sleep. Enjoy the few I was able to upload!!!!

Giraffes are some of my favorite animals--graceful and unique. The darker the spots the older the giraffe, did you know that?

At the top of Murchison Falls

Tracking rhinos at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

How amazing to have mom here for my 46th birthday!!!! Vicki & Jamie Dangers and our new school teacher, Leah made this birthday cookie for me. It's a good thing, cause I didn't bother to make a cake for the occasion!!!!

Seth--pitching in with the daily cooking by nuking a little something in the microwave . . . ha! ha!

Enjoying Grammie and Seth's visit!!!!!

Sorry for the lack of postings, but the internet has been unusually slow lately and our computer has also been very occupied as we have two in the house these days that "live on the net"!!! Mom and Seth arrived in good shape last Friday morning. We did a little shopping and made our way back safely to New Hope in the early afternoon. We stayed here until this past Thursday when we took a safari to Murchison Falls. It was amazing!!! We saw a leopard up in a tree from FAR away (well, our driver did--as he was driving about 30 km/hr!!!--we had to look around before we saw it! Our driver is an amazing safari guide!) We were able to approach cautiously until we were about 20 ft away. It gracefully descended the tree, every working muscle beautifully showing through it's almost luminous brown, yellow and white spotted coat. Watching us carefully, it walked by our van and disappeared off into the bush. A once in a lifetime spotting! We also were blessed to see many elephants, monkeys, colorful lizards, hippos, rhinos, giraffe, warthogs, buffalo, Uganda Kob, hartebeast, oribe, and crocodiles!!! We are now back at New Hope. Geoff taught this morning at the Childcare and Family Institute and then gave a tour to those students this afternoon. Tomorrow we will celebrate Acacia's birthday with Grammie and Seth (a month early) and also take a tour of the fish farms, enterprise farms and piggery. On Friday we will again head out to another area of Uganda, Jinja. Late sunday evening we will take them to the airport and sadly say GOODBYE. Waaaaaaaaaa. We are enjoying having them here!!!!! The internet won't load pics at the mo, so will post this info and try pics later . . .

"The Plan"

Toby has a plan. It's to capture the wild dog that frequently parades through our yard as if it is supposed to be there. He drew a diagram and wrote out the details a couple of nights ago and informed me he's going to need rope, a leash, dog biscuits (to lure the dog of course), lunch, then MORE snacks and bubbly--because our dog will certainly be key in catching the "other" dog.

Meanwhile, Geoff was preparing his own plan--of his day in Kampala. He again went in to secure more parts of the new maize machinery and then yesterday spent a good portion of the day assembling. While Geoff planned, Kevin intently watched his Dad. I hope my boys grow up to honor God and their families just as Geoff does.

And on another subject completely, we celebrated Ugandan independence day last Friday. It was an important time in which all our schools came together to learn the history and significance of the independence of this country. The most impacting quote of the day for me was "Ugandan gained her independence in 1962 and has not had a peaceful change of president since." I pray for that to not be what we see in this country's future. Our theme for the day was "Uganda tomorrow, what is your role today?" Our push is for our kids to see that a successful Uganda depends on individuals dedicating themselves to the betterment of their country beginning in small ways and expanding from there. Another highlight was the open microphone into which approx 40 kids/staff stated their hopes, dreams and visions for Uganda. It was moving to hear the passion for which the kids especially spoke of their country. (sorry, we forgot to take the camera)

And as I close this, my mother and nephew are getting ready to board a plane in Los Angeles to come visit. We pick them up in Entebbee on Friday morning. YAHOO!!

Empanadas and Bargains

This pic has nothing to do with empanadas or bargains. Kevin does "bed head" one better with his ever unique "plumage" sticking out. And you get a bonus: his silly "Brefkast" (breakfast) faces.
I went into Kampala for a quick, but leisurely and enjoyable trip last Thursday. Vicki called Wed afternoon to ask if I could accompany her on a last minute dentist appt. We’ve been struggling to find time to talk and visit and thought we would have adequate time to catch up as we rode in. She had an 8:30 a.m. appt and we were back by lunch!!! It was almost as if I just took a quick trip to the store . . . nah. But I did go shopping as she was otherwise occupied in the dentist chair.
As I entered the produce section of the grocery store I immediately heard a woman exclaim, “65,000!!!!!!! That CAN’T be right!!!” Looking up I saw her holding a 6 oz. pack of mushrooms as her mouth hung open and her big eyes begged the clerk to tell her it just couldn’t be true. (FYI 65,000 shillings is about $32.00.) Yup, close your mouth and decrease your bugged out eyes! It was true!

On the opposite end of the scale I found a complete bargain in breakfast cereal on another aisle (isn’t this just the most interesting blog EVER???!!!) about 90 cents for 16 ounces of the South African brand of honey nut cheerios. Hallelujah!!

All in all, I managed to get 2 weeks worth of grocery shopping done and two other errands completed in the time it took Vicki to finish up at the dentist.

Back at the house that afternoon the dog was frantically trying to get a bite of the cereal as the kids snacked on it in the back yard.

Two days a week Cody eats supper with us and then spends the evening with our family. The family groups have slaughtered a lot of pork lately and Cody always manages to buy a nice cut that we usually share together. Having had barbecue pork twice and fajitas once, we were looking for something new. Geoff decided he wanted to cook a recipe for empanadas he'd seen recently in a magazine. As usual, we didn't have all the ingredients, but we sure had fun experimenting and cooking together!!! Empanadas are a definite repeat!!!

Work and Rest

As a staff, we've been talking a lot lately about the need for rest. Big surprise . . . we missionary types don't always take time to adequately rest. We just keep going and going. Yes, we love our "work" and enjoy our interaction with the kids and staff, but rest is necessary. Now, how do we fit it in??? Geoff and I did that this past weekend and it was amazing, but first, let me fill you in on what's going on around here, because, well, work generally comes before rest, right??? . . .

In the next two weeks, thanks to the organization Giving Hands, Geoff will oversee the purchase and delivery of new electrically powered maize mill machinery. The significance and importance of this addition affords us the ability to mill more maize per hour at a lower cost than what is currently required by our diesel machinery. Up to now having diesel machinery has enabled us to mill regardless of whether or not government power is available and we’ve found this a great advantage as we provide milling services to our local community, but the upkeep is time consuming and expensive. Also, without electric machinery on site we were not able to take advantage of milling without the expense of diesel (approximately 4,500/= per hour, or about $3.00) when government power was available. We will now have all our options covered in this exciting new venture for the Enterprise area.

Also added in the past couple of months is new expansion of timber machining in our area. However, the new business is not run by New Hope—instead it is providing competition for the existing New Hope timber mill. As we have been the only location for timber cutting in an 18 km radius for many years, competition next door is providing our employees the ability to recognize the need for fine tuning and streamlining our operation, not to mention a renewed commitment to excellence in the services we offer. The input and oversight required of Geoff during the implementation of these developments is extensive—more trips to Kampala, extra hours in Kiwoko at the site and detailed instruction/training of staff. But, it’s all worth it as it’s exciting to see the Enterprise department growing and changing to meet the needs of the community in tandem with bringing in more funding for New Hope Uganda.

Next week Geoff's building students will spend a week in Kito, a nearby community that is serving the needs of the fatherless in their area. They will build a classroom block for the students there. And close on the heels of that project finishing my mom and oldest Nephew will arrive in Uganda!!!! No one from my family has yet been able to visit since we moved here, so I am VERY excited!!! As soon as we see them off (after being with us for almost three weeks) we will gear up for the New Hope Vocational Institute graduation ceremony! Some of the first group of students Geoff accepted into the various vocational programs will be graduating. Due to the varied length of programs, some others have already graduated and are working successfully in their trades, namely tailors and weavers.

Then, in the first week of December Geoff’s parents and a niece arrive for more than a three week long stay. Geoff’s parents have visited once before, but his niece has never been to see us so we are all anticipating showing her the beauty of Uganda!!!!

With all that activity encroaching on our already filled schedules Geoff and I decided to spend last weekend away as a couple. The kids’ current missionary teacher graciously offered to stay with Toby, Acacia and Kevin while we RESTED. A friend of mine from my days at Pepperdine and her husband gave us a nice sum of money to spend on a weekend away from the demands of the ministry.

We are convinced that where we went has to be the absolute most relaxing place on the face of the earth!!!!! Situated on a section of the Nile in which there are white water rapids and a plethora of beautiful, magnificent birds we found there to be NO STRESSORS whatsoever all weekend. It was glorious. I didn’t realize how much tiredness I had been storing up in my body as I just kept going from one activity/responsibility to the next here at New Hope. We arrived at our “retreat” on Friday and on Saturday after breakfast I went back to bed and slept soundly until LUNCH!!!!!! Awesome---that’s the best word I can find. Enjoy some pictures of the beauty we got to experience. We didn’t have to make ANY decisions during the whole weekend, except of course for what to have for lunch or supper. Mmmmmm.

This is the view from the 6' x 8' picture window. We could see this from any area in our banda--even the shower!!!! ahhhhh . . .

Geoff is enjoying watching the birds, fish and otter right on level with the Nile.

I am soothingly mesmerized by the river as I sit on the veranda couch.

Total relaxation. You can see the reflection of the Nile in the picture window behind Geoff.

When we got home the kids had so many questions. "Can we go there with you sometime?" "Is there a place we can play?" "Is there a pool?" All the answers are "No." It is out of our normal price range and we would never have been able to go had it not been for the generous provision of God through our friends!! There is no place for kids to play! So, it is VERY quiet :) And there is no pool, just the river Nile. Thank you God for a great weekend!!!!!

Trials as Joy??? YES!!!!

I have continued to organize and reorganize since we moved 2 months ago. There never seems to be an end to the STUFF. Where does it come from???? Wondering about spontaneous regeneration in this case . . . once it's been thrown away, discarded, redirected it somehow finds its way back to places all on its own and then excels at enhancing the overall cluttered look to a room!!!!! argh. Having said all that and feeling my frustration level rise at the moment, I did come across something very valuable yesterday and am glad to have been reacquainted with it.

This is the testimony I shared with our church family back in July during our annual New Hope Thanksgiving day. I was speaking to our local community church members, so some of this speaks directly to them, but in most of it I hope you will find personal encouragement.

(The above picture is included because when I look at a blog I like to see a picture of some sort. This one is from last week's surprise party for Nancy.)

Many times in the past few months I’ve been ready to die. Not because I was in despair or because I gave up on living, but because I was so aware that God is in control of my life that I was at peace with death if that was His best plan for me. I was ready for whatever God had planned for me and if that was death then I welcomed it. I came to the reality that I am nothing without God. He is in complete control. I am at His mercy and that is a good thing.

In my life, I wasn’t always at this place of peace. In fact at the time I got sick with hepatitis this past February, it had been almost exactly one year before to the day that I prayed the following prayer to God, “God, I’ve read so much and been challenged by what I’ve read this past year, but my walk hasn’t changed much. Please move me, goad me, steer me, whatever to where, what and how I can make necessary changes. Continue to stretch me and give me what I need to please you—faith.”

I believe that since February of this year I have been in the process of God answering this prayer in my life.

When I was so sick with hepatitis that I couldn’t walk the length of my house without having difficulty breathing, when I was so sick I couldn’t even sit up but about 2 hours a day, when I was so sick I had to sleep most of the day and it tired me to talk with visitors, I came to a reliance on God that I hadn’t known before. For the first time I was desperately aware that He is the air I breathe!!! Without him I couldn’t have taken another breath. When it became a challenge even to draw in air to my lungs, I came to a much deeper appreciation of the breath of God—His Holy Spirit who sustained me in that sickness. When I was unable to sit up and read the Word, I came to a love and a hunger for His Word. As soon as I was able to have the energy to read, I devoured the scripture. But, imagine reading about the awesomeness, magnificence and greatness of God and not having the energy to get out of bed and kneel down before your Maker who gave you life and sustains you. That is a moment of painful reality. It made me never want to be in a place ever again where I pass up the opportunity to praise Him! So, I praise God for the suffering I went through because I now know what it is to be unable to physically kneel, physically raise my hands, to have the breath to sing. I now have been moved and goaded by God Himself to take every opportunity to praise Him!!!

But that is not the end of my recent story of finding MORE OF GOD.

I spent about 8 weeks recovering from hepatitis. After recovering, I was well for about one week when we were hit by the charcoal truck and I found myself in bed again. But, this time I was in pain—not just tired and without energy. The issue I came face to face with after the accident was my own impatience with the circumstances of my life. Did I still trust God and His plan? Was I still willing to praise Him and trust Him with a damaged, painful body? I came to a place by the grace of God where I stopped asking for God to remove the physical scars that Kevin and I have because of the crash. I don’t want to be an Israelite who forgets God’s sovereign saving hand and if a scar will remind me of His love and goodness then I want the scar for the rest of my life on this earth.



During the time of sickness with hepatitis and injury from the accident my family and I had to also learn to receive help from those of you in this community. You brought food, cards, smiles, visits, prayers, took care of our kids, taught our kids and supported us in so many other ways. At the end of the bout with hepatitis I was ready to get busy serving other people, but found myself in the position of receiving once again. This was very difficult for me. But I know God’s plan is best. Suffering is the context of our oft quoted scripture from Romans 8:28. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” What God was working in me for His good was not just a reliance on Him and a submission to the circumstances He provided for me, but also coming to know that people are a part of my life because He’s put them there!!

Geoff and I have said many times in the past few months that there is no where else in the world we’d rather be than at Kasana. You as a community have given to us and we have learned to receive.

The last part of my testimony this morning is to God’s sovereignty and faithfulness in the death of my father last month. He had been sick, but the doctors had said he might live another 6 months to a year so we planned for that. Once again, God’s plan is best—not ours or the doctors’. My Dad died very peacefully even though he had a disease which causes difficult death. God gently took Him and He died quietly by my mom’s side. There was no struggle and for that we are all grateful. I trust God’s timing in everything!! God enabled me to go to the U.S. To be with my mom and sisters for 3 weeks! It was sad to not be able to see or talk with my Dad, but it was a peaceful time because we knew God took Dad at the right time in His perfect way.

And thanks again to all of you who prayed for me and took care of my family while I was gone. It is a blessing and an honor and a joy to live in this community. God is GOOD!!

Because of these past few months of suffering I know and love my God more and I know and love you all more! Praise God for answering my prayer of a year ago!!!

I hope reading the above testimony is a blessing and encouragement to you. And now, I need to go teach music class to the kids. You can be sure I'll impress on them that the gift of music is from GOD!!!!!!!!

Another Party!!!!! Surprise!!

We surprised our co-missionary, a lovely and dedicated mother of David Family for more than 12 years with a surprise birthday party. Many of her former students and children from David Family returned for a special birthday lunch and party to honor her 40 years!!! We had to keep it a secret from the current kids in David Family as the young ones especially have been known to "spill the beans" prematurely on surprises. Bless those kids as they prepared all morning for a huge lunch for which they had no idea the reason!!!! The joy was all ours as we all snuck up on her as she sat on Hassan's veranda talking to Aunt Kate. All her kids and grandkids (!) approached singing "Happy Birthday" which brought big eyes filled with tears to Nancy's face. It was a fun and blessed day as you can see in all the pictures below. Having adults return, some with their own kids, was a great blessing as some of them have really struggled over the years, some are still having issues, yet all came together to honor their mother and renew bonds. It was an awesome time!!! Listen to some of the comments they shared, "I can't thank you enough for who you are to me and all you have done. Raising us up hasn't been an easy job, but God's grace has been sufficient. You are a real model, all the value you put in us will always stay with us. All we have turned into as ladies is because of all your effort. Happy Birthday to you our lovely mommy."
"It has been a wonderful time to see you. Thank you very much for each and everything you did for me. I love you and I just want you to know that you played a great role in my life. I love you and will never forget you." "Thank you so much for being a great and wonderful Auntie to me!! What I am today is because of you. What a special Auntie you are!!!" "It has been nice to grow in your arms as a mother"