Thanksgiving In Uganda

This last week has been a unique mixture of highs and lows. Monday of last week (20th), our close friends and fellow missionaries, John and Erica Rinehimer, arrived in Uganda. We were elated and they brightened the whole holiday week. Jesus has been so gracious to provide friendships here and we feel very connected to a number of folks for which we are very grateful. There was a certain delight though in seeing old friends again and we thank Jesus for them.
Thursday was honestly a hard day for both of us. Maybe the toughest yet in Uganda. We got up early and made French toast...and both seriously missed our moms. The hardest part was nothing here was "thanksgiving." We still had Swahili class, still had to run errands, still had to figure out life in Uganda. Not bad...just weird. Nothing was familiar. No Macy Parade, no football, no faces we know so well, no neices or nephews climbing our shoulders. Friday the WGM Uganda field celebrated and that really did feel more like a holiday. We were 27 people all together and that almost felt like home. Turkey was availabe through the U.S. embassy for which we all were grateful! Funny though, the thing everyone of us missed the most...not the parades, football, or even food but the people. So many of you all prayed for us and we thank you. Jesus has been very present and honestly we feel bonded to those whom we have shared these last days with. He is faithful to provide.
One of the highlights amidst the week was we got to meet with the landlord of one of the houses we checked out in Arua. He was overly gracious and very much willing to work with us. Nothing is official yet but please continue to pray for the LORD's unfolding the best housing arrangement for us and our team in Arua.
Please mark your prayer calender: Billy preaches on Sunday at the University church. Also we are planning another survey/scouting trip to Arua December 8-10 with the Rinehimers and Jon Mayo. Housing and contacts are at the top of our priority prayer list.
We thank Jesus for you all these days and your willingness to hold the ropes with us. Happy Beginning Advent Season.

An Arua Adventure

So we found ourselves in Arua these last couple of days. It was a blitz trip up and back and not at all expected! We really wanted to go and felt excited to visit Arua again, this time as actually here to live. It was the first time we had flown up which was an adventure but we made it safely and Jesus immediately began putting pieces together. Stan Wafler and his wife, Pam, are IMB missionaries who have been in Arua for five years now and they and their family graciously took us in for the morning, even giving us a lift from the air strip (you could not call it an airport!) into town. We have only been on one of two of these scouting trips and we are always reminded of Joshua and Caleb spying out the land! It is fascinating because while you never can guess how God will work, you really almost expect Him too in dramatic ways and each moment we found ourselves surprised by His joyful blessings. One of those was that Mrs. Pam is close friends with Mrs. Cathy Asiki, the wife of mayor of Arua. While Pam’s afternoon was full, Cathy volunteered to spend several hours with us. So there we were... tromping through Aruan neighborhoods in our Chaco sandals, scribbling down notes while we looked for available housing and asked a lot of questions. That first night we dined at the new Indian Restaurant, the Lovely Inn, which was the answer to many prayers for a possible “date-night” restaurant. It was fantastic and we chuckled that even all the way up in Arua, we could watch European soccer on their television! One of the great adventures is transportation and since we had no vehicle, Friday morning we opted for a bicycle taxi which really is an experience all on its own. When you come to visit, we’ll arrange a ride for you! Friday afternoon we got caught in a heavy down pour, much to the bemusement of many “Aruans.” Due to the rain and then because as a rule, we do not do much after dark in Uganda ever, we called it an early night at the Heritage Court Guest house and dined on goat stew and rice. A few crickets joined us during the night but actual hot water made all the difference! Thank you so much for your continued prayers as we follow up on housing leads for our team (us, the Rinehimers who arrive Monday! and Jeannie Banter who comes in January). Also, that we will continue to sense the LORD’s guidance and direction as suddenly the elusive “Arua” dream is slowly becoming our reality. We thank you for sharing in that reality with us in so many ways.

(We are having trouble posting pictures but we'll work on posting the one of Joanna on her bicycle taxi)

A Happy Surprise

Unexpected House Guests

This last weekend we have had the privilege to host the Ironside family. They are a gifted couple with four fantastic boys and due to some unexpected circumstances, they had no place to sleep last Friday night. Their house was ready but all their furniture was buried in their container under African “paperwork.” The great news though is that they finally did get approval to unpack Monday morning and several of us were able to help them unload. While we had invited them to come crash with us a week or so ago, we never expected they would actually need a place. We had a ton of fun though and it was really special to see how Jesus connected us with all of their boys as well as with Kevin and Pamela. We are hoping that once the dust settles from moving in, there will be continued opportunities for serving Jesus alongside each other. In light of missing several of our closest friends as well as our nieces and nephews, we considered them a tremendous blessing from Jesus. He always expands our “families.”
The other interesting news is that we got a new Swahili teacher. Mwalimu (teacher) David came Monday and passed the “torch” on to our new Mwalimu Jared. He is a young Kenyan who is studying at the University here in Kampala. It will take us a little while to transition but he seems to know his stuff and we are excited, trusting he is from Jesus. Tuesday morning was terrific and and he pushed both of us in fresh but helpful ways. We are thankful to Jesus because we feel like we have acquired a rudimentary foundation of simple sentences with basic vocabulary. Sunday (two days ago), we got to attend a village church an hour out of Kampala amidst the sugar cane fields. Much of the service was in Swahili and to our delight we were able to understand bits and pieces. Hallelujah! Praise God Forever! Amidst the celebration though, we realize it is a dangerous place to settle. Please be praying that Jesus can use Jared to move us to then next level of language proficiency for Kingdom purposes.
We would also like to request pray for our close friends John and Erica Rinehimer. They leave the States very soon and will be arriving in Uganda on Nov. 20th. We cannot wait! If the Lord brings them to mind, please pray for their final days packing up with good byes and then their actual move. We are grateful.
Thank you again for being part of our team.