HE IS OUR REFUGE

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the LORD, You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing. Psalm 16:1-2

In Him we can enjoy so many good things! Friends, travel, family, exciting ministry...We are so thankful to be writing to you from our own home in Arua. We have been all over the country in the last few weeks and all over east Africa in the past few months, so we are grateful to be home and even more grateful to have Joanna's parents, Blake and Nancy here with us!

We had a great time at our field retreat with all of our colleagues two weeks ago. Coming home from that time in Mbale (eastern), Uganda Blake and Nancy arrived and we traveled back to Arua together!

The picture to the left is Elsie Jayne with the new son of our friends Kevin and Pamela Ironside! They have four biological boys and just added precious Kia to their family. He and Elsie Jayne were fast friends! :)

This past week Blake and Nancy have seen and experienced many firsts, but also it has felt so NORMAL to have them!!! We are so grateful to be together...especially these days as we have missed Billy's family and Indian Springs Campmeeting as well as a new nephew born to our sister Susannah! Jesus knew we'd need family here with us these special days!

Her grandparents wish that she would cuddle more, but we are grateful Elsie Jayne has received them sweetly and will be held when her tummy is full and she's rested! :)

We really were grateful to have Blake and Nancy with us in Nebbi this past weekend for pastoral training! The pastor's loved meeting our family and it was so helpful to show our parents what we "do" here and the people we are loving more and more.

They have also joined in bible studies, children's ministries, and even just today, helping with our Sudanese pastoral training. Hopefully over the weekend they will get to see some African animals...it will be Elsie Jayne's first visit to the game park too!

AROUND EAST AFRICA IN 15 DAYS!

Jesus has let us have the most incredible couple of weeks traveling! Billy left for a conference in Chronological Bible Storying mid-June. Jesus really ordered every moment of his time and Elsie Jayne and Joanna's time at home. Jesus carried us all! Billy got to enjoy two of his favorite things at the conference...telling stories and asking great questions. He learned to use the stories that make up the Word of God in evangelism and teaching by telling the stories, then having an audience member repeat the story and following up with great application questions. We are excited to see how Jesus will use this tool to further His Kingdom in and around Uganda!

Joanna and Elsie Jayne spent the week loving on new friends Jesus has brought into their lives. Pray with us for Anita and Jackie as well as their children. They are new moms that live in this area. Anita is from Kampala, Uganda's capital city, 8 hours south of here and Jackie is from Sudan.

As a family, we met up in Kampala for a conference on Community Health Evangelism that WGM missionaries and AGC church leadership attended to learn how we might use community health as another tool in our belt. Oh that all of Africa might say YES to Jesus! This is our prayer!

Billy, John and Erica left from Kampala and flew up to Torit, Sudan where they spent several days scouting out a new location in Sudan as well as meeting and training several of our Sudanese students. They left with mixed reactions; thanking Jesus for some very good interactions but then also realizing we need continued prayer for how God wants us to continue forward in Sudan. Once again we are reminded that NOTHING happens in Sudan without prayer. Thank you, all of you who so faithfully pray for us!

Elsie Jayne is happy and getting over her first real cold. She turned 8 months just yesterday. Jesus is amazing with His kind hand upon her little life. She is SO EXCITED for her grandparents (Joanna's parents) to come and visit her in only 7 days!