Changes, Changes, and More Changes

A lot of CHANGES are happening at our house!!! They all seem like such happy gifts from Jesus, but when they all come at once...they seem a bit overwhelming too to be honest! 

One of our greatest JOYS in the past month is the INCLUSION of Scott, Meg, Timothy and Benjamin Rambo to our team here in Arua!!! 

It is safe to say that team meetings will never be the same. Our first attempt at having a "real" team meeting with notes taken and everything was a VICTORY!!! But looked a bit different in reality than all those notes may have recorded. This is about 3/4 of the way through our two hour meeting when Joanna (pregnant with TWO) had three on her lap reading a book and one at her feet!!!  This was about the time she was giving a report on preparations for an upcoming team of volunteers from Asbury! HELP US JESUS!!!

With the imminent arrival of TWO NEW SISTERS, Elsie Jayne and Lucy have enjoyed more and more their weekly DATE with daddy while mama attends an ex-pat ladies Bible study here in town. This week they went for juice boxes at the corner duka (our neighbors little store in her compound wall).  Then they set to work making boats and put them sailing in their bath tub before a quick dip themselves.  Now the question is...how will we sail with FOUR!  Jesus knows!

With the arrival of our new American friends Timothy and Benjamin, we have brought out some treats from our stash of American treats.  This night, Joanna's friend Eva joined us for dinner while the girls tried their first (at least in their memories) taste of JELL-O!!!  A definite success for them and a happy familiarity to Timothy. What a sweet change!

Scott and Meg have the change of culture and diet along with a change in year's married! We got to host the boys one afternoon while they celebrated 5 years of marriage!!!!  Jane helped us all decorate cupcakes with lots of happy sprinkles to celebrate what Elsie Jayne calls, the "wedding had a birthday!!!"  We love when weddings have birthdays!!! Praise Jesus with us for the Rambo's 5 years and pray with us for the next 5 as they learn to adjust and make home a new cultural reality!

A family snap of the Rambos!...welcome to Arua!

Lucy is learning what it means to be a big sister...sometimes that means she can't be tied on Mama's back so much and has to walk more. Sometimes that means moving from her baby cot to a big girl bed (we are trying to get some changes out of the way to not be so disruptive all at once). She is doing great with the changes, but sometimes needs a mama snuggle...which we LOVE and sometimes she likes to love on the new babies...whom she lovingly refers to as the "tinnies" or "twinnies" as Elsie Jayne pronounces it.

In our upcoming (less than a month now) change to being in America for a bit, we had a family hair cut afternoon last week. Lucy's first ever. We love hair cut days, because the act of being still for so long almost always warrents a homemade popscicle!

This is a picture of Billy with some of our friends in Panyamore last weekend. I put it here just to encourage you to pray for him this weekend again!!!  He flew this morning to Mundri, Sudan and tomorrow will be going into Lui for the new bishop's enthronement!

We did get word that they reached safely!!!  Such a happy thing and a big change to actually get to communicate when he heads that way (the networks for phones are improving). This is the airfield that crosses the main road in the district, so we are grateful for a safe landing! 

The men head back this way on Monday!

Thanks for your prayers for them and us while we are apart.

And all of us as we go through so many EXCITING NEW CHANGES!

WGM Uganda Field Retreat

Once a year the entire World Gospel Mission Uganda team gets together for field retreat.

What fun it was this year to have three other families with tiny kids on our team!

The Rambos, Hallahans and Guilliams (also expecting a new baby)

all have joined our team in the last year...so it was a much bigger crew! 
Our girls enjoyed the other little Missionary Kids,

 but also the love and attention from so many fabulous aunties and uncles!

As you pray for us, keep in mind the entire WGM Uganda team...

that Jesus might work IN and THROUGH and IN SPITE of each of us day by day...

and by His Spirit...give us more of Himself to share with those around us!

A Weekend in Nebbi

We praise Jesus Scott Rambo got to experience pastor's training in Nebbi this past weekend with Billy!
Not only did he have the experience, he got to lead the group in a devotional time.
Keep praying for the Rambos integration into this extended church family!

What an exciting answer to prayer that they are here!!!

After training, Billy and Scott traveled to Panyamor, a village an hour away and on Lake Albert.
They found a village IN NEED of a Savior! The norm was apathy and lostness...it was a sad and needy place, but also the sight of the most recent Africa Gospel Church church plant!

Pastor Andrew has an evangelist heart and this is his newest venture with Jesus!!!

Scott and Billy found people working together to pull in a fishing net over 300 yards long!!!  They jumped in and helped and were shocked by the smallness of the fish that made up the catch!
There are too many parallels to our life in this reality, but Jesus knows the needed catch, and He knows the hard work of dragging the net. THANK YOU for pulling on it continually with us!!! We are eternally grateful, even when we have days of vast disappointment due to the catch-size.

Then Sunday morning Scott was on again! Billy shared a bit, then Scott preached the morning message. A bit of a unique morning it was. It seems a not yet convicted felon had fled across the lake earlier in the week and he was brought back to be tried RIGHT AS SCOTT WAS PREACHING in this open air church. Behind him was the lake where the man was arriving at the water's edge and a mob was growing to "welcome" him and administer what they saw as justice before he got to be tried fairly.

Chaos broke out, the police started firing shots to calm the crowd and...wow...it wasn't a typical Sunday for us, but Scott handled it like a pro, taking a short time out in his first preaching point on the mission field and then returning after the gun shots ended to finish his sermon.

Praise Jesus He protected Billy and Scott and our little fledgling congregation! Thanks for praying for us whenever Jesus brings us to mind...we never know when we might need His nearness and protection in a special way!

This weekend the men travel to Lui, Sudan for the enthronement of the new bishop!

They will be traveling Saturday through Monday.
Mommys and babies will remain in Arua for this weekend too...pray for our ministries here to continue to thrive and grow as Jesus opens doors with neighbors, friends, market ladies and passersby!

Today, Wednesday, Joanna teaches the children at our ex-pat ladies bible study and then the next hour, the mommys and other ladies.  Pray Jesus comes!!!

Critter Count

This has been an amazing week of critters. We have failed to have our camera at the right moment, but we have killed three snakes in the last three days and we would love for you to THANK JESUS for His protection and ask Him to keep His hand upon us that we might not have any more exciting snake issues.

On Monday we were almost home from our morning walk. In fact Elsie Jayne and mommy had already reached the gate and Lucy's shorter legs had she and daddy a few paces back (the girls LOVE to get out of the jogging stroller for the last 50 yards so they can walk too)!  Daddy saw a little black snake curled up just beyond Lucy's next step. One swift rock protected us from this snake.

Tuesday our friend Joel was working in the yard and found a snake that is called "two heads" in our local language. We don't know it's equivalent in English, but it's a snake that literally looks like it has two heads, so you don't know which end to avoid. It also acts like a slug and sucks your blood if it latches on to people...so...we were thankful to not see this snake until Joel had already found it and killed it with a spade in the yard.  This is the second of this type we have had on the compound this month...so we are praying there isn't a nest. (The frst one was literally in the shower with Billy two weeks ago)!!!

TODAY we had a third. This time a green mamba!  It was about half a meter long and was so beautiful (if you think snakes can be). It was so shiny and just brilliant green. Again, we were thankful the girls didn't find it, but Joel and our faithful dog Marori tracked it down in the yard in front of the house while we were inside with some visitors. 

Three days, three snakes. It is as cold as it gets here these days and this is the reason we are seeing more...the snakes are moving. Will you pray with us a prayer I pray SO OFTEN!? Jesus, please don't let us see any snakes and don't let any see us!!!  Pray as Jesus leads you for His continued protection and leading, literally STEP by STEP!