Happy Birthday........again!

              “ Blessed is the man who walks not in the way of the wicked....he delights in the law of the Lord and on that law he meditates day and night, he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water.” 

                                                                     Psalms 1

                    Saturday was Sophie and Chloe's birthday.....they turned nine!!

We love these cuties so much! Thank you for continuing to pray with us for this next year of life for both of them. Thank you all for loving and caring for them so well! 

                                              HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE AND CHLOE!!

Happy Birthday!

 “ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”                                  Ephesians 2:10  

    Tomorrow is Ugandan Independence Day!  The country has been independent for about 58 years. Our family has had the privilege of living here for 7 years. We love that Jesus is letting us live in such a beautiful country. Uganda is home to many people and cultures. There are 44 different tribes in Uganda, each one has a slightly different dialect. Within Uganda there are many religions, including Christianity, Islam and many tribal beliefs. Please continue to pray for the nation!! We are thankful to have the privilege of serving Jesus here in this place. 

                                                                   Much Love, 

                                                                Elsie Jayne 

Happy Birthday Uganda!!                   

Boda, [ motorcycle] Matoke

100 percent Uganda!

Happy Birthday Uganda!!

                                 

Witnesses

      “ ...And you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord. 

                                                              Isaiah 43:12b 

   Africa Gospel Church has recently had the opportunity to go on radio.  During this weird  time in the world, AGC has been able to be a witness in many different areas of Uganda including Masesa, Busia, Bugiri  and most recently Kampala. Praise Jesus!

 Pastor David and his wife Judith have been preaching on the radio in Massesa for about seven  months, Bishop Joseph and his wife Evelyn have been preaching in Busia [a town on the border of Kenya] for about the same amount of time. Also pastor Martin and his wife Rose have been preaching on-air in Bugiri district. 

 These pastors have been using quite a bit of Bible storytelling as they preach.  Bishop Joseph has taken his daughter Tessy to  the radio a few times. Tessy is a great  Bible storyteller! Now Evelyn and Tessy are preaching in Busia and Bishop is preaching in Kampala.

 Jesus has really broken through in this project. He has provided  financially, and in so many other ways.  Many people have met Jesus through these pastors being bright witnesses for Jesus!! This last week the pastors estimated that 105 people have given there lives to Jesus since the end of March! 

We are amazed at what Jesus can do through some everyday thing, like listening to the radio.  We are so thankful that ACG can witness to these people. Please pray for one, the pastors as they speak every Sunday, and two the people as they hear the Good News. Thank you!

                                                     Much Love, 

                                                 Elsie Jayne

Dad and our watchman Anthony listening to Bishop on-air.  

Tessy,  Bishop's daughter, on the radio.

A Time For Everything

                              " A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing "

                                                                   Ecclesiastes 3:5b

There is a time for everything.

There is a time to hug, and a time not to hug.

There is a time to wear a mask, and a time not to wear any masks.

There is a time to stand really close to one another, and a time to social distance.

There is a time to go and visit new babies and older people, and a time to stay away from old or young people.

No matter what time it is Jesus is always with you. Whether you are hugging or not,wearing a mask or not, it does not matter. 

This verse from Ecclesiastes (above) really stood out to me this morning. There is a time to not hug, but there is also a hopeful note about the verse: there is (going to be....maybe) a time to hug! 

So one, don't forget that no matter what, Jesus is there in whatever situation.

And two, don't forget what your friend looks like without a mask on!

                                                  Much Love,

                                                    Elsie Jayne 

                             

                     “ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”                 Psalms 23:6a  

   

Last Thursday I finished reading all the way from Genesis through Job.  I think my favourite book was 1 Samuel. I learned SO much from all of it.  Some of  it was a little bit dry...like Leviticus. Other parts like 2 Kings were much more exciting, talk about a lot of assassinations!
It was interesting to imagine what it would really be like to be a 12 year old girl just walking in the desert for 40 years ( I would be 52 at the end!! ) To imagine walking into the promised land, and so much more.
I want to encourage you to keep reading your Bible. There are so many promises and stories that will help us stay strong and also give us advice about this crazy time.
                                        Much Love, Elsie Jayne

Keep reading His word!

 

The Lord Bless You

    “ The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
                                      the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.”
                                                                     Numbers 6:24-26

     The Blessing has been playing on repeat constantly in our house. It is a great reminder that He does bless us, He does keep us and He gives us peace.

https://youtu.be/Zp6aygmvzM4

One of the blessing Jesus has given us is the chance to start language lessons. Our family is trying to learn Luganda. One of the 44 different languages in Uganda.
We are also praising Jesus that he is providing a chance for some of the AGC ( Africa Gospel Church) pastors to preach on the radio! Praise Jesus!
Also we have had bible study with some of our neighbours. Lucy and Mom have been the story tellers. They have both done great!
                                                 Much Love,
                                                   Elsie Jayne

Bible study in the front yard. 

Bishop Joseph and his wife Evelyn on the radio. 

We had to make a sound proof room were Pastor James could record his sermon...
We did not even know how great dad’s fort
 building skills where!
We were missing out on a blessing!!!

   

   “ Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.”
                                                           John 6:11

Jesus can provide.
A little into a lot, nothing into something He can do it.

Recently one of the AGC pastors got the privilege of seeing Jesus provide “ loaves and fish” in a very cool way. The church had some money that they took to the local official in charge of the Covid-19 task force. They thought that the official would use that money to feed some people in the local area, instead he asked them if they would be willing to give the food to an island in Lake Victoria. On the island there had recently been a confirmed case if Covid-19, thus the whole island was in total quarantine. We thank Jesus that the church had the opportunity to share with those people who were suffering.

 Please continue to join me in praying that Jesus would keep providing  in miraculous ways, not just food but also comfort, peace, joy. He is The provider. He is The keeper. He is The bread of life.
Jesus can.

                                                           Much Love,
                                                                Elsie

               We got to go to Kampala and visit Aunt Lisa!( Lucy and Ellie really hit it off)
                                                    Blake and Jim- Bob cuddling!

The End of School!!

      “That he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

                                                                 Philippians 1:6

You can do it! Only 2 more days to go!

      This is the last Wednesday  in the  school year at Coppedge Academy! WooHo!!  This year has been very exciting, consisting of moving continents, global pandemic living, and lots of visitors. Have I mentioned that this year was really fun?!

      Jesus has helped our family get into a good rhythm with school.  We have had lots of fun classes, and field trips including going to Kenya for a week, and taking random days to go with mom and dad to look for a house and getting the opportunity to visit Scotland again.

My favourite subject I had this year was.......History

My favourite reading book this year was.....The Witch of Balckbird Pond

My favourite hymn this year has been.......And Can it Be (By Charles Wesley)

My favourite poem we have learned was.......What God Hath Promised (By Annie Johnson Flint )

My favourite scripture passage has been......Psalms 91

My favourite book of the Bible that I have studied was......1 Samuel

I hope, that as your job or school finishes for the summer that you would sense His presence and that you would have a Great summer!


                                                  Much Love,  Elsie Jayne

One of our  school visitors...

                                             

Blake’s favourite  subject!

Which bird laid this one?

Quarantine Thoughts

                                                  " God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.        Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way..."
                                                                         Psalm 46:1-2a


I do not know about you but we have been on our compound for 15 days.  Our family has mixed emotions about that, some of us( like myself) are very happy for the chance to stay at home.  Others are sad that we can't go to town and see people.
Through all 15 days Jesus has faithfully provided good books, fun movies, great soccer matches, and most importantly faithful bible verses to help keep us steady. Praise Jesus!
Some fun books we have been reading
~ The Lord of the Rings
~Exodus
~ Biographies ( D.L Moody, Cameron Townshend )

Fun movies,
~ Free Willy
~ Anne of Green Gables
~ Two Towers and Return of the King ( Dad and I )

Jesus has helped us so much. Keep trusting.  He will keep you steady you have only to be still (....and stay inside!! )
                                                                                        Much Love,
                                                                                             Elsie Jayne

" The Lord will fight for you, you have only to be still."
Exodus 14:14

Fun, Family Adventures

                                                                      " When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; "                              Isaiah 43: 10



The past three weeks my Aunt Katy Beth and Uncle Dan,  and their children Sadie, Abby, and Logan have been with us.  We have had MANY fun adventures but also some scary ones.  The first weekend Dad took Aunt Katy Beth, Uncle Dan and Me to "the Island" (Bavuma Island which is located in  Lake Victoria.)  We took the ferry to the Island and the trip was pretty uneventful. Thankfully.
 There is a school there on the Island that we visited. We had a delicious lunch and then we got the opportunity to pray for the teachers there.  That put us behind schedule 30 min, no problem  we still had plenty of time to reach the ferry....
Lets just say the trip back was not as smooth as going. The ferry had room for 8 vehicles... our car was number 9! The trip back to the mainland felt especially long, but Jesus kept us and we safely made it home. Praise Jesus!
We where on a lake and it felt like a storm. There was no big waves, no sinking boat ( thankfully ) but it still felt like a storm. I was reminded of Mark 4 where Jesus calms the storm. He created the lake, the world, the people. So what ever storm it may be wether it is physically,( Corona) emotionally or any other storm Jesus is here to bring peace and comfort.




                                              Much Love, Elsie Jayne

Uncle Dan, Adam, Hillary,Rhondy,David, and Dad

Yummy Lunch

The kind of scary ferry!

Bavuma school children

Car number 9....

ARUA

                                " I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living "
                                                                     Psalm 27:13a


Jesus has blessed our family with the gift of a trip to Arua, the town we used to live in.  We started our journey last Thursday and drove the 10 hours up to what some of us know as "Home, Home"
On Friday we went to the only pool in Arua, and had lunch and swam. One  of dads friends came and joined us.  Then on Saturday many of our friends and old neighbours came and we drank a lot of juice and had a lot of G-nuts ( groundnuts) it was so good for all of us to see each other.  Sunday morning we went  to a church  that some of our friends pastor. That afternoon we went to a graduation party for some friends of ours. The next morning we got up early to come back to Entebbe but we passed through the game park, we saw elephants, giraffe, cob, hearta beast, and lion!
 We are so thankful to Jesus for helping us to see the right people and have made MANY  happy memories.
Thank you all for your prayers we could tell you were praying, it made a difference.


                                                        Much Love, Elsie Jayne

There were pastors everywhere.......

                  Johns disciples asked Jesus, " Where are you staying?"

                     Jesus replied," Come and see."

                                                       John 1:38-39

   Last week our family hosted 30 pastors in our house.  There were pastors everywhere, in the school room, my room, Lucy's room, the twins room, and Aubrey's rooms.  All of us kids slept with mom and dad in their  room ( We thought a lot of  small thoughts! )  The pastors training was three days long, we had devotions in the morning then we had lessons on ministry and missions,then there was a 

 tea break.   After tea we whent back for more lessons on the Bible as well as Farming Gods Way. 

 In the evenings they whent out for evangelism, during that time 12 people came to know Jesus!  Then at 8:00 we had a yummy dinner of rice, beans, matoka*, and G-nut* sauce.  Hosting that many people was a lot of hard work, it was also so much fun to be able to sit in on the different lessons and learn so much.  We praise Jesus for helping our time go smoothly, thank you all so much for caring us in prayer this past week. 

                                                        Much Love, Elsie Jayne

* Matoka is a traditional Ugandan dish made of cooking bananas. 

* G-nut sauce is a past of mashed up peanuts ( Very delicious!!) 

cooking on the outside fire.

Bishop Joseph 

Morning Sessions

Paster Willy talked on Missions in the New Testament.

Food cooking on the outside  fire.

Praise!!

  " He is honoured over all the nations. Let them praise his great and wonderful name."                                       Ps. 99:2-3 

          

            Last weekend Mom got the privilege to attend/speak at a women's conference for pastors wives.   In the one room there were 60 women, 3 countries, and over 15 tribes.  In my mind that counts as the " Nations"[ in a general way.]  Those women did just what the verse ( above ) says, they praised His name.  Sometimes we get so busy and tired we forget what He has done in the past, praising His name helps us to focus and be thankful.  In Sarah Young's " Jesus Calling " (for kids) she says that when we fill up our spare time with praise we will find that our life is filled up with Jesus!  One of my favourite ways to praise is with a song,  " Praise you in this storm. " This song has been really helpful for remembering to PRAISE even when it gets stormy.  Keep praising!!!

                                                                                     Much Love, Elsie Jayne
  This is the link for "Praise you in this storm" www.castingcrowns.com

African drum used for praising!!

                                          

Beginnings

                                                                                 
          " Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; "          
                                                                            Psalm 100:4                  

      Jesus has been so, so good to our family in the past couple of weeks!  Two weeks ago we moved into  our new Jesus  house in Entebbe.  We have been thinking a lot about the story in Gen 1 about " In the beginning," the new house has been a beginning as well as meeting new friends and even  figuring out were the supermarket is! Jesus has helped and  protected us through it all. I'm so glad that we can trust Him to order all of our beginnings.      
                                                                           Happy New Year, Elsie Jayne
             

* kids at the church we visited last sunday
* Chloe, Sophie, Blake,Lucy,Elsie, and our night  watchmen Anthony

" What good things do you think Jesus has for us?"