June 16 – Saturday

I haven't written in a while so be ready for a lot to read.

Our neighbors, Sam's uncle (Joseph), his wife, their 8 children, and others who rent from them, had us over for a meal. Joseph is a pastor and works for a ministry with Finland people. They told us to come at 4pm so we arrived a little after 4:30 thinking that was pretty good knowing they would probably run late. Finally somewhere close to 7pm the food was served. Lydia and Josh stayed the whole time (Lydia loved playing with the kids) but the rest of us ended up going home for a little while. Our neighbors really treated us though. We had pop, meat, and several Ugandan dishes. They prayed for us too. I felt so blessed by them! What a nice night.

Josh and I took the girls for a day away last Saturday. We went to Mbale to do a little shopping, go out to eat, swim at the pool, and have some family. The girls love the pool, even though it wasn't very warm and it sprinkled the whole time. Tabitha actually when with us. I really enjoy her and she helped with the girls. We even found Mt. Dew at one of the grocery stores – Josh was happy. We had a nice lunch at a British restaurant, fish, burgers, and fries.

I wish you could see Lydia jump around in praise at church. She loves the singing and often jumps around with the other little girls. I am always so impressed by her going over by the other girls. She holds their hands and sits with them on a mat.

The doctor at the clinic here now knows me very well. I have been in a lot lately between taking Kristine and the twins, our girls, and myself there. Lydia some signs of a bladder infection, I have a pelvic infection, and Grace now has malaria. Lydia is doing fine, I was really uncomfortable but am better now, and Grace had a high fever but other wise seem to be doing ok. I am tired though from all the trip to the doctor and keeping up with everything else. Hopefully we will all stay healthy now.

I have really been feeling like satan is trying very hard to oppress us lately. I have felt an awful heaviness – stressed and frustrated. I began to hate the feeling. I can see how the devil is trying to use disunity out here. (With those we work with here, family, IT...) I was SO tired of it all and of feeling this way. I really prayed about it and against satans work. Jesus is always victorious! I feel so much better. I feel light, relaxed, and happy again. There are still days and times but I recognize it and continue to pray against it.

I am really enjoying our friends Dennis and Sam. They are so nice and fun to have around. Our girls love them and they love our girls. Dennis and Sam push them on the swing, chase them around, and throw them up in the air. I am thankful for them!

Our guests arrived Thursday evening – Jodi the director of outreach at Evergreen Ministries and John and Barb Butyen. John and Barb also go to Evergreen and their son helped at Amecet last year. John is a sixth grade teacher at Zealand Christian and Barb is a special ed consultant. They will be here until the first part of August and will be helping at Amecet, doing VBS, teaching knitting, tutoring at the Bethel Bible College, and whatever else comes up. Jodi is here just until Wednesday. We are renting an apartment right across the path from us and that is where the Butyens are staying. It is a basic one bedroom apartment with a separate bathroom but it is nice and close. I clean it up as best I could before they arrived and we furnished it with beds, a table and chairs, and stove top.

I have really enjoyed our guests so far. They have brought encouragement, laughter, and great fellowship. I am so glad they are here. And of course the girls LOVE them. They have been great fill-in grandparents for the girls. They are all very helpful and easy going. John has brought us a lot of laughter already.

Hey we had an earthquake. Can you believe it?! John and Barb asked us in the morning if we felt the ground shake last night. I heard something but never felt it and figured it was a truck. Later another missionary told us there was an earthquake on the West side of the Uganda in Lake Albert. It was an 5.9 on the rector scale. Never though I would be able to say I experienced an earthquake – if you can say I experienced it.

Tabitha, our house help who I also see as a friend, has pain every once in awhile from a surgery she had. The other day I asked her exactly what kind of surgery this was and she said it was a tubal pregnancy (I think it ruptured too). I was shocked. Tabitha is not married. She is a Christian and goes to church. But it seems like everyone sleeps around her. I decided to have a long talk with her. We talked about what the Bible says, I asked if churches are teaching this, we talk about marriage... She said that even if you marry someone here he will leave you for another women. It seems so hopeless here. We talked about how she now has to fear AIDS. I tried to encourage her with my testimony and that of Josh, Tim and Angie. I told her starts to change one person at a time. We ended by talking about forgiveness and how much God loves her. She admitted that sometimes she has voices of guilt, shame, fear. I talked to her about satan's work and Jesus' power. I hope I somehow helped. I feel so overwhelmed and at a loss for what to do with such big problems here. I get angry too. The next day I was doing my devotions in Matthew and God's Word continues to speak to me so much. I reminded again that this is what people need. They need to be in God's Word. They need to know Him, His ways, fall in love with Him, and obey Him. I asked Tabitha if she was interested in studying the Bible with me sometime and she was very happy about that. I pray I can priorities this and find some time to meet with her.

I should also update you on Kristine and the twins. I brought them to the clinic again (it is beginning to feel like a full time job). Claudia has diarrhea and a fever and was put on three different medicines and Eugene was recommended to see the pediatrician at the hospital. The pediatrician is only there on Thursdays so I sent Kristine with money to go without me. She ended up waiting all day and never saw the doctor because of the long line of people. She did see a nurse though and she wrote that Eugene has no focused vision and is probably deaf. How sad does this have to get?! She will try again next week to see the doctor. The next day Eugene also got diarrhea and a hight fever. He is now on meds again too.

Kristine seems to be at her end. She has come to Angie and I several times crying and stressed. The twins are a lot of work but the father of the twins is the real problem. From what she has said I think he is abusive (for sure verbally), he drinks a lot, he is not giving her much money if any, and he does not like or listen to Christians/Pastors. He told Kristine it (the twins) are her fault, he didn't tell her to produce. I told her it takes two and she just smirked. He also talks about getting another women. I want to tell her to leave this mean man but I know that is not the answer. This man needs to know his Savior Jesus Christ. We pray with Kristine quite often. I hope she is experiences God's love and feels His peace. She too needs the Lord – He is her answer.