April 1 -- Mandy's March Journal

March 5, 2008

We visited our neighbors Joseph and Martha the other day. As I was sitting there I felt like we should ask them if they have a Bible. I though that would be a funny question, they go to church and we have been friends for a year and now I was going to ask. But I have learned not to ignore something that maybe from the Holy Spirit. I would rather error on the side of doing than on the side of regret. So I asked them if they had a Bible. They said they did not. Thank you Lord I heard you right, this is why you wanted me to ask. The next day we brought them a Bible. A few days later Martha told us she reads it every night.

Last night we took a walk to see Denis’ new house (hut) he built. On the way home we stopped by a ladies house because Lydia and Grace wanted to see her cat. The ladies name is Margarita. She is a widow living all alone in an old IDP camp. Her husband was killed by the Karamojan 12 years ago. In 2003 she had to feel her home when the LRA came. She speaks really good English and cooks at the High School next to our house. She was just a nice grandma type. I really felt for her. What a sad story. I am always struck when I meet someone who has been affected by the things I have heard about. They are real people.

March 15, 2008

We had a nice family get away last week. We spent the first day in Jinja at the Nile Resort. We enjoyed the view and had fun playing in the pool with the girls. Lydia and Grace got a little too much sun. They were so tired they literally fell asleep in two minutes as we rode the rest of the way to Kampala. We stayed at our friend Kate’s apartment (she works for World Vision). It is so nice and we are so thankful for a free place to stay. It is beautiful, in the perfect location, has a pool, and a maid comes in everyday. I think the thing we liked best about our time away was Spurs. Spurs is a restaurant that is very close to an Applebees. They have the added bonus of a trampoline for kids. We love the double thick milk shakes. Their prices are right, they are quick, and have good service. That is why we ended up going three times while in Kampala four days. One night Grace only wanted to go to Grandma’s for supper though. She cried and cried for Grandma.

We also did a little shopping, relaxed, went to church, and to Didi’s World (the Disney World of Uganda). The girls loved when the “Christmas lights” came on at Didi’s. Lydia went on one grown-up ride with me, the octopus, but by the end she didn’t like it and was crying. I road the ocean motion all alone – felt a little silly – but it was fun. We had a good time. Monday we took Paul and Ann Tameling and John back to Soroti with us. We stopped in Jinja for a beautiful lunch on the Nile. Tamelings and John are already grandpa and grandma to the girls.

(Just got to warn you, I don’t mean to complain but here come all our daily frustrations.) Since we have been home we have been without power. Actually, today is our first day with power again (6 day without). Talk about frustrating. Our fridge could barely keep up even with the generator on a few hours each day. The muffler on our generator came off so it was really loud for a few days until we found someone who could fix it. We just got internet back yesterday too. Poor Tim and Angie have also been without a van because no one seems to be able to fix it correctly. So we have been sharing a van and trying to work around each others schedules. And Sliedrecht’s computer crashed. Can you believe it?

Oh, I didn’t even tell you about our guard Patrick. The day we left for Kampala we got a call from Tim there was a situation. Patrick seems to have gotten our neighbor girl pregnant. We were so angry and sad that we just ignored it until we came back. Poor Tim and Angie had to deal with it. The short story, Patrick still denies it yet sometimes admits to it. Weird. It seems he lies more than we knew. The girl is only 17 and we are told is not right in the head. She stays with her uncle, who we know and is a pastor here, and his family. Patrick had to pay 200,000 (over a $100) to the family or be brought to jail. Once again we helped out and now he has to pay us back. He went to the village to sell some of his animals while we held onto his bikes to make sure he would return. And he is no longer our guard. The whole ordeal really makes you feel defeated. Is there anyone doing what is right here? Is there any good here? When we came we were shocked and saddened when our Ugandan co-workers said we shouldn’t trust anyone here. Now, a year later, we feel like we can’t trust anyone here. This week I really felt like it was satan saying to us, “See I have control here. You mine as well leave.” Oh how satan would like to discourage us and have us give up. That makes me want to fight. God is in control. God is at work here and He is working through us.

On the up side, I have started a new Bible study. Actually, I don’t exactly look forward to it yet but it is getting better. I meet with any women from our church that come and a few neighbor women I invited every Wednesday at 3pm. I say 3pm but by the time I round up women here, drive there and them round them up there and wait for them to come it is more like 4pm. The first week there was seven women. It is really different and harder when everything has to be interpreted. Some of the women can’t read and I don’t think any of them are use to answering questions. It went slow but good. The second week only three that came I was discouraged at first but remembered all the praying I did for God to work. I knew these where the women He wanted there. We ended up having a very good lesson and I was encouraged by the end. One of the women talked about how the message spoke to her. Her husband has a “call girl” and she sometimes comes to their home to stay. (Can you imagine?!) The husband at least use to confess to be a believer. We talked about how Jesus ate and came for sinners. How we are to love even the unlovable. These women NEED God’s Word! This women, I think her name is Grace, can’t read so without something like Bible study how would she know? My neighbor Stella came too and thanked me. She had learned so much from each lesson and told me when we break it down it help them to understand. I was so thankful for the encouragement. God is working! We will see what week three brings.

My night Bible study with the hostel girls continues to go well. I do look forward to that one. The other night we studied when Jesus washed his disciple’s feet and the last supper. We then washed each others feet as Christ commanded us to serve each other. I also had chapatti and maranda fruity for the bread and wine. It was a very special night.

Thursday a couple of our missionary friends had a yard sale. They had a lot for sale and it was so much fun to garage sale. (Sorry but it is true, I really miss finding good deals.) We had a really nice time fellowshipping with the women and kids too. We were there three hours. Poor Lydia was so afraid of their three hyper dogs that she sat on top of their slide the whole time.

Lydia has not stopped praying for a baby brother and she now tells everyone. I bought a few baby things at the sale and when she saw them she said, “Is this for my baby brother I am praying for?” Then she told Tabitha who looked at me. When I told her that the girls are praying for a baby she just laughed. Angie asked her if a baby sister would be ok and Lydia said no it would be a baby brother. I said to Lydia it is good to pray to God but she needed to remember that sometimes God answers yes, no, or…and they Lydia finished my sentence with “wait”. I asked her how she knew that and she said her Max Lucado video told her. Now every time we pray she has instructed us that we have to pray for a baby brother. If we forget she tells us and we have to pray again. I am surprised how serious Lydia is about this baby brother thing and Grace just follows the cue.

Lydia likes to pay for things with her play money lately. She has paid the man at the grocery store (which they think is so funny) and she tried to put her paper money in the tithing. It really is cute she digs through her little purse and pulls out her money so seriously. Grace still wears undies but doesn’t know how to tell us before she has to go so we have to keep on her. She is my little baker. She loves to sit and watch and help. Lydia enjoyed doing preschool books with Grandma Ann this weekend. Ann thinks Lydia is very smart for a four year old.

We have enjoyed and appreciated Tamelings and John. The conference seems to be really hitting on the issues that need to be here. I feel like God is using them here. They are very encouraging and have a lot of wisdom to share. The other night they were sharing a bit of their testimonies. I was in awe what they have been through. Paul was about 7 years old in the Netherland during WWII. He and his family did what they could to help during that time but he was caught a couple times. They put him in the camp there where they did some really awful things. He would not even go into it because it was so bad. He said he understands the things the LRA did because he was seen it all. He was only a little boy. He had nightmares until he forgave all of those people through Set Free a few years ago. Then Emmanuel, the pastor from Kampala that works with Set Free, told us about when he was in Rwanda. Rebels stopped their vehicle and out of the 20 people he was with only 5 lived. He told the whole story of what happened. I was amazed by their stories. First of all because I have been SO blessed! I have only known safety, health, peace, love, Christianity…in my childhood, with my husband and children. I am so thankful to God. Secondly, I simply can not imagine the evil in this world and that scares me. Really it could happen to any of us at anytime. The world is not getting any better. The only hope we have is in Jesus. I need His peace.

March 25

Grace is funny. Her babies are always called “baby Mosey” and she often has a baby Mosey in her tummy. Her new thing is, “just pretening” (pretending). She also told me today that she had a “pwobwum” (problem). So cute.

Josh and I have been enjoying a date night about every week. It is great because the girls love when Tabitha baby sits and even ask us to go on a date. Josh and I enjoy going for supper and talking or watching sports if it is on. Silly, maybe, but we looked forward to our date nights.

We had a huge storm last Wednesday. I was in the middle of Bible study at church when the wind began to blow. We ran to the van just as the rain started to pour. The streets were like rivers. I couldn’t even see where the street was when I was on the back roads. Our compound was full of water too, new pond I guess, but within an hour it was gone. It has been raining pretty consistently since so I believe rainy season has begun. I really like the cloudy days and cool – dare I say cold to us – nights. I get to have my blanket on!

We had a really nice Easter. My Bible study girls came and sang at our church. They led worship and sang three songs as a choir. They sing really well and everyone enjoyed it. We even sang a few Easter worship songs we know, “Lord I lift your name on High” and “He is Lord”. It is good to celebrate Easter. Late year they didn’t even mention that it was Easter in church. After church the girls came over for pop and goodies. I was asking each one of them about their families. One girl’s father died from witchcraft, one from AIDS, and one was killed by the LRA. Of the nine girls there, three of them have fathers still alive.

In the evening we had an Easter egg hunt with the girls. Angie got chocolate eggs in Australia. Then we had an Easter feast – ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, salad, and dessert. It was great to really celebrate with family and friends. We had Tamelings, John, Sliedrechts, and Tracey (missionary friend). The table was even all decorated. I love doing that. We did the resurrection eggs and sang Easter songs for devotions. I wish all of you could have been there.

March 30

Lydia has learned a new word. She now tells me she appreciates my meals and how she will just appreciate it when she gets mail. Grace was sick last Monday for about 6 hours. She threw-up, took a nap, sat on my lap, and then was fine the rest of the night. Lydia got it tonight. She got a bad headache, threw-up, fell asleep, and then woke up and ate supper. I guess we are done with that round of sickness. Grace is finally telling us when she has to go potty now! We will soon be out of diapers (except at night) for the first time in four and a half years.

We had the new CRWRC people for supper last week. Jack and Ellie are here for four months. We had a nice time together. Our friends the Dewires came Thursday. Lydia and Abby played in the morning then the family came for lunch. It was a cloudy, cool day so we ended up playing games all day and having supper together too. It was an unusual fun day with friends.

We don’t have internet anymore so things have been slow. So I apologize for all emails we don’t reply to and for an outdated blog. Hopefully soon we will have something worked out.

That is the end of March. I are thinking about home a lot lately. I love you all!