Luka is Home

Thank you everyone for all your notes, meals, clothes, and love! We are so very blessed. Luka is doing great. He is a good baby even sleeping up to 4 hours at a time at night. His sisters adore him but thankfully leave him alone too. We are very thankful for so many answers to our prayers. Luka is a joy!

More Luka Pictures!

Happy Birthday Luka!

Luka Paul Shaarda

Arrived Jan. 14, 2009 at 3am

Weight 8lbs 15oz and 20in long

Mandy & baby are doing very well. It was a quick two hour labor and delivery. We praise God for the safe birth of our son! Luka is the name for Luke in the Bible in both Nigeria and Uganda. Paul is Josh’s father’s name. Lydia and Grace are very excited about their new baby brother. Thanks for all your prayers. We will keep you posted on Luka.

Pictures from MI

Home Service Update!

Jan. 8, 2009

Just thought I would update you on our home service now that I have a minute and it has been two months since I wrote.

We are having a great time! Busy but wonderful. We were able to go to Malta (Island off of Italy) on our way to the States. There is a group called Christian Hospitality Network that puts on retreats for missionaries each year free of charge. They just want to bless us. Did they ever! We enjoyed great food, wonderful people, the Mediterranean Sea, and seeing a new part of the world. It was neat to see where Paul ship wrecked too. We are so thankful for a fun, restful retreat. The traveling however is a lot of work. There is no way around it, it is just along time in an airplane (and airport, and car...).

It has been so good to be home for a while (I guess we have two home because we call both Uganda and MI home.) We were SO blessed to walk into our home that Georgetown CRC provided. It is beautiful and we love it. (This will make it hard to leave.) It is so nice to have a place of our own. It provides so much stability for us.

We are so happy to see and be with family again. We spend A LOT of time with them. It just feels good. Everything seem comfortable and normal. What a break for us. We are thankful to our families and supporters who love and care for us. They made it so easy to transition back and were so giving.

Josh was able to hunt right away so that was a highlight for him. He got a doe this year. Lydia and Grace’s Uncle Ryan (Rebeka’s husband) got a deer too and now all my girls talk about is the bloody deer. They watched the whole process of skinning and it felt quite an impact. Grace chases Lydia around the house saying I am a bloody deer. We sure enjoyed spending time up in McBain with the Shaarda family during hunting season.

Lydia started school at Hudsonville Christian. She is in Kindergarten and is doing well. She has had a hard time adjusting to the early mornings. (If she took the bus she would have to be ready by 6:50am! Thankfully Daddy takes her at 7:30 in the morning.) Lydia would much rather sleep till 9am. We have also realized she is ahead of the game. The class is doing sounds of letters and she can already read some words. They are counting and she can add and subtract. So I am very impressed with home schooling and Lydia too. But she is behind on zipping zippers and putting on shoes. She has only lived in Africa and worn sandals. Oh, I almost forgot. Lydia first bus ride was a good story. She didn't know where to get off (she doesn't know her house) and no one told her to get off so she ended up riding the whole route. The bus driver saw Lydia sitting there at the end, and we had called by then, so she went back and dropped Lydia off -- at the second stop. Lydia didn't even notice. She just said the other kids had a short ride and she had a long ride.

We got just a taste of Fall before winter came. The girls love playing in the snow! And so does their Dad. He is in it ever chance he gets – shoveling, running, playing with the kids… I have enjoyed the beauty from the inside although I did go sledding once (at eight months pregnant!). We sure have had a lot of snow! (over 50inches in Dec.) It was kinda fun to have such big storms.

I love being pregnant since I have been here. I feel good (no more heat!) and have nice new clothes to wear. Everyone asked about me, the baby, and when we are due. I am thankful for time here to be pregnant. It is special.

Thanksgiving was great and went by too quick. We had fun cutting down our Christmas tree as always. We stayed at my parent’s cottage, I had a fun shopping trip with the ladies, we went to a couple holiday parades, saw most of our relatives at parties… And now Christmas has already come and gone! I really love the excitement and beauty of the holidays. I love Christmas lights. I tried to take it all in. We had a great Christmas. Two days before Christmas I saw the doctor and was very surprised that I was already dilated and was told not to go any further than an hour away anymore. Doctor said it could be any day or two weeks. Wow, that changes plans. So for the first time we would not be in McBain for Christmas Day. Christmas Eve was had so much snow that we had to have the party at my sister’s house instead of Dad and Mom’s because they weren’t plowed out yet. We had a great night with lots of food. The adults did white elephant gifts this year and that brought a lot of laughter. Lydia was SO excited and thankful for her presents. Christmas Day we had a wonderful lunch at my parents and in the evening the Shaarda family came to our house to celebrate. We had so much fun. It was a whole weekend of family, games, and food. (No more food please!) I truly am thankful for my many blessings – all because of Jesus.

Besides all of that, we have been speaking at churches and visiting supporters. Every Sunday we speak at a different church. It has gone really good and we so appreciate the encouragement. Our girls have even been involved and sing in Ateso sometimes. (They also have made things interesting like when Grace put her hand up my shirt to feel my belly when I was speaking or when she escaped and when up to Josh when he was preaching – who’s kid is that anyways. How embarrassing.) Josh has done an amazing job preaching and has preached at most of the churches. He has a gift. Josh has also visited 51 of our supporters to thank them. We are more than touched by all the support and prayers and love we have received. Their generosity has blessed us beyond words. It is so good to come home and share with them and reconnect. Thank you everyone!

As some of you know my Grandma VanManen was very sick in December. She had Septic Toxic Shock Syndrom and was in ICU for almost two weeks. Through many prayers God chose to do a miracle and save my Grandma's life. She is now recoving in a rest home until she is can go home. Thank you everyone for praying. Praise God He is Immanuel God with us!

Now here we are in the New Year. We had a fun New Years at my parent’s cottage. More family, food, and games. Can I ever get enough?! I am starting not to like to look at the calandar because time is going so fast. I try to just be thankful for each day. Now that we are through the hoidays we are awaiting the arrival of our baby. Anxious would be a good word. For two weeks now I have been dilated to a 3 and the doctor tells me could be tonight or next week. We carry the hospital bag and phone everywhere we go. I am big now (thankfully all tummy). Like usually Mandy, I am a mix of emotions. I will be sad that this special time of pregnancy is done yet I can’t wait to hold our baby. All in God’s timing. Feel like things are on hold until this little one arrives. We’ll let you know!

See you soon!

Oct. 30
Let me make you laugh a minute. It is embarrassing but funny. Yesterday we had just returned from our friends where we had been swimming. Josh was pulling the van in and I was going to get out of the van to shut the gate. There were about 20 kids being too bold and coming in our yard. As I got out of the van to scold them my wrapper/skirt fell off! The kids gasped. I had my bathing suit on underneath but the kids didn’t know that. I wanted to say don’t worry it is just my bathing suit and show them but I knew that wouldn’t help – just scare them probably (they don’t know what a bathing suit is). I caught my skirt so it didn’t fall all the way down thankfully. Oh what they must be saying about me. How embarrassing.

I think I will wrap things up. We have one week until we travel to Kampala. Tim, Angie and family arrived in Uganda last night and will be in Soroti tomorrow. It will be a quick few days with them before we go. We fly a week from Sunday to London then to Malta where we have a three day retreat. What a blessing! It is through Christian Hospitality Network. They do it somewhere different every year just to treat missionaries. We are excited and thankful for the break in the flight schedule. November 13 we fly into Chicago. MI here we come!

Thanks for all your prayers as we prepare and travel home. I will just warn you that my blog will be pretty boring the next four months. I will either be taking a break or too busy. See you soon!

Nov. 3
You know me I just had to add a little. Tim, Angie and family came back Friday and now I am a mix of emotions. It makes it so hard to leave. We are still excited to go yet sad to leave them. They are trying to adjust back and it isn't easy. I am glad we are here for them. Our kids have been playing non stop. They are so happy to see eachother again. We have been together a lot these last precious days.
Pray for their daughter Avalien. She has a real hard time with change and so we pray God comforts her as we leave. Pray that Tim and Angie have a renewed calling and strength to serve here. Pray for all of us as we say goodbye to each other. Pray for us in our last couple days and as we travel. Thanks everyone!

Trip to Kampala

October 29
What a day Monday was. While writing I will use words like “I” and “she”, but I first want to say that God was the one who made the day a success. It usually takes at least three days to process something through the immigration office. To complete the whole thing in one day simply is an act of God and an answer to many of your prayers. All praise and glory to Him!
I woke up at 3:00 a.m. By 3:30 the bus company was at our gate to pick me up so I could catch one of the early buses to Kampala. I thought to myself, “My parents are still in church on Sunday night I am already beginning my Monday.” Strange to consider those things. I found a seat on the bus and settled in. I have not traveled in the dark since last December so it was a little strange, but the bus ride went well. We stopped in many towns along the way to add passengers. By 9:15 I was in Kampala.
After exchanging money I headed to the immigration office. I checked the approval book and found my file number. The officer gave me my file and told me to take it to the cashier. The cashier there does not receive any cash; he just writes the bill for people to take to the bank. The bank is about two miles from the immigration offices, but I was sick of riding so I decided to walk. With the traffic in that part of town I probably only lost 10-15 minutes. I paid my bill at one window and was told to wait at a different window for the receipt. I asked how long it would be. “One hour” was the answer.
I exited the bank and headed back down the street 300 yards to Dominoe’s Pizza. It is different from the American Dominoe’s Pizza, but it still had very good Bacon & pineapple pizza. After eating I went back to the bank to stand in “line” to get my receipt. The line consist of 25-30 people crowding around a little window. I would have sat in a chair, but then would not be able to have heard my name being called. So I stood in that mass of humanity for an hour until they called my name. I stopped a taxi (taxis in Uganda are vans full of people, they are NOT cars you privately hire) and headed back to immigration.
I got there about 20 minutes before the lunch break. The officer was kind but said it would be Wednesday before I could get my passports back. (This was the answer I had expected.) I explained that I wanted to return to Soroti, but he still said he could not have them done before Wednesday. It takes time to get all the files back from the cashier because several offices use the same cashier.
I then went and thanked Kevin for her help. (She was the lady from Soroti who now works in an adjacent office. She was the one who kept checking for me to see if my file had been approved.) She asked if I had finished the process. I explained what the man said. She told me she would talk to him at lunch and see if he could get them done the same day. I should come back at 2:00. At 2:00 she went herself to the cashier’s office to get my file and brought it to the immigration office. She told me to check with the officer at 3:00. At 3:00 it was not done yet. I checked again at 3:30 - not done. I checked again at 4:00 - not done. However, they were working on it so I decided to stay and wait. About 4:15 the officer handed me my passports and said they were finished.
By this time it was getting late so I knew I needed to hustle if I was going to sleep at home. I got a taxi which said he was headed to Mbale (the last major city before Soroti) so I boarded. Riding a taxi is slow-going because they continuously stop for more passengers. After about 90 minutes the van stopped behind another taxi. The driver said I needed to board the next taxi because he wasn’t actually going to Mbale. The second taxi was quite a trip. At one point we had 20 people in a van equipped for 14 (it keeps the fares lower when you overload them.) In our 3-person bench we had 4 people sitting and a 5th person standing bent over at the waste. I would have complained, but it would not have done any good so I bit my tongue and prayed for safety. We continued to make slow progress until we reach the city of Iganga and entered the taxi park. He told me to enter a different taxi, because he wasn’t actually going to Mbale either. By now it was dark and the taxi park was barely controlled chaos. People were yelling at each other and pulling at me. “White man, you come, we go, I take you where you want.” A few of us were trying to get to Mbale so we enter taxi number three. Ten minutes passed before the driver admitted he was going to Mbale, but not right away. Out we went to find taxi number four. By this point I would have paid considerable money to hire a car privately (which is done throughout Africa) but I did not know where to find one and did not dare to walk aimlessly alone considering the environment which I was in. About 5 minutes later we finally pulled out of the taxi park. The rest of the ride to Mbale went quite well. We pulled into town about 2 minutes before the last bus left for Soroti. The price for all that excitement over the 140 miles from Kampala to Mbale: $8.
Buses are not really on a schedule, so it really felt like they were waiting for me. (God at work.) I was their last customer of the day. I climbed on and within 2 minutes we were on the road. When we got to Soroti I hired a motorcycle taxi to take me home. I walked in the house at 11:30, just 20 hours after I’d left. I was tired, hungry (I knew I did not have time for supper if I wanted to reach home), and thirsty. I had a glass of water and washed up. There was no electricity so I just went to bed without supper because I did not want to wake up the kids. I was worn out, but knew it was God who had made my trip a success.
Yesterday (10-28) was Happy Dewali for the Indians (their New Year’s Eve I guess because today they all say Happy New Year to each other.) Some of our friends from OM supermarket invited us to the celebration. We arrived at their store about 7:30 in he evening and immediately went with them to the compound where the Hindu temple is. All the Indians in Soroti had gathered in the courtyard outside the temple to set off fireworks. The police had given them permission to set off fireworks for one hour. They had everything from sparklers to the bonafide fireworks that make everyone go “ahhh, ohm” (Ugandans who gathered on the street to watch reacted the same way Americans do on July 4.)
About ten minutes into the show one of the loud ones tipped over and shot over into the crowd about six feet from where we were sitting. It traumatized our children. Lydia was crying, Grace showed absolutely no emotion. From that point on we sat in the van to watch. It got a little hot, but our girls really enjoyed the show without having to listen to the loud noise.
After the fireworks, they brought out the food. I do not know what it was called, but it was all really good. There were about 10 different things. We got home about 10:00. It was a lot of fun. We felt a little out of place, especially when the conversations were taking place in Hindi, but we still felt privileged that they invited us to come. We pray for our friends. Many of them have received copies of God’s Word. We pray that they will read their new Bibles and believe in Him who is the Light of the world.