Mandy's Journal

May 24

Hi! I have been thinking of all of you as summer begins and you celebrate Memorial weekend together. I told Josh I would be going to garage sales if I was home. It seems like a long time ago we were home in the summer time. As much as I miss home, I have been very content here and thankful. Our kids are doing well. They have been eaten up by mosquitoes at times. Lydia and Grace swell up huge. Itching is miserable. We are trying to keep our house mosquito free so it has been better lately. Luka is super cute! He smiles when anyone talks to him. Everyone comments on our happy baby. He is able to do so much more now. He reaches for everything – including your dinner plate and the girl’s hair -- he grabs his toys now and put everything in his mouth. Lydia is now reading! She read me a book the other day. Wow, it is amazing to see. She had a phonics test and got 46 out of 47 right. She was excited. Grace is doing well too. She still has her things under her pillow, likes to do school with me, and plays with Luka often. Luka is totally loved by his sisters! They entertain him a lot for me. He is spoiled by the women already.

Josh taught for a week in Amuria. I was so thankful how well the week went for him and for me. I just feel like I handle things so much better now. I was so blessed to hear that the people in Amuria were so thankful for Josh’s wife. One man came and told Josh to thank me for letting him teach for a week and another time the whole group told Josh that behind every good man is a good wife and they all clapped for me. I really appreciate them thinking of me.

The kids and I walked to Amecet the other day. I was reminded again how hard it is to see suffering – especially as a mother. There was a one year old girl there who weighed 15lbs. She was the exact picture of malnutrition – big eyes, no hair, only skin and bones. She just laid there whimpering as they tube fed her. How can any parent let their child starve to death? I just don’t understand. She was in the hospital for two month now they have handed her over to Amecet thinking she will die. I am thankful to report she is still alive (over a week later) and off all IVs. But she is only one of so many who suffer. So many tiny babies born into this world as their mothers die in labor. My girls do not like that so many babies are crying in their beds when we go to Amecet. Who will fill their needs? Who will touch them and love them? Who will protect them? It is so hard. The worst yet is the story I just heard. A baby was buried half way by it’s mother and left to die. Thankfully the grandmother saved the child. It is evil. I am thankful I know I serve a merciful, loving God. We go and sing there almost every Sunday night. Mary one of the older girls always comes running to hold Luka. I am thankful for Amecet and that we are able to share some of Christ's love with these precious children.

We spent last week in Kampala. We had a really nice time actually. It is nice to get away and have fun as a family for a little while. We stayed at our friend Kate’s. Our girls loved swimming in the pool there. Lydia actually learned to swim – all she really needed was the confidence. She swims under water too and loves it! We were also successful in getting Luka’s four month immunizations, our van fixed, and immigration work for Luka.

May 26

We had a Memorial Day campfire and potluck with our "muzungu" (white people) friends in Soroti. It was fun to get togather and is nice when we are all away from home thinking of our families getting togather. We had a hot dog roast with all the fixings. Even apple pie and smores for dessert. I love reasons to celebrate togather!

I think that is all for now. We appreciate your continued prayers for our lives and ministry here. It is so important to us!

I met the President!

May 1, 2009

So I need to start with the most exciting thing that has happened lately. I talked with the President of Uganda! Can you believe it? Today is International Labor Day and to celebrate President Museveni was coming to Soroti. We decided to go see the big event because there was a marching band and our girl wanted to see it. I was surprised when we got there to see all the people, police everywhere, and everyone had to enter through security. At first we couldn’t even get close. Usually at these events we are ushered to the front so I wasn’t use to being in the back. I guess they take things pretty serious when the President is involved. It did give me a new understanding to be a Ugandan. We just kept walking hoping to see something and to keep our girls entertained. We got to a roped area and for some reason they started letting people through to the seats under the tent (I think they wanted people to fill the open spots). Being white they allowed us through with others then ushered us to the tent with all the high ranking police officers. We watched some traditional dancers, listened to the band, and waited for the Presidents arrival. When he came I realized he was going to walk right next to us. He came in a truck standing outside the sunroof waving at everyone. Then he walked past us shaking the hands of the vice-president and other high up people. They went behind us to plant a tree and start a building. Then he walked past us again but this time he waved to us and stopped and asked me where we were from. I was so shocked! I told him we were from Michigan but now lived in Soroti. Then he walked on. Josh even got a picture. Josh and I were so excited and surprised. We just looked at each other and laughed. Josh said it gave a new meaning to how Zacchaeus must have felt when Jesus stopped to talk to him. Your so surprised someone important is speaking to you that you don’t realize what just happened. Our kids weren’t too impressed and just wanted to go home for lunch. But I feel pretty special anyways. It was fun. Not everyone gets to say they talked to the President.

Two other thoughts from today, I can see how easy it would be for a Ugandan to want to be an important person. Everything they have and do is so nice. The president flies in on a helicopter, rides in the best vehicles, and gets the royal treatment everywhere he goes. Even the other “big” people have it pretty good. Even I was impressed by it all and wished I could ride in a nice truck like theirs. My other thought is, important people are just people. It was exciting seeing the President but really he seemed like just a normal guy. Really they all are just humans, people like us. I guess it made me much more excited to meet my King someday. The Lord of all Lords, Creator of all, Messiah…wow! Now that will be meeting someone important.

We had a great team spiritual retreat in Jinja this week too. We had so much fun. We stayed at the King Fisher Resort on Lake Victoria where the Nile River starts. It is so beautiful and peaceful. I just soaked in God’s goodness. Our kids loved swimming, okay we all did. The pool there is really fun with a small slide and three different levels of pool. Lydia and Grace were literally in the pool for five hours one day. We had wonderful worship times. I love singing praises to God. I was struck by the beauty of the words and how great our God is. He is so worthy of our praise. Karen, Sarah, and Josiah all are talented in this area so it is a real blessing. Josh and Josiah led us in three lessons on the Holy Spirit – emptying ourselves, filling up on the Spirit, and following and doing His will. It felt so good to be all together and grow in worship and in God’s Word. We also had a boat ride and ate really well. The only down part was we waited up to three hours for our food at restaurants – can you imagine? I think the kid’s attitudes were better than mine at that point. I am still working on being filled with the Holy Spirit J. I also got sick the last day. I was so bummed. I felt awful and hate traveling sick. But I am still very thankful for a wonderful team retreat.

Our kids are doing well. Lydia is doing great in school and seems to really like it. She is doing first grade and got 100% on her first test. Karen, her teacher, is a blessing to us. Lydia told me the other day that she loves our new home. I think we all do. It is a blessing to feel at home. Grace surprised us and spelled her name the other day. She also learned how to do computer games. She knows her colors, shapes, and numbers. Now we need to work on letters and their sounds. Luka had a rough couple weeks sleeping. It was hard because he had been sleeping all night. We think he was hurting because we now have more medicine (Zantac for reflux) and he slept all night again. Yeah! He takes his pacifier quite a bit now. If he doesn’t have that he loves to chew on his hands. He can now reach for toys and put them in his mouth. He even sits in his walker now with blankets to support him. He is so strong. I weighed him the other day and at he is 15lbs (75% same since birth) and is about 25inches long. People here think he is big but I know he is perfect. He sure smiles a lot and we even get a few laughs now and then.

Pastor Patrick preached at our church Sunday. He talked about when the rebels came to his house when he was a teenager. He said they took their dad and mom and made them lie down and beat them. He thought they were dead. His brother ran out of the hut and they beat him too. To this day his front teeth are missing. Patrick though he was the only one alive. But everyone lived and they praised God after the rebels left. Praised God? Wow. I was struck by their faith. Would my first response be to praise God after my family was hurt so badly? We may not understand all their ways here in Soroti and we may get frustrated by what we think is uncommitted Christians, but when I hear and realize what some of them have been through and they are still praising God I am humbled. I am a committed Christian but I have never been through hardships like these people. I am thankful God challenged me and made me think through Patrick’s testimony. We can all learn from each other and encourage one another in our walk with Jesus.

Josh's Journal

May 4, 2009
Greetings everyone. We are supposed to get our internet hooked up today so maybe you will be able to read this by tomorrow. This is not the first time (or even the 2nd, or 3rd) they were supposed to come, but I am actually optimistic they will come today - because I did not cancel my other plans like I did the first few times they were supposed to come. Our old internet was to slow to attach anything, so it was not able to do all we need to do with International Teams. Hopefully we will be up and running again soon.
Last Friday was International Laborers Day and the national celebration was here in Soroti, which meant the president would be here. We thought it would be fun to try to see President Yoweri Museveni so we decided to attend the celebration in the sports grounds in the middle of town. Police were everywhere - hundreds of them. It is not an exaggeration to say they were every 15 feet. We all had to enter through a metal detector. There were a few hundred chairs set up under tents for people who had invitations (not us) and the rest of us had to stand out in the field some distance from the stage. We could not see much so we decided to keep walking around the outside since the president had not yet arrived. As we approached the rope on one end of the field the police decided it was time to fill the chairs which were not filled so they let about 20 people in, including us. We sat right on the outside edge of the tent. There were some traditional dances which was interesting. About 30 minutes later the president came, parked near us, walked right past us and planted a commemorative tree behind the tent. As he was walking back up front, he stopped right by us and greeted Mandy briefly. It took us totally off guard. It was so cool to think the President Museveni greeted Mandy.
Last week we had our team retreat in Jinja. We spent two nights at Kingfisher Safari Resort (an impressive name for a place that has nothing to do with animal safaris). It is a series of little cabins on the shore of Lake Victoria. They have beautiful flower gardens. The best part is their swimming pool. It is the most kid friendly pool I have been at - our girls loved it and spent many hours in it. The retreat was a good experience as a team to get away from the business here, worship God together, and enjoy one another’s company. It was a true blessing.
I have also resumed teaching children’s church. Last Sunday we had about 25 kids; yesterday we had 52 kids. It makes me wonder how many will be there next Sunday. It is overwhelming, but I have seen that many kids come to church simply for that. I know God loves children and I trust He is working in the hearts of many of them. I try hard to make myself available to Him. Last year I went through stories of the Bible from the OT then the NT. This year I started with the resurrection since I started teaching the week after Easter. I plan to go through Acts and then teach on what it means to follow Jesus.
I keep plugging away at learning Ateso. Some days I feel like I can run and not get tired; some days God simply keeps me from fainting. However, last week I went to visit a blind man out in a village. I shared the gospel with him using Ateso. I still feel lost most of the time, but it was exciting to see I had learned some. It also struck me how closely people listen to God’s word when I speak Ateso. Men, women, and children stopped what they were doing to listen as I presented the gospel. Granted, some were probably listening for the entertainment value, but they still listen.
Today I have a meeting to discuss beginning the Timothy Leadership Training in the village of Obule. I am going out there to meet with a couple of pastors. Perhaps God is opening a new door for that. Next week I will be in Amuria teaching it there all week. Please pray for my voice and my family as it is always difficult when I do week-long workshops. Actually, please pray for my motorcycle as well. The road to Amuria challenged the motorcycle last year.

Josh's Journal

April 22, 2009
Greetings. I hope this letter finds all of you doing well. I heard a turkey gobbling here this morning and it made me wish I was in the woods. Oh well, maybe in a couple of years.
I finally feel like we are doing more than just settling in here. I began leading the Timothy Leadership Trainings (TLT) again on Monday. Monday’s session was in Otuboi. Their topic for the next year will be “Teaching the Christian Faith.” It was fun to be teaching again. I was greatly encouraged that the overseer of Faith Mission (he had attended the last two units of training there) had gone to all the pastors which he supervises to encourage them to come for this training. There were 7 new Faith Mission pastors there; altogether there were 17 pastors and church leaders who attended.
Our lesson focused on what makes someone a good teacher. We came to three conclusions. First, they have knowledge to offer the students. Second, their life exudes the character and truth which their words proclaim. Finally, they teach what is important in such a way that it challenges the learner to follow. We ended by discussing where we get our authority (from the Bible) and what we can do with that authority. Based on 2 Tim. 3:16, we have authority to teach truth, rebuke evil, correct wrong ideas and living, and to train people to live out truth. Things were going well; we were about ten minutes from finishing when a big storm blew in. The roof is metal so it was too loud to hear each other talking. Rain was blowing in the windows (the windows are just openings in the walls where metal window frames can be installed later) so we had to rearrange the benches. The worst part was that the dust from the smeared cow dung floor was blowing all around inside the church. It was visible on everything in the church - my shirt, Bible, benches, etc. It was kind of gross. After about 20 minutes we were able to resume our lesson. Unfortunately we kind of lost our momentum and by then I had to be going so we were not able to work on each person’s action plan. I had stressed early in the day how important action plans were so…I will find out who did one next month.
I was also excited that I was asked to begin leading TLT trainings in another village called Obule. My language helper is trying to arrange a meeting with the church leaders there to discuss details about that training. I am also meeting with a couple pastors to discuss leading the TLT in a week-long seminar either in Amuria or Katakwi. Last year I did the first unit in each of those places. I hope now to go back and train them in the second unit.
Ateso language study is going well, maybe deceptively well right now. Honestly, I forgot a lot of words while we were in Michigan; therefore, during my language lessons I am learning new words and words I used to know (which is easier than learning new words) so I feel like I have made great progress in the last two weeks. I have also learned a lot of transition words (so, that is why, like this, so that) so I am able to construct more complex sentences. On the negative side, it gives me a false confidence to get involved in a conversation then suddenly I hit the end of my ability and the conversation ends awkwardly. (This might actually be a good thing, because I think it helps me learn more.)
Around the home front…Grace knows how to spell her name now. Lydia is suddenly spelling and reading many more words - she has really benefited from the one to one atmosphere of home schooling. Luka is growing and has been very good the last few days, but is not going to bed well at night. It is hard to let him cry it out when his bed is 3 feet from our bed. Thankfully he sleeps 8-9 hours once he falls asleep. Lastly, I finished building the grill. It is nice - looks like an Old Testament altar in our front yard, but it did a fine job cooking hotdogs Sunday night.

Easter -- What a reason to Celebrate!

April 13
Happy Easter everyone! I am so excited and thankful my Savior has risen!!! What a lot we have to celebrate. What good news we have to share with everyone. I was praising God in prayer the other night and realized how bad I have been at celebrating what my Lord did. I have reason to rejoice everyday and especially as we remember at Easter time that we are forgiven. Christ has given us victory! I have hope because He has given me eternal life – He has given me life. How that makes me want to praise Him and say thank you God. We need to live as saved Christians. We need to live as excited Christians. Jesus has done the work for us now we need to live it and share it. We need to shout it to the world. Jesus loves you!

It has only rained two Sundays mornings in the two years we have lived in Uganda, and this Easter was one of them. When it rains here no one goes out they just wait for the rain to stop, so not many people make it to church. And when you are at church and it rains on the steel roof no one can hear. I decided while sitting in our church Easter morning, getting dripped on through the wholes in the roof and not being able to hear myself sing let alone anyone else, that satan was trying to stop our Easter celebration. But I wasn’t going to let that happen. No way, we already have the victory. Jesus has risen and I will rejoice!

We did have a nice service. Our family sang “God’s not dead, no He is alive” for our special number. And they had a baby showering for Luka. A few people brought him gifts as they sung, “This is the Luka that the Lord has made” (to the song “This is the day”). He got eggs, oranges, laundry soap, peanuts, and money. It was very nice of everyone. Oh, just a side note, the rains brought out flying ants so during church a couple kids were gathering them and eating them -- alive. Yummy. We must live in Africa.

In the afternoon we had an Easter dinner with our team, some of our friends. We wanted to take this opportunity to share Jesus with our friends. I prayed all week about it. I didn’t know how to go about doing this dinner. Who to have, when to have it, and what to have (I can’t feed an army, they can’t leave their work at just any time, and they don’t eat certain things). I didn’t want my worries to stop us from sharing the good news with out friends, so I prayed against satan’s interferences and asked Jesus to lead the way. And of course we prayed for God to prepare the way for the gospel to be shared.

I was excited. Everyone came Sunday and we had a nice time fellowshipping. We did an Easter egg hunt with the kids, ate supper, and shared with them why we celebrate Easter. Josh told the story with the resurrection eggs. Each egg has an object in that tells part of the story. Everyone seemed to listen closely. Then we sang a couple songs. I can’t imagine what they must think. All I know is it has to be the Holy Spirit’s work to understand that story for the first time. Really, if someone told you they were celebrating a man that rose from the dead what would you think? I don’t know what God did in their lives Sunday but I know a seed was planted. We have given Bibles (in their language) to them a few months ago so I pray this makes them want to read more. I am so thankful that this Easter we were able to tell our friends about Jesus! That is what it is all about.

Josh's Update

April 15, 2009
I hope all is well with you. I have not written for a couple of weeks. In some ways a lot has happened during that time; in other ways it seems like I am still waiting for things to happen here.
I turned 31 since I last wrote. It was not too big of a deal. I buzzed my hair so I could ignore the grey. The team came over for grilled pork which was nice. A few days later Tim and Angie took our family to a new swimming pool in Mbale. We were there on a nice sunny day so we could enjoy the pool even though the water was refreshing!
We had a nice Easter last week. I had been asked to preach in church. The sky was very grey when we arrived at church. During opening prayers it began to rain. This was only the second time since we came to Soroti that it rained on a Sunday morning. Since we have a steel roof, we sang a number of extra songs - the rain was so loud that we could not hear each other speaking, so we just kept singing. Eventually Pastor Francis decided I should begin preaching, hoping that people would be able to hear some of what I said…that rain stopped soon after I began so people could hear what was said.
In the afternoon we had our friends over for supper. We did an Easter egg hunt for the kids, then we ate. After supper we sat down and opened the 12 Resurrection eggs; they enabled us to share the story of Jesus’ arrest, death on the cross, and resurrection. I was greatly impressed how attentively everyone listened. Each one clearly heard the gospel message. Now we continue praying that the seeds planted will begin to grow in their hearts.
Last night we went and played Basketball with the Chinese; it was good to spend time with them again.
On Monday I met with some of the blind to discuss plans for the year. It was good to hang out with them again. We really want to try to reach each orchard beneficiary one more time to check on the trees again and to share God’s word with them again. The last round of follow-up was not very successful; hopefully this time we will have better success getting the people while they are home. (There is no way to notify them we will be coming.) The blind trainers also said they would like to get involved training other blind people again this year. They have not done that for a number of years. This would entail gather blind people in a given location to a sub-county office (the sub-county provides accommodation for the trainers and a classroom). The training would be at least 4 weeks (ideally it would be 4 months) so the blind from that area could be trained in discipleship, mobility, living (washing clothes, fetching water, cooking - which is challenging over a fire when you are blind). If more time allows they would also be trained in knitting, farming, and other vocational things.
Teaching…yeah, I am trying to be patient while things fall into place; however, things at the Bible College are not falling in line very quickly. I am about ready to start investigating new options. I will be leading the Timothy institute Monday in Otuboi. I am considering beginning this training other places as well.
Finally, things on the home front are settling in. Our new house is beginning to feel like home. We are almost finished unpacking, some of the plumbing and electrical kinks have been resolved, and we have met a few neighbors. I have been working on a sandbox and am nearly finished building a grill. We also hired a daytime guard / gardener to be here while I am away. Mandy said she would feel more secure about things if someone were here. Honestly, I think John will have the yard looking much nicer than I ever would. He has worked for three other people who rented this house so he knows how to do things, plus I do not likely investing a large amount of time in the yard.
I hope all is well. I will try to write again in a week or two - hopefully by then I will be busy teaching. Until then, let us live up to what we have already attained

Back in Soroti

March 26, 2009

Today I asked Lydia if she is happy to be back in Uganda. She said yes. She said she likes Uganda because she doesn’t get shots here. Way back in November Lydia got her 5 year old shots at the doctor in MI. I guess that is something she wont forget. I cut Grace’s hair now too (Lydia’s was cut Sunday because she was too sweaty). Grace thinks she looks like a boy even though it is cut just above her shoulders. They have been really good. I am so proud of them. And Luka too. He slept 9 hours the other night and almost 8 hours last night. What a good boy!

Oh, Lydia was talking today about a diary but she was calling it a “diarrhea”.

April 5, 2009

Wow, we have been in Soroti for two and a half weeks and I am finding it very hard to find time to sit down and write. I love writing and sharing with everyone but the reality is I have a new baby and two other kids. So, I think this year writing will be to a minimum. But who knows, I still need my sanity right?

I am very pleased to say things are going very well and I am happy and thankful. The rains finally started which has made life much more pleasant with cooler temperatures. We have been very busy mostly because we moved into our new home. There are lots of boxes to unpack, sorting, and putting away. I hate undone projects so everyday I have to remind myself to only do so much. Having a baby keeps me in check. Luka always reminds me when to take a break and feed him. And I have to have time to cook for the family. I have been reminded how much time it takes to prepare a meal. There are also a lot of little details and fix ups that are needed around the new house. All in good time but right now I think it is frustrating Josh. He would much rather be doing ministry. It was very stressful this week when our generator and hot water heater did not work and both were worked on before we left in November and were suppose to be ready. Of course we had no power 3 or 4 evenings this week which meant too many candle lit nights.

Other than all of that, I love our new home! It is fun making it into our home (I think it is a women thing). I like all the extra space we now have. I love all the trees, flowers, and shade. I look out our windows so thankful for the beauty. Each day the birds are singing in the trees so pretty. It is different being in a new house and down the road from Tim and Angie. Not bad just different. Josh and I prayed through our home the first night we slept here. It is something we have never done together but know it is great to do. It sure brings a lot of peace knowing you have invited Jesus into every room in your home.

The kids are doing GREAT. I am so thankful prayer and answered prayers. Luka has been sleeping through the night for two weeks now. What a good boy! He is happy and bring a lot of joy to our family. Grace is even doing well (even with all the change). She has a cute new hair cut. She has been carrying around four pictures of her grandpa and grandma Shaarda and aunts and uncles that they sent her. That reminds me that she misses them. She also talks about the time when she ate at grandma Beutes and had chicken soup with crackers in it. It is funny what they remember and meant something to them. Grace sleeps with a bed full every night. She puts her pictures, two little Bibles, a ball, phone, and her blanket under her pillow. I guess that comforts her. Lydia continues to be easy going and joyful. She was sick last week when we moved in the house but thankfully that stomach bug seemed to pass quickly. We were praying with the girls one night and they both had several “boo-boos” to pray for and Lydia said, “God has a lot of work to do.” We were walking down the road the other day and talking about Jesus being in our hearts. Lydia said I want Jesus in my heart! So there on the Lira Road she said her little prayer all by herself and asked Jesus to live in her heart. Praise God! Here is something funny, Grace loves to tease Lydia at times and the other day Lydia was mad at her and she told Grace how mean she was and stormed off. Grace looked at Avalien and said, “That was funny.” What else about the kids? Luka has real tears now (just incase you wanted to know Mom S). The girls sleep well most nights but other nights seem to have a lot of trouble I think with dreams. I wish I knew if it was the malaria meds or not. We will keep an eye on it anyways.

Today is Josh’s 31st birthday! We had a party yesterday. Complete with grilled port steaks, potato salad, fruit salad, and cake. Our team came and celebrated with us. The girls and I made Josh a giant chocolate chip cookie. Angie gave him cinnamon rolls. I guess we all know what Josh enjoys. He is now sitting on the porch with Luka sipping a Mt. Dew (they have them in glass bottles here). So he should be happy.

We went to our church today. I was very happy to be there. Their singing is simple but nice and Francis’ preaching is good. I am thankful for the truth he shares from God’s Word each Sunday. They are having a shower for Luka next week.

April 7, 2009

Lydia started school this week! Karen, a friend from college, is on our team for the next ten months and so was willing to teach Lydia every morning for a couple hours. Lydia seems to love it. I think she really likes the one on one. It sounds like they are having fun too. I am a bit jealous but usually when I am I am sitting in the rocking chair feeding Luka and realize there is no way I could handle home school right now. Karen and I are very happy with our chose of curriculum so far. I can thank Rebeka for that.

Side note, Luka got over 13 mosquito bites on his arm the other night. We think it is because he rolled up against the bug net. Poor guy. Don’t worry grandma we put him in a different bed so he can’t rollup against the net anymore. We are taking good care of him.