We arrived!

We made it home - wait which one is home? I think we just have two homes. While anyways we are in MI! Thank you for all your prayers. Here is the recap so far...

Luka came down with a fever the night before we traveled to the capital city in Uganda. We ended up taking him to the doctor the day we flew just to make sure he was okay. His fever was 101, he was malaria free, so the doctor thought it was just the flu (swine flu? shh, don't mention that in the airport). Poor guy was sick our whole travel home. He was really uncomfortable but did as well as to be expected. Lydia also had a mysterious red "rash" on her face that looked like a birthmark down her cheek. The doctor right away said she has Niarobi eye which is a beetle that lets off his juice and leave his mark. Lydia thought it was quite funny that the doctor said the bug squirt juice out it's butt on her. Thankfully it was gone by the time we reached MI.

Our flights went really well all and all. When we got to the airport they told us there was a fuel shortage in Uganda and we would have to fly to Niarobi to fuel up. Which meant our 9 hour flight would now be 12 hours. Our flight took off at 12:30am so at that time of night I was less than thrilled with the news. Our kids were great and slept almost the whole flight. Luka slept too but woke up often because he wasn't feeling well. Josh and I slept as much as Luka allowed us too.

We had a wonderful two day break in England. We stayed with our friends Tim and Anne Marsden. (Tim and Anne come to Uganda about once a year.) They live about an hour and a half south of London on the coast. We were so amazed by all the history. We stood in churches that celebrated their 900 anniversaries. I stood there and thought what a rock. Think of all this church has gone through yet it still stands. God's church is victorious! We had tea in their neighbors home which was built in the 14 centery. The beams had peg because there were no nails back then. How do these things still stand - not only stand but are still lived in. It was quiet something to see so many thatched roofs. Coming from Africa I did not expect to see thatched roofs in England too. We also went to an old castle where the Romans had built the walls. Who knew we'd see Roman remains in England? Talk about old! We toured the oldest British war ship (1700 something?). Man did they live through hardships. The canons were amazing. What fun to see so much history. And we saw the sea.

We were thankful that we bought winter coats in the market in Soroti. It was cold and sometimes rainy in England. (Surprise, surprise.) Our kids did really well. I kept reminding Lydia this was like school because we were able to learn so much history. We were thankful after our busy days of sight seeing that our evenings were quiet. The kids enjoyed the time playing and then resting. Marsdens have a nice home with a beautiful yard. One thing I liked the best is the quiet village like neighborhoods. So quant. It was almost like we were back in time.

I love seeing new places. Each place is so different. And I learn from them. I already mentioned about the history of the church and how it made me think of the how the church will last forever. I also think everything in England is small. Small cars, small homes, small doors, small stores, small towns... (in general of course). America on the other hand is all about big. Big homes, big cars, big stores, big cities, big, big, big... We also like our sugar as Americans. (Myself included.) I was also struck by the irony of the old churches and history of the church and the lack of church and Christians today in England. It really is sad.

I am so thankful that the Marsdens allowed us to come. The best way to tour is with people who live there. Stopping in England was a great break and a blessing.

Friday November 14 we arrived in Chicago safe and sound. Thank you God for answered prayers! Lydia cried at the first sight and first hug from her Grandpa and Grandma. Oh, it is good to be home.

Now we are enjoying so I will write more later...

Goodbye

Nov. 7
One last journal before we go!

Last week was a busy one. A group from Set Free Ministries in Grand Rapids came to train church leaders. It was a great group to have. We were blessed to have them around and by their ministry here. The men, Paul and Jeff, led a three day conference while the women, Dalene, Robin, and Gwen, spoke in a high school and to a group of women. I went with the ladies each day. It was really different for me to be out. I admit I missed my kids and felt a bit out of control with things at home, but I also really enjoyed the ministry. I was inspired once again. I love teaching God’s Word and His truths. I have a real burden to reach the youth and women here. The youth need to be pure and to do that they need to know and live for Jesus. The women here are suffering. I feel for them. They work so hard, they have so many kids, their husbands are absent…

The ladies taught on purity and gave their testimonies to the youth and taught on God’s way for marriage, family planning, and parenting. I think the people here were touched by their testimonies and freedom they have. One of the days we had a crazy man in the church while we were teaching the women. Boy was that distracting and scary. We prayed a lot. He threw things and shouted. I just wanted another man to come and be our hero but the only thing I saw the neighbor men do was sit and laugh. Finally, thankfully, he did leave. As we talked about different birth controls one of the women asked how she could get her husband to agree when he comes home drunk and forces sex. Another woman was there with two children. One was a year old and the other two years old. The two year old was very sickly. To top it off the father had left them. I can get so frustrated and mad. This is wrong! There are no easy, simple answers. But I overwhelmingly feel we need to point them to Jesus. He is their answer, their hope, their peace, their help… I strongly encouraged them to be close to God. To know His Word, have a relationship with Him, obey Him, and pray for our husbands. I don’t know how God is going to use me to encourage these women but I pray somehow He will.

Now we are in full blown packing and preparing mode. It takes a lot of organization. Have all the details in order here, pack for our family of five, say goodbyes, and have everything lined up in MI. Ah, but it is all good and we are excited. The last days I always feel a bit funny about leaving. I do look forward to everything in MI but I am leaving my home here. I was really sad this week about saying goodbye to team mates knowing they will be gone when we return. It has been a special year. It is really hard to say goodbye to Karen, Lydia’s teacher. What a blessing! We had a meeting this week and spent time telling each other why we are thankful for each other or what we appreciate about each other. What a great thing to do! We were all so encouraged by it.

So off we go. Monday we travel to Kampala, Tuesday night we fly to London where we are staying with friends for two days, then Friday we fly into Chicago. Please pray for a safe journey and for good health. Pray for our kids. All the change – goodbyes, Lydia ending school, traveling, new places – can sometimes come out in different ways. Lydia tends to worry and Grace gets upset easily. Luka is a mover so you can pray he is content on the long flights. We will be speaking while we are home (Josh will be preaching at most of them) so for those of you who haven’t seen it I put our speaking schedule below. Hope to see you!

Our blog maybe quite boring the next couple months – sorry. I will try to at least put some picture of our trip sometime. May your holidays be blessed with God’s presence!

November
15 Lucas CRC 6pm
22 Ivanrest CRC
8:30 & 11am
Jamestown CRC 6:00pm
29 Cadillac CRC 10:30am
Nov. 30 – Dec. 9 Pray for Josh’s trip to Nigeria

December
6 Kellogesville CRC
9:30am (Mandy only)
13 Georgetown CRC
8:30 & 11am
East Martin CRC 6pm
20 Highland CRC 9:30am
27 Mc Bain CRC 10:30am

January
3 Roosevelt Park 10am
Faith Comm. 5:30pm

October 09 (75 photos), by Mandy Shaarda

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Just Life

Oct. 25
I don’t have much to write but it has been awhile. We only have two weeks before we leave and it looks like it will be busy. This week we have five people from Set Free Ministries in Grand Rapids are coming to do a conference. We look forward to having them and to see God work through this conference.

Luka has just popped through his second tooth. He is now standing up everywhere and all the time. He loves standing! He pulls himself up and gets into anything he can. Josh walked past the bathroom the other day to see Luka standing in there by the stool (thankfully it was blocking the way to the toilet). I found him in our pantry he turned around and smiled at me with onion skin coming out his mouth. The girls are learning quickly that high places are no longer high enough. They do not enjoy their baby bothers new ability and curiosity. Everyone who sees him crawl are amazed at how quick he is. It is a busy time with Luka. He loves to be held and chases you around the house till you pick him up. Or he loves to get into things. We really have to watch him right now. I still wonder what he will be like on the plane – or at Grandma’s house. Watch out Grandma here Luka comes!

The girls continue to ask about going to Michigan. They must think it is never coming. Lydia only has 8 more days of school. I am starting to get emotional about it all. It has been a special year. Hard to believe Karen wont be here when we come back. She is such a part of our lives. I will miss hearing them do school each morning in the classroom. What a blessing it has been! I have to trust God will provide another wonderful teacher for our children. Grace and I were taking a walk the other day and she fell down. She stood up and said, “I am falling apart today!” She has been faithfully praying for people who are sick or lost. She prays for David, Avalien, and Claudia. I love the faith children have.

You remember David? The teenage boy who was a former LRA solider that Josh met with several times? Well seems the story is all messed up and David is a great con artist. The whole thing is disappointing. From what we know he is a street kid from Kampala, was in jail, stole a lot, has a girlfriend with a new baby, and who knows what else. The fact is he still needs a lot of help. He is not living for Jesus. Our pastor friend who took him in went through a lot. Finally, we handed David back to probation where he came from and now he is suppose to be at a government rehabilitation camp for street kids. I don’t know what will happen. All I know is that we were faithful to God and did our best. I have no regrets. David heard the gospel and knows the truth. We will continue to pray for him. God can still work in his life.

We have also been really praying for Angie and Tim as they wait to know if they are pregnant (they are adopting by Frozen Embryo). What a lot of emotions. It has been a long, hard two weeks. God has even taught me through. As I have been praying and doing my Bible study it was as though God was teaching me to wait in Him. He was telling me to hope in Him and know peace. We can always trust in Him. He is so near to us, so powerful, and listens to all our prayers. What a loving God we serve! I can’t wait to hear the news Monday because I know God is at work.

We went with our Indian friends to their New Year celebration. It was just fireworks but I am always thankful for time we can spend with them. They opened a second grocery store this week in Soroti (because their first store is so busy and doing so well). It is a really nice store. They had some kind of offering setting out to their god. I am sure it is to ask for blessing over the new store. It is our prayer someday they know true blessing from the true God.

Other than that we have been doing the normal – visiting, women’s Bible study, team meetings, looking into housing for new team mate, teaching, fixing our fence, celebrating birthdays, battling colds, and preparing for our time away. We are doing well and are so thankful. God is good isn’t He!

4 years old!

Oct. 14

Grace is now 4 years old! Saturday we began the celebration. We put up decorations, went for supper, and had a party for her. Our team and friends came over to celebrate. We had cake, homemade ice cream, and of course gifts. Grace is totally different than Lydia. Lydia tells everyone it is her birthday and loves the attention. Grace does enjoy it all but doesn’t need all the attention.

Sunday, October 11, was Grace’s actual birthday. She did tell our church it was her birthday and they sang to her as she smiled behind Josh’s leg. We had a birthday lunch and in the afternoon the girls friends, Betty, Spe, and Abela, came over for birthday bingo. They loved it. We had fun celebrating Grace. I hope she felt special and knows she is loved. Every year goes by so fast. What great memories. Grace is a gift from God to us. She keeps us laughing. Her giggles, smiles, and songs fill our home. She loves to color and write her name on her art work. She is strong too (aka strong willed). Her voice is often heard in our home and her second name. Oh well, God can use that too. I am still amazed at the Bible verses she can learn. Last night she said 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It is beautiful! I pray God fills Graces forth year with many blessings. I pray she continues to grow in Him and accept Him as Lord. May He be with her and use her all the days of her life.

We also celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday. Since more than half of our team is from Canada we should have a party for them. It didn’t start out so good. Josh got home from teaching, we packed the van with pumpkin pies, vegetable, lemonade, decorations, and kids, and were on our way to the party…almost. I locked the padlock to the house not knowing the keys to the house and van were in the house. Oh man! We went around to all the windows, doors, attic looking for a way in but there was nothing. The good thing is we feel safe in our home, the bad thing is our keys were still safely in the locked house. We didn’t know what to do. We really didn’t want to break something to get in seeing as how we are still fixing up the house and didn’t need anymore things to fix. We called over to Karen and asked her to send over Tim’s hack saw. With in minutes the padlock was sawed open and we were in. Yeah! Thankfully, the ordeal only cost us $4 for a new padlock. We even got to the party on time and enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner. After supper we had a time of worship around the campfire. What a lot to be thankful for!

Last week we visited our watchman, John, home in the village. I was surprised to learn that he bikes 1 ½ to 2 hours one way every day to get to our house. Wow! I was humbled. He really wants a job or really needs it to provide for his family. Would we even think of biking to work let alone 2 hours one way? I have never heard him complain about it either. I get such mixed emotions visiting the village again. It is so quiet, has all the familiar smells from Nigeria, and I wonder if it isn’t these people who seem to have no one that need us the most. But I am just not made for the village. By the time we left I was sick of the mud, bugs, and so thankful for our home. What a wimp, I know. It is good for me to get out. I am glad we were able to see John’s home and meet his family. I know appreciate it.

The kids are doing well. Grace talked to her grandparents on her birthday and even saw some of them on skype. Now they are really anxious to go to MI. Almost every morning Grace asked if we are going to MI today. Luka’s nail is falling off because of a screen door accident. Grace pushed it over his finger, ouch! He is also starting to talk like he is really telling us something. He uses his little hand as he talks. I love it! Lydia is plugging away at school. Hard to believe we less than four more weeks with Karen teaching. It has been a true blessing. Today Lydia had three tests and didn’t get any wrong! She is really reading – whole books.

Kampala, toothless, and sick again

October 4, 2009

Wow, fall time. It is rainy here at night but still gets into the 90’s everyday so not too much like fall. I did however put up my fall decorations. I love fall time! Five weeks from tomorrow we will be on our way to Kampala to start our journey home (MI home that is). That makes it an exciting time around here. The girls can’t wait!

We had a wonderful break in Kampala last week. We stayed at our favorite hotel one night. I just sat back, looked around, and felt so thankful. I love watching my kids play in the pool and playing with them. I enjoy seeing their excitement as they rode the horses. I love nice places where we can totally relax. We had so much fun as a family. Of course I loved the food – no making it, no clean up, no planning – just enjoying. Yummy! I am so blessed to have a husband who loves his family and sees the value in special family time even when it cost a little extra money. I am so thankful to God. He always provides just what we need.

The big news from Lydia is that she lost her first tooth. She was (is) so excited! She woke us up Friday morning to tell us her tooth was loose. All day long she wiggled it. By afternoon the tooth came out at the pool. She looks so cute. The funny thing is she dropped it and we could not find it. The next day at the pool we found it again. Then the next day she lost it again – for good. Thankfully she didn’t seem to mind. She is too excited trying to get another tooth loose. So now we have one child loosing teeth and one child getting teeth.

Luka learned to clap. He thinks he is pretty special when we all cheer because he claps. He really likes to be held lately. Josh has said more than once how we need a grandma around.

Our first day back from Kampala Grace had a fever. I couldn’t believe it. How can we have another sick child? By afternoon her fever got up to 104degrees! I almost panicked. She didn’t have any other symptoms other than a cold and her stomach hurt. We gave her a bath and waited for the medicine to kick in. And we called our team and family to pray for her. Grace is a very good girl when she is sick. We prayed over her that night and I just knew God was going to heal her. Sure enough by morning she had no fever! I give all the credit to God. You do not go from 104 fever to nothing. God heard and answered our prayers! He loves us so much. I love Him so much. I am so grateful He is the one who created my children, knows them, and takes care of them. I am not sure why we have had so much sickness the last month. Maybe we are being attacked to bring discouragement? Whatever the reason I am so glad God is always with us.

We also took Tabitha, our house help and friend, to the doctor in Kampala. About a year and a half ago we took her and they said she had PID (Pelvic Inflammation Disease) but nothing has changed so we went to another place for a second option. Anything medical here seems to be frustrating. It takes a lot of time and money – and we still don’t have answers. They said she has a UTI, a cyst, and probably scar tissue from a surgery. We are supposed to go back in a couple months for a repeat ultra sound and they gave her more medicine. Now the medication is finished and she was so sick again yesterday she couldn’t work. Nothing has changed. I feel like the doctors we see don’t get how sick she is and don’t test enough. I don’t know what to do. I just want to give up, but if I were her would I want to live in pain? What to do?

That is the update for now. We are doing really well. Looking forward to Grace’s 4th birthday a week from today! (Actually, Mom is having a hard time seeing them grow up so fast.) I will write again as soon as I get a minute or have something to write about. Love you all and am grateful for each prayer.

Sept. 09 (91 photos), by Mandy Shaarda

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.