A Christmas to Remember

Our Exciting Adventure began by taking the overnight bus from Uganda to Kenya 

 Christmas 2019 will be a Christmas we never forget! For years we've been trying to get my sister Audrey and brother in law, David and their kids to Africa for Christmas. We decided it would be fun to do on the Kenyan coast because we have so many fond memories from vacationing there as a family when we were growing up in Uganda.

A common sight on the roads

We met up in Nairobi, Kenya and took a 6 hour train ride from Nairobi city to Mombasa where we'd stay in cottages on the beach for 6 nights.

We were quite the scene on the train with our large group :)

Cousins reuniting

We were so thankful for these strong boys and their help with all the luggage!

Poor jetlagged baby (and Dad)

The sight we got to enjoy every day!

One day the guys went snorkeling at the reef and the ladies stayed home with the babies and got pedicures.

We spent all day in the water

Someone really loved the beach!

One of our sand creations

(Possibly our last family photo as a family of 6!)

Breakfast in the Banda

 The meals were definitely a highlight! The place we stayed had a chef that cooked all our meals. We ate a LOT of seafood.

We ate a lot of meals in our swimsuits

Evan's breakfast plate

Afternoon coffee with my Mom

Waking up from his nap

Long awaited Sister Time

Fun in the waves

My youngest and my oldest

Swims with Mimo (Grandma)

My favorite view in the world!

Just chilling

My 4 year old nephew

Being silly with Mimo

Josh is forever our fish lover

 After 6 glorious days on the beach with family, it was time to head back to real life.

Carson's newest interest is drawing/scribbing

Josh fed the giraffe from his own mouth!

 We fit in a few more fun things in Nairobi before Audrey and David flew out. First stop: Giraffe Orphanage.

 We polished off our time together with a big lunch at a Brazilian Steakhouse for all-you-can-eat meat.

But that wasn't all! After the US crew flew back to CA and my parents flew back to Uganda we got to spend a day with our sister in law Heather, and our 3 beautiful nieces!

Dutch Blitz - always a must!

Lunch and ice cream

Cousin Abi wanted to carry Carson while we did some shopping

So thankful for these opportunities to see our loved ones!!!

Lastly we needed to drop Isaac and Evan off at school. It's not our happiest thing to do that's for sure but we got to spend the weekend at school and see a few more glimpses of their life there and get to know some of their friends a little better.  Since I missed getting both boys moved in at the beginning of the school year, I treasured getting to help each of them unpack and get moved back in to their dorm rooms. God is good.

So now we're back in Adjumani. Real life. Good Life. And sooo enjoying reflecting on these sweet times that God blessed us with! It always amazes me how often we get to see family, even being here in Africa - because so many of them are HERE!

When NOT in America for Christmas

The other day I was in my kitchen cooking breakfast while Christmas music played in the background. When the song "Here with Us" came on, I suddenly found myself in a full blown worship session as I was flipping french toast. The words of this song stirred me so deeply as God reminded me that He is here with us. 

I also couldn't help but be thankful for a Christmas season here in Uganda where there isn't all the hype and distractions that come with Christmas in my home country. There was no crazy Black Friday shopping, no Santas, and no pressure to have the most beautifully decorated house or cookies. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those things. But those things can detract from what Christmas is truly all about.

   

Instead, this year, all we have is a simple Christmas tree and Advent Calendar. For our Advent reminder each day we have a reading we're doing together every morning after breakfast and then in the little box is a piece of paper that has a family Christmas activity to do for the day. Some examples are: bake Christmas cookies, sing Christmas carols by candlelight, or drink hot cocoa while sharing past Christmas memories. 

Please understand. I'm not trying to say our Christmas "traditions" are better than anyone else's. But I've had several American friends tell me this Christmas that they're jealous of me because I'm not caught up in the chaos and flurry of the Christmas season. And it hit me. So often missionaries really struggle during Christmas time because they miss the snow and cold weather, or the Christmas shopping and of course the family. And yes we do miss our family and friends especially deeply during this season. BUT what a special gift to be able to focus on the TRUE MEANING of Christmas and marinate in that rather than all the hustle and bustle. 

Click on the link below to listen to the beautiful song I love called "Here With Us"

Here with us

My Trip home from South Sudan

I recently traveled to South Sudan to visit the Theological Education by Extension program that is going on there.  I was impressed at the persistence of the many students and teachers who have endured significant difficulties and kept pushing forward with their studies.  Here's an example of one of the challenges: the area I visited was flooded in October and everyone's homes were knee deep in water.  Imagine waking up one morning and finding water coming in through your doorway!  It was strange to see all the huts stripped of their mud near the ground.  The flooded river had washed the bottom couple feet away and left just the sticks.  Wow, some people are so resilient.  I finished the evaluation that I had come to do and was trying to get from Mabaan, South Sudan to my family in Adjumani, Uganda in one day.  It was a little bit more of an adventure than I anticipated.

Ok, the moustache.  I know it looks awful but every November is my one opportunity to let it grow and join the thousands of No-Shave-November gentlemen around the world.  The first step of my journey was boarding an old Russian Antinov cargo plane from Mabaan down to Juba.  After a cup of tea with missionary Jono Stanley at the airstrip, I intrepidly boarded the plane with 3 other passengers.

Notice anything missing?  No seats and no heat.  I wasn't sure how to sit and when the pilot accelerated, I found myself grabbing for anything to keep myself upright.  Not much to grab.  It was extremely loud so the 3 other passengers and I simply smiled at each other.  Perhaps someone can explain this to me but when we started our descent, water vapor started coming out of the ceiling of the plane and little droplets fell onto us.  That was weird.  I admit that I prayed a lot during the flight.

I landed safely in Juba (fastest time ever for me) and hopped into a packed taxi.  The only seat that was available was the a make-shift seat between the driver and the passenger.  It was a van and they had built a little wooden box and placed an old throw pillow on top of it.  I spent most of my journey lifting myself on the armrests of the driver and passenger because my rear end was so soar.

And then this happened.  We were climbing a hill, about 5 miles from the border of South Sudan and Uganda and found 5 large trucks smashed together.  They were completely blocking the road.  I am not sure how the accident happened but thankfully no one was killed.  There was diesel fuel running down the road so I grabbed my bag out of the taxi and climbed through the wreckage to get to the top of the hill.  No cars were getting through so I started looking around for a way to get to my destination 5 miles away.

A soldier saw me looking around and asked me where I was going.  I told him, "Nimule" and he motioned me to a vehicle that had come from the other direction.  There were some people in the vehicle from a telecom company.  I squeezed in the back and off we went!

I crossed the border of South Sudan into Uganda and looked around for a taxi that was headed to Adjumani (1 hour away). There was one guy sitting in a car but he was sipping on a beer.  Hmm.  How badly did I want to get home?  Good enough, as we started talking another guy came up to the car and got in the driver seat.  He agreed to go to Adjumani right away with the one other passenger.  He drove ten feet and got out of the car and another driver got in.  No idea what is going on but was really looking forward to getting home at this point.

It had been raining a lot so the roads were muddy.  We came to a particularly muddy part of the road where a small sedan sat stuck in the mud but off to one side of the road.  The owner was out of his car looking at the sticky situation he had found himself in.  Our driver revved his engine and crashed through the mud, effectively giving the stuck vehicle and its owner a solid brown bath.  Our driver sped away while the other passenger and I protested that we needed to stop.  He just kept on driving.

About five minutes later the small sedan came tearing down the road, caught up with us, and then passed us.  We met again a few minutes later.  He had parked himself by the police checkpoint and they forced our driver to stop.  Our car was turned off and the keys removed by the police officer.  The other passenger and I debated our options, decided to wait it out, and settled into a conversation about marriage in the Ugandan context.  I found out my fellow passenger speaks 7 languages.  Incredible.  After a few minutes, the driver returned and off we went. He apologized for his mistake. 
Thirty minutes later we pulled into Adjumani town and I hopped onto a motorcycle taxi that took me directly to our gate.  "I know where you live," the driver said, "you have the white kids!"  Within a few minutes I was back in the embrace of my family.  PHEW!!  It is GOOD to be home.  

What we've been up to...

My friends cooking out in the rain and mud

 The last month has been insanely busy - truly the kind of busy that usually makes me a little crazy. But by God's grace and the help of sweet friends, I've been taking one day at a time and these ministry opportunities have brought so much joy to others but especially to Eli and I.  I recently told a fellow missionary, "In America it feels like we can take charge of each day, make our list, and get it done. Here, it's more like your day takes charge of you." Meaning, I can set out with a "plan" for the day but most days what actually happens is much different from what I expected. And I'm learning to adjust to that and be ok with that - many times it's even better than I could have planned!

I got to cook inside! With Ella

 These are pictures I took last Sunday when we planned to host almost 30 of Eli's partners in ministry - the teachers for the Theological Education program that is going on in town here and also in several of the nearby refugee camps. But due to a constant drizzle all day and the fact that Sundays are usually very busy for pastors, we had 10 come. But we had enough food for 50 so you can imagine what a party it was!

Ella and Grace put together a beautiful salad

 The cooking took all day but my friends and neighbors came and we had such a good time working together.

The group of pastors/teachers we hosted on Sunday

 Eli did a SWOT analysis with the teachers so they discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the program so far (it's been going strong for 7 months) and opportunities and threats. There was great participation and discussion and overall very encouraging to hear how excited these men and women are about the program and how needed it is here in our part of Uganda.

I had so much leftover food that as soon as our guests went home, I packed up food and sent it to 3 different families. One friend who just had a baby, one who was sick with malaria, and then also to the ladies who helped me cook. I still had MORE food leftover and there was a ladies group meeting at our church property right next door to us the next day, so I invited the ladies over for lunch and they helped polish the rest off. Carson helped too.

Carson joined right in to eat with our friends from church

So let me review: cooked for an army and hosted a living room full of friends on Sunday, hosted more friends on Monday (which is supposed to technically be our day off) and then found out that Tuesday was Harvest Day at our church property. The groundnuts/peanuts were ready and the church members had a goal to finish it all in one day! That meant digging up the plants, shaking the dirt off, and then pulling each nut off the root. Guys, it was actually sooooo much fun. Josh, Carson and I stayed and helped for almost 4 hours!

Uncle Franco showing Carson how to pick the groundnuts off the plant

The Men's harvest corner

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Carson never misses an opportunity to beat on a drum!

Actually such a fun afternoon!

I can't tell you how great it feels to finally be feeling a part of the community, not only in our neighborhood but in our church too. Relationships don't develop overnight or even in a month. They take time and doing life together. And it is such a privilege to be doing life and making memories with these beloved friends.

Some other events I don't have pictures of but that also happened this week:
- praying over a young mama who'd been attacked by demons and leading her to a saving relationship with Jesus
- Bethany spending an afternoon at a burial for a neighbor's 16 year old daughter who died suddenly from an asthma attack.
- Eli finding out one of his students passed away unexpectedly and spending a whole day at the family's home and attending the burial.
- home schooling our 6th grader
- filling out home study paperwork and making phone calls for our upcoming adoption

And so on.

But we are about to catch our breath this weekend. Tomorrow, Thursday, we drive to the capital city where Isaac and Evan will fly to meet us for their 4 - day midterm break. We've rented an AirBnb apartment and we're going to relax and enjoy being a family of 6 for a few days.