Bible Study in Pamba

We live in the community of Pamba.  Last week was the first of 15 sessions getting together with our neighbor church members and Ugandan friends having a Sunday afternoon Bible Study.  I had a discussion with Pastor Francis Osire, who pastors the church, and we both agreed that Sunday afternoons would bring the greatest attendance.  Also it would emphasize Sunday as a day of rest and worship in the Lord.  Not just morning worship, but committing all day.  I am facilitating questions I feel would bring the most discussion to the group.  Everything has to be translated from English to Ateso language.  In the photo below, Pastor Francis is doing just that.  It's great that we are doing this together.  Its important to our Teams philosophy that we walk along side the local churches in our communities.   Its not my purpose to become as a well known white person here in Pamba.  The purpose is to walk alongside the local churches and see transformation in these communities.  We are going through the book, "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ", by John Piper.  Friends from our sending church, First Christian Reformed Church of Byron Center, were able to pick up many copies for me to have sent for ministry purpose.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with all the books until God revealed to me that I should lead a church Bible Study.  So we meet in our back yard under the only shade tree that our immature yard has, a jack fruit tree.  This past week I started with questions,  "What does the word to savor mean to you?",  after discussion I asked, "What comes to mind when you think of Jesus Christ?".  Many answers came.  I was waiting for a particular answer which came after many good answers.  Friend was one I was searching for.  "What is a friend mean to you?", "Have you ever thought Jesus as your Friend?".  The hymn, What a Friend We Have In Jesus came to my mind talking to them.  The purpose of this book is not only to see who Jesus Christ is but also to savor Jesus Christ.  After an hour plus and running out of time, I had to stop discussion and end the class.  Anticipation of next week became evident because of all the hands that were still up in the air.  I am excited to share that our first session came with almost 30 participants.  God is good.  I ask for your continued prayers that God will touch the hearts of those who attend and that they may be encouraged to go and make disciples of all nations. I pray that they not only learn more of and see who Jesus Christ is through this study, but also to savor the relationship of our Friend Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

  

One of those attending brought me a gift.  Later I opened it a found a Ugandan style fruit/vegetable basket.  Basket consisted of : bananas, onions, passion fruit, carrots, avocado.  A very thoughtful and generous gift.

While Steve was leading the Bible Study, I was outside the gate greeting all the late arrivals. I soon had a gathering of neighborhood kids, so I decided to read a Bible Story for them too! It was so great, they love to just be near and listen to anything read to them. What better to read to them than stories of Jesus! 

We ended our time with prayer!

Kate is learning how to walk!! She has been standing on her own for some time now and we know that when she starts she is going to go like crazy! Am I ready for this??

Girls day!

So yesterday, I had a great day! We had school in the morning and it went so well. In the afternoon, we had our pastor's wife, Janet, over with her two daughters and we taught them how to make banana bread. While we were waiting for our banana bread to bake Ashley painted the girls nails. Ashley offered to paint Auntie Janet's, but she said her feet were dirty. We told her that was no problem, we would just wash them for her. She was so thrilled. She was so worried about her cracked feet that I decided that I should just give her a mini pedicure! It was great, she was so thrilled to have her callouses scrubbed off and I once again was doing something I love. ( I know it is weird)  It was such a wonderful day! We all loved it!

Well, after they left, I was working in the kitchen and I thought Kate was by the other kids, but she wasn't!  She really wanted her nails painted so she did her own( and the floor and her clothes). O having a baby in the house again is so much fun! 

Paul's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Paul! We gave him a chicken for his birthday and Ashley surprised him with 5000 shillings! He was so thrilled! They don't celebrate birthday's here so much! He is such a great friend to my kids. I am so thankful!

Unexpected Blessings

Beckie and Jennifer had some visitors and they turned out as unexpected blessings for us. Grace and Cassie are just Ashley's age and they have brothers from Ethiopia. The girls had so much in common and it was such a joy for Ashley to have them here. But, not only Ashley loved them, the boys thought the girls were great. They played fun games and just had a brief but great time together. We thank God for His unexpected blessings to us. Thank-you to Jennifer and Beckie for sharing their visitors with us some. Thank-you to Mike and DeeDee for being wonderful parents and great mentors to Beckie and Jennifer! 

Kate Photo Shoot!

We did a photo shoot with Kate this morning! She is so cute and was so full of fun this morning! We had some unexpected guests, and they gave Kate this dress and hat!  Love it!!

Just thought I would give you an update picture of us too! 

2011

2012

Kate's progress

It is hard to tell by these pictures, but I wanted to try to show you the improvement in Kate since she has been with us. She has grown so much and their is so much sparkle in her eyes. When she came home, she would just sit and sleep. She would sleep so much. Now she is almost walking and she crawls everywhere, she also has so much joy in her eyes. She also is a stinker! She has the best expressions and uses her peripheral vision. So funny. We have to discipline her, but I also know that this fighting personality is what kept her alive when things were so bad! We just pray that God will use her strong personality to do mighty things for HIS kingdom some day!! I praise God for her everyday, she has brought so much joy to our family and we know you will all love her too.

Update

We started school yesterday, and I am excited about this new year!  We are trying some new curriculum and I think we will like it! It is very organized and gives all the assignments so I don't have to.

Yesterday was a good day, but also a hard day. It is hard to be starting school and not have all your friends around. It is hard when everyone else is getting class lists and your list remains the same. It is hard when you miss your grandparents and wish you could just hug them. We are all excited about our new school year, but it doesn't take away the pain of being far away from the ones you love. We wouldn't change life here either. We love living here, but again, it doesn't take the pain of missing home away! Sometimes, I wish we could live both places at the same time. We formed so many friendships here and ministry is just really getting started. We are excited about this next phase of life here.

 Please continue to pray for us and communicate with us. We know how hard it is to keep communication up and it frustrates us as much as it frustrates you. We want to keep better contact with people, but having a new baby, kids around 24/7 and trying to build relationships here takes so much time.  We also have an internet problem here always. Sometimes, I just wish life was easier.

OK, so I am rambling and having a bad day! Please forgive me and know that tomorrow will be better.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself,'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'" Lamentations 3: 22-24

Laundry

I know this is a weird photo to post, but I wanted to share one of the things I miss about the USA. I miss dry laundry that is not stiff!
This is what we usually have hanging in our backyard, lots of laundry. When we were in Kampala we stayed at a guest house that have a washer and dryer. I can't tell you how excited I was. We were playing a game with some friends and they kindly offered to help me fold the laundry after the game, but I was too excited to fold soft laundry that I folded between my turns.
Sometimes, it is the little things I miss the most! So when you wrap up in your nice soft, good-smelling towel after you nice hot, full of pressure shower just be thankful! It really is a gift and not always a given.

Sara in Uganda

Thank-you Sara for coming and helping us! We loved having you!

The first thing Sara did when she arrived! We painted the classroom!

The finished product

She also experienced a house dedication at Robert and Joy's! This included a ceremony, a meal and tea!

Sometimes she just needed to get away! She loved our swings! 

We both had our hair braided! This is a picture of us on our boat safari ride on the Nile river.

Murchinson Falls with Sara and her Uncle Steve

She even got to help at a birthday party and learned how to make balloon animals.

At Robert and Joy's we all picked maize and they prepared roasted maize for us. It is like seed corn, but it tastes ok. 

Having tea with Robert on her last night in Soroti. We shared a time of prayer for her. 

We also visited Amecet! These are two adorable children that have been there for a long time, Rose and Raphael.

She also found time to tutor, Joyce. She is a little girl that Jennifer, our teammate, spends time with.