Knox Theological College Family Day

Recently, we had lunch for all of the students, their wives and small children out at KTC.  It is a real treat to get to meet the families of the men that sacrifice so much to be trained to feed God's people.  We had a great time together eating, fellowshipping and singing.

Mbale OPCU...growing, growing...

It has been a joy to see God growing our church here.  

Two Sunday's ago, we welcomed little Eric (son of Herbert and Beatrice) as a covenant child.  It is such a blessing to watch this young family follow God.

And we also welcomed some new members.

On the left is Donna, our back yard neighbor, who made profession of her faith for the first time.  In the middle is Moses and Grace and two of their girls that are still at home.  They walk 5 miles down the mountain with a whole crew of children from their village every Sunday.  They made reaffirmation of their faith.  And Beatrice on the right, also made reaffirmation of her faith.

What a blessing to see God's work in the lives of his people!  We now pray that God will strengthen their faith and equip them for every good work that He has ordained for them!

Compound Football

The Lord has blessed us with many young boys to work with here.  They love to come hang out with us and play football.  (yes, with a volley ball because the thorns on our compound love to eat balls and that's what we happened to have at the time)  We are praying for this generation of man-cubs...that they will be the next crop of Godly men...leaders in their homes, in their churches, and in their communities.  They they, being filled with the Holy Spirit, will lead with love, integrity and joy.  

Team Retreat in Karamoja

Last week we went up to Karamoja for a few days for a team retreat.  It was full of great earthly food and great spiritual food.  The theme was "Our Unfinished Work"...not the unfinished work of the great commission, but the unfinished work of knowing the love of God, through Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Pastor Paul Browne preached from the book of Ephesians in 4 sessions over a day and a half.  Between the great food and fellowship, I didn't take my camera out at all while we were there.  But I did take a lot of pictures from the drive up and back.  The beauty of Uganda...both in the scenic views and the people...always amazes me, so I thought I'd share.  Some of the pictures came from my camera and some from our friend that came along to graciously watch the kids for us.

Eric buying our lunch from a road side chapati stand.  I still love that we can feed our entire family on the run for less than $5.  We had a discussion in the car as to whether chapatis in all their grease or McD's in all it's glory is healthier...we decided on the former, since at least it's not processed.  :)

 Fields of sunflowers...

Little huts trying to hide...

Over loaded trucks...

potholes...lots of pot holes... (this is looking out my window back at the Webers who were following us)

Truck eating pot holes...

And when the kids have too much energy to sit in the back anymore...they can get out and run, because they can run about as fast as we can drive through the mess...

Cows running off the road...

Cows being used to pull people down the road...

A river to drive through...

Beautiful landscapes... 

And as we got near to the team compound the kids jumped out to cross the new foot bridge that guys up there constructed while we drove through the river that flows over the road.

 And then they ran the rest of the way to the guest house...

 While we were in the morning session, the babysitters took all of the kids to the nearby mission's Karamoja Education Outreach school.  They played games, visited with the kids and sang a few songs.

During our lunch break on Friday some of the girls and I drove 20 minutes to the closest trading center...Namalu.  We went on a quest to have a great adventure and buy some fabric while we were at it.  We had a blast and came away with some cute things.  Now the girls and I have some fabric there being sewn into a Karamajong skirt.

Produce for sale...

How close can one park to one's store?

And here are a few shots of the people.  The tribes we work with in Mbale are all considered Bantu tribes.  But the tribe in Karamoja is much more closely related to the Masaai tribe in Kenya and their form of dress shows that.

This Saturday Brings...

...a breakfast picnic.  We've recently discovered the cheap breakfast of Uganda...Millet porridge.  Our friends in Oregon used to laugh with us in our attempts at a budget friendly breakfast...we would buy 25 lbs of oatmeal for $14 and it would last through 3 weeks of breakfast.  Millet is the Ugandan equivalent of budget breakfast bliss and possibly even better...3 weeks of breakfast for about $8.  Most mornings we eat around the table, but Saturdays with their lazy busyness bring roll-out-of-bed-and-grab-a-cup-of-millet breakfast picnics. 

... our 9th day without city water.  Yes...nine lovely days of hauling water, bucket baths and jerrycans.  This is by far our longest stretch without water and no end in sight.  I'll admit...it's getting old...we are praying for water to return soon!

...mama walking outside to find two little munchkins thwarting our efforts to collect rainwater...  Talitha was very pleased to announce that she was "swimmin'".

...baking cookies.  I love that these girls are becoming more and more independent in the kitchen...even mastering the skill of baking with a 2 year old at their feet.

...playing.  No school on Saturday!  We are all thankful for days and times to just sit and play.

***exciting update!!  We have water again!  It may look like this right now...but it's a beautiful sight!  It will clear up after a while.  :)

Hiking Mt Wanale

Today we hiked up Mt Wanale with a large group of friends...I think there were over 20 of us.  In case you are new to this blog, Mt. Wanale is located just outside of Mbale and has an elevation of about 2,300 meters.  We can see it from our yard.  We usually drive up it and once we even camped on the top.  Eric and the kids have have hiked it many times, but I've never been able to go before.  But today Christi, our MA, sweetly offered to watch the little kids so that I could attempt the climb.  The scenery is beautiful and offered a great excuse to stop, look, and catch our breath.

At the top, the kids love to play in the river.

Some of the group bought a Jackfruit from a seller on the way and we split it up on the top.  There was plenty for everyone in our group...

...plus a few extras that were hanging around.

Climbing up was a cardiovascular workout...watching my husband and son do this was my second cardiovascular workout...

The group including friends, neighbors, kids, parents and a few students from KTC...

In case your children ever complain about chores...you can show them this little boy carrying his load up the mountain.

And this is probably the most mildly terrifying part of the hike...the "stick ladder" (approx 40 ft tall)  It is composed of sticks and logs jammed into the crevice and, as Eric began boast half-way down, it's also "securely tied" with banana fibers.  :)

And while we are complaining about the whole situation, up come two women with bundles on their heads, climbing up as if it's no big deal...  Hiking in Uganda is truly an exercise in humiliation...haha!