The End

654 posts on this corner of the internet.  Stories, pictures, highs, and lows of our life in Uganda have been recorded and shared.  Abundant adventures, lots of laughter, plenty of tears, and so many prayers were recorded on this page.  I would even wager that lives were saved, as we shared physical needs and you guys stepped up, dug deep and sent resources to help.

However, since we are no longer in Uganda and life has taken a radically different turn, this blog has reached its end. It is my great hope, that if anyone in the future ever happens by this internet space again, that they will see a great story of God's faithfulness to us over and over again.  Even in the past 8 months, while my earthly life has fallen apart, I still see God's faithfulness and goodness because he has been just that: faithful and good.  It's the thread that has weaved itself through this whole story.

But if you know me, you hopefully know that this is not the end of my blogging days.  Nope.  You will still find me hammering out my thoughts on life and sharing the adventures of my kiddos, on a new space (and a new platform!)

https://findingriversinthedesert.blogspot.com/

I hope to see you there!

(A little about the feet picture... we had a similar ending to my first blog and so we thought we'd try again...only teenage feet...and dirty feet at that!... aren't quite as cute as baby feet! Lol!!)

Youth Camp Pictures

The kids had a great week at the PCU youth camp in Entebbe.  They brought home lots of fun stories, great memories and hopefully some good learning too.  Eric spent the week with them (as a speaker and counselor) and I'm told survived the late nights and early mornings on coke and biscuit crackers.  

Here are some pictures that I got from them!

December Photo Project: Day 23

Sunday evening once again brings "Circle Time" (we used to meet in a circle until our group became too large, but it's still affectionately referred to "Circle Time" because "Line Time" just didn't have the same ring to it. haha!)  During Circle Time we sing, review the Sunday School and Sermon topics, practice the catechism and Biblical timeline, read a Bible story and pray.  

This little one is holding a bottle of "Makwagwe juice" (otherwise known as a Tamarind plant).  We have a Tamarind tree in our yard and when the kids come, they love to collect the seed pods this time of year and make juice out of it.

Youth Retreat in Karamoja

This past week, the youth from our PCU church here in Mbale went up to the OPUM Karamoja station in order to join with the youth from the church plant there (along with the teenaged children of the missionaries) for a youth retreat.  This is the first time our two mission stations have joined together to do something like this for the youth.  It was a very exciting opportunity and was a blessing to see.  Even though our two OPUM stations are only a few hours apart, the cultures of the two areas are dramatically different.  For our youth from Mbale, it really is almost like going to another country...so different than their normal life.

Some of the Ugandan pastors from our area did the teaching.

Prayer time in the evening

Our youth were so impressed by the food that the Karamoja Station provided.

During the afternoon, all of the youth broke into small groups to do service projects.  Some of the youth helped at KEO (the nursery school run by our team), some helped to build some houses for members of the church there, some helped to harvest millet and some went evangelizing in a local village.  This was probably one of the greatest blessings of the retreat.  In fact, a couple of the girls that worked at KEO loved it so much that they even expressed interest in coming back to help...kind of like a short-term missionary.  Wouldn't that be something?  The local church in Mbale, sending out short-term missionaries?  I think youth all over the world love to use their youthful energy for this sort of thing, it's simply a matter of opportunity and resources.  (Photo below is of the evangelizing team praying before they leave)

They also had some time for sports and games and to go for a hike to the waterfalls.

 And a late night movie...

And a bonfire.  Haha...Eric got started telling all the kids American fairy tales... Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, etc.  He had a captivated audience.  All these stories that most American children grow up hearing are actually quite shocking when you hear them for the first time as a young adult. 

 We are so thankful for all that our teammates in Karamoja did to help make this retreat a reality.  It was a real blessing to us and to the youth.  Praise the Lord for his goodness!

A Smattering of Happenings

We've just finished up our third week of school.  So far, it's gone very well.  I'm so thankful for that grace from God.  The littles and I do all our work in the pavilion.  We love being out there and make a fair bit of a mess before the days are finished.  I think I can safely blame William for most of the mess though.  I realized that he rotates around the table, picking a new spot for each subject and leaving a trail behind.  haha...  I find it funny to see where my kids choose to do their school.  I have some that claim the same spot day in and day out, only changing every few months.  Others are migrants...they choose a new spot almost daily.  

We've also been busy doing other things.  Here's a smattering:

Our little friend S, is finally done her treatment for her leg.  A little bit more than a year ago, we found her in the hospital by herself (her grandma had gone to the village to find money), with her leg infected to the point that her bone had rotted, broken and then burst through her skin.  But now, she is healed and able to live life to the full.  Here she is with her grandmother who loves her so so much!

Our Saturday night tradition continues to be to have a huge meal followed by a sermon.  It's a highlight of our week.

Our church continues to grow.  Last Sunday we welcomed many new members and had a lot of baptisms.  We rejoice with these dear friends.

The church expands this way too...here's the newest little addition!

Talitha's cat had one little kitty a few weeks ago.  So cute and so sweet!

And Benaiah's duck is finally laying eggs.  He is over the moon excited about it!

The boys built a Lego ship, with a styrofoam hold and attached Timothy's EV3 to it, as well as quite a few LED lights.  The local hotel let us come up one night and send it on its maiden voyage around the pool.  I think now they are working on a second version.

A Smattering of Pictures

Easter morning started bright and early with our traditional big Easter breakfast.  My big girls were so amazing this year.  I was pretty sick the day before and I didn't see how I could do it this year.  But the girls didn't give up so easily and did the whole thing themselves... breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls and fruit smoothies.  So yum!

We had several baptisms on Easter morning.  Such a delight!

After church we had sodas and mandazis together.

Later in the day we still had all the kids over.  It was rainy, but fun!

Timothy helping to shelter his little friends from the rain:

School is carrying on.  We're having a lot of fun and getting a lot of work done.

The little kids and I are studying Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day for science.  We started the year studying birds and are finishing the year studying flying insects.  We have quite a collection now.

Williams hen, "Chewbacca" had two little chicks...CP3O and R2D2.

Just an average morning run...

And speaking of runs, CURE hospital in Mbale hosted a 5 (ish) K race recently.  Most of our family plus a few friends from church participated in the fun.

We also enjoyed a visit from men from the OPC head office, as well as a URC representative.

While they were here we drove up to Karamoja for a day to meet with the rest of our team there.  It's always a beautiful drive.