My Family is Here!

My family arrived after a very long journey from the states.  It was a nine hour flight to London, a twelve hour layover, and then another nine hour journey to Uganda.  Needless to say, they were all very glad to finally be here.  This is what jet lag looks like for a three year old little girl.

The entire compound is a buzz of activity these days.  There is work going on at our house, at the church, and at the new school.  There is the daily rain in the afternoons, but it doesn’t seem to slow down the progress much.  Jen had her first experience with hanging all of the laundry out to dry.  While she was working in the house, a huge storm blew in and she and some others had to go running to pull all of the clothes off of the line in the rain.  The kids are adjusting well and love that there are so many “farm” animals all around.  There are goats, chickens and cows that roam all over the place.  The kids love that there is a baby goat and lots of chicks, so we see them running after them all of the time.  Nate has already caught his first poisonous frog by spearing it.  Some of the workers found 2 baby cobras in the back yard in one of the ditches, so that was the excitement for the day as they let the cobras strike at their shoes.  This was after a 6 foot cobra was killed 300 yards from our house.  These are things that Jen is trying to forget about, but the boys love it!! 

 

This past Sunday was a very special day.  It was the inauguration service in the new church building.  There were a lot more people there than normal because of the general excitement about the building in the village.  Shannon and the elders had put ribbon across the front so that some of the people could cut the ribbon, and once the ribbon was cut the people flooded joyfully into the building.  It was a three hour service, with singing, testimonies of some who have been saved as a result of the ministry, a charge to the elders by the president of the Baptist Union, and a message about the true meaning of the church. 

Jen and Danielle sang at the end of the service with “We Will Glorify”, and Jen actually sang in Lugandan for the last verse.  The people shouted with joy at different times during the song, and then everyone joined in singing with them at the end.  

After lunch, there was a baptism service.  Each person shared their testimony before being baptized.  Many of the people had come to Christ as a result of attending Bible studies led by different people in the ministry.  It was such a reminder of the power of God’s Word to change lives.  The people baptized had such passion as they shared about their conversion, and all of the people would clap and rejoice with them when they were baptized. 

We are still waiting for our container to arrive, but we got word that it has finally left the port and is on the way.  Please pray that this leg of the journey will go smoothly.  We need to send it through customs in Uganda, which can be a hassle.  We are anxious to get settled into the house, but God’s timing is perfect.  We were just able to stain the floors, and the painters are still finishing up some things, so even if the container had come, the house would not have been ready yet for all of our belongings.  So many people have been helping us, and we are grateful for the ways that the people here are pouring out their love on us.  When we meet new people and they find out that we will be living here, they are so excited and tell us over and over, “You are most welcome.”  Jen’s mom has been so helpful, and everyone calls her Grammy.  Emma has become quite the favorite with everyone, and people are constantly picking her up and walking around with her.  A couple of our boys have already told us how good the bugs are to eat.  (I think they were flying termites…I wouldn’t know from personal experience if they taste good or not, but the Ugandans love them).