Glad to be in Gulu/Birthday Blessings

So far, during our first three weeks in Gulu, we have explored our way around town, gotten to know a few new people, and enjoyed our unique and cool home.

 There is a great coffee shop called "The Iron Donkey"... we have gone a few times, just to get out of the compound.  :)  Abella is a beautiful young lady who lives right next door to us, and happen to know her well from Soroti days - I've watched her grow up since she was about 12.  She is super helpful, insightful, and a treasure to our days here.

I love the Gulu main market - so much more diverse produce than in Soroti.  Here I can get leeks, spring onions, red, yellow and large green peppers, Chinese cabbage lettuce, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash and more.  Yeah for us!

 Moses super surprised me for my birthday... I came out of bed and found the sitting room decorated with balloons and streamers.

 He made homemade waffles for breakfast.

 We stopped at Iron Donkey on our way out of town, and they gave me a free treat!!

 We drove two hours and found a sweet lodge for an overnight getaway.

 Tent number three was our sleeping place of choice.

 When we relaxed on our porch, we could oversee the White Nile.  At night I heard hippos chomping on the grass in the campsite.

 I loved being able to swim once again!

 The cook even asked me what I wanted for dinner and presented a delicious dish!

 Fort Murchison has such a great ambiance!

 I appreciate trees with a little bit of character.

 Fun with Flora

 Oh ya, in the morning, these notes were hidden all around the house.  So cherished!

 Murchison Falls National Park is in the background.

 A Sausage Tree

 Moses was practising his camera skills.

 Well, so was I. :)

 The gardens were peaceful.

 Welcome to our nature lodge.  I am so grateful that we could have some special time together.

 Canada Day found me at an old school dentist.  I had to have a back molar filled, since I simply lost an old filling.

 Back at home... I love our new home.

 Bolt always welcomes us home.

 Here is the curriculum that is being developed for private/Christian schools in Uganda.  I'm going to help with editing the materials and giving it an African context.  Moses hopes to develop a training video for the "Roots to Fruits" curriculum.

And on a fun note... I found gardener charging his phone battery the other day.  Yikes!! I couldn't pull that off if I tried.

That's a quick welcome to our new place.

Some last Soroti Shots

It's hard to believe that I finished 10 plus years in Soroti while  under quarantine.  A lot of time has been spent at home in the past three months and we have just been enjoying the simplicity of life.

 I've never seen such brilliant red, fuzzy bugs before in my adventures.

 One Sunday morning Moses and I had spent time thanking the Lord for how He provides for our needs.  We put some beans in the pressure cooker... and then started church online... getting distracted, we burnt the beans.  So, we didn't have anything prepared for lunch, but then there came a knock at the gate... and pizza was delivered. 

  A yummy rabbit cacciatore was delivered just a few hours after that.  Our God knows our needs and replaces our gifts!

 Moses learned "more" on how to do puzzles by helping me occasionally.

 One day bees flooded our compound when I accidentally left honey outside.

 One morning we watched new baby chicks make their way out of the coop for the first time.

 And I played with this Easter chick who was left behind in the coop.

 We spent 7 months in this compound.

 With everything being online now days, I could even attend a "Writer's Nest" group meeting.  What a blessing to meet with these sweet people once again!

 Moses has been working on translating some of our training materials into the Ateso language.

 I've always loved spending time with Teddy and Grace... and we've been working on a few crafts together.

 My adorable BOLT

 Fluffy - my faithful mama (I'm going to miss having chickens in the new compound)

 Just a few weeks before leaving we cleaned out our water tank because our drinking water was starting to smell fishy - now I know why!!  Yuck.

 On the day that Uganda lifted the driving ban, I drove to town with joy.  I was going to visit a friend for the first time in two months, but that had to be postponed when I wiped out at the supermarket.  It was a full oopsy - I threw the groceries, almost landed on my face, embarrassed myself... and Moses had to drive home after I found him in the market.  Our friends who owned the supermarket were upset that I didn't come in to clean up, but I was just wanting to go home.  :)

 Bolt loves chasing sticks and playing with Moses!

 Packing up...

 We filled a lorry and our car to the brim... I didn't think we had that much stuff.  Yikes!

 During an evening with friends, Moses was able to experience something new...

 Virtual Reality!! Man, did we have a few good laughs.

 Moses loves reading "The Daily Monitor" and listening to American politics.  This time he was able to share the latest news with his relatives in the village.  We went to check on his stepmom and relatives and animals before settling in Gulu.

 Here we are visiting the neighbours/cousins who help us out so much in the village.

 The young boy is little Moses Odel.  :)  I love watching the kids relax and tell stories.

 Maize / corn is a filling snack... hard and chewy like cow corn.

 The ladies always want to show me the smokey kitchen... I'm amazed at how many hours they can cook in a place where I find it difficult to breathe!

 The simsim (Sesame) is set up for drying.  It is often turned into paste and added to many dishes, like a peanut sauce.

 I was invited to celebrate a few birthdays - 10 people, 4 continents, and loads of fun!

 Saying goodbye to my sister Rose... we lived together for 7 years.

 Wiffle ball... great exercise with great company

 Cute chicks - they were all brought to the village, we didn't take them to Gulu.

 Two young men came over to build a savings box with some of our scrap wood.  :)  The money is sealed in for good keeping.

Our last lesson to learn in Soroti was how to slaughter and skin a rabbit.  Our vet friend, Daniel, was very informative!!

So long, Soroti!

Shifting to Gulu

Over the past few years there have been a number of times when I felt an internal prompting that maybe my time in Soroti was coming to a close.  I have delivered OneHope curriculum to many churches and schools in Soroti and surrounding villages and have spent time with many teachers - learning different teaching methods and discussing Educational Care.  It's often said that a missionary should have a goal of working oneself out of a job... and I think I have for now.  Discipleship, Bible studies, music ministry will always be there, but now it's time to move out of Soroti.

Shortly after Moses and I got engaged some acquaintances in Gulu said that we should come to Gulu and pray about God's leading us to that place.  The two of us had prayed about other Uganda locations and didn't have any peace about those towns or districtus.  We wanted to check out a ministry in Gulu that works with a new "Roots to Fruits" nursery and primary Christian school curriculum.  They were looking for someone who could help edit the new curriculum that is being developed, and maybe become a trainer of the curriculum.  Also, they wanted someone to help with creating an IT video, as a training supplement, so that schools across the country can have access to the use of the materials.  Moses is great in the IT world and we both got excited.

In February we took a short 3 day vision trip to Gulu, which is 270 km or 4 hours north west of Soroti.  Our hearts were excited.  We felt so much potential there - for discipleship, prison and hospital ministry, music, curriculum development, teaching and preaching, along with training more teachers in the OneHope Bible story curriculum. We may also be able to bring TLT (Timothy Leadership Training) and EC (Education Care) to that area. Another family has welcomed us to stay in the same compound as a small school and their beautiful family.  We loved the house.  The market.   We found a Bible believing/solid preaching church and just felt excited about going some place new.

We wanted to have some time as "newlyweds" in Soroti, and 7 months has already passed and we have settled well into married life.  Moses and I are able to share visions, passions, prayer requests, struggles, and callings.... and we both feel a clear leading to Gulu.  A week after our small vision trip to Gulu, a serious lock down began in Uganda.  Covid19 was beginning to affect our corner of the world, so we stayed home and continued to pray, seek God, talk to friends, and work from the house.

I might add that we have not always enjoyed the rental house that we moved into around the time of our wedding.  The compound/yard was awesome with 6 orange trees, guava, bananas, hibiscus and more, but the house was dark, damp, moldy, old, with electrical issues, backed up sewage and an uncaring landlord.  We were not feeling well in that house.  We started praying about moving out of that house.  Whenever we had a leading on a different house in Soroti, the Lord kept closing doors... and it was part of the confirmation that it was also time to go to Gulu.

It is so cool to hear Moses get pumped about all the fun ministry ideas in his head.  I just wish that we still weren't under lock down - because we can not meet with groups.  Still a curfew by 7pm.  Only 3 people in the car.  No churches, no trainings, no worship events... but we have hope that the Lord will open doors soon.

Almost a month ago we went back to Gulu to pray and seek once more and the trip felt like such a joyful confirmation.  And our new "team-mates" were delighted to have us come.  The house that we are moving into had some furnishings in it... so we rearranged and moved things out and also created a to-do fix-it list before we entered.  Our awesome friends in Gulu went straight to work and even built a staircase into an office loft for us!!

Upon returning back to Soroti, we felt the Lord saying... go now!  Uganda might be tightening their lock down restrictions once again.  For example, for two months we were not even allowed to drive our own car.  We could only walk or bike to town. We new that this was the time to transfer.  If we have to continue working from home, we wanted to work in our new home - which is bright and cheery and start developing relationships if possible.  We will continue doing some translating of materials and working on a craft book for teachers.

So... on Friday morning we loaded a lorry and headed to Gulu.  We are almost unpacked and thanking the Lord for leading us on this adventurous journey.

They believed...

Today's post is a little true story that I have written because I am a part of a group called the Writer's Nest and they gave me a line of inspiration, a writing prompt, that said:
"When I told my parents  _______ they did not believe me."

They Believed

With Mother's Day just over, these are always the times to think of all the wonderful things my Mom (and Dad) have done for me.

Around 4 years of age, I was running down the stairs with my neighbor and friend, Adrian. The trapdoor unlatched and when I screamed down to my parents that Adrian's finger had been cut off, they did not believe me.  But when they saw me carrying the fingertip that had been chopped by the heavy door, they quickly believed and made sure he was on his way to the hospital quickly.

As a young girl, I loved camping trips to Cypress Lake, where we would hike trails and climb rocks.  My favourite spot was swimming in the Grotto where there is a watery hole in an open cave.  Swimming in the frigid waters, I would free dive into the hole to watch scuba divers make their way to the sunlight.  When I first told my parents that I could see the sun from the other side of the tunnel before coming back into the darkness, they did not believe me.  But Dad took the courage to follow me into the depths of the cold waters and swam with me all the way into Georgian Bay.  Mom prayed on the rocks from inside for five minutes until we surface swam back into the cave.

Around that same time, I experienced a life shaking change.  For four or five years I had been going at least twice a month to a friend's house for slumber parties, but one night I called my parents and screamed that I could not spend the night.  When I first told them I was homesick, they did not believe me.  But they soon learned the reality.  They picked me up, supported me with love, took me to counselling, and prayed for me, I'm sure, and 5 years later, while almost drifting off to sleep, I wrestled with God. When I walked downstairs the next morning and told Mom that I wanted to go to a 4-day youth conference the following month, she didn't believe me.  Although, with joy in their hearts they eagerly sent me away to grow with God.

As I grew older, I decided to go off to Bible College, and I told my parents that they had to drive me to Michigan for every school break, because I would never take public transportation, they didn't believe me.  And for four years, I never did take public transport.  But I'm sure they were people who never gave up hoping and trusting, because a few months after graduation, I flew to the Netherlands for work and took a taxi by myself for the first time.  Now my parents love how I've taken almost every mode of transportation in the world.

Eventually God led me to my beloved Africa, where I also gained a best friend.  When I told my family that I was surprisingly engaged, they didn't believe me.  But then they asked questions, trusted me, and found their way to Uganda for a beautiful wedding.

There may have been times when they didn't believe me, but they have always loved, supported and encouraged me and ultimately, THEY BELIEVED IN ME!!