Back Home Again...

The A-Team leaving our final gate

(minus Barry who had run ahead...)

So, we made it safely.  It was an incredible trip.  I have posted all my photos on my Facebook but here are the public links so even without a Facebook you can see them:

Uganda 

"Uganda need some Jesus...in your life!" Album 1 of 2

"Uganda need some Jesus...in your life! (2)" Album 2 of 2

I just wanted to thank everyone for their support throughout our trip.  It was an amazing success and we were all very bless to have each and everyone of you behind us.  Please continue to pray for Frank. He is still very important to Katie and I and he will continue to need support throughout his education. Please contact us if you are interested in partnering with us to support him.

Uganda have a picture diary..

The tire shoe guy is expanding!

Kampala Traffic

The Toilet almost finished (its completed now)

Sunday morning worship

What Josh found at the July 4th party at the US Embassy

What Grant found at the farm "party" on July 5th

 

The Ugandan Building Crew

How do you turn this thing off?!

More Mortar!

Our farm project: A larger pig pen

Andrew making dinner

Barry working hard

Barry sneaking a water break

Carrying Fence Posts...made of concrete

Josiah and Grant teaching computer classes

Baby Steps

We intended to post this all summer but the internet was...African. Here are the baby steps you have waited so long for.

I do want to clarify that this video was taken on June 11th and now he is almost running. If you pay close attention to the video you can see why so much of our glassware was getting broken, haha.

Is it Safe?

The islands continue to be a bitter-sweet experience for both of us. These pictures give only a small glimpse but the needs are real.  Pray for Katie as she goes out to the Zinga tomorrow. It is the farthest of the islands that Calvary Chapel ministers to and it takes 2.5 hours to get there by boat so pray for good weather! :-)

Once again we feel that pictures speak so much better than words and these pictures speak volumes.

Calvary Chapel has continued to be an abundant fountain of love & joy for our family.  Nigel aka "the mzungu baby" has continued to be the star and is the nursery favorite.  As quoted from Jane, his nursery teacher, "He just does whatever he wants...but he does not slap the babies or anything." Well...thats good to hear.  He continues to walk with greater confidence and is routinely caught strolling around our little apartment with prohibited items: glassware, cameras, headphones, live millepedes, toilet paper rolls, or the best yet--his diaper.

On the home front Katie is doing an excellent job keeping up with everything.  Even after Grant accidently threw away half our cloth diapers last week she is still in high spirits. (In his own defense they were in a black trash bag by the front door & smelt...well, like a bag of dirty diapers.)  Katie is becoming a real master at balancing sideways on the bodda bodda (public motorcycle taxis) with Nigel on her lap or while being squished between me and our driver. Everytime Nigel is in the backpack he literally stops traffic all over town, especially if there is a backpack-bodda bodda combo.  The Ugandans find it so funny to see him in a backpack and even funnier that Grant carries the backpack.

Grant was able to go to the farm for the second time today and he completed another good work day with 4 popped blisters to prove it!  The farm guys: Robin and James continue to encourage him along with Deus the assistant pastor.  Today's program was to make a land bridge through the marsh.  It is a month long project but they made amazing progress with the help of one of the only John Deere Gators on the continent of Africa, haha. The Africans all love it! Thank God for that donation!

Today Grant was asked if it was safe to have his 14 month old son and 17 week pregnant wife in Uganda.  His response was only a well rehearsed statement about faith that Katie & Nigel are in God's hands and He is able to protect them so there is nothing to fear but God.  There was nothing wrong with that response but the more we thought about the question the more we began to wonder, when in scripture exactly did Jesus call us to be safe?

when Nigel's cranky the updates are short...

We will start off by apologizing for our lack in blog updates. If we have learned anything from this it is to update the blog while you have the chance. Because We're fairly certain we had the opportunity but put it off to do later. And of course later was to be over the weekend when we found ourselves without internet for 3 and a half days. We're hoping you can pardon our lazyness, as well as our unreliable African internet.
We are still shocked and surprised, then smile with joy every time we see our baby walking all around without help. He is so talented. We have been working hard to get a video up of him so that you all can see.
The secret is out that there is a free computer repair man visiting Calvary Chapel Entebbe. Many people from church have been keeping Grant busy with their technology needs. Bringing their sick computers to him to take a look at and at times heal. He is of course happy to serve, especially in this way, and never turns anyone down. Though to Katie's great horror, she has found that even as far away from home as Uganda she can not escape the reality of combatting a desktop being broken down in several parts and eternally spread out on her kitchen table.
When not working on computers, which is actually most of the time. Grant spent much of last week going on home visits with Julius, an associate pastor at the church. They visited with mostly widows and single mothers, getting to see their hurts and needs and then pray for them. It was a humbling experience to say the least.
Yesterday, Grant was once again gracious enough to stay home and let Katie spend the day on the medical outreach to one of the islands on Lake Victoria. The team of people was able to medicate and hydrate about 40-50 sick children. And 30 adults. Being seperated from the mainland leads the island people to suffer extreme poverty. After visiting the islands we always come home to each other with stories of very heart breaking scenes.
Needless to say it has been a challenging week for us on many personal spiritual levels. We've stayed up late so many nights talking about what our response ought to be to being brought so near to such great need. We keep these verses ever on our mind and we want to give them to you as well.

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
If someone has enough money to live well, and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion- how can God's love be in that person?
Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so that we will be confident when we stand before God.
I John 3:17-19

More later,
Grant and Katie

35 Bunches of Matoke

Well yesterday I (Grant) had an amazing afternoon at the Calvary Chapel farm. As you can see in these pictures we harvested 35 bunches of matoke, a Calvary Chapel farm month record! Praise God!  Each bunch goes for about 5000-8000 Uganda Shillings which is equivalent to about $2.50 - 4.00 but here in Uganda 8000 shillings can get you a 8 hour bus ride anywhere in the country and $20USD can get you a bus ride to any country neighboring Uganda.  Anyway, I had a great time out on Lake Victoria and have sun burns to show for it.  The farm can be accessed by a 15min boat ride or a 1 hour boda boda (motorcycle) ride. Currently at the farm they are focusing mainly on tree crops (bananas, matoke, lemons) and beans.  They have a few chickens and plan this year to try pigs for the second year. As much as much I enjoy working on computers it is always nice to go out and get your hands dirty once in a while.  Yesterday I got to do both and it was freakin' awesome!  In the first picture you can see the Calvary Farm crew Robin (center) and James aka The Matoke Master (right).  Also I had quite a lot of fun poking fun at the Ugandans as none of them could swim very well and wore their life jackets religiously. haha We appreciate all your prayers and will continue to keep you posted. You can be praying today as I go out to the islands on a medical outreach.  -G

2 Bowls and a Jar

Those are the things that Nigel has broken from our little kitchen in just the past week.One of the bowls he pulled off the shelf left him with a decent 1.5-2 inch cut on his leg. We think he's going to live. In fact, we're uncertain if he even knows he was injured. And last but certainly not least we give a special shout out to Zac Miller for at the last minute at the OKC airport equipping us with the first aid kit from his car. The Lord knew we would need it yesterday.  Grant was even on his way to the pharmacy to buy supplies, when we remembered we had it.






















 We are still sad to be a part from all of our friends at CLD. One of Grant's last days working was spent with Ronny at the farm.

They worked hard clearing an area of dense brush along the fence. As the picture shows, they got A LOT done! Altogether they had a great day together with lots of laughs and good memories. We have been so challenged by the young men like Ronny, who are working with CLD in their home country to bring hope and healing to people.  It commissions us to to the same in our own home town.
It was really fun for all 3 of us to get to visit the Kids House together. Disappointingly there were only about 2 or 3 kids there, as the van was late that day to pick them up. After waiting as long as we could we had to get back because it was getting dark, and Nigel was getting hungry. We still played hard with the few kids that were there. And they loved picking Nigel up and carrying him all around. It's a funny sight really, when a 3 or 4 year old child, who weighs only slightly more than Nigel swings him up on their hip and carries him around.

Our week has been pretty busy.  
We spent most of the weekend settling in, buying a few supplies, and getting familiar with town. June 2nd-6th there was a crusade in town which was put on by all the local churches working together. It was exciting to get to be a part of it, and see God move.

On Monday we were treated by our host missionaries to a day at the beach on Lake Victoria. The weather was just right and the views were spectacular. And well, this picture pretty much sums up how Nigel felt about the Lake. We gave it several attempts, and even tried the nearby pool where there were no waves; he really wanted nothing to do with the sand and the water, but played happily in the grass.

On a happy Nigel note. We are proud to announce two important advancements in our little guys life. The first, as of yesterday we have seen serious improvement in the area of walking. He is really getting the hang of it it seems, and is choosing to walk more and more often. The second is a very recent (though slight) interest in trading his bottle in for a sippy cup. Yeah, we're pretty excited too!!!

Life has been really nice so far in Entebbe. At times we feel a little too spoiled, but know that this is where God has brought us for this time.  We are currently staying at the SIL Uganda guest house. We live in a cute little apartment, with one bedroom, a full bathroom, a small kitchen, and a family room, which we use as Nigel's bedroom, and a dining room. Katie has been busy cooking all of our meals here,(we were very blessed at the hands of a cook while with CLD) as well as being kept very busy by Nigel. Grant is quickly  learning all the work that Calvary Chapel is doing here, and how he can help with it. Yesterday he spent most of the day fixing some computers, a project not yet done. And today he is visiting the Calvary Chapel farm, to check out that ministry.  Everything is going well, and everyone is staying healthy.  We thank you for your prayers, there are times we look at each other and just know someone must be praying.
More later,
Grant, Katie and Nigel

Week 2 - Kampala

It is hard to believe that our time with Come Lets Dance (CLD) is already nearing its end. Friday morning we will move to Entebbe, where we will spend the next month working with Calvary Chapel Entebbe. We had a neat opportunity to visit the church last Sunday and meet some of the people we will be working with, and have lunch with the pastor and his family. If our visit taught us anything, it is that our work and daily life will all become very different once we make the move to Entebbe, but we can feel God preparing our hearts even now, and we are excited to find out what He has planned for us there. 

We continue to become more and more framiliar with the public transit system around Kampala.  Trying to remember the difference between Nansana, Nakalabya, Wakiso, Namasera, Wandegea, the New Taxi Park verses the Old Taxi Park can be quite confusing.  Through it all everyone seems to be adjusting well to getting around.

Our one year old companion still does not walk. He seems so interested in it, but then just second guesses his abilities every time and reaches for the floor as a safer, more certain option.  Interestingly enough to his parents, who have never found fear or caution to be his strong suit. The visit to Calvary Chapel on Sunday was perhaps the highlight of Nigel's summer in Uganda thus far, as he got to attend the nursery class. We were strongly warned before hand, that he may not be comfortable in the nursery, as it was described to us as being a bit chaotic, full of babies, and just one large room. But upon dropping him off, we laughed at the similarities between the Ugandan nursery and that of our home Calvary Chapel. Nigel spent the two hour church service doing exactly what he has been wanting to do for two weeks now. Which is to crawl freely on a floor filled with toys to choose from, and there were snacks!!!

Saturday, Grant was kind enough to stay home and tackle Nigel and cloth diapers, allowing Katie to help out at a medical outreach in the Katanga slum. It was a great day for her, aside from a moderate sunburn, a highlight of her trip for sure. They were able to offer help and relief to over 200 people in need.

For the past two days, Grant continues to work really hard on the project for the new school: spraying for flees and making trips to the Ministry of Education in downtown Kampala and out to the small local town council office. It is a long, difficult process of forms and application, but he seems to be working out the kinks and is in good spirits about it.

Walking is hard to do

Hi everyone,
Tonights update will be short and sweet, as we are exhausted after long days of work. Sorry, no pictures.
The past two days have been very full, but exciting. here's what everyone's been up to:
Grant: Grant has spent the past two days primarily focusing on the new school, which CLD has plans for in the future. It has been really exciting for him as he is already so passionate about education. Most of monday he spent in meetings, just going over the plans, and hopes for the school. Then tuesday he had the exciting opportunity to drive 4 hours south to visit a school which is set up, much like what CLD will want to do. He got to meet with the director and the school's principle, and ask lots of questions. He loved it! and is really on fire about being a big part of this new ministry. The rest of the week will see him probably pouring more of himself in to work for the new school, as well as working at the farm all day thursday, and a possible medical trip on friday to the slums.
Katie: Katie has had her hands perpetually full of babies. She has creatively mastered away to carry both Mercy and Nigel safely across the compound with just her two arms though, which is really helpful. She has been spending her days here at the CLD property, caring for the 2 babies, and helping the staff cook and clean and organize whenever she can.  One important praise to report about Katie, is that she has been morning sickness free for nearly 3 days now!! yay!! With the added responsibilities placed on her now, this comes as an even bigger answer to prayer.
Nigel: Nigel has finally adjusted to the time change, and is sleeping through the night here. We work ceaselessly throughout the day (as do the Ugandans) to encourage him to walk. He is getting so close everyday it seems. It would really improve life for everyone if Nigel could get down and walk, but especially Nigel, who always wants to be put down, but lacks adequate crawling surfaces. Yesterday he did sustain his first Ugandan injury (unfortunately in an attempt to walk) as he fell on a concrete floor, and cracked his chin open. No stiches, and its already looking a lot better, but we got a good picture of it.  He is adjusting well to the food, the Ugandans can not believe he eats everything the we adults eat, as well as they remark about how much water he drinks throughout the day!!! What can we say??!!! Nigel continues to steal the show, we never leave to go anywhere without people coming just to see the mazungu (white) baby. They love to touch his hair, and laugh.
We are all in excellent health, and spirits, praise God! We are just busy busy and working hard. Pray for us that our strength would come from the joy of the Lord and that He would multiply our rest, as we learn to live with a newborn again, who still wakes to eat at night :)
Love you all,

First 48 hrs

God is good! Our traveling was incredible. Our 14.5hr flight to Dubai turned into 16hrs as we sat on the plane in Houston for at least an hour and a half. First it was a mechanical issue (which we did not have any a/c for) then right as we got to the runway they had to call us back because someone on the plane had to be questioned by TSA security before we could take off. 

During our flights Nigel was always the star especially with an elderly Iranian couple who sat behind us from Houston to Dubai. They did not speak any English except to tell us they were from Iran but I'm sure you all know that Nigel didn't mind. Once in Dubai Emirates gave us a free hotel room and our bags were able to check all the way to Entebbe! That was def a God thing. We did not think we would want a hotel but it proved a real blessing. Nigel did not really sleep much once on the ground and his jet lag is still causing some exciting days and nights.

Dubai was amazing! We arrived an hour late at 8pm so we only had a chance to go to the Dubai Mall, see the worlds largest aquarium (inside the mall) the tallest tower (next to the mall) for a few seconds. The worlds largest disappointment was when we we left our digital camera in the taxi! ish...so we only have one picture from our Dubai hotel room window that I took with our video camera. I felt like it was fitting: the tallest tower foreshadowed by construction cranes.

Well these first 2 days in Uganda have been slow as we settle down into our new routine. There is a beautiful infant here at Come Lets Dance (CLD) named Mercy that Katie has quickly taken responsibility for. Tragically Mercy's mother died during childbirth or shortly afterwards and was abandoned. No one is quite sure exactly how old she is but she is only 10lbs and they are quite certain she is older than 3 months. We are all adjusting relatively well here so far. Please be praying as we settle into new responsibilities at CLD and develop relationships with the locals. I was able buy a cell phone so you can txt me or call (calling can be expensive). 011-256-78-7520-977 The time difference is +8hrs from Central Time. We love you all and are continually thankful for your prayers.

Safe in Uganda

Hello everyone, I wanted to let everyone know that we have arrived safely at Come Lets Dance in Kampala, Uganda.  Our nearly 40 hours of traveling went surprisingly well with only a few minor speed bumps.  To our surprise and God's grace Nigel was a real champion. I feel like he is quickly gaining an international following with his contagious giggles and happy heart. haha. I will be posting more information tomorrow.  We thank you all for your prayers.

love
-G&Kt