Home Safe

Wow, so today is Saturday and as you can see what time this is being updated we are still not fully adjusted to Oklahoma time.  We apologize that we have not updated you sooner about our progress this last week.  So much happened and as we have arrived home our first objective was not to squander so much time on the computer/facebook/internet

Summary:
Traveling back to Kampala was wonderful.  We reconnected with all our friends at CLD and even got to make a few new ones.  On Sunday night we made our way back to Entebbe where we visited with all our brothers and sisters at Calvary Chapel on Monday and Tuesday. Grant came down with malaria Tuesday morning around midnight so that kinda spoiled his last day.  He went to the doctor first thing in the morning and got some anti-malarial drugs even though it was too early to test positive. Taking anti-malarial drugs just in case was a much better option than traveling with malaria (and Nigel). So the first 12hrs of traveling was pretty hard on Grant but God is good and so is Excedrin.  After arriving in Dubai at 1am on Wednesday he was able to lay down in the airport and get some rest.  By sunrise he was feeling somewhat better.  Nigel loved the Dubai airport. He quite literally walked laps around the entire thing (its has over 300 gates).  This calorie burning activity was perfect for us as with every step he took we saw his nap-o-meter for our next 14hr flight to Huston get a little bigger. And nap he did!  Time gets a little fuzzy on a 14hr plane ride but we were pretty sure he slept somewhere between 7 and 9 hours. (Praise God!) And perhaps even more we praise God for keeping Katie strong and healthy during all this time of travel. God's grace was undoubtedly sufficient for her to be able to entertain Nigel on the plane, walk laps with him in the airport, and take care of a sick husband, all the while getting VERY little sleep.  Upon arriving in Huston we ran into our biggest disappointment.  Our 1hr flight to Oklahoma City had a 3.5hr delay. So instead of arriving home around 9pm we would not get home until after midnight.  Wow, thanks Continental.  41 hours after departing from Entebbe, Uganda we made it home safe.  ~Amena (Amen in Luganda)

A few extra thoughts:
We made it safely from Kayunga to Kampala on Friday the 16th and it felt like a different city because of the bombings.  Everyone was afraid of everything.  Some churches even set up metal detectors and hired security teams on Sunday morning to search everyone before entering the church.  Of all the security around town the church's response was the most disappointing. We constantly reminded ourselves of Isaiah 8:11-14a
¹¹ The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, ¹² “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,
      and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
 ¹³ Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
      He is the one you should fear.
   He is the one who should make you tremble.
    ¹⁴ He will keep you safe....

Because of all the unnecessary security and the disappointment of the prosperity gospel in the villages Grant decided to give the Nasana Anglican church a try (shout out to Laura and Clint!).  It felt like a spiritual oasis in the desert.  That might sound extreme but our time in Kayunga had involved so much preaching in various churches that the entire family felt a little worn out.  It was encouraging to be part of a group that prayed on their knees quietly and humbly, asking God to hear their prayers instead of just shouting at Him.  It reminded us how much we need to be praying for the global church.  Too often our only prayers for the global church are for the secret churches in Iran or China.  Well we feel like it is the not-so-secret ones that just might need those prayers even more.

**Update on Frank**
As we went back through Entebbe we made a few calls to find out more information about Frank.  How he was doing and if any progress was made finding his mother.  It was discovered that his mother is a prostitute and sadly he is likely a byproduct of this. So looking for his father would be pointless. His mother is still no where to be found and from the looks of it has no interest in being found.  We were told at this point even if she is found Frank will not be returned to her but she will be charged with child neglect and be put in jail. So either way Frank is going to be staying with Susan for quite awhile if not for a few years.  Now they think he is closer to the age of 5 or even 6 not 4.  Susan decided that he should begin school soon. We have told Susan that we want to make sure Frank is taken care of and provided for.  Which opens up an opportunity to you and everyone who reads this.  Beginning this August Frank needs ~$170 for his school fees. The cost covers everything: tuition, books, supplies, a uniform, lunch and even transport to/from school.  Uganda is on a trimester system so this cost would be 3x a year. We would love to partner with you in this.  If you are interested in contributing please send us an email: grantadavis@ou.edu and we will give you more information as we work out all the details.  Any contribution will help (even just $10 once every 3 months) and there is no overhead so every penny goes directly to the school to help Frank.

We love you all and we thank you for your prayers, we felt them. Now that we have good internet we uploaded more pictures on some of our previous posts (and a video of Nigel walking).  Feel free to look back through the archives of our summer to see more stuff.
Love,
G&K
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

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.

We Found the Source!

So today was our last day in Kayunga. Ian and Milly took us to Jinja to see the source of the Nile! It is actually pretty neat. If it hadn't been spoiled by 3 hydro-electric dams we are sure it would have been even more spectacular.  Friday we are headed to Nansana (Kampala) to visit our friends from CLD for a few days before going on to Calvary Chapel Entebbe and then home!! God has been so good to us.  Everyone is in great health and excited to begin our debrief time.  Wednesday Grant preached for the final time (we think, haha.) Every day has been a great blessing. One of the greatest needs here in rural Uganda is knowledge of scripture.  Grant asked Ian about how many pastors had any formal education in the scriptures. Any bible education, not just 2 and 4 year bible schools.  Less than half, and he said even that was a generous estimate. Wow...what a tremendous need.  These pastors have plenty of passion for Jesus but watching pre-recorded sermons of Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer and TD Jakes can only take you so far as a pastor or even as a Christian.  No sermon can replace reading and knowing scripture for yourself.  Please keep all the believers here in your prayers.  One of the greatest rewards from our time here in Kayunga is the down time we have had to read scripture.  African time is full of long gaps and we have both been investing that extra time in the word. It seems that no matter how many times you read God's word it always gets better! It is also surprising to see how much more time you have to study scripture when there is no internet!

Be praying for Uganda.  We are sure you have heard about the bombings on Sunday during the World Cup.  Uganda has never seen Islamic Terrorism like this before and everyone is pretty shaken up.  It is very easy for Christians to get all worked up and forget about Jesus' message of love and forgiveness.  We want to thank all of you again for your prayers and support through our trip.  As we make our way back to Entebbe next week you can be expecting an update on Frank.

Mukama Yebazibwe!! (Praise the Lord)
-G&K
When people’s lives please the Lord,
      even their enemies are at peace with them. - Prov 16:7

So...we think the monkeys took Nigel's shoe

As you all know (or should have known) Thursday was Katie's birthday, July 8th.  As a birthday gift Grant took the family to a very nice african resort/campground called the Hairy Lemon.  Grant was able to go last year and this year Pastor Ian's house is only 45mins away (maybe 20 miles).  The Hairy Lemon is far from a Sandals island resort but it is located on an island in the Nile River. It is a simple place but perfect for sitting back and relaxing. The only transport to the island is via a small wooden boat!  We were able to stay in a wonderful little one-room cabin on Thursday night.  We had a wonderful time although we think that a monkey stole one of Nigel's shoes! haha  We took them off on the front porch of our cabin and the next day one was no where to be found!! Nigel has been known to throw things in the trash but there was no trash can this time so it had to be the monkeys.  We apologize for those of you who tried to call to wish Katie a happy birthday, our cell phone only worked at the top of a hill on the island so most of the day we were unavailable.  You can still feel free to call us or even send us a text @ 011-256-78-752-0977.  We are having a lot of trouble accessing our email here in Kayunga and there are maybe 2 computers with internet for all 7,000 people plus the many villages in the surrounding area. 

As for our first week here in Kayunga it has been very busy.  As it turns out Grant has been asked to 'give the word' almost every day and some days even twice!  Ian has kept us very busy between the primary school, speaking at his church and visiting churches as far as an hour into the bush. It has been awesome! At first he was quite intimidated to teach so much but God has been very good and what a blessing it has been to share God's word to a people so hungry for spiritual meat. The prosperity gospel is very common in Africa so spiritual meat can be hard to find for some of these churches.  Katie is staying busy chasing Nigel around who has even given running a couple of unsuccessful tries.  On Sunday Katie was able to give the Word to the children in Children's church.
Continue praying as this will be our last full week in Uganda.  We will be returning to Oklahoma on Wednesday night July 21st.  We look forward to seeing you all and we daily talk about how much we look forward to returning to our brothers and sisters at Calvary Chapel.  We love you all and we thank you for your prayers and continued support.
-love G&K

OH Boy!!!

We have made it safely from Entebbe to Kayunga Uganda. It is the last move we will make in our trip till we return home to Norman. We have been warmly welcomed by our dear Ugandan friend pastor Ian Sabbanja. The work ahead of us in Kayunga will involve helping with very different needs than we were asked to fill in Entebbe. Grant found out not long after we arrived on Thursday evening that he would be speaking at the Christian Schools chapel on Friday, then at a Friday evening service,  both church services on Sunday then again Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening. A bit daunting but it has driven him DEEP into the Word, where he should be, as he writes all these sermons. We expect most of our work here to be evangelistic, and involve a lot of travel to nearby village churches. Be praying for safety as we travel and take the Word.
We really look forward to our time here in Kayunga. The church members here have bestowed more gifts (avocados) on us than we know what to do with. But we feel so warmed and welcomed by their love.

We all continue to be doing very very well. Though we are becoming more and more anxious for home and familiar faces, we are trying not to count down the days quite yet in an effort to focus on our work here. Nigel is walking better than ever now.  We just know he has changed so much since we left, but are sure we dont notice nearly as much as all of you will when you see him again.  We praise God for such a versatile child who allows us to uproot him to different countries and homes without any complaints.  And a special guest to this post who has gotten very little mention yet in this blog but should!! is our ever growing baby #2. who can be felt moving and kicking now daily.  We recieved the exciting news this past week that baby is in fact a HE, as we had begun to suspect. We think Nigel will prefer a brother anyways. All our condolences Garryn, we love you!!