I recently “met” online a missionary family living and working in inner city Philly. I hope we’ll get a chance to see them and hear more about their lives during our time in the States. Poverty is much the same everywhere and the more I immerse in the poverty of Africa the more intensely interested I become in addressing the poverty that is closer to home for most of us, right here in our own cities and rural areas.
You can support their inner city work AND buy a super-cool baby gift at the same time. I highly recommend bookmarking this page and ordering for Christmas and showers in the months to come – the prices are really decent too. I love the creativity and ingenuity that has gone into supporting their ministry through hard work – http://www.cccphilly.com/LittleBits.html – Enjoy!

I am standing in the flickering light of an evening (or simulated evening) airplane flight over the Atlantic. Waiting in line for my fifteenth trip to the airport/airplane bathroom in as many hours (trying to stave off the kidney pain that feels like an infection with a lot of water), yuk. (Must say in a private aside to gal readers that the diva cup really rocks and if you don’t have it you should – and not only if you live in rural Africa, it’s pretty amazing for many situations.) At any rate I am standing in the back of the plane and watching in amazement the dozens and dozens of personal TV screens on each seat back in front of me. It seems every single person in the plane is choosing their own show. The super-abundance of it is astonishing.
The plane ride was a big culture shock for me; the technology and the amazing variety of TV shows and movies available, new music, and food cooked for you! In the airport in London the shinyness and good smells (like perfumes and colognes) wafting everywhere had us oohing and aahing. We called a few friends and relatives and reveled in the clear connection with no delay that suddenly made us remember why so many people in the world use phones to communicate regularly! Most breath-taking to me was the warm water coming automatically out of the tap in the airport restroom – heaven.
We spent our last two days pre-States in Kampala, waiting for the relatively cheap plane fare that took us out on Monday morning. By this time we were all feeling quite fat and happy and pampered after a week in Jinja being fed and resting lots. There was also a significant amount of soul work though, and tears were not absent so we found ourselves tired in the good way that emotional growth requires.
We traveled light with a single suitcase and trunk of gifts plus one small overflow bag. Felt good to be so free to move. The kids are champion travelers, probably due to having traveled their whole lives either with Navy or missions. We flew BA from KLA to London and then on to Dulles in Washington D.C. All in all we were in transit for about 28 hours from Kampala and the kids did amazingly well. We’re thankful for no delays at all and a very quick trip through customs and friends waiting for us on the far side – thanks DAVE!!!
Now we are here, soaking up plush carpet under our feet – it feels SO amazing, you have no idea; water in the tap that you can use on your toothbrush; bug free places to leave our tasty, tasty snack foods; soft, oh-so-soft beds. It feels a bit like heaven. Dave and Shari Shrum have given us full use of their beautiful basement suite and we have our own fridge, microwave and toaster and two sleeping areas plus playroom and TV room space. It’s really lux. Thanks God.
But team, we miss you!! It feels like we have entered a parallel universe and living here right now it feels impossible to believe that people, not just any people but some of our dearest friends, are living so differently somewhere else. We can’t get our minds around it or figure it out so we just have to stick with the parallel universe thought. And I keep remembering that vision God gave me a few weeks ago, of myself held in his arms as His presence stretched from Uganda to America and elsewhere, from past and present to future; above and beyond time and place, the shelter of his presence is constant. And He is giving us joy.

And again, a post from pre-leaving . . . . .
Sunday we were at our home church here, actually the first time in a long while as we have been busy traveling to other churches for storytelling and taking rest days at home. I spent almost the whole service crying. The beauty of the people there, their total joy in the Lord and the sense that I will miss this all so much all combined to leave me a teary mess.
The church prayed over us and our journey back and prayed for us to preach the gospel well in America – Amen! They presented us with a handmade mat. The time was pretty wonderful for me.
This week I feel a lot of sadness and a bit of anxiety about heading back to America. I am fielding lots of tears and questions from Naomi and Quinn along with a lot of appropriate joy and anticipation. Quinn ( a total techno guy) has been asking lots of questions about power (you mean the power is on ALL the TIME, mommy? Does it ever go below 13?) He knows exactly what numbers to watch for on our solar display and how to turn the inverter on and off to save the power – - they’re pretty amazed to think we don’t need to worry about any of that in America. They’re sad to think about missing out on life here. As Naomi put it “life in America is kinda boring, here something really exciting happens EVERYDAY! And really it’s true. Though I think our time in America will be anything but boring as we travel up and down the coast and see so many of you.
In the midst of normal sadness about missing out on team life, CSB life, ministry in general and lot of friendships, there is the additional sadness of the instability of life here. I am so aware of the fragility of life in this place and the real possibility that some of our friends could die while we’re gone. Adding to that the impossibility of communication from afar with our local friends and it’s a bit hard to head out. But today was a wonderful day of packing, cleaning and taking care of a million little details while our kids and workers just soaked in the time with each other. God is aware of my heart, hears my tears and is making a way for us wherever we are.

This post was written last week, but no internet connection till now . . . .
We have left Bundibugyo and are now in Jinja – a good size city on the other side of the country. We will spend a week here with team and extended team, about thirty in all, resting, immersing ourselves in conversation with God and each other. Ruthann and Stu and Donovan (whm VIPS) are here to facilitate this time for us and shepherd us through our soul work. Everyone is really looking forward to the time.
After the rush of leaving, being here feels a bit surreal. It’s hard to believe I won’t be back in bgo for another ten weeks or so. We said lots of goodbyes. There’s always the fear in the locals hearts that the leaving missionary just won’t come back. Of course that’s happened before due to health or family issues – - but in some cases perhaps the leaving missionary knew they probably wouldn’t come back but weren’t able to face that truth with themselves or locals. I tried to tell people clearly – “we are coming back . . .” But I also asked them to pray for us, that God would open the way to come back well by clearing current health issues and answering the significant needs for funds for the school. CSB (Christ School) staff prayed over us before we left, as we tried to make them partners (through knowledge and prayer) in our work of fundraising. It’s good for them to know that even in America finding money for projects is very hard work. Our church prayed over us and presented us with a small local gift. Many nationals came by to stay muganda mucuma – go with God – and of course to look for that last financial gift that might keep them afloat in our absence. We were already obligated to a significant amount of giving pre-trip due to sponsorship fees due to our students in high school and universities and other up-front needs. It was sad in a way to have to say no to all those late-comers but also freeing to be able to say goodbye without the unpleasantness of thinking about how much to give.
After the packing up for a week here in Jinja plus a separate pack for the six weeks in America, plus closing up our house to be unoccupied for that length of time, I slept DEEPLY last night but woke early to fear and a sense of slowly and reluctantly pushing off from shore. One of our good Ugandan friends, traveled with us to Kampala yesterday and then on to Mbarara for work. We said our goodbye to him yesterday and for me that was the first of a few significant ropes holding us here at the shore in Uganda. It’s hard to leave him (and his family and all the relationships our connection with him has come to symbolize) behind in the uncertainty of this country and particularly the hardship of bgo and the instability there. Last night and this morning I found myself crying for the loss of security that comes with change and having more than one home. I am asking God for grace both to be present with my own emotions and also to be a stabilizer for my kids emotions. None of this seems to phase David at all so he often acts as calm among the storm for us! (although some might say he is just not as in touch with his emotions!)
This morning as I talked to God about my heart and where it’s both joyful and hurting I opened my Bible to Psalms and found myself at Psalm 91, a pretty extraordinary answer to my fear.
He who dwells in the shadow of the most high Will rest in the shelter of the almighty I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress My God in whom I trust.
The poem/song goes on to talk about the many ways that God will shelter us; and what is striking is how much they’ve applied to my life over this year. Specific references to danger from lions and snakes – been there. Diseases, night danger, fire from weapons, and more disease – God HAS sheltered and protected me from all these this year. The verses about many around me falling from these dangers remind me of the many funerals and burials of this year in bgo. It is a place of much death.
The Psalm ends:
Because he loves me, Says the Lord I will rescue him I will protect him Because he acknowledges my name He will call upon me And I will answer him I will be with him in trouble And deliver and honor him.
This doesn’t mean that I’m not going to suffer – what it means is that God is for me, with me, around me, always knowing, loving me and able to work for my good and His honor. God’s people in bgo will suffer too but God is their God.

Well, I walked out of the bedroom (from putting kids to bed) to clean up and write a bit and found myself in full bat-defense mode. That thing seemed a bit crazy to me though I haven’t heard of any rabid bats here yet. Its’ landing ON MY ARM and clinging on to my (fortunately!) long-sleeved shirt was a little over the top for me. It’s dead now and we’re thinking of leaving it as a warning for the others.
Stu and Ruthann Batstone and Donovan Graham, VIP World Harvest Mission visitors, arrived Thursday. They are involved with Sonship, one of WHM’s key ways to reach Americans with the truths of the gospel, and with missionary care. Donovan served as a professor at Covenant College for many years before joining WHM so he also has a lot of interest in education. They have been a breath of fresh air to all of us. People who know how to listen, how to ask the right questions and who have just joined into life with all of us in a beautiful way. They are here to minister along side us, see our lives and engage with Bundibugyo before leading our team retreat (theme, “rest”!) next week.
We’re preparing for moving out of the district. This Friday we leave for that week-long team retreat in Jinja before heading across the ocean and back to Annapolis for six weeks. We are packing, making our house rat, bat and roach safe and trying to find the money for all the sponsorships and small businesses that need it during the time we’ll be gone. We’d appreciate your prayers for grace and peace and a real sense of grounding in His love for us.

The house is dark and flickering in that cozy candlelit way. Outside, rain pounds down and lightening flashes so that inside we can almost touch the warmth and dryness of this place. It feels good. Food is arriving with people, a few of us joining for dinner together with Pat. There is a Ugandan woman in the shower room trying to bathe. She is very sick and shuffles as she tries to walk. Despite her bathing she doesn’t seem as clean as she might want. Her loss of dignity in sickness is apparent, even as Pat helps her to a chair, reassures her and brings her a plate of food.
Pat is a missionary here in Bundibugyo, one of our longest. She has been here for almost fourteen years, building relationships and loving people. Though she works in quite tangible ways in the Kwejuna (or survival) Project which is for moms and babies with HIV/AIDs, she is best known for her work with people, especially people who are at the fringes. Some of her best friends here include old widows, a mentally disturbed man, and very poor children.
The sick woman, Martha, (not her real name) is one such friend. A widowed mom of two young children, Martha has struggled for several years with the basics of life for her children and with the battle to care for them counter-culturally here. Pat has provided for many of her needs and supported her through that time. In a culture where remarriage means abandoning her kids ( children belong to the father or his family not to the mother), Martha has struggled to stay present for her children. Somewhere along the way she was “given the gift” of HIV. Now, having kept it hidden for a very long time, Martha finds herself in what has been diagnosed as stage 4 AIDS. She is a very sick woman. What started as a bout with malaria has developed into a fight for her life. Over the last few weeks I have watched Pat care for Martha in her home. Dropped in to visit and seen Pat help Martha to her chair, help her to bathe, feed her comfort foods and pray with her. Martha sleeps in Pat’s room when she’s not admitted to the hospital for more IV’s or blood (when it’s available) but she’s really hovering between life and death right now.
The greatest prayer on Pat’s heart is that Martha would fully internalize the truths of the gospel during this time. That she would see her full dependence on Jesus and embrace her weakness and His strength. Culturally here there is a lot of dependence on our own good works. I have been so moved to watch Pat really love Martha with all that she is. She aches for her, grieves with her and feels her pain. Please pray that Martha would feel the love of Jesus during this time and fall into His arms. And pray that Pat would know more fully the greatness of her God and trust Him for all of Martha’s needs, spiritually and physically. The greatest losers in all of this are the children. K and L are sweet, bright little girls with big hearts and big potential. They are only 7 and 5 years old. Pray for their futures.
HIV/AIDS is frightening, sickening, saddening. As I have watched Martha suffer I have spent time thinking about and grieving for a family member whose life was taken by this virus during my childhood. I have cried and grieved again for his suffering, his loss of dignity as sickness took over his life. And I have grieved for my inadequate response to him, my inability to move toward him in love and embrace him fully, my fear.

I am still heading down to my village women’s Bible study weekly, and joining them in the adventure of first-time learning. Though there has been quite a bit of uncertainty based on some serious misconduct by a ministry partner there, God has given me a lot of grace and patience to live in the tension of unresolved conflict, without either ignoring or fully confronting the problem. (difficult to know who to believe when you get opposing reports) Over the last several months I’ve really prayed for God to show me the way forward, asking Him to work through the weakness and failures of myself and others to be glorified.
Now I see Him beginning to do that.
With my upcoming two month absence for HMA (Home Ministry Assignment) God has shown me a new interim leader there. Frazier will be working closely with Pastor Daniel to begin using the same New Tribes curriculum that I have been loosely following. Though I began without this resource and have only referred to it sporadically, it is the perfect way to transfer leadership while continuing with the same curriculum. Both Daniel (who reads English and can struggle through the curriculum) and Frazier (who only reads Rotooro, so can read her Bible and get the curriculum outline from Daniel verbally) will learn so much as they struggle through the material together and then Frazier brings it to the women. I know there will be many pitfalls but I am excited to see her step into leadership, excited to see Daniel walking beside her in this mentoring way. Please pray for this, it is my desire to see her stay in leadership when I return so that I can begin another Bible study with another group of women who are requesting it.
Two weeks ago I began to prepare my weekly lesson and discovered that we had passed through all the exciting stories of Genesis and Exodus and were on the tabernacle and levitical laws. My spirit sank and I wondered how/what to teach. I went back to the New Tribes Foundations book and read through their material, most useful for these times in the stories when they need to be gathered into a cohesive lesson and aren’t clearly defined. What I found blessed and amazed me . . . . I have never seen the tabernacle like this before. Never seen the wonder of the old covenant and the new in this way. Never seen how the tabernacle completely sets the stage for the Gospel, a whole book plus completely dedicated to a building and its practices . . . Then the whole book of Hebrews almost completely dedicated to revealing and unfolding the story told in Leviticus.
As I sat in Bible study using my resource book, walking through the somewhat complicated description of the tabernacle . . . Praying for the women to get it, praying for them to use what God’s given them to intellectually understand . . . . All the verses from Hebrews came flooding back and I found myself answering every question with a verse. I brought them to Hebrews and we struggled through reading the Rotooro Bibles together (not always easily understandable since Lubwisi and Rotooro are similar but not the same.) I sat in amazement at how the Old Testament Hebrews had to approach God and in even greater amazement at the way Jesus has opened for us to access Him.
It’s like I’ve just heard the gospel for the first time . . . .
I’m encouraging you to spend a week or two reading through the book of Leviticus and then the book of Hebrews. And as you do, and you reach Hebrews 11:15, you’ll find that the Bible clearly says that the sacrifice which we are to give to God these days is a sacrifice of praise – praising Jesus for what He has done to complete, fulfill and reveal all that came before. I hope God fills your heart with wonder, as He has mine, so that praise is your perfect and complete response.

As we prepare for the states and meditate on our last year here, we are more and more thoughtful about the simple song Testify to Love (Avalon). All year long we have been pondering how to, as the song says, “testify to love in the silences where words are not enough.”
Words are not enough for the orphans of Bundibugyo. In 1990, after years of destruction under the leadership of Obote and Iddi Amin, this beautiful country once known as “the pearl of Africa” was almost unrecognizable. Even many years later, with a pretty respected leader in power, people are still suffering from the economic, environmental and personal destruction of that time. Here in Bundibugyo there are more problems. Rebel warfare in bordering Congo, just a few kilometers away has spilled into Bundi more than once. For years in the late ’90s and early ’00s our local children grew up in IDP (internally displaced person) camps for safety from the the violent guerilla warfare of the ADF, a Congolese rebel army. This recent history of warfare and displacement, combined with the ravages of disease; especially HIV/AIDS, sickle cell and malaria, and the terrible economics of the region have led to a high number of orphaned and impoverished children.
Many of these children attend Christ School Bundibugyo.
Out of almost 350 students, about fifty are what we call “sponsored orphans” meaning that they have qualified for a fully funded education through Christ School. To do this they must have remarkably high scores on their PLE’s (the exams at the end of their elementary school years) and also pass our internal entrance exam in the top ten of applying orphans. We sponsor orphans on an academic basis because it’s too hard to determine who is neediest. We sponsor ten out of an incoming class of eighty.
Christ School costs $400/year per student in real expenses. For other students (many of whom are also orphans, displaced children or severely needy) we subsidize these costs to make the school affordable. That means that though we charge fees to our students, we lose money on each student that comes through our doors. For sponsored orphans we cover the entire cost of their schooling through donations to an orphan fund. The fund is almost always in the red.
We think this cost of $400/year is a pretty amazing investment into human lives. For less than $40/month you pay room and board for a year round school, plus education fees; including a mattress and mosquito net, uniforms, school supplies and all the costs that go into school overhead including staff salaries. All this for an orphaned child who not only needs food, clothing and education but also the knowledge that they are known, loved and cared about by someone. We feel sure that many of these orphan/sponsor relationships will be lifelong. And we’re delighted that we personally know these children – - your email to “give my kid a hug” can translate into an actual hug from us to them. We teach these kids, participate in sports, clubs and ministry projects with them, have them in our homes for parties and dinners. They’re all our kids too. That means that you WILL be able to stay connected.
Right now we have an immediate need for sponsorship for about fifty orphans – these students are already enrolled at Christ School but we don’t have the money to pay for the cost of their education. Please go to our brand new website, www.christschoolbundibugyo.org and check out the orphan sponsorship page. There you can read the stories, written by students, of their lives. You can find a student whose heart your heart responds to, and you can change their life and yours forever by making a commitment to a sponsorship. We hope that those who sponsor orphans will be committed to far more than a financial gift, as crucial as that is. We hope your family will pray daily for your orphan child, communicate regularly with them, and love them as Jesus loves, not because they’re all that, but simply because they’re yours.