Www.paradoxuganda.blogspot.com is the place to go to view the details of what is happening in our Ugandan community right now – a dreaded Ebola outbreak. Seems astounding that Ebola is there, right by our friends, our house, our dog behind her lonely fence. Yet not astounding either, Uganda has had a previous outbreak seven years ago, and Eastern Congo near our border has had similar viruses recently. Please pray for the situation on the ground as CDC, WHO and others hit the ground tomorrow morning and begin doing their best to isolate those who have been affected. Particularly pray for safety for our team and Ugandan medical workers. Medical caregivers are disproportionately affected by diseases like ebola and marburg which are spread through bodily fluids. Pray for wisdom. I was talking with a friend today who gave me a beautiful and appropriate quote from a man named Bill Johnson, ” I try not to be as impressed by the impossibility of a given situation as I am impressed by the power of the God I serve, to respond.” (paraphrase!) Wow. I must admit, Ebola instantly impressed me, made me cry for the two year olds on our team that I love so much and who seem so small and vulnerable, made me hope and pray that our students, inside their fences, will stay safe. Yet this is another marvelous chance for God to do miracles, for God to break through in supernatural power, for God to be GOOD. Pray with me so that the Kingdom will break through amazingly and impressively in Bundi these next few weeks and months.
Meanwhile we spent the day here embracing some of our American community. Over the last few weeks I’ve struggled with a bit with depression, and some of it is missing the strong community I have in Uganda. Though community there is exhausting and overwhelming it is also refreshing and powerful. I miss it badly in this urgent and important American life I am living. I am so thankful for the way God pulled me into community today, when I needed it so badly, as I cried and prayed through processing the potential of this virus to hurt those I love. I spent time praying with my mentor/friend and then the rest of the afternoon the kids and I spent with another friend; cooking, making projects, gazing at her baby and taking a walk to the bay beach to watch her puppy dog swim in again and again. It felt great.

We headed out via Metro today for fun in D.C. – one of several such trips over the last few weeks. Riding Metro itself is a blast for the kids, though “is this our stop?” becomes a bit monotonous when asked at each and every Metro stop.
The air was beautiful; crisp, cold, blue and not too windy – we bundled up as we walked towards the National History Museum. We always feel so blessed to enjoy the “free” museums that our Capital offers. Quinn had requested ” the Dinosaur Museum” so we spent the first part of the day enjoying the bones and massive reconstructions in that wing. Next we went on to a girl’s best friend, Naomi’s choice, DIAMONDS! We enjoyed seeing all the beautiful gems and minerals in the museum’s extensive collection. There was also a new Africa wing where we got to see Kenyan shillings displayed under glass instead of held in our hands and beautiful reams of kikoi and kitangi cloth like the ones worn by our friends at home. Watching videos there of African school children dancing, singing and playing with their improvised toys we felt the heart-pain of missing these dear people who have worked their way so deeply into our hearts. All the small mannerisms that are so typical to East African cultures took our breath away.
Next we headed off by foot to visit Chinatown, including a stop for lunch at a great little hole-in-the-wall restaurant where we enjoyed hot chinese tea, tempura vegetables and Naomi ate an entire heaped platter full of Lo Mein!! (the team is not even going to recognize this girl if she keeps eating and growing over the next month!)
Back we went to enjoy the mammals exhibit at the National History Museum. There we saw many African animals and settings, including “gasp” a termite mound! (pretty normal sight in our part of Uganda) Some of the termite predators shown were pangolins and anteaters, animals that don’t live in our area. I asked Naomi what natural predators our Bundibugyo termites might have and she replied instantly “humans!!” It’s true, they do make a tasty snack when roasted!

100_2216.JPG
Here are Naomi and I out on the town – it’s a shame we took our own picture from so close up, because you don’t get to see our glam outfits. We happened upon a great sale at our favorite re-sale shop earlier in the day and we scored some seriously sassified outfits!
So we dressed up and then out we went for soup, hot drinks and serious conversation (Naomi’s FAVORITE kind of night.) I think the boys did something involving air hockey and pizza . . . .
So wonderful to have this chance for health, time together, and enjoying each other and the world around us. Each day I wake up with energy and no nausea is another day to be thankful for!

“In everything, with prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” – Phillipians

“‘It would have been nice for Aslan to have given us dinner to bring along’, said Polly. ‘I think He would have if you’d asked,’ replied Fledge. ‘You would think He would know a thing like that without having to be asked!’ said Polly. ‘Yes’ said Fledge, ‘but He LIKES being asked.’” – From Narnia

I have often had trouble understanding how God wants me to combine faith, requests to Him, and disciplined effort as I seek to accomplish something important. Fund raising for our school is one such example. I know I serve a big God. It makes me think it should be easy to have all the schools’ needs provided, and yet it hasn’t been easy, and we still have most of the way to go. The Bible says, “you don’t have because you don’t ask,” which muddies the issue even more, in my opinion. Just where do the lines of faith, effort and supplication intersect?!

I won’t pretend I have it anywhere near figured out. In fact, all I have figured out is a little more about how little of this I understand. I do know for certain, that asking God, in faith, to supply all the needs of our students and staff, is no small request. And yet I am just as certain, as reminded by the lion Aslan, in Narnia, that He likes to be asked. As I faithfully bring my requests for Christ School before Him, I praise Him for what He has already done, all the amazing ways He has already provided, and I thank Him for what He has in store to bless this school in the future, be it tomorrow or ten years for now. And since the Bible says that God delights to give good gifts to his children, I wait expectantly and hopefully, knowing that His plans for me are worth waiting for, worth being surprised by.

Praying that you and I will remember today, in the big stuff and the small stuff, that “He likes being asked.”

There are some new pictures from our Stateside time up on the flikr badge. I believe both the kids have grown several inches since we’ve been home eating non-stop! Thank God for food at our fingertips!
We had a lovely day today as Mariners, our sending church, celebrated its’ 10th anniversary. As always we pray for God’s spirit to be present in powerful ways through our leadership and congregation. We’re blessed to be a part of it all.
Now we begin a new week of seeing God unexpectedly as we rest in Him and refresh ourselves with long drinks of the Living Water.
Thanks for praying us through.

“The life of a Christian is an education for higher service.” – Corrie Ten Boom.

After a six hour surgery, it’s been a week of recovery but I’m feeling quite good now. It will be a while before I’m 100%, because hormone levels need to regulate. But pain and tiredness, though not disappeared, are so much better.

Today we ran a few errands, getting me out of house for the first time since surgery (not counting the hospital visits). The air is crisp and cool and the blue sky is amazing. We decided to take a little drive through some back ways to enjoy the fall colors while the kids doodled in their fall journals. The leaves were gorgeous; falling, streaking and cavorting across the roads and back into another set of woods, driven by furious winds. After a while I curled up and napped in the car as the kids listened to a story about the composer Mozart.

This day of resting, enjoying Him, and being with each other may have something in similar with other days before us. We need to spend probably a month to two more here in the States for healing and hormone regulation. So this week is a time of prayer for us, seeking God’s thoughts for how we spend our coming time in America. Since the first days of contemplating this HMA, when we decided on six weeks, the plans have changed many times . . . .

It started as a sprint, traveling up and down the coast visiting families, friends and churches, barely breathing sometimes between speaking, shopping for Uganda, and taking-in America. Now we’ve realized that this was really a marathon. Our pace has slowed and we’re committed to finishing well, finishing in God’s time, His way, via His route.

I guess looking back it’s easy to see that the search for medical care, for me, was a demand for healing so I could get back to my “real” life. Yet through what seemed like inadequate care in the first weeks of our stay, God was teaching me about waiting on Him, trusting His advocacy rather than fighting for myself, and patience. Having seen Him come through for me in the way He brought about this surgery with such amazing speed, confirmation and the perfect surgeon, has been a real eye opener. Oh yea, I can trust Him!! Silly coming from an African missionary who lives in the threat of danger each day, yet of course, there is so much of me that doesn’t trust Him. It’s another step of learning that He really loves me, is really capable of taking care of me, really has my best interests at heart.

All of this leads us to a peace about the next few weeks to months being spent here. A certainty that God is calling us to that whether or not it makes a lot of sense to our productivity-oriented American heads. We want to be more driven by our Jesus-filled hearts. And so we’re asking Him what He wants us to spend this time on, besides resting and recovering, and really seeking obedience in this.

We have confidence that those of you who support us through prayer and finances will allow us this time here in America, away from our “real work” because, as Tante Corrie Ten Boom said, all of life is a training for Higher Service. Being where God wants us to be is the very best place of all – - whether or not it looks like the most productive.

We are so grateful for all of your prayers, messages and love through our last week or two and so far beyond. Many of you have made us laugh, cry and thank God again and again.
In Grace, David, Annelise, Naomi and Quinn