My village women’s bible study met for their usual Monday morning time yesterday, but the “programme” was anything but usual. I was met upon my arrival with songs, dancing, and a small feast. What a beautiful expression of love from these dear Ugandan women who have so little. I had to laugh at their lovely hand written songs about ” a woman named annelise who went to America and the ladies of her bible study who stayed here crying for her.” As usual, the dancing and dramatic gestures accompanying the music, did not disappoint. We finished the morning with soda and hard boiled eggs, all provided by these women. I am truly blessed.
I told them the real story of how God arranged for my surgery. Told them how we and other have prayed for them during ebola and how God really did a miracle in restraining the fatality of this disease in their area. Then I taught them from the book of Matthew about faith, the character of Jesus, and what it means to bring heaven to earth through the power of the Holy Spirit. All things I’m learning more about myself these days and I wanted to share with them. Although I believe God is directing me away from full time involvement with these bible study groups, I’m eagerly looking forward to staying in touch with them women and joining them once a month or so. I had put a teacher in place for the time I was away and all twenty women are still attending weekly to listen to her teach, which I find amazing. Please pray for these women to grow in their knowledge of God and their ability to love and bless others as they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And pray for this bible study to stay strong even though I am not there every week.

Arriving home has been a rollercoaster of emotions; from the intense happiness of arrival on Monday night to the next morning’s crashing in of reality as we awoke to no power, no water and the need to start cooking, greeting, and unpacking. Every drawers’ clothing is musty and moldering from the high humidity and being left unattended for five months. My mold allergies, not easily disturbed, are in full cry this week.
While David has been down at Christ School everyday getting in thinking and preparing time for the school year and chapels, staff discipleship and seminars, before the majority of the staff arrives next week, I have been at home. I was visited today by a “detective” investigating our break in while we were gone. Our safe was stolen and destroyed, mattresses and clothing and food were taken. It’s hard to feel angry when it’s clear that those who steal here are desperate for the things we have, yet it does leave me feeling a bit violated as I discover things that the thief walked around my home and picked up and left with. I wish they had just taken a lot of money and not touched our things. Of course there is also the sadness that the thief is likely an acquaintance if not a friend; potentially even one of the very people I have trusted to work for me. Leaves me feeling on edge and on guard. Since we will soon move to the school campus and our workers will change, we are just waiting and being vigilant.
Naomi and Quinn have had a joyful week of rediscovering their toys, climbing trees and puppy-dog. Little Jessy, our Ugandan mutt, has matured beautifully during our absence, from an under-one hyper puppy to a much calmer one year old dog. She was so happy to see us and is grateful for each scrap we feed her as she had gotten quite skinny during our time away. It’s wonderful to see her reacquaint with the kids. Quinn’s first routine of the morning is to call her to the bedroom window where he opens the screen to pet her then heads outside to give her some “snuggles” to start her day. She is well loved and we are so thankful that she has not turned into “psycho dog” from her many months without us here. It is a testament to our workers and team mates who visited her, fed her and played with her and we are so grateful.
Though this week has been full of good moments with my children; reading aloud, making home made cookies, lemonade and popcorn for our lunches and unpacking our things: it has also been a week of bugs, lizard poop, and mold as we opened things long unused and work towards rewashing every dish and piece of clothing by hand. Last night we returned from team meeting and pizza (where we were joined by the last of the CDC crowd, cool people!) to get ready for bed. After lounging on the couch we got up to discover a large pair of legs crawling off the couch. The tarantula which we had disturbed decided to hide under our end table. I sprayed mercilessly with the can of Doom ( our African bug killing spray - doesn’t the name rock?!) which only made him laugh before running away. Thankfully we gished him with a shoe. That’s why I don’t like having things messy here. You never know what’s hiding under it all. Kind of gave us that creepy skin-crawly feeling as we went to bed though I caught myself saying to Naomi ” you can’t get scared about every tarantula! I know they’re yucky but get in the bathroom and pee!!” Only a missionary kid.

Monday morning we left Jinja bright and early to head first to, then through, Kampala and home to Bundi. Our plan was a sunrise walk down to Lake Victoria ( the Kingfisher, where we stay in Jinja edges the lake) then a quick early breakfast and starting off by 7.
Breakfast was delayed despite our having ordered the night before (mufffins, bacon, and African tea) because, we found out almost an hour later, there was not yet milk. It was coming. We decided just to drink black tea and the already made muffins and got on the road at eight.
Driving to Kampala was unremarkable and we were surprised and pleased to find ourselves on schedule when we pulled into Kampala two hours later to finish our shopping. We needed to buy our fresh vegetables to take back into Bundibugyo. Though we are blessed to have some vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, and cabbage constantly and readily available here in the village, Kampala is a source of some veggies that we carry in so that we eat them at least a few weeks out of every few months; brocolli, green beans, and celery.
Having bought our cornucopia of goodness we arrived back at the Christmas house (aka “evacuation central”) to pick up the teachers, Sarah and Ashley, and load our vehicle. Since we needed to carry in our food supplies for the next three months as well as the assorted trunks and luggage brought from America, loading took some time. But finally we were ready. As a teammate commented, you know it’s been a good restock when your vehicle looks like the Beverly Hillbillies as you head back in. And ours did. Our famous last words as we crammed more items onto the roof and covered them with our extra large luggage net; “thank goodness there is no sign of rain.” Our tarp was here in Bundibugyo and not in it’s usual place in the vehicle.
One hour out out of Kampala and the good news was that nothing had budged from the roof rack during the higher speeds and intense bumps outside the city. The bad news? It was raining. And not just rain but a total downpour, making driving difficult. We pulled over quickly to grab a few key items that would not survive any water off the roof. Ashley and Sarah, Naomi and Quinn grew more crowded in the backseat as the items joined them. A few miles down the road we saw our chance for a tarp as we spied a coffee bean processing yard with piles of coffee wrapped in tarps under the rain. David pulled us as far over as possible onto the shoulder of the busy road and hit the rain again to plead for a tarp. Ugandans emerged from the building and began shoveling coffee beans off the tarp and onto another. Only fifteen minutes later, totally drenched, David emerged victorious with his dirty, soaking tarp. We wondered if we would even need it, ever hopeful that the rain was soon over. David stuffed it under the cargo net and drove to a safer roadside spot to install it.
As David and I both climbed out this time to try to install our tarp without removing the entire cargo net, the driving rain turned to hail. As we climbed to the roof of our Land Cruiser with giant lorries rushing past on the road, grape-size hail began to beat us around the heads. Totally soaking wet, we retreated to behind the vehicle with the tarp over our heads and had a sweet, stolen kiss in the rain while hoping for the punishing hail to end. It got lighter, with small ice chunks flying through the air and we climbed up again to install the tarp. Fifteen minutes later, the tarp was in place enough to travel and we started off slowly. David and I shook with cold as we sat in our soaked clothing in the car; dreading the thought of five more hours of travel in these conditions and without a change of clothes or a towel.
Driving took forever. Between the winds and our hasty tarp installation, we had to stop multiple times to adjust the roof situation. Tremendous winds and rain continued and we slowly moved on. Eventually the sun came out and the rains stopped for a few minutes and we were able to remove the cargo net and properly install our tarp. The rains resumed a few minutes later but we were set. There was no stopping us now!
We finally reached Fort Portal, the last city before the mountains that head to our rural village area, very late afternoon. We debated for the last hour of driving into Fort Portal whether we could safely make it over the mountain. Getting stuck there at night is not a safe situation and with only the minimum time needed to travel over we had no safety margin for the frequent tire and car problems that occur on the bad roads we drive here. We went for it, not slowing in Fort Portal even for a bathroom trip, we headed over the mountains full speed ahead, praying all the way.
Thankfully, almost three hours later we finally arrived here in Bundibugyo. We drove in to a hot dinner with the Myhres, a welcome gift as we were still soaked from the rains and wishing badly for hot showers. A hot meal was next best. We arrived into our home at nine pm; amazed by the wonderful smells of gardenias in our garden and freshly picked to welcome us in our home. The mountains surrounded us and the cool clean air of the village was a welcome relief after the heat and smog of Kampala the last few weeks. Our home felt, homey. Warm, welcoming and friendly. Amazingly clean thanks to the hard work of those who help us in our home. I forgot how few things we have and yet how abundant it feels. We went to bed happy.

As the Myhres returned to Kampala from Austria on Friday, team talks began in earnest and it clearly emerged that we would soon be going back. Ebola is officially over (amazing! Miraculous!) and MSF has already left Bundibuygo with the CDC not far behind. All contacts have already finished their 21 day period of incubation without sickness. Though there will always be a “resevoir” here for ebola now, ebola has never occurred twice in the same area. There is a permanent ebola capable lab facility in entebbe, Uganda, now too which means any possible cases can be quickly tested.
So, on Friday, we finalized our plans as a team, factoring in the necessary start of Christ School, our primary ministry focus. For ourselves, after several weeks in the “christmas house” with so many others, we decided to take two days as a a family before heading home to Bundi and the onset of the demands of the next several months.
We decided to head to Jinja where we love staying at the Kingfisher Resort. Determined to make this not only a good time away and alone but a true family adventure, we signed up for horsebackriding (who knew?) and ATVing over our weekend. (Jinja is a good size town yet surprisingly small and friendly in feel. Downtown is rarely as congested, dirty or smoggy as most Ugandan cities and this combined with the proximity of the Nile brings ex-pat businesses here (such as the horse and ATV companies) to provide tourism industry, also supporting the local economy.)
The weekend was HEAVENLY. Numerous times found me commenting to God, “thanks for this slice of time with the people I love most in all the world.” It’s amazing how grateful I am for my husband and children, for their selves, such a gift to my self. Pictures of ATV and horse adventures are forthcoming.
Next installment, travel to bundi; a whole ‘nother adventure.

We’ve shifted housemates for a bit; on Saturday, the Masso family arrived, bearing Acacia, Liana and Gaby. Liana and Gaby are some of Naomi and Quinn’s best buddies so it was a very happy reunion. The Massos have also just returned from time in the States. And so we were 17 for the weekend - in a house just a bit bigger than the basement we were living in Stateside! Noise levels were loud. We celebrated Miss Sarah’s birthday (Miss Sarah is one of our missionary kid teachers just arrived this fall to teach our children) in style with a trip out for pretty astoundingly good pizza and ice cream and wacky cake later at home. Miss Ashley (our other mk teacher) and the kids put on a premium production involving the presentation of gifts - it was quite a hit. Pictures coming!
Now the Bartkoviches have left for a few days together and away at Bushara Island. So we are here with the Massos and teachers, and the house has quieted to a dull roar. Michael and David spend their days out working and Karen and I, the kids and our teachers hold down the fort at home.
Myhre family will arrive in the next day or two and we will buckle down to the business of decision making in areas large and small before returning to the district early next week. We can hardly wait.

Life in Kampala feels so easy. You run out of milk, you go down to the corner grocery and buy some - yes, it’s in a bag, fresh but pasteurized; or in a can, dried; or in a box, heat treated. But there you go, milk for the buying, moments away.

We made pizza for dinner tonight and despite the lack of sauce (canned sauce is available here in the city but at almost five dollars a jar we opted to make ours the bundi way, with tomatoes!) and the need to homemake the dough, it felt so quick and easy. We had cans of mushrooms and olives from the grocery store and plenty of cheese, no need to ration to make it all last three months. Add to that store bought ice cream stored in the deep freeze and you have a pretty perfect evening. (even if the deep freeze is starting to thaw a bit now that the power’s gone out for the evening - we’ll run the generator if we have to but fuel is hard to come by with the Kenya crisis affecting us here. Long lines for petrol and armed guards at our gas stations bring it home to us. Fuel prices have risen astronomically.)

JD and Kevin (they and their children are our team mates and current house mates) have just left for an evening out together, another marvel of Kampala life. We have places to go! There are lovely little restaurants in Kampala that when living here, provide wonderful evenings away for us as we trade off couple time with kid time for each other. Normally during our short stock-ups in Kampala we are too busy eating, sleeping and buying groceries for the next months ahead to think about dates. And in Bundibugyo the idea is just silly. We stay up later than the kids and eat a second dinner alone while watching the latest season of Alias . . . . . Or something.

There is a movie theater in Kampala -the movies are a bit old and the popcorn not so good, but still! There is a mall in Kampala where we recently discovered several fun family places to eat. And last but certainly not least, the American Club (ARA) where we swim each afternoon. N and Q are also taking tennis lessons there with Master Godfrey who is gentle, loving and respectful - a beautiful new African relationship to help build their trust.

We have internet here all day as long as the power is on, and speaking of power, there is no rationing of that either. If it’s on, it’s on and everything we own can be plugged in and charging. The kids are enjoying free video time, we’re enjoying surfing the web and late night movies together.

Yes, we’re roughing it here in East Africa - and thought you’d want to know.
We’ve had a few get togethers with staff from the school and are excited to report that the staff seems ready to return to Bundibugyo for the start of the new school year, around February 4th. We’ll likely return a couple weeks before that, maybe around the 21st but we are waiting to firm up our dates. Ebola in the district continues to improve with Kikyo isolation ward closed (or so we hear) and Bundi with no new admissions for some time. If it stays quiet Bundi could be declared Ebola-free before February 4th!!

I’m thankful for your prayers, sustaining our hearts as we face the beginning of many new things, the end of others, and the constant reality of this life we live. The first week back brought many doubts and fears for all of us. Pray that we keep choosing to bring all our cares and concerns to God and be real with what they are, who we are, and where we’re at.

Life at the “evacuation house” in Kampala is settling into normalcy for us. Jet lag has disappeared so Quinn is thankfully done with his 2 am peanut butter sandwiches! Naomi and her buddy Louisa are sharing the “girls room” (where Liana and Acacia will soon join them upon arrival) and Quinn and Joe and the twins sharing the “boys room.” Us parents are glad to have our own couple space!
Nights are hot but days are beautiful. Mornings on the porch reading and enjoying time with God are helpful to the rest of the day. Kids play non-stop, enjoying renewed friendships, until it all becomes overwhelming and we have them retreat for some renewal time alone. Despereaux, the Chameleon, is a feature of life here; enjoying flies and an occasional cantaloupe rind around the shared dining table. Afternoons are swimming time as we are only a five minute drive from the American Club where we pay a small weekly fee for unlimited swimming. The American Club is our usual “home-away-from-home” in Uganda, the familiar place where we eat, sleep and recoup when we’re not in BGO. It’s nice to be there where we feel normalcy.
We are doing some work towards the new semester at Christ School but this last week has been primarily processing time with our team mates as well as our adjustment to life.

The past few days - five maybe? - have passed in a total blur. Since figuring out we really were leaving the 31st; we drove through the night to return from NC to Annapolis and completed shopping, packing and goodbyes including a great prayer time at both services with our home church, Mariners. We presented our church with a handmade Ugandan prayer mat. I hope they use it well.
Now here we are in Uganda. On Monday as we prepared to leave it felt so surreal I wasn’t sure it was actually happening. I thanked God so many times throughout those last few days because it was so clear that I was supernaturally buoyed along by Him. There were spectacular emotions from despair at actually getting packed and out to overwhelming sadness at leaving family in poor health behind to real joy as we look toward our future as a family. Fortunately many good friends were there to help us out in many different ways and God gave me opportunities to revel in relationship rather than focus on the details (thanks Hargroves for a lunch that wasn’t efficient!)
The flights (overnight from Dulles to London then again overnight the next night from London to Entebbe, Uganda) went beautifully. Since they were both night flights we all slept for most of the time. It’s so easy travleling with a five and seven year old. The kids know the ropes of international travel by now and do it all easily. During our layover, we had a very fun day in London despite cold and rain. We walked to see Buckingham palace, rode the tube, had a fun lunch, etc.
Today we arrived on the most beautiful morning imaginable. We stepped out into Ugandan air as we climbed down the plane steps. It was still early morning and the sky was bright blue, the air smelled so good, the lushness was everywhere. And I don’t usually like Kampala!! I can say nothing more than simply how much like coming home it felt. What a tremendous gift from God. We were home and it felt so good.
We spent the day at a local hotel swimming pool, rejoined with the Myhres and Bartkoviches; the twins still seem to know me and Quinn was happily rejoined with his “favorite girl” Julia. We all burned terribly and are swollen up from the change in atmosphere from cool and grey to heat and sun. We’ll adapt soon enough. The Myhres flew out tonight for their meetings in Austria so we are now in the team home away from home in Kampala with the Bartkoviches. Evacuation central. It’s a nice big six bedroom house with gates and a little yard and a nice view of the city. As good as it could get, I think. We readjust ourselves now to total lack of hygiene, to malaria medicines, dry toothbrushes, bednets, oppressive night heat, the overwhelming drum of the generator coming on after city blackouts; to life in an East African city.
Please pray for Kenya where lives are being lost due to tribal fighting over the most recent election. The situation is quite serious and many Kenyans have already died in terrible ways.