MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 08-06-2010

Agandi! We are doing well here in Uganda. Our container arrived a few weeks ago, and we've been busily unpacking. It's a blessing to sleep in our own beds, and to be surrounded by our own belongings. We got rid of lots of things, and tried to limit our move to only what we really needed, but it still seems like we have truckloads of stuff. Mostly we just need to get some furniture built to help organize it better (bookshelves, cabinets, and what not). Poor Ethan had to wait a few weeks to get the birthday presents we had for him on the container. The transit time greatly exceeded our estimations, but he handled it graciously. I took a bus trip to the capitol (bit like riding coach on an airplane; painful to the very tall) to get the contents verified. Nothing was broken, which was nice, but the customs guys disturbed the packing unnecessarily I thought. In spite of this, our things arrived undamaged in Mbarara. Several other missionaries and Ugandans came and helped unload, and we got it done quickly and without issue. We have made a lot of progress already, and will keep plugging away 'til we get it done.

Meanwhile, we have a renter for our house in America! Our church has gone above and beyond the call of duty getting the house into shape to be marketable, and our property manager has worked tirelessly locating a tenant. So, we no longer have the financial pressure from a house we are no longer using, which is a great blessing and an answer to prayer. Pray it can be sold eventually so we no longer have THAT to deal with.

This weekend, I'm going with one of the national pastors to a village way down by the Congo border (SW corner of Uganda) to preach in a thanksgiving service they are having (the Biblical kind of thanksgiving, not the holiday called Thanksgiving). I'll be staying overnight Saturday, preaching Sunday morning, and then driving back once we persuade them to let us leave. 🙂 It should be a lot of fun, but ministry usually is.

We are still learning Runyankore. We are learning simple verbs now, and reviewing the two hundred or so nouns we have studied. Soon we will be able to construct simple sentences. I am pleased with the progress, but learning a language takes time and labor. It's just one of those things we'll have to work at, Monday through Friday, week in and week out until we get it. Pray for our memory and learning, and our comprehension.

Pray about the work permits. I have about half of the money I need for them saved, and will need to get those done in the next month or so. I am not looking forward to another trip to the capitol, but it will be nice to have them finished. The Somali terrorist attack in Kampala has ramped up security considerably. It's a bit like airport security, only it's at every store and shop you want to enter practically. It scuttled our Internet, which is why we've had difficulty maintaining contact. All told, 67 people died including the suicide bombers. This also included members of an American church group. Folks were sitting there watching the final match of the World Cup when the bomb went off. Evidently, Somalia is grieved because Uganda and Burundi committed troops to a peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu. Pray that the East African Federation will respond well, and slap down further terrorist endeavors before they materialize.

Pray we get more support, particularly from churches who said they wanted to, or would, and have not. Pray for our health. Pray for the health and growth of our new child. Pray for the souls of Uganda, and for the churches and pastors here.