MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 05-07-2010

Greetings! We've been on the field for over a month now, and we're doing great! I've been so busy that the time has just flown by. My principle job has been getting my family settled in a house, which we have done. There was a problem with a property line dispute that slowed things down a bit, but now that's resolved, and the neighbor is putting up a wall around his compound. I have several meters of 7 foot chain link sitting in my garage, and as soon as he is done with his wall, I will be attaching my fence, and running it all the way around my compound. The poles are in place, and all that remains is the wall to complete on our side so we can attach and finish OUR project.

Meanwhile, much has been accomplished. We got the last of the painting done. The tiles are finished. I have a man building screens and doors for the side that shall soon no longer be unfinished. There's a lot of stuff to do in the yard. Right now, we're swimming in mud. Mud, mud everywhere. I have gotten the yard level, and the grass is planted. Since it rains pretty much every day, it will grow quickly. I have removed 4 huge stumps from the yard, and all the trash from construction is gone. Yesterday, I had guttering installed to keep the water from washing us away. The neighbor is going to put a drainage trench (concrete) next to the wall, and this will carry water from my place and his to a drain by the road. I can then tap into that, and funnel all my water away from the yard. Otherwise, the place is a swamp.

It is taking shape, but the land requires a lot of work to get it to the place where my children can actually play. They have been confined to the house for weeks because of all the construction going on. Thankfully, it looks like the end is in sight. It will be good to have this distraction completed so I can focus more on language learning, which is really what I came here to do. I am painfully aware of how limited I am with my ignorance of Runyunkore, and am looking forward to alleviating that ignorance soon.

Pray for us. I am going to the capitol next week to meet with Dan Olachea and observe his Greek school and translation team. I am going to have to adapt the process for Hebrew so I can begin translation work on the Old Testament. He and his men have done a fine job, and are nearly finished with the New Testament translation into Runyunkore. While there, I can take care of some bureaucratic stuff, and possibly pick up our stove and dryer, if we have the money, and if they have them in stock (last time they did not). We have been line drying our clothes, and the stove the Stensaas' lent us is working well. So, if we have to continue as we are a while longer, it is not a problem. Pray for our health and safety, as always, and pray for the souls of Uganda!