Entries by James

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 05-07-2010

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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!

God bless you,

James Huckabee
Missionary to Uganda

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 3-25-2010

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Greetings from Uganda! Our flight to this beautiful African country went well. We survived the 22 hour flight, which is every bit as tedious as it sounds. I managed to handle the fatigue pretty well. I used the strategy of staying awake nearly the whole time, except for short cat naps, and went to bed at night once we got in country. We all slept very well last night, and seem to be adjusting to the new time zone just fine. I personally feel great and not at all jet-lagged. All of our luggage made the trip (all 26 pieces), and seems to all be there with nothing broken or missing. Didn’t have to stop at Customs, or pay any fees, other than the $50 a head you pay for 90-day visas once you get into the airport terminal in Entebbe.

We spent our first day in Uganda with Matt Stensaas and Tom Tracht running errands in Kampala. I got our American currency (carried into the country in a special law-enforcement shirt with pockets for pistols and worn under one of my Hawaiian shirts) converted to Ugandan currency. I immediately became a millionaire ($5,000 turns into a little over 10 million Ugandan shillings). Greedy The trip to Mbarara went well. We got here just before dark, and just in time for church to let out.

We all slept well, and seem to be adjusting to our new timezone well. Today, we looked at houses, and got one for only 700,000 Ush a month! That’s just $350 a month for rent! What modifications are needed will be taken out of the first year’s rent. When we get it all squared away, we will have 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, and room for an office for me. The yard has an elevated garden area with fruit trees (avocados, mangos), where we can plant strawberries and anything else we desire. We are walking distance from Bryan and Cheri Stensaas, up on a quiet hilltop neighborhood.

We are buying some of the super comfortable VitaFoam mattresses to use until our container arrives with our American beds, and will likely have to make a run into Kampala to buy appliances soon. It’s so exciting!

I’ll let you know more when I get some more time to sit and write. Keep praying about a car. We will need one eventually. Also pray that our Property Manager back in the States will find a buyer for our house in America. She seems to think that she can find a buyer, as opposed to just renting it. She is capable of both however, and we will do what is needful to deal with our former home.

God bless you,

James Huckabee
Missionary to Uganda

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 3-21-2010

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Greetings! This is it. Our last email from America (for awhile). Our stuff’s packed. Our container is shipped. Tomorrow we will be flying out of Chicago on our way to the field. It’s a day long in the making, and we are very grateful to God for making it happen.

Some answers to prayer: God provided both our shipping, and the money we needed to bring with us for setup on the field. Thanks for praying.

That just leaves the $12,000 we will need for a vehicle, and a vehicle to buy, once we get there. At the moment, everyone is healthy, and, as far as I know, everything got done that needed to be done before we left. Keep praying.

Our flight information is as follows:

BRITISH AIRWAYS       22MAR CHICAGO IL     LONDON         610P    645A
BA 294               MONDAY O’HARE INTL    HEATHROW               23MAR
N ECONOMY                   AIRCRAFT:      BOEING 777-200/300

BRITISH AIRWAYS       23MAR LONDON         ENTEBBE        1045A   1010P
BA 63               TUESDAY HEATHROW
N ECONOMY                   AIRCRAFT:      BOEING 767-200/300

This will be my last communication for awhile. Once we get over there, get setup with internet, get a mailing address, and a house, I will update everyone with the pertinant details.

Praise the LORD, and thank you for your prayers!

James Huckabee
Missionary to Uganda

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 03-04-2010

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Greetings, no longer from the deputation trail! We finished up our final meeting in Roswell, NM last week, and all that remains now are final preparations to leave for Uganda on March 22! We had a great series of meetings in New Mexico, in First Baptist Church of Edgewood, Santa Fe Baptist Church, and Roswell Baptist Church respectively. They were all great missions conferences, and praise the LORD, all three churches are supporting us! We still need a bit more support, so keep praying that God will raise that up shortly before or after our departure.

Three churches have contacted me about supporting us and all I have to do is get them our DVD and prayer cards, and they are going to represent us in their missions conferences, so praise the LORD about that as well!

Here’s a list of extremely specific needs you all can pray for:

$9500 for shipping a 20′ container from here all the way to Mbarara, Uganda. We have a little better than half, and need the rest next week.

$16,000 for outfit (vaccines – just found out that’s going to be $1900, work permits, six month’s rent for a house, stuff for the house and any improvements required, and anything else we’re likely to need on arrival). We have about half, and need the rest by the time we leave on March 22.

$12,000 to buy a vehicle, and a vehicle to buy, after we get to the field.

These are the deadlines, and the needs. I bring them up because God loves meeting deadlines and answering specific prayers. I’m not particularly worried, because God has never failed us and I know of no reason why He should start.

Good news! We may have a house! Dr. Ron Bragg and Matt Stensaas found one that sounds perfect for our needs. The landlord is wanting $600 a month. Pray he’ll come down in price, to $450 a month perhaps. I have not seen the place, so it may turn out to be no good, but honestly, 4 bedrooms and an acre-and-a-half of land with fruit trees sounds pretty good to me (this would give us room to house guests).

There is much to do in the weeks ahead. I marvel that I can finally measure my time remaining in America in weeks. It’s so exciting to finally be done with the necessary missionary polishing and preparation phase (deputation) and be moving to the next phase, deployment. God has great plans for Uganda, and I am so grateful to be included in them.

Keep praying folks, and God bless!

James Huckabee
Missionary to Uganda

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 01-24-2010

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Greetings! We are all doing well, and are continuing apace in our preparations to leave for Africa on March 22. We are presently busy with the remaining meetings left to us in our deputation. and have just finished meetings in Houghton Lake Baptist Church in Houghton Lake, MI, and Bethel Baptist Church in Simcoe, Ontario.

We took advantage of the opportunity to visit my wife’s sister Naomi and husband Gavin Walsh in Toronto for a few days. While there, we took the kids ice skating in downtown Toronto. It was most entertaining. The kids were a bit unsteady at first, but they learned quickly. It was their first time and it was great fun.

Our time in Simcoe went well. It was a great missions conference, and we have enjoyed the hospitality of the church here. Pastor Bohman took us up in a Piper. He did some aerial tricks and tickled the kids half to death. Most amusing! We’ve enjoyed our time up north greatly and will be driving back to St. Louis on Monday.

We have lots to do in the next few weeks before our trip down to New Mexico. Pray we’ll be able to get everything done. Pray also that the remainder of our support will arrive by our departure, and that we will continue to have success in raising money for our outfit and passage.

God bless you all,

James Huckabee
Missionary to Uganda
https://missionuganda.com

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