Accomplishments, News, Updates, and Random Pictures

Hey Everyone!

I apologize for the infrequency of my updates.  A lot has happened since my last post.

So when we got back to Masindi after our eventful August/September, we really got focused on what needed to be done here. We put the past behind us, and prayed for God to give us focus, direction, and energy. He did just that.

One of the major ways that he answered that prayer was in giving us some discernment about the future. When we moved over here, we had the agreement that Newman’s job will last anywhere between 18-24 months in Uganda. We set a target of 20 months for Newman to meet PMI’s goals. 20 months would be December 2013. Around the 14/15 month mark, we started to wonder when we would be wrapping up here. Not that we don’t love it here, but with many things going on back home with family and with our financial situation of me not earning an income and everything, we felt a tug on our hearts that we needed to be back in the U.S. for the next season of our life. We had debated several months before that, actually extending our time here in another part of Africa. We really do have a love for this part of the world, but more and more signs began to point us towards needing to return home at the end of this season. Around July, we decided that after we finish our travels for Stratton’s wedding and everything else that we had coming up, we would see how we felt about where the project was and when we needed to return home. I technically could go home any time, but Newman and I did not want to be apart any longer than was necessary. Financially, it would be good for me to go back and start working, but being together was more important. After lots and lots of prayers and mixed emotions, we decided that after going home for the holidays, we would remain in Charleston. PMI was so supportive of that desire, and even though 20 months was the goal, we still had a lot to accomplish. A HUGE weight was lifted once we had made a firm decision. As the weight lifted, our eyes really went into focus here on what needed to be accomplished in the time we had left. 

The 1^st item on the agenda was, find a new Administrator. While we were still in Scotland, we got word that our current Administrator was leaving. The clinic’s #2, Baluku, jumped in as Acting Administrator for the time being and did a wonderful job as we tried to sort out what needed to happen. Although this created a very busy and somewhat stressful situation, God was definitely working everything out. With us deciding to leave by the end of the year, we really needed someone solid in place as Administrator which is the #1 position at the clinic. Our previous Administrator, James, was a great guy who came to us from a banking background. He decided that was what he wanted to get back into, so he is with another bank. In the time we had with him, he helped us a lot with budgeting and finances. Then, in the time Baluku was acting administrator, he and Newman really dove in putting in long and hard hours working out some kinks and coming up with a really solid plan for the future. They came up with a plan for what the clinic really needed to remain strong through our transition out, and they knew they needed a really strong leader to carry out the plan. They recruited a new Administrator within a few weeks. He is someone who has always been so supportive of PMI and is truly committed to the vision. Patrick has worked at the clinic before as Assistant Administrator when the clinic 1^st began. While he was away from us for few years, he grew immensely professionally.  He is a really great guy, and his wife is one of our best nurses. MKMC and PMI Uganda have a wonderful future ahead with him leading us. We were of course worried when we found out our Administrator was leaving because we were planning on leaving soon too, but God told us to have faith and He brought us full circle to an even better place than we had been in before. Sometimes life has to get all shaken up before it can smooth out.

Item #2 on the agenda for the project was to FINALLY obtain the ambulance that was promised to PMI 2 years ago through a partnership with Tullow Oil company. When I was here in August 2011, we did a 2 day outreach in the town of Bulisa which is about 3.5 hrs away from Masindi. They were long and hard days, but we were able to reach a community that had never been reached before. Because we agreed to do this outreach where Tullow Oil had been working, they said they would donate a brand new ambulance. Well due to the fact that it had to come from Germany, clear customs, and be properly signed over to us legally, it took FOREVER! Last week, we went with a few people from the clinic all the way back out to Bulisa for a formal handover of the ambulance. Some of us didn’t even believe it existed because it had been talked about for so long with no results. But, alas, it exists and it was handed over to us and driven back to Masindi. It is a fantastic ambulance, will all of the bells and whistles (literally). It will be so helpful to those around Masindi Kitara District and it can be used when we do outreach with the teams. It is basically a mobile clinic, and will provide amazing care to people for years to come.

So lastly, item #3 on the list of things Newman really wants to see through is finally acquiring the title to the land we are leasing from the church for the clinic. Land issues here take an EXTREMELY long amount of time with endless paperwork and legal issues to sort out. After many trips to Kampala and the Lands office in Masindi and after many conversations with the church and the lawyer, we finally got the title today!

So, I think finally Newman is seeing some results from all of the long hours he has put into these issues. God is really preparing this clinic and this project for its next phase and I think it will be really successful.

An item on my list of things to accomplish was seeing that some hydrocephalus patients that were sponsored by our August team this year got the surgery they needed to save their life. It was a little complicated in that these 4 patients all live in different villages and they need to get to Cure International Hospital on the other side of the country. Once we had all of the funds in hand, my friend Jimmy here helped me contact them and round them up to Masindi. We had all but one show up last Monday morning. One of them is currently in Congo with her Mom, but she too will go to Cure when she returns. Jimmy went with them for the long trip to Cure and I have heard that they will be operated on this week. They may actually already have been by now. I am awaiting a post-op report. Although it can be a lot of effort, it’s so worth it to see these families’ lives change and to hear their sincere appreciation.

So I guess the theme of this month has been having goals come to fruition finally. We are so thankful!

I am left with only a few weeks here, which is very bitter sweet. I’m becoming more and more sad as I think about leaving these people and this place, but I know I will be back many times. I fly out November 26^th. I am leaving a few weeks before Newman so that I will be home for the birth of my 1^st nephew! My sister is due Dec 11^th, so I wouldn’t miss that for the world. I also am going back slightly earlier than Newman so that I can begin the job search. Newman should be back in the U.S. just before Christmas.

Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers. We feel so much peace about where we are right now and where we are headed. We feel so incredibly blessed to have experienced all that we have over these past 18 months. We still have a couple months to go, and we plan to make the most of it. Please continue to pray for this project and these people and also for our transition back home. I know it will be exciting but also very emotional. I thank God for the amazing ride we have been on, and I can’t wait to see what else He does with us!

Love

Trish

And now for some really random pictures...

 These are 3 of the children with Hydrocephalus, sponsored by PMI team members, about to set off to have an operation in Mbale, Uganda. This picture doesn't show it, but they were all very excited and happy to be going.

 

Tried to capture the solar eclipse on Sunday, but the sun was so powerful that the camera couldn't capture it. It was happening though, I promise

Some of the many children who come by our house and just make themselves at home

Newman cleaning the onions he grew in our garden

 

Wilson on the new Masindi Kitara Medical Centre motorcycle "Boda", a gift thanks to my

Mom and Dad to aid in transport for clinic business

 Wilson, Baluku, Christine, and Newman at the handing over ceremony for the new ambulance

 Newman was asked to sing the National Anthem at the ceremony........haha just kidding, he's giving a speech

 Newman giving his speech

 

 A bunch of banded mongoose in the yard, and a monkey on the left running away

Downpour

Talk about your Ups and your Downs

I had been debating on whether or not I wanted to blog about this, but I came to the conclusion that I wanted to share because some past events have deeply impacted us. The past few weeks have had some really wonderful moments and really awful ones too. After the August team left and we wrapped up some loose ends, and we began to prepare to fly to Scotland for my brother-in-law Stratton’s wedding. We had been looking forward to this event for quite some time and we so excited to be able to share this special day with Stratton and Hunter and our families. The wedding was planned to be in Scotland because Hunter’s family are the McRae’s and their family heritage traces back to a beautiful and famous castle called Eilean Donan near the Isle of Skye in the north of Scotland. They allow weddings at the castle, so that is the venue they chose for their wedding. We told them when we moved here that no matter where they decided to get married, we would be there. We knew we’d have to travel if it was in the U.S. or somewhere else, so it didn’t really matter to us where they chose.
We were all geared up to go, packed, excited, tickets printed, passports ready, etc… We had Wilson drive us down the night before we were to leave to Kampala so that he could drop us off at the airport and take the car back to Masindi so that it could be used there for people who needed it. We shared a nice meal the night before with Wilson, had a good night’s sleep, and were headed out the next morning on August 27.
We decided to swing by a shopping center that we frequent to buy a couple bottles of water to drink on the way to the airport. We were only going to run into the grocery store for a second, buy our water and be on our way. Wilson noticed Newman’s bag in the front seat, so he moved it to the back where it could not be viewed as easily, just in case someone was tempted by it. We parked by the entrance to the shopping center where there is a police guard station where there are usually 3-4 police men. There is also parking lot security all around the entrance to the lot where we parked, so we felt fine running in to buy some water with our bags still in the car. We have parked here dozens of times and always felt perfectly safe. A lot of people have their drivers stay in the car while they go inside, but Wilson is more than a driver to us, he is our friend, so we told him to come with us. We walked into the store smiling and joking and excited about the day. We were gone not more than 5 minutes when we walked back to the car and Newman opened up the passenger side door. It was unlocked which I thought was odd. Wilson went to the driver’s side and unlocked the rest of the car. Newman looked in the back seat and asked, “Wilson, where are our bags?” I thought he was just pulling my leg trying to scare me. I looked in the trunk and our suitcases were there with our clothes inside, but the 3 bags that were in the back seat were gone. We all immediately went into panic mode. My purse was gone containing my wallet with driver’s license, credit card, debit card, and most importantly my passport. My Kindle, phone, chargers for each, and toiletries were all inside. Newman’s bag containing his computer, work documents, work checkbooks, and other items was gone. Newman’s backpack containing our very nice Cannon camera which we gave each other last year for Christmas, his nice rain coat, some clothes, his ipad, etc… all gone. We ran over to the security guards who were standing maybe 20 yards away to ask if they had seen anything. We were returned with blank stares and then a shrug. We went over to the police all standing there who too seemed to have zero insight. They told us to go downstairs to watch the security camera tape. Wilson and Newman went downstairs while I stayed by the car because the lock was now broken and I didn’t want to lose what was left of our belongings. I started to cry a few times, but made myself hold it together because I knew we had a very long day ahead of us with a lot to try to figure out. Wilson and Newman saw on the video tape, a blue car pull up next to our car, the diver stayed inside while 2 or 3 men got out, got into our car, took the bags, and sped off. It only took a few seconds. While they were watching the tape, the pharmacy store owner from across the parking lot could see something was wrong with me and asked if everything was ok. I said, “No, we just lost everything. They stole everything.” He was dumbfounded and said this had never happened in the 7 years he had his store there. He said they probably followed us from the hotel, targeted us, and then robed us. I don’t know if that is true, but it’s possible. When Newman described the car to the police, they said that there was nothing they could do because they couldn’t see the license plate. I of course became angry because they refused to even try to look for the car based on its description. They just sat around doing nothing.
The next two frustrating hours were spent waiting on the police report to be written up, and then waiting for someone to bring us some stamp that needed to be put on the report. Meanwhile, I called and had all of my cards canceled, we had our PMI checks canceled, printed new etickets for our flights and hotel reservations since they were now all stolen, and had passport photos taken. Newman even tried texting the thieves through my stolen phone in hopes that their conscience would kick in and they would do the right thing by coming back. After waiting what seemed like forever for this stamp, they decided that we should just drive down the street to the police station and get it stamped there. We did that and then went straight to the U.S. Embassy to try to have temporary passports issued. We were still hopeful that if we got the passports in time, we could still try to make our flight. As time passed, it became more and more apparent that we were not going to make the flight, so then our focus just shifted to trying to get our passports and reschedule our flights. Our flight was supposed to leave at 3pm and we didn’t get out of the embassy until around 4 with our temporary passports.
 We called Emirates Airlines and they said to go to the Kampala office to try to figure everything out. When we got there, the place was full of people ahead of us in line, most of which were not in a hurry and were just there to book trips. I felt like everyone could see the panic and pain in our faces, but we tried to remain calm and wait our turn. Finally there was a free attendant, and even though it wasn’t our turn, Newman jumped up and asked, “Is there any way we can be helped now, we kind of have an emergency.” He quickly told her what happened and that we are trying to make it to our brother’s wedding. She looked up in the system what flights were available with Emirates and other sister airlines and told us there were absolutely no flights available until September 9^th. The wedding was August 30^th, so that was not going to work for us. At this point, I have totally lost it and am holding my head and crying at the desk in front of a ton of people, and Newman too starts to cry as he explains that if this was just a vacation, it wouldn’t matter, but that this was for his brother’s wedding which he cannot miss. I could tell that the woman finally realized the gravity of the situation and seemed genuinely sorry that she could not help us unless we could pay to upgrade to 1^st class. We considered it for a second until we realized that we had canceled our credit cards, and after losing thousands of dollars’ worth of items that morning, buying an expensive ticket would not be the right thing to do. We walked out of the office and down to the car where Wilson was waiting. We just shook our heads, and we told him we weren’t going. He said, “Let’s go home.” We all agreed that we didn’t want to spend one more penny in Kampala and even though it was later than we would usually try to make the trip back to Masindi, we just all wanted to go home.
We were silent in the car for the most part, except every once in a while someone would say something to the extent of, “If we had just…” but running through those scenarios was only fueling our fire. Throughout all of this I continued to pray that God would redeem this situation. I kept telling myself, God hasn’t left us. After reaching about 5 miles outside of Kampala, Newman’s phone rang and it said “Stratton Lawrence”. Usually calls from outside of Uganda show up as “Blocked”, but this time is said “Stratton Lawrence.” He answered the phone and after a few seconds, he couldn’t talk anymore because of his tears, and I realized that Stratton was calling to let us know that he was buying us tickets. He found flights on British Airlines, which I guess Emirates hadn’t looked at. We turned around and headed back to Entebbe. We were to fly out the next morning, and we would make it to the wedding after all. We couldn’t believe the generosity and now had tears of joy instead of pain. The rest of our trip went off without a hitch. The timing of the new flights was actually better than the ones we had before, and we didn’t have to change any of our reservations for hotels or the rental car.
We had an amazing time in Scotland. The rehearsal dinner was in a pub where we ate great food and shared wonderful toasts about Hunter and Stratton. They had around 35 or so guests which was a perfect crowd of family and friends. The wedding day started off with typical Scottish weather with wind and rain, but just as the ceremony was to begin, the sun came out.  Stratton and Hunter really wanted to have the wedding in the outdoor courtyard of the castle, so their wish came true as the rain allowed for this to happen. Stratton’s father, my father-in-law, Bob Lawrence conducted the ceremony which was really sweet. Hunter of course looked beautiful and Stratton was beaming. It was such a sweet wedding. Afterwards we shared an intimate candle lit meal at the lodge which was delicious. Hunter and Stratton incorporated so many neat Scottish traditions into the whole event. We had a two man band that played music afterwards, and everyone had an amazing evening together. We are forever grateful to Stratton and Hunter for making sure that we made it for this unforgettable event. We knew that all of our lost possessions could be replaced, but we couldn’t replace those memories. Apart from the wedding, Newman and I were able to explore the beautiful highlands of Scotland which are breathtaking and we even had a 24hr layover in London where we were able to do a bit of sightseeing before returning back to Uganda.

Overall we have felt God’s amazing protection, and we are so thankful to him for giving us such an amazing family who have helped us out in every sticky situation we have seemed to get ourselves into.  Without a doubt, August 27, 2013 has been the worst day of my life thus far, but it has also showed me that I have had a pretty good life compared to others if that truly was the worst day of my life.

We are still trying to recover from everything, and we still find ourselves looking for an item and then realizing it was in the stolen bags, but we are surviving and are as strong a team as we have ever been. We had a small laugh when we began to discuss all that we have been through in our short two and a half years of marriage already.
I’m so thankful for my faith and although I would never want to relive that experience, I am thankful for what it has taught me. We are struggling some with feeling safe and we do find ourselves being skeptical now of seemingly innocent people and places, so please pray for us in that respect. We still have a big job to do here, and we want to be able to give it the attention it deserves. Thanks so much for all of your prayers!

Love,

Trish

I stole some of my father-in-law's photos because, as previously explained, our camera was stolen so we have no photos. Here are some from the wedding.

Hunter's Arrival with her Father

 

Walking down the "aisle"

 

Lawrence Family 

Lawrence and McRae Family 

The view from the courtyard as the wedding began

Do your homework!

Do your homework: What kind of missions are you supporting and could it actually be hurting?

I think there comes a time in every “missionary’s” life when something finally clicks. You finally start to “get it” and really see what is going on the in the developing world. Actually, this may happen even if you are not working in the developing world. Maybe you are working in the U.S. doing social work or are in some way involved in trying to help those who are less fortunate. You can still relate to the discussion I am about to begin. I think it took us about a year of living in Uganda for the veil to be pulled off of our eyes, and we began to see clearer what Aid and missions work is doing.

I want to begin by saying, if you do have a heart for helping others, which I think most of us as humans do at least to some extent, then bravo. Good for you! That is what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to help each other out. There are going to be times when you are on a mountain top, and your friend is in a valley and needs some help, and you will help them. Then there will be a time when your life has taken a downward turn, and you will appreciate that same friend’s willingness to pull you out of your slump. I just wanted to make that point because even though I am coming to realize that there is some harm done in helping, I don’t believe that we should ever quit loving our neighbors and offering a helping hand.

So as I was saying, once we had been living in Uganda for about a year, something started to change within us. We had been exposed to the great need all around us. We had been exposed to so many different people and organizations trying to do something about it. All of these groups seem to have great names with words like, hope, cure, vision, compassion, peace, and empowerment. We met people working for these organizations. We all have very interesting and different stories, but we all shared some sort of calling to help. Our lives had led us to this point where we had the opportunity to experience missions full time and totally immerse ourselves in this life instead of just doing short term work, going to fundraising events, and writing checks (all of which I think are equally great things to do and be involved in). 

This is a difficult thing to describe, but I will try to put it into words as best I can. The conversations Newman and I had with one another about the business of foreign aid began to change. We both felt like something was off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. When I really think hard about it, I think that these feelings came about from just a few frustrating interactions between me and the local people. I felt like we were here to help, and people seemed to want our help at first, but then when it came time to do the real work, nobody wanted to put forth the effort. I think this is universal. I am not saying that our neighbors, or our staff, or Ugandans in general are like this. In fact I have come across many who are willing to put forth the effort and are highly motivated. However, there were those who I interacted with, and I just felt like they wanted me to spoon feed them and something just seemed off. This really seemed to come from strangers more than people I knew. They saw a white face, and they thought “Money!” This may sound harsh or politically incorrect, but it’s the truth. In the U.S. we are so sensitive to racism and racial profiling which is a good thing. We have progressed and are so accepting (most of the time). Here, you walk down the street and you are completely called out simply because of your race and you are immediately judged and treated differently because of it. At first, it was cute to have a little baby yell out “Mzungu!” and I didn’t mind so much when children would run alongside me and giggle when they touched my arm. After about a year of that, you kind of start to get annoyed and think, why do they do this? Who told them to act this way towards us? What have the mzungus done to receive this type of attention? So, once I started to consider why people seemed to want to be spoon fed and why just because of my color I was a celebrity/target, I became concerned.

I began to dig deeper, and as it turns out people have been writing about and researching this very concern of mine. It wasn’t just that my heart was becoming hard. Apparently I was just finally catching on. I was just really starting to see what was going on, and I took it as a good sign that I actually cared enough to reevaluate what we were doing. I began to see that people wanted me to hand them everything for free and children saw me as Santa Clause because we had taught them to think this way. Enough people had come over to these communities with the intention of lending a helping hand, and very often it came in the form of free gifts and services. Of course that is appreciated by those on the receiving end and those on the giving end receive a huge amount of satisfaction and are greatly humbled by helping.

There was an awesome article I read recently on Forbes.com, and it was an interview with Peter Greer, CEO of Hope International, which is a microfinance organization. I will put the link to the article below because Peter really hits the nail on the head as far as what I have been feeling and noticing. He quotes an author, Bob Lupton, who describes so well what happens when people try to help those in need by just giving it away for free. He says, “when he gave something the first time, there was gratitude; and when he gave something a second time to that same community, there was anticipation; the third time, there was expectation; the fourth time, there was entitlement; and the fifth time, there was dependency. That is what we’ve all experienced when we’ve wanted to do good.” I have seen this even with the children that come to my front door day after day. They start out with just giving us a smile and a hello, and so I give them a sticker or a drink of clean water. After a few more visits like this to our house, we got less smiles and friendly greetings. Instead, we just get a face in the window that says, “you give me water” or “you give me money.” 

Another great example that Peter Greer gives the interviewer is of a community in Haiti that was visited by a missions team each year that would identify the household with the most need, and they would build them a new house. The community caught onto this and instead of trying each year to improve their living situation, they competed to be the neediest or the poorest, so that they would be chosen to receive next year’s new house. Now, for that team of people who were on the missions trip building houses, that trip probably changed their life. They were probably forever impacted by what they saw and the people they met. They probably went home and had a whole new outlook on the wasteful spending and lifestyles of the people around them. I think that’s a good thing. I think we all need to realize how the developing world lives, be grateful for all that we have, and be willing to share our blessings with those less fortunate. If it takes a short term missions trip like that to change someone’s life and turn them on to missions, then I think that’s great! That’s how it happened for me. I went on a short term trip with PMI, and was forever changed. All that said, do your homework and look into what you are really doing. Look at how it is impacting that community. Is what you are doing sustainable? Are you creating a dependency? Are you encouraging and empowering a community to help itself, or are you just giving handouts? You can argue the same thing in the U.S. Are we encouraging handouts and creating a dependency on Aid or are we empowering and encouraging people to help themselves? It’s the same as raising a child. I have yet to do it myself, but I have been around enough different families to be able to say that parents who gave their children everything they wanted without them having to work for it, usually ended up with children who were less grateful and more dependent. Parents who had their children do chores and work for their allowance or whatever they were given, generally had children who have a strong work ethic, they appreciate what they earn, and they are less dependent. I think we can all agree on that.

This does not mean that we don’t need people to give their time, money, and resources. It takes people giving those things to set people up for success. We need donors to give to PMI so that my husband has a salary and so that we could build all of the buildings for our clinic and supply them with beds and equipment. We need short term missions teams to spread the news about our clinic on the ground while providing medical care and education. The difference is though that PMI is empowering and enabling a staff of Ugandans to run their clinic sustainably, change the lives of their families, and provide affordable and high quality care to the community. They are not giving it out for free, therefore those who come to the clinic are showing that they are taking ownership of their healthcare, and they value it.

Basically all I am trying to say with all of this is, do your homework. Research the organizations you support. Think about how you are trying to help, and even consider if maybe what you are doing is doing more harm than good. Please read this article below, as he puts all of this into words better than I can. It’s a two part article, but I am only posting the link to the 1^st part below. Also, I am going to attach a link to another article that is a little more on the amusing side and is also SO true. It’s called 10 Reasons I Love/Hate Being a Missionary. I can identify with just about every word he says, except that we don’t have children and he does; however, we have missionary friends who do have children and I know they identify with this 100%.

Sorry this is so long, but it’s been on my heart for a while now, and I just thought I’d share because I know a lot of our readers have a heart for missions and I want people to really consider this. Thanks so much for reading and for supporting us. We love you all!

Love

Trish

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/jerrybowyer/2013/07/30/your-help-is-hurting-how-church-foreign-aid-programs-make-things-worse/

http://bringlove.in/10-reasons-why-i-lovehate-being-a-missionary/

Back in Uganda

Hey Everyone!

 



Some of you may not have even known that we left Uganda, but we did just take a quick 12 day trip home to the U.S. that was very last minute. When my parents were still here in Uganda, and Dad had just finished his last day of work for his internship, we got a call that my grandfather, Dad's father, was in the hospital and not expected to recover. We had all planned on going on a vacation to other parts of Uganda, but instead, Mom and Dad changed their flights to go home the next day and Newman and I were blessed to be able to book a flight home as well. It was very last minute, but it worked out so well. In fact the timing couldn't have been better. I did not know if Newman was going to be able to make the trip because of work, but PMI of course was so supportive and told him to be with family and since we were planning on being away on vacation anyways, the clinic was prepared for us to step away for a few days. After loosing my other grandfather last year and being away for all of that, I said that if another grandparent looks as though they may be passing then I wanted to go home. I was so blessed last time to have Newman's parents with us in Uganda when my other grandfather passed away and then again to have my parents here with us when we got this most recent news was such a blessing.
           The family told Grandfather, who at the time was basically unresponsive, that we were coming home. Well that seemed to do it, because by the time we got home and headed straight for the hospital, Grandfather was sitting up in the bed, talking, and eating. He certainly was weak, but apparently it was a dramatic change from the days before.

 

Grandfather was discharged home two days later on hospice care, which was great because then he was so close to visit with. He showed some slight improvements while we were home, and is still resting fairly comfortably at home amongst family. I feel so blessed to have been able to spend such a sweet time with him. He is a remarkable man. I also loved my time with my Grandmother who is always as sweet as she can be but can also provide some hilarious comic relief in any situation.

 

We returned back to Masindi on August 2nd after 2 unexpected nights in Entebbe and Kampala waiting for our lost luggage to arrive. It arrived safely with all of its contents, and we made it back to Masindi in time for Newman to do some work at the clinic before the weekend. We had two new Pharmacy students arrive the same day, and we have loved getting to know them.

Coming back here for some reason was really hard this time. I think just after having such a good time with family and coming back and not having my parents still here was tough. We spent a lot of time in prayer and now are feeling refreshed and focused to get the jobs at hand done. Please continue to pray for us. We especially need prayer for focus, for God's guidance, for contentment in where we are in life currently, and for God to move this project forward to where he wants it to be. Our time here has flown by and it will be over before we know it. There is much to accomplish, and I hope to enjoy the time we have an be present and not focus on what is next for us too much.

 

We have a team arriving on Saturday night which includes some old friends and Newman's little brother, Will Henry. We are excited about serving with them. Please pray for their travel and for our time together serving between 1,000 and 2,000 Ugandans next week.

 

That's what's going on in our lives currently. I didn't want to write too much because I also wanted to attach at the bottom of this update, a part of my Dad's reflection on his time here in Uganda and how the Lord used him. I loved what he had to say, so I hope you will be inspired by it as well. Thanks for your prayers and support!

 

Love,

Trish

 Below are some highlights of being home

 

Meet baby Jones Dew for the 1st time

 

Mom and Dad telling Grandfather about Uganda

 

Helping Liza set up the nursery after finding out its a boy!!

 

Got in a little beach day :)

 

 

 

 

Made it to Liza's 1st baby shower

 

 

Excerpt from my Dad's sermon : God's Continued Revelation of Himself

 

My first sermon was to be given to the English speaking service at the Cathedral. The topic I was asked to preach on, (to these people I had never met), was Stewardship. I said to Francis, “In the United States, Christians are happy for the pastor to preach on Salvation, God’s Love, and many other topics, but when he preaches on Tithing as the Biblical standard of stewardship, these people are often offended and feel that the preacher has trespassed into their personal lives.” Francis busted out laughing, began shaking my hand and said in his deep African voice, “Indeed, indeed. Thank you, thank you. It is the same here.”

He told me that what a Muzungu preacher says has greater impact and makes a greater impression that which a Ugandan pastor says. So my words, he said, could make a big difference in the growth in understanding for those who heard them. Muzungus, by the way, are white people.

 

I recognized this as a real opportunity, and also realized the importance of all that I might say or represent, for the rest of my time with these people.

On that Sunday, I introduced myself to the 800 faces who looked at this Muzungu, by saying Orayhota (did you sleep well), they responded-Kurunge (we are well). I said Mukama siimwe – Praise the Lord-. They said, “A siimwe”- Praise Him- They were smiling. I said, “Mukama akehu Omugisa”- God Bless you. They responded, “Ego, Calle, Kurunge” all affirmations. They clapped and some gave a high pitched “La,la,la,la,la….”.  I then read the first 2 verses of psalm 8 in Runyoro which speaks of the majesty and sovereignty of God, and in English I invited this empowering God to fill our hearts in order that He might instruct us.

 I then preached from Mt. 16, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” God had given this scripture to me as I asked myself, “How can I use scripture to support God’s call for us to leave our comfort zones as is required in order to be Godly stewards of our resources.”  I referenced Noah, Moses, and best of all Jesus who left the comfort of heaven to take on human flesh and die in our place.

 When I finished preaching several Christians from the congregation came forward and spoke in Runyoro. I thought they were making announcements of upcoming events, but Francis told me they were confessing that they had been robbing God in their offerings and wanted prayer that they might change their ways.

God’s Holy Spirit manifested itself in giving me the message

As I looked ahead to future preaching dates, I asked Rev. Francis what the scheduled readings were for those Sundays. He told me what they were, but said, “Feel free, my Brother. Preach on what God places on your heart.”

 

Patti and I would read the Psalm, OT and NT readings from the daily office every morning before I would go to St. Mt. and I would think about what I was learning about the people I was meeting and ministering to.

 In the 2^nd week of my internship, I went to the women’s fellowship where I was asked to “Give a Word”. This means to give a teaching of some sort in whatever way you are led. I am so glad I have read the Daily Office as now I have some basis for God to give me something to say.

 In the prayer time that follows I am made aware of several issues of demonic oppression. Mrs. Margaret Asiimwe has given a witness of how she and Rev. Francis spent all night in deliverance ministry in the home of one of their Christians who had become involved in witchcraft.

 One of our readings that week had been Mt. 21 where the Jewish religious leaders ask Jesus, “By what authority do you do these things...” meaning by what authority do you reinterpret the Writings of the Law and the Prophets; by what authority do you  raise Lazarus from the dead, cleanse the Temple of Money changers, cause a fig tree to wither at your command.

 My teaching point was that Jesus is God Himself and he is the author of God’s Word so he has authority; He is the creator of life so he has authority over death; He Himself is the true Temple and has authority over all things spiritual, He is creator of all and has authority over Nature itself.

 It occurred to me that these God wanted these Ugandan Christians to understand that at the Name of Jesus, EVERY KNEE in heaven and on earth and under the earth MUST BOW and EVERY TONGUE CONFESS that Jesus is Lord of all. Satan and demons pose no threat to those who understand this; to those who have released themselves to Him.

So this is what I preached at St. Stephens Church in the village of Rwijeere. At one point I said, “My Brothers and Sisters, when you command Satan himself, in the name of Jesus, to leave a place or a person, he MUST LEAVE. He has no choice.” They broke out in applause and started the high pitched “La,la,la….”.

I had asked Francis if it would be appropriate to invite people to come forward to dedicate or rededicate their lives to Christ at the end of my sermon and he thought it would be. So when I finished preaching he did that. I preached at 2 services there that day and both times everyone in the church came forward to be prayed for.

 Again God had revealed himself in letting me know what my audience for that day needed to hear from Him, and He opened their hearts to hear it.

 The last Sunday that I preached was on July 14, at the village church of Kijura called St. Peters. He took me to visit with the lay leader in charge of this church and I asked what the greatest pastoral challenge was that she had. She very quickly said that most of her congregation was made up of families where the mother and father were not married. She suggested I might preach on this issue.

Two weeks previous to this I had been given the opportunity to teach a class of 15 to 18 year olds, in the church sponsored school. The topic had been appropriate and inapprop courtship behaviors, choosing a partner for marriage, and characteristics of a Godly marriage.

There is a whole sermon I can assure you in that experience alone, but these kids had come up with some questions for me to answer that were very telling. As I wrote my sermon about the importance of marriage which is blessed by God through a priest, I addressed several of these questions.

 3 of the questions were,

          - If it was OK for men to have many wives in the days of Noah and Abraham, why is it wrong   now?

          - Why does a man ever want more than one woman, or a woman want more than one man?

          -          Is divorce acceptable if the man or the woman is infertile?

 So I preached on the scriptural bases and affirmation of the sacrament of marriage. My interpreter was the chief warden for the church. As I was preaching I noticed some laughter coming from the choir that was seated right next to me, and I thought they were probably laughing nervously because they were living with people they were not married to.

 As I finished preaching I suggested that those who were living in unmarried ways might contact Rev. Francis and ask him to schedule marriage ceremonies as he would be only too happy to do this. Francis then said to this congregation, “Ladies if you are not married to the man you are living with and are now willing to be married to him, will you come forwardd to be prayed for. Women began coming forward, some coming from the choir, and soon the altar rail was full. We layed hand on each of them and prayed a blessing on them.

 They went back to their seats. Francis then asked the men who were living with these women to come forward if they were ready to make those relationships right by getting married, so that they might be prayed for.

 No one came. I closed my eyes and prayed very earnestly. I opened one eye and saw one man at the rail. I went back to praying and before long more began to come. I understood what the laughing had been about as I say my translator, the chief warden come forward and kneel down. We layed hands on each of them and prayed a blessing.

Later that afternoon, Francis was supposed to pick me up at 4 to go to the home of one of the Christians for prayer. I called him at 4:45 to see where he was, and he said he was on his way. As I got on the back of his motor bike, he apologized for being late, and said he was held up by the 10 couples who had come to his office at the church for counseling and to register to be married.

I wish I could somehow describe to you just how counter cultural such a thing as this is in Uganda. This response was not secondary to a 5 week teaching on marriage and family relationship. It was not because I was so convincing in my 30 translated minutes on what God’s word says about marriage.

The Spirit of God Himself had gone ahead of us and lit the kindling that had already been layed through the teaching and pastoring of Francis and the lay leader Beatrice. I was simply blessed to be the Muzungu match for what God had already prepared.

Now, Folks, what you have heard in this testimony of God’s continual revelation of Himself in a recent 6 week period of my life is only a reflection of how He showed up to empower and enable my preaching efforts as I sought to be His Ambassador in Masindi, Uganda.

In fact He revealed himself in every aspect of our time over there. Here in a place where the water must be boiled in order to drink it safely and where  food born intestinal parasites are common, we had not one sick day. 

In a place where, the education and commitment of pastors is sometimes much less than one might hope for, I was placed under the mentorship of one of the most Godly and Gospel committed men I have ever met.

 The list of evidence of God’s revelation of Himself goes on and on. My prayer for you is that your spirit has been quickened by my report of the reality of the Living God who wants better things for you than you can desire or pray for. He will go before you as he has always gone before His people, and if you allow it He will light a path for you that is more fulfilling than any path you might ever walk. Amina, Mukama Siimwe, Mukama ahehu Omugisa.

 

 



 

Out of Africa

 

 

We are now in our hometown of Charleston, SC, after having spent 6 wonderful weeks in Uganda. I arrived in Africa on May 28, crying because I was so happy to see our children, and I departed Uganda on July 17, crying as we said our good byes to so many that we had come to love, during our brief time there.

 

Our dear, hardworking neighbor, Constance, and her 7 grandchildren, all came to say farewell. The faces of these little children are forever etched in my mind.

Walter, the 6 year old, became a regular fixture at our house, on many afternoons.

Walter would bring fresh mangoes or passion fruit that he harvested from the trees in his yard, knowing that I always had a few bananas or smiley face stickers for him in return.

 

Many times Walter and I would sit on the front steps of our house, and I would read stories from a children’s bible to him. He is learning English but is still limited in his vocabulary. On days that he would pop by while I was busy in the kitchen, I would give him paper and a package of 4 crayons, to draw pictures for me. This would keep him truly busy for an hour. He drew pictures of the pigs and chickens he helped to tend, and was very pleased when I posted the drawings on my refrigerator.

 

Children in Africa really do ‘make their own fun’.  On one occasion, 9 year old Muga, (Walter’s cousin) came to visit. He was pushing a stick that was about 3 feet in length and had a small plastic lid attached to the bottom of the stick, with a nail. The nail acted as an axle, and as Muga pushed it the lid would roll forward like a wheel. I asked him what he was pushing and he told me,

“It’s my bicycle.”

 

Another time Walter was walking through our yard pulling something behind him that looked like a toy truck with an attached cart. As I looked at it closely, it was a truck and a cart that he had made out of 2 quart size juice cartons with plastic water bottle caps for wheels. It was the cutest thing ever!

 

Three year old, Massias, who lived on the other side of our house, could always be heard in the morning as he ran around the yard making sounds like he was riding a boda boda (motorbike).  He had some imagination as he tore through the yard!

 

The sweet faces of the 30 women who gather to learn English are faces that I will not soon forget. I was invited to visit their class, and then later had them over for tea. They really appreciated being invited into a home where we could sit and visit. They sang praise songs and said lovely prayers for both John and myself. These are women who have a strong faith and are the leaders in their community. As a keepsake reminder of the day, I gave them crosses that I brought with me made by the children from Nashotah House Seminary.

 

And now, as I sit here in my air conditioned living room, in a comfy chair  my mind wanders back to the reality of the basic living conditions of the people in Uganda. (Looking back, even the “close encounters” I had with a cow and chickens at church don’t seem nearly as scary as they once did!) I am touched by how simple the lives of Ugandans are and yet how contented they seem to be.  It is so refreshing to see how joyful they seem,  visiting their neighbors, and how they graciously and sincerely extended hospitality to John and me, (these 2 muzugus), by saying to us again and again, “Thank you for coming. You are most welcome.”

 

They are a people who love the Lord and love to sing songs of praise. They worship with all of their might and are not self-conscious about greeting one another, routinely saying,

“Praise the Lord”.

 

It has been a summer that I shall never forget, and one that I know has made a lasting impression on me.

 

Recently I was talking to Newman, my dear son-in-law, about how I keep picturing, in my mind, the faces of these lovely, kind, soft-spoken people, and about how much I miss them. He summed it up best when he said to me, “You can leave Africa, but Africa will never leave you.” This is so true.

 

To all of our friends and family who have prayed for us and supported us during this amazing opportunity – please know that we have felt the prayers. They sustained us and spurred us on, and to you I sincerely say thank you and God bless you.

 

I am so thankful to the Rev. Francis Kajura, Vicar of St. Matthews Cathedral, and to Bishop George William Kasangaki, bishop of the Masindi-Kitara Diocese, for opening the way for me to be mentored and loved by the Christians whom they shepherd. It will truly make a difference in the way I minister to those God places in my path, in the years to come.

 

God’s Peace,

Patti   

 

From John:

The hope for Uganda’s future is the same as the hope for the future of the world. This hope is life for all,  motivated and empowered by Jesus Christ. This is the only motivation which will cause leaders to think about their people before thinking of themselves. It is the only motivation that will seek justice in a ruling culture that historically has sought its own self interest.

 

The majority of the people in the Masindi-Kitara Diocese are open to and hungry for a deeper understanding of God’s Word. We witnessed a changed attitude marked by new commitment as people gained new insights on truths about how God would have them live. In the 7 Sundays that we worshipped with them, we saw many come to the altar rail to commit their lives to Christ, to give testimony to changed hearts, to make right their marital relationships.

 

We are so very blessed to have been inserted into a place where God has already been blessing the efforts of dedicated servants who have labored sacrificially, for so long, in such loving and unwavering ways. The Teaching Parish Practicum that I went to Masindi to complete has exceeded my hopes and expectation,s and I pray has further formed me in preparation for whatever ministry God calls me to.

 

As Patti said, we are indeed so very grateful for your prayers and support.

 

Mukama Siimwe! Mukama akuhe Omugisa.  Praise the Lord! May God Bless you.

 

 

Walter's Train

 

 

 

English Class in the Guest House for tea