Hard to believe it is already April, this year seems to be
moving all too quickly. The past months have brought a lot of changes and a lot
of busyness…but also a lot of joys and refreshing moments.
Easter is a huge event in Ugandan churches. This year, we
got to spend Easter in a village of Amuria District, about 9 hours driving
distance from Kampala. A work colleague of Matt’s got married on Easter Sunday
in her husband’s home village (as per tradition). Easter morning was spent in a
Catholic village church which went on for at least 3 hours and included two
weddings in the proceedings. We then drove to the property of the bridegroom
and spent the afternoon enjoying the wedding entertainment and customs. We
decided to enjoy the long holiday weekend and take a mini family vacation on
our way to the wedding. All of the boys really enjoyed it and coped so well
despite the long distances. For our two older boys, it was an eye opening
experience going so deep in the village as both of them come from more
developed areas of Uganda. They also had never been anywhere in Uganda where a
language other than Luganda, which they speak, is the main vernacular. One kept
saying, “Is this how you felt when you first came to Uganda and everyone was
speaking Luganda and you had no idea what they were saying?”
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Our family picture at the wedding grounds.
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Joshua enjoyed village life and chased some goats while we waited for
the couple to arrive.
Joshua thought the reception needed some more entertainment.
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FAMILY
The older of the two boys continues to work hard in school
and amaze us with his work ethic. He is preparing for an end of year exam that
will determine what quality of secondary school (high school) he can qualify to
attend. He is looking forward to a much needed school break at the beginning of
May and has been invited to attend a soccer program that an agent recruited him
for after seeing him play a pick-up game over a weekend. He is still deciding
if he would like to attend this as his primary self-given focus is his school
work and passing this end of year exam.
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Working hard during a weekend tutoring session.
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The second oldest boy is doing well on his new school
curriculum and is enjoying being in a new environment. He is doing better than
we anticipated in making new friends and excelling outside of his comfort zone.
His rabbits continue to flourish, and he has welcomed 3 new litters of bunnies
since the beginning of the year. He has been spending his free time during this
rainy season planting vegetables around the compound, dreaming about buying a
chicken as another money making venture, and playing with Joshua.
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| With a friend showing off some of his rabbits. |
Joshua continues to be busy and learn new things every day.
He loves exploring new places and continues to keep us on our toes with what he
will do next, from running to trying to jump to saying new words or sounds.
Recently it was pretending to read a book to us. He continues to love animals
and tries to befriend any he sees from stray dogs to the birds flying high
above.
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Joshua at a playgroup he and Ashley recently joined. Both love the
opportunity to get out of the compound and interact with different people
throughout the week.
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Joshua has also taken to helping chase and catch the rabbits when they
get loose.
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EMI
EMI continues to be busy. There is no shortage of current or future work. We are thankful that there are many opportunities to serve the church here in Uganda and in East Africa. Projects are continuing to move forward with one to be completed at the end of this month and the others scheduled to finish at the end of June.
Besides the busyness of this season of work we are thinking about the vision for the next few years, where is our office going and how do we get there while ensuring we remain aligned with EMI's vision and core values. Matt has enjoyed being part of the process and thinking about where the direction the engineering department should be going.
Among the future plans for EMI Uganda is an expansion of our timber and metal fabrication workshop. We have out grown our current facility and are planning expand to 5 times the current size. We are designing the structures this year and fundraising. Matt will be working on the building design later this year. As part of the funding strategy EMI is planning some fundraising climbs to Mt. Kilimanjaro in early 2019. Matt was participated in one of these climbs in 2014 when EMI Uganda was raising fund for the office construction. If you have interest in participating in one of these climbs, check out the details here.
DOORS
Doors has undergone significant changes since the beginning
of the year and has been very much in transition. Some of this has been
stressful for Ashley, and some encouraging as she watches Ugandan staff take
ownership over the ministry and its growth and way forward. Her role continues
to shift around at Doors and recently has been mostly advising which is great.
One of the major changes that Doors is undergoing is the way sponsorship is
done. Currently the ministry is looking for individual sponsors for each of the
children attending the Primary School in Namuwongo slum where Ashley started
her time in Uganda, for each of the Secondary pupils who have completed their
primary education at Doors Primary School and moved on to high school, and for
each of the children in the boys’ home where Ashley lived when she first landed
in Uganda. Please let us know if you are interested in hearing more of any of
these children’s stories or interested in what a monthly sponsorship would look
like.
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One of the children that has been in the Doors Home when he was living
on the streets before being recruited into Doors over 3 years ago.
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PRAISES
- A continued healthy pregnancy and growth of our little girl on the way.
- A fun Easter weekend adventure with our entire family.
- Joshua’s continued health and growth and joy he brings to our family and community.
PRAYER REQUESTS
- For Doors as the ministry passes through this tough transition phase.
- For Matt at work in this season of feeling very busy with too many things to do in such a short amount of time.
- For our oldest boy as he prepares for the end of year exam.
- Wisdom as we plan for our family’s future in Uganda collectively and individually.
