So much has happened in these short two months as we have
been preparing for our 5 ½ month Home Assignment in North America. We lefton
Monday and landed in Toronto on Tuesday. Our travels went reasonably well, thank you for praying with us.
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| So many “see you laters” have been said…the saddest of which has been with our neighbors we have shared more than just a compound with over the past 3 ½ years |
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This is where Ashley buys fruits and vegetables from each week (in
Luganda). One thing we are looking forward to on our Home Assignment is sharing
pieces of our life in Uganda with friends and family in North America. We are
preparing a slideshow to do just that.
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FAMILY
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| Enjoying our short roadtrip vacation to Kenya to visit friends. |
For most of the month of May our foster son was home with us
from boarding school. It was so nice to have him home, Joshua especially enjoyed
spending time with him and was frequently in his room with him while he played
the keyboard. He shared a lot about his experiences in boarding school, the
good and the bad. Overall he is enjoying it and performing well
academically…and above average socially. We are very proud of him and will miss
him while we are gone.
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Joshua loved spending 3 ½ weeks with our foster son while we was home
on a break from boarding school. Our foster son is doing quite well in boarding
school and we enjoyed having some time with him.
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At beginning of June, Uganda has a handful of
public holidays. We decided to take advantage of Matt’s off days from work and
drive to Kenya. We have friends who live outside of Nakuru. The kids travelled
well in the car despite the long hours which encouraged us as we prepare for
several long roadtrips and plane rides in North America. We enjoyed spending
time with our friends and seeing where they live and piece of their life. It
was oddly very cold and rainy where we were and we even had a fireplace in the
house we stayed in to keep the house warm on the very cold nights! Joshua’s
highlight was the horses that were kept nearby to where we were staying, and
running around outside jumping in puddles. Abby seemed to most enjoyed just
having Dad around all day every day.
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Joshua’s favorite part of our Kenya trip was the horses nearby the
house we stayed in! Over the couple of days we spent there he slowly grew in
confidence around them and began trying to feed and pet them.
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Upon our return from Kenya, Abby decided she was ready to
start walking. She took her first unassisted steps the day after we arrived
back home, and hasn’t stopped since. Joshua especially has been thrilled by
Abby’s new “trick” and can be frequently found cheering her on.
Abby took her first steps the day after returned to Uganda from Kenya.
Joshua has been her biggest cheerleader!
EMI
Matt made a trip to Burundi for a week to check on the construction of the new pediatrics ward at Kibuye Hope Hospital. Matt managed the design team last year and has been the liaison between the construction and design teams during construction. It was great to see the construction, meet the construction team and engage with ministry that EMI has worked with over the past 6 years.
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| Matt observing ground floor concrete pour. |
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| Ongoing construction at Kibuye Hope Hospital |
The past few weeks have been busy wrapping up projects, handing over work and setting things up to be gone for a few months. Almost everything got done by then end of Friday, Matt's last day in the office this year.
As Matt looks to his future at EMI, he sees opportunity to step into more leadership positions. While searching online, he came across a master's program that appear to be a perfect fit. Matt has applied, interview and been accepted to the Master of Management in Nonprofit Organizations at Biola University. He will complete the course online and start in September while we are on home assignment.
DOORS MINISTRIES
Doors Ministries has seen some huge answers to prayer these
past months. A couple of fundraisers were launched on social media, all of
which raised more than the desired amount! The organization is looking forward
to hosting a number of teams and short-term volunteers this summer. A praise in
this is that Ashley has not been involved at all in planning or arranging this.
It has been all Ugandan run and done. So thankful to see this aspect of
leadership completely passed off in more capable hands than her own.
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One of the fundraisers launched by Doors Ministries was for new water
filters for Doors Primary School. The former ones had been around for more than
5 years and were no longer effective leaving all the children and staff
susceptible to many dangerous water-born diseases.
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- Great 3 ½ week school holiday having our foster son home!
- Have places to store all of our stuff while we are gone, and a place lined up to come back to in December.
- The amazing community around us who reached out our last days to help with the moving, offer space for storing our stuff, watch our kids while we run errands, bring us meals, and so much more!
- Good exit medical check ups. Ashley and the kids had bilharzia but were able to complete the treatment before we leave Uganda.
- Great mini-vacation trip to visit friends in Kenya.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Please join us in praying for our home assignment plans:
- Over the next few weeks we are resting and getting over jet lag, traveling to Calgary to visit EMI Canada and do some debriefing, vacation with family and a road trip in western Canada to visit friends and family.
- We have many transitions ahead of us. Pray that our family would find some stability with all the changes.
- We have not lived in North America for over 5 years. We will experience many cultural adjustments over the next few days, weeks and months.
- For our foster son while we are gone. He will be at school for the majority of the time, but will have one holiday which we are planning for him to spend with gracious friends who have offered a place for him. He looks up to these friends as well and is looking forward to his time with them.
- Pray for everyone at EMI that will be taking on additional roles and responsibilities during Matt's absence.
