Finding Hope in the Abnormal

“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalms 27:13

Since our last update, it seems the world has turned upside down, and normal is no longer a word in our vocabulary. I know many of you feel the same way. Nothing is as it was before COVID-19 in this physical world. It all feels surreal. BUT as we entered the Easter weekend, we were reminded of our unchanging Saviour and God, Who is above by the circumstances of the world and moved to walk with us through it all. His truth and Gospel remains even if everything around us is so different. May this be a season of asking God what He has for you in all these abnormal rhythms and newness. What an opportunity is before us to reevaluate life as we knew it and reset and refocus our priorities!

A very quiet street in our neighbourhood that is typically bustling with vendors and people. This was taken the day after the government instituted vendor restrictions on April1st, and banned non-cargo vehicles among many other things in Uganda.

Before the global pandemic, we had some fun family changes. For starters, Joshua started school for the first time. We enrolled him in a Ugandan-curriculum nursery school run by our church where he started what is called “Baby Class” (pre-K about equivalent). He absolutely loved the idea of starting school and was so excited for his first days...now he's not so sure about being dropped off by Mom 3 mornings a week while Abby waves goodbye, and struggles with the extra attention he gets as not only the sole non-African in his class but in the entire school. We are thankful for his teachers who are sensitive to his dislike of the extra attention and are diligent to protect him and get the other children to call him by his name and not “muzungu” (the term used for foreigners here). Our hope in him attending school is for him to learn the local language at an early age, gain friendships with other children his age, and connect our family deeper within our church community. He loves the actual learning aspect of school...and getting a cup of porridge every day that he is there.

Abby mostly enjoyed her alone time when Joshua is at school...but was extremely happy to see him every day when we pick him up and typically spends the first 5 minutes of seeing him trying to give him hugs and just hold him. Joshua is mostly unphased by her attempts.

Matt finished his Master's class at the start of March and was able to glean a lot from it that he hopes to begin implementing into his leadership at EMI more and more. His next class begins in July. To celebrate the end of that busy season of full evenings and weekends studying, we took a family trip to the Entebbe Zoo. We had the place mostly to ourselves and even stopped for a special treat of KFC ice cream on our way home.

At our recent trip to the Entebbe Zoo, a baby elephant decided to come and say hello. This was a highlight for all of us. The Zoo was so empty we felt like we had the place to ourselves. Abby especially loved it and giggled anytime we saw a new animal though oddly the cow was her favourite one. Joshua's favourite was the huge lions who were on full display for us.

On our way home we stopped at one of 2 American chain restaurants in Uganda...KFC (Pizza Hut is the other one). KFC is considered pretty high class here. We were treated to ice cream cones by Daddy.

Also pre-pandemic, we were able to open up our home and host a fellow member of our church who needed a place to stay during a difficult season for a few weeks before returning to the US for a couple of months leave. We are thankful to have the space and ability to open up our lives and home to others and hope to do so again in the future. 

We invested in some outdoor plastic chairs a couple of weeks ago and now are so thankful we did. The kids (and Ashley) love having snack time outside on the porch and the novelty of not being at the dining table to eat.

Now enter the COVID-19 pandemic which felt unreal before it hit Uganda. We would read news stories and hear updates from family and friends in North America, and feel disconnected from what was happening in the rest of the world. Uganda started taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in mid-March before a single case was registered. Upon writing this update less than a month since the first restrictions were put in place and first case detected, there are 74 confirmed cases within Uganda. Most cases are recent returnees (primarily Ugandan) from abroad, Dubai specifically. As far as we are aware, the virus has yet to hit the general population. We are thankful for this: that restrictions are in place before a huge detected outbreak, and that the government is having time to think and plan in the event of an outbreak.

A beautiful sunrise over Lake Victoria taken by Ashley on a morning run before curfews were put in place, and public exercise prohibited by government COVID-19 restrictions.

Currently, we live in a state of severe restrictions. Borders are closed to travellers coming or going from Uganda on land, water, or air (apart from cargo). Only agriculture input shops, medical supply shops, food shops and supermarkets, hospitals, communications, banks, water, and electricity providers are to be open and working on location at this time. We have a set curfew where you are not to leave your compound or home from 7pm until 6:30am (hours of darkness) to prevent theft. No cars or motorcycles are allowed on the road, including private vehicles (including ours), apart from special exemptions granted by the government to transport cargo, medical personnel, medical emergencies, or military/police. This means that we must walk to any place we need to go, which is primarily to buy food from the local shop (1/4 mile away) or the supermarket (1 mile away, though there are some that are allowing deliveries to be arranged). Groups and gatherings are not to exceed 5 people. All churches and other places of worship, schools, and most businesses have been closed. A recent restriction put in place was prohibiting jogging/exercising outside of your home/compound. Uganda's 75-year-old president recorded a home workout to inspire people. This was put in place because the roads of Kampala specifically were becoming quite congested with the very fit and energetic population of Ugandans. These are just some of the 36 restrictions in place. The restrictions originally were for 2 weeks. Those two weeks, however, ended on April 14^th. On the 14^th, the government extended the restrictions for at least another 3 weeks, until May 5^th.

Abby and one of our guard dogs, Buddy. They are the best of friends and we are thankful for his presence on our compound that deters potential thieves. With the increase in restrictions and forced unemployment of people due to restrictions, theft and crime are starting to climb up. We have thankfully had no incidents.

We live within these restrictions, but don't feel unnecessarily burdened by them. We understand mostly why each is in place and are thankful for a government that is trying to protect it's country's residents, including us. We aren't sure what the future of COVID-19 in Uganda holds, but we aren't afraid or anxious. We are mildly stocked and prepared physically, but more so prepared emotionally and spiritually for whatever lies ahead. EMI Canada made a Webinar available to us the other evening that has helped equip us to process through this season, and discern how to live well in it. We are happy to remain in Uganda during this time and have not questioned that decision to stay.

 

The kids love riding around the yard with Matt on his motorcycle. He starts it (and our car) every couple of days to keep the engine strong as we are not allowed to drive personal vehicles outside of our compound during this time. Joshua insisted that everyone wear boots and a helmet for the ride.

 

As of the 20^th of March, our oldest is home from boarding school and spends hours every day studying and trying to catch up academically. His school provided work for him to do. Matt also was able to find online resources for his curriculum to supplement his learning. He has really been enjoying that. He's really missed friends as he is a very social person. Due to restrictions, we've not allowed him to go and visit friends, but overall he seems to be holding up well...especially after a friend of his from primary school who lives in a tough situation across town showed up at our gate and asked to stay during this season. He now has a friend, a study companion, and someone to play soccer with for exercise (within our compound of course...). He has also been able to help Doors Ministries distribute food in Namuwongo (more on that later).

Our oldest is home from school for almost a month now and spends most of his daylight hours studying at our dining room table. He is still a bit behind his classmates academically and is trying to use this time to catch up well. It also helps to distract him from feeling more isolated from his friends than he already does right now.

As of March 31^st, Matt began working from home and has set up his office in our bedroom. He has found it challenging to lead a team remotely, and even more challenging to know how to respond to all that is going on as it is so far outside his education and expertise. 

Much has changed for EMI globally as worldwide travel restriction prevents our typical project teams. Thankfully most of our term 1 projects had returned so there is work for a few months. However, the summer project trips have been cancelled and the fall remains uncertain. Each office is thinking about creative ways to engage in project work during this season, including assisting the COVID-19 responses. We have reached out to some health care facilities to aid in planning temporary spaces for the influx of COVID-19 patients. Our R&D department is exploring how to design and build low-tech ventilators.

EMI Uganda is thankful to have several established ministry partners whose projects will likely keep us busy through the end of the year. However, our construction sites and fabrication workshop are shut down until government restrictions are lifted.

Joshua also received some homework from his school to complete while schools remain closed. He has joyfully been working on it and loves tracing numbers and counting.

Joshua and Abby don't seem to have any idea what is happening apart from everyone being home all the time. They love it. They love having lunch with Daddy everyday, getting to play outside together, watching our oldest juggle the soccer ball, and Joshua doesn't even mind that he somehow mysteriously stopped being dropped off at school. He does have some homework they sent for him which he loves doing. Their favourite activities have been climbing trees in our backyard, and “cleaning” anything they can get their hands on with a basin of water and a scrub brush (from clothes, to baby dolls, to toy cars, to our car, to the walls of the house).

Joshua and Abby spend most mornings in their sandpit with a basin of water “washing” anything and everything. We are so thankful for this home and compound and see it as such a gift for this time of being home 24/7. The kids have tons of space to explore and stay busy for hours on end. The weather has also been amazing, another gift.

Ashley made a makeshift swing set with the straps of our broken hammock. The kids giggle with delight anytime Daddy pushes them on it.

Ashley has been kept busy with the kids at the house all day and trying to maintain about a month's supply of food (difficult with 2 teenage boys in the house). She has also been able to help Doors Ministries fundraise to provide food to families living within the Namuwongo slum community. The government restrictions have unfortunately put many people out of work, particularly those that live day to day: the money earned from a day's work goes directly towards feeding self and family that night. Most families within Doors Ministries have lost all means of income and have no way to buy food or soap, or even stock up on food. This has been the case for thousands and thousands of Ugandans throughout the country. Doors has been able to provide over 100 families (and counting) with enough food and soap one week at a time. We have been amazed at people's response to this huge need, and especially at the number of our own supporters and prayer partners who have also contributed to Doors Ministries. Thank you so much. The need is great, but so is the love of God.

Doors Ministries is raising funds to provide food and soap to families living in Namuwongo who live day to day. Without work, these families are struggling with hunger and fear starvation more than COVID-19. Doors' staff has creatively been able to distribute food and soap in light of government restrictions on non-government food distributions and thanks to the generous financial support of many. To learn more about the situation in Namuwongo, feel free to find Doors Ministries on Facebook or send us a message. To contribute towards food and soap for impoverished families in Namuwongo, visit www.allegrosolutions.org/donate/DoorsMinistries.001

We were able to celebrate Easter from home over the holiday weekend. It was a quiet weekend, but we were able to have some neighbors (one at a time of course) over for a meal each of the days and spend time reflecting and enjoying life-giving activities ourselves such as reading, being outside, and going for short walks. Unfortunately, Abby had some high fevers over the weekend which were a bit scary because we can't just jump in our car and go to a hospital at this time. We need government clearance to use our personal vehicle for any reason. Thankfully her fevers subsided by Easter dinner, and she began to return to her normal “full of personality” self.  

We had a nice Easter at home which included some nicer meals, a family worship service led by our oldest on his guitar, and an “envelope” scavenger hunt (we didn't have any plastic Easter eggs, thus improvised).

Despite high fevers over Easter weekend and 10 mango fly infections, Abby was able to revive herself and appetite just in time for Easter dinner...and especially for chocolate cookie desserts that were gifted to us by friends nearby. She is now fine and ended up not needing professional medical attention.

Prayer Requests:

• For our oldest as he studies at home, that his time is productive academically and he is able to glean from the online curriculum.
• For the friend staying with us, that we would have wisdom on how to handle his difficult family situation and steward our time with him well if he does stay longer.
• For Matt as he navigates leading and managing remotely, and the rest of the EMI team. Many are unable to work from home due to their environment or the nature of their job.
• For the many in Uganda that are struggling to find food to eat each day and soap to wash. The government has promised to deliver food to people in need but the need is incredibly large here and difficult to get food to people without gathering in a large crowd (which is why public food distributions have been outlawed causing Doors to get creative in how food to give to people)
• For protection of Uganda and the health system here that is not outfitted or equipped to handle a major influx of cases

Praises:

• We are incredibly thankful for the home and compound we have to “shelter in place” with a large grass yard, lots of trees for climbing and shade, and walking distance to shops, supermarkets, and friends.
• We are also thankful for the way our kids love each other and generally get along great. Not once have they complained about being at home all day or wanting other friends to come.
• We are thankful for opportunities to open our home to others
• We are thankful for the amount of finances that came in for the ongoing Doors Ministries fundraiser and the dedicated Doors staff and volunteers who walk more than 5 miles one way to distribute food to needy families (all within curfew hours under a hot African sun)
• We are thankful for friends and family from afar who have checked in on us admist their own craziness and chaos of change
• We are thankful for the long holiday weekend to celebrate our Hope and Savior through Easter. He is risen indeed!