Behind Open Walls...

These past few months, we have spent a lot of time thinking and praying about how to live well where we are, to be faithful disciples of Jesus. In one of those conversations, we found ourselves discussing our desire to build stronger friendships with Ugandans near us, and not just those we work with, buy from, or attend church with. Ashley's neighborhood walks have helped to lay the groundwork for some of those budding relationships, as well as having our oldest around who is quick to make friends and invite these new friends over for some football/soccer. One date night in, we listened to a TED talk that also showed us the impact our tall compound walls have on our relationships with neighbors. We are now striving to tear down the mental walls that accompany physical walls by inviting people into the walls as often and freely as possible (while still utilizing wisdom) as best we can.

Incorporating a weekly date night in has been a nice rhythm for us. We typically have spent it sitting on top of our back porch roof enjoying the quiet skyline of parts of Kampala while watching a TED talk or two, or discussing an article or sermon. One particularly eye-opening and challenging TED talk we listened to (https://www.ted.com/talks/alexandra_auer_the_intangible_effects_of_walls_apr_2020?language=en)  talked about the impact of physical walls and how they create mental walls as well of us versus them mentality. Since listening, we have felt a strong urge to do as much as we can to tear down mental walls and keeping our compound as open as possible to create community and togetherness in our neighborhood instead of separation and division.

Like many of you, we have endured this COVID-19 pandemic behind our home walls....well, compound walls, mostly. Since our last update, we have had a lot happen within our compound walls...and outside of them too. We've also been struck by a desire to have “open” compound walls...

Due to restrictions, we have continued to have church at home. The President of Uganda announced in his last speech that churches and other places of worship would only open in the last phase of re-opening post COVD-19.

Uganda has continued to register COVID-19 cases and at the time of writing this has had 870 confirmed cases, 808 recoveries and not a single death. Though we enter, as the Ministry of Health announced last week, Phase 3 of the pandemic with evidence of cluster community cases in a handful of districts, restrictions have started to ease for us in Kampala district. We may now drive our private vehicle with no more than 4 people inside (driver included), public transportation has opened at half capacity (but double the price), and more and more shops and businesses have opened with the requirement of social distancing and wearing of masks, to name a few.

Curfew is still in effect within Kampala (and all of Uganda) from 7pm to 6:30pm. Ashley was rushing to get home in time after a farewell gathering for a friend along with many people flooding the streets and “side-walks”. We have had several friends and colleagues leave Uganda on repatriation flights arranged by various embassies that have received special permission from the government as the airport remains officially closed. It has been hard to say goodbye especially as some have moved from Uganda back to their passport country, and others just aren't sure when they will be able to return. We remain confident in our decision to stay.

Thanks to the generous support of so many, Doors Ministries has continued to be able to provide food, soap, and charcoal for over 100 families throughout this quarantine restriction season thus far. Within the past month, Doors has also been able to connect with two local pastors in Namuwongo allowing for more widespread distribution of food, specifically to the neediest and most vulnerable families living within the slums. Thanks to the many of you who have given to this relief effort. Our oldest has been able to help with weekly food distributions, he has enjoyed the opportunity to serve in the community where he spent some of his younger years. https://www.allegrosolutions.org/donate/DoorsMinistries.001

Matt was able to return to work at the EMI office in Kajjansi on June 10^th. He must wear a mask, limit the number of people at meetings, and eat lunch in his office or outside. It has been a big adjustment for him and our family as we had been able to get into a healthy rhythm those months of him at home. He was able to be productive at work, while also getting more family time as the commute was less than a minute to our bedroom office compared to the 30 minute commute to the office one way. We miss having him around for the extra hour every day, but having meetings in person and being around coworkers has boosted his and the office morale in these trying times. 

EMI continues to have plenty of work to do, along with some big transitions coming up (and passed). Some staff have completed their time with EMI and moved back. Others have gone on extended visits to their passport countries leaving plenty of gaps in the office...plus the current Director will be transitioning out of his role into a Global Office Role on June 30th giving Matt the opportunity to step into a Deputy Director role which he does so with hesitant excitement. It all feels a bit overwhelming right now with all the gaps within the office (particularly under Matt's new role) and unknowns of many things project and work-related. In addition, he will be starting another 7 week Master's Course a week after the transition/promotion which may put additional stressors on his time. In all of this, we are confident this is the path God has for us and him. Would you pray with us, that Matt wouldn't rely on his own strength or wisdom to perform the tasks and roles set before him, and that he would simply be obedient to God through it all? And that we would be able to set healthy family rhythms that would allow him time to study without sacrificing quality family time?

EMI recently published Matt's presentation from the EMI Network conference last year. Check it out here https://emiworld.org/inside/emi-tech/getting-design-construction-appropriate-track

Our oldest has continued to stay home from boarding school. The President has given no indication of when schools will reopen. There are rumors that the earliest would be February of 2021 meaning this entire academic year (which runs from February to December in Uganda) would be at-home-learning. Once we all wrapped our heads around this, we are now trying to help guide him to set healthy rhythms and priorities for himself and continue to re-evaluate as everything continues to regularly change and opportunities come and go. He did have a friend staying with us for a couple of months, however, that friend recently moved back to his home to face some challenging situations there. Currently, our oldest is spending plenty of time studying on his own each week, attending tutoring sessions with a hired tutor a couple of times a week, and teaching/playing guitar. Most recently he has been asked to help lead worship for a local church via zoom with some of his friends from Doors. We've enjoyed the extended time at home we have had with him and conversations about making decisions, Biblical truths, and much more.

Three days a week, our oldest studies with 2 friends and a teacher for several hours at our dining table. Joshua likes to come and “study” with them toting along his coloring book and set of crayons.

Near the beginning of lockdown, some friends and neighbors would gather on our compound for a small football match with our oldest, and this day, some fresh jackfruit. Joshua and Abby have absolutely loved having different people around the house and compound regularly.

When our oldest joined our home over 3 years ago now, he did not know his true birthday so he chose a day in June and guessed at his age. Now that he has a smartphone and a Facebook page, on his fake birthday which just passed, his biological brother reached out to tell him his true birth month and birth year. He was overjoyed to have real information about himself and his semi-mysterious past. He celebrated this “fake” birthday by having some friends spend the weekend with us and playing lots of football. We will celebrate his real birthday in August.

Joshua and Abby have loved having so many people around the house and have really thrived being at home (mostly). Ashley and the kids started doing daily morning activities (mostly for Ashley's sanity...but also to establish some semblance of routine and rhythm). The kids look forward to the 30 minute to hour long morning activity which ranges from a water-based game, a craft, a learning activity, or music-based. Currently, they are very loosely going through a friend of a friend's self-made VBS-like curriculum that uses the Jesus Storybook Bible as it's basis. Last week was Noah's Ark themed, this week they are looking at the heroines of the Old Testament.

A friend of ours has been dropping her 6-year-old daughter off with Ashley and the kids 2 to 3 times a week while she goes to work. The kids have especially loved having a friend around several days a week to do our special morning activities and run around outside with. Here they are using a fallen palm tree branch as a boat.

Some of our special activities have included learning our days of a week and keeping a morning routine. The kids like to point to what is next on the morning routine.

These are some of Ashley and kids' morning activities which have included making lion masks (“Lion Hunt” song), coloring in the lines with chalk on bricks, lots of highly supervised painting (can't find washable paint in Uganda), and trying to build our own “towers of Babel” with toilet paper rolls and balancing balls on top. Ashley and the kids have all enjoyed these activities and the consistency, joy, and purpose they bring to each day. Feel free to reach out if YOU have any ideas to share!

Unfortunately during the most restrictive season of lockdown, Joshua had a post bath fall that ended him up needing one stitch on his chin. We are thankful that at the time of his fall, we quickly called the local government official for permission to drive him to the hospital immediately for stitches. To our shock, he was still at his office and waited the 10 minutes it took Ashley to load Joshua into the car and make her way to his office in order to give us the proper paperwork needed to drive to the hospital 15 minutes away. Joshua was a rockstar and is now fully recovered with a small battle scar under his chin.

Ashley has found a new hobby through all of this quarantining...gardening. It all started with a papaya she bought from the market for a snack. We kept the seeds, dried them, and just for “fun” planted them in an unkempt garden bed that was in the yard. Weeks later we had over 200 papaya tree seedlings. Since then, Ashley has taken a keen interest in watering them, transplanting them, and planting other seeds harvested from our fruits and vegetables bought from the market for consumption, or gifted to us by neighbors. We now have not only papaya trees growing all over the compound, but also pineapples, some passion fruit, tomatoes, sukuma wiki (similar to kale), avocado trees, and dodo (another type of green leafy veggie). The kids have loved “helping' her in the garden.

Ashley's new gardening hobby has taken us by surprise. It's a nice way to spend time outside while watching the kids, and feeling like something productive is getting done.

In addition to morning activities, gardening, and interacting with anyone that comes into the compound, Ashley and the kids have continued to take some neighborhood walks each week to buy food and supplies from the local shops (to feed all of our regular visitors) and interact with our neighbors. Its been a great chance for Ashley to not only get off the compound, but also practice Luganda and build new friendships, and also for the kids to try to pick up some Luganda words.

Neighborhood walks to buy food from nearby vendors has been very lifegiving for Ashley and the kids. Friendships have been build with moms and children in one area of the neighborhood in particular. One mom came over to teach Ashley to make sambusa snacks pictures above. These deep-fried pouches of goodness are filled with potatoes, cabbage, and sauteed vegetables. Since then Ashley has made some filled with Mexican rice, and others with ground beef. We look forward to seeing this relationship, and others, continue to grow.

Also a result of our neighborhood walks is our unanticipated afternoon neighborhood playgroup that we host. The children started asking if they could come and play, a simple yes has brought a lot of joy, freedom, and relationships to the compound for very many children...as well as Luganda.

Prayer requests:

• Many people in Uganda continue to struggle financially as many restrictions remain in place. Many still cannot work and earn money, especially teachers who now will likely be out of jobs until early next year. Most schools are not able to provide salaries for their teachers when school is not in session because they rely on school fees from students to pay staff. Distance learning is near impossible for most in Uganda and thus most schools as well. Please pray for the many struggling to make ends meet in Uganda, especially the large number of teachers throughout the nation.
• Please pray for Matt as he transitions into the role of Deputy Director this week and as he begins another 7 week Master's Course on July 6^th.
• Please pray for Ashley and the kids as they continue to try and learn more and more Luganda.
• Please pray for more opportunities for us to safely open our compound walls to neighbors and budding friendships, that mental walls on both sides would tear down, and that deep and meaningful relationships and conversations would develop.
• Please pray for our oldest as he continues to balance at-home-learning with fun and learning other helpful skills.
• Please pray for us and our extended families as we both had fun trips/visits planned that we were very much looking forward to. Matt's trip to Canada in late June for his brother's wedding was cancelled (the wedding postponed another year), and Ashley's mom's trip to visit Uganda during that time also cancelled. Ashley is currently still planning to travel to the USA in September for her sister's wedding, but plans are pending Uganda's borders opening and what quarantine restrictions would be in place.

Praises:

• We are so thankful for the new fun and healthy family rhythms that better reflect our priorities, including intentional time of fun and discipleship with our oldest after the young ones are in bed, reading of Scripture and discussion around the dinner table and morning exercise for Matt and Ashley switching off every morning, to name some. These rhythms are continuing to be changed and fine-tuned as we adjust to incorporating them into our lives more and more.
• We are thankful for the new friendships that have budded because of lockdown measures.
• We continue to be incredibly grateful for the beautiful compound that we call home and have been able to spend lockdown in with plenty of space for play, exercise, gardening, relaxation and more. We continue to see this place as a gift from God (see a previous update of how we found this house)
• We are thankful for the peace and confidence we feel about staying in Uganda even as we are saddened by missing trips and opportunities to see extended family this past month.
• We are thankful for Matt's opportunity to step into a new role at work that better reflects his passions and vision, as well as a Master's Course that will better equip him for this role (even if it will make life a bit busier for the next couple months).