What's Been Happening in Our World

Thank you to each of our family and friends that read our updates and pray with us regularly. We apologize for not sending out an update since October of last year. It has been a busy season and this update kept getting pushed back. We are thankful for each of you that has checked in since then. We hope you all had wonderful Christmases and are into the new year full of hope and refreshment.

We had a great 4 night getaway to Fort Portal, in western Uganda, between Christmas and New Year's. We swam in crater lakes, continued to feed our new birding hobby with plenty of sightings, saw 4 different kinds of monkeys on an afternoon hike, and got some much needed rest and fun to be able to start off 2021 well. The trip was such a gift.

In November, we celebrated American Thanksgiving just days before Joshua's 4^th birthday. December gave us opportunity to reflect in the evenings during the Advent season, as well as a rare opportunity for us to get away child free for a night on our anniversary thanks to some wonderful friends. At the end of December we took a memorable family trip to Fort Portal and swam in crater lakes, did some hiking and saw so many monkeys and birds! 

In January, we dove back into our routines of work and studying for Matt, studying from home for our oldest, and homeschooling/at home activities for Ashley and the kids. January was also politically tense during Uganda's election season that included a social media and internet shut down for several days. February has been more peaceful as the politics has cooled down a bit and more and more COVID restrictions continue to ease. The Government of Uganda even announced a roll out plan of schools reopening much to the relief of our oldest who is anxious to get back to school. This month we have also started exploring other church options that are meeting outside as our home church is still closed to children under 13 due to the government's restrictions on Sunday school programs for children. 

 

We took a family hike in a forest during our vacation near Fort Portal. One part of the hike was quite muddy. Joshua and Ashley couldn't stop laughing as they sludged through the “thick oozy mud” and thought about the song/book “Going on a Bear Hunt.”

A less muddy hike in Fort Portal was up a nearby hill with stunning views of 3 crater lakes, the Rwenzori Mountains and the surrounding valleys. Joshua asked to climb up this mountain every day that we were there. Our oldest called this place “maybe the coolest place ever” as it brought to life many things he had learned about in Geography and Social Studies.

Overall, we are thankful for the start of the new year and the innate opportunities it brings to reflect on the past year, plan for the next, and take time to celebrate and re-evaluate. Celebrate what God has done and what He is stirring within us. Re-evaluate priorities and where we are walking in this crazy life we get to live every day. Thank you for standing with us. Please send us a message so we can know how to stand with you as well! 

 

Though Joshua's birthday falls very closely with American Thanksgiving (which we celebrated with chicken and a few American friends), he had plenty of opportunity to celebrate. We hosted a small gathering with his friends from the neighborhood who come over most afternoons to play, another small gathering the next day with some family friends, and also took a family trip to the zoo.

Joshua and his best friend at one of his birthday gatherings. He was given a soccer goal that he and Matt made together so most of the party was spent kicking soccer balls through it and racing around our compound. We also learned at his party that opening gifts in a gathering setting is culturally inappropriate in Uganda. We continue to learn new things about the culture we get to live in.

At EMI, Matt is enjoying his new role. The second half of last year was busy. However, some adjustments in the new year have made it more manageable for Matt. He is enjoying thinking more about the big picture and coaching others. We are thankful that the office has kept busy with design and construction projects the past year despite the COVID disruptions. 

Construction of the 3 storey, 130-bed paediatrics ward for Kibuye Hope Hospital in Burundi was completed at the end of 2020. Matt managed the design team for this building and provided office support for the initial construction stage, including a site visit in May 2019.

EMI Uganda started off the year gathering all of our staff together. We meet in our fabrication workshop to reflect on and celebrate the past year and look ahead to where we are going this year.

Our oldest has continued to faithfully study from home every morning. At the end of 2020, we were happy to be able to find a wonderful chemistry and biology tutor for him who really helped him grasp both subjects well. This year, his school sent out work for the students to complete and announced that he will be able to return to campus with his classmates for the 3^rd term of his Senior 2 high school year at the end of May. (Schools closed halfway through his 1^st term of Senior 2, and the government is assuming everyone was able to complete Term 2 at their homes during lockdown). Though he was disappointed at how much longer it is until he returns, he is very excited to start a computer class that will run until school resumes.

 

Another hobby he has taken up during his extended school holiday is baking cakes thanks to a friend that visited in October and taught him how at his request. They are so good that Ashley asked him to bake one for Joshua's birthday, one for Matt's birthday, and another for Christmas.

We have all loved this extended time with our oldest at home, Abby especially has grown in her love and admiration of him. She is frequently found following him or trying to get him when he is home (and not studying).

Speaking of studying, Matt continues his studies completing two course with another Master's Course. It finishes at the end of February. The stresses of studying alongside continuing to learn his new(ish) role at EMI has lead us to the realization that he needs to take a trimester off and will not study this summer. The most recent course has been encouraging and fruitful for work overall, though pretty draining on Matt's sleep and overall emotional wellbeing. 

 

We recently went with another family to Reptile Village in Entebbe. The kids loved a morning out as a family and with Daddy, and getting to hold a snake, chameleons, turtles and even baby ducks and rats. The guide even let them see how a cobra attacks, a crocodile growls and snaps, and a turtle eats fish.

Joshua and Abby continue to grow and enjoy life. Everyday is an adventure for them from finding snails to looking for bird nests to digging in the sand pit. It has been an enjoyable season of parenthood for us. Abby has taken several steps to becoming a big girl including moving to a big girl bed and getting out of diapers. Joshua is loving his at home learning and really taken to the alphabet. We will complete A-Z (a week a letter) just before Easter and likely continue on the homeschooling track for now.

 

Everyday is an adventure with these two. They love exploring and neighborhood “nature” hikes. Recently Joshua has been on a kick wanting to learn about nests and eggs. We currently have a nest being built in one of our trees and have been able to observe an African Harrier Hawk family that has built a nest in our neighbors' large tree.

Finding and joining a nearby library has been such a life giving experience for Ashley and the kids. We now have access to more books than what we were able to carry across the ocean!

Ashley continues to enjoy (mostly) her days at home with the kids and the wonder they fill the days with. They have spent more and more time getting to know the neighborhood and making connections with several of the families. Ashley also had an opportunity to learn traditional coffee making process from an Eritrean friend. It was delicious and so much fun...though Ashley did not sleep that night after all the cups of coffee! She also has the opportunity to step into a mentoring role with an EMI intern this Spring term and is looking forward to get a little more involved in EMI and get to know this term's interns.

Teaching the alphabet and other basic preschool concepts with accompanying crafts and activities has been surprisingly fun for Ashley. She and the kids have spent the last several months focusing on a letter a week (with a couple of breaks here and there) starting with A and will end with Z right before Easter. Making rain was a memorable experiment for all of them. 

 

Joshua has really taken to the alphabet. Each letter's theme has typically includes a local bird species that starts with that letter alongside the typical examples...Here we did T for Tree and T for Turaco.

Thank you again to all of you who read these. We really do appreciate it. Please send us a note with an update on your happenings! 

 

Everyday that Matt gets home from work on his boda/motorcycle, our kids and whichever neighborhood friends are over, line up at the gate for a turn to ride with him. He patiently completes sometimes as many as 7 laps around our compound so every child can have a turn.

Praises:

• Thankful for our vacation over Christmas break and the opportunity to get away as a family and have fun in nature together.

• Thankful for our anniversary getaway thanks to friends that watched the kids. It was a refreshing time to get to talk and plan a bit for the upcoming year.

• Continually thankful for the compound and home we live in. It continues to be a gift and endless supply of adventures for the kids, hosting space for friends and the neighborhood, peaceful environment for us to unwind in, and teeming with birds, butterflies and bugs.

• Thankful that our oldest was able to receive some specialized help in his more challenging subjects and a new connection with a chemistry teacher/pastor.

Prayer Requests:

• EMI Uganda is going through some growing pains as we adjust to leadership and other personnel changes as well as working through various issues. Please pray for wisdom as we navigate the way forward. 
  

• For Matt as he navigates Master's coursework alongside fulltime work and family life. Restraints on time has left him feeling stressed and unable to fully invest in any area as much as he would like, and pretty discouraged overall.

• For our oldest as he spends the next 3 months waiting for schools to reopen. Pray that he would continue to be surrounded by godly friendships and advisors outside of our family (as well as within!).

• This summer we are hoping to take a month long trip back to North America for a family wedding. We aren't yet sure how to do this or how it will be feasible with the ever changing travel restrictions and quarantines between Uganda, Canada and the US. Please pray for wisdom as we make plans in the coming months and that we would approach the trip with healthy perspectives and not put all of our hopes and longings into a North America trip.

• For us as we seek out new church community while awaiting for our home church to reopen Sunday school programs as the government allows.

• For relationships within our neighborhood, that we would be faithful witnesses of God's goodness and faithfulness across religious, language, cultural and socioeconomic lines.