Summer in Uganda

Summer in Uganda can be a funny thing…actually, summer isn’t really a thing here. Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring are replaced with Dry Seasons and Rainy Seasons. Ugandan schools also don’t have their longer breaks and end of the academic years at what we call “summer time”. Instead, they are in the middle of Term 2 (of 3) right now and have the end of the academic year in November/December with the longer school break from then until mid-February. Summer months also tend to correlate with rainy season (and winter months with dry season…thank you Equator). Though there is no “summer” here, the summer months tend to be when a lot of the international community in Uganda travels to passport countries for visits and home assignments/leaves. We are thankful for this season of “summer”/”rainy season” in Uganda as we prepare for our own Home Assignment coming up in August through October.

Joanna turned 1 in June! We celebrated our Sanyu (joy) with a camping trip to one of our favorite spots. She loved being outside almost constantly, and of course, couldn’t wait to get her hands on some cake!

Spring was a bit of a busier season for us. Matt had lots of visitors at EMI and celebrated EMI Uganda’s 20^th Anniversary in May. Ashley and the kids continued with homeschool, reaching out to neighbors, and leading Nature Club. Our foster son had a school break for 2.5 weeks,but has since geared up again double time as he awaits national exams coming in October. See more below…

EMI Update

EMI's mission statement: “To develop people, design structures, and construct facilities which serve communities and the Church. EMI Uganda celebrates its 20 year anniversary in 2023. We spent some time in May celebrating God's faithfulness over the past 2 decades. May felt like a busy month as we also had some visitors from EMI Cambodia exploring our construction management and workshop and from EMI Global providing training to our team. It was a great reminder of all that God is doing around the world through EMI.

One of the great things about EMI is our focus on discipleship, both spiritual and professional. Matt is engaging in spiritual discipleship by mentoring an intern this term. It is a privilege to pour into the lives of young professionals. 

Our office leadership team celebrating our diversity on cultural dress day

EMI Uganda team photo at our 20 year celebration

What is a celebration without a cake?

Family Update

Unfortunately, Joanna got a bacterial infection in early July that earned us 2 nights in the hospital. She is now back home with a healthy report. We are thankful for accessible healthcare. 

Our family mission statement is walking with Jesus as faithful disciples and inviting others to join. Though schools are back in session throughout Uganda, we have been able to continue hosting a neighborhood playgroup most weekends, a time our kids really look forward to and enjoy. Through the group, we’ve gotten closer to one family and have had very interesting conversations about faith and God. We are thankful for these opportunities and conversations.

Homeschooling continues to surprise us with how well it fits into our family for this season. The kids are learning lots, Joanna is still able to get naps without rushing around, and we get to be present and available in our neighborhood. Joshua finished Kindergarten the last week of June and Abby is continuing in her pre-K curriculum up until we leave in August and will pick it back up when we return. Joanna is just happy to be involved.

Homeschooling has been such a good fit for our family. It allows us to be home more and more present in our neighborhood. We are “frequent flyers” at our nearby trading center which Ashley and the kids walk to 2-3 times a week to pick up groceries or chapattis for lunch. Homeschooling also means we get to go on a Home Assignment at anytime, and don’t need to plan around school breaks. We are looking forward to reconnecting with friends and family in Canada and US from mid-August through mid-October. We will be in Belleville, the greater Toronto area, Dallas, and Southern California. Please reach out if you are around and available to meet up!

Ashley has had the joy of continuing to lead a weekly kids’ Nature Club that meets every Friday. It’s been a life-giving space for other families to come and spend time with other families of homeschoolers or littles. The moms get to have meaningful conversations and bounce ideas off one another about parenting, homeschooling, cross-cultural living, and more…while the kids get to run around and burn off energy, hopefully learn something new about nature, and enjoy the process of being outside and exploring. Here Ashley and Abby (and JoJo who Ashley is wearing on her front) are doing a birding activity at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens in May, while the other picture shows Joshua (blue hat) and some buddies starting a 2 mile hike at nearby tea fields and farms in June. 

Unfortunately, our foster son will not be able to join us on our Home Assignment in North America. He does not have a visa, and will be in school most of the time we are away. He is having very long school days and extra tutoring as he prepares for his upcoming National Exams which will also signal his graduation from high school. We plan to be back around the time his exams begin. He had a short 2.5 week break from school and was able to enjoy some down time, practice driving, and just be present at home. He looks forward to exams (and being done with them) as he is also starting to think about what life after graduation may look like for him and what to pursue next as he works toward full adulthood. 

Praises

• Joanna turned 1 and we had a great time celebrating her and her life so far while camping with family friends.
• Our foster son has a safe nurturing place to stay while we travel for home assignment that he is excited about! We are thankful for friends who have opened their home (and hearts) to him. He will be able to study well here as well as have a safe stress-free environment to return to each evening after school to rest.
• EMI had a great celebration week in May as they reflected on God’s faithfulness over the past 20 years! Though there were many visitors and was stressful at times for Matt, we are thankful for how God moved and provided through it all.
• Joshua finished Kindergarten! We are so thankful for the opportunity to homeschool and God’s provision of patience and endurance in it thus far.
• Joanna’s infection cleared and she got to come home from the hospital. We are thankful for her full recovery and the support of friends nearby while we balanced her at the hospital and the older kids at home.

Prayer Requests

• Logistics for our upcoming Home Assignments. We are in the beginning stages of making plans and putting together our calendar for our time in North America August through October, as well as sorting out logistics for our house, dogs and vehicles in Uganda.
• Matt began his second-to-last Master’s course on Monday July 3^rd. It is a Theology of Work class. While he looks forward the content, it will make our last weeks in Uganda slightly more tight as he spends extra time studying.
• We have neighbors who profess a Muslim faith, but more recently some members of the family have confessed Christ. We are thankful for our relationship with this family and the opportunities we get to walk with them as they explore faiths.