Wow! So much to say! We have been
here a week now. We arrived in Kampala and drove back to Good Shepherd’s Fold
(GSF) Campus for dinner with all the missionaries. When people arrive at GSF,
everyone goes down to the gates to sing, dance, and greet the new arrivals.
Since we were here last year they knew we knew about it, and it was also dark,
so they decided to hide and then jump out singing and dancing. It was great. J It was wonderful to
see familiar faces and hug friends’ necks. There were 2 missionary birthdays on
the day we arrived, so we celebrated birthdays and arrivals with soups, ice
cream and cake! Yum!
On Thursday we moved to our home in
Nyenga. The missionaries had gotten it painted and cleaned for us! Our accommodations
are much nicer than we had expected, and we feel at home in our little house.
Our neighbors are very kind, and I feel very comfortable being in our home with
the door and windows open like our neighbors do. I think we have officially tried all of our
new daily activities, including: latrine, bathing, brushing teeth (there is a
particular spot you have to go to spit) cooking, washing clothes, washing
dishes, getting water, and cleaning.
There are a lot of giggles from the neighbors. ;)
We have made some trips to Jinja
(the nearest city) and a trip to Kampala (3 hours away and much larger city)
for supplies. The other missionaries
have been amazing about providing meals, houses to stay in, transportation to
use, Internet, stoves, and anything else we ask for. It is very humbling to
have to depend on others so much! We are learning to say thank you and accept
the assistance. We have attended a missionary
game night where the boys played Settlers of Catan and the girls played Ticket
to Ride, which was great fun.
At GSF we have been attending
orientation meetings, introduction meetings, and daily missionary
devotions. Cody has been setting up and
planning his curriculum and schedules,
shadowing the other teachers, and getting to know his students. Katie has been
attending childcare meetings, getting to know the students and their house
mothers and aunties, and setting up her office area.
What we have been learning so far
is patience for the “slowy by slowly” way that things get done here. God is putting grace on my (Katie’s) heart a
lot. I am reading Grace for the Good Girl, and learning to focus on allowing
myself grace, which has come up a lot lately.
Funnies:
There was a lizard in the printer
when someone hit print, so now Katie’s schedule has lizard parts on it
There is a road hierarchy here, and
cows seem to be above pedestrians in priority.
We boiled water and tried to bathe
with it immediately without mixing it with cold water—with scalding results.
Cody locked us in our own house and
thankfully another missionary had the keys outside the window.
Cody went to the town center for
eggs and vegetables. He came back with vegetables and pineapple??? We had
grilled avocado and onion sandwiches that night (Next time I will send a list).
Prayers:
Many of the orphans are on holiday
visiting their only living extended family to stay connected to their home
life. Please pray that they have good family bonding time and for protection
for all of our children.
Pray that our first weeks of work
will be productive and successful at relationship building.
That we will establish new routines
and orders to make our home life successful together, including: work, quiet
times, chores, relaxing, and exercise.
Safety while driving to and from
work every day and into the cities.
That we will be able to purchase
our own motorcycle without problems this Saturday.
Continued relationship building
with the other missionaries.
Praises:
Internet!!! J
Cody has a working phone!!!
Our house being wonderful!
Good beginnings to our
relationships with the other missionaries
Other missionaries lending us
transportation
Adjusting going so well so far.
All the baggage arrived together
and on time!
Safe journey without many delays!
We will post updates and pictures of our new house and jobs
soon!
