Growing

Happenings:

We are opening the Agape Childcare Center, which has the medical clinic, childcare office, meeting room, special needs therapy room, and my office/sensory room/classroom.  I cannot wait to start using it and posting pictures!

John playing with blocks for the sensory room

 

We hosted a Leadership conference at GSF that we were planning for 50 people, and 120 people RSVP’d and came! We had some amazing speakers from Tallahassee, FL, Greensboro, NC, Kenya, and Uganda. We watched part of the Global Leadership Summit, which had a Ugandan speaker!

 

Just a few people at the conference

We have been house sitting and babysitting a lot lately, which has given us some opportunities to find out a little bit about what living on campus is like.  It has been weird going back and forth between living on campus and in Nyenga. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Cody with the Warfield kids

Halloween happened to fall on the last Friday of the month, which is our missionary game night. We had a big dinner; the kids went to different rooms of the house to trick-or-treat from the adults, and we played bingo for prizes at the end of the night. It felt like a family celebration.

Katie dressed as a hobbit

Cody dressed up as Mark

Growing:

A theme for us lately has been growing. We are learning a lot of new things, learning how we react in new and different situations, and how we function in a whole new culture. What does the new “normal” look like? How do we go from surviving to thriving here? The truth is…it is a very hard life here. Not in a complaining way but as in things take longer, have four extra steps, are uncomfortable, or are difficult to accomplish.

Some of the keys have been increasing our prayer life and the amount of time we spend in God’s word. We both know that we are growing in strength and dependence on God.  Another part has been celebrating all the little successes and seeing the good in the days. I list my prayers and praises in my journal, and I don’t allow myself to stop until my praises are as long or longer than my prayers. Now…sometimes my praises are having water or power, but these make me remember what is important and how much I have to be thankful for.  I try to take notice of the little moments and how much they matter.

I joked a lot before I moved here about how separate my life was in America. I worked in one town, lived in another, and went to church in a third.  I didn’t do this on purpose, but it allowed me to know a lot of different people.  Well, I am now NOT in America, and my job, church, friends, neighbors, and activities are almost all in one place and are the same people.  I didn’t realize what a challenge it would be for me to have people see so many different parts of my life and me.  It is very good for me to have to be vulnerable, have my flaws show, make mistakes, and see people love me still. I now have a fully integrated life!

I am also growing in my leadership, knowledge of Uganda, and my ability to accomplish tasks. This week I led a trip to Kampala to pick up a medical report, take a child to the neurologist, and take another to have AFO braces fitted. I was able to direct the driver around Kampala, got us to all appointments, understood the information presented, paid correct amounts, and navigated a large hospital I have never been to before. We were home by 3 pm. I felt very accomplished (having a good driver helps!).

 

Matthew in Kampala

Both John and Matthew were a little tired :-)

Needs:

I recently found out that many of the children who have special needs do not have any or enough sponsors. Sponsoring a child is $35 a month. These children are rarely picked because they cannot write their own letters and communicate as well as general education children.  We have been gaining the number of children that have special needs at GSF, and our number is now at more than 20 who have special needs.  Many of these children have 1 or no sponsors. You can check out our website for more information. If you’re interested in sponsoring a child, you can go to this link to sign up: http://www.good-shepherds-fold.org/about-sponsorship/sponsor-a-child. Thanks!

 

Kenny with a house mom

Funnies:

The children here do not understand my role as special needs coordinator. I live and work here, so I am called Auntie Katie. I work with the medical aspect of the children who have special needs, so I am also called Nurse Katie (I was called in to look at a sprained arm the other day). I also work as a teacher here and that was what I was called last summer, so I am also Teacher Katie. The toddlers also think it is SO funny to call me Uncle Katie anytime they see me. It is really cute and funny. So I am Auntie/Teacher/Nurse/Uncle.

Best costumes:

One of the missionaries wore her hair in pig tails, put on a school uniform, wore a pink backpack, and painted on freckles. She was Big Sister and went around looking for Little Brother who was also in uniform all night. 

Big Sister and Little Brother

One of our couple friends dressed up as each other. She drove the motorcycle, and he rode side-saddle in a skirt to the event.

A wonderful sponsor sent stickers to share with all of the toddlers. This is what happened: