Brian arrived home last on Saturday! His stories have been flowing out, and I am loving hearing all about the kids and the clean water, and the needs, etc... I am glad to have him back, but know I will be sneding him off before I know it to go back and check on them all. He is in love with those kids.
I have been in Phoenix over the past few days at Young Life training. We have lots going on...February has been a hectic month! I will glad when we get to March and can take a deep breath.
A little update on the adoption discussion...we have a young girl who has expressed a desire for us to adopt her baby. She is 7 months pregnant. Due date is April 18. So...we are slowly beginning that discussion and will keep you updated on how that all goes. Please just be praying for us and for Jasmine (the teen mom). We just want what God wants for us.
Love you all and see you soon!
Courtney and Brian
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
The North Country...
Hello Friends and Family...
I have been writing for the last hour on a crappy computer. I adjusted my chair and the computer shut off. I hate trying to communicate from the 3rd world. It's is always something.
The well is underway and we plan to inaugurate it with a big celebration on Thursday on our way out of town. I will spend Thursday afternoon with Patrick (ARM) and Thursday evening with Bobby (my American frien who works with Food for the hungry). We fly out to come home late Friday night
Saturday was such an amazing day. We traveled from Iganga through Mbale 1.5 hrs (beautiful) to Soroti 1.5 hrs(barren and desolate). Kony and the LRA (the rebel troops) made this the most southern point of their awful raids about 2 years ago. They used the rock formations and mountains around this area to hide out in. What a physical manifestation of the spiritual darkness the LRA brought to this land. The stark difference was awesome to see...
Friday evening we called the head Baptist preacher in the adjacent village but he was in Kampalla. HE told us to call a woman who was in the village at this church praying. Yes on a Friday night - he knew she would be there praying.
Norah met us at 8 the next morning and we drove to Kappromaydo. My spelling is wrong but the name means ” fertile land for grand nuts” – peanuts everywhere. The trip was spent talking to her because the road she described as “not too good” was so bad we could not hear from the frontseat to the backseat of the car. She was an amazing person. A recent graduate from Kampalla University and has come to this village to be a missionary. This was where her mother was from (she is now an orphan) and had come here because no missionaries ever would. (It really is in the middle of nowhere - even for Africa where really everything is in the middle of nowhere)
To get to the village church from Kappromaydo took what looked like a cattle trail for about 8 miles. The ruts in the road were so bad they had ducks swimming in them. Hanging branches were the main concern from the sides and the 5 foot tall weed/grass that surrounded the car was typical. 2.5 hours into an expected 1 hour journey we arrived.
Kemper followed up on a conversation he had started with Norah about prophesy. He explained that we had dominion over the earth (Noah) and that this authority through Jesus’ gave us the ability to curse or bless even the land (Jesus and the fig/date tree). He told her that this was her job and if she did it he wanted a report of the livestock and plants in the area after she does it.
She asked me if I had ever heard of someone speaking prophetically and not known it. She explained to me that 1 month ago she was preaching in this very village church and was handing out bibles (a rare and precious thing in Uganda) and she told the church that the bibles were just the beginning and that God was really about to bless this church. “Crazy huh” she said. Servants of the King will begin construction of the new church there in about 2 months. Crazy. Crazy faith. The blessing is here.
I’ll try to write again, but no promises. This computer thing here is ridiculous!! I love you and miss you all.
I have been writing for the last hour on a crappy computer. I adjusted my chair and the computer shut off. I hate trying to communicate from the 3rd world. It's is always something.
The well is underway and we plan to inaugurate it with a big celebration on Thursday on our way out of town. I will spend Thursday afternoon with Patrick (ARM) and Thursday evening with Bobby (my American frien who works with Food for the hungry). We fly out to come home late Friday night
Saturday was such an amazing day. We traveled from Iganga through Mbale 1.5 hrs (beautiful) to Soroti 1.5 hrs(barren and desolate). Kony and the LRA (the rebel troops) made this the most southern point of their awful raids about 2 years ago. They used the rock formations and mountains around this area to hide out in. What a physical manifestation of the spiritual darkness the LRA brought to this land. The stark difference was awesome to see...
Friday evening we called the head Baptist preacher in the adjacent village but he was in Kampalla. HE told us to call a woman who was in the village at this church praying. Yes on a Friday night - he knew she would be there praying.
Norah met us at 8 the next morning and we drove to Kappromaydo. My spelling is wrong but the name means ” fertile land for grand nuts” – peanuts everywhere. The trip was spent talking to her because the road she described as “not too good” was so bad we could not hear from the frontseat to the backseat of the car. She was an amazing person. A recent graduate from Kampalla University and has come to this village to be a missionary. This was where her mother was from (she is now an orphan) and had come here because no missionaries ever would. (It really is in the middle of nowhere - even for Africa where really everything is in the middle of nowhere)
To get to the village church from Kappromaydo took what looked like a cattle trail for about 8 miles. The ruts in the road were so bad they had ducks swimming in them. Hanging branches were the main concern from the sides and the 5 foot tall weed/grass that surrounded the car was typical. 2.5 hours into an expected 1 hour journey we arrived.
Kemper followed up on a conversation he had started with Norah about prophesy. He explained that we had dominion over the earth (Noah) and that this authority through Jesus’ gave us the ability to curse or bless even the land (Jesus and the fig/date tree). He told her that this was her job and if she did it he wanted a report of the livestock and plants in the area after she does it.
She asked me if I had ever heard of someone speaking prophetically and not known it. She explained to me that 1 month ago she was preaching in this very village church and was handing out bibles (a rare and precious thing in Uganda) and she told the church that the bibles were just the beginning and that God was really about to bless this church. “Crazy huh” she said. Servants of the King will begin construction of the new church there in about 2 months. Crazy. Crazy faith. The blessing is here.
I’ll try to write again, but no promises. This computer thing here is ridiculous!! I love you and miss you all.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
update on today...
Today was a good day.
We traveled into northern Iganga District to inaugurate a catholic church. The money from this church actually came from San Antonio – St. Hedwig. We started out leaving the hotel and going to New Grace. All of the children were there and sang to us. Since we were only there for a few minutes I was unable to hand out the Miller’s clothing or find Ben and others. I look forward to going back later this week to find them. The Catholic Church is close to a river about 2 hours North of Iganga town were our hotel is. The service was very formal and had about 250 in attendance. Distric representantives, 4-5 church leaders, 4 or so other people who I never figured out who they were all came to speak. We worshipped under tarps that whipped in the breeze, and it was HOT. They handed out a letter describing the place, the land that was given, the missionaries that had been there and how blessed they were to finally have a REAL church to worship in (remember, we were under tarps). I should note that the land and prayers have been given since 1890 - they have waited a very long time for a church. The sitting missionary looked young; he had come to the village in 1993 and was only the 4th in succession! Kemper is tired but always ready to preach or chase a child. Tomorrow we plan to travel into the north-eastern part of Iganga and stay for 2 days. Thanks to every one for your prayers. Pray for favor with the drilling company that the rates, quality, and speed of drilling would be the best! As soon as I sign off here, we are going to meet with a drilling guy to see if he accepted my proposal from yesterday...if so, we will hire him and get it going. Very exciting. Being with Richard and Peter and the kids at New Grace has raised my excitement level about investing in this place. Surprisingly, the more we talk about it, the less overwhelmed I am by it. There are some good systems in place it seems...
So glad to be here!
Brian
We traveled into northern Iganga District to inaugurate a catholic church. The money from this church actually came from San Antonio – St. Hedwig. We started out leaving the hotel and going to New Grace. All of the children were there and sang to us. Since we were only there for a few minutes I was unable to hand out the Miller’s clothing or find Ben and others. I look forward to going back later this week to find them. The Catholic Church is close to a river about 2 hours North of Iganga town were our hotel is. The service was very formal and had about 250 in attendance. Distric representantives, 4-5 church leaders, 4 or so other people who I never figured out who they were all came to speak. We worshipped under tarps that whipped in the breeze, and it was HOT. They handed out a letter describing the place, the land that was given, the missionaries that had been there and how blessed they were to finally have a REAL church to worship in (remember, we were under tarps). I should note that the land and prayers have been given since 1890 - they have waited a very long time for a church. The sitting missionary looked young; he had come to the village in 1993 and was only the 4th in succession! Kemper is tired but always ready to preach or chase a child. Tomorrow we plan to travel into the north-eastern part of Iganga and stay for 2 days. Thanks to every one for your prayers. Pray for favor with the drilling company that the rates, quality, and speed of drilling would be the best! As soon as I sign off here, we are going to meet with a drilling guy to see if he accepted my proposal from yesterday...if so, we will hire him and get it going. Very exciting. Being with Richard and Peter and the kids at New Grace has raised my excitement level about investing in this place. Surprisingly, the more we talk about it, the less overwhelmed I am by it. There are some good systems in place it seems...
So glad to be here!
Brian
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
It's me - I'm here!
When I stepped off the plane, I was not sure how I would feel being back in Uganda. I have actually been nervous about my return and the feeling that being here- just one person - was useless. But then, the doors of the plane opened and it hit me...the smell of fires burning triggered my memory of this 3rd world country. The smoky air and the 85 degree weather at 9 pm at night felt so familiar and good.
We traveled quickly to Iganga town. This is the main city of the Iganga District and where New Grace Primary is located. The town has considerably more people here than even 6 months ago. There are easily twice as many people in the streets and Peter tells me that there are many more children at the school...I cant imagine. The people are as nice as ever. Smiling and yelling "Sabo" (sir) and "Mazungu" (white person). We have walked the streets and met so many people out working on the street. We are at the Mwana Highway Hotel...I am staying in the room Linda and Teresa were in (I think - it was one of the girls rooms). When I got to the hotel, the armed man standing at the door (with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder looked right at me and said "hello". This is not common as usualy everyone tries to steer clear of these guys. He began to approach me and I just held out my hand to shake his. He shifted his body so that his rifle would slide behind him and he grabbed the barrel with his left hand. He put out his hand and shook mine and again said, "hello". Wierd and cool moment.
Peter's heart for New Grace is so apparent. Since we were here last time, the two classrooms they had under construction have been completed. One is a classroom and one is a boys dorm. The boys dorm needs 12 beds at approx. $135 each. A friend (you know who you are) gave me some money and I will be buying a couple of them while I am here. This will get the kids on mattresses on beds and off the floor. Peter, I guess, got the government to step up, and the restrooms are in much better shape. They have put concrete floors down and PVC pipe to carry out the horrible smell we experienced last time. A girls dorm is halfway complete with walls up (Peter has funded this entire project on his own). There is a mountain of timber to be used for the kitchen and a clapboard kitchen in the back yard area. The well (the hand dug one) has been capped and the color was much better than before. Peter and I went this evening to determine the site for the new well. I told him I prefered it to be in the front so others in the community can come for water as well. 200 shillings buys enough water to fill a 25 liter bottle. The locals carry these bottles all the way to downtown Iganga and home. This is a several mile walk everyday for clean water. Peter and I have discussed charging 100 shillings for the new well (they save 100 shillings) and it is a much closer walk for most of them. My thought was we could use this to pay for the orphans food. Thoughts?!? Please let me know what you think about this.
We travel all over the Iganga district over the next several days and will have no internet.
Will keep you updated as I can...you can count on Courtney as I will be talking to her often. Internet service here at the Mwana Highway Hotel is....spotty to say the least! (remember guys)
Brian
We traveled quickly to Iganga town. This is the main city of the Iganga District and where New Grace Primary is located. The town has considerably more people here than even 6 months ago. There are easily twice as many people in the streets and Peter tells me that there are many more children at the school...I cant imagine. The people are as nice as ever. Smiling and yelling "Sabo" (sir) and "Mazungu" (white person). We have walked the streets and met so many people out working on the street. We are at the Mwana Highway Hotel...I am staying in the room Linda and Teresa were in (I think - it was one of the girls rooms). When I got to the hotel, the armed man standing at the door (with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder looked right at me and said "hello". This is not common as usualy everyone tries to steer clear of these guys. He began to approach me and I just held out my hand to shake his. He shifted his body so that his rifle would slide behind him and he grabbed the barrel with his left hand. He put out his hand and shook mine and again said, "hello". Wierd and cool moment.
Peter's heart for New Grace is so apparent. Since we were here last time, the two classrooms they had under construction have been completed. One is a classroom and one is a boys dorm. The boys dorm needs 12 beds at approx. $135 each. A friend (you know who you are) gave me some money and I will be buying a couple of them while I am here. This will get the kids on mattresses on beds and off the floor. Peter, I guess, got the government to step up, and the restrooms are in much better shape. They have put concrete floors down and PVC pipe to carry out the horrible smell we experienced last time. A girls dorm is halfway complete with walls up (Peter has funded this entire project on his own). There is a mountain of timber to be used for the kitchen and a clapboard kitchen in the back yard area. The well (the hand dug one) has been capped and the color was much better than before. Peter and I went this evening to determine the site for the new well. I told him I prefered it to be in the front so others in the community can come for water as well. 200 shillings buys enough water to fill a 25 liter bottle. The locals carry these bottles all the way to downtown Iganga and home. This is a several mile walk everyday for clean water. Peter and I have discussed charging 100 shillings for the new well (they save 100 shillings) and it is a much closer walk for most of them. My thought was we could use this to pay for the orphans food. Thoughts?!? Please let me know what you think about this.
We travel all over the Iganga district over the next several days and will have no internet.
Will keep you updated as I can...you can count on Courtney as I will be talking to her often. Internet service here at the Mwana Highway Hotel is....spotty to say the least! (remember guys)
Brian
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Brian has arrived in Uganda!
I talked to Brian this afternoon...he was very tired, but very excited. The flight, he said was uneventful, and he slept a lot. The hotel that they were going to stay at was full, so they actually had to upgrade to a nicer hotel...on a golf course he said. I cannot wait to see the pictures of this one. He was laughing when he told me about it. Anyway, they were settling in for the night when I talked to him and he said he would call me tomm.
He is going to try to blog as well if he can, if not, I will keep you updated as we will hopefully talk everyday.
Thanks for your prayers for his trip. Please pray for the kids at New Grace - that everything with the well will fall in to place quickly! And for his meeting with Pastor Peter (in Ggaba) - we pray a partnership would spring forth so we can care for the kids at New Grace.
Love yall!
Court
He is going to try to blog as well if he can, if not, I will keep you updated as we will hopefully talk everyday.
Thanks for your prayers for his trip. Please pray for the kids at New Grace - that everything with the well will fall in to place quickly! And for his meeting with Pastor Peter (in Ggaba) - we pray a partnership would spring forth so we can care for the kids at New Grace.
Love yall!
Court
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