The trip, the baby, and more!

Since being here there is one very important lesson I have learned: Things hardly ever go the way you want them to. This is pretty much a life lesson in general but seems to be magnified here. The great thing about all of this is that you have to depend on God more. There is no other option other than freaking out which doesn't really work, and is not what God wants from us.

This trip to Kampala was a rough one, more for our team mates the Williams, as their car broke down (engine problems) after having 2 flat tires. But the health of our whole team has been under attack. (Thank you Martha for the puke bucket it came in handy!) The neat thing is that we have seen God through it all. The flat tire happened 20 minutes into our trip allowing us to go back to get it repaired before being too far in the boonies. For that we were thankful.

Malachi was getting better with the IV drip of typhoid medicine right before leaving (literally got the treatment at 6 in the morning and left at 7) and then he got really bad that night. We happen to be staying with some of our good friends and missionary (they are a true God send and a huge blessing) half way to Kampala, and they have a clinic. Did a blood test and found out that Malachi also has Malaria and we were able to get him on medication right away.

24 hours later with all of your prayers..... he is doing amazing! He is back to his old self today. Talking a lot and running around. Something we like to see. He has to take his medicine for a while longer but we are optimistic about it!

So all in all, here we are, all in one piece (kind of) working on getting supplies, our visas, and trying to get some Rest and Relaxation.


And some exciting news......had an ultra sound today and everything is looking good, and the baby is a......GIRL!!!

We are so excited, and it was great to see the baby, and to know all is well with her. Can't wait til she is here!

So thank you all for your prayers for our team and for our health. We feel so supported in prayers and today we could really feel it. Thank you all so much!

Love to you all!
Michaela

I Want You to Meet Rainbow Mike

With Mike's permission I am going to explain a little bit more of the ministry we are involved in and supporting. Rainbow Mike is Acholi (a people group in Uganda) and came to Karamoja to flee from the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). After coming here his heart grew for the kids that were living on the street. (There is a lot more detail but I am going to try to keep it simple).
Fast forward to the present. Rainbow Mike's heart has grown to not only help the orphaned street kids but also help widows, elderly and the disabled. Because of his obedience there are now 40 kids that are getting an education. Hungry helpless mouths are being fed, and medical care is being given. Jesus' love is illuminating through him and the ministry he started.

Currently the Children's home is not up to district standards, but with the help of a couple generous donations the Children's home is set to be complete in about 2 weeks. What does this mean? It means that 10-20 kids off the street can have a bed to sleep in. It means they will no longer have to eat rotten food they can gather from the market. It means they will have safety from the horrors that happen to them at night. It also means that the 40 sponsored children within the ministry that are at boarding school will have somewhere to go during their school break.

We are very excited about the completion of the home, and we ask that you would pray that it would happen soon so that these kids can get off the street. We ask that you would pray that we could continue to get more funds in order to add a girls dorm. (In the mean time the girls will be staying on our property in our additional housing.) Pray that we could get enough funds to build huts for some of the widowed, displaced, disabled, and elderly woman that are being supported through the ministry. Right now a place is being rented for them in town through the ministry, but it would be more ideal for them to be within the compound.

It has been a true blessing being here and working along side Rainbow Mike. He has an amazing heart. We have had to pleasure to have him and his family (and some of the sponsored kids) staying with us until the construction of the Children's home is complete. This has been a great time for us to learn about community living and we have gotten to know some of the kids in the ministry more. Not to mention we can practice the language with them.

Our goal has and is going to be in supporting Rainbow Mike in whatever we can. Our family has found ourselves helping more on the Children's home/orphan side (shocking I know)and we feel God leading us to spend more of our time focusing on this part of the ministry. Right now that means getting administrative things done, construction of the Children's home, helping with the sponsorship program, and building relationships with the sponsored and street kids.


Here is the work in progress:


Thanks for listening. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. We are going to have a little bit of everything. Liberian food (fried Okra), Ugandan food (G-nut paste with greens), and American food (mashed potatoes....I know that is all we could get, but we will enjoy them!)

Pictures and More

I don't have anything really worth saying so here are some pictures. After visiting the village we stopped by "Sliding rock" for a little fun.

What is Life in Uganda Like so Far?

What is life in Uganda like so far?
At night when I am lying in bed it seems like I have a lot I feel I could share on my blog, but then when I actually go to write it seems like I have nothing to say. With that I would like to let you in on a little bit what our lives are like here so far.

We have been in Kotido for 3 weeks now. It is starting to feel more and more at home. It is such a blessing to be settling into our house and developing somewhat of a routine.

This last week we have been staying at home more trying to adjust to the life here in Kotido. There are a lot more daily chores, and things you have to get used to. I will say I have finally stopped walking into a room and reached for the light switch. (There are no lights here. I am also getting used to all the little critters. Even the mice and rats....and at times the cock roaches, although if one happened to crawl on me I would freak!) But as my friend Deanna commented on my last blog critters are nothing compared to being in Christ!

After getting up in the morning, we do some of our regular chores such as collecting water, sweeping the inside of the house and outside, filtering water, sorting rice, breakfast etc. We then start school. Having school has been somewhat nice because it is something that is familiar to me since I home-schooled in the states. It is never uninterrupted because of guests and such, but then again was it ever uninterrupted in the states either? Wait....is there such thing as uninterrupted homeschool?

After we finish school the kids play soccer (Football) or marbles. Each child has made some great friends and they are experiencing a lot of character building. They are busy playing and making things out of trash and sticks, string, etc. Lots of fun!

Cody’s day is much different than ours in some ways. He is busy with chores in the morning and then makes his daily run to the market to collect produce and other supplies for the day. Right now we are in the dry season so we are eating a lot of cabbage, tomatoes, rice, and beans. We don’t have a lot of variety in our diet but we are not going hungry. Cody has also been very busy playing “Bob the Builder” and making great things such as a drying rack for my dishes, a stand for our small electronics solar panel, and he even made me a silverware rack! He has been an amazing leader, father, and husband during this time of transition and I am more than grateful for him.

Popcorned (I don’t think that is a word but I am going to use it) in the middle of all of this normal life we fit in times to minister and we attempt to share the love of Jesus with those around us.

We have been really praying that the Holy Spirit will lead us into the different areas that we are suppose to. There is so much need here and we could probably do 20 different things (within in our initial goal of caring for orphans and church planting) but we want to be sensitive to His calling and what is best for the people and culture here and what He desires from us.

I know I say this over and over again but it is because it is so humbling all of you who are behind us supporting us in different ways. It is such a team effort, and we see that in ways we never could have seen that before!

Love to You ALL!
Michaela

Oh and we start language today so pray that our minds and tongues would be prepared and great!

I wish I could post more pics on the blog but it is hard to do, so I have been posting them on Facebook as that is easier. If you don't have a facebook account I am sorry and can try to do my best to load pictures when I can.