Grown Up Christmas

       That wonderful season of gift giving, family get-togethers and so much delicious food is upon us.  If it weren’t for the single strand of LED lights hanging in our camp kitchen, I would barely know that Christmas is only a week away.  I love this time of year for its traditions, shopping and carols, but surprisingly I do not find myself missing it all that much here in Uganda.  Don’t get me wrong they do Christmas here as well, but for many it is the one day a year they eat meat, or buy a “new-to-them” outfit. How’s that for a dose of perspective?

       One of my all-time favourite Christmas tunes is “My Grown Up Christmas List” by Amy Grant, for so many reasons (if you don’t know it, you have to listen: http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=JFC9MFNU).  The song brings me be back to the time of tape cassettes and puffy sleeve church dresses, where the miracle of Jesus’ birth and Santa’s worldwide travel astounded me alike.  With the beginning of the Advent season, came the time to decorate the tree and make our Christmas lists.  For years and years in a row the top two items on my list were the Polly Pocket Mansion (which I eventually received) and my favourite doll Big Baby to be fixed (I’m still waiting on this one mom ;).  But in all the years of my childhood, I don’t recall ever asking for “no more lives torn apart,” because my naïve mind could not fathom a place where the holiday season did not bring around the warm feelings I had always felt.

        And here I sit, with my beautiful innocent boy on my lap, wondering what will be on his list someday.  Will our choice to sacrifice the comfort of home, to confront the uncomfortably of poverty and pain, affect him someday?  I can only pray that it will; that God’s plan in bringing us to Uganda was to not only open our eyes, but for Theo to grow up with a greater understanding of the world’s great sufferings and celebrations.  My prayer for all of you is that as you partake in the joys of the Christmas season, that you take a moment to be thankful for the vast gifts you have been given and perhaps teach your children a little something about how other cultures celebrate the season.

Us with two HIV orphans that our church will be sponsoring

We miss you all and wish a safe and wonderfully MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,

 

Andrew, Melissa and Theo

A Taste of "Normal"

The loves of my life

       This past weekend was the closest to “normal” that Andrew and I have felt since moving to Uganda.  While the rest of our team took off to Jinga to go white-water rafting, we stayed in Mbarara just the 3 of us.  You see, aside from the obvious differences such as climate, food and culture, we have also struggled through the change from living as one family unit, to living as a family within a tight community.  For those of you that know us, you will agree that we are both communicators and the way we solve issues is by talking it out…perhaps more passionately than some may feel comfortable with ;)  When the only privacy offered is a slim piece of canvas, these communications either do not happen or when they do, someone in camp is within ear shot.  So having a whole weekend with just our family was a huge blessing and gave us time to figure some things out.

       This weekend was also filled with lots of exciting experiences and time with our loved ones back home.  The internet connection in Mbarara is superb in comparison to camp, and thus allows us the possibility to Skype.  It was so nice to see our families’ faces and hear their voices…it felt almost as good as a hug.  On Saturday, we went to Big Fun with Theo and two of the boys from camp.  The facility is pretty great, with two swimming pools, a jungle gym and a restaurant.  The boys (Wedith & Michael) have never been swimming, nor have they ever seen a jungle gym, so we had a blast showing them how to blow bubbles and what a slide is for.  We ate lots of delicious food…butter chicken, pizza, KD…and enjoyed an English service at the big church in Ruharo (yay for Hillsong songs).



Theo with his nanny Winnie

       Our next long weekend will actually be our 2 week Christmas vacation and our team has made plans to travel to Nairobi, Kenya.  Andrew and I budgeted our trip in a way that we could afford to take our nanny Winnie with us as well.  For her, this will be the trip of a lifetime as she has never left Uganda.  I took her to the immigration office to get her a passport and after some pleading we got it, even though she didn’t have the proper documentation.  You see, she has never had a photo printed of her, let alone an ID with her name and picture on it.  In fact, she doesn’t even know the day of her birth, just the month and year.  So thank you God that the immigration officer had a soft spot for Canadian blonde girls ;)

       As for camp, life is great.  We are still in the rainy season and it takes days to dry your clothes, but the rain does cool down the office which is nice.  Andrew has been playing soccer four times a week with his new friends in town and on Wednesday he got the opportunity to represent Nyakera in a game against Ngomba.  With his assistance in setting up plays and playing center, Nyakera won 2 to 1 against an undefeated rival.  He has also made some other friends in town and has gone to visit their homes.  Our engineering team has been working more in the office designing while we await the CIDA money.  Just yesterday we finalized Phase 1 of the Kishororo Project and handed over the reins to the funding NGO, Living Water International.  With any luck, the CIDA money will be there for us when we come back after the Christmas vacation and our Ugandan team will return to begin work on Phase 2.  We are all healthy, but feeling a little sad as one of our team (Beth) will be heading back to Canada this month.  Please pray for her as she flies home and adjusts to life back in New Brunswick.

~M

The Great Divide

       Temporarily living in an Eastern warm culture, we have come to both appreciate many of the differences and despise some of the others.  From privacy to faith, time to gender expectations to attitudes towards education and sanitation, we have noticed a significant gap in our opposing cultures.  I suppose you can call our realization and frustration with these differences “culture shock,” but I feel like it is less of a shock and more of an awakening.  Shock to me sounds so serious, whereas I think this experience is just helping me to become a more rounded, thankful person.  WARNING: Please note that any observations I make from here on out are obviously generalized and not true for all Ugandans...I am writing from what I have seen and experienced.

       One of the largest shifts in thinking we have had to make is from independent to communal living.  Ugandans live a dependent lifestyle, relying on their families and communities to care for them when they are old, to mourn together, to spread news and to watch over their children.  It is beautiful the way they support each other through life, sickness and even death. Many times we have driven to work and passed group after group of brightly-dressed walkers, making the long journey to a distant town to attend a burial of someone they may have never met.  Privacy is almost unheard of, but there is not much of a choice since most live in one or two room mudhomes.  And they are so welcoming; if you walk on their property they run after you to offer you food and a place to sit.  In North America, you are lucky if the home owner asks you politely to get off their lawn, but far more likely to be chased down by an old geezer with a cane ;)

       We have also had to adjust to the Ugandan definition of necessity.  For starters, they put a higher price on education, than they do on food.  Many families eat only one meager meal a day so that they can send their children to school.  They largely overlook the need for cleanliness and nutrition.  Some may say it is just a lack of knowledge and different priorities, but I have noticed it is more about their fear of change and new things.  Even when they learn about the importance of being clean and boiling their water, they seem apprehensive to alter their behaviours.  As well, clothing’s sole purpose is to do just that: clothe you.  It does not matter if it fits, or if it was intended to be worn by boy or a girl.  In fact it doesn’t even matter if it has curse words and naughty pictures, as long as it covers most of you.   And just like clothes, food is only meant to feed you.  The concept of “not liking” a food is almost unheard of; they like all food as long as it fills their bellies and does not make them sick.

       The two differences I have had the most trouble becoming accustomed to are the gender roles and the definitions of time.  For those of you who know me well, I am a strong-willed, direct and not-overly-dainty woman.  Let me tell you, none of these characteristics jive well with this culture J  Someone once told me that in North America we may have watches, but in Africa they have the time.  Ugandans are more concerned with building relationship than keeping a tight schedule.  In business and everyday life, it is imperative that you take the time to ask how someone’s day is before you ask them any questions.  As for gender roles, let’s just say that Uganda is still in the 1960’s, with the exception of legal polygamy.  Men marry younger women and when their first wife is getting too old for their liking, they marry another one.  If a husband dies, his widow(s) is disowned by her in-laws, and will rarely remarry because a new husband would reject her children.  Spousal abuse, although publicly frowned upon, is still widely prominent, with many men believing it is their right to physically reprimand their wives for insubordination.

       Over the last two months we have felt a strong shift in our perspectives on life and I’m excited for what the next four months holds for us.

~Melissa

Update On Life

Theo, Rihanna and Rett enjoyed the spaghetti we made
for Sunday night dinner

       Well friends, we apologize for our little hiatus from blogging.  The last two and half weeks our team has been fighting off flues, stomach bugs and strep throat.  As such we have spent most of our spare time napping, drinking cup of soup from home and doing as little as possible.  Healing seems to take longer here; perhaps it is the food, lack of proper medication or just our desire to be home in our own beds.  Either way, we are all on the mend and back to work.


We were helping to fix a broken pipe...
my hoeing skills need some work (lol)



       Much of our engineering work has shifted from construction to design as we await the approval of the CIDA funding to continue building.  Due to this lack of money, we have actually had to lay off 50% of our Ugandan work force, which has left camp quiet and less joyful.  Please join us in praying that the contracts and politics with CIDA  will be finished and that ACTS can continue the great work they are doing here.  The good part about designing is that we have the opportunity to explore the Ugandan country side, looking for needy communities who require a tap.  Just yesterday we took a 4 hour trek up a mountainside in Kigarama to explore possible extensions to an existing system.

 

Andrew on a hike with Dean in
the mountains above our camp

       In other news, Andrew has begun working part time with our data survey team, while Theo stays in camp with his nanny Winnie.  This team is working with the Mutual Benefits Society to interview prospective needy widows in Kigarama that could be lent 2 plots of land for 2 years.  With this land they are able to farm and create a steady form of income, in which they must save to purchase their own plot of land at the end of the 2 year period.  These widows range in age from 21 to 77 and most of their husbands have died from “malaria” (almost every sickness here the doctors call malaria) or liver problems.  God put one specific woman named Mellon on Andrew’s heart this week. When they arrived at her home she was doubled over in pain and could barely speak.  The team took her immediately to a doctor and later found out that she had severe ulcers and typhoid.  But by the grace of God, they were called to her home that day and she was able to receive the healing she so desperately needed.  Please pray for her continual healing.

We gave Theo a haircut...it took many
distractions to keep him still

       Well, aside from the earthquake we had yesterday (not too big), the grasshoppers they ate this weekend, & the hack job of a haircut we gave Theo, there really isn’t much else to tell.  We have all settled into life here and have no regrets in our decision to move to Uganda.  Some days we are sick of the same food over and over and over and over, but we are grateful for food as well.  We are building some lifelong friendships with the other Canadians and many of the Ugandans.  There are now a total of 11 children living in camp and Theo is having fun with them all.  Andrew has become great friends with a 12 year old boy named Dean, who was brought here to take care of his little 2 year old brother Dyson.  Together Andrew and Dean make a dynamite team, playing soccer, running, hiking mountains and scheming ways to take down the annoying birds’ nest.  All in all we are feeling quite at home here.

Our Ugandan team peeling the grasshoppers legs
and wings off...dead grasshoppers smell nasty!

The Church of Uganda we attend on Sundays. We also live on their land, right
behind the church. They only use a drum for worship, but they make more
joyful noises then most North American churches I've been to...we  could
learn a lot about God from these wonderful people.

The Children of Uganda

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

       Being a mother and living here in Uganda has been a challenge for me; the children of this country have been pulling so heavily on my heart strings.  Everywhere I turn there are toddlers without parents, babies without clothes and kids raising themselves.  Their shaved heads, protruding bellies and outstretched arms haunt me daily.  I suppose I was naïve in believing that the images we saw of Africa in the media were only a small number of the population, not the majority.  But as I come to see every day, Uganda is a poor country, rich in resources and hard-working people, but lacking in knowledge and training.

       Another hard part of being a mother here has been adjusting to the Ugandan style of parenting.  As you drive around you quickly notice that once a child can walk and feed themselves, they are free to do their own thing.  Every village you go through there are groups of toddlers playing together in the dirt unsupervised, little two year old boys in tattered shirts fetching water and four year old girls with their newborn siblings strapped to their backs.  The only glimpse of parenting you see is in church on Sunday or when a child has done something very wrong.  Just yesterday we were surveying in a village and a man with a stick and weeping young boy passed us.  They had only turned the corner and we heard the boy’s blood-curdling screams and the sound of the stick as it whipped across his skin.  Their ideas on discipline are so vastly different from mine and everything is done out in the open, regardless of who is around.  In the first week we were here, there was a baby about Theo’s age getting bathed and he did not like it.  Every time he stood up to try and get out the mother would backhand him across the face.

       I realize that I am new to this parenting thing and that spanking is still a widely accepted form of discipline in North America, but I believe there is a fine line between beating and disciplining.  Theo is getting to an age where he is starting to intentionally do things he shouldn`t and as such Andrew and I have been talking a lot about discipline.  We are still unsure of our plan of action, but we are continually praying for wisdom and God’s guidance as we choose what is right for our son.

       To offset my heartache, is the children`s great and abundant joy amongst all their sufferings.  They excitedly wave their hands at the sight of a “motor car” driving down their road and their imaginations are so colourful, making pieces of garbage into dolls or balls.  They work and play so well together, no parent having to tell them to share or be inclusive.  They take on responsibility without question, understanding that they too have an important role in their families` survival.  They understand school is a privilege that their parents sacrifice for and take on learning with open arms.  After seeing all their joy, I so strongly wish for my son that he will pick up on this same mentality.

Lions & Tigers & Bears Oh My!

       Well perhaps not tigers & bears, but we sure did see lions!  Our long weekend safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park was wonderful, frustrating and a great group adventure.

       We left camp Thursday afternoon and stayed at Canada House in Mbarara for the evening.  Jim & Karlee had left earlier in the day and had arranged a feast for us at the rotary club.  The food was so amazing...fried chicken, salad, french fries, rice and much more...but we're pretty sure the cook planted, grew & harvested the food before she cooked it, with the amount of time it took her to bring it all out, lol!  Just kidding, it does take a heck of a long time to prepare food here though, without all our North American gadgets.  Friday morning our friend Geoffrey came to pick us up in our ghetto minibus/safari truck.  I joke, but it actually was perfect for the weekend...some of us could stand up through the sunroof and others of us could sit on the roof rack.
       We took the afternoon/evening on Friday to settle in to our hostel and check out the Mweya Lodge and pool down the way.  The lodge was 5 star (in Ugandan ratings), which is about a 3 star back home.  It was clean, rustic and served amazing food...pizza, bacon cheeseburgers ...mmm my mouth is watering now!  I took Theo swimming while the rest of the group relaxed on the deck overlooking the Kazinga Channel, watching the hippos, elephants and buffalo swim.  It was so nice to just sit and put our feet up, drinking an ice cold drink with our new friends.

       Early Saturday morning we set out on our epic safari.  We were one of the lucky few to see the lions in the early morning, before they ran off and hid in the bushes.  We saw two females and four cubs, but none of our pictures do them justice as we were still a fair distance away.  The morning was filled with elephants, warthogs, water buck, buffalo, hippos, gazelles and so many birds.  Theo loved how the animals ran away each time we approached, but all the excitement eventually tuckered him out and he slept through the second half of the morning.

       The rest of the day we hung around, worked on our plans for the rest of the weekend and went to see the volcanic craters. Unfortunately the gentleman who appointed himself our guide, ended up being a pain in the butt.  We had only asked him to take us out on safari for the day, but instead he had started to try and plan our whole weekend and expected us to pay him for it.  We eventually got rid of him...but he did come back to haunt us later in the weekend...I will get to that soon.
       On Sunday we went chimp tracking, took Geoffrey out to try some Canadian food and then took a really neat boat tour.  On top of the many elephants and buffalo we were becoming accustomed to seeing, we saw crocodiles, chimpanzees, monkeys and the rear end of a hyena...so exciting!  We stayed up late that night, playing games and getting to know eachother better.  But after we had all gone to bed, our drunk and angry old guide showed up at our window, demanding money and to come check out all the rooms.  My family did not wake up, thank God, but the rest of the house was up arguing with him and telling him to leave.  He eventually left, but in the morning we spoke with management and they advised that he would be let go for his behaviour.
      Overall our trip was really nice and a great time to get to know eachother better.  We saw amazing and beautiful parts of God's great creation and had the chance to recover from a hard month of work and adjustments.

~A&M

Home

As of today, we have been in Uganda for 3 weeks; I can’t believe it! It feels like just yesterday we were dreading the 18 hours of flying with a toddler and now here we are in beautiful Nyakera, Theo napping peacefully in his tent.  Every aspect of our life and our family roles has changed, but with Andrew’s undying optimism and my stubbornness we have really started to make this our home.  I said once (I think in my vows) that my home is wherever Andrew is and let me tell you my friends, that is the God honest truth.  Andrew works hard every day: reading to Theo, playing with the twins, building new friendships and constantly thinking about what I need to be comfortable here.  Home is now here.

Last weekend, was a lot of fun.  Andrew, Derek and the couple from Utah headed into Mbarara for a nice little getaway and to do some shopping.  They enjoyed a couple meals out and picked up a bunch of comfort foods from the Golf Supermarket…Oreo’s, Pringles, pop…mmm!  I stayed back with Theo and 3 others to just relax at camp.  We stayed up really late for once and played games and watched a movie.  Now that we’re all adjusting to life here, it seems we’re finding more time to hang out and get to know each other, which is really nice.  This upcoming weekend is our long one and we are heading to Queen Elizabeth Park to go on safari.  We will also spend a day at Canada House, so I should have a better internet connection to upload photos.

Work is going really well this week.  We are still surveying towards the reservoir tanks, but we are now working on some new designs as well.  Lifewater (the organization providing funding for the Kishororo project we are building right now) has said that if we have excess funds, they would like for us to add additional taps unto the system.  So exciting…we got to prepare a bunch of different design options and price them out…well so exciting to me, lol!  We have also started working with AutoCAD, which is great for me to sharpen up my skills.

I wanted to say a special thank you to all those that have supported us financially over the last couple months. With your donations we have raised enough to cover both Andrew and Theo’s trip costs, plus a small surplus to assist us in settling back into life in Canada.  Quitting our jobs, moving our life into storage and spending what little we had in savings to prepare for this trip, we are very thankful that your donations have kept us from going into debt.  It also affirms the calling we felt to come to Uganda and serve with all our hearts.  So again, THANK YOU…every single cent has made a difference in our lives and hopefully in the lives of those we come in contact with here.

Love M

Work

I have had a couple requests to tell you all about what we are doing here in Nyakera, so here it goes…


Adding the coupling to the pipe...and me with the kids ;)

Our team out surveying...with our onlookers
(we have a different group every day)

Unwinding the pipe in preparation for it to be laid

        Our team of engineers has been busy here at camp since day 1 surveying and reviewing the work of the previous team.  Every morning at 8am all 7 of us pile in our 1990 Toyota Proda and off we go to begin surveying from where we left off the day before.  We have to take some pretty sketchy roads, so if you weren’t awake when you got in the truck, you WILL BE by the time you arrive.  Then for the next 8 hours we slowly make our way through banana plantations, villages and pastures to check the elevation of the break pressure tank and the reservoir tanks for the water system being built right now.  By the time we have completed this loop, we will have walked close to 40 km in the HOT Ugandan sun.  As well, this week we got to get our hands dirty and work with the Ugandan crew to lay the pipe…what a riot that crew is…if only we understood what they were saying, lol!

       We have been lucky these first two weeks that we are close enough to camp that we can return for lunch.  I particularly love this, because it means I get to spend some more daylight hours with my family.  It also gives Andrew a much needed break from child-rearing, lol!


Surveying through the swamp...Derek got soaked!



       Theo and Andrew have been busy adjusting to camp life and exploring the area.  So far they have visited 3 schools, gone to the market at least once a week and checked out the different villages in walking distance.  During the morning they enjoy relaxing in the “play tent” to keep out of the sun and then usually go for an adventure after lunch.  At least three times a week, Theo gets to play with and learn from his new friends Rett and Rihanna, which has been such a blessing for him.  Andrew has had the privilege of leading Bible study and hopes to continue taking part in this nightly routine.



Out for a walk in the nearby village

      

As for free time, our team likes to play Settlers of Catan, watch Dexter and play sports.  We have just instilled a weekly movie night with our Ugandan team mates and they are very excited about that.  Next weekend is our long weekend and we are planning on going on safari in Queen Elizabeth park.



Handwashing diapers

 

 

       Well I’m off to Bible study, I hope you all have an amazing weekend and please keep the prayers and correspondence coming J

~M~



Camp Life

        Well my friends, we are now settled into our new home at camp in Nyakera.  Today is Sunday, our day of rest and it is glorious!  Andrew, Theo and I are having fun learning the ins and outs of living outdoors in Africa.  Our project manager Richard helped a lot in making us feel at home: he arranged to have two tents set up for us facing each other on the same deck.  One tent is where we sleep and dress, and the other tent is the play area/movie room for our whole team at night.

Our Home for the next 6 months...Andrew is drying all the
diaper laundry :)

Camp life is simple and routine based.  A typical day looks like this:

• 7:00am – Breakfast bell rings & sun rises
• 8:00am – Go to work
• 1:00pm – Lunch bell rings
• 2:00pm – Back to work
• 5:00pm – Chai time (snack & tea)
• 7:00pm – Dinner bell rings & sun goes down
• 8:00pm – Bible study & worship
• 10:00pm – Bed time

Some other interesting things about life here at camp:

·         There is a market in Nyakera every Wednesday…we have a crowd follow us to every booth, just to listen to us try to speak Runyankole…we create a lot of laughter wherever we go

·         We can buy “cold” coke at a small shop in Nyakera…but be prepared to pay the “mzugunu” price…around 50% higher than Ugandans pay

·         Our shower is warm from about noon to 7pm, depending on how many people have showered that afternoon

·         We have a REAL toilet…so exciting! It is called an eco-toilet and barely ever smells, it’s magnificent!

Well those are just the basics, but we have so much else to tell you about, so stay tuned!!!

Love M

What We've Learned So Far...

It has been a whirlwind 5 days, full of new people, cultures & smells!  I feel like I have been here for weeks and as though I have known my team for years.  It is such a blessing that we get to experience this as a family and every day we learn to appreciate what we have been given.

I thought I would share with you some of the funny and “different” experiences we have had so far...

·         Honking at other drivers is the polite thing to do…all the time!      ---->---->

·         Babies don’t wear bottoms, only shirts…you see a lot of little bums running around

·         It’s dangerous to take pictures of police or government things

·         Men hold hands with each other as a sign of friendship

·         Public displays of affection between anyone of the opposite gender is not allowed

·         If you get pulled over by the police, the only way to get out of a large fine is to plead for mercy or slyly hand over a small bribe

·         Most vehicles don’t have seatbelts, even though the roads & traffic are so dangerous   <----<----

·         You can transport 4 people on a boda-boda (motorcycle)

• There are more cell phone stores than there are food stores

• Avacadoes are the size of Theo's head

·         Twigs are appropriate scaffolding for buildings ---->---->

·         When you walk through the town with a stroller, expect to have a crowd of children following you screaming “Mzungu baby!!!”

·         Showing your shoulders and knees are more scandalous than breastfeeding uncovered in church

· Malaria infected mosquitoes only come out from 6pm-6am

·         When it rains, you can guarantee that the power will flicker or go out <----<----

·         Many Ugandans choose to carry items on their heads, even when their hands are free

• A bottle of beer here is a whapping 500 ml…and sooooo delicious!!!

·         The fruit here is the best in the whole world

·         Car seats are unheard of --->--->

This is just a drop in the bucket of the things we've seen and heard, but they're the only ones we could think of right now.  Tomorrow we are off to our full time camp in Nyakera and we will post photos once we have them. Oh and we now have a cell phone, so if you would like to talk, let us know and we'll email you the phone number!

Missing you all at home...feeling encouraged by all of you that have been messaging us!

~M

Three Special Steps

My two year old nephew introduced me to a show called Special Agent Oso last year and the show’s song has become the theme of our travels.  Our team has been singing their own version for the last couple days:

Your special assignment was a success, because you followed three special steps...

Step 1…fly from Comox to Vancouver

Step 2…fly from Vancouver to Heathrow

Step 3…fly from Heathrow to Entebbe

In three special steps…three special steps!

       So after 3 flights, 12 hours of layovers and 19 hours of flying time we have arrived at our temporary destination.  Theo was an angel on the flights, sleeping for over 12 hours and enjoying his new headphones ;)  We spent our first night in Kampala (capital city) at the Adonai Guest House; a beautiful missionary hostel just outside the city.  Our group took a short trip to the city to meet up with some North American friends at the Chinese restaurant (I’ll tell you about them later) and to deal with some visa things.

Adonai Guest House

Back at the hostel, we enjoyed some delicious spaghetti and headed to bed very early…we were trying to make up for the crazy last 3 days.  We were welcomed with the smell of pancakes and fresh pineapple in the morning and packed up our luggage to travel the 6 hours to Mbarara.  Along the drive we made a couple stops at a little drum stop, a local restaurant and the Equator.  Just after dinner we arrived at Canada House in Mbarara, our home away from home while we are here.  The next week will be our language training and getting acquainted with the Ugandan culture.

A Boda-boda with 4 passengers

Ok now for the most awesome part of our story here yet…While at the Heathrow airport David (our director) spoke with a couple from Utah that were heading to Entebbe to volunteer for an organization called Ethical Encounters for 6 months.  When we arrived at the Entebbe airport, they were promptly met by the police and were told that the organization was a fraud and the director was being investigated.  This left them with no place to stay and a lot more unknowns, but by God’s hand, David felt called to wait and speak with them.  Since then, we have taken them into our group and they are currently staying with us until they decide what to do next.  We are hoping that they will choose to come on this adventure with us, but either way, we are praying that through this unusual series of events they will see God.

Theo makes friends here easily...here he is playing the
shaker for the street performer

Well until next time I have internet, orare gye (good night)!

~M~

The Beginning

The beginning is the most important part of the work.

~Plato~

       Well today is the day!!! In less than an hour we head to the airport to fly off on our grand adventure.  We will spend the next two days either on a plane or in an airport, flying from Comox to Vancouver to London to Kampala, arriving 7:45 am on October 3.  Please pray for safe passage and for Theo to sleep a LOT ;)

Our 6 months worth of luggage...can't wait to lug it all
the way through the Vancouver airport :(

If you would like to contact us, we will be available by:

1. Mail:  The MacGregor Family, c/o ACTS, PO Box 901, Mbarara, Uganda
2. Phone: We will be put up our new numbers once we purchase cell phones in Uganda
3. Email: Melissa (macmeems@gmail.com) or Andrew (andrew.macgregor14@gmail.com)

We feel so blessed to have this opportunity to explore this amazing world and can't wait to tell you all about it!

~M