I
have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears.
Acts 20:19
With mixed emotions, our time in the states has come to an
end and we have arrived safely back in Uganda after 44 hours of travel. Shut the refrigerator door, we are now in the
oven! Lol! We enjoyed every minute of
our time home with family and friends. This trip back home was not originally
in our plans, but God knew we needed some much needed time to rest, be with
family and friends, renew our spirits, and God especially knew how much we
needed to be with our kids and grandkids.
We packed as many family fun times together as we could, and made as
many memories as possible with hopes it will keep all our hearts full until we
are home again.
We played many games together, shared many meals, went to
football games to watch our granddaughter cheer, ate many of our favorite foods
that we missed like pizza (lots), and peanut butter ice-cream. Grandpa played hours and hours of
Barbie. What man doesn’t love that? Lol
And Grandma got to snuggle and love on her newest grandchild. We both soaked in and cherished every
minute. Nothing elaborate, scheduled, or
planned, just time together talking and laughing was special!
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| Our sweet Colten |
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| Grandpa Loves playing Barbie! |
We were blessed again with a few weeks stay in a little
house on Lake Michigan.
We celebrated
Christmas there with our kids. Christmas
in October is not your traditional Christmas, but it was Special! We decorated the house with a borrowed,
little tree, some lights and made Christmas ornaments with the kids. We walked on the beach, took in an awesome
sunset, and of course ate lots of food, and opened gifts. A Wonderful time!
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| Our grandson, Skyler made an Awesome Santa! |
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| What else do you do when celebrating Christmas? Look for seashells |
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| Maddie & Mia |
Coming home to the states not only comes with great joy, it
comes with hurt. The hardest part of
coming home is not the long travel, or the cultural differences we come back
to, but the tearful, “See you later”s, the “We’ll be back soon”s. We all have
thoughts of what we will miss: birthdays, school events, holidays etc., but we
also know we must return and finish the work that God has laid on our hearts.
With goodbyes said, and emotions in check, we have returned
to Uganda ready to work and focus on the people here and the work before
us.
Our first day back in Uganda, we took a trip down Main
Street to get our phones activated, get Internet and a few groceries. We couldn’t help but notice how opposite our
life is here, so different from American life.
America has new, fast cars, wonderful roads and highways (yes, even in
MI), shiny clean stores, wealth, health and freedoms like no other place on
earth.
Here, everywhere we look, we see military men walking the
streets, security guards with guns guarding run down stores and businesses, red
dirt and dust everywhere, old vehicles and old motorcycles carrying passengers
up and down busy streets honking horns trying to maneuver the chaos, people of
all ages in mismatched old clothes and worn out shoes from walking and walking,
people selling food stored in buckets and carried on their heads. People everywhere just trying to eke out a
living whatever way they can. This is
everyday life here. Uganda is one of the
poorest places on earth, but we are happy to be here at home with these people
and part of this culture for the time God has planned for us.
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| Our city of Jinja |
Simon, our Ugandan co-worker, has updated us that everything
is going well, and the ministries continued just fine in our absence. Yeah!
They are learning to follow God and lead on their own. We couldn’t be happier! They are learning to lead and trust and put
their faith into action! This is why we
came!
We are excited to head to the village tomorrow and see all
the family we have missed!
But
my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned
me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the
wonderful grace of God. Acts
20:24
Our PRAYER Requests
· *Healing for Bruce’s Left knee. It started hurting just before our departure
so no real time to have it checked out.
He’s unsure of what is wrong, but it is painful and difficult to walk.
· * Pray for Wisdom and Discernment as we transition
the leadership over to the Nationals.
· * Pray those we have put in leadership roles will
be strong and effective leaders
· *Safety as we travel the roads
· *Safety from thieving. There has been and increase of reports of
home break-ins
· *Overall we stay healthy from sickness and
disease
· *Pray for Clarity as we seek God’s will for our
future
Because He Lives!
Bruce
& Janine
