Five months

This five month photos shoot features the many faces of our little FOX that we are fond of.

Our little man is tipping the scales these days at 19 pounds. Obadiah laughs a lot but especially when Daddy tickles him with his beard. He is quite chatty and in the last few weeks has mastered sitting up by himself. A few days ago he had his first taste of banana and he LOVED it. 

AIM Retreat

This last weekend we had a retreat with several other missionaries from our mission's organization (AIM). On Friday afternoon we all loaded up in the car and drove about an hour to a hotel that overlooks Lake Victoria. I had the best seat in the car looking at these two cute boys and I made sure to bring plenty of toys with us to keep them entertained...one of them was more easily entertained than the other, I will let you guess at which one. 

In addition to seeing many of our missionary friends we were excited for Obadiah to have his first time in a pool. I had gotten a bathing suit for him when we were in Dubai and was glad it fit, but unless we go again soon he may only get one wear out of it. 

We had to make sure that our fair skinned bundle of joy was shielded from the sun. 

Obie had so much fun and was happy in the pool for about 45 minutes! 

We are not sure if he was a little sick or if he might be starting to get teeth because the rest of the weekend he was fussier than usual. We are thinking about getting a pool installed at our house.... NOT! 

Overall we had a really nice weekend and were glad that some of our friends got to meet Obie for the first time. We love that he easily gives smiles to new people and enjoys being passed around and loved on. 

Thank You...

for praying for Wednesday night Bible Studies!

The first week we had 35 people in attendance, the second week there were about 50 people, and last week there were 75.  There is some real excitement about what is happening on Wednesday night and we are having to get more small group leaders to meet the needs of all who are coming. Keep praying as we are going through the book of Colossians. 

UCF Leadership Retreat

One of our main “tasks” here is to develop leaders at UCF.  So, last weekend, I went on a retreat with the Elders and Deacons of UCF.  From 3pm on Friday to 3pm on Saturday I was with these people (while Sarah and Obie stayed home).  We had a lot of meetings and discussions about the nature of leadership at UCF and what needs to happen for the future of the church.  I was really encouraged by the results of our time, and I really feel the Lord moved in people’s hearts.  The main conclusion for all of us is that its time to really step up our involvement at UCF.  For too long, things have depended on Pastor Micah and a few others.  This kind of dependance is unhealthy.  Its brought some key disruptions to the work of the Lord here.  So, we formed various “sub-groups” with various responsibilities when it comes to UCF.  These groups will meet about once a month and then we as an entire leadership group will meet at the end of every month. I think this is key for the future of UCF.  Consistency in the leadership has been a challenge in the past, but these new commitments made before one another and the Lord will begin to remedy that challenge. Overall, I had a fantastic time getting to know this group of special people. To see the hearts and passions of these people was amazing.  God is moving UCF in a good direction in terms of leadership and I am excited to be a part of it!  

Fetching Water

Most people in Uganda do not have water pipped directly to their house. In order to get water you must take your "jerry can" to collect water from the nearest well.

Sometimes it is surprising to discover who is also at the well collecting water. 

For the last two days we have not had water at our house. After calling the water company to find out why, we were first told that there was a pipe that burst near our house, effecting a large area, then we were told that we hadn't paid our bill, (which we had paid). So, as of right now, we don't know why there is no water...

 Many of our friends have to collect water and often times have to walk far to get it. For us, there is a well just near our house and Kyle graciously went and filled up 5 large bottles for us today. In a family, the job of collecting water usually falls on the children or women, but I was thankful that Kyle was home and able to get water for us. Fetching water is a reality for so many in our neighborhood, we are thankful that this is just a temporary situation for us. 

Wednesday Nights

Bible Studies at UCF are changing a bit this semester. With much consideration and prayer the pastoral team (Kyle, Trey, Ben and Patrick) decided to make the Wednesday night prayer service into a time of intensive Bible study accompanied with small group time. On Wednesday nights everyone from church is invited to a time of worship, and instruction from the word, followed by small group discussion. For the last three weeks the small group leaders were being trained on how to lead their groups and I was able to sneak down to church one of those nights when Kyle was instructing them on how to interpret the Bible. 

Last night was the first meeting and there were about forty people that showed up. It was a great time and many were encouraged by this new study.  They will study the book of Colossians starting in two weeks.  Makerere University has been delayed for the last three weeks due to strikes by the professors, so some of UCF's programs are a bit delayed. The good news is the strike has been resolved and students are reporting to campus as early as this weekend.  

I was also to get a picture of the progress on UCF's new building. Much is yet to be done, but we enjoy worshiping at this place every week! 

Kwanjula

On Saturday we got to attend/participate in a very special Ugandan tradition. Our friends Rachel and Livington are getting married and so they had a Kwanjula (also called an introduction) which is a huge event for a man and women getting married. Basically this is a "party" when the groom comes to meet the wife's family and gives the wife's family the dowry. There are several traditional aspects to this event. Even though the families know the two that are getting married they pretend not to know who the exact individuals are. There are representatives from each family on microphones negotiating the union. One thing that happens is that Rachel's side will send several groups of women out and with each group the representative from Rachel's side will ask Livington's representative if the bride is in this group. After several groups are presented finally the bride comes out with the last group. There are a few other things that go one during this time but this takes a few hours. 

They day was pretty crazy for us. We were told that we had to meet and gather as the groom's family at 11 in the morning. Knowing that we were not really going to meet at 11, cause this is Uganda, Kyle and Trey went to see how close they were to leaving at 11:30. By 12:45 they were finally all gathered and Obie and I were waiting at home with Erin and Zion to join the rest of the group. We were able to find the smallest Ugandan shirt for Obadiah to wear. 

I am sorry we did not get a better picture of all of us but with not knowing when we were actually needing to leave and Kyle being ready at a different time than we were this is the best we got. 

I am wearing a gomesi (go-messy) and Kyle is wearing a kanzu (con-zoo). Almost everyone who attends wears these outfits. The belt I am wearing is nearly 5 pounds. All day I was checking to make sure my shoulder points were perky and Kyle's dress was hanging just right. 

It was so fun to see so many of our friends dressed up, Erin and I are with our friend Milly. 

A few times men from Livington's side had to give presents to some of the women that went forward from Rache's side. Both Kyle and Trey had to go forward and everyone enjoyed seeing the bazungu (plural for mzungu which is "white person") involved un the Kwanjula.

Because we were gone most of the day we did not lug our "big cameras" around. Erin took her "point and shoot" and all of these photos are from her. 

Erin and I did not stay for the entire thing, we left at about 5:45. Kyle and Trey did not get home until nine that night. Kyle helped present the dowry to Rachel's family and was tasked with carrying the chickens. 

Traditionally, this would be the "wedding" but with the influence of Christianity and western culture the kwanjula, for many, is just one step in the marriage process. Rachel and Livington will have a church wedding in December and then they will be officially married. 

Obadiah did very good for being out all day, passed around a bit and then having to sit on our laps for several hours. Erin and I were glad to be heading home a little early but as we were going down the road Obadiah got tired of sitting in his car seat and started crying, waking up Zion who was none to happy about it. As Erin drove us home I tried to get Zion back to sleep (cause he did not nap all day) and Obie entertained, needless to say I failed miserably. 

All in all we were honored to be a part of this wonderful day and see such strong traditions of those who have become such close friends. If anyone wants to barrow my gomesi please let me know!