BACK IN GULU
Hello from Uganda! Sorry for the gap in our newsletters. Things were busy during our visit to the US and Canada these past few months. We were blessed to be apart of Kylann (Janessa's brother) & Aimee's special day, celebrate Silas's 2nd birthday, enjoy time spent with family and friends, fundraise and eat food we don't have available to us in Uganda (like McGriddles & Iced Capps to name a few). That said, we're very excited to be back in Gulu! While we were away, we even had a few roommates move in... a rat, a mouse and multiple cockroaches (as per usual). Fortunately, our dear friend who was looking after our place while we were away managed to kill the rat, the mouse was caught in a trap within the first few days and the cockroaches... well, Tim is called every time I see one. Regardless of the little critters that try to take over while we are here or away, our little apartment has really feels like home.
Our trip back to Africa took a little longer than usual. We traveled through Qatar but missed the connection, so we had to spend the night. All in all, our travel time was about 60 hours. It was a little exhausting with a two year old, but he did very well all things considered. Now, two weeks later we are pretty much adjusted and back on a good sleep schedule. We really enjoyed being able to see many of you while we were in North America and have been so blessed by your love and support.
PRAISE REPORT: WEDDING BELLS RINGING
We came back to some exciting news from a close friend of ours, Pastor Thomas. You might remember earlier this year I shared about the challenges of marriage in Northern Uganda. Pastor Thomas was one of the people I shared about. He and his “wife” have been living together for about four years without being married. When we talked about the importance of obedience to God in marriage, he agreed wholeheartedly that he needed to be obedient to God’s commands in regards to marriage. The problem was saving enough money for the dowry expected by the bride’s family. A few weeks ago he received a surprise gift from his sister of $200. He decided to take that and the $100 he had saved from making bricks and ask the family to accept it as the dowry ($300 is less than 10% of what they had requested for the original dowry). Praise God they agreed after he shared his heart desiring to honor God in their relationship through marriage.
Thank you for all of you who have been praying for this situation. He is still expected to pay the rest of the dowry over time as he is able to, however, on October 7^th they’ll have a wedding in their church. Janessa and I have the privilege of being the best man and matron of honor. These roles are a little different than in North American weddings. Here, the couple chooses a married couple to serve in this role. Their purpose is to help prepare the couple for marriage and to be your support for the future of your marriage. What that looks like is something that we’ll be learning on the fly, so pray that God guides us as we go. One of the responsibilities that we’ll be starting shortly is premarital counseling. This will be a fun learning experience for us to share some Biblical values on marriage and see how they are applied in the Acholi culture. Pray that God would guide us and use us as a blessing to their marriage.
PRAYER POINTS
- Sleep & energy
- Our car has officially arrived in Kampala! All that's left is to pay the taxes, finish up the paperwork and pick it up!
- In the past few weeks, two of our neighbors have had Typhoid and two have had Malaria. Please continue to pray for our health.
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A FEW PICS FROM OUR TRIP TO NORTH AMERICA
Silas celebrating his 2nd birthday in Winnipeg
Silas was the ring bearer in Kylann & Aimee's wedding
Spent a long weekend with Tim's family
