the beautiful busy

It began last November. 

The planning for the student summer project has been in the works for months. Kelley {staff in Waterloo, Ontario} and Jamie began hashing out details and plans, putting together a staff team and sorting out details.

And now it's here!

Last Wednesday night Kelley arrived, followed by the rest of the staff {Hannah, Angela, John, Johnny & Bim} on Saturday night.
It's been a full house here with the three female staff staying in our guest room and the three male staff staying at the guest house right around the corner from us. We've already had some great times to laugh and plan and acquaint ourselves with each other. 

some of the staff in our dining room enjoying some lunch together

Tonight {at 11:20pm Kampala time}, 12 students from across Canada arrive at Entebbe airport {just under an hour outside of Kampala}. They will likely be exhausted but excited and we hope to welcome them in a way that helps them transition a bit more easily to this very different country and culture than they are used to.

Would you pray with us?

- pray that everyone would arrive safely with all their luggage and personal belongings

- pray that the students would have favour with all inspection and customs personnel

- pray for safety for our staff on the roads both to and from the airport tonight

- pray for all {previously arranged} housing details at the guesthouse to fall into place and that everyone would have a bed to sleep in tonight

Thank you for walking alongside us and our team - especially over these next 6 weeks of intense ministry!

Stay tuned for more updates and urgent prayer requests!

traffic cop

so I {Vanessa} got pulled over today.

we were driving to my friend kelly's house today to hang out with her boys and there is this one spot that i've almost always seen a traffic cop standing at, pulling people over. I've gotten pulled over once before and the cop just checked my license and wished me well.

not so today.

I was polite and gave my license when the cop came to my  window and asked me for it. then she proceeded to ask me to put on the brakes and checked my lights. then she came back and proceeded to ask me to put it in reverse to check my reverse lights. then she told me she was going to write me a receipt {ticket} because my back tires were not filled enough. I politely said that I was not aware that this was an illegal offense in uganda.
she told me she could "park my car" right now or write me a receipt and hold onto my license until I went to the bank and paid it and then i could pick up my license at the police station. I told her that I would be happy to go to the station and she could write me the receipt and I would pay the ticket there. she repeated what she had already told me.

she left to go back to her other traffic cop buddy and so I called jamie and told him what was happening. noah asked me why she had pulled me over at this point and I {somewhat bitterly} replied that it's because I'm white and she thinks I have lots of money to give her {which is generally the case the more I speak with other expats regarding this particular issue on the roads}.
she came back with an official receipt book and showed me that my offense was {on the back of the receipt} for not having a car that was fit for driving on the road.

at this point I was getting frustrated and feeling taken advantage of and again said that I was not aware that my tires were less than full and that I did not know that this was an offense that would get me a ticket. she then started saying that my brakes lights were out and reverse lights are out and this and that {she started pointing to random things on my car} and that my seatbelts - oh no, you're wearing your seatbelt. I told her that of course i was as it was unsafe not to.

she kept saying that she would write me a receipt, etc. etc. and then finally {I admit, with frustrated tears in my eyes} I told her to write me the receipt as she was leaving me no choice and I had two small children with me and had no other options. she just looked at me and then said,
you go to a gas station and buy new tires. I am forgiving you this time. but you go get those tires replaced.

I took off as soon as she gave me my license back before she changed her mind.

these are my tires when I got home today {no filling with air, no replacing.}

front tire

back tire

how are my back tires flat? 

she was totally looking for a bribe and to take advantage of the white woman. I was so angry when I got to kelly's house and looked at the tires for myself.

so this is life here in uganda. bribes are expected but today I'm glad I fought the system and also didn't get a ticket while I was at it.

Please pray for:

- police men and women who would stand up to the way corruption is just a part of the system here and that Christ-honouring leaders of integrity would start to infiltrate every working sector here in Uganda

- safety as we drive on the roads and for favor among the police here

- a humble spirit for us and not a heart of bitterness or frustration

alive and well

we are here!
thank you for praying.
we spent a week in Chicago and I(Vanessa) personally was encouraged by spending some time with other moms going on STINT for a year or two.
we survived our long journey from Chicago to London, England; spent 10 hours in Heathrow airport and then another long overnight flight to Entebbe, Uganda.
all our luggage arrived and in one piece.
so thankful!
we arrived at our house and were greeted by other staff and local missionaries and were happy to see that we had beds and a dining room table and chairs (which I am sitting at currently).
our first night was a bit rough - the boys were up off and on between 11pm and 4am but then we all slept solidly until 12:30pm!
we ran a few errands today and got set up with phones and internet (the important things!) and tomorrow we hope to buy some couches as well as a fridge and oven/stove.
it's 10:41pm and our boys are still talking away in their beds.
hopefully we adjust to the time in the next few days.
we are so thankful for your prayers, keep them coming!

the view from our front yard. 

Chicago

We're in Chicago at the hotel we'll be staying at for this week's training with all Campus Staff from Canada and the US. 

Thank you for praying.

I commented to Jamie this morning that a lot of people must have been praying for us because I felt peaceful last night and slept well. 

Thank you!

We got all our luggage onto the plane and off the plane and to our hotel and we're all here and safe!

Praise God!

Travel can be crazy enough when you're own, much less when you've got 2 young kids and over 450lbs of belongings!

Pray for us this week that:

- we would be refreshed in the sessions, during the worship and as we fellowship with other staff and hear about the exciting things God has called them to

- we would learn and be able to apply some things that will help us to thrive over these next two years on STINT.

- the boys would sleep well and have a refreshing time here as well.

all our luggage in the Toronto airport!

We love you! Keep partnering with us in prayer! We couldn't be here without you!

on the go

It's been an incredibly busy last few weeks and the next few will only get busier.
We've been house sitting around the GTA and this week Jamie is in Ottawa for a staff conference while I (Vanessa) am in Guelph house sitting for friends while also getting to visit with some Guelph friends one last time.
Our belongings are slowly (very slowly) getting packed up and the items on the (ever growing) "to do" list are getting checked off.
We leave for training in Chicago on August 12th and fly to Uganda (through England) on the 19th.
We covet your prayers right now.
So much to do!
We need His peace and wisdom to know that everything we need will be provided.
Matthew 6:25-27

our house

...in the middle of the street.

At least I think that's how the song goes.

This is the story of a couple who went to Africa to find a house for their family to live in for 2 years.

We had two days to look at houses, find the house and make the necessary arrangements and payments to secure said house.
We got into Kampala late Wednesday night and by the time we got to our guest house and settled in, it was well past 1 in the morning. Strange noises and high(er) temperatures did not keep us from sleeping in our exhausted state.
I reached over the night table to look at the clock (Jamie's watch) and saw that it was almost 11am. We had slept in and somehow missed our ride to see the houses! We both jumped out of bed and scrambled to make ourselves presentable (there goes my shower) so we could leave our room and figure out the next steps.
Luckily for me (us), Jamie double checked his watch and realized that I had looked at it upside down and that it was only 8:15am.
Our ride was due at 8:45am (which in Africa time could have been anywhere from 9am-10am) so we still had time to finish getting ready and have some breakfast.
Our ride (a Ugandan staff named Fred) arrive just before 9am (not bad!) and we were on our way back into the city (Kampala).
We saw two beautiful houses that were just a bit too expensive for our budget and we went onto the third house which had been raved about to us by numerous people. We got there and the gate was locked and no one was answering our knocks. Fred only had the phone number of the owner and not to the son of the owner who is currently living there. No answer.
Sadly we left with the hopes that we'd be able to return the next day.

Finally we made contact and set up a time to see the house. But it would not be until 7pm when the son would be home from work.
Because the traffic is so bad in Kampala it took us until 8:45pm to get there and by that time it was completely dark outside. About 5 minutes away from the house, the son calls us and says that the power has just gone out.
The power is still out when we arrive.
We pull into the driveway and drive down to the house.
Still no power.
After the initial chit chat we are ushered inside and take the tour of the house by flashlight.
Even in the dark I am sold. It has 3 bedrooms with lots of room and a gorgeous view of the city because we are up on one of the many hills of Kampala.
We set up arrangements for payment and discuss a few other details and walk away pleased and very thankful.

We are so thankful for your prayers. This could have been very frustrating and stressful, but the entire time we just smiled, accepted the culture (and the traffic jams) and had faith that God would provide the house that would perfectly suit our needs. And He did.

full on

We are in full-on packing/sorting/organizing/preparing mode right now!
We are having a garage sale this Saturday and are hoping and praying for both good weather and a good turn out!
We'll be moving to Toronto at the end of April and this weekend was the only one available for us to do it, so it's now or never!
Vanessa is busy at home sorting, pricing, organizing and general garage-sale preparing while Jamie is finishing up on campus. It's the Guelph C4C banquet tonight and next week will be his last week on campus.
Pray for the students who are currently support raising for summer projects and for those who will be staying in Canada and working to continue to meet with other believers, spend time with Jesus and be a light no matter where God has placed them this summer.

We are in the process of planning our set up trip to Uganda in June to meet up with the Uganda project as well as find a house for us to live in and meet with the local ministry leaders.

It's a lot of transitioning and change (and to be honest, it's quite tiring at times) but we're trusting God to sustain us and provide for us.
Thanks for coming along on this wild ride with us!

one week

We survived our week without Jamie.

Myself (Vanessa), Noah & Jude got through the week without "Daddy" and had lots of help and visitors from friends and family for which we are very thankful. It didn't help that all three of us got sick by the end of the week (which I am still recovering from!) but we were all pleased to hear that Jamie had switched his flight to come home 2 days earlier! We all met him at the airport on Saturday - just in time for Mother's Day!

Stay tuned for an update from Jamie on his week in South Africa and the encouragement he received from being there.

So thankful for you!