3 Weeks Till Departure

Wow, it's hard to believe that we are down to our last few weeks before leaving for Uganda. All the preparation, hardwork, prayers, prayers, and more prayers have definitely gotten us where we are today. We now are living in N. Kentucky with a couple who graciously opened their home to our family and our dog:) They are so gracious and giving and we have enjoyed getting to know them better each day. Jim and Bonnie are family to us now. It's so amazing to see and be a part of how God orchestrates every minute detail. This home is exactly where we needed to be these last few weeks in the states. We also have been working on health insurance. To be real blunt, it has been a pain. The first insurance company didn't want to cover any back problems for Aaron ever, because of his spinal fusion that he had two years ago. That stipulation doesn't work. so we've applied to two more companies. Please pray that this will get sorted through quickly, and we have insurance by Sept. 1. God can work this out also, so we pray for intervention. The last two days we have been working on getting our vehicles sold. Right now there are people very interested in both the van and truck. Again, please pray that the vehicles will sell quickly. so we can focus our attention on other things. Our family has tried to seize opportunities to enjoy the beautiful pool on the property. It has helped us to relax and enjoy this time a bit. Each day is filled with last things that need to be done before leaving, so trying to slow down a bit by the pool has been very nice. Good news is that Dylan and Marie get their braces off on Friday!!! Nick will have to transfer with his on, which he is not thrilled with. However, I keep telling him that it will be so worth it in the end:) God has worked that detail out by already having our ortho. here contact our ortho. there in Uganda to set treatment up. These last three weeks we are hoping to spend time with family and friends. Our calendar is filling quickly, but we enjoy these last days of gathering and eating with many that we will miss while we are away. Please continue to pray for this transition time, and I will try to update once more before we depart.

Packing, Packing, and More Packing........

The task at hand this week is to try to fit all necessary items into these Contico storage boxes. Right now we have twenty-four of these boxes waiting to be filled. We have one week to have all our personal belongings sold, in storage, or packed. We have begun the daunting task of packing and boy am I tired. These last two weeks we have worked to sell what we can and still are in the process of that. Today, we began packing and I look around our home wondering how in the world we will be able to get all our stuff into these storage containers. Most of our weight and space is being taken up by homeschooling curriculum and books. Aaron and I packed three boxes weighing 50 lbs. each, and we yet have essential personal items in any of them. Tomorrow we've decided to make sure we start packing our clothes. It would be bad to get over there and have nothing to wear:) (At least our children would still be well educated).

So please pray for stamina and patience as we try to pack everything we need to live in Uganda. God has been so awesome to prepare the way and number our steps. We are so close to being on the plane Aug. 31. We look forward to having a few weeks of visiting family and friends before we depart. Please continue to pray for our family as it is going to be very difficult to say goodbye. We so appreciate our many brothers and sisters in Christ who continually lift us up in prayer. Our family could not take this journey without your prayers and encouragement. Thank you!!!!

Quick Update

Wanted to quickly update everyone on what is happening with us. These next three weeks we will be busily preparing to liquidate the rest of our household goods, pack, and put items in storage. We have to be out of our home by the end of July and will be moving to N. Kentucky until departure day (Aug. 31). A generous couple, Jim and Bonnie, have graciously opened their home to our family. Thank you guys for being so giving and supportive to our family. We look forward to getting to know this couple and taking a few weeks to spend with family and friends before leaving.

Please continue to pray for us as we continue on this journey. God continues to bless and do only what He can do. It's amazing to see and know people that are being the hands and feet of Jesus to get our family to Uganda. We can not do this without the team that God has brought together to support and encourage us along the way. Continue to pray for our support to come in and for us to be fully funded before leaving. Right now we are at 75% of monthly support needed. We are trusting in God to raise up churches and individuals to raise that last 25%. Aaron and I have no doubt that He will do it. Thank you to those who are continually praying for our family. We will be in Uganda before we know it:)

Time Is Going Fast

Our family has been busily preparing to leave on August 31. In the last few weeks we have been having meetings with pastors, individuals, and friends to share what God is doing at Uganda Baptist Seminary. There have been so many blessings intertwined in these special moments where others take the time out of their busy schedules to encourage, listen, and pray with us. Thank you to many of you who have committed to partnering with us through prayer and financial gifts. God has provided around 72% of our start-up and monthly support. We are so close to be fully funded, and a few churches are still praying how they will partner with us. Please pray that the rest of our support will come in by the end of the month, so we can concentrate on logistics.

July we will begin by visiting Aaron's brother, Davy, and his son, Joshua in VA. We are excited to see them before leaving the states. When we return, we will begin packing, selling the rest of our household goods, and getting rid of the rest. God has been so good to allow us to do much of the logistics in stages. However, I have found going through our things the most daunting and sometimes very hard, since many items are tied with memories of the children. We will be moving out of our townhouse on July 31 and moving to northern KY. A lovely couple has offered our family to live with them (including Buckets our dog) for the month of August. Thank you so much, Jim and Bonnie, for opening your home up to our family. We so look forward to getting to know you all better:)

Please continue to pray for our family these next few weeks as so much will be going on. We do look forward to our time in VA, but please pray for safe travel. Things in Uganda are coming along wonderfully well. We have been truely blessed with all the support of those who are spending so much time to make our house beautiful. God continues to bless and amaze us daily. Thank you to all those who continuely lift our family up before the Lord.

We Have a House in Uganda!!

I wanted to share with those of you who have been praying for a house for us. Boy, did God bless us in a huge way. God was the master planner for all that has come together these last few weeks. We give Him all the honor and glory and know all this is impossible without Him!! We just want to thank all of you in Jinja who have worked so hard and tirelessly to help find a home for our family. Without your help and support, our transition to Uganda would be much more difficult. So thank you to Vernon, Charlotte, Dallas, Bill, Linda, Evelyn, Jack, Misti, and Anthony!!! You all make a great team:)

Aaron just returned from a 3 day conference in Louisville, KY on raising support. He learned a tremendous amount and came back ready to dive in full-time to connecting with churches and individuals. Since he is no longer teaching he will be able to devote more time to this. I just finished up having a two day garage sale. The Lord blessed with 2 beautiful days of sunshine. We sold most of our household items and will in turn put that money into furnishing our home in Jinja.

Thank you to all who have been praying for our family and our journey to Uganda. Please continue to pray for connections to be made with churches and individuals to partner with us to teach God's Word in East Africa. There is much ground to conquer before Aug. 31, but we know we serve a God where nothing is impossible. He has been so sweet to show us this time and time again. Please look for our latest newsletter to be showing up in your inbox. Until my next post, God Bless!!

Things are Coming Together

Many things are happening on the other side of the world right now in preparation of our arrival in Uganda. So many people are tirelessly working to find us just the right house, buying the appliances needed, and all the household goods to make this our home. It all seems a little surreal. Right now we have a refrigerator, stove, washer, and dryer sitting in Jinja, thanks to our co-missionaries who worked hard to find ones that work for our family:) We have many who are trying to get us set up for our transition to Eastern Africa. The search for a home is still on-going, and one is a good possibilty. However, it is being built right now, and many things have to come together before August if this is to be our house. So they continue to search and with God's help will find the right home for us. We just want to thank the missionaries over there in Jinja who are spending their time to help with our home and helping us to make difficult decisions when we are so far away.

Aaron and I have prayed, thought, envisioned for so long about being on the mission field. Now the day is fast approaching. On this side of the world, we have busily been working to connect with various churches to continue raising support. We still need churches and individuals to partner with us through prayer and giving. We also have been sorting all our household goods and liquidating them. That is a daunting task, when most everything has to go. The Lord has and is being so gracious to allow us to do this in stages. When selling our house last year we had to get rid of half, and now we have the task of selling the rest. The blessing is that so far people have wanted and needed what we have, and it has been fairly easy to dispose of our items. In a week we will have a garage sale (thank you Jessica for helping us raise funds for Uganda) and hopefully get rid of a majority of our household goods. I love to see how God is working all this out, and as you get rid of something here, He is blessing us with what we need over there.

So please continue to pray for our family during this time. Please pray for partnerships to continue and for God to raise up the remainder of the funds needed to get to Uganda. So much is going on and sometimes it is easy to get caught up in all the doing and not taking time to just be with the Father. Of course with going through and determining what is going, what to sell, and what to store, there are many emotions that go along with that. I honestly thought it would be harder for the children, but they surprisingly are doing very well with it. I think Dad and Mom have the memories that are associated with so many of the items. Pray that the right house will be found and rented over in Uganda and all the details worked out. I pray that this will be a home where Christ's love will be shared with many.

Great News!!!!!

Two wonderful things happened today concerning the mission to UBS in Uganda!

1. We purchased plane tickets today at a price greatly below our initial cost estimate!!!! We will be leaving Wednesday morning, August 31st and arriving in Uganda Thursday evening, September 1st!!!

2. Praise the Lord we have two availabilities for housing in Jinja!!!! Both are in the location we need and both are suitable for our family. We will have more information on this soon, and we thank you all for praying specifically for this need. God continues to answer the prayers of His kiddos so please keep 'em coming!!!

We thank God for your prayers and support and look forward to seeing Him move and supply what is needed to complete this preparation phase of the mission. Still much ground to cover between now and September, but we are certain that the Lord will continue to provide and bless.