March Update

Greetings from Mbale!

You are probably thinking “she just sent out an update” as I am thinking the same thing, but it is that time again. It has been a bit challenging with the power still very inconsistent to keep my computer powered. In fact, we had a “fault” and our power and it was out for almost a whole week. I am beginning to get used to not having power, except for the lack of internet use. It’s time to fill you in on the events in my life for the month of February, and share with you the evidence of God’s work here in Africa.


Jamie and I at the gas station near Jinja

Jamie (teacher and roommate) and I took a trip to Jinja, 2 hours drive from Mbale, to go to their clothes market, eat some Mexican food, visit the town church, and missionaries working there. Our Uganda team has three families and one single guy doing mission work in Jinja. I was encouraged to see the town ministry of the Source. The Source is a coffee shop, gift shop, and internet café which were opened by some missionaries who were part of our team a few years ago. It is becoming a tradition for a tire to fall off or go flat on the trips I go on. The roads are so hard on the vehicles here, so it is common to have maintenance done on the cars. Just outside Jinja, we realized we had a flat tire, and as they were letting the jack down, the spare tire kept going down and we realized it was flat too. Fortunately there was a gas station near by and we took care of business with hardly any time lost.

As some of you have seen in an earlier blog entry, I used 12 hours of my life to sit and have two Africans twist extensions into my hair. I had 420 twists with 1/3 my hair and 2/3 artificial with it extending down to my waist. After 2 ½ weeks, I decided it was time to take them out. Two of my roommates used 6 hours of their time to help me get them all out. Wow does my head feel lighter!

With some strong encouragement from the students, we decided to have a few more dress-up days. We had costume day, western day (a tribute to all my Texas folks), pajama day, and red, white and blue day. The latter one was not only for the Americans, but one of our British families decided to move back to England, so it was a send off for them also. We have to spice up learning some how.





R to L: Doug Lucas, Cameron Mayhill, Allen Leddy, Shawn Tyler, Martin Brooks, Mark Long, Me, Heidi Davison about to board our chartered flight in the background.


Recently, eight of us took a trip to Nimule, Sudan - Shawn Tyler (missionary in Mbale), Mark Long (missionary in Kampala,), Heidi (recently joined our team in Mbale), and myself were the participants from Uganda. Team Expansion and FAME, two mission organizations from the states, sent over four guys to take the trip with us. The guy from FAME was interested in helping out with medical missions in Sudan, and the other three fellas from Team Expansion were surveying the area to send a missionary to reside there in the near future. The adventures I had in Sudan were some I will always treasure, and I will never be able to describe the emotions I felt as I resided in the bush for three days and two nights. Shawn approached two Kenyan men a few years ago who he knew very well, and asked them if they would be interested in doing mission work in Nimule, Sudan. David and Kennedy packed up their belongings and left their families for two years, so far, to teach the Word of God to the Sudanese people. Their families will soon join them as they have been waiting for their houses to be finished. I could tell you so much history with the war between the North and South and the LRA and SPLA, but I want to tell you of the work God is doing. There are three churches in the villages which are currently meeting under trees, but will soon began building a structure to meet under during the rainy season. The Islamic Mosque has been boarded up because the Sudanese people are pushing for Christianity in the South. There are about 30,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced People) and Refugees as a result of the ongoing war. The compound which David and Kennedy are living on is 9 acres and contains a structure for a nursery school of 50 children, two houses, a building with two meeting rooms/dining area, two latrine areas (similar to outhouses), and lots of room for future buildings such as dormitories for a future Bible Institute and medical facilities. Most of the Sudanese people speak Arabic, but are pushing for more people to speak English. I learned how to carry a 20 liter (about 40 lb) jug of water on my head (holding onto it of course), how to drive a picki-picki (small motorcycle), and how to say no to a soldier who offered 500 cows for my hand in marriage. God is definitely working in Sudan. I pray that one day I will be able to return for a short time.














The 9 acre compound in Nimule, Sudan.

Me surrounded by many children at an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp across the road from the church.

David & Kennedy, Kenyan missionaries in Sudan.

God is taking care of our team. We have undergone so many changes and can see God’s work through the good and the bad. Please continue to pray for us all. God has really blessed us with a network of connections to the states where so many people have expressed interest in our work here. We have several singles who will be joining us in the fall. They will be doing various work; some teaching, village work, AIDS orphans, etc. I have been considering rejoining the team for about 4 months in the fall to do various mission work. I have truly enjoyed teaching, but have a desire to do other mission work that teaching doesn’t allow time for. Pray that God will work out the details and will show me the path he wants me to take. I hope this email finds all of you doing well as you continue to serve the Lord wherever you are.

In Him,
Rebecca Evans