Southern Hemisphere

We crossed the equator on our way to quarterly meeting at the end of August. We meet with the national team every quarter to have a business meeting and get together with friends. This August it was in Mbarara, Uganda. Jamie and I were teachers together last year. She is currently in the states for a few months and will return in December to work with the team.

Team Pink!

One night at devo, the girls decided to wear pink while Phillip stuck with the dark colors. This picture was taken before Stephan came and Jamie left. We reminded Phillip that he wasn't the only boy. He said his sons Malachi age 6 and Israel age 3 didn't make him feel much better.

To Be Continued...

I will eventually post pictures. I haven't loaded them on my computer yet. I am needing to retrieve some from the other girls.

Back in Mbale

Greetings to Everyone!

I hope all is going well wherever you are. I have decided to write updates at the end of the month rather than the beginning that is why my greetings to you have been delayed. After some tight security and several movies on the flights, me and my abundance of luggage reached Mbale safely. It was nice to meet up with Jennifer Allen in the states to have a friend to fly with me. She is working with me in the library as well as counseling children in Northern Uganda. It has been wonderful to reunite with friends and get to know all our new team members.

Our team currently consists of Phillip and Laura Shero and their three children, four single girl teachers, four single girl workers, and one single guy. We have had a good time together, although we are missing the rest of our team members who are on furlough in the states. Our mission school will almost double in size when Ian and Danetta Shelburne and their seven children return from the states in a few days.

Last year I had an enjoyable year teaching at our mission school where we had about twenty expatriate students. I could not pull out of the school completely this year. I will soon be teaching one student in an upper level math class. I have also been working in our mission school library with many children’s books still in boxes to be unpacked.

Our team has been making plans to create a university here in Mbale. Plans are progressing very well. We are required to have a certain number of resources in our library, so Jennifer and I have been unpacking boxes of books and cataloguing them into our library system at MTI (Messiah Theological Institute). Right now MTI is offering Bible courses for students to learn and receive a certificate upon completion of the required courses.

Traveling to villages to teach the women was a big reason I wanted to come back. So far, there either has not been many women’s visits scheduled or I have been out of town. Noeli, a Kenyan lady who works with our team, took me and two other teachers out to Namiyembe for a women’s meeting. After about two hours of waiting and a cup of chai and bread, we began our meeting. Noeli did a fabulous job teaching the women how to be better wives and Christians. As Noeli was being introduced to speak, we saw something fall from the ceiling and hit the floor in front of the table Noeli was standing behind. We looked over and saw a baby mouse. The mama mouse had made a nest in between the beams in the roof. A boy took the mouse and threw him out. About fifteen minutes later, I looked over and saw something fall and heard a light thud. Another baby mouse fell from the ceiling. Only in Africa would you see two mice fall from the ceiling during a meeting.

Since there are so many singles on the team, we are all helping with the town church, Mbale Church of Christ (MCC). I have agreed to help out with the youth, ages ranging from about 15 to 25 years. Over here, the youth are young people who are not married. I taught the youth Bible study on Wednesday afternoon. The youth at church are in a time of transition with their leader moving to Kenya. There is so much potential for them to become great leaders.

Last year I stayed at the teacher house with two other girls. Currently, I am staying at the Tylers’ house while they are on furlough with Jennifer. It has been nice being able to use their trucks and stay in their nice home.

There is so much more I could write, but my letter would be a bit lengthy. Thank you all again for your continuous support and prayers.