Mzungu Memoirs

We are now the proud owners of a boda-boda, which will be our mode of transportation while living here in Uganda.  The term boda-boda originates from pedal bikes with side panniers that were used to transport and smuggle goods and people from border to border.  It is now also the term used to describe motorbikes, from 50cc to 100cc.  They are two-wheeled taxis one can hire for transport that I affectionately call “the workhorse of Africa.”  I have seen boda-bodas carry everything from crates of chickens to automobile transmissions and furniture to an actual wooden coffin.

Since used bodas sell for about ¾ of the new purchase price and they are often run pretty hard around here, we opted to purchase a new one of our own.  The purchase process began with a trip downtown to the India-manufactured Bajaj dealership with Semei, our office manager.  I looked at the options for a boda and decided to go for the cheapest one, which you see all over Kampala, a 100cc Bajaj Boxer.  There were three options of features for the Boxer…red, blue and black.

With about a ¾ downpayment, I ordered a black boda the week before I left for a project trip to Burundi, knowing it would take ten business days before delivery.  The week after I returned from Burundi, I received a call from the dealership notifying me that our boda was ready.

Caleb had been quite excited to get the boda and wanted to go with us to go pick it up.  Semei, Caleb & I hired a couple of bodas to take us downtown to the dealership.  The driver Caleb & I rode with was apparently new and still learning.  On the way downtown, we sideswiped a guy on a bicycle, dodged a lorry truck, ran my knee into a car (at low speed) and smacked another boda, running us into a curb.  We eventually made it to the dealership and I was ready to have Semei drive.

The process of finalizing the purchase was interesting, utilizing visits to at least six different desks.  We first checked into one desk, that told me to go finish the payment at the cashier desk and obtain a receipt, then return.  The first desk then began preparing the paperwork, which is all transcribed by hand onto several pages.  During this process, several  of the Ugandan employees tried to talk to Caleb, who was being quite shy.  We then were transferred to another desk to process the insurance, with some more transcribing.  Then, back to the first desk for still more transcribing.  Then, they sent us to another desk to process delivery papers, get our license plate and give us one helmet before having an employee bring the boda out.  After describing maintenance and features of the boda, we were then asked to give our papers to another desk for final verification and one last hand transcription.  Rather than just drilling holes into the license plate, we decided to hand carry the plate to a Ugandan shop to have a license plate wrap made.

We took off for the shop, getting pulled over on the way by a walking police officer because our plate was not attached to the boda.  The irony of it was that we were only about a block from the shop to get the license plate taken care of.  Semei talked to the officer for several minutes, raising his voice several times.  I didn’t know what was being discussed, since they were talking in Luganda, the indigenous language of the Kampala area.  Semei finally convinced the officer to let us go.  I later asked Semei and he confirmed my thoughts that the officer was asking for a bribe.

Caleb has enjoyed sitting on our boda, pretending to be a boda driver.  A typical boda driver will sit at a boda stage, a wide spot at an intersection where they can pick up passengers.  One can also call these bodas to pick you up at home and other locations or send them to pick up goods from markets.  Caleb has been pretending to take mommy and daddy to local markets and deliver items.

He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.  Psalms 104:3

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  James 1:27

My first major project serving here in East Africa was joining a design team in Burundi, returning to the land where I served in 2005.  Burundians are warm, hospitable and friendly.  Despite a dark past, they have a hope for the future.

Denise Patch spent several years of her childhood in Burundi with her missionary family.  Leaving Burundi at the age of 15 to return to the United States, she was forever changed by her love for the Burundian people and her family’s compassionate lifestyle.  Eleven years later, in 1993, Burundi erupted into ethnic conflict that eventually wiped out hundreds of thousands of people, mostly men.  Many of them were husbands and fathers of families Denise knew personally.

The civil war lasted for more than a decade leaving in its wake thousands of widows, orphaned children and struggling families.  The average Burundian widow, in her 40s, is caring for at least 4 children and commonly additional orphans.  In this culture, widows are outcasts.  Having no income, no government aid and no advocates, they are frequently victimized.  Burundian widows struggle to meet the basic daily needs of their children and themselves: food, shelter, medical care, clothing, and education.  Although public education is available for children, they cannot attend school without proper supplies and clothing.  Without an education there is no hope for a better future.

Joy Buconyori has true empathy for her widowed countrywomen in Burundi.  In the ethnic violence of 1972, Joy’s childhood was shattered by the country-wide massacres that eventually struck her own village.  All five of Joy’s older brothers were killed.  In 2004, Denise contacted Joy about a way to help Burundian widows and orphans and it was a God-ordained match.  Joy had already been carrying a great burden for the plight of the widows and orphans of her country as the wife of a prominent bishop and the former director of a child sponsorship program.

Both women were convinced that doing nothing was simply not an option. Merging their spheres of influence, Joy began profiling widows for sponsorship and Denise began sharing the opportunity with the women of her church.  By December 2004, dozens of widows had been connected to sponsors and Sister Connection began.  You can read more at www.sisterconnection.org.

Our team of eleven from four different countries met in Bujumbura, Burundi to serve alongside Sister Connection to master plan a site donated to them due to their recognized service to the widows and orphans of Burundi.  The site is on half of aptly named Mount Hope just south of Gitega in the highlands of central Burundi.

Our team L to R: Jackie Branberg, an agricultural & IT specialist from Colorado Springs, CO; Chad Gamble, a civil engineer from Sacramento, CA who served with eMi for seven years, including six in the East Africa office; Jennifer Ho, a Hong Kong-born architect from Toronto, Ontario; Byron Meliefste, an electrical engineer from Edmonton, Alberta; Amanda Ruksznis, a civil engineer from Seattle, WA; a crazy mzungu living in Kampala, Uganda; Patrick Aylard, a civil engineering tech from British Columbia, who was our team leader and serves in the eMi East Africa office; Miriam Wallace, an architect from Alice Springs, Australia; Jessica Fitz-Gerald, an intern landscape architect serving in the eMi East Africa office and attending the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada; Steve Ulrich, our team co-leader, an architect from Calgary, Alberta who has served with eMi since 2000 and founded the eMi Canada office in 2003; and Hannah Beatty, an intern civil engineer from Shreveport, LA serving in the eMi East Africa office.

We developed a phased master plan for the hilly 20-acre campus to include a central campus with auditorium, dining hall and administrative offices, dorm complex to house over 500, vocational classrooms, site staff housing, guest and teacher housing, conference center and agricultural demonstration fields.  We also schematically designed most of the buildings for the campus, developed water supply and wastewater strategies, electrical demand strategies and agricultural recommendations.

On one Sunday, our team attended a rural church where Denise and her family had worshiped years ago in the bush outside of Gitega.  An Anglican/Romanesque brick church atop a prominent hill, this structure had been used as headquarters for a guerilla faction army during the atrocities of the civil war that ravaged this country.  Now a vibrant energetic church, I was struck by the contrast of its recent past and the birth out of the ashes.  It is a reminder of how God can create good from bad and how the battle is already won.

I ended up preaching about a 15-20 minute sermon at this church as our team was asked a couple of days prior to ‘share a few words.’  As we entered the church, I was asked to join several pastors and the ministry leaders of Sister Connection on the platform at the front of the church.  The sermon is typically presented at the end of African church services, which tend to be 2-3 hours long.  Needless to say, I was quite nervous, sweating and feeling much like Moses…not gifted for speech.  After our entire team was introduced early in the service, there were many songs, choir dance presentations, prayers, announcements, two offerings and, after what seemed like an eternity, I was on deck.

It started raining very heavily just before I got up to speak and after I gave a greeting in Kirundi and several halleluias and praises, an incredible clap of thunder clapped.  I responded with, “So then God speaks!”  I told the crowd of 400+ (although one of our team members counted rows and thought there was more like 1,000) that I was going to try to become a Burundian.  I grabbed a local cloth and draped it around my body like many Burundian men wear.  I then asked Miriam, one of my teammates, if she thought I was now Burundian.  She responded, wiping my very white arm, and said, “Nope, you’re still a mzungu!”  Then, I had another idea, taking a wood staff, often used by men and asked the same question.  Again, I am still mzungu.  I then asked if learning to play the drums would make me Burundian.  Miriam’s response…”You can’t sing very well and you don’t have much rhythym!”

It was a huge hit and I tied the object lesson into the fact that I will never be Burundian and I cannot escape the way God made me.  I used 1 Corinthians 12 which uses the analogy of the parts of the body and the body of Christ.  I told them that each of them was special, made by God and unlike anyone else on the planet, tying into Ephesians 2:10.  I then talked about my gifts as an architect and that I use them for the Kingdom.  I shared that I have colored pens and markers that I use to design buildings and master plans.  I told the church that each of them are like those pens, each with a beautiful color that has a place in the work of the Kingdom.  I told them that God can paint a masterpiece with our colors.  I then wrapped up with an encouragement from the end of Romans 8, explaining that nothing on this earth can take the gift of Christ or the love of God away from them.  A couple of other team members also shared a few words of encouragement, including Chad Gamble and Patrick Aylard.

I also had the pleasure of visiting a project site I helped design in 2005, briefly visiting the ministry leader from that trip and visiting yet another ministry site I assisted with 3-D drawings in 2006.  This ministry is also pursuing eMi for potential design assistance with the next phase of expanding their campus in Bujumbura.

I have been impacted and moved by many of the ministries I have worked alongside throughout my years of serving with eMi.  However, this ministry struck me as being very near the heart of God, ministering to some of the most vulnerable in one of the poorest countries on the planet.  I feel God is honored by the work of this ministry and I have been blessed to be just a small part as the hands of Jesus to help design their campus.

When I was in high school, a book written by Dr. Seuss was published that has since become a popular gift for both high school and college graduates.  I don’t remember if I was given the book as a gift, but I do remember giving it on one or two occasions.  The book is actually quite well suited for graduates as it begins with “Congratulations!  Today is your day.”  Then it launches into a string of all the places “you” will go and things “you” will accomplish.  Probably the most famous line in the book is “And will you succeed?  Yes! You will, indeed!  (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)”

When I was graduating from high school and college, I’m pretty sure Uganda was not high on the list of places I thought I would go.  But here I am.  And I’m fairly certain I never dreamed I would be doing some of things I am doing now.  But with God’s help, I am doing them.  He has an uncanny way of forcing us out of our comfort zone so he can show us what we are capable of even when (or maybe I should say, especially when) we don’t think we are capable of much.

Let me explain what I mean.

The first weekend we were here in Uganda, Caleb started running a fever on Friday evening.  The fever stuck around off and on all weekend.  Monday morning rolled around, and he was still running a fever.  So I took him to the doctor.  By myself.  In a country I hadn’t even lived in a week yet.  I had to go by myself because Robert had to go to work, and Monday mornings is one of the two days a week that Maggie, our wonderful next door neighbor, goes into the office.  Fortunately, Maggie had given me very explicit instructions.

She said I was to call Robert, the boda driver, to come pick us up and tell him to take us to “The Surgery.”  A rather daunting name, I know, but that is the actual name of the clinic.  She said we needed to be sure to get there as close to 8:00 as we could because if we waited until 9:00 we would be there all morning.   So, I got up, got Caleb up and called Robert, and then we waited for what felt like an eternity but I think was closer to 15 minutes.  Robert came, my Robert helped us climb on the boda and get situated, and we were off.  Mind you, this was my first experience on a boda, and we were on the back of this thing with a driver I had just met going all the way across town.

We got to The Surgery, went up to the reception desk and I told them that we had just moved to town, that Caleb was a new patient, and that we needed to see the doctor, just as Maggie had told me to do.  And then we sat down and waited.   God must have known that He had thrown me way out of my comfort zone and that I could really use a familiar face because while we were waiting, a gal that we had met briefly at the airport when we arrived came in and sat down next to us.  We recognized each other and starting talking.  I don’t remember the gal’s name and I will probably never see her again, but I am so glad God put her in my life when he did.

We got to see a mzungu doctor, British I think.  He was very nice and had a great manner with Caleb.  He said that Caleb had a cold virus that he probably caught on the plane.  He also said that Caleb had an ear infection, which is what I figured was the problem.  He gave us some Amoxil (yellow instead of the pink stuff you get in the States) and a nasal spray decongestant and sent us on our way.

Then we were back on the boda, across town, and home by midmorning.

Now, if you had asked me before we left the States if I thought I could do all that within the first week of our arrival here, I probably would have looked you in the eyes and said “Are you nuts?!”  But I was able to handle it because God was holding me together through it all.  Just like He is now while Robert is gone to Burundi.

I have to admit that I was anticipating Robert’s departure for this particular project trip with a healthy amount of anxiety.  We have only been in this country for about a month, and I’m still learning my way around.  Think of the stress and anxiety you have moving to a new town and multiply it by ten.  But God is holding me together and giving me a peace that only He can provide.  Amazingly, I am calmer staying “home” here in Uganda than I ever was staying “home” in the States.  I don’t know if it because I have such a wonderful neighbor who is familiar with what eMi wives go through or what, but I sure am glad God put her in my life when he did.

You know, I’m probably a long way from “graduating” from this life, but God has already given me a book that is especially suited for me.  And will I succeed?  Yes!  I will, indeed!  100 percent guaranteed.  (If God has anything to do with it.)

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13

I just finished my first project for a local ministry here in Kampala and thought all of you might like to see it.  This is a site master plan that will be used as a fund raising tool for the ministry.

Sayuni Education Uganda is a local ministry that has been started by Peace Nabikolo, a Ugandan woman who initially heard her calling to education and teaching when she was graduating from secondary school.  It was at a Youth With a Mission (YWAM) School of Discipleship that she first heard that calling; however, she chose to ignore that call for about ten years.

Fast forward ten years and Peace became involved in ministry with the Kampala Pentecostal Church.  At a leader’s retreat for the church, Peace realized the role of education in discipling a nation and why God had called her to be a teacher.  She returned to YWAM for biblical teacher training and later enrolled at African Bible University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Community Leadership with Education and she is now pursuing a Master’s Degree in Education.

Peace’s vision is to transform an entire generation of Ugandans through Biblically-based education.  Her mission is to develop an education model based on Biblical truths, provide educational outreach programs for the surrounding community and develop a church for the community.

Despite a small urban 1/3 acre site, she has a lot of vision for the site, including 16 classrooms for a preschool, primary and secondary school, multipurpose dining/assembly space, administration offices, a conference room, kitchen and grass courtyard assembly space.  This project was a challenge to fulfill the program, provide circulation/ separation, not use soft stories (open columns on ground floor) and keep buildings to only two total stories.

The SITE PHASING PLAN illustrates the order of potential construction phases, the building footprints and paving areas vs. vegetation areas.  The SITE MASTER PLAN illustrates an overhead view with the roof layouts, trees and shadows that help your eye see everything in 3-D.

“All this,” David said, “I have in writing from the hand of God upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan.” 1 Chronicles 28:19

In the States, you might or might not have a home security system.  And if you do, it is probably monitored off-site by a company like ADT, Brinks or First Alert.

Here in Uganda, particularly because we are mzungus, we definitely have a security system.  Since we are white and very much the minority, we have a tendency to stand out and thus become targets for thieves and scam artists.  But we don’t have a home security system or company to monitor it.  The security systems here are a little more personal and come in the form of human guards, guard dogs or, in our case, both.

We actually share our guards with our neighbor, Maggie McNeil, who also works with eMi and was very instrumental in preparing our house for our arrival.  There is a door in the wall between our compounds through which the guards can pass.  We have two day guards, one on the weekdays and one on the weekends, a night guard and three guard dogs that are as much pets as they are part of the security system.  They mostly just “work” at night.

Jackson (on the right) is our weekday day guard.  He is very sweet and mild mannered.  He is also a very hard worker.  He has done everything for us from planting our bougainvillea to playing toss the football with Caleb.  He seems genuinely fond of Caleb, although he may never have seen a football before Caleb brought his.

Ali (on the left) is our weekend day guard and sometimes fills in as night guard as well.  He is eager enough to please when asked, but has a tendency to go and hide so that he won’t be asked.  He loves to sit and visit and will talk your ear off if you give him the chance.

Samuel (pronounced sam-well) is our night guard.  He was the first person we met when we arrived at our new home as he was the one to open the gate for us.  Apparently, he is a pretty mean rummy player.  He’s got a photographic memory of the cards that have been played and by whom.

And now meet our guard dogs.

The big one on the left is Simba.  He can be pretty loud and he seems pretty intimidating when you meet him on a dark path, but mostly he is all bark I think.  Give him a good head rub and he’ll be your friend for life, once you’ve been properly introduced of course.

The medium one on the right is Tiger.  She also happens to be Simba’s mother.  I haven’t quite figured out the size difference, but there it is.  Tiger was a street dog that Maggie rescued.  You really have to watch her because if she gets loose, she will be gone for days checking out all her old haunts.  She is also the ring leader of the three.  Don’t let her size fool you.

And the puppy is Siraf (in the picture by himself), a recent rescue from the streets.  He is already showing signs of a good protective guard dog, but mostly he just wants to play.  He is the only one of the three that is allowed off his chain during the day, and he sometimes likes to pay us visits mostly just to nip at our heels and steal our shoes.

When we first got here, Maggie would leave the door in the wall open so the dogs had free reign to run back and forth.  Apparently, they really like our yard as that is where they would spend most of the night barking at the passing cars and people.  And they are quite loud, especially when they are all three barking.  Some nights I felt like they are running laps around the house.

This week we have tried a new tactic.  Maggie gets Tiger and Siraf on her side, and we get Simba with the door closed between.  We feel that it is a much better arrangement.  It is definitely quieter at least.  I’m not sure Simba is too fond of the plan, though.  I think he gets a little lonely all by himself.

“May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” Psalms 122:7

Moving to a new home always brings with it changes, challenges and differences, so you can just imagine the changes, challenges and differences that come with moving almost halfway around the world.

When Robert was in Colorado Springs for orientation, the interns who were going through orientation with him adopted a phrase: “it’s not good or bad, it’s just different.” We are trying to instill this attitude in Caleb, especially in light of his latest favorite expression “that’s weird.”  I think “that’s different” sounds much better.

One of the first differences that we were faced with when we arrived is that we are the minority.  And I do mean the very small minority.  They call us mzungus here, which is derived from a Swahili word for white person.  After we left the airport, I don’t think I saw a single mzungu, except the director who came to pick us up, on the entire hour and half ride to our new house.  I’m starting to notice more mzungus, both in our neighborhood and in the areas where I shop, etc., but still, we are definitely a minority, which is to be expected.

When we got to the house, one of the first differences we noticed right away was the lack of air conditioning.  The house was completely shut up and was quite stuffy, so we set about opening all the windows to let some air in.  Unfortunately, it is quite warm here, and since we are just off the equator, temperatures don’t vary much.

The open windows also helped us realize another difference: the noise level, which is a little louder than what we are used to.  Our house is on the corner of a very busy street, so we get quite a bit of traffic noise from early in the morning to late at night.  And while we have a fairly sizable lot as far as Ugandan houses are concerned, some of our neighbors do not and are quite packed in, so we get a lot of chatter and noise from them as well.

Africa seems to be generally dustier, especially since the rains haven’t started yet.  This adds a whole new dynamic to trying to keep things clean, including everything from clothes to the house to our son.  Normal bedtime routine begins with washing off the feet so you don’t get the sheets dirty.  And if I want to give Caleb a full bath, I have to wash his feet and legs off before I run the bathwater so the water doesn’t turn brown as soon as he steps into it.

Cooking has a whole set of differences all its own, from the available food to the way you cook it.  I do have a microwave, toaster and a hot pot for heating water, but those only work when the electricity is on which is not a guarantee.  Most of the cooking is done on what is called a “cooker,” a stand-alone gas range and oven something a kin to the standard American stove only smaller.  Unfortunately, the temperature control on the unit I have isn’t the greatest, and getting the burners low enough to just simmer has been problematic.

The differences in shopping have definitely been an adventure.  We have been taken to several different “supermarkets” in the area.  That is what they are called here, but I use the term loosely.  It would probably take at least 10 of the largest of these supermarkets to fill your average Super Wal-mart in the States.  The average supermarket here is probably just slightly bigger than a good sized convenience store in the States.  But they seem to be able to stuff more in them.  The isles are tighter and stuff is crammed in every nook and cranny.  The variety of some things is limited, but the variety of others such as such as juice is much more varied.

There are many more differences that I’m sure we will learn as we continue to live here, but one thing remains the same: we are all God’s children and we are all live on this planet together.  The color of our skin may be different, and the way we go about our daily lives may not be exactly the same, but our hearts are still fashioned and called by God and love is spoken in every language.

Now, I don’t mean that in the sense that we have gotten everything figured out, which we most certainly haven’t.  But we have arrived safely in Kampala, Uganda after a fairly uneventful trip.

I really think God was watching out for us on this trip (He must have known I was pretty nervous about it), because right off the bat things seemed destined to run smoothly.  When we got to the airport, we had one of the nicest airline employees I think I have ever met checking us in.  He was very patient with all of our tubs and zip ties (which were to keep the tubs securely closed).  He seemed a little surprised when after 4 tubs, we put a couple of suitcases on the scale.  He was also very kind in providing gate passes for Robert’s parents and my mother.  The Austin airport only has one restaurant on the non-secure side of the airport which is more like a cafe/bar.  Since it was quickly approaching lunch time by the time we got checked in, we were really glad that we were able to spend a little more time together before our departure.

The flight from Austin to Atlanta was uneventful, and the layover was so quick that we hardly had time to even think about what was coming next.  While the flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was probably the most eventful of the three legs, it still wasn’t too bad.  Caleb got sick to his stomach early in the flight, but soon recovered and won over the sympathies of one of the flight attendants who brought him ice cream from Business Class.  Now, some of you may know how hard it is to sleep on a plane, you should try it with a 5 year old.  We put Caleb in the middle with Robert and I on either side.  Caleb used Robert as a pillow and me as a foot rest.  Caleb was quite comfortable, and I managed to get some sleep in between kicks, but poor Robert wasn’t able to get any sleep as he couldn’t get comfortable underneath Caleb’s head.

Needless to say, we were all quite grouchy on our layover in Amsterdam due to lack of sleep, but we were able to get some breakfast and take care of a seating mix-up on our flight to Entebbe.  We even tried to take advantage of the airports wireless access, but alas it wasn’t meant to be.  The flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe was long.  It may not have been physically the longest (the flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was longer by 45 minutes), but it sure felt like it.  Caleb slept through most of it, and this time I got to be his pillow so Robert could try to get some sleep.

We finally made to Entebbe after 22 hours of travel (with almost 19 of it spent on one plane or another), only to discover that one of our tubs hadn’t made it.  Actually, we figured it was pretty good odds considering that some folks were missing 50% or more of their luggage.  Unfortunately, it was the one with all of Caleb’s toys, so we are doing the best we can entertaining him with what was in his carry on and what few items got stuck in other tubs.

Our long journey wasn’t over yet, though.  It was still another hour to an hour and half car ride to Kampala.  We finally made it to our new home.  And I really do think that we will be able to make it a home, too.  It’s not very big by American standards.  Just a little 800 square foot, 2 bed, 1 bath house, but it is huge by Ugandan standards.  But it is a house with it’s own yard and wall, which is a good thing in Kampala.  And it comes with a wonderful neighbor, Grandma Maggie, who has already done a wonderful job of taking care of us and seeing that our transition to a new life in a new country is as smooth as possible.

Now comes the part of figuring everything out, at least as it relates to our new life here in Uganda.  I don’t know that we will ever have everything totally figured out.  And I don’t think God really wants it that way because if we did, we wouldn’t need Him anymore.  But I’m here to tell you that I do need Him, and I’m going to need him a lot as I try to figure out how to run a household in a new world.

We may have arrived in Uganda, but I hope we never “arrive.”

It’s hard to believe we are actually saying that after months of planning, preparation and packing.  At some point, all of this transformed in our minds from an idea to a reality, probably about the time we reserved plane tickets.

As we embark, I want to take the opportunity to thank a host of people who have empowered us, confirmed our calling, provided support, become ambassadors for our ministry, prayed over us and just loved us.  First and foremost, I want to thank God for calling us to serve in Uganda.  It is so humbling and such an honor to be the hands and feet of a God who can create the world, part the Red Sea, give sight to a blind man and choose to be the payment for our sins.

Of us humans, I would like to first thank my parents, who have by far been the most significant supporters of my calling to serve with eMi since 2002.  And, we’re not talking about just a trip or two.  The trip to Burundi in a few weeks will be my 16^th project trip with eMi.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

Next, we thank Elaine, Heather’s mom, who opened her home to our family this fall, has been with us for every one of Caleb’s birthdays (including plans to visit us in Kampala this July,) shares wisdom from her experience on the mission field in Zaire in the early 70’s, offers her life as a testament to Divine strength, prays for us without ceasing and supports us in so many ways.  Thanks Elaine!

It is difficult to find the words to thank our sending church, Boulder Valley church of Christ.  What an amazing community of believers.  We have and continue to be so blessed from our time with all of you.  Looking back, we see how you helped prepare us for our current calling.  Just one example…you encouraged me in public speaking (amazing considering some painful past experiences) and helped develop those skills that will undoubtedly be of use this year.  Thanks to all of the individuals from BVCC who have and continue to support our ministry.

While living with Elaine this last fall, we were blessed by another wonderful church family at Round Rock Presbyterian Church.  Amid their own significant transitions, Round Rock reached out to our family and encouraged us as we prepared to head overseas.  Thanks to the BOB group, Yahweh Sisterhood, the Praise Band, the Sunday Bible class, the Madderas, BJ, Braon and Dusti Moseley, Bruce Shell, Jim Carssow, Karen Black, Pastor John Poling and the Mission Commission.

Thanks to Jim and Marynell Wallace for your support and for being some of our biggest advocates.  Thanks to Peace Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC for your support.

Thanks to the Men’s Breakfast at Evangelical Covenant Church in Fort Collins, CO for your brotherhood when we lived there, for keeping my rudder straight while things around me were humanistic, for your support and for your prayers.

Thanks to Doug and Carole Hall (otherwise known as Mimi and Pappy) for your adoption of our family in Fort Collins, for loving our son as though he were your own grandson, for your support, your encouragement, your prayers and for just generally loving us.

Thanks to Peter Way for helping us set up our website and for hosting it.  Thanks to Mark Tarrant for his pro bono work on our will and estate planning.  Thanks to our parents for donating laptops for each of us.  Thanks to Larry Walrath for setting up our laptops.  Thanks to Glenn Gilbert for donating an additional seat of Autocad for our second laptop.  Thanks to my dad for other software he donated.

Thanks to other eMi volunteers who have or are providing support, including John Boldt, John Rahe, Mark Kaems, Martin Eskijian and Glenn Gilbert.

We thank all of you (even those not specifically mentioned) for your encouragement, support and prayers.  You are all partners in our ministry and investing in the Kingdom of God.  It is exciting and scary to be God’s hands and feet.  My prayer is that the people we serve will not see us, but see Jesus in us.

We have been enduring a number of hardships and struggles over the past few months.  Financial stress, real estate headaches, major transitions, emotional stress and spiritual warfare.  Within the span of a few days, Heather became very sick, was unable to travel with me to Colorado for training, I became sick and finally, our car was broken into.

Amid all of this, we see God working and providing for us in amazing ways. In Joshua 4:4-7,we read:

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan.  Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.  In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD.  When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.  These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.

I feel a connection to the Israelites crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land.  The Israelites were leaving the familiar and entering unknown territory led by God.  We feel we are crossing the Jordan (Atlantic Ocean) to enter very unfamiliar territory.  We don’t know why yet, but we hear His voice and we follow.

Heather & I have what we call a God shelf.  It has items that remind us of times and ways that we experienced God working and providing in our life.  I would like to share some of our recent stone memorials.

STONE ONE: Without a buyer or renter for our Colorado townhouse and with only about 3/4 funding for our budget, we committed to a lease of a house in Uganda.  About two weeks after committing to the Uganda house, a renter was provided.

STONE TWO: Two supporters have purchased laptop computers for Heather and myself.  These supply tools for us to provide drawings and renderings for ministries we serve and connect us with family and supporters.

STONE THREE: Heather and I had been talking that we needed to have a will done before we leave.  An attorney who does wills and estate planning for clergy and missionaries fell into our lap and provided these services pro-bono.

STONE FOUR: This website was established and is being hosted by a brother from a men’s breakfast I was involved with in Fort Collins, CO.

STONE FIVE: Only two major international airlines service Uganda, one of whom I had 89,000 frequent flyer miles with.  A round trip flight to sub-Saharan Africa is 80,000 miles, so we ended up spending just over $2,700 for our three round trips tickets rather than $5K as budgeted.  This has helped tremendously on start up costs and with our lack of full funding.

I encourage each of you to be quiet, observant and notice ways that God has provided, answered prayers and parted the Jordan Rivers of your life.  I also encourage you to build stone memorials so that in the dark valley times of your life you may remember the times that God did amazing things.

As we have been making preparations for our trip to Uganda and sharing our story with family, friends and potential funding partners, we have been asked many questions, some of which you may or may not have thought of yourself. I thought I would take a few moments to share them with you as well as the answers.

One of the first questions we are often asked is “What will you be doing over there?” Robert will be joining three East Africa design project teams in 2011, providing master planning and architectural design for those three projects and architectural renderings and graphic design for other smaller projects.  His first project trip is for a Widows’ Vocational Training Center in Burundi.  He will be working with team leaders and interns more closely than he normally does on short term trips, serving a more hands on role in preparing and assembling the project reports.   These reports are a culmination of the design work on a short term trip and provide a document for the ministries they have served to use for fund raising and construction.

Since we usually assume that the first question is directed to Robert, the next question is usually “So, what will you be doing, Heather?” This question kind of caught me off guard at first, as I didn’t really think of my role as much beyond supporting Robert and running the household, which will be a fairly monumental task in a developing country.  But if you think about it, these are very important roles, and I now look at my tasks very seriously.  But I will also be available to help out in the eMi office and possibly go on a trip should one arise that would be particularly fitting for a female architect.  Of course, we would have to make sure that it doesn’t coincide with a trip that Robert is scheduled to go on.  Someone probably ought to be around to take care of Caleb.

Another question that usually comes fairly early in our conversations is “How long will you be there?” This one is pretty straight forward as we have committed to serve with eMi in Uganda for a year.  We originally thought this would mean that we would be overseas from the beginning of January to the end of December, but it looks like it will be more like from February 2011 through the end of January 2012.

Of course, everyone wants to know  “When will you be leaving?” We finally have an answer for this one.  Robert just purchased our tickets and we are scheduled to fly out Monday, February 7 at 1:17pm.  We will be flying from Austin, Texas to Atlanta, Georgia, and then from Atlanta to Amsterdam and on to Entebbe, Uganda.  It will take us almost 22 hours of travel time with about 19 of that actually spent in the air.  I can hardly wait.

Another question we often get asked is “So, how’s the funding coming?” And, unfortunately, if you get down to the nitty gritty numbers, it doesn’t look so great.  We have enough in our account with eMi to reasonably cover most of our start up costs (airfare, vaccinations, purchase of a motorcycle in country, etc.)  Currently, with the known pledged monthly support we have about 78% of what we need to cover our minimum monthly budget.  We could still use another $400 to $500 a month, but we know that God will provide for us.  He will either provide the money for us or make it so we don’t need it.  And I’m kind of curious to find out which it will be.

Somewhere in the mix of questions we usually get asked “Is Caleb going with you?” Of course he is!  We wouldn’t want him to miss out on the adventure.  This is something that we truly feel God is calling us to do as a family.  But it is a valid question.  Years ago, before I felt the call as Robert did, I had told him that he could go serve long term with eMi and I would wait for him at “home.”  God really had to work on me, but He has helped me see that my home is with my husband and our son and it doesn’t matter what continent it is on.

And then we come to Robert’s all time favorite question: “Is it safe?” Robert says we would probably be fully funded if we had a dollar for every time someone has asked us that.  Well, maybe not, but it sure feels like we get asked that a lot.  To which we answer it is about as safe as moving to Detroit, Chicago or New York City.  Besides, God doesn’t call us to a life of safety but of service.  We trust in the truth that God will not send us anywhere His providence will not cover.