The Greene Family News

Sometimes you don't choose your ministry

2010-11-22T01:33:00.000-08:00

When I first saw this frighteningly sketchy unfinished school chapel building 2 years ago, I said to a teammate, “wow, I'm sure glad I'm not responsible for that building!”
Now, through a series of events and one change of heart, I find myself the sole design professional responsible for presenting an analysis and course of action to the school board. How did this happen?

The eyesore – I mean, chapel - is on the campus of the neighborhood school, where our son Jonathan attends Kindergarten. EMI came to be involved in this project when our office was recently challenged to be more involved in our community, ministering to the needs of our immediate neighbors rather than heeding only the call of far-flung ministries around East Africa. We took our first step in this direction when we partnered with the local police in the design of a police post down the street from the office.

Originally I let my own pride inhibit me from even considering extending a hand to the school. It's a risky project! Are we willing to own that project and stake our (and my) reputation on it? Thankfully my colleague helped remind me that we aren't doing these projects for ourselves – they're for others. And we're not meant to honor ourselves in them – we're meant to honor our Father. I thank God for that reminder and pray that I can humbly own this chapel project and do my best for Him.

Start Your Day with Prayer

2010-11-12T00:02:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about my work with EMI is that we start our days with prayer. Every morning we gather under this gazebo and read a portion of scripture, collect our thoughts and prayer requests, and pray. It is surprising how powerfully this focuses our work on our Father, binds us together in unity, and empowers our ministry.

Trampoline : 1, Jonathan : 0

2010-11-01T03:37:00.000-07:00

"What happened to your arm, buddy?"

"My Dad kicked me off the trampoline."

It is true, and Phil felt terrible. He was attempting a front flip, but rather than landing it, his feet ended up horizontal, kicking Jonathan with just enough force to knock him off balance...and off the 4 foot trampoline to the concrete step below.

A trip to the clinic for x-rays confirmed that his wrist was fractured. The total bill for Dr's consult, x-rays, and cast was about $37. Nice. We were able to email pictures of Jonathan's x-rays to Phil's Dad who is an orthopedic surgeon working in Kenya (Tenwek Hospital). He informed us that it was a very minor fracture and that 2 weeks in cast was plenty.

Jonathan really loved getting the x-ray pictures of his arm (his bedtime prayer that night was that he would be able to get another one really soon), and in spite of the discomfort, I think he secretly liked all the attention and the novelty of having a broken arm. And as a side note: you will be happy to know that Phil has now totally mastered the front flip.

Smokin' Hot

2010-10-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen such a smokin' hot machine? This Suzuki Samurai is a zippy, rock-climbing, head-turning wonder, and every time I drive it I thank God for his amazing provision for us. We were able to buy this car through generous donations from our friends and family back home. If you're reading this, THANK YOU!

The rest of the trip...

2010-09-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

SORRY it's taken us so long to update this thing! We seem to go in spurts: 3 or 4 entries all at once and then nothing for MONTHS! Shame, shame. We can't post anything further until we give the furlough report, though, so here it goes. It was AMAZING. Getting to see so many friends and family was a HUMUNGOUS blessing to our family. All the road-time and plane-time went by so smoothly, and we left the States feeling refreshed and loved. I wish we could post ALL of our pictures on here, it's so hard to choose. Here are a few highlights...

(Left) We had a surprise visit with my sister and her family in Northern Florida who "just so happened" to be back in the States for a few weeks in between countries! The kids loved reconnecting with their cousins

(Right) On a double date with Danny and Marge in Alabama!

(Left) Sharing a quesidilla burger with my beautiful best friend,
Bethany in South Carolina.

(Right) We got to visit Jonathan and Katie Shaw in Virginia just a few days before little Eliot Philip was born!

From there we drove up to PA to visit my Grandpa Deitz and family. It was beautiful there - the kids LOVED all of Gpa's John Deere tractors, we got to see most of my Mom's side of the fam at a potluck dinner, and we caught fireflies on a warm summer night.

More cousins!! We flew from PA to CA and got to spend 4th of July with Phil's fam. We had a fun reunion with Mom and Dad Greene, our two sisters and their families. Unfortunately we didn't get a group shot! Here are some of them enjoying ICE CREAM and trying to get their sparklers lit.

Lunch date with dear friends, Adam and Ali.

From Southern California we took the train up to Central California to San Luis Obispo, our home town...we were so surprised to step off the train and see balloons and banners and a whole group of friends from our church! We had an amazing three weeks in SLO...if we were to post all the pictures of friends and fun times this blog would be unending. Needless to say our stay in SLO and the love and care that was lavished on us by our church family was overwhelming, refreshing, fun, and encouraging...

At the SLO train station.

(Left) Jonathan with his best friends, Caleb and Ezra.

(Right) With Grammy Myra at Morro Rock.

From San Luis we drove up through N. California to Washington stopping all along the way to visit more friends...it's nice to have our friends so spread out, we didn't have to pay for a hotel once this whole trip!

(Left) Yummy food with Phil's college friends, Eric and Tam.

(Below) Picnic in a San Fransisco park with Phil's college roommate, Justin, and Tori (and Sugar!).

In Oregon we visited our cousins, the Carlsons, and their quadruplets: Noelle, Jordan, Jessica and Joshua (left). What fun!

Paul and Karen Berg (right) are friends from EMI - they were family away from family last year in Uganda.

We had a quick visit with my college friend, Hannah (left), before driving the last leg of our trip up to Phil's brother's house in Washington.

After a special, fun-filled week with the Nathan Greenes we closed up our summer in the States and flew back to Uganda.

Thanks for sticking with us through this long summer travel journal...

Be on the alert for upcoming blogs about our new life in the city, and updates on the kiddos!

Sunny FL

2010-06-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Our first week back in the States has been a great one!
The trip here was long and tiring, but it was such a treat to come straight to Mom and Dad Gray's house to crash. It's been so special to see the kids re-connect with their Grandparents. We've had such fun times at the beach, on the tennis court, at the park, eating ice cream, and visiting friends...

Federer and Nadal get ready to duke it out on the court.

David and Lindsay Lange made a road trip to FL to see us. Here we are at Chuck E. Cheese!

The kids LOVED the beach...the water was so warm!

With Grandma and Granddad at Hillsborough River State Park
(Granddad used to swim with the gators here when he was a boy!)

Mmmm, McDonalds icecream cones!!

Double date with Elisabeth and Dennis (whose wedding I came back for in Nov!)

We even had a nice visit with Great Grandma Gray and Aunt Mary.

What a great start to our summer! We're so thankful for the friends and family we've already connected with and excited about all the folks we'll get to see along the way! We head out on Tuesday (June 15) to begin our long journey up to PA. We'll be stopping in Niceville, FL; Birmingham, AL; Columbia, SC; Newport News, VA; and finally Duncannon, PA before flying to CA for our west coast adventures.

Roadtrip 2010 here we come!!

We Were Robbed

2010-05-21T04:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend someone broke into our house while we were away.

We hear about these things all the time, and robberies like this are especially common here, but I was surprised by three things:

1. My own attachment to things. They were just things, but they were my things.

2. My own shock when we discovered the thief. Should we be surprised by the deceitfulness of man? After all, "we have met the enemy, and he is us."

Things stolen: iPod, 2 cell phones, solar lantern, frozen chicken (?!), one bra (?!?) and $500 cash.

3. The local police are using GPS technology to track the phone that was stolen and arrest the user!

Tacky Night

2010-05-18T03:48:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about living in new places is the people we meet and the friendships that are formed. One of the hardest things is saying goodbye to these friends...

Jeremy and Tamara became fast friends - they are a wonderful couple here with Equip working in the slum. We've witnessed them experience very difficult times in ministry and yet persevere in love and serve in the Lord's strength. We've seen them endure the heartache of having no children to becoming parents of two Ugandan children and now one on the way! The Lord has blessed us through them in so many ways!

Danny has been a big part of our family this past year. He was part of the Fall 2009 EMI intern group here in Jinja and felt called to stay on to help us with the Mto Moyoni project after his was through. He's been living with us since December and was such a huge help on the job site as well as a wonderful friend and encourager in our home.

We'll miss these people so much, but feel so blessed to have had them as a part of our life this past year.

Here we all are (plus Danny's brother, Brian, who was visiting) on "Tacky Night". We all scrounged through the fabulous clothes section of our open air market here in Jinja and didn't have too hard of a time coming up with these fab outfits.

Left to Right: Phil, Danny, Brian, Jeremy, Emily, Tamara, (Evelyn hiding), Jonathan

Sipi Falls

2010-05-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

We took a wonderful, relaxing trip to Sipi Falls on the slopes of Mt. Elgon in Eastern Uganda last weekend. We celebrated Emily for the terrific mother that she is, hiked around the beautiful falls, and enjoyed thoroughly the cool weather and delicious coffee of the highlands. Here are some pics.

First Buildings Complete!

2010-05-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

This project has been a deep yet rewarding challenge for me. While I am glad to be wrapping up now, I am so thankful for the relationships and for the experience.

Our first two buildings are in use now. I had a good friend of mine bring his camera over to take these shots.

Jonathan's Birthday!

2010-05-13T03:29:00.000-07:00

Our son is now FIVE! It is a delight to have Jonathan in our family - he brings such joy to us and as we watch him grow we are amazed at the God who created him.

The day before his big day we celebrated his birthday with Elijah, Judah, and Hannah Jore who came over for a morning of fun and pizza lunch. We had a water balloon fight, decorated cupcakes, watched our chameleon eat 3 flies, and played tape the tail on the donkey! What a blast! The only downer was when I found Evelyn sobbing in the corner because it wasn't HER birthday party (just a few more days, Eva!).

On his actual birthday Phil took the kids to the pool (Jinja Nile Resort), and we let Jonathan choose where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner (this was a BIG deal to him), he excitedly chose "Ling Ling" - the Chinese restaurant in town. Miss. Kelly and Uncle Danny helped us celebrate. We played baseball with Jonathan's new water bat while we waited for our food, and our waiter kindly ran to the store and bought us some candles to put in Jonathan's cake (since we left the bag of party goods on the table at home).

Birthday morning - watching PBS kids shows with Eva.

And the celebration continued... The day after his birthday Phil took him on a Nile River rafting trip! Our friends John and Zane came along on this special Father-Son trip. Their guide took them over some thrilling rapids and also let them jump out of the boat and swim in fun coves along the bank.

It's hard to believe he was three years old when we left the States! It's been an adventurous year and a half for our little guy! Hot season and malaria in Sudan, swimming in the Indian ocean, bus trip to Congo, rafting the Nile...I think it's safe to say he's done more than most kids his age :).

Theft on the Site and Interesting African Village Perspective

2010-05-10T01:29:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we had some materials stolen from the site. By our store-keeper's records we were missing 24 sticks of 2x4 and one small steel beam. After questioning the men on the site and our night watchman, my foreman Fred launched an investigation. With the surprisingly enthusiastic cooperation of the village leaders, Fred soon found 18 sticks of 2x4 on a neighbors property. Our men identified those 2x4s as ours, and the neighbor eventually told the village chairman that he bought the 2x4s from Simon, one of our laborers and a fill-in weekend watchman.
Simon was found and questioned. He initially denied the accusation, but when confronted with the evidence against him he confessed. When pressured, he also confessed to having stolen and sold the steel beam, as well as the remaining 6 sticks of 2x4. At the judgement of the village council, we reclaimed our 18 sticks of 2x4 and the steel beam, but since the remaining six 2x4s had already been used to build a roof, Simon agreed to repay us in cash for those pieces. He will also have to return the money he took from the neighbor in exchange for the 18 2x4s he sold.
Obviously, we all felt very betrayed. Many of the men in our crew requested that Simon return to publicly confess and ask for forgiveness. When it was discovered that the materials were missing, the whole crew became very nervous, as it meant that they could be implicated in the theft and may lose their jobs. But there were also some very interesting and thoughtful things that happened next.
It was suggested by some that we turn Simon over to the police, and I discussed this option with Fred. He told me that the village council had discussed this option in their meetings with Simon and concluded that it benefits everyone much better to deal with the situation personally and quietly. The village Secretary said, “We would turn this man over to the police, but after he served his sentence, then where would he go? He would return here!” The chairman agreed, saying quotably, “After all, he is us!” What he meant, of course, is that he is one of us, a member of our body, and we should make a decision that benefits every member of our body.

Coloba

2010-05-06T04:56:00.000-07:00

I overheard my men calling out to our store manager for a “coloba” one day. This is how I spelled it in my mind, and I asked them what it was. They couldn't explain it, but when the store manager pulled it out I saw for myself. A crowbar.

Pullup Competition

2010-04-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from a pull-up competition we had on site. The men approached this competition very uneasily at first, but by the end everyone was cheering and laughing. Serwanga took home the prize: a nifty shoe-shine kit my Dad got for buying a pair of shoes from Bata.

Rats

2010-04-04T06:00:00.001-07:00

Phil killed this. Isn't he amazing?

We knew we had a rat problem, we just didn't realize how BIG a rat problem we had! One night after climbing in bed we heard our nightly visitor in the kitchen trash. Phil went out with a flashlight to investigate. I heard him exclaim, "Oh crap!" and I came running. We called Danny out and all grabbed broomsticks. Phil chased him out from under the kitchen counter and there he was...all 6 pounds of rat. In fact, we were reluctant to accept that this huge animal was actually a rat and debated if it was possible to kill it with mere broomsticks. Deciding that it was "now or never" we went for it...well, Phil went for it. By the end his broomstick had become nunchucks, but it was 1-0 for us versus rats. Three days later...

...this guy showed up. Possibly to avenge his brother's death. This time Danny decided to be the exterminator. After doing my rat-battle-prep jobs (which include closing all the hallway doors and arming the men with their rat-bats), I sat in my cozy perch on the kitchen counter and took footage.

Since these two exciting rat-events we have successfully patched the screen on our porch so that we no longer have R.O.U.S. invasions, but it was fun while it lasted!

Wedding Cake

2010-02-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

Emily made this. Isn't she amazing?

A trip to the "theatre"

2010-01-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

When we visited Dad and Mom Greene in Kenya, I followed Dad (an orthopedic surgeon) around the hospital and watched three operations - two broken femurs (thigh bones) and one broken humerus (upper arm bone). It is absolutely amazing what those doctors are capable of. Dad pointed to the x-ray of the humerus and said “Humpty Dumpty”. It wasn't a bad comparison. But after the ortho team re-oriented the bones and installed the titanium plates around the bone with screws, the arm and the x-rays looked perfect. Incredible.

While we were in the operating room ("theatre" is what they call it in this part of the world), Mom brought Em and the kids up to see. There wasn't much to see from the doorway, and in fact I'm not sure the kids knew there was a person under all the drapes, but they very much liked seeing Dad and Grandpa all dressed up with masks and funny hats.

Introduction Ceremony

2009-12-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we attended an introduction ceremony for a professional acquaintance here in Jinja. In Uganda, as in many African countries, when a person marries, he marries a family – not just a person. The introduction ceremony the setting for negotiation about the bride price, as well as for the two families to formally get to know eachother. There were speeches, song-and-dance numbers, presentation of gifts, a meal, and a fashion show in which the bride and her aunties appeared in at least three different beautiful dresses each.

Emily and I were asked to appear in traditional Buganda attire. I borrowed this Kanzu from one of my masons, and Emily had these dresses made for her and Evelyn. Em found this killer tie-dye "fancy shirt" for Jonathan in the market that he was thrilled to wear.

Construction Update

2009-12-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent pics from the site. The construction has been going very well, though slowly, and I am getting glimpses in my imagination of the final product.

This is the Kitchen & Administration Building slab. We begin the wall construction in January.

And here is the first of the two Dormitories. The pattern of upper and lower windows depicts how both the upper and lower bunks on each bed get their own window. The solar power system for half of the center will be mounted to the back side of this dorm's roof.

These are the custom truss hangers that we had fabricated at a shop in town. They are situated and tied in place, ready for concrete placement. I actually didn't sleep well the night before we cast this very critical concete ring beam. Cast-in-place hangers like this are a foreign concept here, which made it both exciting to demonstrate and also stressful because the responsibility for the success of its application lies entirely on me.

Safari!

2009-12-20T07:12:00.000-08:00

We had the great privilege of going on safari in Masai Mara with our family! These pictures pretty much speak for themselves, but I will say that our overwhelming impression after seeing the variety and creativity of the wildlife on safari was that God is amazing. Such imagination!

[Sweet shot, right? Em's pretty proud of this picture.]

Nursing baby elephant.

In our safari truck.

We watched these two male lions fighting over a female and her kill!

Eva and the Lioness!

We walked right up to these three white rhinos. Amazing.

With Dad, Mom and the chef at a delicious lunch buffet.

My sister, Rebecca, with her husband Kerwyn and kids Caleb, Zachary and Madeline. Thanks for coming all the way from CA! We love you and miss you.

So special for our kids to spend this once-in-a-lifetime week with their cousins!

What I found when I came home...

2009-11-23T10:09:00.001-08:00

Jonathan decided Evelyn needed a trim while I was gone! Phil wrote and told me about it and said she looked a bit uneven...somehow seeing it in person was a lot more dramatic than hearing about it over email. The funniest thing is that she walked around like this for days...to a garage sale, church, friend's houses...before I got back and fixed it. For a long time she has been talking about growing her hair looong like a princess...I guess princess hairstyle will have to wait!

Trip to Florida

2009-11-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

Last week I went to Florida! For months I had been dreaming about going to one of my best friend's wedding, but thought it was impossible seeing as I was half way around the world. Then a few weeks before the big event God started opening doors for me to go and confirmed this gift to me in amazing and detailed ways. We decided I should go ahead and do it! Phil stayed home with the kids for ten whole days. He did a great job! One of the best things for me (besides the wedding which was one of the most fun and romantic weddings I've ever been to) was getting to stay with my parents. It was so much fun going shopping with my mom, eating steak out on their deck and playing tennis with Dad! I also got to go out for coffee with a dear friend and spend some time with my Grandma and Aunt Mary!

I got home yesterday and it's good to be back. The kids are as cute as ever and I feel refreshed and ready for the next 7 months...or however long we're here!
Here are some pictures from last week...

Elisabeth and me an hour before the wedding.

One of my favorite parts of a wedding is watching the grooms face as he watches his bride approach.

My other favorite part of a wedding!

The reception was beautiful and a lot of fun. They hired a professional square dance caller!

Professionally grilled steaks on the patio with Mom and Dad.

KFC with Grandma and Aunt Mary.

Grandma and Grandpa

2009-10-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the wonderful privilege of visiting Mom and Dad Greene in Bomet, Kenya (Tenwek Hospital). The 10 hour bus trip seemed to go by quickly...even for the kids! When we arrived at our bus stop, Jonathan proclaimed loudly, "We made it!! We're here and it only took ONE DAY!!" (All of our other significant travels over the last year have all taken an average of 3 days to reach our destination!)
After being 8 months away from family, it was a huge blessing to see our children reunite with their Grandparents, and to see Mom and Dad also getting to know and enjoy the kids in the new and fun stages they are in. We so enjoyed all of Mom's cooking and baking. The days were filled with fun hikes and frisbee, and the evenings found us playing cards around the table while the children slept under piles of blankets (it was cold there!). Here are some fun pictures from our 5 days with them. We're already looking forward to our Christmas visit!

Bus ride from Uganda to Kenya.

We arrived on Thursday night, so Dad had to work the next day. He was able to come home for tea, though, and the kids loved seeing him in his "costume".

Jonathan was very interested in all of Grandpa's tools he carries around.

Off to do some more surgery. Bye, Grandpa! See you later!

Saturday we had a fun hike to see the falls. Tenwek mission station and hospital have hydroelectricity generated here.

Eva loves being read to. Here's a Sunday special, "Goodnight Gorillas"

Mom was such a servant to all of us - cooking amazing meals that we'll not soon forget, and cutting all of our hair!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the great week! We love you!

Sweet Dance Moves

2009-10-04T01:52:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the site

2009-10-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest pics from the construction site!

We had a very successful floor-slab concrete-casting day today. The pictures mostly speak for themselves, but I'll explain a bit.
Here is how the mixing is done. Yes, it is as back-breaking as it looks.

This is mostly a slab-on-grade floor with a small portion that is a concrete lid for a mini septic tank. In this picture you can see opening where a manhole cover will go. To the right of that are two empty cement bags, filled with mud, that are place-holders for the "squatty potties" (low to the ground porcelain toilet bowls) that will be placed in them later. Once this concrete has cured, we will pull out the mud and paper bags to prepare the opening for the toilet bowl.

This is a segment of a banana tree trunk that has become a place-holder for a shower floor drain. When we prepare to place the finish floor, we'll set the floor drain in mortar. This clever use of the banana trunk was our foreman Fred's idea.

And here's a group shot. The gentleman in the middle of the back row with the white and brown shirt is our foreman Fred, with whom I have worked very closely. The white guy in the front row is Danny, an EMI intern from Alabama who is helping us out. This entire crew has been very fun to work with.

A photo tour of our house

2009-09-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

I tried uploading a video tour of our house, but the internet here couldn't handle it. So, use your imagination to piece these pictures together and you'll get a bit of an idea of what our home is like here!

Welcome to our house! The view as you step into our front door - the kids love running up and down our awesome hallway! Huge windows line the wall to the right, and three doors are on the left...

Door #1 - our bathroom. Do you love our toilet handlebars? The people who lived here before us had their elderly mother living with them, so we have all kinds of fun features like this.

Door #2 - master bedroom. I sewed the curtains and bedspread from local material.

Door #3 - the kids room. Jonathan feels super cool sleeping on the top bunk. Since this picture was taken, Phil made an extension railing that spans the whole length - now I sleep better at night! The kids and Phil cozy up on the wicker love-seat every night for Bible stories before bed.

Kitchen and Dining Room area.

Living room/porch - to the right there is no wall...just screen. To the left is the door to the guest room...

Living room...view from guest room door.

Guest room and bathroom. We'd love to have you come stay with us!

View of the main house looking from the living room toward the front door. The door next to the fridge leads to the pantry (where a fat rat has been getting into everything lately!). In the evenings Phil and I usually sit in those wicker chairs and read or watch a dvd on our laptop together.

Here's the view from our dining room window...lovely!

A photo tour of our yard

2009-09-24T05:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the outside of our place...I stood in the middle of the upper part of our property and took pictures turning a bit to the right with each one until I made a full circle, Phil tried to stitch them together for a panorama, but it didn't work...

The house. There are stairs leading down to the lower part of the yard right there.

You can't see it from here, but our little garden is way down there in the bottom left corner of our property.

In this picture you can see one of our lemon and one of our mango trees. You can also see Evelyn and Jessy racing to the swing!

There's another set of stairs leading down to the yard just there.

Our gate.

The "boy's quarters". Jen and Jessy live in the far right room (with the pretty door covering), and Otim lives in the far left one.

And we have come full circle. That's our garage that is packed to the gills with wood - 12x1 planks. You can't buy cured wood here, so you have to buy your wood (for construction) months in advance and dry it yourself. This is all for the youth center Phil is building.

We also have a nice area behind our house with a clothes line. We don't have a washer or drier...all the clothes are done by hand and then have to be ironed (even our socks!) to kill mango fly eggs. Jen is an amazing example to me of a diligent, cheerful worker. She is becoming a fast friend, and has also recently started giving me language lessons! She was thrilled tonight when she left and I said "goodnight" to her in Luganda..."Sula bulungi!"

Peek-a-boo!

2009-09-18T12:39:00.001-07:00

Care Packages!

2009-09-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

They took four months to reach us, but it was worth the wait! Big thank yous to our church in San Luis Obispo, the Hendersons, and Mom and Dad! A group of EMI interns brought out the boxes you all sent to the Colorado office, and it was like having Christmas in September! What fun! We feel so blessed, loved, and supported... THANK YOU!!

What's in the box?!?

Fun new toys!

"Yay for bubbles!"

"Yay for razors!"

Enjoying new coloring books and crayons!

She loves her new baby owl and "Owl Babies" book!

Date Night

2009-09-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Friday we had our first date night since coming to Uganda! Jen stayed with the kids and made them her famous meatballs (the smell of them cooking tempted us to stay home!), and put them to bed for us. We drove out to a place called The Haven for dinner. It was lovely - the restaurant overlooked the Nile, it was beautiful, peaceful, and the food was really great! We were a little nervous driving home in the pitch dark on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere (ok, I was nervous)...but Phil found our way home like he'd done it a million times.

Our waiter took this picture - he was hilarious...I don't think he's had much practice taking pictures because it took him a good half a minute moving the camera all around an up and down to get us framed just right.

Phil liked the roof shape which was an inverted cone for rain water catchment.

Our table and view...we were the only ones at the restaurant.

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Phil voluntarily ate a banana for the first time in his LIFE!! The menu was fixed, and they served us fried bananas for dessert.

Cuteness

2009-09-07T01:50:00.000-07:00

"See my baby?"

SPIDERS!!

2009-09-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Can anyone help us identify this spider? We have about 20 of them living in the rafters above our porch. Fortunately we haven't spotted any inside the house...yet! They range from about 1-3 inches long - yeah, pretty scary! I mainly want to be sure they aren't dangerous...

The Swing that Phil Built

2009-09-04T00:59:00.000-07:00

When we first moved to our "Nile-view" house, one of Phil's first projects was building this hammock-swing. He built it out of eucalyptus poles, rope, and twine from the market. He actually wove the bed of the swing with twine. I'm so impressed with the creative and wonderful things he comes up with. He also built some great mosquito net hanger frames for our beds and a fence around our compost pit (among other things!).

The kids play on the swing for hours everyday. Whenever Evelyn disappears I can always find her down at the hammock - swinging and singing to herself.

Greene Garden

2009-09-01T10:48:00.001-07:00

Check out these pictures of our garden!

This is the first time I have ever planted a garden. I found a lot of comedy in having no idea what I was doing – tilling the soil, pushing earth around, sowing seed – but I can't wait to see something come up from under the earth! We planted squash, lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon, leeks, beetsJonathan was a big help, raking out the weeds and sticks, pushing seeds into the soil, and generating endless interesting and hilarious questions about gardening.

Actually, that reminds me of a funny thing Jonathan said the other day. We looked together at a photo of some missionary friends of ours in Egypt. I told him that they had just moved to Egypt and he gasped, “Egypt! But that's a baaaad place.” “Why is it bad?” I asked. “Because the King of Egypt is killing all the babies there.” (Last week we read together about the “boy who survived”, Moses, whom God protected from the King of Egypt's killing spree).

Mt. Elgon Trip

2009-08-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I climbed Mt. Elgon, the second-highest peak in Uganda (14,176 feet). What a refreshing trip! Two fellow missionaries went with me on this 3-day backpacking adventure, and we enjoyed getting to know eachother, praying for one another, and marveling together and what a talented Creator-God we serve.

There were no switch-backs on the trail – the trail just went straight up – so the climb was often exhausting and sometimes treacherous. Here are a few pictures.

The man with the gun was our trail guide, Moses. He was an interesting man to get to know, and his story is not uncommon in Uganda. He is a professing Catholic but wants to become a “born again” (they are seen as completely separate religions here). The one thing stopping Moses from becoming a “born again” is the fact that, although he has a wife and son, he and his wife were never officially married (in a church, with a ceremony, with a party, etc.). There are two sad realities about this predicament. The first is that many village churches would probably not accept him and his wife into their congregation because they'd not had a wedding. The second is that Moses and his wife did not have a wedding because they couldn't afford to have one in the way that is expected. It seems that religion can sometimes keep people from knowing God. We prayed for Moses and promised to write.

Many thanks to Em for holding down the fort while I was out, and to our new friends who came by to check on her and the kids.

Construction Photos

2009-08-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shots of the site. This one is the foundation excavation of what will be an "Aqua Privy", which is a cool sweet-smelling compromise between a pit latrine and a flush toilet. We cast the strip footings on this building tomorrow!

And here is the site for one of the four dormitories on the campus. This will have three big rooms (8 youth per room) with lots of light via clerestory windows and built-in beds and cabinets. Each dorm will also have its own open roofed veranda. That huge mound of soil blocks the view of the Nile.
I often feel as if I'm figuring a lot of things out as we go, but that makes it exciting.

A Saturday Outing

2009-07-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying a nice, quiet, family Saturday today! After a breakfast treat of eggs and bacon we decided to have an outdoors adventure before settling in to a movie and book reading.

Every day we hear trucks drive by our house carrying rafters and kayakers down the hill to launch for their adventure down the Nile. When we heard the squealing brakes today we quickly got our shoes on and hiked down the hill to watch. Jonathan had a lot of fun testing out his new gum boots in deep puddles (we've had a lot of rain yesterday and last night), and the kids enjoyed playing in a kayak as we watched the troops get organized.

Monday (the 27th) is our 7 year wedding anniversary, and guess what?! We (Phil and I) are going rafting on the Nile (level 5 rapids)! Watching today got us really excited!! Wish us luck!!

Talking the Talk

2009-07-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

Before moving back to Africa we read so much about the many ways African culture differs from Western culture, and one of these is the African emphasis on community. Part of community-building in Africa takes the form of talking. Africans spend a lot of time talking with one another in a chatty sort of way, with lots of tongue-in-cheek sorts of humor. Bartering for purchased goods is, at least in part, a social event, getting to know people and becoming known, making friends and being a friend.

We have found that the Ugandans we have interacted with love to talk, to joke around and make fun and light of things. Even when asking for a job or demanding a bribe, these folks just want to talk and turn it into a fun conversation. It's a game. All the recommendations to Americans who travel in Africa is to play this game. When a neighbor asks for your shirt, don't be rude and just say “no” - say, “when my shirt has a little brother, I'll give it to you”. That sort of thing. There aren't a lot of distractions and entertainment options here, so you make up for it by playing the game of talk.

Well I've been a bit nervous about learning to play this game, as I've never been too confident as a quick, witty, or eloquent speaker. I remember praying about this specific thing during our orientation back in the States. I really feel that God answered that prayer when I got my way out of a traffic fine by having a lengthy, light-hearted and honestly fun conversation with the group of police officers that pulled me over. I was carring some steel pipes on the back of my truck and was crossing the dam when one of the pipes slipped out on the roadway! I furiously pulled over, loaded the pipe, tied it down, and drove off the dam, but evidently wasn't quick enough to avoid being pulled over by the police. One of the officers filled out the citation while we talked, but by the time we had finished our conversation (which mostly involved them making fun of me for 'driving dangerously') they explained that since I was apologetic for my wrong-doing they would let me off with just a warning – but perhaps I would bring them a soda the next time I passed the bridge. :)

Nile-View House

2009-07-15T01:19:00.000-07:00

Apologies for failing to keep up with our blog recently!
Well we're settled into our home now, the Nile-View house. It has its quirks (very low water pressure in the bathroom so you can't raise the shower nozzle over your waist, immense and out-of-proportion hallway, and bats in the attic) but it is otherwise beautiful, quiet, peaceful. The garden is grand and has avocado, mango, papaya and jackfruit trees. Our neighbors have been sweet and very welcoming, and the Nile River Explorers launch their kayaks and rafts just down the hill from us, so we got to see them load up and start their adventure.

I've been taking our car to work every day, but Em has braved public transit to get around with the kids. One day she directed a local boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) driver to our house. Now she can call him anytime for a cheap ride anywhere in town. She wears Eva in the baby backpack and Jonathan rides in front of the driver. Not the safest way to travel, exactly, but the price is right.
We've started to know our neighbors and the folks from whom we buy a lot of groceries and other goods. It feels very good to know the fair prices for things now, so the stress of bartering is subsiding.

Our experience with churches has been interesting. We've gone to a new one each week to get a feel for what churches in Uganda are like and where God might be leading us to attend. We'd really like to worship in our own neighborhood, so this limits our selection significantly. This Sunday we're going to try an Anglican church just down the road. In Uganda there is a distinction between being a Catholic Christian, a Protestant Christian (Anglican) and a “born again” Christian (all non-denoms). Interesting, eh? So after having attended a “born again” church last week and confessing to the congregation that we were indeed born again, I'm wondering if we'll be questioned for attending a Protestant church.

It's good to be back out here on the internet again. We hope to be more regular with these posts and pictures.

Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

2009-05-27T03:05:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Eva's bday a little early this year. Her bday is May 21^st...which just happened to be our first day in Uganda. So, the day before we left Nairobi, we had a little party with our friends there. She was thrilled to finally be the one to blow out the candles, and for days after could be heard singing, “Happy Birthday to you, ME! Happy Birthday to you, ME!”

On her real bday we had fun opening a package that was waiting here for us from Jon and Kate, chasing bunnies in the garden of the guest house we're staying at, and eating a yummy fish and chips dinner.

Some favorite shots of Eva over the past few months:

Her Birthday Celebration in Nairobi with Faders and Agnes Families (her favorite present was this pink Elmo backpack she spotted on the market when we were out walking one day).

Evelyn's actual birthday and our first day in Uganda...

Birthday bling - compliments of Auntie Kate.

Happy Birtday, Sweetheart! We love you!

Catching Up

2009-05-27T02:50:00.000-07:00

We have fallen behind in our blog! A lot has happened since last we wrote...including: finishing up our time in Sudan, a trip to the coast of Kenya, Eva's birthday, and our arrival in Uganda!

We had some fun and special days at the Sun 'n' Sand hotel with the Faders. After working so hard side-by-side in Sudan, it was fun to share some R&R together as well.

Here are some pictures from our time in Mombasa -

Jonathan's Prayer

2009-05-05T04:28:00.000-07:00

Almost every night Phil reads to the kids from the “Jesus Storybook Bible”. The kids love it! Now that we're reading through it for the second time, Evelyn has shown how strong her memory is by pointing at pictures and telling us the story. The other day she found the page depicting Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and said, angrily, “guy cut his ear off!”

On Friday night the story was about Namaan, a man who had leporosy and was healed by God through Elisha. The story went on to tell of the promise that God would later send his son, Jesus, to heal every broken heart. Jonathan asked if everyone's heart was broken and we explained that they are. “Even Evelyn's?” “Yes,” Emily said, “but if you ask Jesus to come and live in your heart, he can fix it. Would you like to ask him?” Jonathan enthusiastically agreed and prayed this prayer: “Jesus, I know that you died on the cross. Please come live in my heart.” We cheered and prayed for him, and Evelyn, caught up in the excitement, leaned over and kissed him!

The next morning at breakfast we asked if he remembered that he asked Jesus to live in his heart, and with a huge smile and light in his eyes he said, “Yes! He is living inside of me, and he's fixing my heart!”

Rejoice with us and pray for our son as he faces the many hardships and temptations this world will bring.

Dear Jesus, please continue to draw Jonathan close to you. Let your Holy Spirit dwell in his heart and stir up within him the joy of companionship with you, of citizenship in Heaven, of the abundant life you have called him to. And enable us as parents to stoke that fire, build a foundation for faith, and model the Christian life in a God-honoring, humble, compelling way.

Thank you God for this glimpse of childhood faith and wonder!

Tan Lines

2009-05-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

Shod. Bare.

This hot new foot fashion deserves a good name. Any ideas?

Cables Up!

2009-04-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord! The cables have been finally set! All clamps have been tightened and the deck is beginning to creep along the cables! Behold!

At this point we'd like to thank God, who rightly deserves all of the credit for this bridge, who answers prayers, who has kept everyone safe, in whose grace we live and for whom we exist. It is He who created us, who plans our steps and carries us through. Thank you, God, for this small success and for the fulfillment and satisfaction that comes with it.

Well we're pushing forward but have decided to bring the bridge work to a close this Saturday. Our laborers' contract ends on Saturday, and we leave for Kenya with the Faders the following Thursday, so that will give us a few days in Yabus to relax as a family, maybe make a few adventure trips in the area around Yabus, and work on a few small chores and odd jobs around the missionary compound.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

2009-04-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Today was Jonathan's 4th birthday! Here are some pictures from our fun day!

I woke up excited to make him scrambled eggs with some eggs the boys found in the chicken coop here...unfortunately, eight out of the nine little eggs had eyeballs inside, so we had oatmeal! Jonathan said, "I like oatmeal in the United States of America, AND I like oatmeal in Sudan!"

And while we're on the food theme...here's what we had for lunch! Canned hot dogs from Nairobi, canned green beans and mac'n'cheese! We invited our friends over for a lunch celebration...

After naps, we filled up a bunch of water balloons!

Three scrawny roosters died for our dinner celebration. Mmmm, Meat!

Here we get a bit out of order (Does anyone else have this problem of moving pictures around in blogger? It drives me crazy!)... After our water balloon fight and before dinner we were surprised by a huge hail storm! It was amazing! Jonathan had fun running out and collecting the ice balls when the worst of it was over. Apparently Phil had to hide under a tree with a shovel over his head at the bridge site!

Bath in a bucket. The blue bucket is always fought over for bath time. Birthday boy got it today!

Here we're back to dinner celebration! I made a chocolate cake in our brick/charcoal oven (it turned out great!), and per Jonathan's request I topped it with chocolate pudding and whipped cream - what a treat!

Presents! A new matchbox car and a card game!

This morning I asked Jonathan how he felt now that's he's four. He told me that he wouldn't be four until after he had his cake and presents. When we came back home to get ready for bed after his party he suddenly realized he was finally four and thought he should try and see how fast he could run now that he was older. He ran as fast as he could back and forth in our small house and was super excited to find that he was indeed much faster than before! He fell asleep a very happy boy with his new car and games around him. Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Some Pics From Yabus

2009-04-22T04:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more snapshots of our life here in Yabus.
This is our screened-in porch where I read to Em during rest time in the heat of the day. A breeze often comes through here at night, making it a wonderful spot for visiting at the end of the day too, sharing a cup of tea.
Here is a pic of Bethany, Emily, and all six kids riding the quad bike back home after a visit to the bridge site. As you can imagine, the kids love adventures like these and I love to see them when they visit me at work. It is unusual in this culture for fathers to play with their kids, so I always seem to get funny looks and gasps when I throw Eva up in the air or when Jonathan runs to give me a hug.

And here is our sweet daughter Evelyn. She has been very adorable lately and sings to herself all the time. She also does a cute little jig when she eats something she likes (like watermelon).
This is a pic of an afternoon outing that the ladies took with the kids. They spread out a mat in the shade of a big beautiful tree nearby and let the kids play together. Emily and Bethany are loving this new time of togetherness, this time with their kids. Together they are planning a small vacation for our two families at the Kenyan coast when we leave Yabus in May. (!)
And finally, a couple of shots of the bridge. This one is of our team casting the first deadman anchor. The guy in the foreground, Butros, is a real firecracker of a guy. He has become one of my right-hand men, showing great skill in brick-laying. I'll write more about him later.
This pic was taken during the casting of the second deadman anchor, and if you look closely you can see the other tower on the far side of the river.

A day in the life of Jonathan

2009-04-04T10:12:00.001-07:00

A lot of you have been asking my mom and dad what I do all day. Mom took a bunch of pictures of me today to give you a peek at what my life in Sudan is like.

6:30am - I wake up and ask mom if I can get out of my tent because I looked out our bamboo wall and saw the sun was coming up! She said to wait 5 more minutes.
6:50am - I notice Eva is awake and reading a book in her bug tent bed, so I run over and help her out and then together we wake up Dad and ask if he'll make us breakfast!
7:00 - Breakfast on our porch with Dad - I LOVE Wheatabix Cereal!
7:30 - A big black ant bites my bottom while I'm trying to get dressed. OWIE!!
8:15 - Off to play with Isaac and Evan. "Bye mom!"
9am -I invite my friends to come play some of my games with me
9:30 - shoes on! Back out to run and play!
10:15 - Home to watch some "Little Rascles" with Evelyn
11:00 - I help Mommy plant some flower seeds by the side of my house. We feed termites to the big black ants and play with a dumptruck.
12:00 - We wash our hands and eat lunch at the dining hall.
12:30 - Daddy's home for lunch and rest time!
1-3pm - Rest time in our bug huts
3:15 - Isaac comes over to play cars at my house
4:30 - Now that the sun isn't so hot, Isaac, Evan and I play outside again. We make rivers and mountains with our "soil." While I'm gone Mom washes dirty diapers, and Eva takes a fun bath to cool off - she uses a big clump of dirt for her soap! Silly girl.
6:00 - Dinner in the dining hall
7:00 - Bathtime, Bible story, and prayers with Dad
7:30 - Bedtime.

What a fun day!

Other things I like to do are riding in the back of Uncle Eli's truck, home school with Isaac Evan and Praise, playing with the puppies, and swinging in the tree swing.

I told my mom that I want to live here forever!

Discouragement

2009-03-31T04:57:00.001-07:00

Work on the bridge has slowed to a crawl. The NGO that had been contributing the wages to pay the labor force has been kicked out of Sudan by the President of Sudan. In response, the World Food Programme jumped on board and offered food-for-work, but the deal has not been well received. We had four men sign up for work last week (when we need about 25), and then nobody renewed work for this week.
This is something that has been hard for us to understand. The amount of food being offered by the WFP is actually more valuable (by 20 percent!) than the wages that were offered in the past. The laborers could actually sell the food for profit if they chose. The local governor was shocked that nobody signed up to work.
This puts us in a weird spot, but one that is also very interesting. One option is to sit back and wait until the community decides that they need the bridge enough to provide the labor force. There are communities in Ethiopia (which is about 20 km away) that have assembled volunteer work crews to build bridges like ours, so the idea that Yabus could pull itself together and see this project through is a reasonable one. The second option is to write home about the need and raise the $2200 (that's right, two thousand, two hunred dollars) in order to pay the wages of the laborers and get this bridge built before the rains start. In a certain sense this is a debate between doing development work and doing aid work, between doing something sustainable and something not-so-sustainable, between teaching a man to fish and giving a man a fish. Option 2 is best for the community for its immediate needs and Option 1 is best for the community in the long run.
I'm a supporter of good development theory and practice, but we've come all the way to Yabus to help this community build a bridge. Our presence here represents a significant investment on our part and on the part of our families, church and supporters. If we don't get started on the work right away, our trip here will have been a waste. And yet, this work and this project and our lives are not all about us and our investments and agendas.
Yesterday morning we talked and prayed about this situation as a challenge to our tendency as Americans to be independent of God, doing things on our own strength. We have encountered an obstacle – do we pray and wait on God for a solution or do we rely on our own strength, ability, ingenuity, and push obstinately forward? This is a tough one for us – please pray with us for wisdom.
In the meantime, we have offered the student work force (which works on various construction or maintenance projects around Yabus in order to pay tuition) the opportunity to contribute to the bridge project. They have class all morning but are available to work from 3 to 6 in the afternoons. Yesterday we had five students show up to help, and we worked on collecting sand and gravel from the river. With five men, we can work at a snail's pace until next week, when work will come to a stop. The cables are very heavy, and without a crew of at least 25 men, we can't move them. In addition, our departure date is about five weeks away (see previous post) and we are especially conscious of that deadline.

Confession

2009-03-31T04:56:00.000-07:00

Today marks the first day, since arriving in Yabus, that I have daydreamed about the day that we leave Yabus. If I were to rat out Emily, I'd tell you that she lasted about two days here before daydreaming about that day. Life is tough here. There is no escape from the heat and there are few distractions. Mostly, we are just realizing how spoiled we have been for so long. Our move here has been real whiplash in so many ways.

Yesterday afternoon Em and I were sitting on our porch during rest time (12:00 to 3:00) and there was a hot breeze coming through our porch. Em likened it to when you're baking something and you open up the oven door to see if it's done. There is a whoosh of hot air that escapes the oven. Yeah, that describes it pretty well. There's not a lot of relief in that kind of breeze. Then she said that there are 36 days until we leave (look who's been counting!) and said that, just as in baking, it's like we have 36 days until we're done, completely baked, and ready to be removed from the oven.

Internet Day

2009-03-28T03:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday brings extended internet hours, so I wanted to take the chance to post a few more pics.

Jonathan and Evelyn have been loving it here – playing in the dirt with rocks, chickens, dogs. They've been such good sports too – haven't complained once about the heat. Jonathan has been amzing us with his appetite! It must be a combination of the heat and all the exercise he's been getting, but he eats three helpings of rice and beans at every meal!

The other day our work at the bridge was interrupted by a request for help from one of the market truck drivers. He had somehow tipped his truck (which was piled high with bamboo he'd harvested and was preparing to sell at the market) over onto its side. We brought over a winch and were able to tip it back up, and when we returned in the afternoon, the truck was gone. What often happens (and by often I mean every day) is that the trucks are so heavily loaded that they can't make it up the hill on the far side of the existing stone bridge, so they stop there and block traffic in both directions while they unload the bamboo. It takes hours to unload, move the truck and then reload, so you're totally out of luck if you'd planned on crossing in the car. Yeesh.

Here are some shots of the bridge foundations. The first is a shot of the soil anchor reinforcement, which I spent my first couple days here assembling. The second is a shot of the soil anchor formwork. The cage of reinforcement sits in here, and we'll fill it up with concrete next week. This last shot is the threshold on one side of the river. We built these two masonry colums and then filled them with reinforced concrete. The steel piece on the top is called a saddle, and the handrail cable will come up and over it. The traffic will walk in between these columns. Pretty cool, huh?

How Hungry Are You?

2009-03-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

In the few months before we left the States, I would often receive calls from contractor-friends of mine who were out of work and searching for the next job. The recession had not been good for folks in our industry. The phrase that I heard quite often from these contractors was “we're hungry.” “Do you know of any jobs we could bid on? Me and my guys are hungry.” It's a figure of speech in the United States, but hunger is a reality here in Sudan. The World Food Program has donated food to our bridge project as compensation for labor. If any of you contractor friends of mine are still hungry, we have plenty of work out here. One milk can of sorghum plus good measures of sugar and tea is the going rate for a week of work. Let me know.

Welcome to Yabus!

2009-03-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Some things are as we expected - others not. We are SO thankful to be here and to begin settling into our new home. We wanted to update our prayer partners and say thank you for praying us all the way here – it was certainly a long journey. The most exciting part for me was to see the four cable reels at the airport and to assist in loading one reel into the plane with us. With five men we were able to roll the cable reel up a ramp into the back of a truck and then up a ramp from the truck to the plane. Whew! What is especially remarkable to me is the number of people who have a stake in this bridge – who are invested or involved in some way. Customs folks, logisticians, taxi drivers, airport security, pilots, and now the people of Yabus. When the plane landed in Yabus we rolled it out of the plane onto a truck and then drove it to the site. When the day comes, we'll unroll the cable from the reel and get a large group of people together to set it into place.

The SIM Secondary School recently finished a new faculty house that is not yet occupied, and they decided that we should use it while we're here. It is beautiful! With half-height masonry walls and wood framing above (with bamboo siding) it is quite breezy and cool. On the day we arrived we hustled to mount our solar panel to the roof and plug everything in so that we have a couple lights and a plug strip for charging our computer. I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn how to set up a solar system!

The kids have been having a lot of fun playing with the other kids here and seem to have adjusted already! Em and I are finding that while many things take much longer to accomplish without running water, we are very much enjoying the company of our highschool friends the Faders and are enjoying the cushy service of our Sudanese cooks and clothes-washers!

I have already been asked to be on the board of directors for Microenterprise Yabus, Ltd., which is beginning its first in a hopefully long series of micro-loan programs. This is a very exciting venture to be a part of, and it will be fun to see these aspiring business-owners build their businesses and provide for their families.

I visited the bridge site today to assess the construction and to work on a schedule with the project manager, Eli. The towers look terrific, and the work has come a very long way. I am very impressed and very excited for the work ahead. The first step, beginning tomorrow, will be to complete the concrete works (tower thresholds and soil anchors) so we can allow them to cure while we prepare for the next phase. The schedule will be very tight.

Each morning we begin the day with a time of devotion and prayer, joining the Sudanese, Indian, American and Swiss teachers at the BELC (Basic Education and Learning Center – the adult education program). This is a great team to be a part of, and we are thrilled to be here, serving alongside them. Blessings on you all!

All our bags are packed...

2009-03-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

We're ready to go!
Our house is packed up.
Our goodbyes have been said...
Africa, here we come!

Thank you so much for all your prayers. We've been so aware of God's helping hand through all of these busy packing days and the sadness of goodbyes. He has certainly been our shield and strength.

Thanks also for your continued prayers! We have quite a journey ahead of us!

Here's our itinerary:

Friday, March 6th - 10 1/2 hour flight from LAX to London
Saturday, the 7th - 24 hour layover in London
Sunday, the 8th - 8 1/2 hour flight from London to Nairobi, Kenya
Monday, the 9th- 12th - stay in Kenya for 4 days getting supplies, adjusting to time change...
Friday, the 13th - fly to Lokichoggio, Kenya (on the border of Sudan) and spend the night.
Saturday, the 14th - catch small plane to YABUS!

Thank you to all of you who are praying for us!
We'll keep you updated as we can along the way.

2009-02-25T14:13:00.001-08:00

Just 8 days until we catch our plane for Sudan!
Here's a picture of our new home awaiting us...

Three weeks to go!

2009-02-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

We're counting down the days until our departure from LAX on March 6th!

For those of you eager for some news, here it goes:

The Yabus Bridge cable, which shipped over sea from India, has arrived in Mombasa, Kenya (Praise the Lord!) and is scheduled to arrive in Sudan at the end of February.

We are so thankful that 100% of our outgoing expenses are covered! We are hoping in faith for the final 15% of our monthly support to roll in.

Our house is on the market, and a garage sale is scheduled for Feb. 28th.

Units of time mean nothing to Jonathan, so he has been telling his friends, "we leave in three gymnastics classes!"

Below are our mugshots for our visas into South Sudan.

Moving to Africa

2009-01-04T21:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

We had a terrific Christmas here in San Luis Obispo and a very relaxing week-after-Christmas in Medford, Oregon at a family reunion. Back to work tomorrow.

So you probably know by now that we're moving to Africa this year. Project #1 scheduled for Spring 2009 is in Sudan (see yabusbridge.blogspot.com for details). Project #2 starts in the Summer in Jinja, Uganda. We are very excited about moving back to Africa and cannot wait to see what God has in store for us there.

What is beginning to sink in is the reality of leaving San Luis Obispo, our dear church family, friends and neighbors. Sad. Our roots have gone deep here and it will hurt to leave. On the other hand, we wouldn't want to be unrooted here just for ease in transition. We are thankful for our San Luis family and will miss them when we go.

One thing we'll do when we go (yes I'm writing this down in a public online venue so you can keep us accoutable) is to update this blog monthly. Check back here for updates as we go, and updates from the field.

Some recent pictures of the kids...

2008-09-10T11:08:00.001-07:00

Evelyn's new word is "bee-bee" (baby). She loves her baby dolls! I have found her reading books to them, wiping their bottoms with baby wipes, feeding them, rocking and singing to them. Today she proudly carried one of her dolls around in her sling. It was too cute!

Fun at the park!

Cheeeese!!

Susanna from Estonia

2008-07-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

We had the privilege of hosting an exchange student for the month of July through the international program, EF. Susanna came to us from Estonia to get a little taste of life and culture in America. We loved getting to know this very smart, very sweet 15 year old who loved shopping, cinnamon raisin bagels for breakfast, diet coke anytime, and a nightly bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. We got her rocking with Guitar Hero, had a fun trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, picnicked at Montana de Oro State park among many other fun things! We said a sad goodbye to her today. On the way home from dropping her off Jonathan said, "I wish she could stay for ALL the nights!" I think this was his way of describing 'forever'.

Triathlon Man

2008-07-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

This Sunday Phil participated in the annual SLO triathlon (sprint course) and came in 412th place out of 1,200 people with an overall time of 1:51:04. Unfortunately the kids and I weren't there to cheer him on because of other engagements, but our dear friends David (pictured here) and Lindsay were there to count laps for, run along side of, and cheer on Phil at the finish line.
Way to go Phil!

Super Hero Wife

2008-07-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

No pictures this time.

I just wanted to spend a few words praising my superhero wife. This morning, Tuesday morning, she babysat two young kids of a friend of ours (yes, in addition to watching our own two youthful and trouble-making kids), then made lunch for the whole group and the other mother. Then she cleaned the house and prepared a delicious taco feast for some dinner guests, complete with brownies, ice cream and coffee for dessert. And now that the dishes are done, she's out running errands with our foreign exchange student, Susanna.

Isn't she amazing?

This very bright, very beautiful, and very energetic servant wife that God gave me is my true love. I thank her and thank God for her.

The Beach!

2008-06-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

This beach, Avila Beach, is one of our favorite spots, and we count ourselves very blessed to live so close to it. Evelyn is walking now, so it's roughly a thrill-a-minute around here, and her smile and laughter are priceless. As we discovered on this beach day, there is no such thing as a little bit of beach - both kids were soaked and covered in sand by the end.

What are little boys made of?

2008-05-12T22:51:00.001-07:00

...snakes, snails and puppy dog tails. Jonathan can't get enough of the snails in our backyard. He knows where they all live and checks up on them daily. Many weeks ago he introduced me to a mommy and baby snail, and when I asked him how he knew which one was which, he looked at me blankly, pointing at the smaller snail and said, "This one's Which."
It takes hard scrubbing with soap and a scrub brush to get the snail goo off of his hands. Yech. Em does this several times a day, but it is absolutely worth the hours of free entertainment.

Note big bruise on forehead and hot new haircut!

Camping Trip!

2008-05-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I took Jonathan on his first camping trip! We left the girls at home and went up the coast to spend the night at Cerro Alto campground. On our long hike up Cerro Alto mountain we encountered many friendly dogs and fellow hikers, we talked about pollination and "pinching crabs", and Jonathan slipped and, as he recounted to a friend later, "hit his face on a mountain rock". The weather was amazing, and the cool creek felt nice on our sore feet. That night was one of the rare nights when Jonathan begged to go to bed. Our tent was awesome! When he woke up in the morning he jumped out of his sleeping bag and ran (three steps) to the window of the tent and declared loudly, "Daddy look! It's ... it's summertime!"

Miss. America

2008-04-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

Jonathan turns three.

2008-04-25T17:19:00.001-07:00

Jonathan's birthday celebration began Tuesday night. Before Bible Study we had a little party for him and Shannon (who just turned 21)! Jonathan and I made a chocolate cream pie for his birthday this year. His favorite food is whipped cream, so he was pretty excited about this pie!

"Happy Birthday to you..." (Jonathan helped me make an apple pie for Miss. Shannon)

Blowing out the candles

His actual birthday was Wednesday (April 23rd). Instead of having a big party in the park this year we decided to do a bunch of little fun celebrations. Two of his favorite people are Caleb and Ezra, so we picked them up from school on Wed. and took them to lunch at Carl's Jr.

When Phil got home from work, we went to Applebee's for dinner where Jonathan made a tortilla mask and got his very own icecream sundae.

After dinner we went to the pet store, and then home to play with his cool remote control car (thanks Grandma and Granddad!) before bed.

A great bedtime story to end a great day!

I had a cute video of Jonathan saying, "I'm three!" that I was going to put right here, but my camera battery just died! I'll post it later...

Wedding in Tuscon

2008-04-15T15:52:00.001-07:00

This weekend we ventured to Tuscon, AZ for a friend's wedding. We weren't sure how the kids would do on the 10 1/2 hour drive (which ended up taking 16 hours!), but were so relieved to discover we have natural born travelers. We had a fun time visiting friends and family on the way there and back. Here are some pictures to tell the story.

(Friday morning)
Off to a good start!

Jonathan enjoyed following along with books on tape I got from the library. This was his favorite: It's dinosaur time!

We stopped in Pasadena, CA to have lunch with Aunt Lorraine - a long time friend from Emily's years in Chad

We arrived at our hotel at 1am Saturday.

Saturday was so nice and warm, and the wedding wasn't until 5pm, so Daddy took Evelyn to the pool to work on her tan.

The wedding was beautiful! Here we are with Hannah and Steve.

...and with our good friend, Ron and his girlfriend Tamaki.

Jonathan made a best friend at the wedding.

We left the wedding right after the cake was served so the kids could get a good night's sleep before our return journey the next day...

(Sunday morning)

We stopped in Phoenix to have brunch with Jeff and Tricia (Henry) Pina.

About 30 min out from our destination we got a flat tire. We stopped in a very fancy neighborhood to put on the spare. While we were stopped Jonathan declared he urgently had to go to the bathroom. I took him and knocked on several doors, but no one would answer, so...

...we made a makeshift potty. Here I am smiling at a rich lady passing by in her fancy car.

We spent Sunday night with Phil's sister, Rebecca, and family. Phil had a site visit and work to do for his company's office in LA on Monday, so the kids and I hung out with the family. Bethany, Tony and the kids came over for dinner and we all had yummy hotdogs before heading home.

Here's Jonathan saying goodbye to his cousins, Elliana and Madeline. On the way home he said, "I miss my cousins and I love them VERY much."

Easter in Avila

2008-03-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been far too long since I've posted pictures. I have a whole stack to put on here from our visit to Grandma and Granddad in FL (while Phil was in Sudan), and from our time with my sister (Beth) and her family. But instead of trying to do it all, I'll just post the most recent photos from Easter. We had a great Easter celebration with our friends, the Hendersons. They used to live 3 feet away from us in our mobile home park and now live a 10 min. drive away in the beautiful hills of Avila. Jonathan did his first Easter egg hunt and met the real Easter bunny, Robby, and Evelyn impressed everyone with how cute she looked in the dress my Mom made her. Thanks, Mom!

Trip to Africa

2008-02-25T20:24:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics from my February trip to Sudan. I went out for a few weeks to get a bridge project started in Yabus, Sudan. Our friends the Faders live and work out there, so I stayed with them while surveying the site and finalizing the design. It is a beautiful place and in desperate need of a bridge to enable students to get to school, the sick to get to the clinic, and families to get to the market year-round. The bridge, which is a cable-suspended, wood-deck pedestrian bridge, will span 75 meters and will be 1.06 meters wide (just wide enough to drive a Honda Grizzly ATV across, if you can drive in a straight line).

The Faders work with SIM and they run an adult school that teaches English, Science, Math and Social Studies, and they are building a secondary school which will be the only secondary school in a 200 mile radius.

Eli arranged for some of his students to help me out with the surveying, and encouraged me to make it an educational experience for them. I spent quite a bit of time trying to explain the simpler concepts in surveying, and we had a load of fun with the walkie-talkies.
This was an incredible trip, and while the pictures help to tell the story, they are only capable of telling a fraction of it.

Two Front Teeth

2008-01-05T09:12:00.001-08:00

I stole this picture from my sister-in-law's blog...thanks, Bethany!

Snow Trip!

2007-12-29T08:36:00.001-08:00

We just got back from a fun trip to the snow! It was Jonathan and Evelyn's first and coldest experience of their lives. We stayed at the John Muir Lodge in King's Canyon/Sequoia National Park. Here's a photo story of our trip...

"Look! Snow!!" (After being on the road for 4 hours)

Tire Chains: How do you put these things on??

At the lodge...getting ready for our first snow play!

Making snow balls....

and snow angels.

After 30 min: "My feet hurt! I don't like snow! I want to go to bed!"

The next day...
Jonathan was up and excited to play in the snow again. We went for a hike to see some beautiful sequoias and then went sledding. We were going to make a snowman, but Jonathan could only last so long in those rubber boots. Plus, the snow wasn't really the snowman-making type.

Jonathan and Evelyn had a strenuous hike through the redwoods.

Famous General Grant tree. Second largest tree in the world and guessed to be about 1,650 years old. (We were going to try to see the largest tree, General Sherman, but the road was closed due to weather conditions.)

Gamlin Cabin built in 1872

Jonathan's favorite part of the trip was sledding with Daddy. I love this picture because it shows how much padding he has on, "I can't put my arms down!!"

Guess who?

2007-12-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of Phil I found the other day. I can't get over how much it looks like Jonathan!

Evelyn Crawling.

2007-12-21T21:35:00.000-08:00

First Day of Christmas Vacation!!

2007-12-21T20:29:00.000-08:00

This year we've decided to stay home for the holidays and enjoy our little family and this beautiful town we live in. We are so excited to finally be on vacation! Tonight we ventured out to see Santa in the Mission Plaza, but the sign on his door said that he was at the North Pole until tomorrow. Fortunately there was also a carousel! Jonathan had a blast - Phil said he was laughing almost the whole time he rode. Then we walked downtown to get a hot chocolate at Barnes and Noble (Jonathan ran all the way shouting, "I love hot chocolate!!") and read some Christmas books. What a fun way to start this Christmas celebration!

Getting in the car to see Santa!

Here's Santa's house; he's not home! Jonathan was going to ask for racecars!

Lucky us! The carousel was open!

"Hi Mom! Hi Evelyn!"

Eva liked watching all the lights...

and reading all the books!

Walking back to the car - what a fun night!