Headed Home

Taking Breaks

The key to the stress of cross cultural living is taking breaks. We have the privilege of living in a country of great natural beauty, so we have opportunity to see some amazing things. It is pristine because it is hard to get to--I still don't know how I feel about almost dying to get to these places, BUT it is amazing. The kids especially loved Lake Mburo, which is a small national park between Kabale and Kampala. It was gorgeous and we celebrated Aaron's birthday present here.

One kind of scary, but fun thing was that we got stuck in a swamp. This is a small park, and used to not have lions or leopards, so you can go out by yourself with a map and get around ok. But, we had just heard someone had recently spotted leopards and lions and then we got stuck in a swamp. That was interesting. It was the end of the rainy season and roads were still muddy! Thankfully, we got spotty phone reception and with loads of prayer and more grace, we could manage to contact the lodge and they came and got us. Micah was so excited--"I've never been rescued before, I've only read about this!" Micah turns 10 this year and it doesn't get much better than that!

I loved this cow just hanging out in the back of the truck--reminds me of Texas.

Baboons, the welcoming committee.

Mallory showing her stuffed zebra the relatives.

Gorgeous Woodland Kingfisher.

A lone topi--king of the hill.

The impala harem.

Impala and warthogs.

Zebras are so cool and fun to watch!

The lodge and where we could eat and observe a salt lick through the spyglass.

Our tent.

Way cool shower--it's an eco lodge, so it blended in with the hill!!!

Part of our tent/hut.

The pool! Small, but picturesque!

This is what makes it worth it--encouraged kids!

The natural salt lick.

Cute, but we had to really guard the tent from these little opportunists. Velvet monkey.

Boat tour of animals!

African eagle.

We got a little too close, but thankfully, still this was on zoom! Awesome!!!

Cape Buffalo--these guys look ancient!

Black bellied bustard

Swamp rescue!

Topi

Moon over Lake Mburo

Looks like a Burchell's starling from the book?

Long crested eagle!

Crested Crane! National bird

Ankole cattle--they live on the reserve with the Banyankore tribe

Matoke or green bananas is a great industry in Ugandan, even some export!

Home again with blank swamp goo still on the car! Thank you, Lord for an adventure.

Trip to Kenya

This May, our organization, Global Teams, organized a Member Care Retreat in Kenya. Each Global Team has a volunteer assigned to them to pray, encourage and share with, via email. We met with leaders and care givers from the U.S., 2 other North American missionaries and about 40 African missionaries from Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Congo, Uganda and Kenya. It was a difficult journey to travel with 2 families and a bit of chaos--Osama Bin Laden had just been captured and in Kampala there was political unrest. We arrived in Kampala on Mother's Day :). In Kampala, we met another colleague, Dr. Katie and left for Kenya the next day. We got to the Kenyan border and realized we had forgotten the tiny detail of the hotel name, number or directions and had 3 different spellings for the town where it was located. Turns out, it was very close to Obama's birth place! God truly has and had mercy on us and we made it by piecing together information and a good driver and a load of GRACE. Totally becoming addicted to grace--it's the only way to live!!

Needless to say, it was a powerful encouragement. We had a wonderful time learning and praying and hearing stories--so, so amazing! God is busy, for sure. The kids were encouraged, had a lot of fun and great adventures.

The pictures are not clear--had a smudge, we realized when we got home :(.

Chocolate covered donuts from Kampala!!!!

Lucy turns 5 in Kenya.

I love this girl!

Our friend brought Micah smores, so we cranked up a charcoal stove and had smores!!

Micah and Liz, our member care angel!

Kids singing this little light of mine with finger flashlights.

The boys playing with a friend on the hotel field.

Accidentially caught a barn owl going out for the night.

View from my window.

Where we met for meetings and eating.

The kitchen and beyond you can see traditional Kenyan shambas.

Travis and Aaron with some of our colleagues on a village and church visit. Below is a group of school kids performing for the guests.

Our Kenyan teammate!

Praying together.

One of Aaron's small groups.

Singing together.

Mallory with Jane, who worked with the children. She is Kenyan and actually had stayed in Kabale for an internship!

Studying together.

Setting up for communion.

The Bishop serves us. He prayed for courage for me--thank you, God!

April 29th

For whatever reason, today was a big day. Aaron turned 40, we met Precious' mom who came special from their village and one of Aaron's co-workers had a pre-wedding party called a Give Away. It was a fun day! I wish I could tell you more of what goes on at a Give Away, but we have only been to 2 and there is some variety in the program, depending on the wealth of the family. Also, it is hosted in Rukiga and it is like 6-8 hours long, so we have yet to come at the beginning or stay until the end. We do LOVE the little bit we have seen! So, enjoy the pictures and maybe one day we will post more information :)