Another "Chance" Meeting...and Confirmation from God

Monday early afternoon, we left our cluttered house and headed in a “special hire” (taxi) to the Scripture Union (SU) headquarters on the west side of Kampala, taking many side roads in order to avoid the inevitable “jams.” As arranged last week, the SU Director, Dickens, met us there and took us in the SU truck south toward their camp property where most of their national workers were meeting.  After negotiating 30 minutes of high volume traffic and “round-abouts” (traffic circles), we left the paved surface.  Following 6 kms. of dusty and bumpy narrow road riding, past homes, massive greenhouses, and many pedestrians, we arrived at the beautiful 46 acre camp of Scripture Union which borders Lake Victoria.  We were treated to a short tour of the property by none other than our new friend, Beth (Ethiopia and South Sudan SU Coordinator). Besides the beautiful Lake Victoria shore, Beth pointed out a huge towering tree which used to be a village shrine but has now been claimed for Christ by His followers. We then joined the staff as they assembled. While Ruth and

Joshua is holding the visual aid while Ruth teaches the definition of "Values"
using actions

I chatted individually with various workers, I was "amazed" to find that the very first person I talked with was Joshua, the SU Coordinator for northern Uganda and he actually knew the Ugandan man, Bosco, who wrote that "fatal" email back on Sept. 14, 2009, asking us if they could have the Biblical values curriculum in Uganda. In fact, he co-taught (at a children's camp) with Bosco the module of curriculum that Bosco had received from our Philippine missionary friends who took a copy of the VOICE Curriculum to Uganda back in 2009. Wow...God's network is astonishing! Truth be told, I did struggle with a rush of emotion as I introduced ourselves to this special group of God's servants.  Following our sharing, Dickens asked all to stand and form a circle holding hands as several of the workers, including Joshua, prayed for us. We left encouraged and more convinced that God has gone before us and will direct our paths.

Praying For God’s Plan

We thank God for an encouraging meeting this past Friday with Beth, Scripture Union Coordinator for Ethiopia and South Sudan.  We heard her name during our first visit to Uganda in 2010 but were unable to contact her. The first Sunday after arriving in Kampala, we joined a fellow World Venture missionary, Connie, who attends the Kampala Baptist Church. God, in His sovereignty, put the four of us in the same small Ladies Sunday School Class! When Connie introduced us, she immediately perked up and stated that she wanted to get together with us!  We scheduled a time at a near-by coffee house where we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her a little bit better. I gasped when I heard her say she has actually visited New Brunswick and was mentored by a missionary couple from Moncton, NB (we know their daughter who is also an African missionary), while she was a student in Kenya.  Not only that...she also took the Mass Com Graduate studies at Wheaton a few years before I studied in the Ed Min program. We also learned that she had heard of us from the Director of Scripture Union in Uganda (whom we will meet with this week, Lord-willing).  Beth recently returned from South Sudan and described the dearth of materials in the Protestant Churches.  She shared how she was able to lead a number of South Sudan leaders to Christ during her teaching sessions.  As we showed the Biblical Values curriculum sample she smiled with enthusiasm to know of our plan, Lord willing, to have an African Edition printed and available.  We closed our time together with prayer and made a schedule to meet again later in the month for prayer for specific people who might join our Start Up Committee. Hmmm, seems God is continuing to show us His plan, step by step...person by person!

Cars and God’s Sovereignty

Before leaving Canada, the Ugandan WorldVenture Field Director, Kirk, asked us if we wanted Robert, the Business Manager, to be on the lookout for a suitable car for us…and the answer was YES! Soon after our arrival, we began to hear “horror stories” of driving in Kampala…and of course, observed with some misgivings the drivers of the too-many-cars-for-the-number-of-roads here. “Lord, should we really get a car?” Sunday afternoon, a call came from Robert saying he had a silver 2002 Toyota Rav4 ready for us to look at. He mentioned it had taken a lot of searching to find a good one at a reasonable price. Early yesterday morning (Monday), Robert picked us up and took us to see it. Here it is:

(Yes, Laura, the driver, is sitting on the right side of the car.) 

After consulting with the Field Director, we agreed to purchase the vehicle.  Earlier today (Tuesday), the missionary responsible for handling the cash distributions “forgot” to leave the money for our car in the designated place for Robert to get it. After she returned to right that situation, Robert suddenly was tied up with another matter. Finally, a few hours later than planned, Robert took the cash to the dealership for the down payment. BUT Ivan, the salesman, was flabbergasted to learn, in Robert’s presence, the car had been sold within the last couple of hours…due to a mix-up that happened while he was briefly out of the office on official business. As Ivan apologized profusely, he, wanting to keep his customer happy, offered a 2004 blue Rav4 at the same price as what he was asking for the 2002 silver Rav4 (representing a fairly large discount).  Since Robert’s mechanic had looked at several cars (including this one) as part of the search for a vehicle for us, he had already given the green light on the blue Rav4 but recognized that we, the buyers, would probably not want to spend that much money. Within minutes of this offer, Robert phoned us, came to pick us up and took us to see this newer (and nicer) car. Here it is with Robert as happy as Laura is:

After dropping us off, he headed back to the dealership to work through a final agreement and put a down-payment on it. It seems that God, in His sovereignty, orchestrated events so that we could get the newer blue model at a price we could afford. Stay tuned, we hope to be able to tell the rest of the story later this week.

We've arrived!

Almost four years after sensing God's call to Uganda (September 2009), we are here in Kampala! Jet lag hinders me from writing my best, but we wanted you to know that we have arrived safe and sound...with luggage. The temperature is wonderful, warm but not Manila hot/humid, and the compound is filled with greenery and birds of multiple sizes/designs and their various songs from sunrise to sunset--a true oasis in the city! Although the table on which I am typing and the room where I am sitting is cluttered with a wide assortment of things still waiting for the right place to be kept, we are in a lovely spacious rented and furnished house which I'm sure will soon feel like "home."  There are four houses on this compound, all rented by missionaries, three of them rented by WorldVenture (the mission we are on loan to during our time here). We've eaten in two of their homes already (they've looked after us so well) and tomorrow we look forward to meeting the third neighbor during a belated July 4th celebration barbecue.

THANK YOU to all of you who have prayed and given to make this a possibility. THANKS to all who helped us during the final week or so of preparation and travel, including Neil, Laura's brother, who drove us to Halifax in her brother Bill's truck, and to Mom Bonney who accompanied us. We enjoyed a farewell Canada supper at the Halifax airport with a cousin of Laura's.  We are so grateful to those who have helped make our first couple of days here in Uganda productive. And above all, our THANKS to God for His abundant blessings, provisions, and promises.  We look to Him for His plan.  Thanks for joining us in this pursuit.