Uganda Survey

2006-12-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

2006-12-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

There have been a few developments in our decision making time. Billy's father's health has been on the slow decline for a few years now and the family is beginning to prepare for the inevitable. We are having a difficult time right now with the stress of the situation and of this huge decision that needs to be made. We are probably going to defer the final announement until we can have a good sit-down with Billy's mom to talk it out. We need all the prayers we can get regarding this area of our lives. I, particularly, came away from Uganda with an intense desire to move over there, but there are a lot of things to consider at this point. Thank you for your continued interest in us and your prayers are always appreciated.

2006-11-01T08:59:00.000-08:00

We made it home safely late monday night. We were travelling for about 24 hours and were exhausted. My parents had driven us home and decided to spend the night to take care of Jacob for us while we got a good night's rest. Around 4 in the morning we were gently wakened by the soft (yeah right) cry of our sweet little boy. He screamed for a few more hours and cried when we put him down and when we held him, when we gave him water and when we took it away! I gave him some tylenol because if I was crying that hard for that long I would have a headache. He continued to cry and only dozed the rest of the night. My parents went home tired the next morning and we stayed up alright yesturday. Then last night Jacob went to bed at 7pm Billy went at 9 and I went at 10. Then Jake woke up crying again, this time at 1am. We brought him n the bed with us and all layed there awake unil we decided to just get up at 5. The plan is to stay awake until 1pm for nap, then wake him up at 4 and keep him up until 8 if possible.

We are unpacked from the trip and now I am trying to focus on packing for the move, but I am having a difficult time finding the motivation. We have 2 weeks left to find another place to live and be out of this one. I sure hope and pray that we can get over jet lag very fast to make this process easier!

2006-10-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

"Daddy, did you eat the brain?"

"No"

"Can I see it?"

"OK"

(Spontaneously this child reached down, picked the eyeball off a fish head from Jeff's lunch and popped it into his mouth and said yum! After a few minutes he turned the head over to consume the other one!)

Jeff the proceeded to open up the scull and take out the brain and gave it to Isaac to eat. I looked away, but was assured it just looked like white fish meat.

"I want to eat the lips, I want to eat the lips"

"It is just bone behind there"

"oh"

All of this coming from a child who had an untouched burger on the plate in front of him! Oh, what a time we are having here in Uganda, where we saw a missionary kid eat the eyeballs and brain of his dad's lunch (didn't think I would ever say that)! This was quite a shock for a person who thought the look of an unconsumed fish carcass on a plate was gross!

Karagutu and Rwebesengo

2006-10-13T05:28:00.000-07:00

This is Jacob with his newfound friend Derek.

We went to visit two villages, yesterday we went to check out the building-in-progress at Karagutu. We only stayed a short while. We went out to where the posts for the church are up and then we headed over to where they currently meet. The church is made up of Congolese refugees, mostly women and children. The people there received us warmly and the choir sang songs for us. Jacob had a really great time playing with the children there. Jeff gave a short lesson, which had to be translated into 2 languages, then we prayed and departed for our next stop.

After a bumpy ride we arrived in Rwebesengo just after lunch time. We gave the women some food to be prepared for us and then we went into the church to have a service. We were introduced and the wonderful choir sang a few songs. We all sang together and then the guys in our party all gave a short lesson (this time only translated into one other language). During the service Jacob needed a diaper change and he received one outside while a crowd of children looked on in curiosity. When the service was ended we broke for evening meal and some ladies brought out three pots, two containing rice pilau and one containing potatoes while we set up camp. I found all of the food to be delicious and ate plenty. Jacob was getting tired, so while the fire was being built I took him into the tent and laid down with him until he fell asleep (which took a long time due to the energetic singing around the camp fire). The singing sounded really great and I was tired, but glad to join them. We sang and danced until about 11 and then the visitors turned in for the night. The village people stayed and sang until 3am. The church leader stayed up all night praying very loudly. Some in our party had a very difficult time sleeping, but I was so tired from the bumpy journey that I fell asleep and did not wake up until morning. After we all got up a few of the men went to bathe with water that was collected 3 miles away! We then met for another meal of rice pilau in the church building. Then there was a short lesson given by Jeff and Ronald. Ronald was last to speak and called us up to have the church lay hands on us to pray for us. It was a very different experience than in the states, everyone prayed very loudly at the same time. It was very overwhelming for Jacob and he had to be removed by Derek. It was so amazing to have all those people praying for us and asking guidance for our impending decision about moving to Uganda. The church was extremely warm and it was our pleasure to visit there. We left Rwebesengo right after the church prayed over us, we left the church in a large crowd, everyone shaking our hands and thanking us for coming. It was a wonderful experience that I wish I could share with all of you.

It was a long, tiring drive back to Fort Portal, but it was well worth the journey.

2006-10-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our first time attending church in Fort Portal, it was really wonderful and encouraging. The singins was infectious and harmonious. We really enjoyed the service and meeting so many new people.

We attended a meeting with the village church leaders and got to hear all of the reports of what is going on in their areas. There were about ten of us there and I was the only lady. They were really nice to us and tried to instruct us on how to greet in their language (Rutooro). We set up a schedule for visiting the villages and we will get to go to three, one of which is to be an overnight visit.

We have each been given Empacos (which is basically nicknames that everyone has and uses when talking to one another). I am called Adyeri, Billy is called Arali and Jacob is Akiki. We have had the chance to take a walk on our own around the busy streets, but we didn't go that far because it was the first full day we were here and I was still nervous. We have also visited two elderly women, one of which is 91 years old. They were both wonderful ladies, but very different. One was soft spoken and sweet, and the other was very boisterous and expressive. We have been invited to spend the night at her house and are seriously considering the opportunity.

We went out on a farm of a friend of Derek's and we had our first fresh guava fruits. They are little hard fruits, you eat the skin and all and they have seeds a little smaller than watermelon seeds. They are bitter on the outside and sweet on the inside, but they are not my favorite fruit to eat. I will stick to the juice.

We have been having a great time, we have spent time with Derek, Ronald and David, and they are all really interesting to be around and talk with. Jacob has really enjoyed Derek, he actually cried when we dropped him off after the first day they met! Derek is really great with Jacob teaching him words and introducing him to cows.

The native cuisine is going to take a little getting used to I am doing better at it than Billy and Jacob is doing best of all! Get this, today when we were meeting with the leaders at a restaurant and we were all served the same meals including chicken stew, rice, matoki, yams and cornmeal mash and some yucky vegetable. You are supposed to dip your starches in the stew and it is actually pretty good. I liked the rice like that. As I was eating I look down and count 3 ants floating in my bowl! Anyone who knows me knows that I can't really handle that sort of a thing well. I just looked at them and continued to eat carefully making sure I was not dipping near the ants! That was a huge step for me, I hope you are all very proud! I didn't eat the chicken itself (not really ready to cross that bridge yet) but it was really tasty.

We Made It!

2006-10-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Seattle thanks to Brenda’s parents around 3:00 pm. We unloaded our bags and prepared for the eventual argument that we have with the British airway staff. Instead the agent weighed all our bags, confirmed our extra baggage allowance and booked our bulkhead seating all the way to Entebbe. Brenda and I gave each other chest bumps and high fives all the way back to the car. God is good!

We learned that our plane was delayed about an hour. We decided to go back to Brenda's parent’s hotel and wait before we went to dinner. We met up with Brenda's sister Sharon and her friends Sara and Blaine. Jacob was able to show off all his tricks to his auntie and Grammy. We had a great dinner and went to do a little shopping at Old Navy. Yes, you are correct this was not my idea. Anyways we had a great time with our family and the good byes were a little bit easier because of it. Having a supportive family is such a blessing. God is Good!

We arrived at the airport around 8:30 and spent a little time in the terminal with Grammy and Grampy. Thanks to Jacob we were all able to get our evening work out chasing him up and down the terminal. Apparently Jacob does seem to realize what’s coming in the next 22 hours. We made it through the security check point without trouble. Good thing I left the C-4 in the car. Made it to our terminal on time and prayed for a safe trip and endurance. I can’t believe we are going to Africa! God is Good!

We boarded our plane and to our surprise the Bassinet was hard flat board! How was my 19-month-old son supposed to sleep on an eight-hour flight? How am I suppose to sleep?! I then noticed that everyone else had a small TV screen in the seat in front of them but we just had a flat white wall. So I'm not going to get any sleep and I can't watch a movie! I took a few minutes and talked to God and asked for some help. I decided to call my buddy Andrew Martin and have him talk me down. Andrew in a calm voice tells me not to panic. He tells me to look down to under my seat and see if I see anything. I notice a small flat TV screen turned down between my seat. He then tells me to just call the flight attendant over and talk to her about the baby seat. I hung up the phone and the flight attendant came by a few minutes later and told us that she would bring as the Bassinet after we lift off. Thank you lord for good friends (and flight attendants). God is Good.

We are in the air for about three hours and Jacob finally falls asleep. We put him in his bassinet which is simply a car seat that can lay down flat. Brenda was able to get some sleep and I watched a few movies (Rainmaker and Click) and before you know it we were landing in London. We arrived in London around 3:30 pm Tuesday afternoon. We get off our plane and have to go through another security checkpoint before going to our terminal. Security is very high there and police men were walking around with big automatic rifles. We find seats and are settling down when we notice a group of people standing around the television. We see that a plane had been hijacked somewhere. We did not stay long enough to get details we found seats elsewhere. God is Good!

We left London Heathrow at 7:30 pm on our way to Entebbe Uganda. Weird! Jacob did a great job on the first flight so we prepared ourselves for a long flight this time. Jacob instead was his usual happy self and was flirting with Flight attendants (which gets you more juice and snacks by the way). We watched movies and listened to music before he finally was tired enough to fall asleep. He slept through dinner and woke up for the last 3 hours of the flight. The combination of fatigue and excitement created the perfect conditions for the longest three hours in the history of the world. We finally landed in Entebbe at 5:45 am Wednesday morning. We made it through customs and found that all our bags had arrived. God is Good!

Jeff Cash met us and we loaded the truck and went back to their hotel for a much needed shower. We went to town for a while before heading home. We arrived at the cash home around 2:00 pm. Brenda and I were so excited that we stayed awake the entire drive into Fort Portal. We were greeted by a herd of happy and excited kids. We made it through dinnertime before the wall of sleep fell on us all. We went to bed at 6:30pm and had the best nights sleep ever. Jacob was able to take a short nap on the way to Fort Portal and he also crashed right after dinner. He woke up around midnight, so we had to bring him in bed with us where we all slept like the dead until about 6:00. God is Good!

The power has been on for a while so we are taking advantage. I know this was a lot to read but we do not know when we will be able to blog again. We just want to thank everyone who has helped us get here. We LOVE YOU ALL! Please pray for us and we are already looking forward to telling you all about it. God really blessed us with safe and comfortable trip. Thank you Lord. God is Good!

Packing up (in more ways than one)

2006-09-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have started packing up our belongings for two different reasons as you have probably read. I have begun packing our things for the impending move, we will have 2 weeks when we get back to move, but I wanted to get some of it taken care of now. In our kitchen gadget drawer I found 3 can openers and 3 potato peelers, all of verying quality! It has been kind of fun to begin the great material purge.

Secondly, I have already packed a tub and two suitcases for our trip. I have all of my things ready (except the jeans I am wearing right now) and I have Jacob's clothes all ready to go as well. We also have completed a list of supplies we are brining over to the Cash's and that stuff is packed in a tub (except for the beloved cheese since it needs refrigeration). We have some laundry to do before we can get started on Billy's clothes and we have to wait a few days before we can pack our carry-ons. Less than one week to go before we leave!

Thanks to so many of you faithful givers we have received our fundraising goal of $8000! We are incredibly blessed and well taken care of. Thank you all so much for all of your support!

Hopefully my next posting will be from the field after a wonderfully peaceful day of travel...

Slight Complications

2006-09-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Back when we first decided to go to Uganda for a survey trip we had a few hurdles to overcome. One was clearing the amount of leave with both of Billy's jobs. His full time job said we could take up to 6 weeks of unpaid vacation and the apartment he manages said it was no problem. Then his boss moved on to other work and it took Cascadia a few months to replace him and then another month before Billy's new boss came along to introduce himself. Billy again mentioned the trip to make sure that everything was taken care of as the previous boss had indicated. We found out last night that Cascadia decided to deny his request for a leave of absense saying that the amount of time was too much. They are giving us two weeks after we get back to be out. We are praying that this knowledge is not going to cause us to worry while we are on our trip. The situation has potential to be irritating because we were originally going to only take 2 weeks for this trip, but since both jobs gave the go ahead we planned it for a month, and they told us about the problem when we are supposed to leave in a little over a week.

There are a few blessings that can come out of this: we have two weeks after we come back, we don't have to get out right now. We have no washer and dryer right now, so maybe our new place will come with them. I was planning on getting a part time job when we came back to help more with bills anyway.

We are determined not to let Satan bring us down, we are ok with this decision and the new posiblities that lay ahead. Please keep our living situation in your prayers.

2006-09-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

We got the email today! Our tickets are in the mail. I was hoping that they would be emailed to us since they are e-tickets, but they are on their way. Hopefully they will get here by the end of the week, but probably more like the beginning of next week. I also realized that I was slightly mistaken about the baggage allowance. For some reason I thought that it was very small suitcases that they allow, but as it turns out it was an unusually large suitcase I was hoping to take along. We have been granted an extra baggage allowance, so we are going to be able to bring an extra checked item making our grand total 6 checked bags and 2 carryons. I want to bring a suitcase full of boxed food items to share with the Cash's and then we will have an empty suitcase for suveniers (or to spread all of our other stuff around because you can never repack the same way for the journey home)! At this point in our journey we are in a holding pattern really just waiting for the time that we can pack our bags and go. It is very difficult to put the trip out of mind and go on with day to day activities, but it must be done!

We have been feeling especially blessed and supported by family and friends the last few weeks and thank God for every person who has touched our lives in some special way. Thank you all, we love you!

We were sweatin...

2006-09-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

it out over here waiting on enough funds to come in so we could purchase the airline tickets. Our travel agent lady said that the quoted price could be held until the end of the month. We were encouraged to go and check the PO box for Pump (since it is only checked once a week). I went down there today and there it was, the check we have been waiting on! I called down to the travel agent lady and found out that she is on vacation, so I had to speak with someone different. That turned out to be a blessing because she gave me a lot more information than I had been getting from the original lady. I told her we were ready to pay for the tickets and she confirmed our reservation for us. Now all we have to do is send the check to pay for it.

On a slightly different note, I am not sure if i have mentioned this before, but we have underestimated our budget for this trip. There were a few expenses that we thought would be much lower than they turned out to be. We are hoping to raise an extra $1000 to help cover those extra expenses. It is not that much of an increase, I have faith that God will provide what we need one way or another!

We feel so blessed and supported by everyone who has taken a part in helping us reach several of our financial goals. We are not there yet, but definitely a lot closer than yesterday!

1 month to go...

Things are coming together

2006-08-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Today we have passed two major hurdles! The first one was we received our passports! We only went down and turned the information for them a few weeks agO, and they are already here, in our posession! We were so concerned about hem getting here on time and the Lord was faithful yet again to our needs.

The second bit of information that we got was that the airfare is going to be the same price that was quoted to us back when we were putting together our fundraising letters. We should be able to book the flight next week!

Do you ever get the feeling that things are really just "falling into place"? I know that is a silly statement becuase God made all of this possible through his great power, but the feling remains... Maybe we are being sent here. It could just be that we are going to find peace about our current lives and learn to love it just the way it is, or maybe it is something more. Only time will tell.

Airfare

2006-08-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

We recently found out that after a few more checks that we are expecting come in we will at last have enough funding to purchase our plane tickets. That is as long as the fares have not gone up due to all of the terrorist activity that has rocked London. Traveling internationally sure has gotten me a little more nervous after the bomb attempt hit the news for more ways than one! I am a little concerned about our safetly, but mostly I have been thinking about all of the new restrictions that are even tighter in England than they are here. The flights we are going to be on are very long. I really hope and pray that everything goes smothly and maybe a few restrictions will be a little lighter.

Dear Lord, thank you so much for your abundant blessings as we have been getting ready for this journey. Please continue preparing us for what lies ahead and be preparing our flight staff for a pleasant and safe trip. Help us to stay sane and calm if and when Jacob becomes restless during our long flights. Also, please give an extra measure of peace and patience to those souls who will be onboard our flights! We Love You!

New Report

2006-08-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today has been a very productive day. We went this morning to receive our most-important shots for the trip. Then once that was finally over we headed out to the post office to turn in our passport applications.

We were a little nervous about the shots and how many we would all have to get. They were not even able to tell us how much the shots were going to be before out appointments! We arrived at the travel clinic and after a lengthy consultation (where the guy tried to scare the pants off of us about rabees) we found out that little Jacob would only have to receive 2 shots because of his tender age of 17 months, Billy would get 5 shots and I would come in the winner with a whopping 6 shots. Jacob went first so he wouldn't have to watch us get multiple shots before his turn, and he did great. He cried for about 5 minutes and then watched in horror as we both got our shots. Just so you know, it does hurt worse to get a lot of shots, the first one didn't hurt at all, but as she kept going in the same arm, in generally the same spot for three turns it began to get painful! I am glad Billy happened to turn Jacob away because I made a face on the third and sixth injections.

Turning in the passport applications turned out to be a little bit of an ordeal as well because we had waited to long to do it. It is going to take 8 weeks for them to arrive (even though I read online that 6 weeks is enough time). We are cutting it dangerously close to our trip dates. It was either take our chances or pay $90 per passport to expedite the process. We obviously decided to take our chances, the clerk made it sound like the passports would not be late (she even projected the date of their arival at Sept 28th).

As you might imagine, getting that many shots at once can be very costly! The final bill at the clinic ended up being $1200! Since this cost was so high we are now waiting for $3000 more to come in before we are able to purchase our airline tickets. This may be a blessing in disguise because of the whole passport situation. We might end up pushing our leave date back a week. I'll let you know!

Thank you for your continuing prayers!

Shots!

2006-07-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

We have made an appointment to get our vaccinations. This is the first real trip preparation we have done so far, things are revving up with only 2 months and 7 days to go before we leave! I am not sure how many shots we will all have to get, but it might be a lot. Poor little Jacob is going to have a double-whammy, because he is a little behind on his regular immunizations and has an appointment for the very next day to get caught up. This coming week is going to be a long one. I will be sure to let you all know how it goes!

Come on in, the water's fine!

2006-07-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

You may notice when you first arrive at this wonderful site that there are several contributors! There might be more than one unfamiliar name on the list. This site, is in fact, a transitional sort of site. The founding parents for this blog spot are Aimee Jo and Andrew Martin with some assitance from a good friend; Allan White. The Martin's opened this blog to make it easier to communicate with their supporters while they were on their survey trip in 2005. Now that they have made the final decision to make the move to Fort Portal they have given us (billy & Brenda) the use of this blog for our survey trip information. We will be updating regularly (as long as there are developments to report) for those of you tracking our progress. Here are a few details about our trip:

Dates: October 2-30th
Fundraising goal: $8000
Reason for making the trip: Please see below!

We are like many young people our age who have been under the impression that mission work cannot be done by just anybody. We never really believed that mission work was a realistic option for us. It seemed like a wonderful thing that happened to someone else. I, myself, as a young high school girl had high hopes of becoming a doctor and then a medical missionary, then life happened. I met a ga wonderful man, decided I didn't want to be in school for the next ten years and here we are. Both of us thinking the other would not be interested in joining the mission field. The subject never really came up until our good friends Aimee Jo and Andrew left for their six week survey trip to Uganda. Upon their return they told us all about their trip and their plans to move there. They told us that Jeff and Cheryl Cash were really interested in building a team of missionaries (they have been living in Uganda for 10 years and are the current team). The Martins also told us that they feel more prepared for this type of work after all of the time that they had been working with Pump Church of Christ. Hey! We have been working with Pump Church of Christ for 5 years! I had wanted to do overseas mission work way back in high school! What a coincidence! I felt like we were handed an opportunity that neither of us really expected, but both unknowingly wanted. We don't know what will happen when we go, if we will feel drawn to move there, but we both feel it is really important for us to give this prayful consideration. Of course we cannot make a decision without having been to the country, and thus began our journey to Africa.

We have begun the process by sending out fundraising letters to everyone we know (whose address we could find). I guess we will find out if the Lord wants us to go to Africa by the financial response we get! No funds, no trip...

If you have accidentally stumbled onto this blog and happened to read up to this point, and you feel it on your heart to help support us on this journey please send tax deducible supporting checks to Pump Church of Christ (labled Mckenzie mission, of course)!

Stay tuned to see whats next! I am getting a copy of my birth certificate tomorrow so we can all apply for passports! Ah, the exciting world of planning an international trip!

Under Construction

2006-07-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

This blogspot is currently being updated. Please continue checking back for more information.

Thank you for your patience.

Uganda Mission

2006-02-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

Aimee and I have been out of the blogging loop for an extremely long time. I think that we have felt that our lives are not quite exciting enough to be posting very often, and then that mentality continued for waaaay to long. I think we are way overdue for an update.

Aimee and I are now actively seeking support for our upcoming mission to Fort Portal. We have set our target date for leaving as January 2007 (less than a year from now). This blog will serve as a place to check in on us, but we may need to change the name to "Uganda Mission". We just returned from a great trip to Caldwell, ID where we had some time to relax with family and friends. We also had the wonderful opportunity to speak with the members of Caldwell Church of Christ about our trip this summer and about our future involvment in the mission in Uganda.

We were very encouraged to hear the positive responses and expressions of support for what the Lord will be doing through us. We also had the opportunity to share our vision with Keizer Church of Christ several months ago. The response was the same there, and we look forward to sharing our progress with both congregations as we move on toward our goals.

We had decided that we wanted to be able to share our vision with our home congregations first. Now that we have done that, we are ready to take our message to other church families and individuals who have a passion for what is going on in Uganda. We are excited to share our dreams with all who are interested in what God will do through us in Uganda.

Over the next several months (and maybe longer), this website will be a place for you to check in with us and see where we our in this process. If you have any specific questions about our mission plans and vision, or how you can partner with us, please e-mail us at ugandamission@gmail.com

We are excited to share in this journey with you. We value your prayers and support as we discover how God will work and provide a way for his gospel to be spread.

Blessings,
Andrew Martin

MIA

2005-10-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

So, we've been a little bit terrible about blogging since we got back to America.
As most of you know, we loved Uganda and had a wonderful 6 weeks visiting Jeff & Cheryl. We are making plans to move to Fort Portal to join the Cash family in doing full time mission work there. As far as a timeline, we are going to try to leave in about one year.
We appreciate all of your prayers of safety and direction over us this summer. We very strongly feel the Lord's leading and we felt his protection through all of our travels and time in Africa. Please continue to pray for direction and wisdom as we share our dream with others and work to raise support.
If you have any questions/inquiries, PLEASE leave a comment; we would love to hear from you!

Bundibugyo

2005-08-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

On July 30th Jeff, Ronald and I went to Bundibugyo to visit with a Christian leader their. It was a long and bumpy ride. The 2 1/2 hour drive gave us plenty of time to talk about the ministry opportunities here. We also got to see many Congolese refugees because we were so close to the border. The kids were really cute but very shy. Here is a picture of some who didn't want to stick around long enough for a picture.

Bundibugyo is about 4 kilometers from the Congolese border. We were not allowed to go into the Congo because of the war, but we did get a good look across the border from the mountain road.

The drive was beautiful and green. We drove through a think forest on the way. We also passed a group of Pigmis on the return trip. The Pigmis who had some huts near the side of the road, but it was to dark to get any good pictures. We also got to talk to one of the Pigmi men who came up to our vehicle when we were stopped to assist some lost hikers. So, I've officially met my first Pigmi and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Also, its Aimee and my anniversary today. Five years!!! Its hard to believe that it has been five years. Aimee and I are still very happily married and loving each other. It seems like we learn something new about each other every day. Lord willing, we will have many more happy years ahead of us.

Please leave comments and let us know how ya'll are doing. We love to hear from friends and family.

More to come later...

The Bunyoro Kingdom

2005-07-25T03:51:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, Jeff took me out to another village to meet with the people there. Kigadi is a village in the Bunyoro kingdom. We recieved a warm welcome and we had a good time worshiping with the people there. Ronald, Jeff and I were able to take some time to share with the people there. There were 9 students from a local highschool who came to the event. They had decided to come hear us preach instead of going to school that day. They were very grateful for our visit.

Kizito Ronald (a great Christian brother working with the Church in Fort Portal and the surrounding villages)

About one month ago, Jeff traveled to Hoima (the tribal center of the Bunyoro Kingdom), to meet with some Kingdom officials in order to work out a land dispute that was occuring. Jeff met with the prince and the king's main assistant to discuss the issues. During their conversations, the Kingdom officials told Jeff that they were very interested in the the New Testament Churches of Christ coming to Bunyoro to establish the Church there. They were very excited about the idea and they even stated that there may be land available for church buildings to be built and possibly even an airstrip that could be used to reach more people of the area.

This is another great opportunity for this area of Uganda to be reached. The kingdom officials said that the Bunyoro Kingdom is in a "spiritual vacuum", and that they would like our help. This is something that could use some prayers. Please be praying for the people of the Bunyoro Kingdom, that avenues will be opened for the gospel to reach those who live there. Also pray that the leaders of the Kingdom will realize their need for Christ as well.

Mweya Safari Adventure

2005-07-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we went to Mweya—a beautiful lodge in Queen Elizabeth game park, south of Fort Portal. It was so much fun! We arrived Sunday afternoon, and of course, on our way there we stopped at the EQUATOR to take pictures. We enjoyed a wonderful quiet dinner with the Cash’s (someone was watching the kids), and the food was excellent. We decided to get up at 6 am for our safari (they say it is best to go out when it is cool-early morning or late afternoon to see the animals). Well, we hit the jackpot! Jeff said we were very lucky-it was our first time there and we saw animals that he has only seen twice—and he has been there about 30 times!

We got to see hyenas, elephants, water buck, Ugandan kob, cape buffalo, a leopard, a male lion, and the warthogs were everywhere (even just outside our hotel room!) We were out driving for a about 3 hours and we were really wanting to hunt down a lion. We went all over the place until we were so hungry for breakfast that we started to head back to the lodge. We were going pretty fast, not really looking for anything and then as we got close to the lodge, Andrew spotted a dead animal, or so he thought. Jeff backed up a little and it was a lion just resting in the perfect picture spot. I think he was posing just for us! We got some good pictures of many of the animals.

Later on that afternoon, after swimming in the pool, eating a delicious pizza for lunch and resting on my nice bed (don’t you feel sorry for me that I’m “roughing it” out here?) we went on a boat launch. It lasted two hours and took us through the channel that runs through the game park.

From the boat, we saw lots of hippos

a crocodile

some beautiful birds

and more elephants.

It was truly amazing to see them in their natural habitat. The boat ride was really cool! Issac and I were having a good time on the boat.

On Tuesday, we had the lodge pack some lunches for us so that we could go on one last safari drive on the way home. We stopped at a camp site and ate lunch and we were pretty disappointed because we had not seen much on the drive. After finishing lunch we got back in the vehicles and began to head home when we spotted something emerging from the trees ahead of us. Here is a picture of what we saw.

We almost ran our truck into one of the elephants because they were shielded so well by the trees. We counted about 15 elephants in this one spot (not 200 yards from where we were just eating lunch). We had to slowly back up because the elephants had babies with them and they were getting a little agitated at us. We eventually made it past the herd of elephants and continued on our way. We had not gone more than 100 yards when we spotted another large herd of elephants on the other side of the road. We got a rough count of about 30 elephants in all that we saw up close and personal on our way home. It turned out to be a great safari weekend!

We were very blessed to be able to see this part of Uganda. The beauties of the landscape and all the wildlife was a great reminder of the glory of God the creator. Uganda is a beautiful place in need of the Gospel of Christ. Keep praying for us as well seek to discover what God has planned for our lives in Uganda.

Itali & Rwebesengo Visits

2005-07-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

JAMBO! (Swahili for hello) We got to go visit 2 village churches this week, first Italli, then Rwebesengo. Since it was about a 2 hour drive, we stayed overnight at Italli in tents, which meant that we were introduced to the village bathroom facilities (cho). Below you will see the little toilet that Jeff set up for us Americans to use--thank the Lord! :)

Our day began with a long bumpy ride down the hill (above) into the valley, through tall grass, a stream, and then some off-roading. I was in the middle in the back of the truck, between Andrew and Besisa, so I felt very squished and secured. :) I kind of like the bumpy rides--I feel adventurous and it reminds me of the farm roads I used to go on when I was little. :) Thanks, Dad.

We set up tents, then praised with the Congolese refugees. They are so happy in spite of all the awful things that they have been through. The choir sang for us, although it was a bummer because we were facing their backs the whole time. Andrew and I were impressed with the little ones (5 & 6 year olds) that could remember all the words and choreography. Ronald gave a powerful sermon and I think many people were convicted.

We were served a wonderful meal of rice pilau with fried potatoes, and beef (this was at about 6:00 pm). It was yummy and since most of us had not eaten since breakfast, we loaded up. Well, at about 7:30, the church leader told us that they were preparing dinner for us as well! At least we didn't eat it until 11:00pm -- that made it a little easier to shove some down. But for those of you who know me well, you know that it wasn't all that hard for me--I love to eat! We were up late eating maize (corn on the cob cooked by the fire) and singing with everyone around a campfire. The Congolise stayed up really late shouting and drumming and singing; luckily we still got some rest.

The next morning, we headed down to the river where Jeff baptized 6 people. YEA! Then, we were off to Rwebesengo. We ended up just driving through a creek in order to cut down on time and we arrived in Rwebesengo earlier than planned.
The day in Rwebesengo is kind of a blur to me, as I did not sleep very well in the tent the night before. We were very welcomed there and the choir sang many songs for us. They have some amazingly talented musicians. Even the littlest ones have rhythm. We enjoyed their upbeat singing and all of the smiles. After Jeff spoke, we were offered another meal-and guess what it was? You got it--rice and meat! Gotta love the rice here.

We were finally headed home about 5:00. It took about 2 hours to get home and it was so good to come back to see Cheryl and the kids. And speaking of the Cash family...we are enjoying them so much! We have had many late nights playing Text Twist, watching movies or just chatting. We love the kids too! I actually helped them with baths and getting ready for bed tonight, which was fun for me to do. Right now, Jeff & Andrew are playing with Jeff's flight simulator, and Andrew has already blown up the plane (literally) while trying to pull off some crazy stunt. Boys will be boys... I am never stepping into a plane with him if he's the pilot!

We are having a wonderful time. God is good... all the time!

Africa Photo Fix

2005-07-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

Can't wait until the Martin's next post? Sate that craving for awesome Africa photos at Ryan Lash's Africa photoset on Flickr.

He just got back from Uganda with 28 rolls of film - and only one that he thought was worthy, for today.

Picture Time!

2005-07-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not posting more pictures before now. We have had a very difficult time getting online over the past week. Well, we think that we have solved the problem (hopefully) and are now able to keep you more informed. The picture above is an updated version the picture posted by Allan of Kampala Road. They have been doing some construction and felt the need to put in some speed bumps for some unknown reason. At last count on the trip from Kampala to Fort Portal, there were 361 speed bumps. Talk about annoying.

However, having to drive 10 kph does have its benefits.

We saw this guy and some of his friends on the way from Kampala. They were just hanging out and enjoying the sunshine.

And here we are! We really are still alive and well, and we have the picture to prove it. This is a picture of us in our room at the American Club. We had some time to recover from our jetlag and we were feeling fine in only a few days.

And here's Aimee with the Cash kids. We have had a great time with the Cash family and they have made us feel right at home.

We will be updating the website more frequently in the future (Lord willing). So keep checking the site and please post comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each post. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We'll be in touch.

Fort Portal Happenings

2005-07-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We took so many great pictures this week, while visiting village churches and we were so excited to load them on our blogspot for you to see...but, Jeff's computer is not accepting our card reader thingy so I am sorry to say that there are no pics to update at this time. But, I do have stories for you and we'll upload pics as soon as we can!
First of all, one thing we didn't get a picture of...we were driving back from a village church on the main road to Fort Portal, when all of a sudden, we spot two chimps crossing the road! It was so amazing to see them just crossing from one side to the other. They disappeared quickly into the grass-oh, I wish we would have had the camera loaded and ready!
We had some interesting experiences visiting churches this week. Wednesday, we drove to the Karagutu village-and they were a lively bunch. One man played a drum (he was great!) and everyone else (including us) danced around and praised Jesus. It was fun-we heard the word "Hallelujah" so many times! :) And one of the kids was really into it-he looked like Elvis the way he was shakin' himself around. We have video of him-it is so funny!
Thursday was much different...we were inside a building, instead of outside and things were much more calm. A choir sang for us and they took the time to memorize english songs, just for us. They did a great job and it was refreshing to hear something that I actually understood.
At both churches, we were treated like royalty. We sit in the front and everyone claps for us, wants to shake our hands, etc. They feed us lunch/dinner and pray over us and thank us so many times. I wish they knew how much of a blessing they are to us, but I think they don't even realize.
Tonight, we were with some refugees from the Congo and one of the daughters had actually just arrived today. We worked on our Swahilee and I think I may be able to count to 5 now! We sang songs with them (I recognize most of the tunes) and they fed us a wonderful meal--rice, meat, fruit, and potatoes.
I need to go-I am about to be cut off by the internet connection. I'll write more later. We love you all-have a wonderful day! -Aimee Jo & Andrew

Hello from Kampala!

2005-07-01T00:49:00.000-07:00

It's true! We safely arrived in Entebbe early Wednesday morning and are staying in Kampala until tomorrow morning. Everything about our traveling was good, except for the lack of sleep! We are caught up on our sleep and dealing well with the jet lag. I slept for 16 hours the first night (it was great! And you all know how much I enjoy my sleep!) We are doing well and enjoying our time here. I'm so sorry that it took a long time to hear from us...especially to our parents-we are safe, so don't worry!
It's wonderful here...completley different than America, but wonderful. I got to go shopping and run errands with Cheryl yesterday, and Ike, I will never say that you drive too fast or aggressive again--the drivers here are NUTS. But, I haven't been scared yet, because for the most part, it seems like people know what they are doing. :)It is a trip though, to drive on the left hand side of the road.
Let's see, what else? We feel like we have learned so much about the people and culture after being here for only a few days. Jeff and Cheryl are so great about answering questions and sharing important details with us. We are so much enjoying their family--Isaac is hilarious!
Well, I'll sign off for now. We love all of you so much. Thanks for praying for us; we are praying for you too. God Bless you on this day-Aimee Jo (and Andrew)

2005-06-30T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo I shot on the road to Fort Portal from Kampala. The Cashes and Martins will be traveling this road in the next day or so. Word has it that they've repaved much of it now - before it used to take all day because it was so rough, and now the trip only takes a few hours.

The Martins Have Landed!

2005-06-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

We got word this morning that the Martins have safely made it to Kampala, Uganda (the capital) and are with Jeff and Cheryl Cash. Their luggage went straight through customs and wasn't held up at all! God is so good.

The Cashes did their best to keep them up until evening, which will help them get on Uganda time more quickly. They spent the day running errands in Kampala and got to experience Ugandan driving when a motorcycle got entangled with the winch on their truck (everyone was fine)! No doubt they are sleeping hard right now.

They had initially planned to go rafting on the Nile (which is a TON of fun!) down in Jinja but decided to do so at the end of their trip. Andrew had a bad case of strep throat, and wants to be at full strength for the adventure.

We'll post more as we hear from them.

Ugandan Boy

2005-06-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Jason Hill's Ugandan Boy
Originally posted by Andrew & Aimee Jo.

But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14 (NLT)

Ronald holding Silas Cash

2005-06-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Ronald holding Silas Cash
Originally posted by Andrew & Aimee Jo.

Ronald is a preacher and minister at the Fort Portal Church of Christ. Silas is the newest member of the Cash family.

Hide and Seek

2005-06-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Jason Hill's Uganda pics 083
Originally posted by Andrew & Aimee Jo.

Perhaps Jason (the photographer) can tell us the story behind this photo...

Sunrise in Uganda

2005-06-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

Jason Hill's Uganda pics 061
Originally posted by Andrew & Aimee Jo.

A typical Ugandan sunset. The air is usually a bit hazy from the wood fires. Deforestation is a major problem threatening Africa, and the Rwenzori Mountain area in particular. Aimee and I will be staying in Fort Portal, which is near the base of the Rwenzori Mountains.

The Forgiveness Project

2005-05-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

I was looking at another designer's work whom I follow in the UK.
Stumbled on this today:

http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/

It's very cool, read the Stories section. Great concept - universal
appeal.