My delay in posting an update is due was due to BUSYNESS! The past month has been a whirlwind of ministry, hosting, packing and moving. We’ve been in our new permanent home for 2 days. We are finally starting to feel more like settled than spread out in a suitcase.

We feel very blessed that the “limbo” stage of our new life and adventure is drawing to a close with us moving into our house.  As we settle in, we will now be able to focus on the a.k.a. kids and helping Claire since we are only minutes away from “The House.” Ft Portal is a small town of about 50,000 so getting around is easy and everything is close.

The only downside is that the town doesn’t sell many things so we will have to get them in Kampala where we plan to go a few times a month to shop and serve at Kyampisi Church and begin the process of firing up the marriage ministry.

During these past 2-1/2 months we have met so many amazing people and started forging wonderful relationships. In the busyness of the past few weeks we hosted one of our “bosses,” Courtney who came over to see the kids, catch up with other people & her friend Brittany who served here with her a few years ago. Thankfully we purchased our used truck the week before so we could taxi her around.

What we have discovered in this new journey is that God’s timing in EVERY aspect of our needs here have come through exactly when they needed to. For that we praise Him! We are also realizing that the trials here are just different than the ones we had in the US. No matter where you live life is hard sometimes. There are things in the US that are more troublesome than in Uganda and visa-versa. If you have ever considered serving in a country like Uganda, that is a good thing to remember. Life is hard here for foreigners in many ways but the Lord blesses us each day.

The guard / groundskeeper, Enos, who was at the Kyanja house agreed to stay with us here in Ft Portal. At any house like this you are required to have a guard who lives in a “boys quarters” on the premises. We have had the opportunity to minister to Enos who is a Christian. He recently lost a child who was born with a few serious conditions. We are very grateful he was able to come.

Now that we are here and settling, we will be spending a lot of time with these kids we are here to help. We have a lot of names we need to match the faces to. We can begin the process of them getting to know us and us getting to know them deeper. Each child has a story; a story of pain and loss but one of hope as well. Please pray for us as we enter into the trenches.

We want to not only have their needs provided for but for them to know they are cared for in a non-material way. The best way to do that is with our time resources. Being present and engaging them and truly learning from them, with them and teaching them is what relationships are about. It’s one thing to provide for them but another thing to invest in them. They have had to deal with abandonment so hopefully they will see after a while that we are there to stay.

Stay tuned. The adventure is just beginning and we look forward to see what the Lord will do as these kids enter a new stage of life. Please continue to lift them up in prayer for the transition they are going through.