Juma's Thoughts On Leaving

The thought of leaving something you love is hard. When I first told my friends that we were going to Uganda back in June, they didn't really care. They didn't care because they thought it would be one or two years before we would leave. Just the other day I told my friends that we were leaving on February 1. They were not really happy and kept asking questions like, "How long will you be there?" or "When will you come back?" Now at the moment, I don't feel extremely sad, but I know that it will hit me suddenly and I will be extremely sad to leave. But I know that what is happening isn't being controlled by me, mama or papa but God. His way is the best way. So that's the way for me.  

Thus Far has the Lord Helped Us

As missionaries, one of the main things we need to do is to raise our financial support.  To be honest, this seemed daunting and we were a bit apprehensive as to how this would go.  So with the tools in hand from our training at Word of Life, we started meeting with people upon our return from New York in mid June.

What a blessing it has been!  We have had the opportunity to visit with many people.  And we have really enjoyed that!  It has been great to meet up with relatives, with old friends, and make new friends.  We have been so encouraged... and have had the opportunities to encourage and pray for those we have met with. 

Through this experience, we know we have a team that is with us as we minister in Uganda, even if you are not there with us physically.  Thank you!!  We look forward to keeping in touch... meeting with you again... and meeting many more of you yet in the future.

As well, we have had the opportunity to share in three large group settings:

In September, we were given the opportunity to share at Clearbrook MB Church at a Hymn Sing (Welli and the kids singing a song).

 

Our home and sending church, Northview Community Church, commissioned us in November.

We had a great get together with African music (thank you, Shirika!), lots of food (thank you all who made/brought food!) with family and friends in December.

We have said this before, but will say it again.  Thank you... to all of you!  For your love, your support, your prayers.  We thank God for each of you!

When in New York City...

Because we were traveling all the way to Schroon Lake, NY, we decided to take some time in New York City.  We spent a full day there -- not nearly enough time -- but managed to check a few sites on that hot, June day.

Times Square

Welli could not resist a photo here!

We walked from Times Square to Central Park.

A hot, sunny, Sunday afternoon makes for a very busy Central Park!

American Museum of Natural History

This is a life-sized replica of a blue whale.

Rockefeller Plaza

View from the Empire State Building!

MIT in New York

Well, I've been talking about starting a blog long enough... time to get on it!  So here we go!  I hope to be able to share with you on a regular basis some of the day-to-day things of life and ministry in Uganda.  

It's difficult to know where to start, so I'm going back to where we officially became missionaries with Word of Life.

As most of you are aware, our family is heading to Uganda to work as missionaries.  Back in June of 2013, we went to Word of Life in Schroon Lake, New York, for MIT (Missionary in Training).  Word of Life New York is the headquarters of the organization.  We spent almost 2 weeks at the beautiful Word of Life Inn.  We met wonderful staff as well as other missionaries who were preparing to minister locally and abroad in various locations around the world.  It was a wonderful time!

Word of Life Inn:

Harry Bollback, one of the founders of Word of Life, sharing with the group.

What a joy to have Dave & Trudy Robertson, Directors of Word of Life Kenya for many years, with us as we were officially accepted as missionaries for Word of Life Uganda!