We've been gently reminded that we have a blog to tend to - already slacking!! Things have been happening pretty quickly - or at least a bit too quickly for me to digest properly. I am starting to think it won't officially hit me on that deep, emotional level until we're sitting on the plane in August. I am trying to be as realistic as possible about the whole thing. For example, when I drive to the grocery store and pick up the random assortment of everything my heart could desire from one big ole store, I remind myself that this isn't normal and I should remember how nice these conveniences are. Same for laundry, oh goodness, I've never held my washer and dryer in such high regard - something about the prospect of hand-washing clothes has strengthened our bond immensely.
So here's the low-down - and special thanks to the Duboses who were so good as to live in Kampala a few years ago and then manage to get their niece in our first grade small group! I love how God connects all of the dots for us!
Big news is that we'll have a place to live! eMi is actually going to move a few of their male interns into a different building specifically for male interns, and we'll be moving into their current furnished apartment - big answer to prayer as we weren't looking forward to the task of hunting down furniture (takes a long time to do over there).
Also very cool is that we'll be living within walking distance of eMi and Heritage, so we are for sure not going to need to buy our own transportation. Instead, we'll be riding boda-bodas (wildly crazy motorcycles! woohoo!) or hoping to make friends with people who have cars :-) Sounds like just about everything we'll need is well within walking distance, so for day-to-day things, we'll be good to go.
Not technically the most important, but since eating and cooking are big hobbies of mine, this was a big one for me! It sounds like we'll have access to all kinds of good stuff - although as mentioned before, not in a big ole one-stop-shop grocery store. I'll get to hunt down a good baker for bread, go by word of mouth to locate the butcher with the best meat (which is not too easy to find...), listen through the grapevine to find out where in the world to find the ever-elusive brown sugar... Fruits and veggies are plentiful and quite good - Uganda is among the most fertile countries in Africa, so they do pretty good with their agriculture - pineapple, avocadoes, bananas galore. And apparently the Africans aren't into eating greens, like lettuce, too much, but people will grow it and sell it for us foreign folks - thank goodness, because this girl sure likes her greens! So it sounds like we'll have a pretty good variety of stuff available to us, although it will take more time to actually get them and forget about processed or pre-made stuff - all homemade. Also of note is that we'll have to soak our veggies/fruits with no peels in bleach water... and then rinse well with purified water - perhaps we can find a way to do that which does not involve bleach and bad intestinal bugs.
Other random tidbits - on Sundays, we'll go to Uganda church in the morning and English (?) church at night. Things move much more slowly, so at night, you kind of revert to old-fashioned living - you have dinner much more often with friends as going out after dark isn't an option - so lots of dinner/game nights. Sounds good to me! Also will need to bring lots of books as we'll have time to read, but we won't have much access to books in English - sounds like there's a lot of book swapping in the missionary community that goes on. No need for malaria meds - they're really good at recognizing/diagnosing/treating it very quickly, so while we're there, it's not a problem - just gotta get my yellow fever vaccine, and I'll be good to go. Going on a mad hunt for modest skirts/dresses - nothing low-cut, above the knee, or sleeveless - do you know they don't make that kind of stuff for girls in the US?? And lastly, I'm SUPER excited to get my textbooks in the mail that I'll be teaching from! No clue what I'll do from there - my colleagues have been extremely generous with sharing their resources for Physics and Chemistry, but the thought of developing a curriculum basically from scratch sorta makes my head hurt right now, particularly since I'm busy teaching my current kids that chickens are birds and temperature drops when you go up a mountain (walking closer to the sun is the logic I think they're using... ugh) - if they ask questions about nitrogen fixation or biomagnification on the EOCT, I'll cry.
We just got all of the information we need in order to really hit the ground running with our support-raising. And even so, God is already showing us that He is faithful to provide and is using the generosity of those around us to impress that upon us even more. In small group, we've talked several times about how sometimes our prayers are, for lack of a better word, ho-hum. We ask God to bless our food, help the plane to land safely, help me pass the test, and none of those things are wrong to ask, but really, most of that stuff is going to happen whether we ask or not (except if you didn't study - you can ask my students that one!). For probably the first time that I can really think of, we're asking God to do something that really can't happen unless he steps in. We are asking Him to help us raise the $1850 a month we'll need while we're in Uganda before we leave in early August - you can do the math, but that's $22,200 in just over 3 months - woah! We're definitely going to need God to step in on this one! We are confident that when we follow God's leading to accomplish His work, he will work out all of the details. ::insert big sigh of relief!::
PS We'll be putting pictures on here as soon as we have some to post!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Uganda-bound
You ever have those moments in life when you look at your spouse and go, "Oh my goodness, I am so glad we ended up together or life would be so boring!"? We're pretty thankful that we have those moments a lot. We're pretty simple people - doesn't take much to make us happy - a good meal and a nice walk is our idea of the perfect day (especially if the walk happens to be to one of the frozen yogurt places down the street!). And we have very similar desires and hold pretty much the same things to be important, although I would probably go through less actual physical pain in the absence of Virginia Tech football than my counterpart (you guessed it, this is Erin writing...). One of the biggest things that we try to keep our focus on and try to consistently align our lives to is answering a very simple question - what are we doing that brings glory and honor to God? It's kind of a loaded question and one that can make my head hurt if I think about it too hard. But because of the blessings provided to us and the grace extended to us, we really do want to pursue that, particularly in our lives together. There are so many ways to do this - really so many little things in our day-to-day lives that can reflect the goodness of our Savior if you look for the opportunities. That's one of our big struggles is remembering to look for those opportunities - definitely not something I can claim to be at the top of my priority list all of the time, but something I'm trying to shoot for! All that to say, Gary and I have been looking for opportunities to share this incredible love we've received through service to others, and by golly, I think we've found a pretty good opportunity that we're gonna run with for awhile!
So here's our big news: We're moving to Uganda for a year! We're pretty ridiculously excited about it for a whole lot of different reasons. They eat lots of rice and beans (basically the best foods ever), there are gorillas there, and they speak English - what more could you ask for?! But before I get ahead of myself, I do want to share the story behind all of this.
For a few years now, we've pondered this whole missions thing and tried to see how we might fit in. Honestly it was a bit discouraging at first, because we have a heart to serve and get out of our comfort zones to do it, but we don't play guitar, can't preach passionate sermons, etc. So how in the world would we be of use in the mission field? But then when we started to think about it, we realized that maybe it would be better to look at it from a different angle - take a look at what we might have to offer and then see where our breathtaking skills and incomparable talents (please read the sarcasm here!) fit in. Well as a teacher and an architect, we figured we should be able to do alright - I'll spare you my dissertation on the importance of education to fuel not only spiritual growth but economic freedom and peace - and when the news is riddled with images of poor structures or just lack of appropriate facilities for the needs of those in third world countries, we figured architects would be pretty useful.
Last fall, Gary received an email inviting him to the annual Engineering Ministries International (eMi) conference in Asheville, NC which is not too far from where we live in GA. eMi is a pretty awesome organization that leads teams of design professionals in designing schools, hospitals, orphanages, etc. in third world countries. Almost on a whim, Gary decided to go, and I'm so glad he did!
Of course he learned a great deal about what designing looks like outside of the nice cozy building codes and regulations of the U.S., but he also connected with some great people that have been so influential in our future plans. One eMi staff member, Brad, had recently returned from living several years in Uganda with his family. He was looking for an architect to accompany a group to Uganda on an upcoming trip. Gary learned that while Brad was working with eMi, his wife actually taught at Heritage International School which is within walking distance of the eMi East Africa Field Office. When I learned of all of this, I think I did a pretty elaborate happy dance because that's just what we want to do! Gary immediately signed up for the trip.
While in Uganda this past January, Gary worked on the design for a renovation of the Gaba Bible Institute outside of Kampala, Uganda (which is the capital). And yes, much to my dismay, he did this without his better half... I might have been just a smidge jealous... What a great experience! He really enjoyed working with his team - they all sound like pretty awesome folks. I would give more details about the trip in particular, but I could also be lazy and just throw in a link to Brad's blog if you'd like to read further and check out some pictures... While he was there, Gary was able to meet with leaders at both eMi and Heritage - turns out there's lots of work to be done in East Africa, and they could really use an architect to help out - and Heritage just happens to be in need of a high school science teacher. Some might call that a coincidence, but I think we know better! And kind of funny to think about, but Gary also met with a real estate agent in Kampala to look at securing housing for a year-long stay for us - I SO wish I was there for that!
So as soon as Gary returned, we got our applications out to eMi and Heritage to get the ball rolling... boy that's a steep slope it's rolling down! Things have been moving fast these days! We just found out this week that Gary was officially accepted for a one-year term with eMi, I am very patiently awaiting my contract from Heritage (you know how patient I am, haha), and we are preparing for an early August departure (perhaps the 3rd?). And to make it even more fun, we are going to shoot for renting our condo out by May 1st if possible and then move in with my folks until we leave - we figure we really don't want to be moving out at the same time we are preparing to move overseas, and the thought of being without a tenant when we leave makes me a little dizzy just thinking about it, so best to handle that now - SO, if you know anyone looking for a ridiculously awesome one bedroom condo, just let us know!
I think that's about all I can stand for now - more details to come later! We'll just keep you sitting on the edge of your seats in anticipation, haha!
So here's our big news: We're moving to Uganda for a year! We're pretty ridiculously excited about it for a whole lot of different reasons. They eat lots of rice and beans (basically the best foods ever), there are gorillas there, and they speak English - what more could you ask for?! But before I get ahead of myself, I do want to share the story behind all of this.
For a few years now, we've pondered this whole missions thing and tried to see how we might fit in. Honestly it was a bit discouraging at first, because we have a heart to serve and get out of our comfort zones to do it, but we don't play guitar, can't preach passionate sermons, etc. So how in the world would we be of use in the mission field? But then when we started to think about it, we realized that maybe it would be better to look at it from a different angle - take a look at what we might have to offer and then see where our breathtaking skills and incomparable talents (please read the sarcasm here!) fit in. Well as a teacher and an architect, we figured we should be able to do alright - I'll spare you my dissertation on the importance of education to fuel not only spiritual growth but economic freedom and peace - and when the news is riddled with images of poor structures or just lack of appropriate facilities for the needs of those in third world countries, we figured architects would be pretty useful.
Last fall, Gary received an email inviting him to the annual Engineering Ministries International (eMi) conference in Asheville, NC which is not too far from where we live in GA. eMi is a pretty awesome organization that leads teams of design professionals in designing schools, hospitals, orphanages, etc. in third world countries. Almost on a whim, Gary decided to go, and I'm so glad he did!
Of course he learned a great deal about what designing looks like outside of the nice cozy building codes and regulations of the U.S., but he also connected with some great people that have been so influential in our future plans. One eMi staff member, Brad, had recently returned from living several years in Uganda with his family. He was looking for an architect to accompany a group to Uganda on an upcoming trip. Gary learned that while Brad was working with eMi, his wife actually taught at Heritage International School which is within walking distance of the eMi East Africa Field Office. When I learned of all of this, I think I did a pretty elaborate happy dance because that's just what we want to do! Gary immediately signed up for the trip.
While in Uganda this past January, Gary worked on the design for a renovation of the Gaba Bible Institute outside of Kampala, Uganda (which is the capital). And yes, much to my dismay, he did this without his better half... I might have been just a smidge jealous... What a great experience! He really enjoyed working with his team - they all sound like pretty awesome folks. I would give more details about the trip in particular, but I could also be lazy and just throw in a link to Brad's blog if you'd like to read further and check out some pictures... While he was there, Gary was able to meet with leaders at both eMi and Heritage - turns out there's lots of work to be done in East Africa, and they could really use an architect to help out - and Heritage just happens to be in need of a high school science teacher. Some might call that a coincidence, but I think we know better! And kind of funny to think about, but Gary also met with a real estate agent in Kampala to look at securing housing for a year-long stay for us - I SO wish I was there for that!
So as soon as Gary returned, we got our applications out to eMi and Heritage to get the ball rolling... boy that's a steep slope it's rolling down! Things have been moving fast these days! We just found out this week that Gary was officially accepted for a one-year term with eMi, I am very patiently awaiting my contract from Heritage (you know how patient I am, haha), and we are preparing for an early August departure (perhaps the 3rd?). And to make it even more fun, we are going to shoot for renting our condo out by May 1st if possible and then move in with my folks until we leave - we figure we really don't want to be moving out at the same time we are preparing to move overseas, and the thought of being without a tenant when we leave makes me a little dizzy just thinking about it, so best to handle that now - SO, if you know anyone looking for a ridiculously awesome one bedroom condo, just let us know!
I think that's about all I can stand for now - more details to come later! We'll just keep you sitting on the edge of your seats in anticipation, haha!
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