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!