October Update

Writing Letters

Since the move to Gulu I have been teaching Izaac from home. In Jinja we had the benefit of a homeschool school. He had about nine kids in his class with one teacher. They were varied in grade but the beauty of the curriculum they chose was that it was student led so the teacher could more easily manage the different grades. We are hoping to find something in Gulu that we could join to give Izaac and hopefully Ellie some outside teaching. Maybe not full time but at least once a week. It has been going pretty well so far though a few days he really tried to talk his way out of doing school.  Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday we do his main subjects and Wednesday and Friday we do extra curricular things like art, athletics, some science experiments, and creative writing. For creative writing we decided to start writing letters to friends and family. They almost always add some artwork to the letter so I feel like we are accomplishing two things in one. Izaac is learning the proper way to write a letter and next week I am going to have him address the envelope too.

So if you would like a letter from Izaac or Ellie send me an email or message on Facebook with your address and we will send one. The mail system isn't always the best so it can sometimes take a long time to get to you and occasionally doesn't make it at all but we still send them and pray that they make it.

Officially in Gulu

Well we did it. We are officially moved to Gulu. I was going to write about moving but now a week and a half have past and I didn't really make the time. I will say one thing though, I was impressed with how much stuff they could fit on the truck.
 So now we are  here and settling in to life in Gulu. I (Christina) have been doing the book keeping for Our Call Missions, the new organization we partnered with which brought us to Gulu. It is nice to have a job and feel more useful. I know that raising our kids is my main priority and I know that our supporters know that but I was feeling like I was somehow letting them down. So now I am feeling more purposeful and I love numbers so this is a good fit for me. It isn't something I have to do every day so I can still homeschool Izaac and Ellie and take care of all the things at home.

My Desk

 Speaking of home, we have gotten a few questions from people about where we are living. Currently we are living in a building we refer to as the EDI (Educator Develop Institute). This is where we hold trainings and conferences. For the next three months there isn't anything on the schedule so we moved into three of the rooms where the trainees stay. We turned one into a kitchen/dining room, one into the kids bedroom/playroom/school room, and one into our bedroom/living room.

We are hoping and praying that our house we are building will be far enough along that we can move into it before the next conference which is in January. We know God is faithful and has been with us each step of the way and had gone before us in this to supply the finances, supplies, and people willing to help. The containers were suppose to come in September but we got bumped back until this month. So Lord willing the containers are now suppose to arrive the 13th and 14th. I can't wait to share the progress with you! Please be praying for us during this time! If you want to give towards our house please click the link under support on the right side of this page. If you want to come visit and help us build let us know. We would love to have you!

Building a House and Related Things

So we're moving across the country and building a container house!

This idea of living in shipping containers is something I've thought about on and off for a number of years now. When I worked for a construction company in Michigan, we were working on an experimental project using containers to build tanks for farming shrimp. The project never really took off but it got me thinking and since then I have read and planned quite a bit.

We are still in the very early stages so stay tuned as many of the posts coming over the next half a year or so will be on this topic.

Here are the first few steps we've taken:

If I learned anything while in the construction industry is that you always start a project by... planting an orchard...?

Well, maybe that's not really related to the building of our house but it was one of the first things we did. We wanted to get the trees started as most will take 2 to 3 years before they begin to produce. We planted two kinds of oranges, lemons, tangerines, mulberries, avocado and jackfruit as well as pomegranate and macadamia nut trees.

So really the first step was lots and lots of planning. We have spent many hours researching, drawing, re-drawing and thinking through many things. We are using two shipping containers but we're also combining some more traditional construction methods. We think we've settled on a pretty good design but we know this will be a huge learning experience and we will have to adjust and change things on the fly regardless of the amount of planning.

Next was the site work and the foundation. We've laid out the corners of the 2 containers and dug and set foundation piers. We used 8 18" concert culverts fitted with rebar reinforcement and filled with concrete. We are now at the point of waiting for the containers to be delivered. This should happen in about 2 weeks and I'm sure it will be an event worthy of its own post.

In the meantime we are busy packing up the house and finishing things up in Jinja. While we work on the house we will be living in the "EDI" (Educator Development Institute) which is a conference center type building on the property that is used for training teachers and hosting conferences. We are a bit cramped and sharing space can be tough but we are so blessed to have a place to stay!

This is our current sleeping arrangements.

The main conference room has become storage and living
space as well as where we do school.

August Update

We just emailed our latest update but thought we'd also throw it on here. If you don't receive our updates by email and would like to, just let us know.

Lady with a baby!

It's August!! As many of you know I love birthdays. Many people celebrate their birthday. I for one like to celebrate my birthday month.  I am finding that many people (not just me) who have a birthday in August like to celebrate for the whole month. So I thought I would share my August 1st, the first day of my month long celebration.

  Off and on over the last few months my friend Lisa and I have been walking in the mornings. I usually get up a little after 6am and get ready and wait for the sun to start coming up which happens around 6:30am. This morning as I was putting on my shoes and texting to make sure we were still walking because it was sprinkling I heard what sounded like a lady yelling. At first I thought they were injured, but then I heard other voices so I thought it was just people yelling to each other. It was now time to leave so I went out the door and our watchman tells me that a lady across the street had just given birth and I needed to go and cut the cord. I just stood there for second while my brain comprehended what he had just said. I repeated it back to him just to make sure I heard him correctly. We went over to see what was going on and what supplies were needed. The mamma was sitting on a blanket in the yard with the baby laying wrapped in blankets next to her. I met my friend and told her what was going on and then ran back home to get some yarn and to the shop across the road to get a new razor blade. I woke my sister up to make sure I knew what I was doing and where to tie the cord properly. Then I ran back across the street to my neighbors. Thankfully an older Ugandan lady, who seemed to know what she was doing, was there when I got back. She was putting on gloves and I was really thankful that she was going to do it because I would have had to run back home to get gloves and didn't want to waste any more time. I told her where to tie the yarn and after she had it tied she didn't waste any time cutting the cord. My brain was going a mile a minute and later I realized I didn't even find out if she had a boy or a girl. I was so concerned that the mamma and the baby were ok I didn't even think about it until later. I am going to try to connect with them in the next day or so to see how they are doing. We told them they should take her to the hospital to make sure everything was fine though I am not sure they listened.
  Lisa and I went on our walk then. Still both kind of in shock over what had just transpired. I thought about all the times I have gone for walks or runs and how crazy it was for this to happen. I was also really glad that today I had decided to get my butt out of bed and go for a walk even though it was sprinkling. I would have missed this really cool experience that I got to be a part of.
  I do think I am good for a little while now and hope that my walks aren't always this exciting, but whatever God has planned I will be available to do His work. So please join me in praying for this mamma and her baby.
 When I got home from my walk, Ellie told me that I should go back to bed and stay there for as long as I wanted. She had helped my sister to make breakfast in bed for me for the start on my month long celebration. Ellie made a picture for me and had her breakfast in my bed too. I think she may be a bit confused on which day my birthday actually is but she loves celebrating for any reason. I think this is going to be a great month!!

 

A Quick Update and an Explanation...

So I know that I (Christina) have been pretty quite on social media lately. I over analyze things, trying to word things the right way. But here is my best attempt:

  On Monday July 3rd, after Benj and I discussed things and gained counsel from a few people we decided to buy a plane ticket for me to go to the states for just under two weeks because my Grandma (my dad's mom) had very recently been admitted to hospice and I wanted to see her one more time before she died. A few hours after we bought the ticket, my flight leaving in just over 24 hours, my dad called to tell me Grandma had passed away. Wanting to still see my family and come for the memorial service that I figured would be in the next two weeks, I left the next morning for the airport and 40 hours later arrived in Grand Rapids. 

  I didn't post things right away because I was waiting to post until I was sure all my family members knew and then wasn't able to share (maybe I'm not so tech savvy as I thought) the post of my uncle or aunt. Also as much as I wanted to see friends, I really needed to be able to spend as much of my limited time here with my family. I should have posted sooner because I know I am in pictures and then people are wondering what in the world I am doing here. My cousin is getting married today and I am so grateful for God's timing that I am now able to attend and see so much more of my moms side of the family. I haven't seen my moms parents in a few years and have been so blessed to spend quality time with them. 

  God has taken my sorrow and turned it to joy. I know my Grandma is in heaven dancing and praising the Lord with Grandpa. There is no more pain and suffering. She loved Jesus with all her heart and has been such a blessing and role model in my life. I miss her tons and it is hard that I didn't get to say goodbye but I know I will see her again someday in heaven and that makes my heart happy! 

  There are many memories I hold in my heart of my grandma. Like playing Yahtzee by their pool in Florida, Grandma camp, creamed eggs on toast and a wooden doll to name a few. I am glad to know that some day I will see her again and can't wait to give her a big hug. 

  Thank you for all your encouragement and prayers. We serve a big God who is in all the small details and takes care of us. Please pray for safe travels as I head back to Uganda on Sunday!