One thing we can guarantee in life is that things never stay the same. People and places change. Technology advances, businesses grow or disappear, and time marches on whether we are ready for it or not.
This year, we have found ourselves reflecting a lot on just how long we have lived in Uganda. We are still shocked that our once three-year-old toddler is now a teenager. Ten years in Uganda has flown by, yet some days feel like years. As we have reflected about how the years have flown by, we have also reflected on how much things have changed… not only around us, but within us. Our family has changed. The school Adalyn attended has changed. The missionary community has changed. The ministry has changed. Our town of Mbale has changed. Uganda as a whole has changed…
We are not the same Sawyer family who arrived in Uganda in January 2016. (And that’s not just because our toddler is now a teenager, and we’re ten years older.) God has moved in ways we never imagined, and He has grown us in ways we didn’t even know we needed.
When we look back, one of the things that stands out most is God’s faithfulness. Not simply that He has helped us survive as missionaries in East Africa, but that He has allowed us to thrive here and genuinely love the life He has given us. We have been blessed by people who care for us, encourage us, and walk alongside us. We have welcomed visitors who have experienced life and ministry here with us. And we have also experienced some really LOW times and struggled with different aspects of how hard life can be here. Yet, in the middle of all of it, we continue to see God’s goodness. We are thankful for the flexibility in our schedules, the quality family time, and the slower pace of life. We are thankful for the hard seasons too, even if we wouldn’t necessarily choose them. They have taught us things we couldn’t have learned any other way. I wrote a little more about that last November in a post called: Thankful in the Midst of Hard.
When we think about the things that have made Uganda feel like home over these ten years, relationships are at the very top of the list. One of the greatest blessings has been being part of the Tyler school community and the missionary community that has surrounded us. Both have given us beautiful friendships and strong relationships that have carried us through many seasons.
Being part of the Tyler Homeschool Co-op has been an unexpected blessing. It has allowed many families to continue doing ministry here because our children’s education has been entrusted to quality, loving, and self-sacrificing teachers. These teachers have poured into our kids in ways that go far beyond academics: they have also modeled what it looks like to live like Jesus. Over the years, we have had teachers from around the world, and through the school we have also had the opportunity to build relationships with families from around the world. Teachers and students have come from all over the United States, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Kenya, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Uganda, and Tanzania. This year, Adalyn “graduated” from Tyler because the school’s teaching capabilities only go through eighth grade. While it is exciting to watch her move into a new season of education, it also feels strange to close that chapter. We will always be thankful for the teachers, families, friendships, and memories that came from our years at Tyler, and we’re thankful for a community that still welcomes and involves us in activities.
There is one aspect of overseas life that we never fully anticipated: how many goodbyes we would have to say. We were trained and prepared for “good goodbyes” when we left our family and friends in America. We knew that moving across the world meant missing birthdays, holidays, family gatherings, and everyday moments with the people we loved. What we didn’t anticipate was how many goodbyes we would have to say to dear friends we made on this side of the world: other missionary families, teachers, teammates, friends, people who became like family – all who left Uganda for one reason or another. Every goodbye has been hard. We have learned that this is often called cumulative grief. We aren’t just grieving the one person or family who is leaving. Their goodbye brings with it memories of all the others who have left before them. Each goodbye adds another layer to the grief. It is one of the harder parts of missionary life, and honestly, it is something we are still learning how to navigate.
But just as there has been loss, there has also been the incredible joy of watching God work in people’s lives through Holy Spirit transformation, spiritual maturity and growth in ministry. We are beginning to experience the fruit of our efforts—and the efforts of many people who came before us. When we were in youth ministry in America, we would often say that we would pour Jesus into student’s lives, but we wouldn’t see the fruit until they became adults and made life decisions on their own. We have been blessed to stay connected with many of the students from our youth ministry years who are now adults, and now we get to see how they are choosing to follow Jesus with their own lives.
The same is true here in Uganda. Teammates who came before us began going deeper with Ugandans through relational, life-on-life disciplemaking. Now, we have the privilege of seeing how God has transformed the lives of church leaders who are choosing to live for Jesus even when culture tells otherwise. It has been amazing to watch God transform hearts through discipleship, Steps to Freedom, and deep relationships that create space for hard conversations, honesty, growth, and change. Sometimes the work is slow, but seeing someone’s life transformed over years is a reminder that God’s timing is worth trusting.
While some of the biggest changes we’ve experienced have been relational and spiritual, we have celebrated practical things like paved roads, more consistent electricity (mostly), more options at the local supermarket—which means we don’t always have to drive five hours to the capital city to find something we need. Mbale has changed over the ten years: we can now get some household items like washing machines, refrigerators, mattresses, and couches. There is more variety when it comes to toiletries—shampoo, sometimes conditioner, face wash, sunscreen, body wash, and more. Even the selection of medicines has improved. We can find things like antacids, allergy medicine, and cold medicines that weren’t always readily available when we first arrived.
And the food! The food options have improved so much that I couldn’t possibly list everything we get excited to find in town that wasn’t available ten years ago. We feel spoiled. I love going to the supermarket to see what “new” product might be available. Of course, things still go out of stock, sometimes for weeks or even months, so we’ve learned to adapt. And hoard a little. For example, every time Leland goes searching for something in town, he gets me a package of unsalted butter. I don’t need unsalted butter. But there was a period of at least six months when it was nowhere to be found, and everyone talked about how butter simply wasn’t available. So now, whenever he sees it, he buys it for me.
It’s the little things. Sometimes those little things make us laugh. Sometimes they make us cry.
Mbale hasn’t just grown in the number of things we can buy, either. It has grown into a city in ways we couldn’t have imagined when we first arrived. We have a stoplight now. It rarely works, but it’s there! The middle class is growing, businesses are expanding, and it has been encouraging to see Uganda develop over the years.
We love our town-city. We love the people we share life with and minister alongside. We love our home.
So much has changed, yet Uganda still feels like home. While we were in the U.S., we talked about transition, and we know we’re not going to live in Uganda forever, but it’s also home and it’s hard to think where else we might be. Even as things change, there are constants. And our home is one of them.
As we look back on these ten years, we can see the changes everywhere. We see them in our family, our friendships, our ministry, our community, our town, and even in the things sitting on our grocery store shelves. There has been frustration, joy, sacrifice, loss, growth, and more than a few packages of unsalted butter.
Through all of it, one thing has remained constant: God is faithful. He doesn’t change, even when everything around us does. He sustains us when we don’t know what we’re doing or how we’re going to make it. He gives us strength when life feels overwhelming, and He reminds us that we aren’t walking this road alone. Ministry is hard and exciting. Goodbyes hurt. New friendships are a gift. Change is inevitable. But God continues to lead us through all the forks, winds, and turns in the road.
Ten years later, we don’t have everything figured out. But we have learned that we don’t have to. Because the world around us may continue to change, but the God who called us here remains the same.
But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…”
Isaiah 43:1-3
