Good Questions to Ask Missionaries & TCKs

/ Leland Sawyer / Leave a comment

A regular part of our life as missionaries is returning to our passport country for home assignment (previously known as “furlough”). This will be our first time back to America since the summer of 2024 (two full years) and our sixth such trip since we moved to Uganda in January 2016. Like many other missionaries, our home assignment is filled with activity – visiting churches and supporters to report on our work, additional fundraising, spending time with family and friends, and attempting to recharge our hearts and minds. These trips help us stay in touch with the people who enable us to do our mission and provide a brief respite from the stresses and strains of everyday life in a (beloved) foreign culture.

But these trips also come with their own stressors: It means living out of a suitcase for a couple of months and staying in the homes of other people; It means being on our best behavior as the spotlight is shown on us whenever we arrive at supporting churches; It means trying to compact our whole life, heart, and ministry into two, five, or ten minute sound bites to take advantage of the opportunity we have to tell others the stories that give the ministry richness and meaning. It means many miles spent together in a borrowed vehicle as our family travels from one location to another. It means trying to split our time between family members who want to see us and the work we need to do while in America. It means still maintaining a spiritual “presence” and leadership role in Uganda while also preaching, sharing, and living in churches across several states.

As another missionary states: “We’ve been told that Home Assignment is meant for rest. We’ve also been told it’s meant for fundraising. And for reconnecting with family. And for sharing stories and photos at supporting churches. And for finding new people who might be interested in our ministry. And for reflection and prayer and rejuvenating ourselves before diving in again on the mission field. And…and…and…” (Click THIS BLOG for the full story.)

For us…we are blessed! We are blessed because our hosts, supporters, and meetings are with dear friends and loved ones. God blessed us with the honor of serving with partners who know and love us, so our time is more relational than many other missionaries we know. But it’s still hard to be away from home while also visiting “home;” and with several well-meaning people assuming we are enjoying an extended vacation stateside.

If you want a glimpse into our life of two very different homes (while not feeling 100% at home in either of them), here is a blog post about the Life Cycle of a Home Assignment. It’s not quite as simple as getting on a plane and eating BBQ and drinking Dr Pepper! =)

We know that most people we meet with while in America at the various stops along the way have a genuine desire to care for us and love us well, but many times they aren’t sure what to say or ask to show the depth of their compassion and love for our family. We want to give you a little cheat sheet of questions to ask when you see us:

  • What is one thing you miss about Uganda while you are in America?
  • What was the first thing you did when you got to America?
  • What is one thing you are looking forward to about your visits in America?
  • What’s one thing you are looking forward to about going back to Uganda?
  • What has been one hard thing in ministry about this past year? In life?
  • What are you doing to care for yourselves, your marriage, your daughter, and your family?
  • What is something you wish Americans knew about the Church and people you work with in Uganda?
  • What do you think the next year holds in store for the ministry – both struggles and strengths?
  • Can we take you out to lunch? =)
  • Ask the unspiritual questions: Can you watch the Cowboys from Uganda? What do you like to do for fun and to relax? What shows are you watching? How is the political situation in America affecting life in Uganda? What are some of the foods you miss while in Uganda? We love talking about all the different elements to our life: big and small; light and heavy.

Warning: Don’t ask these questions if you aren’t prepared to engage! We want to connect (and reconnect), but we also struggle with the art of small-talk and often jump in too deep, too quickly. You’ve been warned!

“In order for missionaries to be real, churches need to allow them to be fully human. Give missionaries permission to experience struggles. (You’re supporting real people who are just as susceptible to sin and weakness as anyone else.) Out of relationship, ask personal questions with loving intentions. Offer a safe place in which they can voice their failures and find compassionate help. When they visit you with their MKs, demand nothing from the children except that they be children accompanying Mom and Dad. Let the family decide how much they’ll be involved.” From Taking the Hypocrisy Out of Home Assignments on A Life Overseas blog.

And since most of you love our daughter more than us, here is a blog post about some good questions you can ask a TCK when you see them. These questions help to relate to her, hear her, and try to understand her life experience.

10 Questions Missionary Kids Would Love to be Asked

Please know that we are excited to see YOU! And we want to open up about our lives, ministry, and family. We don’t always assume that people want to hear the silly, painful, or even deep stories, but if you do…then ask and be prepared. One missionary wrote: “The worst things to say to a visiting missionary is Let me know how I can help.” It may be well intentioned but we aren’t exactly sure how to respond to that. But when people genuinely engage, ask questions, care, show love and interest, invite us to specific things, etc. then we know what Paul means when he says in Philemon 1:7, “Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people”

For Further Reading:
Back in 2017, in preparation for our very FIRST home assignment, Gina wrote THIS BLOG, which you might enjoy re-reading.
Another missionary family wrote THIS BLOG and it captures many of the aspects to Home Assignment.

Uganda – From a Visitor’s Perspective

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

As we have mentioned before, we love hosting visitors! We are so thankful when people make the sacrifice of time and finances to come experience Uganda with us. Not only do they get to see the ministry, but they can also relate to our life a little better. In March, we had some very dear friends come to visit and we asked them to share their thoughts about their visit to Uganda. Hopefully this will encourage YOU to come visit, too!

What are some things that stood out to you while visiting Uganda?

“People seem to genuinely care for each other and look out for each other, such as helping each other in the marketplace, asking about each others’ families, children taking care of the younger ones, etc. We enjoyed getting a taste of daily life like driving, shopping, and meeting with various people in different villages. The coffee tour was also incredible to see where and how production happens, and to hear the detailed process and how integral relationships in the community are to ministry. We got a glimpse of how relationships are key here. In regards to safari, it was like being in “National Geographic”- it was amazing to see so much beautiful creation in one setting.”

Were there any cultural habits or traditions that stood out?

“It was impactful to see the social significance of the mission work through building relationships with so many people. Being including in those interactions and relationships was meaningful to us. We enjoyed witnessing the importance of speaking local languages like Luganda, but also seeing the country’s emphasis on English being more widespread with the upcoming generations. We also enjoyed hearing different phrases in ways we wouldn’t normally use, like ‘You’re welcome’ when coming into a someone’s home or the church, or ‘Praise God’ as an initial greeting with someone. The other thing that stood out to us was the meal rituals of washing visitors’ hands before eating and serving the visitors’ food – it seemed like more relationship building and serving one another.”

What was difficult for you to see?

“Life seems tough. It seems that many people, especially children seem to be missing a purpose of structure to engage, which could lead to problems like boredom, lack of education, limiting personal or community growth, improving living conditions, etc. It was hard to see poverty all around us, without simple solutions to help.”

What felt similar to your life back in the U.S.?

“Daily life seems to be similar to ours: shopping, eating, household chores, dressing up to show respect or honor, etc. Missionaries also seem to be able to engage in a range of local and personal cultural activities such as household responsibilities, education, different foods, social engagements, driving, etc. It was nice to see that while the cultures are very different, we have a lot of similar daily life activities.”

What things were different than you were expecting? What things were the same?

“We expected life to appear more challenging, but we were pleasantly surprised that their lifestyle seemed more collaborative and functional with a community, relational focus. Driving appeared chaotic – driving on the other side of the road than the US and with so many small motorcycles (called bodas) moving in and out of larger vehicle traffic. The weather was more enjoyable than we expected, even though it still felt hot and humid. We adapted better than we expected. Also, the natural beauty was a bonus. The mission work seems to be as deep and engaged as we thought and have read about in newsletters, but the relationships were stronger than we expected. Overall, we were well prepared for our trip, but there are still things we are trying to process from all that we saw.”

Is there anything you learned about the ministry or Uganda that you didn’t know before?

“The ministry work is much broader than we realized. With the mission work, Mbale Church of Christ, village churches, Messiah Theological Institute, discipleship groups, and other development projects, there’s a lot going on. But also with relationships with Livingstone International University and Good News Productions, we didn’t realize the relational connection with the mission work and their partnership with one another.”

What moment(s) from the trip will stay with you the longest?

“We will never forget our experience on safari and seeing so many animals up close! But also, we saw that daily life can be simple and is unique for each person or family. Sometimes we overcomplicate or fill our lives with too much. Another thing that will stick with us is the reminder that relationships are so important for everything. Sometimes we get too busy for people, but they are who matter.”

What would you like to share about your trip for others to know?

“Don’t wait!! Visit when your heart calls you. For us, making the journey and experiencing the culture convicted us in regards to the American lifestyle of individualism and divisiveness. This trip increased our desire for deepening relationships with God, and with others in our own life and community. I hope more people will take the opportunity to visit you and Uganda.”

How to Pray for TCKs / MKs

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

For those who don’t know, a Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. A TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures they experience while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into a TCK life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of a similar background. A Missionary Kid (MK) is a subset of TCK – they are born or raised abroad, and have both the privilege and the challenge of growing up in their family’s place of ministry. Adalyn is an MK. She has spent 10 years in Uganda. She came to Uganda as a toddler and is now a teenager. She is part American, part Ugandan, with several of other cultures that have influenced her since living in an international community.

A TCK/MK has some unique needs. Here are some ways to pray for Adalyn as she continue to grow into the woman God has created her to be…

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Oh the Life We Live…

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

In the past, we have shared different blogs about the funny, beautiful and challenging things about living in Uganda – things that make us smile, things that drive us crazy, things we marvel at, and things that give us a serious laugh. I’ll list some old blog posts at the bottom of this post about the different aspects of life here. But in all of it, we regularly say “oh the life we live…”

For example, every morning, we wake up to ask the question “Is electricity and water on”? We have a small community WhatsApp group that is regularly messaging about power or water issues. It’s an every day thing! We are used to it, mostly. But there are time when electricity or water has been off longer than anticipated, so we have to ask others to determine if it’s an area issue or only at our home. There is solidarity of community in “suffering” when electricity or water is off for everyone, rather than the panic and going into “fix it” mode when it turns out to be just our house.

There are many times when products are no longer in stock – staple items that you might not fathom could be out of stock for months at a time. There was a period of several months when the ladies in the community were having ongoing conversations about how butter had been gone, and we were not sure how long it would be gone, so when some of us traveled to Jinja (about 2 hours away) for a weekend and found 6 sticks of butter – we bought them all! Frozen chicken and beef are regularly not missing. Yes, I could get a live chicken and slaughter it myself, but I have my limits. 😂 A good brand of toilet paper many people really like went out of stock without any knowledge of when it will come back (and yes, we have a favorite toilet paper). You might be thinking, just get another brand of toilet paper, but that’s easier said than done. Most of the options are either like using a soft sand paper or tissue paper – not ideal. 🤨 I don’t usually trust box food (cake mixes, cereal, oatmeal, bread crumbs, etc) because I’m unsure how long it’s been on the shelves and I have found them full of weevils on many occasions. No thank you! We also get excited when a new product comes into town for a little while, like chocolate chips, shampoo/conditioner, cream cheese, or American-recognized brands. We can’t expect them, so it’s a nice treat when “special” items arrive. We never know how long they’ll be there, but we rejoice for the moment. And we often take photos to share with one another, in case someone else might want the product.

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Goals & Plans for 2026

/ Leland Sawyer / 1 Comment

January is a time of year of dreaming big for what’s to come! It’s an exciting time, full of hope and possibilities. People make resolutions, big life changes, and dare to dream BIG! As a mission here in Mbale, we also want to dream (and PRAY) for big things in this New Year!

We are praying BIG THINGS for 2026. The first BIG thing we are praying and planning for is the Leadership Team. Last year, we started meeting regularly with leaders, who have been discipled and moved closely with over the past decade, to involve them in decisions, planning, discerning, and guiding the overall ministry. These are leaders who have traveled around with us to visit churches near and far, so they have a feel for the needs of leaders from all over Uganda. They are also men and women who we’ve seen fruit of spiritual maturity in their lives – and seen them actively making disciples – so they are able to think of Godly solutions in difficult circumstances. This year, our plan is to empower them more and more as the year goes by, so that their voices grow and their impact deepens. We believe this kind of leadership team is vital to the future of the mission work here in Uganda.

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Journey to Uganda – 10 Years In

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

Many of you have asked how we got to Uganda. Some of you have been with us throughout the long journey, but some of you are new to reading our blog and don’t know the full story. So, as we celebrate 10 years in Uganda, here’s the story. It’s a long one, so be prepared….

In 2010, Leland and I went on a “once in a lifetime” trip to visit our friend who was living in Nairobi, Kenya. We went on safari at Masai Mara, and then we took a 12-hour bus ride across the border to Jinja, Uganda to white water raft on the Nile River. Like I said, it was a once in a lifetime trip! One evening, Leland and I were walking around the village near the camp we were staying, and we asked the question “Could we live in a place like this? Our friend lives here, could we?” And thus the seed was planted…

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Recap 2025 – Ups, Downs, and In-Betweens

/ Leland Sawyer / Leave a comment

Another year of ministry in Uganda has come and (too quickly) gone by. This has been YEAR 10 for our family serving in Uganda, and each year seems to get busier and go by faster. Here are a few highlights of the year in ministry:

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Thankful in the Midst of Hard

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

I am in a season right now where I am feeling HARD of life in Uganda! In our training at Missions Training International, we learned that as missionaries, we wake up at a higher stress level than we used to when we lived in our own passport cultures by almost double. We have learned to adjust and adapt, and even thrive in our lives here in Uganda. But sometimes, all the things that we can normally manage become overwhelming: things that shouldn’t take as long as they do; having to go to several stores and still not finding the food items we want for months on end; instability of consistent water, electricity, and sunshine (which the combination is needed to do laundry); household items that continuously break without the ease of buying a new one or getting it repaired correctly; good mechanics are impossible to find and roads tear up our vehicles; having work done on the house NEVER goes how we expect or want, often with errors, lack of appropriate tools or supplies, and any mistakes are at our expense; and don’t get me started on driving with the “mosquitos” we call bodas (small motorcycle taxis) that swarm the streets in ridiculously large numbers. We typically manage these daily challenges, and they have been part of our lives for the past 10 years. We have not only adapted to these things, but things have also improved with more options available in town, people we can call when we need repairs, people who help us find things we need from town and even deliver them to us, and a community of friends that is always willing to help in all sorts of situations. In the midst of the HARD, I can also see the GOOD.

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Our Life & Home – A Refresher

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

Many of you have been with our family from the very start of this journey to Uganda, but others have joined after we moved here. Some people have not seen photos of our home, our town, Adalyn’s school, and the mission property in Mbale, Uganda. This post is for YOU! I want to give you an update of everything, so maybe it will help you visualize when we talk about our life and ministry.

We live at the foothills of Mount Elgon, under a ridge known as Mount Wanale. We have spectacular views of sunrises, sunsets, and waterfalls when walking or driving through our neighborhood and town. It is easy to sing God’s praises when we look at THIS every day!

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Officially a Teenager

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

We officially have a teenager. Adalyn has turned 13 years old. For us and for many of you, it’s hard to imagine that tiny little toddler who left America just as she was 3 years old is now a teenager. But Adalyn has grown into a beautiful young woman, both inside and out. Our prayer continues to be for her heart to love Jesus as she matures and gets older. Here are her annual questions and answers for your reading pleasure.

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