This summer has been full of visitors. It’s the first post-Covid summer that people are back in full swing of international travel, so we were blessed to host many friends over the last couple months.

The first visitor came at the end of May. We had the pleasure of having one of the mission founders, Shawn Tyler, stay with us for a week while he was visiting in Mbale. We enjoyed a village church visit, meeting and reconnecting with the mission staff, and organizing three separate village seminars teaching on the importance of the Lord’s Supper. In all, we taught over 210 church leaders from 51 churches the relational, Biblical, and practical aspects of taking the Lord’s Supper together as a church family.

After his visit, Ryan Hayes (former missionary to Malawi) and Blazio Styford (his Malawian teammate) came to Mbale to conduct a training for village churches interested in forming Village Savings & Loans groups. We had over 140 participants in the sensitizations meeting and 47 churches signed up for further training.

In June, Leland’s parents came to visit. We always enjoy our time with them and Adalyn never gets tired of Memaw and Pawpaw time. This was Kim’s seventh visit to Uganda and Paul’s. We are thankful they make this trip as often as they do to spend time with us. This time, Leland and Adalyn took them to Masai Mara in Kenya for a new safari experience while I was in Nairobi at a Come Before Winter women’s retreat. We had a great time, and it’s always hard to say goodbye.

After 4 years of being gone from Uganda, our former teammates, the Robinson family (JP, Jill and their kids John Mark and Riley), came for a visit. Everyone here was overjoyed to see them. Due to some travel complications, their trip was cut short by a couple of days, so it was a busy week visiting people and hearing about what has changed in Uganda since they have been away. While they were here, they were able to visit a village church of one of the guys JP discipled, meet with the mission staff and hear what we are praying for the future, and spend a day with several men and women they discipled while they lived here. We were also blessed to enjoy some time with 3 “bonus” visitors who joined them from their church in Tennessee, Harpeth Christian Church. It was so fun to share stories, get to know new friends, and have a lot of laughs together. 

Our final visitor for the summer was another former teammate, Dennis Okoth, who came back to Uganda from Kenya to visit with the Robinson family. We enjoyed a few extra days with him at our home to catch up with how he and his wife, Mary, are doing in his home and ministry in Kenya.

While it has been a full and busy summer, we have really enjoyed our time with each of the visitors and we have been blessed by our time. Now, it’s your turn. Let us know when you’re ready to come visit. We have a guest room ready for you!