Reflection

Memories from Tyler Homeschool Co-op

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

GUEST POST: Adalyn Sawyer

I have been at Tyler Homeschool Co-op since kindergarten. It has been a place for me to learn and grow alongside my friends and people who love me. It’s a place where I have not only grown physically and in education, but also spiritually. To honor my time at Tyler Homeschool Co-op, I wanted to share some of my memories of my time there.

1. What do you remember about starting your first day of school at Tyler?

I only know what I did because my friends and parents remember it. I had been going to a Ugandan school for pre-school, but I had to leave there because I was scared of the big kids because I was singled out for being different (not Ugandan) and it was overwhelming to me. I started homeschool with my mom before I was able to join kindergarten at Tyler. I thought that there would be more mean big kids, so I was scared. I was crying because I really didn’t want to go, but eventually, I calmed down and made two best friends in my class who have been my classmates for all 9 years I’ve been at Tyler.

2. What were some of your favorite special events you did?

I enjoyed when my parents would plan a fun day at school like “pirate day”, STEAM day, or Star Wars Day. My favorite thing that they planned has been Field Day. Field Day is a whole school event where student teams compete in different activities, races, and games. Parents and teachers were all around to help and the day was full of excitement and energy. I always enjoyed playing, running and having fun at Field Day.

3. What was your favorite year of school?

My favorite year of Tyler was around 3-4 years ago when I had Mr. Stu as my teacher. He was an amazing teacher and I really enjoyed learning from him. That year was also when my all of my friends were still at Tyler. (Several of them graduated or left Tyler after that year to go to a boarding school for upper level grades). I had Mr. Stu for 2 years and I really enjoyed those years because he taught us so much. He also taught us so many different sports, which I loved. I learned rugby, field hockey, football, netball and much more.

4. What were your favorite things to do at recess?

I always enjoy recess because the whole school usually plays games together, and I like being active. As I became one of the older kids at Tyler, I was put in charge by the other kids to pick the game at recess. Every day, I would have kids asking me the same question over and over: “What are we playing at recess?” Most times it drove me insane, but I would typically pick the first person who gave me an idea. My favorite games we played were zombie tag, capture the flag, and “the floor is lava”. My dad also had a gaga pit built, so we enjoyed that. We often went through phases of playing different games like football (soccer), dodgeball, and playing on the tire swing.

5. What has been the most impactful part of being at Tyler school?

I think what has most impacted me about my time at Tyler is how everyone cares for each other, and shows the love of Jesus to every one around them. In my last year at Tyler, we did service projects where our whole school would go to different organizations around Mbale and serve there by playing games with kids, sharing a time of worship, doing crafts or reading to them. It was really amazing when we got to the organization, how everyone there lit up when they saw us.

6. What will you miss the most?

I will miss seeing my friends everyday and being able to interact with them. I love how I am always surrounded by my friends, and they are always there to support me. I think that it is going to be a hard transition from seeing them every day to seeing them once a week.

Tyler Homeschool Co-op through the school years (August 2017 – May 2026)

How to Care for Missionaries and TCKs on Visits…

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

It’s hard to believe we are preparing for our 6th home assignment trip back to the U.S. and it’s hard to believe we’ve been in Uganda for more than 10 years. With those years has come some lessons learned, both on the field and while we’re traveling around the U.S. There are some things we have recognized about ourselves and about our family, friends and supporters over the years of our relationship.

First of all, to be 100% honest: home assignment isn’t a vacation or break! We are NOT traveling to and around America for a break from life and ministry in Uganda; we are traveling in order to report and raise support FOR our life and ministry in Uganda. We don’t refer to it as “furlough” because that suggests rest. It is not a vacation. Traveling to so many different places, staying in other people’s homes, eating too much food and drinking too much coffee is not relaxing. And while we are very thankful for the opportunities that traveling to America affords us (reconnecting with churches, friends, and family), it is often more stressful, more exhausting, and we feel more foreign as we visit so many people and places. It is an important part of our mission work, and we have learned over the years of travel, there are things we (and you) can do to help this time not be so stressful for our family, and other missionaries.

We are blessed to be loved, cared for, and supported through all of life – whether in Uganda or traveling around America. THANK YOU for asking good questions, asking us what we need or want while we’re traveling, offering your homes for us to rest, seeking opportunities to get to know us better, and helping us relax while we’re traveling. We see you and appreciate you! But we also know from our experience, and from the experience of others, that some of you WANT so desperately to bless, encourage, and help, but may not know how to help. So, HERE are a few ways you can help missionaries feel loved and supported while they are in their home country…

Always ask what they might need or want while traveling. This answer will be different for each person, but one easy answer is always extra funds! Travel is expensive, whether it’s for road trips or flights, expenses add up during travel. Other than that, here are some other ideas to help care for missionaries. But be sure to ask them what they need first!

  • Find a vehicle for the missionary to borrow, so they don’t have to rent one.
  • Have missionaries send lists of foods, drinks, snacks they like, and then provide goodie baskets of their favorite things.
  • Some families would prefer to borrow a house for their own space rather than staying with other people. If there’s an available house, try to make it available for them. But remember…ask them what they prefer!
  • Take missionary families to places to have fun: arcades, bowling, amusement parks, sports events, shows, etc. We like to have fun, and many of these things don’t exist where we do ministry. So instead of going to another restaurant or coffee shop, get creative and take them some place fun!
  • Help them make the time and maybe offer a place for them to have a family vacation. Cabins, AirBnBs, timeshares or beach houses all make for wonderful gifts amidst the chaos of America travel. But remember…ask them what they want first!
  • Some families might need missionary debriefing or a retreat, so help them make these opportunities possible.
  • Collect gift cards for restaurants, fast food places, grocery stores, fuel stations, clothing stores, and other gift cards to bless the family with extra funds to pay for things they need while traveling and for their return back to the mission field. Cash is even better!
  • Find ways to spoil missionary kids! Treat them with foods or drinks they miss, new clothes or shoes, toys or games, organize gatherings with other kids and help them feel welcome.
  • Families with small children might need babysitters – offer to watch their kids for meetings, date nights, or for their own personal time. This is HUGE!!!
  • Offer to help them in your area of expertise: Are you a counselor? Offer them free therapy sessions. Are you a doctor? Offer to help them with routine check-ups. Are you a dentist? Offer a free cleaning. Are you a chiropractor or masseuse? Offer them a free appointment. Do you own a restaurant? Offer to help them with catering or a meal. Do you have a fun car? Offer to take them for a joy ride. You’d be surprised how these things can really touch people and make a big impact!

Ask how you can be praying for your missionary friends, personally and as a family. Just like anyone else, we want people to ask about our life and our family, not just ministry. It’s often easy for churches and supporters to ask about the ministry, and it’s easy to share the ministry stories, especially the positive ones. You guys know us, and we are the people who share the “not so good stories” as well, so you can get a real picture of ministry. But our family also wants to connect with you on a personal level. It’s sometimes hard for missionaries to relate to people about our lives: our home, our lifestyle, the culture we live in is very different than America. But we genuinely want you to know our family, our dreams, our celebrations, and our challenges. And we want to know what’s going on in your life in America, as well. Leland recently wrote a BLOG POST about good questions to ask missionaries and Third Culture Kids, so check it out.

“Missionaries face a unique set of difficult challenges. They often battle spiritual opposition, navigate cultural isolation, and carry the emotional weight of being far from family, friends, and familiar rhythms.”

Personal check-ins are really important! Be a safe person for the missionaries and commit to praying for them as your brothers and sisters in Christ. Here’s a BLOG POST about how to pray for Missionary / Third Culture Kids.

For more reading, here is another website with insight on how to care for missionaries: https://pioneers.ca/supporting-missionaries-well-from-home/.

THANK YOU for reading this.

THANK YOU for caring about us and other missionaries you are connected with.

THANK YOU for loving us well!

Good Questions to Ask Missionaries & TCKs

/ Leland Sawyer / 1 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.

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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!

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How to Pray for TCKs / MKs

/ Gina Sawyer / 2 Comments

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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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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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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Relationship, NOT a Class

/ Leland Sawyer / Leave a comment

Jesus was a disciplemaker! Sure, He was a teacher, healer, miracle worker, resurrecter, rebel-rouser, and troublemaker, too. But first and foremost, when you comb through the pages which describe Jesus’ life, He was a disciplemaker. He was a RELATIONAL disciplemaker.

Jesus spent the majority of His time in ministry, for three years, creating, strengthening, and intentionally utilizing relationships in order to make disciples who will, eventually, make disciples. He would preach and teach in synagogues and hillsides, but in-between formal teaching times he would go to weddings, have meals, travel by foot, take boat rides, and many other things of everyday life. It is in these times that we see Jesus make use of His greatest tool to make disciplemakers – intentional relationships. He took full advantage of these times to share truths about God’s Kingdom, God’s nature, the Holy Spirit, His coming crucifixion and resurrection, Kingdom priorities, and so much more.

As people and leaders who follow Jesus, we look at His way of doing ministry. I heard once, “If you want to see the teachings of Jesus with the results of Jesus, then you better use the methods of Jesus.” So as disciplemakers in our homes, communities, and Uganda, we strive to focus our energy on intentional disciplemaking relationships.

What’s the difference between teaching a class and relational disciplemaking?

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It’s Time to Grow Up!

/ Leland Sawyer / 1 Comment

That was the theme at the Leaders’ Conference 2025. We gathered with 150 church leaders from 68 churches from across Eastern Uganda to focus on what God has in store and in mind for us as leaders. And we chose to focus on Ephesians 4…and boy, did it hit home!

Ephesians 4 is such a powerful chapter where Paul is talking with this group of leaders and a church that he has a close, personal relationship (as we see in Acts 20). These are people whom he has poured out his heart, mind, and life. He begins the book of Ephesians giving God glory and thanks for all the growth and faith of the Ephesian church: “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:15-16) Paul is encouraged by their faith, but he still wants to urge them – to push them – into something deeper and more mature. He begins from chapter 1 praying that they “may know him better” (1:17) and that God will strengthen them to “have power to grasp” the immeasurable love of God (3:18) in order that they “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (3:19). Paul is praying some POWERFUL prayers for his friends in Ephesus.

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Women’s DiscipleMaking

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

It is exciting to see how God’s kingdom continue to expand not just with pastors and men, but also with women. Since 2018, there have been three women’s discipleship groups that have concluded their meetings, and there are two women’s discipleship groups that are currently meeting in two different villages with women from area churches in the same cluster. These clusters are made up of area churches who come together for encouragement and helping one another.

At the end of April, the first two women discipleship groups met together for a time of prayer, encouragement, and spurring on one another to making disciplemakers. These groups started in 2018 and 2019, so we moved together through two Covid-related lockdowns and restrictions that delayed our group meetings, extending our time together for more than three years. It was a challenging journey for both groups, and we completed the groups unsure how the ladies would take disciplemaking to their churches and villages.

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