No we weren’t castaways, but we were in a world completely new to all of us. Bugaya Island is in the middle of Lake Victoria, a 2-hour boat ride from Kiyendi, very nearly on the equator. Lake Victoria is the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world (behind Lake Superior). When we set off, we could not see our island, but the captain knew the way and set us on course. I couldn’t help but sing in my head the song from Gilligan’s Island the entire trip. Continue reading
Update
Village Work
The past two Sundays I have had the pleasure and responsibility of standing in the pulpit and speaking on behalf of the mission for village church clusters. Wow!!!
Let me back up…the mission that we work with, New Testament Churches of Christ (NTCC), is connected to about 300 churches all over Uganda. These churches are grouped together into clusters that are near one another, and these clusters come together occasionally for mutual support, worship, encouragement, fundraising and unity. We at the mission office travel to visit churches and clusters in order to strengthen, teach, lead and encourage them. We are partners with them in the work they are doing in their local community. Continue reading
Our New Home
For your viewing pleasure, here are some before and after photos of our new home in Uganda. We love it and it’s perfect for our family. We look forward to building many relationships here and we pray this home is a place where people feel God’s love. Continue reading
A Glimpse of Life in Mbale, Uganda
We drove through town and realized several people would probably like to see what we see every day. So here is a small glimpse of our life… Continue reading
The feeling of being overwhelmed…
We were told about it and we were trained for it, but nothing could prepare us for the feeling of total helpless in a place so new and so different.
We have had to rely on our team for housing, for food, to go anywhere, to help clear our container, to schedule picking up our dog, to know who to contact to help get our new home ready, to go to the market or to the bank or to the supermarket… Continue reading
Living in the Moment…
In mid-October, we returned to Texas from our cultural training in Colorado and we hit the ground running. Our hope to have a garage sale the weekend we returned was postponed due to severe storms all weekend. But, after some creativity, Continue reading
What’s next…
Ants in the Sugar Bowl by Elizabeth Givens
So send I you
To ants in the sugar bowl,
To things that fly, creep and crawl into the house,
To uncertain water, sporadic electricity.
To long hours, sweltering heat, exhausting days,
To uncomfortable vehicles, crowded jeeps, smelly buses.
To noisy early, early mornings,
To rice, rice and more rice.
To poverty you didn’t believe existed,
To masses of people like you have never seen,
To know and work with people who have never known comfort,
So send I you, and I expect you to adjust.So send I you
To people who will give to you from their poverty,
To friends who will embarrass you with their generosity,
To pastors who will entertain you from their lack, with beauty.
To hungry, receptive, questioning people who want to know God,
To study, to teach, to learn from your study and teaching,
To prove your own motives, values and beliefs,
To learn about yourself and the culture that has reared you,
To know God and to understand more deeply dependence on Him,
So send I you. Are you going? I’ll go with you all the way.
So What IS Missionary Training?
We really had no clue coming into this. We didn’t know what to expect. Our team members in Mbale raved about it but gave us very little details. So we showed up with our car full of stuff, our 2-1/2 year old, and a lost look on our face. And now, near the end of the second week of our training, we are starting to get into a rhythm here. Sort of. Continue reading
On to cultural training…
We have said our “see you laters” to our friends and family in the Boulder area. We have packed our stuff and loaded our car. We have sent Jezebel back to Texas with Leland’s parents until we return from training. We have been so blessed by our time here. It has been 
so encouraging to reunite and build new relationships with so many loving and caring people. Continue reading
It’s been a BIG, BIG month!!!
For those of you who don’t receive our monthly e-newsletter, click here to sign up and get all the updates.
Since ALOT has happened this past month, we felt it was worthy of a newsletter and a blog post. We are excited to see how God continues to move.
First of all, we have a rent house in Uganda. I have attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure. The photos are in order from top left to bottom right: panorama of front/back of house, living room, dining room, kitchen & laundry nook, master bedroom & bathroom, Continue reading
Sawyers In Uganda 