The words to this title came from Reverend Justus Miwanda who is the Executive Director of International Needs Uganda. He mentioned this at a lunch we had in Kampala just before we parted ways. We had just secured our flights home a day before the Entebbe Airport was closed to commercial traffic.
How true that statement really is – think of it? How often does God come through for us when we have doubt that he will? He embarrasses our faith when we doubt him. It strengthens our faith when we don’t doubt him. Easier said than done however for us mortals.
May God keep you and your families all safe and healthy and together.
Glad to be writing this post. We landed as planned this morning at 8:45 am; wished through immigration and got all our bags. Our friends with cars were all there to pick us up and now all of us are in self-isolation. Now we get to experience what you have all been living with since we left on March 10th.
We are very tired. We left Buikwe by 8:00 am Sunday morning, not knowing if we’d be able to get out, and we landed home this morning at 8:45 am. In all we were in transit for over 40 hours!
Not the trip we had expected but successful nonetheless.
Some of our team enjoyed a wonderful guided hike in Mabira National Forest. After heavy rains the night before, the trail proved to be slippery in spots, but it was wonderful to experience the wonders and natural sights of a tropical rainforest. We visited Griffin Falls and climbed some rugged terrain. Enjoy the photos of this picturesque place! God’s wondrous beauty to behold!
The primate below appears to be the grey-cheeked mengabey. They are able to gather food in unique cheek pouches, and communicate by shaking their head in order to slap their lips together. They are one of the 10 most-visible primate species in Uganda.
Here, we are pausing for a photo outside a lovely restaurant in Kampala, on route to Entebbe to catch our flight to Ethiopia. We are all very relieved to have our new rescheduled tickets to fly home after learning that Uganda would be restricting travel if we left a day later. Reverend Justus is on the far left, and Jamil and Dan are standing with Wayne in between.
All of a sudden our trip was changed radically early Sunday morning when we received word via text from Sharen Menicanin that the Prime Minister of Uganda announced that Uganda was closing it’s international airport in Entebbe to all incoming and all out going commercial flights at midnight Sunday. That was one day sooner than our scheduled flight.
Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us while we have been away! We especially want to thank Corrie, David, Reverend Justus, Sarah Lwanga, Jamil and Dan, (and many others) all with either International Needs Uganda or Canada who worked diligently to try to get us out earlier. We had been trying to get out earlier on Ethiopian Airlines but their flights to Toronto have been fully booked and therefore we could not get out earlier with them. There were other options, but they were not promising, nor guaranteed to get us to our destination; and they were risky. So we chose to believe that God had directed us to choose Ethiopian as our carrier way back in October for a reason. They have been wonderful. Yesterday when we had to make a quick exodus out of Uganda, they were able to get us out to Addis Ababa Sunday night. That meant we would have a minimum 24 hours in the Addis Ababa airport before catching our original flight back to Toronto. Well when we landed in Addis, they found a nearby hotel for all of us that not only provided individual rooms Sunday night, but also the ability to stay in them all day Monday, rather than having to be in the airport. And all for no extra charge! The flight change was free; the rooms were free; the 4 meals available were free! Guess how I’m flying next time I can – Ethiopian!
A special thank you to Sharen Menicanin who has been voted in as the 15th member of our team for her diligent research on-line of what was going on and providing that information back to us. I’m not sure that without her early morning notification, we would have gotten out of Uganda before the airport closed. We thank God for her and for all his provision.
Once we left Canada on March 10th, we have been living in a “bubble” concentrating on our mission, which in spite of all the Covid stuff, has been very successful. Several children have been sponsored, our lives have been changed, knowledge has been transferred both ways, relationships renewed, strengthened, started…..all of the above. Has this trip been successful? Yes for sure and God has orchestrated all of it! Had our departure date from Canada been 2 or 3 days later, we would have cancelled the whole trip for sure; he has also kept all of us healthy.
Going through the Addis Ababa airport we were examined for signs of the flu, our temperatures’ were taken and we all came through without any issues.
We are all looking forward to being home and as close as we can to our loved ones. We know and appreciate the concern you have had for us. We have been safe and until Saturday, there were no cases of Covid-19 in Uganda. We were perhaps more worried about you back home who are living in a great country, but one that had more Covid-19 cases that put you all at risk than where we were. Our love to you all for your cares.
We pray for our friends in Uganda. We pray that this virus will not devastate them. Their culture is one of close community and quarters, which makes it ripe for the spread o fcontagious diseases. We ask that you pray hard for Uganda at this time.
We will see you when we can friends, when the world can get back to a new reality; one that hopefully will do better than the one that got us into this Covid mess. Come Holy Spirit Come!
As I sit in a hotel room in Ethiopia on a 26 hour layover, after being woken yesterday morning to an urgent message to get to Entebbe airport in Uganda, as soon as possible, because they were shutting the airport at midnight, I am learning to trust God with everything. Did I have negative thoughts yes, but I didn’t dwell on the negatives. I kept believing that God brought us here and he will bring us home. And reminding God that I am trusting Him in all of our movements. We don’t ever know God’s plan, but when he lives in your heart you can learn to hear his voice and trust. We need to never stop learning and never stop growing in our faith.
I think life is simpler and more peaceful when I tell God I don’t want to live on my own. When I don’t know what to do, I want to trust Him. When I don’t understand why, I will do what I can with His help and, I’ll trust Him to do the rest.
This mission trip has been a time of slowing down, listening to people’s stories, the gospel becoming more real and learning to trust. I’m thankful for everyone who has been praying for us, at home, in Uganda and in different parts of the world. I feel blessed again and again ❤️
Good morning everyone. Paul has been given a nickname here as he strolls the property trying to find different species of birds in the community. He has found some beauties. I’ve also included pics that Paul took from our boat trip Source of the Nile
Well things have changed so we are adapting to a new schedule and getting into the Buikwe community. We began our day with the school kids saying goodbye to us. They were released from school today to go home and not return until April 20 (hopefully) as a cautionary step to prevent the spread of the virus IF it makes its way here – photos below. The remainder of the day was spent resting around the guest house reading, talking meeting with children, visiting with guests and ended with a hike to the two towers and a walk through the village neighborhood’s on the way down.
I met Rogers family today. I don’t even know how to express the joy I experienced there. They live very comfortably (relatively speaking). They have foot pump sewing machines which his father uses to make bags to sell at the market and he is teaching his wife and Rogers to use the machines as well. Just recently, he was able to purchase a machine to help him make shoes and is practicing by making shoes for Rogers.
He welcomed us into his beautiful living room, which was laid out with all of their best linens. He and Rogers mother were so thankful for the help we had given. When we started sponsoring Rogers it came at just the right time as he had just had an accident in which he broke his femur. At that time, they were not in a position financially to deal with all of the pressures as one of their other children was in the hospital as well.
Rogers father started our visit with his Bible open on his lap, talking about Genesis 18, and how Abraham welcomed the strangers into his home. He followed that with a blessing and prayer over us (Tracy, myself , and the IN staff that were with us). I felt so humbled and welcome. It really felt as if I’d met an extension of my family, and one who could teach me so much about living in Christ.
Apparently one morning Rogers, who is 8, approached his father and wanted to read Romans 11 to him, but was interrupted because it was 5am and time for their prayer meeting. Rogers prays regularly for our family, and holds some of the perler bead creations that my kids have sent him while he’s praying.
It is impossible, unless you’ve been here, to understand what an unbelievably unique story all of this is. People are barely able to move in their homes because they are so small. The father is very often not involved in raising the children. Many children don’t have shoes for their feet. And most importantly, my joy came from seeing what an incredible man of God Rogers father was, and such an amazing example for his son.
In four short years, their family situation has improved drastically, and now they talk about how they are able to help their neighbours and community using the experiences they have had and in sharing God’s love.
All 4 of us left their home with a gift of one of the sewn bags, and a bottle of water. The biggest gift I felt was the hope and joy that comes from knowing Christ.
It was so hard to drop Rogers off at school and say goodbye. I felt as if I was leaving one of my own children across the world, not knowing when I would see them again.
This week I realized something that I really didn’t grasp before. These families that I sponsor really are part of my family and although I haven’t been great at sending gifts and letters (which is definitely going to change, as I’ve seen how much they are appreciated), I love them as my own. God has His love overflowing out of me (especially out of my eyeballs-which won’t be a surprise to many of you) and I am so grateful for that.
Thank you for your prayers, and your support in sending our team on this trip.
Forestview Uganda 2020 