We can feel our time here coming closer and closer to being over, but we are so happy to be busy doing what we came here to do, and to have more projects to do before we leave. Through the help of many from here and from abroad, we have accomplished so much, and we still have more to do.
We have now been here in Uganda for over one year. We arrived on October 9, 2017. What a year it has been! So many lives have been impacted as a result of our time here and the generous support from those that have given money, time, work, prayer, encouragement, etc.
During this year we have hosted teams of volunteers from the US, we have completed building projects for needy families, planted/harvested crops for children, started an egg laying operation for a local school, and conducted a medical camp that supplied treatment to over 1.000 people.
On top of that we helped to start a soccer program at the school that is still going, did 6 months of Bible teaching for church leaders from several village churches, helped to teach cooking skills to young ladies with little education, have begun supporting the 6 children of a widow who works both at the school and at our home, provide consistent jobs to 9 people and other work opportunities to countless others.
All of those are things that are more tangible. There are so many intangible affects of our time here that include the relationships we have built with so many here, and the impact this time has had on our own family. We are so grateful for all of this. We have experienced and learned so much.
Thank you again to all those who have helped to make our time here possible, and to make it possible to accomplish all that we have been able to over the past year.
Now lets share some pictures from the past month along with captions that explain what we have been up to:
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| Our goal for this month was to build two pit latrines for widows in a village about an hour from where we live. |
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| These are the two young ladies that we built the latrines for. The top one has a mud and stick structure in the woods to use before. The other literally used a hole in the ground. Neither had a decent place to wash themselves. |
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| These are pictures of the Jajas (grandmas) with their new latrines. Each latrine is just behind their homes, has one stall, and one room for washing. Both latrines will benefit the ladies and their families. |
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| The first picture here is an unfinished home that was being built by one of the ladies sons before he died. It has sat unfinished for over 17 years. She has been staying in someone else's home. We were able to finish her home. Now she has a roof over her head that is her own. She will live there along with several members of her family. |
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| The garden, greenhouse, and chicken house are still going strong. The children at the school are receiving more nutritious meals on a daily basis. The children are also very involved in helping with the garden and greenhouse. These projects provide wonderful opportunities for hands on learning and to take pride in knowing they helped produce the food that goes on their plate. |
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| Our friend who was making bricks at his home to raise some money has finished the first round of bricks to be made. These pictures show the final step where the bricks are stacked into a huge oven where they are baked using fire wood. After they cooled down, they were ready to be sold. |
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| We have had our intern Tanner back with us since early September. It has been great having him here with us again. He was a huge help with the latrines, and the home we finished. |
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| We had several visitors this month. We had an evangelist from West Virginia and his daughter that came over for dinner and a night of worship. We also had another family come stay with us for several days. The parents are from Pennsylvania, the children are Ugandan. It was really great to share some time with these wonderful people. |
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| We got to go into Kampala for a night with just the two of us. While we were there we attended a meeting where Andrew Wommack spoke. He is the founder of the ministry where both of us went to Bible School. He actually visited us at our home on the Monday after, but we regretfully didn't think about taking any pictures while he was with us. |
That pretty much sums it up. Time is flying by now. Next month we have Andrew's Brother Brandon and his wife Erica coming to stay with us. While they are here we will be building two extra rooms onto the one room home of a local widow here in Mukono. We are still short of our financial goal for that project. If you wish to give towards that project, Click Here.
Then in December we have Heidi's sister Rebecca, her husband Ricky, who are the founders of PUR, along with their whole family, coming to stay with us. While they are here we will be doing a Basketball Camp at a local primary school, along with a mother and daughter that are coming to stay with us from Alaska. If you would like to give to help with the expenses of that trip, Click Here.
Thanks again to everyone that supports us, gives towards these projects, and/or thinks about us while we are over here. It isn't always easy, but it helps to know that we have friends and family back home that are keeping up with us. We Love and miss you!
God Bless You!
Andrew, Heidi, Ivan, Margie, and Millie
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