Our kids have all been battling sickness for the past few weeks and are just about back to full health, except for Judah. His cough and cold are lingering. Would you pray for his healing before we fly? Flying with a cold can be miserable and painful, and we would love to see him healthy and able to enjoy the flight. Please pray as well for our kids to be content on the flights, and for all of us to be able to get some rest as we travel.
We are bringing back 2 years' worth of school books for our boys, which includes a small library for them as books are difficult to come by there. Please pray that all of our luggage makes it okay without any damage.
As the Ugandans would say, we are "shifting" (moving) to a different home when we return. Some of our wonderful friends have been storing our things for us, so our first day back we will be busy unloading it and setting up our new home. We will arrive in Jinja midday and hope to at least have our beds and mosquito nets set up before nightfall so we can sleep there right away. We will have friends helping us, so we should have no problem.
We are blessed with many wonderful friends and neighbors in Uganda, many becoming like family to us during our few years with them. Would you pray for a good re-entry period for our family, with opportunities to visit these friends and enter back into relationship with them?
We thank God that we are able to return to Uganda and continue to join what He is doing there. There are so many opportunities and possibilities in front of us, which we are excited about. Nate will continue to teach the two Bible classes meeting in the village on Saturdays and Mondays. He will also be jumping back into language lessons, working with his tutor on translating Bible stories, mentoring a few of his students who are interested in teaching/starting their own classes, and going out visiting students, neighbors, friends, etc. in their homes (a major part of life and ministry in Uganda). Please pray for strength, wisdom and humility for him as he continues in each of these tasks. After setting up our home, I look forward to beginning a new school year with the boys in February (Elijah in K, Judah in Pre-K). I also am excited about rekindling my relationships with a few dear Ugandan women, getting to know our new neighbors, joining a Bible study with other missionary women, preparing for our new little one to join us in July, and keeping busy with normal, daily life in the home. Please pray for a good start to our new school year, and that I can stay joyful, creative, disciplined and patient as a mom and teacher. Please pray too for our new little one as he/she is developing and growing and getting ready to join us. We praise God for this new life!
It has been a wonderful 6 months for our family here in the U.S. and it will be difficult to say good-bye yet again. We feel as if we have 2 homes now, so this transition of leaving the one and returning to the other is bittersweet. We are grateful for relationships that are so precious to us that they are painful to leave.
Thank you for joining with us in prayer. You are a great source of encouragement and strength for us. We pray that this new year will be for each of you a year of drawing nearer to the Lord and taking great joy in His presence.
You will hear from us next from Uganda!
Nate, Rhoda, Elijah, Judah, Hannah and Baby
Our blogsite: www.jorenews.blogspot.com
