Land of Plenty - Land of Poverty

We are grateful for family & friends who are supporting our mission in Lira, Uganda with your prayers & financial support.  As God works through you He can accomplish much & extend His kingdom around the world.

In Uganda there is plenty of rain & great soil. The people work hard, doing all of their gardening by hand. This is Maize Season…like our field corn. They pick it quite mature, boil it in the husk & sell it on the street. Or…they might roast it over a fire & sell it on the street. It is typical to see people walking around eating corn on the street for break, lunch, even in church. They discard all the corn husks in the street or wherever they happen to be. They grind it to make a very fine flour to make posho (similar to grits). G-nut (peanut) harvest is beginning now. They boil, roast & grind these as well. But in this land so plentiful with vegetation there is extreme poverty. Unemployment & inflation are very high. The value of their shilling is very low. Many live in extreme poverty. Dennis tried his hand at roasting maize.

July has been a month of change & challenge for us. The other resident missionaries, Andy & Cami Flege left on furlough in the U.S.  July 5^th. They took time to train us well & God has led us step by step as we’ve tried to help fill in the gap while they are gone.

Dennis has been working with Pastor Dennis & regional directors trying to get rice farming started which could supplement income for the orphanage. He has been working on getting the soccer (football in Uganda) field ready. First the old wiry grass which hurt the kids’ feet had to be killed off. A line had to be dug with a hoe around the whole field to mark the outside line. Then a line had to be dug down the center.  This week the field will be sprigged with new grass (by hand). Dennis did some of the work & the teachers also helped with it.

Margie is doing the in-country bookkeeping while Cami is on furlough. This week will be our first payroll during their time away.  She has also been directing Children’s Church at the Bunga Bunga Bible Fellowship which meets on the orphanage grounds.

Our son, Terry & his family have been experimenting with raising chickens on our farm while we are away. The following picture shows the typical method of getting chickens to market in Lira. These chickens are alive. They are tied to bicycle handlebars to be transported to market. We understand that the chickens make no sound until they are released. This picture was scanned from a photo a friend of our took so the quality is not as good.

Dennis drives to Calo Me Lare (the orphanage) every day on Aduko Road. It has become almost impassible in spots. Last week a road grader attempted to fix the road for which we are very thankful. We received a lot of rain right after he worked on it, so it is slippery & treacherous in some areas, but it will be better once it dries. See pictures below.

Pastor Dennis, his wife, Grace, their son Mark (on the right), a niece Sharon & a neighbor boy came to our house for lunch on a Sunday after church. It was delightful having that fellowship & made us miss our Community Group from our church, Discovery Bible Fellowship. This picture is taken in our front yard. Pray that Pastor Dennis & family can move out of their apartment into a house with some land for gardening. Grace spends weeks at a time gardening in an area far from Lira.

We were saddened the last week to hear that a dear friend from Discovery, Irene Rusk, went to be with the Lord. Irene was a jewel & everyone loved her, including us. I had the privilege at age 11 of being baptized along with my sister & Irene. We are glad that our hope is not in this world, but our eternal home is in heaven where we will be reunited. Our sympathy goes to her family.

It's time to drink our popo tea. Actually it is a tea made of boiling a papaya tree leaf in water. We've been told by locals that this will prevent malaria. We're not sure how, but the horrible taste would be worth it if we dodged malaria. Of course, we know God is answering your prayers.

Blessings,
Dennis & Margie

Where's the Beef & Kampala Here We Come

Thank you again to all of our faithful supporters & prayer partneres. We pray for you too & trust God is showing up in your life like He is in ours.

In July we enjoyed having the second missions team with Project Hope Worldwide here for close to two weeks. They followed a schedule similar to the first team, with the exception that on their final Saturday they sponsored a community celebration in Bunga Bunga (the village surrounding Calo Me Lare). This was well received by the community. We planned for about 500 people. When it was time to begin there were around 300 people, but as soon as food was being served a trail of people began entering the front gate. Estimates were from 700-1000 people. One photo shows the local dancers who came with the caterers to entertain the crowd.

Our special task was to prepare the beef for the celebration. Andy Cami, Derk, Kelley, Dennis & I cut up the beef on Friday. Then Saturday morning Dennis & Andy started the fires in the grills they had made while Cami & I set up our mosquito-net type tent to keep flies away (worked pretty well). Then we began cutting the beef in smaller pieces, putting it on skewers & dipping it in marinade while Dennis & Andy cooked it. Worked pretty well, but none of us wanted beef for a day or two. See photos of the crowds & the cooking. Dennis took the photos whoso you won't see him in them.

Other photos are of the beauty in our yard (Notice the one tree-type plant that looks like a poinsettia), mangoes on our tree & a photo of us celebrating our 47th wedding anniversary on July 2 at a local restaurant. For our anniversary dinner we both ordered Tilipia (the kind with the eyes on it). Neither one of us ate the eyeballs, although the locals tell us they are pretty tasty. We'll take their word for it.

Andy & Cami, who have been our lifeline, went to the U.S. for a couple of months, so we will be facing some challenges in the weeks ahead trying to help fill their shoes. We will really miss them. We took them to the airport in Entebbe (about an 8 hour drive). Dennis drove both ways. Kampala is massive with traffic you wouldn't believe, but God guided Him & kept us safe. Thank you for your prayers. We continue to need & appreciate them.
Blessings,
Dennis & Margie