The Journey

We left Kampala on September 28th & arrived in Tulsa, OK the evening of the 29th. Our flights couldn’t have gone smoother. Not only were they early, but we both slept on all of them, PTL!

Being home with our family & friends has been so good! God has blessed us so much with a wonderful support team. We can just imagine God putting in your hearts just what needed to be prayed for us each day. And He certainly supplied all of our needs and beyond, thanks to your generosity.

Greetings from all of our friends in Uganda, the staff at Calo Me Lare, & the kids. They all appreciate so much your sending us to be with them the past 17 months.
 
Our transition back home is very different this time after being away 9 months with no plans to return at this point. Also, this time we have a new granddaughter to add to our enjoyment here. She is truly a delight, as all of our grandchildren are!!! Here is our daughter Evie with our new granddaughter Selah.

We want to say a hearty, “Thank you!!!” for all the love shown to us through your prayers, encouragement and financial support. Our support base has been tremendous! If we ever questioned if God sent us there (which we didn’t…not once) your involvement would have shown the answer.

God changed our lives in many ways, giving us more of a world-view, of course, and putting faces & hearts to people who have real needs which we in America can never comprehend. But one thing is constant anywhere in the world, the need for a relationship with God. It has been our privilege to connect with people (adults & children) on a heart level, and connect people with God. That truly has to be the greatest joy that we experienced. We have seen God do some phenomenal things & it was just amazing to see God at work. Keep praying for the kids, moms, staff & the church at Calo Me Lare. They continue to need prayer. Here we are with an assortment of staff members & one of the younger children, Maxwell in front of the morning glories Dennis planted.

We tried posting a video clip of some of the kids singing at our farewell at Calo Me Lare, but it would not upload. These are the lyrics:

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye,

The time has come now for your departure,

You may leave, but pray for us.
 

We used to clap...sing...dance...eat...play together.

The time has come now for your departure,

You may leave, but pray for us.
 

  After being gone this long we have noticed some huge differences & some similarities & want to share some of those with you.

§  Family! We had each other & our Calo Me Lare family, but we really missed our family in America. If we had it to do over again, we would probably go for a shorter time & then go back. Our son & his family came from Plano, TX to meet us. Our children & grandchildren cleaned the house on Saturday to prepare for our arrival. AND they had stocked the refrigerator & kitchen!!! Our middle son & family also hosted our whole extended family for dinner the night we arrived!!! See the "Welcome Home" sign in the background on the first picture.

§  Friends! God has multiplied our friends! We have them here & there. He has blessed us with so many good friends! We’re so thankful! We love our Community Group at Discovery Bible Fellowship & really missed them. They were at the airport to welcome us back! God provided good friends in an Expatriate Bible Study on Wednesday nights. We would eat together (usually potluck) sing worship songs, and the host would lead the Bible Study. We were all missionaries so our time together was really good. This is Urs & Ursala from Switzerland/Germany who became good friends.

 

§  Rinsing our toothbrush & fresh vegetables under a faucet seems strange after 9 months of using filtered water. Having fresh greens for salad was rare & fresh dairy products were not available. We'll never take those for granted again!

§ For the first time in my life I am ashamed of all the clothes in my closet, wishing I could send some to Uganda.

§  Walking down our street, I met a couple of trucks. In Lira there was an endless parade of people, bicycles, cars, trucks, which never stopped until after the sun went down.
 

§  Driving in the right-hand lane is different here. The roads are much better & we normally don’t have to dodge people, goats, bicycles or buses.

§  Nights are quiet here. We lived 3 gates down from Lira Hotel which hosted many concerts that might end at 2:30am or later.
 

§  Celebrity status. In Uganda when we would walk anywhere kids would run out screaming and dancing, “Muno, Muno”, which means (European, or white person). When we spoke to them it would make them very happy. Sometimes as we walked in the market an adult would walk by and say, “Well done”. They didn’t know what we were doing in Uganda. They just knew we were there to help. This is Thomas with the bananas he picked for us before we left.

 



This is Santa & her children. She gave us a chicken. (Our friend, Joel, told us that when someone gives you a chicken it means they love you very much. Joel's wife, Monica, actually did most of the butchering of the chicken, & they helped us eat it that evening. It was pretty tasty).



 

§  Respect. Senior adults are looked up to in Uganda. It is believed that because of their years of experience they have gained wisdom & should be treated with respect.

§  Family relationships are different. Before a child is weaned from his mother’s breast, he is with her constantly. In many cases after a child is weaned he does not have much supervision. Many parents send their children to boarding school when they reach about 7 years old. Then they are together only on school breaks and holidays, about 2-3 months out of the year. But people are very loyal to others in their family or tribe and will help financially. It is common for a husband to live in one city while the wife lives in a village, or vice versa.

§  Convenience food. No such thing in Uganda. Everything is labor intensive. No pre-packaged, pre-cut, pre-washed food, very few mixes, canned, or frozen foods, unless you buy a few things in Kampala, about 6 hours away. Meat is uncommon for most people, except on holidays, such as Christmas, Easter & Independence Day.

§  Produce is only found in open markets. Avocados & bananas are our favorites. Women carry huge trays on their heads with fruits which they are taking to market. These are a few of the bananas we left in our yard. A couple of weeks before we left we had 10 bunches of bananas getting ready to ripen.
 

§  No ants & critters in the house here. That is a blessing. In Uganda the ants usually don’t show up unless you have fruit setting on the cabinet. It was a great incentive to keep the dishes done & the kitchen clean. Geckos were just something we got used to.

§  Worship services. People don’t say they are going to church in Uganda, but rather, “We are going to pray.” The services include a lot of prayer. The morning begins with praise, worship songs & prayer. Everyone prays at once. The worship is much louder and more animated with a lot of singing and dancing. Children take part in worship & prayer. Praising the Lord gives them great joy! Worship at Hope Alive Fellowship is in two languages. Sometimes they translated only for us. Thank you! Worship at Discovery this past Sunday was wonderful and vibrant. We enjoyed the singing so much & the message was great!

We're not sure what God has in our future but we know He is faithful & we trust Him to lead us. We would appreciate your prayers as we embark on this next chapter in our lives.

Many blessings!
Dennis & Margie