24 days to go...

Gordon shared Habakkuk 1:5 with me yesterday, and it bears repeating: "Look among the nations, and see: wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told." Wow! Can you imagine the Lord telling us that? It makes me want to raise my hand like a little child and beg, "Pick me! Pick me!" What an honor to be used by God to accomplish his incredible work in this world. On this Uganda trip, I want to believe the great things that God wants to work through us. If I could know, how much would it truly blow my mind? In a way, I'm overwhelmed to think that any part of God's plan hinges on me. I feel so inadequate! Of course, that's the part where I remember that it's not MY strength that allows me to follow God's call...it's HIS supernatural power!

Our crate arrived safely in Entebbe, Uganda (the capital city). Thank the Lord! Please pray it gets to KTC with all the contents in it!

I happened to ask someone last week, "How has been the day?" This is an expression my dad and I picked up when we were in Uganda, as this was the way Joab and others greeted us. It's kind of like, "Hey, how's it going today?" As soon as I said it, I was struck by the idea that soon, I will be surrounded by my friends in Uganda! Pretty soon, "How has been the day?" will be normal! We are on day #24 (if my math is correct), counting down to our departure. Please remember to keep us in your prayers!

Habari!

I don't know why I didn't post this sooner! This is the picture of our team (now incomplete due to the addition of our 11th member, Loren Thompson). Starting at the top, the team members are Gordon Rumble, Eric Layman, Levi Heinrich, Darin Denlinger (my pops!), Rick Gray, Gianna Gallo, Vicki Nyberg, myself, Leah Layman, and Kayla Layman. Hopefully we will have a final picture soon with Loren included.

Rick reminded me yesterday that we only have 4 more Sundays until we leave. We're starting to talk about things like lunch on Sunday before we leave...which makes the idea of leaving even more real! If the upcoming four weeks go by as quickly as the last four weeks, it will seem like next Monday when we leave!

We shipped our crate full of irrigation supplies yesterday. According to Rick, it weighed over 1,000 pounds and cost several thousand to ship air mail. We are just hoping that a Christian unpacks it on the other end...because theft is not uncommon. Please pray that nothing "disappears" from the crate by the time we get there!

Please pray that God will work in each team members' hearts and prepare us to serve Him mightily in Uganda, Africa!

Some pictures of trips past...

The first is me with Dr. Esther. Esther is Chris's daughter; Chris is the school headmaster, basically second in command to Joab. We call her "Dr. Esther" because that's how she refers to herself. I gave her candy and balloons, but she still wouldn't smile for me! Mutahi (an RRD member) finally got her to smile for me though...

The picture of the building is...drum roll please...Edward N. Gish Memorial Chapel! On our first trip in 2005ish, we were helping complete the building. On my last trip, in 2007, I got to see the finished chapel for the first time. And not only the chapel! Schoolrooms are already going up around the chapel. On the 2nd trip, we helped paint one of the schoolrooms, but that's an entirely different story...

The last picture is (from the left) Shine, Rachel, and Susanna (dear Susanna, I hope I spelled your name right...I always get it wrong! My apologies in advance). Shine was a member of the Redeemed Radical Destinants (RRDs) from KTC that joined us on our 2007 trip to travel to the surrounding schools and evangelize. We did a lot of traveling with the RRDs, and we got to know the group of 15ish better than anyone else on the trip. I am looking forward to seeing many of the RRDs on our next trip, if they haven't graduated yet.

You'll have to pardon me for saying this again, but...it's hard to believe there's only 38 days to go! We've got a new team member signed up: Loren Thompson. Loren is a Flight Trauma Nurse (I believe I got that right) but he was able to clear his workload so we will have an 11th teammate!

The fundraising dinner that we put on April 29th went so well! Many thanks to everyone who served, participated, planned, and, most of all, gave. We raised almost the whole amount for the irrigation system that we are planning to install at KTC's farm. Praise the Lord!

Rick is bothering me at this moment about some crate we're shipping to Uganda, and also team shirts I'm going to pick up...which reminds me of the team meeting this Friday, when my visa package is due...who knew going to Africa could require so much prep?? I guess I forgot about all the groundwork that goes on before we leave. Please pray all the irrigation system prep work is completed correctly and on time for our due date: June 14!