Thank you Jesus for your Word!

When thinking about how thankful I am about my life.  I found myself also thinking of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that we serve in Uganda. What is the one thing that has impacted my life and also them?  My soul is shouting God's precious word, the Bible.  God's presence is with us and the Holy Spirit to make the word come alive.  God is welcoming us in his arms and the words he ordained can speak to us.

 The precious words of
Isaiah 58:9 - "Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I."
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Matthew 28:19-20 - "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

There are many words in the Bible that God has used to draw us to seek Him, grow closer in communion with Him, and cry out to Him in our times of trails.  So Thank you Jesus for your Word that called my heart to kneel at an alter 15 years ago seeking your forgiveness, grace, and love forevermore.

Our brothers and sisters in Uganda are searching for God, just as I did 15 years ago.  They are hungry to hear and read the word.  Not all our able to have their own bible.  The women here share this bible during a service.  It is written in their native language. This church is in the heart of tea fields outside of the Kampala area.

Even the children our eager to see and read the word!  The Ugandan people I found were eager for the word of God.  When visiting another church the pastor even asked me to read my New International Version of scripture, so the congregation could hear the words spoken in another translation.  How precious it is to share a scripture and word of encouragement to help them on their journey of growing in Christ. So tell us what scripture are you thanking Jesus for today!

A Month of Thanksgiving

November is a special month for me.  I have always cherished the time with family and friends during the Thanksgiving Holidays.  Thanksgiving was one of the 2 holidays that I celebrated growing up.  Being together with family and friends and enjoying some great food was the highlight..  One year ago I was working with my second graders in Uganda preparing a chapel service of Thanking Jesus.  So I would like to show you what my family is thankful for here in the States and in Uganda.  Stop by all month and see how God has been a blessing in our lives.

One of my students made this sign and we took pictures with it.  Due to privacy I am not able to share their faces, but it is a picture of 5 handsome boys from Uganda, Eritrean, and America. :)

Let us know what you Thank Jesus for!

America - My home?

We came back to America in June 2013.  It has been crazy travelling on the road since we arrived.  Living out of a suitcase and travelling all over the USA east of the Mississippi River. We have traveled many miles on the road meeting new people and updating everyone of our journey over the last year. We have now arrived to our new home in Wilmore, KY.  It is wonderful to be settled in a place that we can call home. Have a schedule, cook for ourselves, and explore how God wants to use us here in America.

One of the interesting things we have realized, when people ask us, "Where are you from?".  My heart says Uganda, but to many Americans they find that strange.  Yes, home is where you put your head at night, where you grew up, where your roots come from, but it is also where your heart is.  I did not expect to feel so strongly that we left our home in Uganda. It is where I will return to and it is where I long to be.  Yes, I love to hug and kiss my family and friends.  Go eat in a restaurant of food that I have not eaten in a long time.  Watch American TV, play games, go shopping, drive on paved roads.  There is still one thing that remains.  My heart and soul long to walk on the red dirt streets of Uganda, the sound of the "monkey birds" as they call out above my house, the dancing and singing to God in a language that I am still trying to understand, and the joy of a small child greeting me at my car - walking me hand and hand into a small village church.

The people of Uganda, my teacher friends from around the world, and my missionary family that I worked with daily.  They stole a piece of my heart and will keep it until I return safely to them in Uganda.  So yes, my homeland is America, but my home is in Uganda, Africa.  Will you pray with us, for our return to Uganda?  We want to build a whole new team of prayer warriors to walk with us on this journey.  Contact us and let us know if you want to join the team.  We would love to introduce you to our home!

24/7 Prayer Room: Not just Preachers Needed!

Check out Ray's video over at the WGM Uganda Blog!

24/7 Prayer Room: Not just Preachers Needed!: Hope this video by Ray Leisure opened your eyes to the many ways you can be a missionary in Uganda or around the world.  God can use ...

24/7 Prayer Room: Leisure Family: How They Got Here

Here is another blog over at WGM Uganda Blog.

24/7 Prayer Room: Leisure Family: How They Got Here: Ever wonder if God could use you on the mission field?  Feel like you don't have "the right" skills?  We're excited ...

24/7 Prayer Room: Fight the Good Fight

We are blogging in April at the WGM Uganda blog.  Check out the link below as well as the 2 other posts from this month.

24/7 Prayer Room: Fight the Good Fight: I once was told that I had a fighter spirit in me. That I do not give up and have determination for the cause. My cause for so long has been...

Arua

In January, we had the chance to travel to Northwest Uganda to city called Arua.  We had the privelege of spending time with WGM missionaries in the city.  It was so refreshing to get out of the city.  We enjoy Kampala where we live, but it is a huge metopolitatan city. 

When you get just a short time out of the city the country is very beautiful and diverse with it's landscape.  It was a about a 8 hour drive to Arua by car.  The roads are just like the scenery, very diverse.  Sometimes they are smooth and others rough and bumpy with a lot of potholes.  We stopped at a road side diner with working toilets about half way there.  Great place for a snack in the middle of no where.

Arua is a small town with a very diverse population that is very close to South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo. 

 

Life is much simplier.  The missionaries have solar power at their homes.  So some of the convienences we have in the city are not possible.  Clothes have to be washed by hand and hung out to dry.  They have a solar water heater, so when the hot water is gone, no more till more is heated by the sun.  If you use up the electricity, you have no more electricity.  With the four of us staying with the Rambo family of 5, we ran out of electricity the last morning before we left.  The sun was not up yet, when we got up to leave, so out came the flashlights.  If you don't have to turn on the lights or use electricity, don't use it.  If you need some clothes ironed you have to use a charcoal iron.  And Meg Rambo had a threadle sewing machine, so she would not use electricity.  You use foot power to run it.

The Rambo & Coppedge family are involved in  pastor training in the area.  We were able to see prepration for a pastor retreat.  Joshua & Raymond were able to go with a missionary volunteer CT, to a boys home to play soccer and share a bible story   Nicole was able to attend a womens bible study with the expatriate community.  And we were able to see the market area for food and fabric.  During this time, we were able to meet some of the various Ugandans that the missionaries work with and build relationships with in the community.

One woman, Rose, is a tailor that we hired to make Katherine and Nicole a skirt out of the fabric we bought.

Katherine and Nicole with the tailor - Rose

Raymond with the carver

 

Please pray for the missionaries in Arua and the work they do to further the Kingdom of God.  As I am writing this the Rambo family has left for the United States to raise funds to continue the ministry in Africa.  Please pray for the continued support to these two beautiful families.

Coppedge Family

Meg Rambo with both families kids

 

Scott Rambo with son Josiah in front of their house in Arua

 

Shopping in Uganda

 I thought I would tell you about shopping in Uganda. When you go shopping here, you have to plan a good half day to full day to get every where you need to go. When I am shopping for groceries, I have to plan anywhere from 4-6 stops to get everything I need. Depending on how much time you have can also depend on where you go as well.

I use to coupon in the states. Buy multiple items of the same thing to get it at the lowest price when I added my coupons. Here you figure out who has the cheapest prices on different things and you go to that store. I still buy many items, especially if the price is good.

 Here in Uganda, I go to the butcher (meat store), the produce stand, and then a few different supermarkets. Each supermarket varies in size and all of them have food items, but also home items.  One store called Capital we go to even though it is across town.  It has our favorite bread and really good prices on cleaning products and food items.  We also have a store called Game which is owned by Wal-mart.  So we see some Wal-mart brand things in there.  They have weekly sales that you always want to check out for specific household items.  Shoprite is another store that reminds me a lot of big grocery stores in America.  We can get cheese cheap there and a few other items cheaper there.  Cheese is very expensive, it usually cost around $5 or more for a small chunk.  A large chunk cost about $10-$12 for a good tasting brand.  So going to a store that puts cheese on sale is wonderful.  We even have one other store called Embassy that is near the US Embassy that usually has some American items and a few other things.  It is the closest store when I just need a few things.

 Here are a few pictures I took of a couple of stores.  The objective is the same.  You shop where you can find the best prices and the items you need.  Shopping it is always an adventure in Africa.

 Meat Market

 Eddie the produce man in front of Embassy Supermarket

 Typical Supermarket that you see all over the place. 

 This is a mall.  It has another grocery store, hair salons, nail salons, pizza place, dry cleaners and even a Ice skating rink.  You skate on a type of plastic.

This is a supermarket that is very close to our house and has a little ice cream shop.  We love to have a treat of ice cream.  You can get a mini cup for around a $1. :)

 

Happy Shopping Everyone!