Life In Jinja

Wow, is all we can say! It has been a very busy past few weeks. Our intention with the blog was to write a new entry at least once a week, but as you can see it hasn’t truly happened that way. What we can say though is that we praise God immensely that we are able to be here in Jinja, Uganda. It is still surreal even though we have been here for a whole month. It’s just incredible how easy the transition has been for us, which makes me wonder if our transition back is going to be difficult.

Let us fill you in on life:

Well, Peter has been filling a lot of his time with building and designing eucalyptus scaffolding (look for the pictures). He is now ready to start investigating some trusses and other parts in a building, which AAI is in the process of renovating into a pastor’s training facilities. He just needs to buy some rope for his harness for extra safety precautions. It has been awesome to work side-by-side Gabe, another intern, and as we call him ‘Engineering Sam’. We all LOVE Sam. There really isn’t much that Sam can’t do. His humility and hard work ethic have blessed all of us, especially Peter.

Outside of not having the rope yet, Peter’s investigation was interrupted by almost a full week of sickness. He was down and out pretty significantly for about 2-3 days and needed at least that to fully get back on his feet again. The doctor said it was some sort of bacterial infection, so she put him on an antibiotic and we are thankful for a rather speedy recovery. Thank you SO much for your prayers!!! The Lord truly protected him!!!

Then this past week, Peter has been in Bukaleba prepping for and working with an eMi construction management team. During this week they focused on laying the foundation for the children’s center. At this moment I have not heard how things went because he is not back quite yet. I’m really excited to hear how the week went! It’s such a blessing to use your hands and your heart for God’s glory and be able to see fruit.

So speaking of the Children’s center, that is pretty much what my life has revolved around. I’m so thrilled that they are beginning to build. As I’ve written in an earlier entry, I have been doing research for the center. I’ve gone to about 6 different schools and/or orphanages. They have all been within about a two hour radius. It’s been really eye opening to learn in detail how these places are run and what all goes into meeting basic needs of children, especially orphans. My eyes have been opened to the sacrifices that many have given simply to love a child that is not their own. The information I’ve gathered is an overwhelming amount, but I know that the Lord is going to use the information and insight that I have been given to only better our program out in Bukaleba. It is a blessing to be able to learn from other people’s mistakes and hopefully prevent ones from happening in Bukaleba. Next week, I will finally get to present all my research including adorable pictures and videos to the other eMi and AAI staff. I am very excited, but if you think of it pray for me too! J

Outside of the fun we have at work, we have been blessed to have event filled weekends. We’ve gone to Kampala a few times to hang out with friends. Our friends Jackson and Holly came to Jinja to hang out. That weekend we went to the source of the Nile River. It was pretty sweet! It is cool to think that we were right where one of the biggest rivers in the world begins. And speaking of the Nile, we actually got to go white-water rafting on the river. It was AWESOME!!! It beats Colorado 100%. The largest rapids were class 5. It was so fun!!! If money grew on trees, I would totally do it again. Not only was it a massive amount of physical work, it was absolutely beautiful! We went through 12 rapids and our raft flipped 3 times. We told our guide that we were up for the adventure. She kept us very safe, but allowed us to hit the biggest wave in each of the rapids. I must say that at times it could be scary because the water’s current just did whatever it wanted to with you. If anyone comes to Uganda, I know I can speak for the both of us, you HAVE to raft the Nile!!!

On top of the adventures we had on the weekends, we had a little adventure of our own right in our own room. The phrase “Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” has taken on a whole new meaning. After a few nights of waking up with MANY bug bits on our legs and arms, we discovered that we had a case of Bed Bugs. They definitely like me more than Peter for sure. Thankfully though, we are all in the clear now. After I had the privilege of spraying down our room and cleaning things up, we were able to move back into our room only a few days later. I just pray that they don’t come back for a visit! It was quite uncomfortable.

Well I better stop now. I hope you have enjoyed this so far. Stay tuned for more stories!!
Love ya!!

(Pictures will come soon. We are having trouble uploading them.)