We are alive...if you were concerned

Hi everyone! Sorry it has been so long since we last posted. We have
been increasingly busy here, which is actually an answer to prayer.
So, Praise the Lord!

About 2 weeks ago, we moved into a new home at RG—a mud hut. It has
been a really good experience so far… and thankfully we have been
protected from any rats that we were told would nibble on our fingers
at night. (Almost every Ugandan we talked to said something about rats
inevitably exploring our hut and eating our fingers. Needless to say,
we were pretty nervous about our new home…) Our hut has three beds in
it, three shelves, and a bamboo mat in the middle. It has been a
really fun place to hangout in the evenings—doing one of our three
activities we can do post 7 pm (read, watch a movie, or watch your
comp load the Google homepage for 20 minutes). But truly…we are
thankful for it. The Holy Spirit is working in our new home, and we
are really grateful for the bonding and community the mud hut provides
us.

Can I just tell you that everything in Africa is exactly how you
picture it to be? If anyone is wondering what a “mud hut” actually
looks like, it is probably exactly how you initially picture it. Look
it up on Google images…I’m sure you will find the most typical looking
African mud hut, and that is what we are living in. Mud for walls,
concrete for floor, and grass for the roof…and somehow, no
leakage…even in the most intense rainstorms. How have Africans not
figured out the convenience of a flashlight but have found the
cheapest, most efficient, coolest type of roofing for a home? I don’t
understand this continent.

On a more serious note…today, we walked to Karuma—the little town that
is about 3 miles from RG. Mzungus—or foreigners—stick out a lot in
this town, and everyone likes to come greet you (or stare at you) as
you are walking. It is really fun to be with the people that live and
work and play in the middle of Uganda. We have made a lot of friends
in the town, so it was especially fun today to hangout with different
people there. We had the privilege of going to the home of a lady who
works at RG and praying for her sick husband. Her husband, Francis,
has a liver disorder—something that would be easily corrected in the
US, but there aren’t resources here to help him. We walked into the
tiny hut, and Francis was laying on a thin mattress right beside the
door. He woke up and welcomed us, moving slowly to the end of his mat.
When he sat up I was amazed. He was much smaller than any of the three
of us; he was basically skin and bones. He also had a really big
belly, resembling that of an intensely malnourished child or the belly
of a 7 month pregnant woman. We exchanged a few words with him, but he
spoke very weakly. He knew we had come to pray (Mary Beth and Macy had
prayed with him last week as well), so he thanked us, and we began. We
prayed for God’s healing over his body, for him to know the love of
Christ more, and for him to be a light to people in his village
because of what God does in his life. After praying, Francis felt no
immediate relief, but he thanked us immensely for our prayers. He said
that he hoped God would agree with us for his healing, because he was
in very much pain. He told us that he maybe sleeps two hours a night,
and that he can eat very little because there is no room in his
stomach for food. His wife, Ameda, arrived home before we left, and
she also thanked us for coming to pray. Francis and Ameda are
believers, and they have faith that God can heal if he chooses. It
absolutely broke my heart to see this grown man sitting in front of me
who was the size of a tiny child. Francis was not only weak in his
physical appearance, but I sensed so much that he was weak in his
spirit, his hope, and his faith. He has been suffering for a long
time, and though he has a small bit of hope for healing, he is slowly
losing even this. Will you please pray with us for a miraculous
healing for Francis? Will you please pray for the renewing of his
faith and hope? And will you pray that he will put his treasure in his
heavenly homeland during this period of intense earthly suffering?

People in Uganda need hope. They need restoration. They need the God
of Life to blow over them like a cool, refreshing wind. Pray with us
that our GOOD Father will grant this country JOY again. A joyful,
grateful people are eager to receive the hope of our Savior and
beautiful God. Let’s join the cries of the weak, of the sick, of the
oppressed, of the lonely, of the poor, of the orphans, of the broken.
Our God is coming to save….let’s just pray He comes in power all over
Uganda very, very soon.

Much love to each of you!

here are some pics....sorry for the blog's defficiency
by the way....in this link are pics of the 7+ ft long cobra found and killed at RG....enjoy!
Whit