Merry Christmas!

 Dear Family and Friends,

A very Merry Christmas to all of you! I pray that all of you are able to take time to celebrate with family and friends and remember Christ's birth and rejoice in all the blessings we have access to because God sent His son to the earth 2,000 years ago!

Lauren and I have enjoyed a daily advent reading this season. It's been an encouraging time for us remembering how Christ's birth is and needs to be so fundamental in our lives. We were also able join a candle light service that some missionaries in our town hosted last night. This coming Sunday, we'll join a few families and celebrate together.

Here in Uganda, Christmas is a very big holiday, however, there are not many decorations. Many Ugandans take time this season to travel to their home village, which is often several hours to a days travel away. All their other family members who were away for work or school, are also travel back, so it's a significant time of reunion. This time of reunion lasts for several days, even weeks, in some cases. It's also a time for eating special food, like chicken and rice. We've seen a lot of people carrying chickens back to their homes and being sold along the street.

Work is going well and I hope to update you on that next update! We've also been healthy, which is a huge answer to prayer!! The first 8 weeks of our time here were filled with sleepless nights due to Genevieve struggling to sleep well and digestion issues.

Please enjoy the pictures below, and have a Merry Christmas tomorrow!

Love, Eric (Lauren, Aubrey Anne, and Genevieve)

The girls swinging; Aubrey Anne holding her doll as well

We set up a Christmas tree and enjoyed hot cocoa

My co-workers and I at a rest stop

A candle light service with some other missionaries 

Aubrey Anne with our helper Victor and his son Simon

Genevieve is growing up so fast!

We've Reached!!

Tomorrow (Monday) evening we will have been in Uganda for 3 full weeks! Overall, our flights were uneventful, which is a good thing! Aubrey Anne and Genevieve both did well traveling, which was an answer to prayer. We then began the adjustment to Ugandan time (Uganda is 7 hours ahead of the EST in the US). This caused for some rather sleepless nights, but we made it!

We were able to have a whole row (4 seats) to ourselves both flights.

On the way to the airport, Genevieve enjoyed the last drops of Lauren's tea.

After resting at a guesthouse near the airport for two nights, we made the 7 hour trip to our house in Gulu. It was so good to be finished traveling! When we arrived to our house in Gulu, the guys taking care of our house were waiting for us! Our house was in good shape, considering we were gone for 15 months, with no one living in it. This was definitely an answer to prayer! In Africa, there are many insects (termites, ants, other wood eating insects, etc.) that can destroy wood, cloth, and furniture.

Aubrey Anne loves exploring the market!

My sister Susanna also came with us and stayed for almost 2 weeks to help us on the flight and with adjusting in Uganda. We enjoyed having her stay with us so very much! She was a big help with the girls as they adjusted to our new home. Thank-you everyone for praying for our trip! 

We have two praises: 

First, we are nearing 100% of our support raising goal! We would like to thank all of you who prayed specifically for this need and also were so generous in your support, we greatly appreciate it!

Some of you may have heard that our youngest daughter, Genevieve, was sick 10 days ago. We are grateful the she recovered; thank-you all for praying for her. 

Please continue to pray for our family as we continue our adjustment and find good rhythms as a family here in Uganda after being away for 15 months.

Also pray for our work here, that the Lord would use us here and provide opportunities to advance His Kingdom during this time.

Back to Uganda!

 Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this update finds you all well and enjoying the cooler weather (if you live in PA that is).

We are heading back to Uganda!! Very soon, actually. There were a few details that we were waiting to fall into place before we picked our departure date and only purchased our tickets less than 3 weeks ago. We depart this Sunday, Oct 3rd, at 5:25 pm out of Dulles. We are so grateful that my sister Susanna is coming with us for about 2 weeks to help with the trip to Uganda and then as we settle in over there; she will be a big help!

We feel both excited and ready to be back in Uganda and also sad to leave family and friends, our house, and all the comforts and conveniences of life that the US has to offer. We are excited, however, to return to our life in Uganda and the people we know there.

The past 6 weeks we've stayed busy loving our girls, working, support raising, living life and some vacation time. We enjoyed a trip to Florida with Lauren's parents. Grandparent time has been so special with the girls this summer.

We would like to thank you all for your support this past 15 months (we came back to the US last year in June 2020). So many of you have been generous towards us financially and we appreciate that. We are around 90% of the way to reaching our support goal. Also, thank-you for praying for us the past year as we navigated this season of life. Please continue to pray for us as we travel back to Uganda (with two children under the age of 2 year old).

Love,

Eric (Lauren, Aubrey Anne, and Genevieve)

P.S. Of course I couldn't leave you without pictures of our girls.

Fundraising, COVID in Uganda, The Market Project, A big Thank-You!

Dear Family and Friends,

Fundraising

It's nearly September, where did the summer go? (That's how it feels anyway)! This means that September 25th, our target date of leaving for Uganda, is quickly coming. We are about 80% of the way to our fundraising goal. We are still praying for $400 in monthly recurring gifts and $10,000 one-time gifts to come in before we depart for Uganda. Thank-you all for your generosity, we are getting close to our goal!

COVID in Uganda

Please pray for the COVID situation in Uganda. The COVID numbers dramatically increase about 3 months ago. The government took action by putting a strict lockdown in place that lasted for six weeks. Recently, the lockdown was eased, but many the guidelines that remain still put people in financial strain. Public transport, for example, under guidelines. A bus is only allowed to carry 50% of its capacity. This will certainly cause an increase in bus tickets. Many Ugandans rely on buses and goods and services are sure to also increase in price. Schools are not allowed to reopen until a vaccine is found (which has been very complicated for Uganda so far). 

The Market Project

Last month, I spent two days with some other US colleagues of the The Market Project. It was a very good time of meeting in person and getting to know my colleagues better and learn more about The Market Project as an organization. I'm very excited about joining them in Uganda.

A Big Thank-You!

Finally, thank-you to all of you who have been praying for us and have financially given to this work! We couldn't do this without you. Beyond the financial help, it is encouraging to have you invest in our work in this way.

Prayer Requests

1. That the COVID numbers in Uganda would decrease and for the health of people in Uganda.

2. The financial situation of many people in Uganda who are affected by the recent COVID spike.

3. Support raising; that the money could come so that we would be able to leave for Uganda in September.

Praises

1. Some improvement in COVID numbers in Uganda so that some restrictions were lifted.

2. All the support that has come in for us so far.

3. The Lord's provision for us as a family over the last year as we were in the US.

Thats all for now,

Eric (Lauren, Aubrey Anne, and Genevieve)