Fort Portal Team

There are times when something comes together and you think, "Hm, I wonder if God is at work here?" and there are other times when His hand is so clearly putting something together that it is undeniable. The latter is what is happening with the Serge Fort Portal team right now.

A few months ago, it became very clear that it was no longer viable for Will and I to bring a new baby to South Sudan. There were many factors, but the main ones because that we no longer had a team around us, there is no medical personnel on the ground and South Sudan remains very unstable politically. Due to these factors, we were in need of a new field to move to. To be honest, we were really unsure about what was going to happen. There didn't seem to be anywhere that would be a good fit for us based on our ministry desires and growing family. But then we heard about the forming Fort Portal team.

Fort Portal is located in western Uganda and is situated in the Rwenzori Mountains. For the past 5 years, Pat Abbott, a missionary with Serge, has been living in Fort Portal by herself. She has partnered with the Serge Bundibugyo team, who are located about 2 hours away. Pat started a ministry called, "Women of the Proverbs", with which she seeks to train women in sewing and art skills to help make them self-sustainable (read more about this below). Jenna Murphy went to help Pat for a few months and decided to join Serge long-term so that she could partner with the work being done with Women of the Proverbs. Meanwhile, the West family was in Fort Portal for several months while they were adopting their daughter JoAn. While there, they felt a call to help support YES (Youth Encouragement Services), the organization JoAn was adopted from. In order to partner with YES, they joined Serge as their sending agency.

So, within a few months, this team was quickly forming around Pat in Fort Portal and Will and I were team leaders who had no team in the next few months. Our heart is in development work, and that is exactly the work that is being done in Fort Portal through this forming team. Will and I went to visit Fort Portal in April. It quickly became obvious that this would be a great fit for our family for this season. It is a great place to raise a family and we were very excited about the work Pat (and soon Jenna) were doing with Women of the Proverbs and the work the Wests would be joining through YES. Will and I agreed to move to Fort Portal after the baby is born- sometime in late August/ early September. All of the sudden, God had placed together a team and leaders for this area. We are beyond excited about what He is forming! Here is a little more information about the wonderful people we will be joining in Fort Portal.

Pat Abbott joined Serge in 1993. She served in Bundibugyo, Uganda for 18 years. In 2007, a close friend of Pat's passed away and requested that Pat become the guardian for her two daughters, Kym and Lydia. Pat agreed and moved to Fort Portal with the girls. She officially gained Ugandan adoption rights in 2015. Kym and Lydia now attend school in Kampala, Uganda.

In 2012, Pat started Women of the Proverbs. This is a discipleship program in which Pat does a Bible Study with the women involved 4 days a week and trains them in how to make crafts which can be sold locally in craft stores and markets. The women are mentored by Pat through this Bible Studies and taught skills which will allow them to have self-sustaining businesses in the future. Most of the women are single mothers who are working to provide for their children. I had the privilege of meeting some of these women when we visited Fort Portal in the spring. Their love for Pat and passion about what they were learning was so evident. Pat does a beautiful job investing in these women and the relationship between all of them was incredible to see. We are so excited to see this ministry thrive and grow. Please pray for Pat, Kym and Lydia and for the Women of the Proverbs ministry.

Jenna Murphy served as an intern with Serge in 2013 in Bundibugyo, Uganda. She spent 8 months teaching preschool, kids clubs and youth outreach Bible Studies. She finished her internship in Fort Portal helping Pat with Women of the Proverbs. Jenna joined Serge for a 5 year term to continue her work with Pat and Women of the Proverbs. She is hoping to arrive in Uganda in January of 2017. Please pray for Jenna as she is continuing to raise support and prepare to move to Fort Portal. To see more about Jenna's heart for Uganda and the work she plans to do there, watch this video: https://vimeo.com/166358592/fca55acef8


Daryn and Brooke West and their children, Grace, JoAn, Anteneh and Luke are hoping to move to the field with Serge in December of 2016 and will partner with Y.E.S. For more information about Youth Encouragement Services, check out their website:  http://www.caroladamsministry.com/. In short, YES Uganda seeks to provide at-risk children and teens with resources such a school fees, uniforms, books, school lunch and discipleship. They aid nearly 300 children who are facing life-threatening poverty. Daryn and Brooke seek to help this organization through discipleship and partnering with the new vocational school, which is due to open in the fall. For more information about why the Wests decided to move to Fort Portal and who they are, check out their video: https://vimeo.com/167791656. Please also keep them in your prayers as they are in the midst of support raising and will be doing pre-field training in October.

Praise the Lord for the team He is forming in Fort Portal! We are so excited to join these amazing people and come along-side them in their different ministry areas. We are looking forward to seeing the many ways God provides for the people of Fort Portal through this team and the many ways our hearts are changes by those around us. May God be glorified through this team and honored in the work He puts our hands to.

Anywhere but Africa...

When Will and I first started telling people we were pregnant, the first question they would ask right after, "When are you due?" was, "Where will you have the baby?"

At first, we were considering having the baby in Spain or Ireland. We were already going to be in Europe when I was 34 weeks pregnant for a Company Conference, so it made sense to stay put and give birth there. We have friends in Ireland and thought our connections there might be helpful. We then talked to other friends who delivered in Spain, so we thought staying in Spain after the conference might be even more ideal. We knew we probably wouldn't give birth in the US since we had just spent 5 unexpected months there after we evacuated and the cost of delivering in the States verses anywhere else is much higher.

While we were considering all of these options, I would explain this to the people who asked where we were going to deliver. To one friend I even said, "We're still deciding which continent to deliver on, but definitely NOT Africa..."

In the future, if I ever say a "definitely NOT" statement to you when you ask me a question, will you please roll your eyes at me and give me a light slap on the hand?

I love how gentle the Lord is to me when I tell Him what I will and will not do. I believe He simply grins and thinks, "Yes, my daughter, just you wait and see how I am going to change your heart in this area."

After looking into our options for delivering in Spain or Ireland and getting advice from friends there, we finally realized these were not our best options. It would have been expensive, lonely and the medical care may not have been what we were hoping for. We thought again about delivering in the States, but it was too much travel, and would have created even more transitions in our already complicated and "up in the air" life.

So then our hearts were finally ready to consider options in Africa. The only reason I had been against it in the past was because I didn't know about about the healthcare options and I was very concerned about delivering in a place so far away from family. I figured it would have ruled out the option of family being there completely.

After talking to several friends who had delivered in Nairobi, Kenya, we soon realized this was actually a very good and safe place to deliver. We learned of a wonderful doctor who had delivered babies for two of our co-workers and worked very closely with another co-worker for a couple years. We learned that the hospital was clean and run very similar to hospitals in the States.

The very first day we started considering in Nairobi, we decided to write missionary friends of ours who lived there to see if we could stay in their guest quarters while we were there to give birth. I remember going to church write after I wrote the e-mail and praying, "Lord, if you want us to deliver in Nairobi, please have this family right back right away so we know if we would even have a housing option. Allow this to be a sign of if we should even consider this or not." The moment we got home from church, we had an e-mail response from these friends and they told us that we were welcome to stay in their house, not just the guest quarters, because they were going to be away for the same time-frame that we needed a place to stay!! They said we could use their cars, guards, workers, etc. for the duration of our time there. Talk about confirmation!

After receiving this news, we started to get excited about the option of delivering in Nairobi. However, I was still very worried that my family, who were very willing to visit us when we thought we would be delivering in Europe, would not be able to or want to come if we gave birth in Kenya instead. However, we serve a God who hears our cries and listens to our desires! I called my parents that day and mentioned the possible change to them. I was bracing myself for the possibility that they would not be able to come. Do you know what my sweet parents responded with? They said, "Well, We'll start looking up tickets to Kenya when we get off the phone!" More confirmation. More praise. More gratitude. Will's family also told us that they wanted to come and would come to Africa after we move from Kenya to Uganda when the baby is born. This will give them the opportunity to see their grandchild, but also see our new home in Fort Portal.

We have been so amazed by the medical care here. Our doctor is wonderful and very professional. We have hired a midwife (common here, even if you are delivering in a hospital as we are) and she has amazed us with the birthing classes she offers and the fact that she will come to the house when we first go into labor and help us know when to go to the hospital. She will there be with us throughout the entire delivery process. She will visit us the next day in the hospital and come to the house two times in the two weeks following the birth to ensure that we are getting the hang of nursing and answer any questions we have about "post birth". What a blessing!

Delivering in Kenya has also allowed us the space to spend a few weeks preparing for the baby before her big arrival. It has given us time to talk to our counselor and continue to heal from this past year. It has allowed us to pray, journey and process as we close out of being missionaries to South Sudan and prepare to be team leaders in Uganda. We are also grateful that after the baby is born, delivering here will allow for a much easier transition since we are already within Africa. We will have a very short flight to Uganda, rather than one or two very long international flights had our other plans worked out.

So, next time one of you hears me say, "Anywhere but..." or "I definitely won't", please just smile at me and say, "Or at least that is what you think now." Let us remind each other that even in our "Yes, but's"... God is at work. He is working all things for His good and changing our hearts in big and small ways to prepare us for what is to come. Let us remember that His plans are so much greater than ours and we can't see the whole picture yet.

Regaining Feeling

Will likes to call himself an "efficient sleeper". He says that while he is sleeping, his body takes heat from his arms and legs and only keeps his core warm. Therefore, he sleeps with lots of blankets and often wakes up cocooned in the covers and shivering.

Will's "efficiency" has made me think a lot lately about our body's response to stress and trauma. I believe our emotions respond in a similar way to Will's efficient body (yes, I giggle a little every time I use that phrase because my husband is funny). When we go through trauma, our emotions go into "survival mode". The keep the core of us functioning, but the non-essentials suffer for the time-being. We're functioning, but only at partial capacity and if we continue that way without seeking help or healing, part of us will die and we will not be about to function "wholly" any longer.

Will and I are so grateful for this season in Nairobi because we have time to assess which parts of us have gone numb due to extended stress and trauma. We have the space to process, bring things to the light and heal. And slowly by slowly, we are starting to regain feeling in parts of ourselves that have long been numb.

I recently saw this quote that a friend posted:

"The difference between shallow happiness and a deep, sustaining joy is sorrow. Happiness lives where sorrow is not. When sorrow arrives, happiness dies. It can't stand pain. Joy, on the other hand, rises from sorrow and therefore can withstand all grief. Joy, by the grace of God, is the transfiguration of suffering into endurance, and of endurance into character, and of character into hope--and the hope that has become our joy does not (as happiness must for those who depend up on it) disappoint us."

~Walter Wangerin

I love this quote because it reminds me, yet again, that sorrow is not wasted. It produces in us deep, lasting, meaningful, joy. However, this does not come without work. I can't just expect that when I'm going through sorrow-filled seasons that I will naturally wake up one day and be filled with joy. Yes, that can happen by God's power, but usually this transition into joy is a process. It takes times to heal from the wounds and grow from the struggle that the sorrow brought. 

For Will and I, we can't expect that we will suddenly be okay with the fact that we are no longer missionaries in South Sudan. We can't expect to get off the phone with our friends in Mundri who just told us, "we are really suffering, we have no food for our children and are fearing what will happen next." and completely feel fine about the fact that we are not there with them and not able to meet their major, felt, needs at all times. However, we can allow God to meet us in the paradox of knowing we can't be in Mundri and also how much we long for it at the same time. We are taking time to allow God to speak to us in the pain and remind us that HE is still there. He is still with our friends and has not forgotten them. We wish we were involved in that process more, but in reality, what would that do? What would our worldly help do if God is not calling us there? What can I do that He is not able to without me (if I know He hasn't called me there for this time)? 

So for now, we heal. We ask God to reveal the numb places in our hearts. And we trust. We trust that His grace is sufficient and in our weakness, He is strong. 

Not Forgotten

Justin, Will and Shawn on the last
night together in Spain

Will and I have been in Spain for the past two weeks for our company-wide conference. It was an incredible time and refreshing in so many ways. What a gift it was to be around so many people who love the Lord and are serving Him all over the globe. We heard stories of heartache and stories of great rejoicing. We laughed, cried and ate way too much cheese and ice cream together. It was a beautiful time of being surrounded by the Body of Christ in a beautiful place.

Enjoying time with friends at the
conference!

While we were in Spain, Will and I were quickly reminded that the time there marked the end of our "displaced" period in a lot of ways. Ever since we had to evacuate from Mundri, we have been in a temporary location in hopes of getting back to South Sudan as soon as possible. In our last temporary location, Arua, we realized we would not be able to continue to pursue going back to South Sudan in this time because of the lack of stability, team, medical care, etc. Spain was the in-between before our next transition- expanding our family (delivering our first baby in Kenya) and moving to Fort Portal, Uganda.

Often, the reality of the "in-between" in our lives hits me when we're on an airplane. To me, it's the best representative of how I feel emotionally- stuck between two places. One season over and a new one just beginning.

While we were on the plane (which by the way, KLM is amazing and I wish we could fly with them every time we fly internationally!), I started to feel extremely emotional about the next steps in our lives. Reality finally caught up to me that giving birth in Nairobi means that so many of our family and friends will not be present for the birth or able to meet our daughter for several months. I started to feel lonely and sad about the reality of living across the world from loved ones.

Just went I really started to mope, our sweet flight attendant walked up to us with a gift. Yes, we were in the middle of the journey, with hundreds of other people on the flight and she had a gift for us. She said that KLM wanted to congratulate us on our upcoming birth. The gift was a cute bib and a "wishing bell". Attached to the bell was a card that read, "Together we have a great story to tell".

As you can imagine, given my emotional state before the kind gesture, my eyes immediately started to well up with tears as soon as she walked away. Embarrassed about my emotions, I looked up at Will thinking that he would poke fun of the fact that I was crying over an airline bib and a bell, but instead he said, "I get it, I'm feeling it too!"

Receiving this gift was a reminder to us that God has placed people all over the world to surround us in this crazy journey/ adventure He has us on. Whether we in the US, Africa, or flying in the middle of the sky, He has not forgotten us and He has brought people to come along-side us. It really was a great reminder to us that "together we have a great story to tell". Yes, there are time when that"'together" was with specific people that we miss doing life with, but either way, God has placed people in our lives to write great stories.

So, sitting in Nairobi, Kenya today, we are grateful. We're grateful that God has given us amazing people to do life with all around the world. We're grateful for my parents, who are coming to Kenya around my due date to hopefully meet their newest granddaughter and for Will's parents who will visit us a couple months after she is born to meet her and see our new home in Fort Portal. We're grateful for the community we have here in Nairobi and for the fact that we get to take a birthing class with good friends starting next week. We're grateful for the amazing people we were able to spend time with in Spain and for the ways God is working around the world. We're amazed by God provision of great people in our lives and by reminding us that we're not alone- even when we're flying miles and miles in the sky.

Reed Update

One Sunday morning, when Will and I were back in the US last fall, we sang a worship song at our church. The song was “King of My Heart” by John Mark McMillan. In the bridge of the song you sing,

“You’re never gonna let

Never gonna let me down

You’re never gonna let

Never gonna let me down.”

While Lucas, our worship leader, was singing this song, I started sobbing at these lines. The truth was, in the wake of evacuating South Sudan, having a miscarriage, being uncertain of the future and not knowing if our friends in Mundri were safe, or even alive, I felt very let down. So much so that I couldn’t bring myself to sing those words. They didn’t feel real to me in that moment. Life had hit hard and I was angry and felt confused and a bit abandoned.

Fast forward to this past Friday. I was in the car traveling from Arua, Uganda to Kampala to begin our journey for our next transition. Everything we own in Africa was in the car with us and we were on the old, familiar journey of moving from one temporary home to the next. I was listening to a podcast from our home church in Bloomington, IN. At the end of the message, Lucas’ familiar voice (with beautiful accompaniment) starts singing the song that I had heard in church several months earlier.

As he was singing the bridge, I immediately started singing along. The amazing thing was that this time, my heart believed those words to be absolutely true. It was about 8 months later and I could see more of the story. We are 2 months from giving birth to a baby girl, we now have a plan for where we are settling next and we have been in consistent communication with our friends in Mundri.

You see, when I was unable to sing these words 8 months ago, I was trying to judge and unfinished story. It was like looking at a half painted piece of artwork and calling it “ugly” before seeing the end product. All I could see was that life was difficult and I felt let down. I didn’t have eyes to see at the moment that the story wasn’t over yet and redemption was yet to come.

What I’m not saying in all of this is that we should expect only good things to happen because we are Christ followers. That’s not true at all. We are told to expect trials and difficulty. What I am saying is that God uses the hard things of this life to strengthen us and prepare us for what it is to come. When we judge His work while it is still in process, we are not being fair to the Artist. It’s not fair to call life “bad” when we’re stuck in a hard place. Part of life is allowing it play out and seeing where God is working in the midst of the difficulties.

Here’s a little more of the picture that God has been creating in our lives.

We will be in Spain for our company conference for the next two weeks.

We will then travel to Nairobi on June 4 and will be there through giving birth to our baby girl (sometime around July 12)! We will stay there for about 6 weeks after the birth.

Once I recover from the birth and we are able to get our baby girl’s passport, we will fly to Uganda to transition to our new ministry field.

A view from Fort Portal, Uganda

Will and I just accepted a position as the new team leaders of the Serge Fort Portal, Uganda team! We are so excited about this new opportunity and are looking forward to seeing what God has in store! We will be the team leaders for a woman who has lived there for several years and has many years of experience serving in Uganda, a family of 6 who will be joining the team in the fall, and a single woman who will be coming in the winter. The team will all be doing different work within the realm of community development. We will all do this through ministering to single moms through the arts, children in a Children’s Home, work through a vocational school, teaching, etc. We are so excited about the way God has been piecing this team together and the work that He has prepared for all of us to do in Fort Portal.

Looking back, God had not let me down in the fall. Life had, yes. But God was still in control and was using the difficulties of life to prepare me for what was coming. I believe if I had been listening in that moment at church when I couldn’t sing the lyrics, that God was whispering, “Just wait, my daughter, the picture isn’t finished yet. There is more to come.” I’m grateful for a God who doesn’t let His people down. I’m grateful that even when life is hard and we feel abandoned and let down, the story isn’t over. He sees us in the pain and is holding us in His strength.

Mundri Visit

Will and Justin had the opportunity to return to Mundri for a couple days last week. The primary purpose of the trip was to deliver much needed seeds to the community and to see friends/ assess the damage to town and our compound. They were so grateful to see friends, but it was a really difficult visit emotionally.

It is one thing to hear about war, and even to see pictures, but seeing the aftermath of devastation due to war first-hand is really hard to take in- especially when it effected people you have come to love. As always, however, Will and Justin said that our friends seemed hopeful overall and continued to say, "Rabunna Fi (God is here). They have not lost hope that God is with them and can bring peace to their land. For this, we are extremely grateful (and humbled).

Although I was not able to go into Mundri with the men, I sent in a small gift for two friends. One of my friends sent back a letter and a huge bag of Mundri mangos. She said in the letter to think of her when I eat the mangos and picture us sitting under her mango tree together (something we would do on a weekly basis). Mangos from Mundri are the absolute best! The are not too juicy and not stringy. They are extra sweet and have a great texture. They are also some of the only food people in Mundri have been eating, since they are plentiful right now and most people have a mango tree on their compound. This gift was so special to me. I continue to be amazed and overwhelmed by the generosity of Moru people.

Here are a few before and after pictures from Mundri.

Our bedroom before

Our bedroom after the looting

Our kitchen before

Kitchen after

Living room before

Living room after

As you can see from the pictures above, EVERYTHING was taken. When the guys went in last August, there were still a few things in the houses. However, this time, even the outlet covers were stolen. We have been told that the first looting could have been from soldiers, and then after that it was probably from local people from town. The houses were open at that point and people were extremely desperate. We understand why it happened, it's just hard to see all of your things missing.

An outlet that was completely removed from our house

One of the hardest things for Will to see while he was in Mundri was the difference in how town looked. He said a large majority of the shops were empty and there were many less people and items in the market than before. 

Mundri Market before

This is taken from a different angle, but this is the market after

War is so hard to understand. It is extremely difficult to be faced with the realities of what one human is capable of doing to another human.  Our hearts are so heavy for Mundri and the people there. However, we are confident that even though we cannot be in Mundri full-time and even though many things look drastically different and scarce, God is there. He has been there from the beginning and He will continue to remain there. We are confident that the story is not over and that there is still hope.

Some of you may remember our plead for prayers during the big fighting last May. We told you that our good friend's wife, Linda, was in labor in the midst of having to be in the bush due to fighting. Many of you prayed fervently for Linda and for the baby. We are so happy to report that both Linda and their baby girl are doing well! Thank you for your prayers for this amazing family. We're so grateful for God's protection over them during such a scary time!

Please continue to keep Mundri, South Sudan and the Moru people in your prayers. Their resilience is amazing! Please pray God would continue to give their hearts hope and provide for their very felt needs. Thank you for loving the people of South Sudan along-side us!

She Ate Beans!

The longer we live in new cultures, the more we enjoy learning new things about the intricacies each culture offers. It took me a while to learn that there is no word for "pregnant" in Moru or Juba Arabic. The word simply doesn't exist. However, we finally asked our Moru friends what they say when someone is pregnant and discovered this wonderful gem of a phrase :)...

"Huwo akulu janjarro."

Directly translated (from Juba Arabic), it means: She ate beans.

Nope, I'm not joking.

If you want to tell someone that you are pregnant, you would say, "I ate beans" hehe. It still makes me giggle each time I say it.

In Moru you say a phrase you would say translates to: "Her stomach is heavy".

Although the phrase makes me laugh, the reason they use this phrase is quite sad. In this part of the world (this goes for women here in Uganda too), losing pregnancies is very common. Therefore, there are a lot of superstitions around why women lose babies in pregnancy. One is that if you talk about the baby before it is born, the "spirits" will kill it. Hence why they do not have a word for pregnancy in their languages. This leaves them to talk around what they are really trying to say- thus describing how the body looks instead of mentioning anything about a baby growing inside.

When Will was in Mundri last week (more about that in a future post), he greeted many of my friends for me. While doing so, he showed them by picture and told them, "Huwo akulu janjarro!". They all responded with great excitement about my "bean eating"!

So folks, this is what it looks like when you eat too many beans...

Theresa 30 weeks