We arrived in Amsterdam at 6:30 this morning (Friday).  We board our plane for Detroit at 9:30.  This is an awesome airport.  It's like a huge mall.  Kathy loves it.  It's also a great place to walk off an eight hour plane ride.

We are now eight hours ahead of Eastern Time.  So our eight hour flight to Detroit will take us practically no time.

Please continue to pray for our journey....if you are awake. 

Blessings on all who pass this way,
Edd

We have been wanting to go to Geoffrey's church, Victory Christian Center, ever since we first got here.  We have been with him to his mother's church in Bukasa twice, but not to his.  You will recall Geoffrey is our friend who always drives us on our mission trips and, also, helps Kathy in the eye clinic.  Geoffrey, his wife Alice, daughter Lillian, and son Isaiah picked us up at 8:00 a.m. and we headed off to Victory Christian Center.  The music was exciting and the message was one of the best I've heard.  The speaker was a black evangelist from the U.S.A. who, obviously, has spend a lot of time in Uganda.

Following church, we came back to our house for lunch (another Ugandan chicken cooked southern style) .   Kathy has been wanting to have them over for a meal ever since we ate at their house.  We had a great time.  They especially enjoyed looking at the videos of our previous trips to Uganda and some of our photos of life in Tennessee.

These are great friends and beautiful people.  We were very sad when we said goodbye to Alice and the kids, knowing we probably won't see them again for quite a while.  Geoffrey said he would drop by our house again before we leave.

Thank you, God, for friends!

Blessings on all who pass this way,
Edd

After lunch today, I told Geoffrey that we needed to drive over to the World Market to pick up a couple of gifts and asked if he and his family would like to ride over there with us.  He said that would be fine.

As we made our way down to the lower level where our car was parked, I noticed everyone was there but Geoffrey.  I went looking for him and found him near his car.  I told him everyone was waiting on him and found out that he thought we were going in his car.  I told him that I was driving and he made is way to my car.

On the way to the market, his  daughter Lillian made the statement, "This is just the second time I have ridden in a car with a Mzungu (white person) driving.  At that, Geoffrey responded, "IT'S MY FIRST!"

Geoffrey has been driving us all over Uganda for the past five years and this is the first time he as ever been a passenger with a Mzungu.  I feel like a celebrity. 

Blessings on all who pass this way,
Edd

We had a really great time today on our Nile River hike today.  It was the  first time we have been able to do anything like this since we have been in Uganda.  We drove to Jinja with Richard and his fiancée, Lydia to hike to Bujagali Falls on the Nile River.  It's more like some really big rapids, but still beautiful and very powerful.  As you can see from the photos below, we had a lot of fun.

We have seen a lot of Richard in the past two months while working on the poultry school curriculum, but have only been able to be with Lydia a couple of times.  Well, today, we were able to get to know her a lot better and saw how really beautiful she is, both on the outside and the inside. 

This wasn't anything like a hike in the Great Smoky Mountains, but it was a beautiful place and we had a wonderful time together.  It was fun watching Richard and Lydia practice speaking each others love language that they learned in the seminar last week.

Thank you, God, for your creation and the privilege of enjoying it.

Blessings on all who pass this way,
Edd

Wow!  What an awesome opportunity I had today!  I was able to teach the customer service class I have taught to two groups of business people since we have been in Uganda.  But this time to...teachers!!  I knew the concepts were transferable, but I had no idea these teachers would grasp them so easily and so enthusiastically.

The event was a training retreat for the teachers from the four Cornerstone schools, about 40 people total.  Our discussion was centered around The Top Ten World Class Customer Service Rules.  Not only did they make appropriate application of the concepts to their role as teachers, but asked some excellent questions that prompted even more discussion.  I am so blessed to be able to do "what I do" here in Uganda. 

The event was held at the Cornerstone Girls School, about an hour from Kampala (without construction and Friday traffic).  I drove, but Jarvis, one of the Cornerstone staff, went with us to navigate.  I was really glad.  I haven't mastered that route yet.

Thanks for your continued prayers and...

Blessings on all who pass this way,
Edd

Last night, TivaWater sponsored a 5 Love Languages marriage seminar last night at a local Chinese restaurant.  The turn out was even better than expected.  They planned for 25 couples and 31 showed up.  It was the second time I have had the opportunity to lead this seminar here in Uganda and a third one with an even larger group is planned for next week.

The response was extremely enthusiastic and the discussion at the end showed how engaged they were in the topic.  We heard many comments and questions from both the husbands and the wives.

This was a awesome opportunity for me.  I am so grateful God led me to bring my materials and Gary Chapman's DVD with me.

A huge THANK YOU to the TivaWater organization back in Knoxville for picking up the tab on the dinner, which really made this a special night for the couples.

Blessings on all who pass this way,
Edd

I got to attend my first preschool and children's Sunday School in Namayumba.  It reminded me of how it must have been in pioneer days in America.  We met under a large shade tree and sat on mats woven by the women of the village.  We sang, prayed, heard a Bible story and played a few games.  The teacher was full of energy and the children very attentive.  The only thing I suggested was that she be mentoring someone to take over a class when they divide preschool and children.

Kathy

Kathy led a preschool and children's Sunday School conference at two churches today.  We started out this morning in Namayumba where our friend Patrick is the mission pastor.  The group, as you can see, was large for a church with just 60 members.  Only one is currently teaching the children, but several others were there as potential teachers, anxious to learn...  Edd

When Pastor Davis at Dove and Patrick asked for help for the children's teachers and with curriculum, I said I would be glad to help.  Little did I know what I was getting myself in for!  Can you imagine how intimidating it is to lead a children's SS conference when you have never taught children?  For reasons only God knew, I brought double sets of  Children's  Leader Guides and Resource Kits.   The teachers at Mt. Harmony e-scanned me Pages from the current leader guides  (thanks y'all) and I spent a couple of weeks pouring over them and the literature I brought with me. I was able to create a "Teaching Children" handout, pulling out the teaching methods that would work in Uganda where resources are limited.  

The mission's SS meets under a tree!  They have no table and chairs, no paper, no crayons or markers, but a lot of love for the children!  I tried to focus on games, drama, and scripture cards  and puzzles made from cut up boxes.  I was able to leave both churches scissors , sharpies and colorful plastic strips gleaned from the store next door! Did I communicate??? Again only God knows!  All I know is that the pressure's off and I am very grateful to God for walking with me through unfamiliar territory.  I was very anxious about this until I fell.  The recovery time slowed down my preparations, but a peace about it settled over me.  Again, thank you for your prayers. 

To Blessed to be Stressed,
Kathy

One of the things Pastor Davis at Dove Church wanted from me was a Bible teaching plan for the next several years.  It took forever to locate the correct LifeWay web sites, but with their awesome web support, I was able to get a three year overview of Bible content for preschool and children.   

They currently only use coloring pages for the preschoolers. Of course, I told them they need to be telling the preschoolers Bible Stories and reinforce it through one of several methods I shared with them.  I also told them to bring in "nature" (frogs, lizards, spiders, flowers, etc.) to teach them about God's creation.   I told them a cardboard box could be a boat, a car or a church building.  There are so many free resources God has provided for us to use when teaching.  We just have to keep our eyes open!

In addition to preschool and children's workers, two youth teachers came to the
training.  Edd jumped in and was a great help with these guys.

One thing I know for sure, we are truly blessed to be able to afford the resources that Lifeway provides for us, not to mention the support.  Our children are blessed.  We teachers are blessed, because we don't have to have to create and make all the games, puzzles and posters.  

Blessings on all who pass this way,
Kathy  

The members of Mt. Harmony Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee donated enough money last Sunday to purchase 22 TivaWater filters to needy
families in  the Kampala Uganda area.  We delivered four of  those filters today to families in the remote village of Kyawangabi, about 40 miles outside Kampala.  Read the story and see the photos of the families in our Stories section.

Pastor Patrick was Kathy's interpreter in the eye clinic for all four of our medical mission trips to Uganda.  About a year and a half ago he sensed God's call to the ministry and was commissioned by his home church, Dove Church in Wakiso (where all the medical clinics have been conducted) to start a work in Namayumba.  He is a very humble and personable man and so far has led the church to 60 members. 

He and his wife, Annette, have chosen to continue to live in Wakiso, mainly due to the availability of a good school for their four children.  It has been good that they haven't had to relocate, however transportation is a problem.  Patrick has an income of $100 a month (not bad, I'm told, for a remote area) plus odd jobs he is able to pickup along the way.

He is spending $6.00 to $9.00 a week on a motorcycle taxi to get to and from his  church field.  It is about 45 minutes away from his home and he is going there two or three times a week.  That is a big percentage of his  income.  We have talked to several people here who have suggested the best  long-term solution is for him to have a motorcycle to ride to and from his church field.  We are told a good, new motorcycle can be purchased $1200-1300.  We have already started a motorcycle fund and have collected $500. 

Please take a minute to seek God's leadership as to how much you should contribute toward this worthy cause.  We have no way of knowing who and how many may come to Christ as a result of Patrick being able to afford to spend more time on the church field.

If you would like to contribute, you can give the money to our daughter Frances or mail it to our home, 1420 Adams Road, Strawberry Plains, TN 37871.  She will deposit it to our account and we will then pull it out of the ATM here on the other side of the world....amazing.  Please let us know what you are sending and make sure we have your email address so we can keep you posted on the progress.

If you have any questions, email me or comment on this post and I will respond as quickly as possible.

Thank you very much for your support of this very worthy cause,

Edd and Kathy
eddhancock@yahoo.com