"Welcome Home"

I look forward to traveling back to the US and going through Immigrations and Customs and hearing the words "welcome home."  Even though I was only gone for 10 days, it's so exciting to hear those words said.  I love traveling and living in other cultures, but the United States is my home and I'm grateful for it.

So, we made it back safely!  It was a wonderful trip and now begins the processing, debriefing, and preparation for the next phase.  Mandie will go to Orlando, FL on Sunday to attend PIONEERS' Candidate Orientation Program. Hopefully, we'll receive approval from the Area Leader over Uganda to pursue this new adventure.  From there we'll begin raising support.  We're confident the Lord is leading us both to do this, but finding investors requires more humility, perseverance, and trust than either of us currently have.  We are looking forward to how the Lord will work in the next couple of months as we step outside our comfort zones!

I will begin nannying on Monday for three teachers with three infants between the ages of six months and eleven months.  I'll be living in Charleston with Mandie's family till the end of the school year.  I'm so thankful for my second family and their willingness to open their home!  Much of the time that I'm there, Mandie will be continuing her travels (Orlando, FL and Brazil). 

Thanks for your prayers and loving support! We'll keep you updated as we figure out things.  Having seen the medical need in Uganda, we can't wait to go back and start serving.  Our time there this last week was fruitful for the kinds of things we need to be prepared to do and to see.  We've started making a list of the books and equipment that we'll need to function there.  We didn't have any time to figure out where we'll live or what kind of things are available, but I'm sure that will come as we email back and forth with Michael and Amanda.  Our housing decision is dependent on the Bishop of the local Anglican Diocese.  From what we understand, he controls the housing situation and will probably just tell us where to live.  Worst case scenario, we'll live at the Masindi Hotel for a couple weeks while he decides where we should live and while renovations are being done to make it livable (eg. running piping into the house so that we don't have to go in search of water every day).

Hopefully we'll have a few pictures posted soon!