It’s been over two years since I last posted. And what a two years they’ve been.

We traveled to the US on furlough — and then got stuck there because of Covid-19 and world-wide travel restrictions. The restrictions lifted and we made tentative plans to return to Uganda, when my father, the pastor of our sending church, had a heart attack. A month later, he ended up in the hospital with a serious case of Covid. These left him weak and tired and without much of a voice. So he asked James to stay and help in our sending church for a few months, until he could get stronger and resume doing it himself. About the time he was well enough for us to come back, Uganda locked down again. This time, the airport remained open, but the travel restrictions inside the country would have made getting home to our house very difficult. So we waited again.

In October 2021, Uganda opened churches again and lifted a few of the travel restrictions. We made plans, got tickets and started packing like crazy.

It’s challenging to reduce all the belongings you’ve accumulated for two+ years into fifty pound pieces of luggage. We sorted, gave things away, stored things we didn’t need here (like winter clothes and the clothing Elizabeth needs for college), and still managed to fill 19 pieces of luggage.

Uganda requires a negative PCR test 72 hours before arrival at the airport. We found a lab and got our tests on Monday, before we left on Tuesday. They assured us the results would be back in 24 hours. 

Tuesday, we loaded up all our stuff and drove to the airport, said our goodbyes to the family who took us, and undertook the long journey, which was supposed to be complete Wednesday night in Entebbe, Uganda.

We didn’t have any test results yet, but the airline attendant allowed us to fly anyway, due to the fact our first two flights were to places that allowed vaccination for arrival. She also waived all the extra fees for our substantial amount of luggage, a huge blessing!

Two of the negative tests came through our email within 24 hours. They let us fly to Amsterdam, under the assumption the final three would be in the email by the time we arrived there.

They weren’t.

And the airline couldn’t allow us on the flight to Entebbe without them.

And it was the middle of the night in the US so we couldn’t call the lab to check on it.

Thankfully, the airline worked with us. The lady assured us this happened all the time. They’d get us on another flight as soon as they could so the tests would still be valid (remember within 72 hours of our arrival). Then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, almost 48 hours had passed and we were feeling desperate. We tried calling the lab using voice over internet. We tried to find a way to chat with them online, but the people there said we had to call. A man from the airport hiked halfway across it to let me try using his phone to call the lab, but it still wouldn’t work. 

My sister asked if there was anything she could do to help. Between the two of us, we devised a crazy way to get in touch with the lab. She called them on the house phone and put them on speaker, while she had me on a FaceTime audio call over the internet. What little the lady at the lab couldn’t hear, my sister was able to communicate. Within 20 minutes we had our results and were able to get our tickets changed to fly to Africa!

No flights were available to get us to Uganda in time for our tests to still be valid. However, Kenya’s requirements were for 96 hours and our tests would allow us entry there. Once we were approved in Kenya, we could fly to Uganda without any problems.

So we flew to Paris, spent 12 hours of a layover in the airport there, flew to Nairobi, Kenya, had a short layover, and then flew to Entebbe.

God blessed us so that not once did anyone question the timing of our tests after that initial flight into Kenya. We got retested after arriving in Uganda (negative, again) and went through Immigration. 

Once through Immigration and after our tests, we found our luggage hadn’t been on the flight with us. In fact, it was still in Amsterdam, or possibly on a flight from there that would arrive later in the evening. We put in a lost luggage claim for it, made our way through customs with our carry-on luggage, and headed to a guest house James had arranged for before we ever left the US. 

By this time, we’d been awake for the better part of 4 days. We managed to stay awake long enough to eat some food and take much-needed showers. Then we collapsed in bed and slept until the next morning!

Thankfully, all but one piece of our luggage arrived the next day. Miraculously, nothing in it was broken except for one small plastic container inside a Ziplock bag. Nothing was stolen, even though almost half of the luggage hadn’t been properly secured after going through TSA in the US. God was watching over all of it!

They still didn’t know where that last piece was. A lady where we were staying suggested it might be in Kigali. The KLM flight stops there on its way to Entebbe. She said she knew of people who’d had their luggage unloaded there by mistake. We mentioned this to the people who were looking for it. Sure enough, our luggage was in Kigali. They brought it to us a couple days after we got home.

Below are pictures my youngest daughter took of our trip. The kids managed to see the Eiffel Tower as we were taking off from Paris but she didn’t get a picture of it. 

A few months ago, I shared how they surveyors had found no water deep in the ground at Independent Baptist, Sangano. Water is a huge need there and we determined not to give up.

The survey took place in July. We’d payed the company most of the money for the whole job, expecting they’d find water and put in a well. When they didn’t, we asked for a refund of the money they didn’t use for parts and some of the labor. We knew this would be a decent amount of money and would allow us to look into other options.

We researched what others in the area had done for water. Our thought was, if you can’t find water under ground, look for water above ground. James began pricing what we’d need for rainwater collection. 

It took almost three months to get the money refunded. It was a miracle they refunded it at all! Many companies here have NO refund policy and if they do have one, they won’t honor it. This is changing little by little but you never know ahead of time how it will work.

The mason, Crispus, put together a price list for buying 10,000 liter water tanks, guttering for the school buildings, and bricks and cement to make a protective enclosure. (Left in the hot equatorial sun, the plastic water tanks will eventually degrade and break. The enclosure helps them last much longer.)

Pretty much the same day we received the refunded money, Crispus was out at Sangano putting in the tanks. We felt like it was a race against time. They’d gotten a little rain, but the rainy season hadn’t really started for them.

The rains came within days of the finished work. They used the first tanks full of water only for cleaning and laundry and then sanitized the inside of the tank with what remained before it rained again.

God provided a wonderful rainy season for them. The tanks stayed full until the end of January. The dry season was short. It usually lasts (for them) from mid to late December until the end of February. It’s been raining at Sangano since mid-February and the tanks are full once more.

The tanks look like little huts. A spigot comes out of the bottom of the tank and is far enough above the ground so they can get a jerry can under it. One good rainstorm will fill both of the tanks completely full, so there is a runoff pipe at the top. When they get good rain, they empty it as fast as they can so they can take the most advantage of the water.

They’ve been able to use the abundant water as a ministry out of the church. When they have enough water, they hand it out to anyone in the community who needs it. The people come for drinking water and the church people use it to introduce them to the Water of Life.

A few weeks ago, someone put this sign up along one of our jogging routes:

The arrow on the sign points to this hill which goes up

and up

and up.

We joke that the sign at the bottom is a warning to all those who would tackle the hill. Qyt (or quit) while you’re ahead! 

A few years ago I could barely walk up this hill without getting severely out of breath and wanting to quit. Now, my daughter and I jog it at least once a week. What used to be a daunting obstacle is now a challenge we face intentionally.

Life is like that. It’s like that for everyone, but often those challenges are worse for missionaries living overseas. Several months ago I wrote a post about culture stress. I wrote another about staying relevant when you live overseas. 

In the interest of full disclosure, we are not, nor have we ever been contemplating quitting anything here in Uganda. But that doesn’t mean we don’t face times of discouragement or challenge. Everyone does. It’s part of life.

It’s kind of like this hill. Life’s challenges rise up in front of us. They are daunting. We don’t know if we can get through them. Yet, there they are and they must be faced. 

What You Should Do When You Want To Quit

1. Slow Down

When Jesus was facing his sacrifice for us on the cross, he took time alone in the garden to pray. He stopped all outward activity. He kneeled down. The struggle was still there. (He was in agony and sweat great drops of blood!) But He took time apart to refocus on His father’s will. (Luke 22:41-44)

When facing the above hill, I must slow down. Sure, I could sprint up it full speed, but if I did that I might not be able to finish. 

When I’m faced with a challenge in life, it helps to slow down and refocus on my heavenly Father and His will for me.

2. Allow Yourself to Contemplate Quitting

Wait! Don’t stop reading now! Contemplating quitting isn’t the same as quitting. 

Jesus, when faced with the cross, asked God to remove the cup of His suffering from him. (Luke 22:42) Jesus is God and even He felt like quitting!

When I first started jogging up that hill, I couldn’t do the whole thing without a break in the middle. It took months to reach the point I could run up without stopping to walk. For months after that, I’d get two-thirds to the top and my body would rebel against my efforts. My hip flexors would cramp, I’d come right to the edge of an asthma attack. I wanted to quit. I thought about walking the rest of it. 

Sticking through life’s challenges is a mind game, just like jogging up that hill was a mind game for me. Sometimes we give ourselves a mental edge when we *stop* fighting. 

If I quit, what would I have? What would I do if I quit doing this? What would the consequences be for me? For other people? 

Every time, EVERY time, God brings me to the point of seeing that what I need is NOT to quit. What I need is a mental break from the challenge. It was the same for Jesus before the cross. God sent angels to minister to Him. (Luke 22:43)

Sometimes simply contemplating quitting gives that needed mental break. Then we can refocus on God and His will and realize it’s not really what we want.

3. Pray

Jesus prayed in the garden before His crucifixion. He encouraged His disciples to do the same. Prayer refocuses us. Our vision shifts from ourselves and our problem or challenge and comes to rest on God, who is greater than any challenge. (Luke 22:40)

4. Take the Next Step

When I’m jogging up that hill, I don’t have to jog the whole thing at once. I do it one step at a time. All I have to take is the next step. Every step may be a challenge but each one gets me closer to the top.

So it is with life. We don’t have to face the whole challenge at once. We just have to do the next thing. Then the next. Then the next. It’s simple and it’s hard. 

For Jesus, this meant facing the man who’d betrayed Him. Sometimes, for us, it means choosing victory over defeat. It means choosing forgiveness over bitterness. It means choosing to hope instead of doubt or fear. It means choosing joy over discouragement. It’s simple and it’s hard. But it’s one step at a time.

5. Victory Breeds Victory

Every time I succeeded in getting up that hill made it easier to run up it the next time. Now, years into adding it into our weekly routine, I don’t even think about it. My mind goes to that place where I’m not thinking about my feet and what they are doing. I think about the song in my earbuds. I think about a story I’m writing. I think about the little kids yelling at me as I jog past. Once, a good friend of ours drove past in his car and had to honk to get my attention. I was so far into the zone I didn’t notice him.

Every time we face our desire to quit and come out victorious, we make it easier to face it with victory the next time. Victory breeds victory. Every right choice is easier the next time. Step by step, we find ourselves on the other side of the problem or struggle and now we can see it from above, from God’s perspective. We can face the next challenge from a place of victory. 

How can we have this victory? How can we walk in it? We have it because, when faced with His greatest challenge, Jesus chose to face it and walk through it. We have victory through His victory.