the Strickland scoop

a day in the life

2014-01-22T23:39:00.001-05:00

While we were in Uganda, we had some coworkers come and make a video of a day in the life of a STINTer in Uganda. If you wanted a better idea of what our two years in Uganda looked like, check out this video!

This is STINT: Day In the Life from Power to Change - Students on Vimeo.

testimonies from Fanshawe College {Totolie}

2014-01-22T10:27:00.000-05:00

Last week Jamie went to Fanshawe College to help start up a Power to Change student ministry with a few other staff members. They saw so many encouraging things and met so many students who were interested in joining together to help change their campus and the world that it was very clear God had gone before them and prepared the soil.
Three students actually came to know Christ personally during the four days they were on campus and the following blog posts will be their stories.

Totolie {written by staff member, Mandy Blackburn}

Totolie is an international student from China studying Human Resources at Fanshawe College. Interested by our booth, she stopped by and filled out a survey. When she read the question that asked about her interest in discovering Jesus, she looked up and said, "I know nothing about Jesus and the Bible". I quickly offered to teach her about both if she was interested, and she jumped at the opportunity. The next day we met on campus and I walked through the gospel with her, teaching her all about Jesus. She had never heard any of it before. When I told her that God loved her, she laughed. She said it was so strange to hear that. When I told her this was history and not a made up story, she was confused. As the conversation went on, she was increasingly curious, and asked some great questions. When I asked if she wanted to start a relationship with God, she said she wasn't ready yet. I asked if we could meet again the next day again, and she agreed.

The launch team and I prayed that God would help Totolie understand and believe that God loves her, and that she would begin to understand the gospel more. The next day Totolie, myself, and Becca, a Christian student at Fanshawe, walked through the Gospel again. This time, she knew she wanted to invite Jesus into her life. When I told her that it was as simple as praying, she responded by saying, "I've never prayed before." After showing her and explaining what prayer was, Totolie prayed for the first time and, in that prayer, gave her life to God!

testimonies from Fanshawe College {Jess}

2014-01-22T10:23:00.002-05:00

Jess {written by staff member, Mandy Blackburn}

This week I have the joy of being at Fanshawe College in London with a team of people who are working to start a P2C movement on campus! We have had a ton of fun so far, and have seen the Lord lead us in really great ways! We have met some key Christian students, as well as some very spiritually interested students.

Jess, a Fitness and Health student at Fanshawe, came by the booth yesterday and filled out one of our surveys. On it she shared that she was VERY interested in discovering Jesus and the deeper meaning of her cravings. We connected last night and planned to meet today. After hearing more about her craving for power, and a bit of her spiritual background, I had the opportunity to share with her about Jesus, and starting a relationship with God.

She was so ready. She knew she wanted to begin this relationship, and even had regret in not starting it sooner (even though she didn't know how to!). I shared with her God's joy in her starting it today, and mine too!

After responding to Christ in prayer, her first words were, "I want your job!" Pray that she will grow, and maybe even join staff to help others discover Jesus in the near future!

testimonies from Fanshawe College {Imre}

2014-01-22T10:22:00.001-05:00

Imre {written by staff member, Dan Sherman}

I called Imre on Monday after he filled out survey. He had expressed lots of interest in meeting someone to talk more about Jesus. We couldn't meet Tuesday, so instead we met on Wednesday.

I found Imre to be a quite yet confident guy, studying police foundations. He told me about his Hungarian background, how he was born in a refugee camp after his parents fled Croatia during the Bosnian war. We walked through the magazine, and the knowing God personally book. Our conversation turned to how God uses things like suffering in our lives to make us better people. Then he shared that his dad, a devout Catholic, died this past June. Before his dad died (cancer) he was encouraging his family to get back to faith.

As we continued to talk I discovered that Imre believed it would honour his father and help him personally if he invited Jesus into his life. So he did! He's really excited to get into a group of Christians and grow in his faith. He's met some other Christian students and is looking forward to joining a Bible study soon.

there....and back again

2013-06-16T01:29:00.002-04:00

{Lord of the Rings reference anyone...?}

Anyway, we have 3 days until we pack up the Life Ministry bus with our belongings and drive to the airport after two years of living here!

We have mixed emotions about this but as things have been winding down, we're mostly feeling quite excited to see our friends and family - some that we haven't seen in two years!

With all that's going on, could you please remember us in your prayers? Specifically for:

1. Health
Noah woke up this morning with a headache and the minutes later started throwing up. Jamie had some sort of stomach flu on Wednesday as well although that's passed. Could you please pray that Noah feels better {and that it's nothing serious like malaria} and that the rest of us remain healthy for the duration of our time here?

2. Our flights
We fly out of Entebbe, Uganda on Wednesday June 19th and 9:20am. We'll be spending a night in London, England and then flying to Toronto on the 20th. Would you pray that we get good seats for our family on the flights, that all our luggage makes it through and that all travel details go smoothly? Also pray that the boys {specifically Blaise who is currently teething} do well on the flights and that Jamie and I have patience and grace and strength to manage all of them?

3. Transition
We know that people have expectations for us upon arrival or within the first couple weeks and months. Could you pray for wisdom for us as we navigate reverse culture-shock, adjusting to a different time zone all the while spending time with others? Especially for an awareness of how each of our boys is handling the change and wisdom to know how to best help them journey through this transition.

Thank you so much! We're looking forward to spending time with you and sharing about how our time in Uganda was.
If you're in the Toronto area, on our first Sunday back {June 23rd} we'll be attending the 9am Rexdale Alliance Church service if you want to come by and say hi!

an update on the busy-busy

2013-04-20T12:35:00.002-04:00

We're on the homestretch now with less than two months until we leave our home and our life in Uganda.
And our remaining time isn't going to drag by, either.

Currently we have Eric {a friend and coworker with Power to Change in Canada) and Jayme {former staff with Power to Change and now freelance videographer} here doing some filming for a promotional video for our South East Africa partnership. It's been nonstop since they arrived on Monday as Jamie's been doing a lot of interviews and being "followed" for a lot of "day in the life of" type footage. But we enjoy having people in our home and this week has flown by.
Tomorrow Jamie, Eric & Jayme will all journey up country to get some more footage of rural areas and, of course, the wildlife! They will be back on Tuesday afternoon.
Please pray for safety on the roads for them.
Please pray for safety and peace and patience for Vanessa as she remains in Kampala with the boys.

On Sunday the 28th of April we have the staff team for our short-term project arriving. Shortly after, the students will arrive and will stay in country until June 11th. We will be busy with ministry and packing up our lives during this time.
We are looking forward to having the team here and especially Vanessa as there will be another staff family coming - Archie, Cindy and their three boys will join us and live with us on our compound. What a lively, loud and hopefully joy-filled time we're expecting!

Please pray for safety for the staff and students as they travel starting next week. Please especially remember Archie & Cindy and their kids as they travel here on the 28th. Traveling with a family is no small task and we'd ask that you'd pray for grace and patience and kids who sleep well on the plane!
Please pray for the final logistics of housing, schedules and other details as they are worked out on our end of things.
Please pray for God to be stirring in the hearts of the Canadians coming and the Ugandans we will be interacting with.
Please pray for Vanessa as she does the bulk of organizing and preparing our home in Uganda to be packed up or left behind{for the next team of STINTers}.

Finally, if you didn't catch it on our Facebook group, please check out this blog post written by one of the STINTers, Bimisayo, who is one of four Canadians who will taking our place and continuing the work here in Uganda this August.

Thank you for your partnership. It's because of you that we are able to be out on university campuses and on summer projects and here in Uganda, making an impact on people like Bimisayo. Be encouraged! God is doing great things!

what's next for the stricklands!

2013-03-12T09:04:00.002-04:00

We recently sent out an update email. If you're not on our list, you can sign up on the side bar.

You can check out the latest scoop here.

wide load

2013-03-02T08:19:00.002-05:00

These boda men were arriving as Jamie and I were leaving a restaurant from a lunch date. I thought I'd snap a picture as we've seen so many crazy things on the backs of boda bodas. We sure will miss having a laugh at the wild things we've seen on the roads here.

thank you for praying!

2013-01-24T06:57:00.002-05:00

Thank you for praying! Jamie picked up the passports around noon and we all whooped and gave high-fives. Just another opportunity to show our boys {and ourselves!} the power of prayer. So thank you for coming along side us in this way.
We are looking forward to the times of refreshment and vision renewal that we experienced last year in Spain. Not to mention sidewalks and probably a trip to McDonald's. :)

And now to finish packing...

one more day...?

2013-01-23T12:03:00.000-05:00

Needless to say, we are not in possession of our passports at the moment.

Jamie went down to immigration today and after talking to multiple people was reassured that he can go by the office tomorrow and pick up our passports.

We are frustrated. I am frustrated. But this is typical of Uganda. So we'd ask that you would continue to pray that Jamie would be able to pick up our passports tomorrow so we can fly to Spain on Friday morning!

please pray for our visa's!

2013-01-21T07:13:00.002-05:00

We just heard back from our lawyer (after not hearing from him all weekend) that apparently our passports won't be released until Wednesday. This would be fine coming from a Canadian office, but we know that all too often here in Uganda "Wednesday" actually means next week or who knows when!
Could you please pray that we actually do get our passports with all visa's in them by Wednesday and no later?
Thank you so much for lifting us up in prayer!

Visa Update

2013-01-18T15:02:00.002-05:00

Have you heard of this thing called "low power"? They like to do it to us here in Kampala. It's where we have power, but not enough to power our fridge or fans. Sometimes our lights will go on, but only dimly. It's currently "low power" right now. It's how we roll here in Uganda.

We've been a bit quiet here lately. Not intentionally, but with the birth of Blaise and Christmas and ... life, I suppose we got a bit busy.
But nevertheless, here's a wee update for you.

We still do not have our passports in hand. The final word on our visa situation is that it could have been far worse, but we still ended up paying $510 USD in "late fees" because myself and the boys were illegal (ie. without visas - whether tourist or otherwise) while we were waiting for Jamie's work permit to go through. Apparently they wanted to charge us $450 PER PERSON instead of $450 total. So in that light, $510 isn't as bad as it could have been. It's still a lot of money, though and we're disappointed the fees weren't waived.
We paid this a week ago and are still waiting for our passports.

We fly to Spain early next Friday! We are excited, but we sorta need passports to fly, right? So we're just waiting to hear back from our lawyer but we'd appreciate your prayers that there would be no more "fees" requested from us while we wait and that we'd get them by Monday.

Also we just found out our flight home from Barcelona to Cairo has been cancelled so we're in the process of trying to figure out the best situation for new flights. Our travel agent is great and has been working to figure out the details, but we'd appreciate your prayers as we sort out these last minute changes.

We are very much looking forward to our time in Spain and are praying for refreshment and for clarity as we think and pray through different options for when we move back to Canada. There will be an update coming regarding what we'll be doing (we'll still be with Power to Change) and where we'll settle once we know.

Thanks again for your partnership. We are so aware of your prayers for us as we encounter the challenges and blessings of working to fulfill the Great Commission in this generation.

Adapting Ministry Principles in a New Culture

2012-09-12T08:09:00.000-04:00

One of the difficult aspects of ministry in Uganda is adapting ministry principles that you have learned in Canada into a Ugandan context. This past Saturday we had the Action Group (which is our student leadership team) over to our house for a day of training. I had the opportunity to train them in discipleship. One of the principles of discipleship is once you have selected someone to disciple, you need to give them a clear idea of the purpose of your discipleship. This would also include expectations from both sides involved. This way, if one of the parties stopped meeting the expectations, they could be called out on it. Then if they weren't able or wanting to continue, then you would know, and not waste time trying to meet with someone who was not interested in it anymore.
One of our young leaders put up their hand to tell me that in Uganda, this may be too intimidating to come to someone you were just meeting with a list of expectations that they needed to agree to. As I thought about it, I realized that this would probably be true in Canada as well. But likely you are not challenging someone to discipleship if you have just met them. Usually, you would already know the person for a while, so that you could observe them, to see if they are Faithful, Available, and Teachable, which are qualities we look for in potential disciples. If you have spent time observing someone who shows qualities of someone ready for discipleship, then you should challenge them, and if they agree, go for it. But if they do not, then you move onto someone else who would be willing and wanting to be discipled.
So when this young lady in the training session suggested that it may be to hard to give them expectations at the beginning, I had to think about whether this is a cultural thing, or whether she should really expect more from a potential disciple. In the end, I am still not sure. I told the students that they should take what I am teaching them, and apply it to the Ugandan context as they see fit. Personally, I think that there still needs to be a strong challenge at the beginning. I guess I will have to wait and see how things work out as these young leaders begin to challenge other students to be discipled.
This is just one of many times I have wondered about the differences in ministry adaptation in a new culture.

Release12 Summary

2012-08-07T06:12:00.002-04:00

One of the amazing views from Tagaytay (just outside Manila)

______________________________________________

Me with the Ugandan Flag

Location: Manila, Philippines
Dates: July 4-14, 2012
Conference Theme: Engage. Entrust. Release a New Generation
Conference Goals:
1. Hearing from God Together
2. Connecting and Empowering a New Generation of SLM leaders
3. Advancing our Mission
4. Partnering to Reach our scope

Summary
One of the goals of the conference was to hear from God together. The organizers of the conference made it clear that they did not want all the content to be preprogrammed. They wanted to leave space to hear from God as we chart a direction forward. To that end, and hour was given each day to hear from God from the book of Acts. This was taught from the front by a teacher, as well as given time around tables to discuss what God was teaching us. I found this to be very refreshing and an important part of the conference.

Meeting some students from Manila

We also got to spend a day meeting with student leaders from various catalytic campuses around Manila. We got to ask them questions and hear their heart for their campus and the world. It became obvious that the students owned the vision of Campus Crusade. They also owned the responsibility of reaching their campus. They were empowered to lead, and many more campuses have been reached as a result.

Another great aspect of the conference was being able to meet other SLM staff from different countries. At all of our sessions, we sat around tables and got to know one another. There was also time to meet during meals and free time. I got to hear about other successes and difficulties from various countries. We also spent time praying for each other in community groups.

South and East African Conference Delegates!

At the end of the conference, Ken Cochrum shared a new worldwide SLM vision of establishing Student-led Movements on 50% of Student Population Centers. We are currently on about 25%. This vision will best be met through catalytic movements and partnerships with other like minded Christian movements.

What I Learned
I was personally very blessed to be able to attend this conference. I came away with a fresh vision of reaching campuses, especially by catalytic means. I need to entrust more leadership of the local movements I am part of to students. This catalytic method was modeled by the Apostle Paul, and was the method by which the early church grew.

I was also reminded that I need to focus on prayer, reliance on the Holy Spirit, and preaching the gospel. These are the most important things to focus on. Strategies will come if I keep these things primary.

Also got to face a fear and hold a young crocodile!

happy 9 months to us!

2012-05-21T12:13:00.002-04:00

We've been here in Uganda for 9 months as of today!

Also {from Vanessa} thank you so much for your prayers while Jamie was away in Rwanda. I definitely felt God's presence through increased patience and joy and the burden was lifted largely with the staff and students here keeping us company and helping out with the boys.

Thank you for your prayers. He is our ever-faithful God and He is so good.

A post from Jamie re: Rwanda is on the way so stay tuned!

Project starts with a bang

2012-05-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we started our project! Out students arrived at 11:20 pm on Tuesday night and were at their guesthouse after 1am. Despite this we started our orientation at 10am this morning, knowing that if they sleep too much today, they will delay getting over the jetlag.

Yesterday morning, just as we were about to start, there was a significant car accident right outside the guesthouse where we are staying. It was loud and shocking. The one who cause the accident then drove off, with some people chasing him. Someone was significantly injured, and I have not yet heard how he is doing. I don’t think it was fatal, but the mans leg was significantly broken.

Vehicle accidents happen all over the world, but the fact that this one happened on the first morning that the students are here, RIGHT OUTSIDE the guesthouse leads me to believe that this was not an “accident”, but something caused by the enemy. Our students here are young and in a new culture, and something like this can through them off from their focus on the mission for which they were sent.

Please pray for us as we begin our orientation that students would not become scared or nervous about being here. God has them here for a purpose, and Satan desires to thwart it. Please also pray for our safety on the roads. We want to be able to focus on reaching Ugandans with the gospel, not spending time in the hospital! We will take from the Lord whatever he gives us, but we desire to spread his love across this nation!

Thanks for partnering with us in prayer. You are an equal member of this mission! John Piper says, “when it comes to missions there are 3 types of people. Zealous goers, zealous senders, and disobedient”. As you give to our ministry and pray for us, you are those very senders!

Makerere Guild Leadership Training Day Report

2012-05-03T02:10:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to have a full day with the most influential students on our campus! Here is a play-by-play of the day:

7:30am – we arrive at the campus and are the only ones there. We are glad to see that the custodian is here to allow us to come in! We can’t take this for granted
7:45am – a few other of our Life Ministry staff arrive. We begin setting up our registration, which is opens at 8:00am
8:00am – we are ready to receive our students!
8:45am – no students have yet arrived. In Canada, we would begin packing up our stuff and head home, wondering if we could have done better advertising. In Uganda, we wait and assume they are coming but are late.
8:49 – our first student arrives!
9:23 – students are continuing to trickle in.
10:10 – about 12 students have arrived (we are preparing for 60). We make an announcement that we will start at 10:30…. AM….
10:35 – we start. I am today’s MC, so I welcome them, have them each introduce themselves (there are about 30 here now). We then sing the Ugandan National Anthem. I am struck by how well Ugandans sing. They know melodies and harmonies and it sounds really good!
10:45am – Peter Asiimwe, a senior staff member in Life Ministry Uganda, is our first lecturer, speaking on “The African Dream” and “The African Leadership Challenge”. Some interesting quotes from these lectures:
·      Africa is the most religious continent on earth yet the most corrupt.
·      “Whereas the American as gone to the moon and come back, the African is yet to reach the next village due to absence of roads”
·      China, western Europe, New Zealand, India would all fit within the continent of Africa.
·      “Africa needs Godly leaders of integrity with a compelling dream of the future”
·      “Everything rises and falls on leadership” John Maxwell
12:15pm – our National Team Leader in Uganda, Mr, Dickson Obwoya begins delivering a seminar on “How a Leader earns a right to Lead”. This is leads to great discussion as students agree that there needs to be a shift in mentality from “receiving” a leadership position to “earning”.
12:45pm – Ugandans tend to have lunch a bit later than I am used to in Canada, so I am getting a bit hungry. As my stomach growls, one of the student leaders besides me looks amused.
1:10pm – there is 5 minutes left in Dickson’s message, and I am told that lunch will not arrive on time. Too bad there is no “30 minutes or free” deal here. Now we delay by taking Q&A.
1:32pm- I just got the thumbs up that lunch is here!
2:12pm – I have just gone through the line for lunch. We served rice, matoke (unripened, cooked bananas), potatoes, peas, chicken, and spinach. I went through towards the end. The chickens here are not like the ones I remember from Swiss Chalet. They look like they have been on a diet.
2:22pm Also, it appears we have had a few people join us for lunch who were not part of the training event. 90 plates of food were served to our group of 70.
2:36pm -The PowerPoint stopped working and I was asked to come up to fix it. Quite interesting to try to fix a A/V problem when everyone is looking! I will be more patient with and thankful for church A/V people in the future!
2:40pm- Our current session is on “Habits of highly effective people. Our numbers ave gone down a little bit after lunch, but that is understandable as we are heading into Exam season.
4:04pm – we are doing evaluation forms now, and people are sharing what they have learned and what they will apply. One student has just shared that “when I am an MP, I will try to think ‘win-win’ for the good of everyone”

Overall it was a great day that we pray will lead to many of the Student leaders on campus hearing the gospel and making decisions for Christ. It was an amazing opportunity that God gave us to be with so many leaders at once!

the beautiful busy

2012-05-01T09:32:00.000-04:00

It began last November.

The planning for the student summer project has been in the works for months. Kelley {staff in Waterloo, Ontario} and Jamie began hashing out details and plans, putting together a staff team and sorting out details.

And now it's here!

Last Wednesday night Kelley arrived, followed by the rest of the staff {Hannah, Angela, John, Johnny & Bim} on Saturday night.
It's been a full house here with the three female staff staying in our guest room and the three male staff staying at the guest house right around the corner from us. We've already had some great times to laugh and plan and acquaint ourselves with each other.

some of the staff in our dining room enjoying some lunch together

Tonight {at 11:20pm Kampala time}, 12 students from across Canada arrive at Entebbe airport {just under an hour outside of Kampala}. They will likely be exhausted but excited and we hope to welcome them in a way that helps them transition a bit more easily to this very different country and culture than they are used to.

Would you pray with us?

- pray that everyone would arrive safely with all their luggage and personal belongings

- pray that the students would have favour with all inspection and customs personnel

- pray for safety for our staff on the roads both to and from the airport tonight

- pray for all {previously arranged} housing details at the guesthouse to fall into place and that everyone would have a bed to sleep in tonight

Thank you for walking alongside us and our team - especially over these next 6 weeks of intense ministry!

Stay tuned for more updates and urgent prayer requests!

A full day with the most influential students in Uganda!

2012-04-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow (Saturday), we are doing a full day of training at Makerere University for the Student Guild (Student Union leaders), including the Student Union President. The training will be focused on how to be a leader of integrity.

This is an amazing opportunity for us to build credibility and relationships with the most influential students on the most influential school in the country. I am sure that future Ugandan MP's, teachers, journalists and business leaders will be in attendance. This teaching on being a leader of integrity could help transform this nation!

It is amazing that we will have them for a full day tomorrow! 20 years from now when they are in their professions, there will be no chance to get a full day with them to teach them in being a leader of integrity!

Please pray:

that all 60 students expected will show up
that we would be able to form relationships that would allow us to clearly share the gospel with them at a later time.
that all our speakers would speak well, so that our credibility is built for future opportunities.

Thanks for joining with us as we influence the future leaders of Uganda!

Canadians invade Uganda (with the gospel)

2012-04-19T09:50:00.000-04:00

We are excited to share with you that from May 1 - June 11, we will have a group of 12 students and 6 Power to Change Staff members coming to Uganda from Canada on a missions trip! These Canadians will join our work on two campuses, and give us some much needed help in bringing the love of Christ to Ugandan students.

In addition to campus ministry, we will be doing some ministry in smaller towns and villages. One exciting aspect will be doing some activities at a boarding school in Gulu. This school is set up for children that were affected by the war. As you have probably seen from the Kony2012 campaign, the Lord's Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony ravaged Northern Uganda and Gulu in particular. Many of these children have been orphaned as a result. We will also interact with former child soldiers, who never got to go to school and are now 18 year olds in the equivalent of Grade 3. We will be sharing the love of Christ with this children through fun games and activities, and showing the Jesus Film in their local language.

Our goal in this trip is to accelerate what God is already doing in and through our team with Life Ministry. It would be silly to engage in activities that cannot be sustained after the Canadian students leave, so we are working hard to ensure that whatever we do during this mission can be followed up by us who will remain, or local churches that we partner with.

As we are preparing to receive this team, please pray that:

we would be able to make all the necessary practical arrangements (pick up from airport, accommodations, permissions from campuses, etc)
Canadian students would be able to raise all their needed funds (each student coming is required to raise $4900 CAD).
God would provide the extra $2500 CAD that we need as a family to participate in this mission. (click here to donate online)
Many Ugandan students would hear and respond to the gospel, and would be integrated into our movement on campus, as well as a good local church
we would be a blessing to those in Gulu affected by the war.

Thanks for partnering with us!

traffic cop

2012-04-12T09:58:00.000-04:00

so I {Vanessa} got pulled over today.

we were driving to my friend kelly's house today to hang out with her boys and there is this one spot that i've almost always seen a traffic cop standing at, pulling people over. I've gotten pulled over once before and the cop just checked my license and wished me well.

not so today.

I was polite and gave my license when the cop came to my window and asked me for it. then she proceeded to ask me to put on the brakes and checked my lights. then she came back and proceeded to ask me to put it in reverse to check my reverse lights. then she told me she was going to write me a receipt {ticket} because my back tires were not filled enough. I politely said that I was not aware that this was an illegal offense in uganda.
she told me she could "park my car" right now or write me a receipt and hold onto my license until I went to the bank and paid it and then i could pick up my license at the police station. I told her that I would be happy to go to the station and she could write me the receipt and I would pay the ticket there. she repeated what she had already told me.

she left to go back to her other traffic cop buddy and so I called jamie and told him what was happening. noah asked me why she had pulled me over at this point and I {somewhat bitterly} replied that it's because I'm white and she thinks I have lots of money to give her {which is generally the case the more I speak with other expats regarding this particular issue on the roads}.
she came back with an official receipt book and showed me that my offense was {on the back of the receipt} for not having a car that was fit for driving on the road.

at this point I was getting frustrated and feeling taken advantage of and again said that I was not aware that my tires were less than full and that I did not know that this was an offense that would get me a ticket. she then started saying that my brakes lights were out and reverse lights are out and this and that {she started pointing to random things on my car} and that my seatbelts - oh no, you're wearing your seatbelt. I told her that of course i was as it was unsafe not to.

she kept saying that she would write me a receipt, etc. etc. and then finally {I admit, with frustrated tears in my eyes} I told her to write me the receipt as she was leaving me no choice and I had two small children with me and had no other options. she just looked at me and then said,
you go to a gas station and buy new tires. I am forgiving you this time. but you go get those tires replaced.

I took off as soon as she gave me my license back before she changed her mind.

these are my tires when I got home today {no filling with air, no replacing.}

front tire

back tire

how are my back tires flat?

she was totally looking for a bribe and to take advantage of the white woman. I was so angry when I got to kelly's house and looked at the tires for myself.

so this is life here in uganda. bribes are expected but today I'm glad I fought the system and also didn't get a ticket while I was at it.

Please pray for:

- police men and women who would stand up to the way corruption is just a part of the system here and that Christ-honouring leaders of integrity would start to infiltrate every working sector here in Uganda

- safety as we drive on the roads and for favor among the police here

- a humble spirit for us and not a heart of bitterness or frustration

the "scoop" on our family's expansion

2012-04-03T06:31:00.000-04:00

That's right! We are expanding our family.

in 2D - approximately 11 weeks old

in 3D - approximately 11 weeks old

On Boxing Day we found out that I was pregnant and it has been exciting to see the progression of this pregnancy so far.
It has been fun to be pregnant with slightly older children who can comprehend more what it means that "Mama has a baby in her belly" and ask hilariously honest questions.
We are expecting this little one to arrive in September and we will be staying in Uganda for the birth.
I have been seeing a midwife here at one of the hospitals who is from the UK and has been great so far although she will be returning to the UK around the time that I am due. I will likely be delivering the baby at the hospital with one of the doctors she works closely with.
Next week we will have another ultrasound to make sure the baby is developing properly {this is a routine scan} and hopefully be able to find out if this little one is a boy or a girl. We are so thrilled for this baby and are so thankful for another straight-forward and relatively easy pregnancy for Vanessa.

Ugandan's on mission to Tanzania!

2012-04-02T12:28:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone,

This week we have a group of about 30 Ugandans from our various universities going to Dodoma, Tanzania for a missions trip. They leave today and return next week. This is exciting as part of our vision in coming to Uganda was to see Uganda become a sending ground of missionaries to the rest of Africa. We as a family did not go, but Nick and Trevor, our fellow Canadians have gone.

Here is an update from Nick:

The University of Dodoma is a fairly new university with a possible potential enrolment of 60,000 students - making it the largest university in the Southeast Africa region. As a result, Life Ministry Tanzania has arranged this mission which will include ~250 Life Ministry students and staff from many of the nearby countries (Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, etc.) coming to the University of Dodoma with the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Tanzania, itself, is on the frontlines of the battle between Muslim-Africa and Christian-Africa - with Dodoma being an area and a university with a predominantly Muslim population. Imagine, if the university students of Tanzania gave their lives to Christ while they were students, only to grow and become Christ-following leaders of countries, corporations, teachers, lawyers, etc. in the near future. Southeast Africa is the starting point for an all-African Christian revival - and it starts with movements like this!

We are going to do evangelism and some basic follow-up/discipleship with the students of the University of Dodoma. There will also be some training for everyone involved.

Fuel for your Prayers:
- Safety in our travels
- That God would be working in the hearts and minds of the students of the University of Dodoma
- That there would be a great harvest and movement started at the University that will have a great impact on Tanzania, Africa, and the world
- That God would also be working in us to grow us in our faith and our walk with Him

Join with us in prayer and excitement for this Ugandan mission team!

Jamie & Vanessa

Application for worker's permit

2012-03-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Uganda!

It is nice to hear that the weather has been getting warmer in southern Ontario. For us, the temperature since we have been here has ranged from 23-30 Celsius. The only variable is whether it is rainy season or dry.

Yesterday (Mar 20), we put in our paperwork for workers permits for us in Uganda. We should have everything we need to be accepted, but things are not always that straightforward here. Currently, we are here on our 3rd tourist visa, which allows us 90 days per Visa. We got our first upon arrival in August, then you may recall we had a harder time getting the 2nd in November, and then we got our third and current visa when we re-entered Uganda from our mid-year conference in Spain. If we get our Worker's permit, it will be a lot easier to move in and out of the country. It is also valid for a year, and once you get it, it is not so challenging to get it renewed.

Please pray that our worker's permit would be approved, and approved quickly. It is possible that we may need to get something called a "special pass" which gives us another 90 days, in order for the workers permit to be processed. Our current Visa's expire May 6th. It is our desire and prayer that we get our workers permits before then, so that we are set and not having to scramble around to get a special pass, or worse, another tourist Visa.

Thanks for your partnership in prayer,

Jamie and Vanessa

Good Morning from Gulu!

2012-03-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

I am currently writing this from a small, modest, hotel in Gulu, Uganda. For you to get a bit of a picture in your mind, it is more like a motel back in Canada. One interesting feature is that in the bathroom, the toilet and the shower share the same space. There is no separate space for the shower. So the water runs on the floor right where the toilet is. It may be possible for me to save time by doing two things at once!

We had a great day of training yesterday with 15 students from Gulu University. We gave them vision for reaching their school, country, and the world, and then did practical training on how to build a spiritual movement, how to be a leader in a spiritual movement, and how to plan (what activities to prioritize) for a spiritual movement. I am again humbled by the opportunity God has given me to train and mobilze future leaders of Uganda. If Uganda is going to be transformed by the gospel, it is not because I will have a large event and preach to thousands. Uganda will be transformed as Godly leaders are raised up and sent into the society to change it themselves.

These students here are very excited and so thankful for our visit. I only wish we could do more to help them.

At the hotel we are staying at, for some reason there were people working outside all through the night. This meant I did not get a good sleep. I woke up a bit tired and cranky, but thankfully I went to God's Word and read from 2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." I am just a jar of clay - weak, with not much value in and of myself - but I have this treasure, namely Christ, within me. This gives me strength to move forward and make a difference.

Thanks for your partnership with us as we help accelerate the fulfillment of the Great Commission and societal transformation in Uganda and beyond!