Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. Thank you Lord for sending your son. Let us never forget what it’s all about.

Now, I would like to apologize for this post coming so late. But, I have to admit I have enjoyed laying low for a couple of weeks. It has been nice resting up on this side of the pond. Also, while we are in the states we would love to see everyone. We will certainly do our best. We are very grateful to all of you for assisting us in this calling. You are a blessing.

Before I list our 2009 accomplishments I thought I would let you know what is currently going on in Kaihura. I received an email from Moses today. He is recovering from malaria. He said he is on the mend. The rains have finally subsided. They plan to begin on a new well in the village of Kyongera on Monday. Moses has also delivered 20 mosquito nets to Pastor Stephen in Ft. Portal. These nets will be distributed to pastors in that district. Pastor Stephen’s heart is to assist and educate the local pastors around Ft. Portal. We desire to help him any way that we can.
Moses has also distributed 20 blankets to some of the students at Dorcas (Vocational School). Moses has been such a blessing. He is doing a great job of keeping the projects moving forward.

Accomplishments for 2009

*We have constructed 3 wells which assist over 240 people (also, forth well beginning construction next week)
*We have visited 69 homes
*Distributed 59 blankets
*Hung 181 mosquito nets
*Administered 7 HIV/Aids testing outreaches (624 people tested/ 28 positive/ less than 4%)
*One category that cannot be measured is the relationships we have formed. This year we have made friendships and trust has been established that will open even more doors in the years to come.
2009 Praise Reports

*All accomplishments
*Fellow missionary relationships
*Completion of house and indoor plumbing
*Motorcycles
*Church to attend in Ft Portal

2010 Goals

*Continue to provide assistance to the community through wells and other needs
*Establish mentoring programs for the children at Home Again and train up local leaders
*Assist Bringing Hope to the Family and Embrace Uganda with the construction of the new clinic
*Seek the Lord on witnessing strategies and believe God for salvations in our community

Merry Christmas,

Chris, Katie, Kolby and Logan

*I have attached a few random photos for your viewing pleasure.

Hello all. I hope everyone is doing well. We are quickly wrapping up our first year here. But, thankfully not before getting a few more things accomplished.

The well we began in Kacungiro (Kochoongee ro) over a month and a half ago is finally complete. We were supposed to hand it over to the community today, but due to heavy rains we have rescheduled for Saturday. This well will service over 40 families, which is more than 150 people. This was a community that desperately needed a clean water supply. This was our first time being in Uganda during the month of October, and now we know what it’s like. Note to self… do not attempt to construct a well in October. It’s just far too wet. But, that being said, we are so glad that we have had the opportunity to bless this village and to have been able to finish it before we return to the states.

Also, since our last post, we hosted our final HIV/Aids test for the year. We visited a village that was about 30 minutes down a dirt road. Wait a second, every village we visit is 30 minutes down a dirt road. But, seriously it was. I must admit I don’t remember the name of the village, but the pastor who arranged us coming was a wonderful man. He was very grateful and he has a true heart for his community. We were able to test 126 people. We had more people show up than we had test strips. It is sad that we couldn’t assist everyone, but that’s a reminder of how great the need is here. Out of the 126 tested 5 were positive.

Outside of these projects we are busy getting everything in order. We are also getting Moses ready to be the go-to guy while we are gone. We are confident that he will do a great job.

In other news we had our Thanksgiving meal last night with some fellow missionary friends in Ft. Portal. We made the boys Indian hats. They had a great time and I had ham for the first time in 10 months. I was so excited. I have missed ham.

I think this will do for now. We will post a time or two again next week as we head to Kampala for Phill’s wedding and then off to the airport. Exciting times ahead.

Be blessed,
Chris

Nearly completed box spring well

Nearly completed box spring well(2)

HIV/AIDS Testing Outreach

HIV/AIDS Testing Outreach(2)

Colby and Logan on Thanksgiving

I am glad to say that we completed our project of hanging mosquito nets in Kyongera! This has been a project that we have been working on for many months. But this is a project that we are very proud of and feel that it has been a success. And there is something about going and taking the time to visit and look in on families. This gives them the feeling that someone really cares for them. And the great thing about it is that it is true! So many people do care! The people who took the time to raise money for the mosquito nets and blankets care, the people who give to GSM and help us do these projects care, Bringing Hope to the Family cares, and we at GSM care! That is a lot of people caring!

We personally hung up all the nets in all the homes except one. And we did not do that one because this home was taken over by wasp nests and we decided we did not want to be attacked by them. Everywhere we tried to hang them, a nest was there ready to attack. So I am planning on buying some bug spray and bringing it to her to help her get rid of these bugs. They had been sleeping outside because they were getting stung at night. I could not imagine. Their home unfortunately is on the far end of Kyongera and is about an hour drive on a motorcylce. But I feel it will be worth the drive.

We also visited a home where a women was very sick. She was due a net and I feel bad that we were a bit late getting it to her. But we gave her a net and a blanket. Which was good because she was having chills. We gave her the protection of a net, the warmth of a blanket, and love with a prayer of healing.

Another home we visited had a little boy, maybe 2 years old, with a really bad burn on his back. The story was that he was outside and the mother turned her attention for a moment and he spilled a jug of boiled water on him. It is very sad. We hung a net over him while he was sleeping trying to be very careful not to disturb him or hurt him. But I am glad we were there to hang the net so that he will not have to deal with Malaria on top of a serious burn. I would fear he would not survive.

We also finished hanging all the nets for Bringing Hope to Family’s staff. I was a bit shocked by how many people did not have nets. It seems to me something that would be important to have. But then I thought about it and a net is about $6 which is half of a weeks salary. And that is a lot of money here for them. So we were glad to help them so that they can remain healthy and be able to do their job. Really Moses is the one who gets all the credit for this. He really took this project on and made it his own. We have had many people thank us for what we have done and said that their rooms look very “smart” now. Their was a pastor and his wife(she works for BHTF) and they have 5 kids and have taken in 10 orpahans. We gave them the nets about 2 months ago and they said that they have not had one case of Malaria. So praise God! I hope to have many more similar stories!.

We also had another HIV testing outreach at a secondary school(high school). It is a local school here in Kaihura. We tested 80 students and I am glad to say that there was zero postive results. We hope to do another outreach before we go to the states. It has been helpful having Georgia and Martha here to help also. They are good sports and like to get involved and help where ever they can.

We hope to start working again on the well in Kacungiro. It has been hard to progress with it because of the rain. But I hope it will begin soon. It has been so wonderful having our new motorcylce! When we went to Kyongera we just loaded up the bikes and went. We did not have to bother trying to arrange transport, because we had some. They worked great, even my little scooter hung in there. There is not a day that goes by that Logan does not thank me for the motorcylces. I guess since I arrived with them I am the one to thank. I wish I had video of him thanking me. It is really funny. And when he says it he is so sincere.

There is still a ton to do here. If you would like to get involved and help supply the needs here you can go to http://www.knowthinkact.com/. It is really easy and I garantee results. I want to say a big thank you to those who raised money for the nets and the blankets. What a blessing they are to so many families. If you would like to come volunteer here you can email us at volunteer@globalsupportmission.com. Thanks for keeping up with us.

Stay adventurous,
Katie