My Grandpa

Today was one of those days:) A day in the village that we didn't feel much was accomplished, turning down the wrong road making our hour and a half drive quite a bit longer, and getting hit with a rain storm, Kendall and I both agreed today is a day we need to be thankful for the little things. The little accomplishments. The rain, red dirt, Uncle Dick, paint in the hair, puddles, boda's that now have handle bars, paint thinner, childrens smiles, an opportunity to bring Gloria to the midwife....(soon to be baby), bathrooms, cabbage on bikes, and the list goes on. I am incredibly thankful that at the end of the day, a skype connection was able to happen and I could be present (via Skype) at my Grandfathers funeral. Chris is currently in Texas and he was also present via Skype. We praise God for this blessing and that we could even see my Grandma and parents prior to the funeral service starting.....all the way in Michigan. Below is a letter I wrote that was read by pastor shawn at the funeral service just a few hours ago. 

My Grandpa

Almost 15 years ago, behind his home, on a hill at the cemetery, we buried our first child. That day my grandpa smiled and said I will be joining him soon. He shared, “I will be buried right over there” as he pointed to a plot just a few steps away. Years passed.  He reached his goal of seeing our next child born, and the next, and the next and then our daughter who arrived home from Ethiopia, whom he taught her first English cheer leading words; “Go Blue”. Two years ago, my grandpa wrote our family a letter. He gave it to us as we left for ministry in Uganda.  It was a goodbye letter.  Not a letter of; I will see you when you return, but rather a letter that said; I will be seeing you in heaven someday.  To his and our surprise, a whole year later, we were blessed to see him again when we returned to the US!

 I am sure the Lord had many reasons in keeping my grandpa here on earth, so much longer than he thought. He knew there were many more people whose lives he needed to touch.  He knew my grandma needed him with her a few more years.  But there is another reason, a reason he was meant to stay here longer, so much longer than even the doctors thought possible.  It is because my children needed to know him.  They needed to see him greet them with a smile and a response that was always “Terrific” despite the daily struggles my grandpa had as his body weakened. They needed to hear him say he was ready to go, ready to be in heaven with Jesus. They needed to see him live and speak in such a way that told us this world was not his home, but there was something so much better ahead, something worth dying for. They needed to know a man of God who was completely ready to be at home; his real home. God gave him a little taste of this home during a near death experience many years ago. He was able to pass this hope on to us and onto our children and for that we are so thankful.

We are thankful for his determination and the way he fought to keep living life to the fullest. We are thankful for the many talks we had about his peace in dying. We are grateful for the encouraging words he has given us. We cherish his many words of wisdom and stories from his childhood. We are forever blessed by his testimony of his love for the Lord that was evident in his words and his life.

Thank you Jesus for my Grandpa. Thank you for letting him stay with us longer than what we thought was possible. Thank you that he is now basking in your love and your glory. May we all be ready as he was ready. May our lives also display through our words and our actions that this world is not our home, we are just passing through, getting ready to be where we are meant to be, with you Jesus! Please give him one last hug from all of us, until we meet again.

Written by: Michelle Fisher

(Chris and Michelle, Christian, Chloe, Trayton, Kidist, Josephine, and Noah Fisher)

red dirt, toothy smiles, puppies, paint thinner, mud, babies, color, bottled water.............................

Today didn’t go the way I planned it. There are few days that go the way we plan, living here in a 3^rd world country. Today, there was time for reflection over the past couple weeks as I lay in a clinic bed with an IV, looking at stark white walls, no fancy equipment, and a door leading to the outside where children were laughing, crying, trucks and boda’s rumbling by. This wasn’t my plan today. Today was our relax day after two weeks of hard work. A day we hoped to spend at the nearby pool after church. Yesterday didn’t go the way I planned and neither did the day before. A car repair that delayed dinner by 3 hours, a sick friend who had no one to bring her food, bedding, and purchase the syringes, IV bags, etc. at a pharmacy because the hospital somehow ran out of these necessary things. It’s times like these I realize I still can be immature. I argue with God because my plans didn’t come to be. I become irritated that my day is interrupted or changed as is so often the case here in Uganda. But today as I lay in that bed with my husband by my side holding my hand, I realized I still have some control issues I need to let go of.  The crazy traffic jams, restaurants that take two hours to get your food, nights without electricity …these things and others don’t faze me so much anymore, but there are many things that still do. I know…this is sounding like a downer blog post, but keep reading!

The welding garage- playground parts are started

Playground Construction this past week was one of them. It began over a month ago with Chris researching playground manufacturers. When the doors seemed to be closing, a divine appointment with a playground company happened. They agreed to give us the plans and supply list to build our desired playground, but could not help as they were too busy. Now I know in America, building a playground sounds like an easy thing. Go to Lowes, buy the building supplies, get some man power and waa laa you have a play ground. As with most things, it is not quite so easy here in Africa. Things seemed to be falling into place until the week we needed to be buying the supplies for the welder we hired. We were unable to get ahold of the playground company owner who was the only one with the supply list for our playground. He was unreachable for a week and a half, was sick with Malaria, and a day away from Kidney failure. We now get ahold of him, get the supply list, give George a tour of the future playground site and a visit to the playground company so he has a handle on what the plans are. Purchasing the equipment begins. Big Problem. The main company here in Jinja for purchasing materials is out of stock. Not only that, but their main branch in Kampala is also out of stock. This meant literally running all over town buying piece by piece the material we needed. The stack of receipts from different places appears to be six inches tall. 

Chris with the welder- George

What a blessing it was to have our friends from our home church Hillcrest come to visit for a second time during our time here in Uganda! God is so good. The children at our church in the US raised money to help us build a playground at the village school in the community we serve in. We can not explain the JOY it is having people visit from the other side of the world. Our first couple days of playground building was absolutely amazing! The Lord brought together the gifts of each person present to accomplish something amazing. The Afayo team, the Hillcrest team, and the community of Naigobia worked together to build and paint 7 tires structures in the first two days! We were surrounded by giddy children who loved rolling and climbing on the tires. The third day was a disappointment as the metal structures were not delivered when we hoped. But when they were, the playground looked complete! All the drilling, welding, etc. was done with generators as there is no power in the village. Darwin Dykstra had his work cut out for him! We were so thankful he was able to use his gifts building playground; we don't know how we would have done it without him. We dealt with scorching heat and pouring rain. We drove each day out to the playground on roads that should have been closed down. We played with children; some of who were dressed in material you’d hardly call a piece of clothing. At the end of each day we were beat, exhausted, and yet it was worth it. It’s worth it when you see the smiles, when you see the children jumping up and down with joy, knowing they will soon get to play. And it is Beautiful. Amazing. Colorful. A Miracle, really; How a playground was built in the middle of a small village in Uganda, by a small team of people, with the funds of small children and a few others.

So  for the second time…I ‘m reading One Thousand Gifts. I’m reminded that despite delays, sickness, setbacks, disappointments,……I am still always, without a doubt, surrounded by God’s blessings. To name a few from these last couple of weeks.........sunshine, pouring down rain, Sally, Sandy, Darwin, Bri, Michael, Arry, Kendall, tires, laughter, dress a girl dresses, babies, mud, paint thinner, working vans, no flat tires, the story of Jonah, Lily, Jesse, ZiTuna, Fred, Ruth, Chris, The Afayo Team, sweet sleep, Moses, cool mornings, boiled eggs, and peanut butter sandwiches, puppies, finger piano band, a real toilet in the village, TP, bottled water, beautiful flowered trees, red dirt, mud puddles, children singing, Janet, Oliver, Jared, Ezekiel, baby Penny, health, Providence guest house, campfire, homemade hot dog buns, Endiros, Prayer, Betty and Peace, electricity, warm showers, the Nile River, working generators, dirty little toes, blowdryers, trail walks, toothy smiles, bore holes, color, teamwork, and God's Grace and Love that He continues to pour out on us each day. 

Building the tire structures

Arry carrying water from the bore hole to wash the tires

The completed caterpiller and almost complete elephant

Kendall, Chloe, TJ, and Arry playing Duck Duck Goose with the children 

Trying out the teeter totters! Still needs to be painted! 

Team Work- putting in the swing set

Sandy with the children in Nairika

Home Visit 

Darwin, Chris, and Simon...making it level

Baby Mark loved the wheel barrows

fun with wheel barrows

The metal structures finally arrived!!

Sally with baby Penny

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painting the swing set

Darwin cutting tires

Chloe and oil based paint...not so easy to get off! 

Kendall, Chloe, and Kidist painting the snowflake

Sally and Sandy painting the caterpillar

Thank you to everyone who had a part in making this playground a reality! The completed playground pictures will be posted within the next couple of weeks! 

Walking in His Power

Resty, the little girl who lives right outside our gate, and greets us each day with this gorgeous smile

Family

Where have the last couple of months gone? It's a blur, really. Our family has been adjusting to life with two year olds. I can honestly say we are not yet adjusted. When your kids reach beyond the preschool years, the need to know where your child is and what they are doing at about every second has disappeared. There is a sense of freedom if I can say. You forget all the difficult times had during the 2's stage and are left with pictures of a cute family with smiling babies. It will pass and we will try to embrace it and maybe even love it. As for now, I am not capturing via camera the 12 times a day that I clean up water from Noah's obsession with our drinking water dispenser which I realize has happened when I hear the cry; Josie or himself have slipped on the wet tile. Favorite hairbrush in the toilet, and of course it wasn't flushed:) If its quiet....you better run. We've got a climber and unfortuately his balance skills are not up to his climbing skills. If you don't catch him, he will fall. It has been so great having our sister and brother in law here who have a two year old at home that they are missing dearly...their words of 'it's normal' are so reassuring. I have also read Jenn Hatmakers blog The Truth About Adoption a few times to remind myself that it is indeed 'for a season.' And in case you are wondering we are right in the middle of phase 2 as she describes it!  These beautiful photos below are what we will remember in the years to come!  

Family photo by the Nile River at Murchison River Lodge

Stephanie Blauwkamp...we will forever be grateful for this stroller! 

Noah and his cutie patootie smile 

One of her many faces! 

We are so thankful for Luke and Chanley Vaughn who began teaching the Luckey's two daughters but chose to stay when the Luckey family needed to go back to the US for medical purposes. They offered to help us with homeschooling our children. The Lord knew we wouldn't survive as we had just taken in Noah and Josephine. The kids began the year behind, so they have been doing two days of classes in one in order to finish by June 20. The power and internet have been unpredictable here in Kaliro. There was a week and a half stretch that we needed to drive into Jinja (one hour and 15 minutes from Kaliro) each day in order for the kids to access their online school curriculum. They have been troopers!! We can't wait to celebrate in 20 days when they finish! Please pray for them as they work hard these next few weeks. 

Icademy Global (homeschool) at The Keep in Jinja, Uganda! 

Afayo

In a similar way that the pictures above of our family show only a small piece of our lives here each day, the pictures we share of our Ugandan friends also show such a fraction of their reality. Ugandan people are beautiful. Radiant smiles. 

But when you love like Jesus, you don't stay at the surface. They invite you in. You hear stories of abuse and neglect that the smiles hide. A fourteen year old girl giving birth as a result of incest, a grandmother attempting to stop the drowning of a new born baby, at the hospital after a failed attempt to abort, corruption you can not wrap your mind around, a single mother of 7 doing her best to keep her children fed and in school yet doesn't know where she will live come November, a young man addicted to pornography that is way to easy to access in this country, mothers who die in childbirth and then infants who are struggling to survive off cows milk; given by grandmothers who struggle to care for these newborns. Its not always pretty. It can be rather messy. There are days we try to tackle what comes our way in our own strength. We have found it to be pointless. We end up with nothing left to give. So we walk, in His power and point them to His love and grace.  

Meet Elizabeth below. Her mother died immediately after childbirth leaving her grandmother to care for her. She was not thriving with the cows milk she was currently receiving, so we were able to supply her with baby formula and encouragement to continue caring for this little one! The cost of formula for 7 days, is more than most families would make in a weeks time. 

This is Rachel. She is the newest member of Afayo! She is working as a social worker in the village. Rachel has been working with Chris to make sure the most vulnerable children in the village have access to the school we are working with. They have been busy setting up an assessment program that will give an overall picture of the community we are working with. Contact us if you would like to give to this scholarship program that assists the most vulnerable children with an education. 

To God be the glory! Our Farming God's Way demonstration garden, next to our home, in Kaliro, attracted a church group that wanted to be taught about this type of farming! Chris, Patrick, Frances, and Simon were able to spend a Saturday teaching them the basic principles of FGW. 

Frisbee Golf in the village!  During the time Luke was here, he worked with local welders to design, build, and put in a full disc golf course in the village! Below, they are getting ready for the first disc golf tournament:) 

Oh, there is so much more to write.......we are getting ready to welcome visitors in a few weeks! We are all so excited about it! We are also preparing to host a group from our home church in the US in August. We will be putting in a playground at the school in the village! The Sunday School children raised funds over the school year for this! 

There have also been some big changes. As most of you know, our team leaders, the Luckey's left for the States to seek medical treatment for their daughter. As of now, they are not planning to come back in July as planned. We shed tears over this one. We have been quite lonely here in Kaliro and it is difficult living. We often lack electricity, internet, water, church, and English speaking friends. This has led us to pray about moving to another area where we would have more community and less struggles with our children's online school. Our kids have struggled with feeling more alone too, as most of the children around us do not speak English. So...the doors have opened for us to make this move and we are all excited about it. We won't be that much farther from the village and we were already running to Iganga or Jinja 3 days a week for food, banking, airtime, gas, medical, and other things we could not find in Kaliro. We make the move in a week. My sister and brother in law are staying in Jinja for the next few weeks as they finish up their adoptions, so we are hoping to spend a little more time with them! 

Lastly, we are looking for a sponsor for our friend Betty. She is friends with Esther who we have been helping for the past year and a half and friends of ours are sponsoring her through college. Betty is a very bright girl who desires to continue her education. She is a total orphan. Without a sponsor, her chances of continuing her education would be difficult. She would be starting college this fall. It is about 2,000 US dollars per year for a student to attend college here in Uganda. She would probably be attending for 3 years. She is currently helping us in our home. Our kids love her. Let us know if you feel the Lord prompting you to help her! Our email is fisher family@live.com

A huge thank you to all of our friends and family who continue to stand with us in prayer and financially as we be Jesus Hands and Feet to the people here in Uganda. Chris just had the opportunity to share Christ and His Grace with 3 muslims in their 20's. This reminded me of our friends and family praying back home. We cherish and need your prayers as we have days we feel we can't go on or we don't have the words.........these are the days when things like this happen and we Know someone is praying because from somewhere, the words come, and we continue......walking in His power. 

Love to all our family and friends! 

Chris and Michelle