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| We rode there in the back of his goat truck! |
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| It rained at the end of our visit so we sought shelter under a metal structure. It turned chilly so fast! P.S. - Uganda is on the equator! ;-) |
The site was quite amazing. Scott purchased some land which is part of Sole Hope's property and he has plans to eventually own 80 goats. As the goats multiply, he gives them to families and organizations in need. To learn more about Give a Goat, please visit their website at http://give-a-goat.com .
We ended our day with a super fun dance party with the two other adoptive families here at our guest house. We danced to Waka Waka, songs from the Lion King soundtrack, Cupid Shuffle, and Taylor Swift. It was good to have some joy around here because spirits have been pretty down lately. Thank you so much for praying for the two other families here. I truly hope they can go home soooon!
On tap for tomorrow: a visit to AMAZIMA MINISTRIES!
Day 44: Thursday, March 10, 2016 - Today we got to visit some of the work of AMAZIMA MINISTRIES! The girls and I love Katie Davis's book, Kisses From Katie, so it was really neat to see what they do here in Uganda in person. They work in Masese, Jinja, Uganda (where the ladies make the beads they sell on their website) and in Buziika. We visited Buziika because that is where most of their ministry activities take place.
Katie was not there but her husband was and he's the one that actually did our tour! Of course the kids favorite part was the playgrounds made so creatively from recycled materials...
He showed us their land which is divided into several different plots for growing crops and he shared how they utilize Farming God's Way. Here's just a few of the great things they do...
- community training on farming, land preservation, and sanitation.
- they have a great mentoring program for kids where currently 46 Ugandans are matched with a child who they disciple and help them grow spiritually.
- help with school work and any social concerns they might be having.
- On Saturdays, about 700 children visit their land. They attend a worship/prayer service, eat a good meal, hang out with their mentors, and have lots of fun playtime.
Lots of amazing things are going on on their land. For more info, you can check them out at https://amazima.org and if you haven't read Kisses From Katie yet, we highly recommend it. The audio version is our favorite. ๐
After dinner tonight, we walked to the Italian Guest House up the road for some gelato. We leave for Kampala Saturday so we wanted to make sure we ate some one last time.
We told the owner, Alba, that we were leaving soon and she turned to Mercy and said, "Where are you going when you go home?!" and she said, "Homa!" (Oklahoma) So Alba went inside and came back out with a very old encyclopedia and looked up Oklahoma to show Mercy where she was going. Mercy enjoyed looking at the pictures even though I'm sure she had no idea what Alba was saying. ๐
Update at 10pm: Something crazy is going on outside our guesthouse - lots of cheering, screaming, horns honking. I assume they announced a winner to a local election but not sure. We are safe but it sure is noisy! #TIA ๐
These are just a few pics I took of some bugs I came across while out walking with Mercy. Love their colors! ...
Day 45: Friday, March 11, 2016 - It's a little difficult living out of suitcases so our room is a huge mess! We packed most of the morning and are finishing up tonight.
We leave for Kampala at 9 in the morning and should arrive around noon depending on the traffic. It's bitter sweet leaving our guest house and Jinja. We have really enjoyed staying here and making this our home away from home. The staff has been super sweet and helpful and it's in a great location. We can get most anywhere on a boda (motorcycle taxi) in about 5-15 minutes.
During Mercy's nap time today, I snuck away on a boda to find a copy shop in town. I needed to make copies of our documents for our appointment at the Embassy on Monday. There are many copy shops on Main Street but the power was down at several locations so I had to walk until I found one with electricity. I finally found one and I'm pretty sure the printer was made in the '70's ๐ I had a lot of copies to make and the owner only charged 100 shillings a copy which is about 3 cents each! ๐
After that, I ran into a friend I met in Uganda on my trip this past June in front of the Source Cafe. I hadn't seen her since our trip and only spoke to her once through text when she checked in on me to make sure I was safe because of the local riots. So it was good to bump into her!
I also saw Katie Davis at the Source and told her that her husband gave us a tour of AMAZIMA MINISTRIES yesterday and she said, "I know! He told me! Thank you for visiting!" ๐ (SQUEAL!) Then I raced home just in time for Mercy to wake up crying for me. Whew! Kampala is not easy to get around in like Jinja so I'm sure gonna miss this small town!
We decided to go for one last swim today because it was pretty warm and something fun to do with our friends from the guest house. We tried a new pool called Hotel Paradise On The Nile. The kids loved their little pool and my friend, Lisa, and I liked it because it had a great view of the Nile River.
And great news! Lisa just found out her case in Rome has been approved! She and her 2 kids get to go home soon! Finally, after 4 1/2 months in country. ๐๐๐
And last, I'd like to wish my sister, Angela Lee Owen, a great big happy birthday from Uganda! Hope your day has been great! Love you! ❤️๐❤️๐❤️๐
Prayers for safety tomorrow are appreciated! Our first Embassy appointment is Monday at 10 am. Ready to get this show moving again!
Day 46: Saturday, March 12, 2016 - This morning we had to say our goodbyes to our friends and the staff at our guest house in Jinja :-( ...
Then we moved to the capitol, Kampala, so we could be closer to the U.S. Embassy...
Our first appointment is Monday at 10am UG time!!!
We are staying at Herb & Ellen's, the same guesthouse we stayed at 3 years ago while adopting Asher.
Feels strange being here without Steve. We sure miss him a whole lot and and can't wait to see him again - hopefully soon! If everything goes well at the Embassy, we could possibly be home in about three weeks. We are still praying to #bringMercyhomebyEaster ! As you can see, Mercy is ready! ;-) ...
The "big" room is being used by another family so we had to split into two smaller rooms - me with the littles then the bigs got their own room. They were going to have to sleep one on the floor and one on a twin bed but Mama Harriet (the head chef) was so kind & had bunk beds brought into the room for them. I felt so bad & didn't realize it would be so much work because they had to take the beds apart then put them back together because the door openings weren't big enough for them to fit through :-/ ...
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| This was my room with the littles. Mercy slept in a playpen ;-) |
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| Mercy loves books <3 |
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| Making fast friends! |
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| Playdough! |
After we unpacked and ate lunch, the two other families staying at Herb & Ellen's invited us to go swimming at a place called Noah's Ark. It was only about a 20 minute walk but a little difficult carrying Mercy, our swim gear, and up and down some pretty big hills. Felt good to get moving and get some exercise, though. The pool was pretty crowded with a bunch of kids but I was told it's usually dead during the week. The pool had a DJ cranking out some tunes๓พฏ and at one point he played the Watch Me Whip song. Almost all the kids got out of the pool to sing and dance to it. ๓พณ I thought Asher was going to join them but he decided to stay a spectator. ๓พ
On tap for tomorrow: Watoto Church!
Day 47: Sunday, March 13, 2016 - This morning, we attended Watoto Church with our friend and driver, Francis Onyinge. There's something pretty amazing about church in Uganda. It's hard to describe but Africans just seem to be more free, open, and whole-hearted with their worship. It's quite an experience so we always look forward to Sunday's here.
I'm a total nerd about comparison shots. When Asher got in the van this morning, he waved goodbye to our friends at the guest house. I just happened to catch a pic of it then it reminded me of a similar pic I took of Asher when we were in Uganda three years ago adopting him. So this is Asher at two years old and five ;-) ...
After church, Mercy and I had to get passport photos taken for her medical check-up this week and for us to leave the Entebbe airport to go home.
Then during her nap time, I got all of our paperwork and documents sorted for the Embassy, medical checkup, leaving Entebbe airport, and just in case we get questioned on the way home in Amsterdam.
Feels good to have that done!
Our guest house doesn't serve dinner on Sunday nights so we ate pizza at Caffรจ Roma with the two other adoptive families at our guest house.
They have a playground with hired sitters so that was a treat to be able to sit and take a mommy break for a bit. ๐ They also had pistachio ice cream for 3,000 shillings (about 90 cents!) - SCORE! We had dreams of a circuit training workout together before bedtime but we were too stuffed to move after dinner. ๐
Our doc check at the Embassy is at 10 in the morning (2am Oklahoma time). Prayers are appreciated that I have all the necessary documents needed and that they will allow me to go ahead and proceed with Mercy's medical check-up. Hopefully tomorrow will be another big step closer to coming home!
The day Steve had to go back home was sooo very hard on all of us. We had no idea how long we'd be apart or what our future held.
After we said our see-ya-laters, a driver took Steve to the airport and another driver took me and the kids on to Jinja. I tried to be strong for the kids but couldn't hold back the tears. I just kept thinking about how adoption shouldn't be this hard and I wanted my husband with me because I didn't know if I could do it alone.
Then this song came on the radio...
It reminded me that even in my deep sorrow, I was not alone. I prayed for strength and I know many of you prayed that, too. (Thank you, btw!)
Then yesterday on our way from Jinja to Kampala, that song came on again. This time when I listened to it, it reminded me of how faithful God is. He has been with us this entire time and has never left us. And even though my earthly nature is weak, God gave us strength to do what needed to be done.
We still don't know how long we'll be here or what our future holds, but at least we know we are not in this alone. ❤️
Day 48: Monday, March 14, 2016 - 7:15am - Friends and family, we need prayers now more than ever. I turned in all of our documents to the U.S. Embassy this morning. They said we had everything needed and that it didn't look "concerning" but they may say that to everyone.
I just heard of another case going to Rome today and I am not hearing of anyone being issued visas. ๐ Please, please pray that Mercy's visa is approved. If it goes to Rome, it could take another 2-6 months. It would not be good for Mercy if we had to leave her to go back to the States and wait and it would be horrible if I had to stay here alone. Her case is very cut and dry and should be approved but the embassy is turning away many cases right now. Thank you for continuing to pray!
2:15pm - This morning Mercy and I caught a boda and went to the Embassy for our doc check. It went as well as can be expected. They said I wouldn't hear from them for a few days but I already heard from them tonight with our case number! That gave me permission to fill out a necessary form online that is needed to determine if Mercy should receive her passport or not. I thought it would just be a short questionnaire but it took me almost 2 hours to answer all the questions. And most of them were pretty silly - like "Do you (Mercy) plan on going to the U.S. to participate in acts of terrorism or child trafficking?" You'd think they could come up with more appropriate questions for adoptive families. ;-)
Anyway... Now that doc check is complete we can go get Mercy's medical checkup done. This will take two visits because she'll have to have a TB test and will have to have that read 2 days later. They were able to get us in at 8 in the morning which I am so thankful for because they only schedule visits for Monday, Tuesday, and Fridays.
Thank you for your continued prayers and words of encouragement today. It's hard to not get discouraged when all we keep hearing is bad news but I did hear of a case today that was given a visa and was not sent to Rome. Praying that's true for our case, too!
A few pics from playing outside today...
Day 49: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 - As you know, adoption is filled with so many ups and downs! Yesterday was a down day because we kept hearing so much discouraging news coming out of the Embassy but since then I've heard of two cases that did not go to Rome! We will take all the happy, encouraging news we can get!
And honestly, we are being blown away as to how fast things are moving right now on our case. We really feel like it must be God because things should not be moving this fast!
We had our Embassy appt #1 (doc check) yesterday, IOM #1 (medical exam) this morning (3 hour wait! ๐), Embassy appt #2 tomorrow, and IOM #2 this Thursday. All we have left is Embassy appt #3 and if that goes well we can get Mercy's visa 2 days later! That could still possibly put us home by Easter which is what we've been praying for for so long now. It will still take a miracle but God has already moved mountains this week! I really didn't think we'd hear from the Embassy before Monday but they have been in constant contact with me. Maybe they are tired of us and are trying to kick us out of UG. ๐
Here's a few pics from our day...
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| Mercy's TB test - we go back in two days to have it read. |
We walked with the other two adoptive families from our guest house to a little French bakery called La Patisserie. They have the best sweets! Made our day! ...
On tap for tomorrow: getting Mercy's hair did!
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