November Update from the Clark Family in Africa

 

 

 

 

A Month of Thanks

Thanksgiving is the most American of holidays. Including our Canadian brethren to the north, a day set aside to be thankful is unique in this world. We try to explain Thanksgiving here and it just sounds like we are grateful for eating a lot of food; which isn't a bad explanation, 'cause what I wouldn't give for some Greenburg smoked turkey dipped in cranberry sauce. Last year we had the distraction of the Agriculture School to keep our focus off missing candied sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows. This year Dora's birthday will occupy our end of month festivities. She wanted to have a Hawaiian Luau, which would have been an indoor event in Texas, but here it's warm enough to make fresh flower leis.

We have much to be thankful for. Jeri comes back from a successful trip to Germany tomorrow. We purchased the car that many of you contributed towards. Except for the red head getting his weekly sunburn we have all been healthy this year. Yes, we miss family and friends. Yes, the fall chill and seasonal colors are Jeri's favorite part of the year. And yes, I miss my wife spending all day cooking my favorite meal of the year. But in perspective of where we live and why we are here we couldn't be more blessed. For all the things we miss we rely on you. So post your pictures of a full table of food. Take lots of selfies with loved ones. Update your status regularly as you wait for the turkey to roast. We live through those moments and are connected to you just as you are to us when you comment our posts.

In the spirit of giving I wanted the children to be a part of your social media landscape so we photographed them and added text to make them memes that you can use in your communications. They were good sports about it, especially Zoe. It takes a very confident young woman to let her father talk her into the photo she took.

Enjoy the beginning of your Holiday season and say an extra prayer for loved ones who are separated from their families.

And just for fun...
Six years ago Jeri and the girls went to California without me and the three young'uns. The end of this October Jeri left me alone with the children for three weeks. Well I couldn't let that go without recreating that moment from 2009. I always say the key to good parenting is consistency. 
 

October Update 2015

Six is the Loneliest Number

This month’s update will not be about what has passed but about what we are looking forward to. In a couple of weeks Jeri has been invited to deliver a baby in Germany. A client who had a home birth previously is stationed with her family in Ramstein and is hiring her to come midwife her next delivery. Jeri is very excited and yet the journey comes with some challenges.

The most obvious challenge when going from an equatorial nation to a northern climate country where they are already starting to get snow flurries–how to dress appropriately. Unfortunately we don’t have a large outdoor chain store that sells colder climate outerwear. The best she can do is get a sweatshirt? Layers and lots of them and then when she gets there rent a coat? She will only need it for a couple of weeks!? But what can you do… there is never any need for cold weather gear here in Uganda.

The next challenge is timing the birth. This is not the couple’s first child so there is a history of delivery timing, but you never know. All parties are aware of the risks and limitations of trying to predict when the baby will come. They have given themselves a two-week window and crossed their fingers. We will pray that the timing is good and the baby comes while Jeri is there.

Because Jeri is really wants to deliver a baby. Uganda has proven uncooperative in letting just anybody deliver babies. She has been working with a local midwife, but the journey is long to the birthing center.  It is not the easiest place to get to, especially when taking a very crowded bus over a dusty road filled with potholes.  This makes it challenging to arrive at the birthing center in time.  Also, Uganda really wants their midwives to have a Uganda license.  Her licensure should be fine to work in Uganda, but she needs to serve at the local hospital for six weeks in order to receive her permit.  Part of our hesitation to get this accomplished has been due to transportation problems.  Hopefully, Lord willing, this will be resolved soon,

The other event she is looking forward to is a midwife conference that will take place during her stay and within proximity of her client’s home. Apparently this is a big international practitioner’s gathering and Jeri just happens to be able to go. Hopefully it is mostly indoors. And hopefully the baby cooperates.

The saddest part of this journey is of course the five children and husband she will be leaving for two-weeks. I don’t want to sound too pathetic but we are going to be alone. Jeri is setting up lesson plans so the children can continue their school and hopefully we’ll have a car by then …but, she is leaving us. Two years ago Jeri left me us to go to Uganda and have a missions’ experience–and fell in love with this country. Now we are here. Who knows what will happen if she goes to Europe for two-weeks?

Please pray for Jeri, and me us. The client is covering her travel and some expenses but we will need to get some incidentals, some warm clothes and stuff like that. Pray for travel safety and keep up with her on Facebook for her update posts. We’ll update you in November how it went

 The children have joined a local homeschool group. They gave presentations about their favorite things. Liesel demonstrated how to play the Cups game. Dora gave a lesson on taking blood pressure. Xander went over the details of telling a joke. Jax explained Fibonacci sequences to a bunch of grade school children. They are having a blast.

September Update 2015

They Spent a Million (shillings) to Come See Us  They never produced the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show in Uganda. The millionaire craze that swept the world a few years back (they even made a movie about it) never reached Uganda. Simple fact is being a millionaire here isn't much of an accomplishment. The inflation here is quite high and their base denomination, the shilling, takes three and a half thousand to equal our dollar. You can be a Ugandan millionaire just by going to the ATM. Most purchases here favor the exchange rate. This is one of the reasons we recommend Uganda as a short term mission destination. We are Ugandan millionaires. We don't seek it out and certainly the goal of any funds we receive is to improve the opportunities of our local neighbors not get rich. We have also used support to increase the development of the base here at Hopeland both in our housing and agriculture supplies. Your giving allowed us to add to the budget of last team we hosted to buy more materials for the project at the village birthing center. Of course any financial accomplishment we have managed is because we are merely the extension of the folks in the States who send us support. So many have invested in Africa that we are constantly looking for new areas to minister. With our most recent guests we visited a children's home in our district that has 37 disabled children. Home of Hope was founded by a mother whose son was born with cerebral palsy. With no local support she opened up her home to other children with disabilities and now ten years later she takes care of all who come. Sadly disabilities like CP, epilepsy, encephalitis, and downs are harshly judged here and many times the staff will open the front gate in the morning to find someone has abandoned their child in the dirt. It is a grim reality but it all changes when you stop hearing the history and just sit down with the children; well you can try to sit down as soon as guests arrive you are pushing children on swings, talking walks with the wheel chair able and handing out sweeties. We had a wonderful visit and hope to return often. As we posted last month we have been loaned a car for six weeks. It was because of this car we were able to go to Home of Hope. Without a car we couldn't make it. Public transport doesn't go that far away from the village and hiring a car would be too limiting for the frequency we'd like to go. The village birthing center also falls into the category of, "We'd go more often if we had a car." So after a year of not having a car we are reaching out to ask for a vehicle. We have one in mind from a friend in Kampala that took very good care of it and is willing to give us a deal. Out the door with servicing, insurance, new tires, and registration we need $4,000 USD. We've been given $1,000 already and pray to get the rest before the middle of this month. Many of you have seen our biggest news which is Sarah and Aaron Bunch came all the way from Texas to visit us. The children had no idea and what a surprise it was. If you haven't seen the video of the children's faces when they walked up you are in for a treat. We had a amazing ten days with them and look forward to them bringing a team next year. If you'd like to come out and do some worthwhile ministry, visit another country, and perhaps see some wild animals (and I don't mean our children) let us know; it's why we're here.

As much as we have have learned about the Ugandans and their culture from riding public transportation, it is time to own our own vehicle. If you would like to help in this process please follow through on the fundraising site by clicking here.

August Update 2015

One Year Ago
Last Thursday marked our first year in Uganda. It has been quite the year of milestones. Our first year of foreign service, a year of being totally dependant on God for our finances, and our first year of not owning or driving an automobile.

In a nation where private car ownership is not the norm and roads are not maintained one would think a break from vehicle maintenance, insurance, refueling and driving in congestion would be refreshing. However over the past year getting back and forth from church, purchasing tools and building supplies, and joining with homeschool groups in town has proved to be challenging if not impossible in many cases. Just going to the store and getting a box of groceries (yep, a box) strapping it to the back of a motorcycle and schlepping it up the dusty hillside is exhausting. Our friends from South Africa have left to visit home and have loaned us their van for six weeks. We have only driven it twice but I’m not sure we will be able to go back to public transportation after they return. Next month we will begin the process of fundraising for our own vehicle. There have been many opportunities for ministry that we have not been able to pursue because of lack of transportation. If you know of any organizations who specialize in funding ministry vehicles for overseas missions let us know, we’ll need all the help we can get.

We welcomed a Family Ministry School for several weeks of outreach here at Hopeland this month. They organized a children’s event, ministered in the hospital, served in the village, and helped refurbish our friend’s birth center. Jeri and Dora have been working at the Good Samaritan Birth Center for almost as long as we have been here. They even spent a night in the guest quarters hoping for a baby to be born. The midwife, Christine, has a well appointed facility but has little time or resources to get up to the requirements for national registry. We combined our own personal resources with the team and were able to buy several liters of paint, wood for furnishings, and supplies for cleaning. They set aside three days and postponed a day-off to complete the job. The second day we arrived, Christine came running out to bring Jeri and Dora in to catch a baby. It was not her first delivery in Africa, but out of the hospital and sharing it with Dora made it special. The team lost no momentum and neither did the baby’s mama, two hours later she was on the back of a motorcycle with her new bundle of joy and headed home. The team was amazed at how issues of personal care are overlooked but equally impressed with how Christine managed it all. Christine still has a number of projects to complete but some deep cleaning, a new coat of paint, and some extra seats made a world of difference and she was thrilled with the results. This is the second team we’ve hosted as a family here at Hopeland and both have been great. If you would like to journey to a foreign place, that is very safe, and has so many opportunities to do good let us know and we will set it up for you.

Liesel got dunked in Africa! Two weeks ago Liesel chose to accept Jesus as her savior. Last weekend she got into an inflated pool in the middle of the sanctuary and declared to everyone that Jesus is her Lord, and then got baptized. Little did she know it would be so cold. She braved it and now is a part of a big family. We couldn’t be prouder and know her life will be a blessing to many.

Monthly Update July 2015

We grew food. We fed people. Can we come home now?

The rains have come and gone. The beans have grown, harvested, and prepared in the kitchen. The maize is putting on cobs and will be ready to collect in a week or two. Mission accomplished, are we finished? Not yet. Though we have seen much providence in the soil there is still much to do. We have grown the local crops as well as our neighbors but that is short of the calling that brought us to Africa. We want to be a place of hope and a center for learning and transformation in this nation. So we have to produce more than just our neighbors, we have to grow more variety than just the usual crops, and we have to do it in a way that is sustainable for everyone. This season we tried zucchini, yellow summer squash, and acorn squash, unfortunately most were lost to the abundance of worms in the soil. Our broccoli never quite flowered but the leaves were delicious. Tomatoes did well but needed better caging. All in all some good experiments and we will get more seedlings ready for the next rains. If you think of some seed that will grow in only ten hours of sunshine, heavy clay soil, and lots of rain send it to us; we'll give it a try.

Answering Our Call

Many of you responded to our recent call for support and prayer on behalf of seven year-old Arnold. The grandson of Ruth, a woman in Jeri's Friday Bible study, Arnold was born with severe cerebral palsy. His whole life has been a struggle of survival. Unable to eat the staple foods of the Ugandan diet, his caretakers have tried to provide for his special diet. Without assistance they have barely scraped by these past seven years. As you might imagine, there are no additional resources for emergencies and when he gets sick it is hard to get him to eat at all. Two weeks ago we got word Arnold was ill and not eating and so we sent help to get him seen by a doctor. Circumstances prevented his transport so Jeri stepped forward and visited his place. Shocked that this seven year-old boy weighed only 15 pounds she put out the call for prayer and many answered. She organized transport, got him admitted to the malnutrition ward at Jinja Children's Hospital, and set up his aunt to stay with him. The next week we visited them and took them more food and supplies (the children are fed but the caregivers are left to provide for some meals). While Jeri took Arnold and his mom for X-rays at another clinic and more supplies, we stayed back, sang songs, prayed for families, and colored with the children—anything to provide distraction from the endless days of waiting for their children to get well. In Uganda, the caregiver has to stay with the patient, helping to clean them, do all their laundry, and to get meals. It is no small job! The caregiver lies usually on a mat on the concrete floor in one big room crowded with beds and patients and children. This is quite the sacrifice to care for him, especially since he could be in the hospital for a month or more. Arnold still has a way to go before he can come home but thanks to those who gave we have a reserve to get him well and support his caregivers so they can stay with him.

Monthly Update June 2015

If you’re cheap like me many of your apps have the designation “lite” in them. Why pay for the full version of something they are giving away? I get bored with most games before I exhaust the free levels and the productivity apps are too dependent on the internet to be of much use. The business model of give the consumer a taste and they’ll come back for more has proven as successful with Angry Birds as it has with narcotics as it has with missions. This month we had a group from the YWAM Tyler base come out and give Foreign Missions Lite a try.  

Youth With A Mission has been pioneering short-term missions since the sixties. The idea that a bunch of inexperienced youth could train for three months and then just go and share the good news with people was radical 50 years ago and is still polarizing today. Our family and those that serve like us are out and don’t intend to come back anytime soon. These short-term teams are out just long enough to see the need, smell non-conditioned air, taste the difference of something foreign, and most importantly feel the stretch of doing hard things. 

This group of young people spent a month in Uganda and finished out their tour here at Hopeland. In Kampala they worked in inner city areas and reached out to street kids. In Iganga they worked in a village with the locals and witnessed to many Muslims. Out on Buvuma Island they showed the Jesus Film and performed dramas. Here in Jinja they worked the maize field, refurbished mosquito screens on our staff house, and visited a children’s home. They ate a lot of posho, got a lot of bug bites, rode in very cramped vehicles, took nothing but cold showers and according to them had a great experience. 

And what are our lives but the collection of our experiences and interactions with those around us?

Will they all go on to become full-time foreign missionary workers? Maybe. Did their ministry make a difference in a Ugandan’s walk with God? Maybe. Will their presence here have lasting impact on the nation of Uganda? Maybe. Did they ruin themselves for the ordinary and change their perspective of the world around them? Definitely. That change extends to the friends and family that sent them, the youth groups they go back and share with, and the innumerable social media connections that “like” their internet posts. Add that to all the “maybe”s of permanent influence and we’ll take a team of mzungus any day. These future leaders of our nation spent what could have been spent on a vacation, saw a new part of the world, lived in challenging conditions, and survived. What else could you hope for the young people of this generation or the countless young people who have ventured forth since 1963?

The bait and switch of YWAM is we get you to come to a discipleship program with the premise of training you to be a missionary and then turn the focus from changing the world to changing the participant. We are glad to be a part in these kid’s process to being more available to God and learning to hear his voice. If you’d also like to experience and serve in a majority world culture let us know, we’ll make a space for you.

In children news Liesel lost the first of her front teeth. The Tooth Fairy unfortunately left her Tanzanian shillings and she got shorted in the exchange rate.

Monthly Update May 2015

 Weddings and Weeding

April showers bring May flowers. What do May flowers bring? Weddings! We attended our first Ugandan wedding this month when the Kitchen Director got married. Her kitchen and staff was one of the first photo essays in Africa Zoe collected on film so she asked us to come and shoot her wedding, I went along to keep Zoe company. We were assured we were the only photographers she asked but as you can imagine as soon as things got going out came every image capturing device people have and we were off to the races. One of the things that photographers will do here is without invitation people will shoot a wedding, both still and on video, and if you like it they'll sell it to you. Most were just friends and loved ones who wanted images for their own personal memories, I guess. It goes beyond a culture that just got a new toy and has to use it for everything, folks just crowded in for every moment. Zoe did a wedding shoot in the States and her mentor guided her how to be invisible. Photographers are necessary but they need to capture the moment without becoming part of the moment. As you can see in the top photo that's just not how it is done here. One official photographer, one videographer on speculation, and then as many as ten people who would just come right up and take pictures or video. Zoe quickly adapted and jumped right into the fray. I don't believe any elbows were thrown but she certainly had to push in to get the shot. That is the way here. They don't value confrontation so if you need something or are in a hurry you just do it. If you wait, it's because you've got nowhere better to be. The big thing that makes them get on schedule is when the rains come. 

And boy have they come. We went from two and a half months of nothing to well over 40 inches in thirty-nine days (I say "well over" because my home-made rain gauge tops out at four inches). We'll keep getting rain through May, maybe a bit more in June, but that will be all we get for the short growing season. The long growing season goes from August to December and that's when most of the crops are grown but this short season is still important. As you know from previous posts we were ready to plant. The beans and corn we got going are all doing well and of course so are the weeds. The picture below is one of our base work crews weeding the bean field. We also have another crew weeding Mondays and Tuesdays. All that grass behind us will become mulch next week so once we get this round of weeds cleared we can slow down the next set from growing. Yes, a nice treatment of weed killing spray would make this all hard labor unnecessary, but that kind of defeats our goal here of soil restoration and sustainability. Just as confused as we are about photographing a wedding the Ugandans are just as confused about our weeding.

One thing they do appreciate is natural medicine. When we covered this subject last year in the Ag School, Jeri was able to attend. Now she has the opportunity to share with her Bible study group what the plants they already know have to offer them. The irony of course is the foreigner has to educate them about their native plants. Just as in the States, the passing down of traditions is challenging and much of the knowledge from previous generations has been forgotten. But nobody likes going to the doctor especially when the remedy grows in your back yard.

Thank you for following our journey. Your participation and support allows us to bring education and resources to those who hope to end their poverty.

Monthly Update April

Here comes the rain ...for real. The rains have arrived. In Uganda that means it is time to plant. In the past week we’ve seen over 12 inches of rainfall mostly at night. During the day we measure and plant. Here in YWAM Hopeland, Ugandans are learning the value of mulch. The Farming God’s Way technique of planting that we follow calls mulch God’s Blanket. Even though it is just cut grass, there never seems to be enough of it. We will start our compost for the vegetable gardens soon and it will require more grass as well. We must move forward not fearing scarcity. If we truly believe in God’s provision for our gardens and our lives we must live as though there will be enough, even an abundance. This is so much different than what the world teaches. If you get more then someone else gets less. For you to win someone has to lose. We rob from Peter to pay Paul. But we believe in a messiah that fed 5,000 people with three small buns and two fish. Not only was there enough, there was an abundance. We are naming our fields after the Fruits of the Spirit. There isn’t a fruit of abundance because we expect them all to be abundant. Many believe Africa can not only feed itself but also the world. Thank you for helping us train Africans to grow beyond their fear of scarcity. 

Jeri leads a group of local HIV+ women who meet every Friday for support and the study of scripture. AIDS has ravaged Africa, and those who are diagnosed with this disease do suffer with many obstacles. One of these was lack of education. They come to the Bible study because they know only God can minister to their need and they know that comes with the study of scripture, but many of them are illiterate. The Ugandan Bible Society has adapted a device that speaks to that challenge. A solar powered audio Bible with the scripture in the local language that has a headphone jack as well as a speaker. Jeri found this resource and reached out to our supporters for help. Ten people received her plea and now twenty women and families have the Word of God available to them in a language they can understand. We went all the way to Kampala to collect them and Jeri and the girls presented them to the women at their end of the month feast. The joy these women had in hearing the word of God was such a gift.  It was a true party! What a privilege to be your ambassadors and give these women your expression of love and compassion for the people of Uganda. 

Easter is upon us and our church gave the children’s ministry the opportunity to present a resurrection drama on Palm Sunday. Xander was a Roman guard, Liesel was one of the ribbon dancers, and Jax was Jesus! He did such a good job. The children have missed their community theater opportunities since being here so this was a great chance for them to perform and bring glory to God this season.

Monthly Update March 2015

Without Television
I am a product of my generation. Television is my friend. When I was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s television was the reward for doing homework. In my family we watched Cosby and A-Team before bedtime. In my mind the achievement of adulthood was staying up late. My family teases that I stayed up so late watching TV that the TV would end up watching me. My children looked forward to Sunday nights to watch the Amazing Race and imagine if they could survive in a foreign country. Now we are in a foreign country and the TV that was my constant companion since childhood has been left behind. We have a variety of digital media that we watch from a hard drive and DVDs. Somebody sent us the entire I Love Lucy series which we enjoy regularly. We have also discovered the show Parenthood, which we watch after the children go to bed. The show’s opening credits include photos of the principle cast as children, encouraging you to believe that these people have grown up together. Even
though we know these actors had no prior relationship before they were cast, for the sake of the show we believe they all belong to the Braverman family. Almost in the same way Family Ties made me believe Meredith Baxter-Birney raised Alex, Mallory and Jennifer Keaton. Sometimes Parenthood presents such a strong case for family strength I want to be a part of their family as well. As a child I wanted to be a part of the family with a mother who was a lawyer and a father who was a doctor (and former stand-up comedian) with their five children, even if I would’ve been their only white child (and thirty years ago every Thursday night for 22 minutes I kind of was). Television is a powerful medium for showing us something beyond ourselves whether it is a race around the world or how a family could live with and love each other, no matter what.

Here in Uganda we are nearing the end of the long dry season and preparing for the rains to come. On the property we are still focusing on soil restoration. This means planting in some spaces that haven’t been used for a while so we can let the overworked areas lie fallow. Crop rotation is not a traditional farming method here which reduces the soil’s ability to grow healthy crops. One of these places is a forgotten sweet potato field that may or may not produce this season because the soil has no life in it. Normally we don’t do this much digging (see above photo) but to clear the weeds and get some order back to this plot we had to bust up the abandoned potato mounds. The children have been helpful in getting this space ready and developing our sunflower garden. We have a number of seedlings growing and as soon as the rain starts we’ll start transplanting.

When asked why I chose agriculture the answer is easy, I like to eat. When asked why Africa? I go back to my TV families, I like to belong. Last week I got to share my testimony with the whole base. I told them the story of our son Wilson and how his death crushed us and could have ended our hope. Instead, we put our trust in God, steadied ourselves with those around us, and took the next step. God gave us grace and our family grew. Along the way God brought others to us who wanted to belong. For better or worse Ugandans didn’t have exposure to the Huxtables or the Bradys or the Taylors (if you go all the way back to Mayberry) to give them an example of what family could be. They have family. Their clan or tribe is valued above their nation, but they are approaching a crisis where the children out number the adults. When this generation is gone, leadership will be left to children who have no model to follow. Our mission here as a family is to do that. Be a family. In a small way we model the idea that there is another way besides the way it has always been done. We strive to represent that in farming and in family. Thank you for supporting us to bring hope to the people of Uganda.

Photos, top from left, The Family busting up the soil chunks in an obviously posed shot, a better posed group shot, Jax watering sunflowers. Bottom row, Jeri and Zoe singing with the worship team, our mandazi version of french toast, Sean sharing at weekly devotion.

Over a year ago we declared our intentions to represent you and do something bigger in this world. So many folks came alongside us and supported us, without you none of this is possible. We are only just beginning. We have big plans and dreams not only to improve the lives of our Ugandan community but to deliver some new lives as well. These posts will hopefully keep you connected to us and the work you sent us to do.

Monthly Update February 2015

Six Months
January marked our six-month anniversary in Uganda. If we were dating, people would mock our commemorating such a brief duration of commitment. But like an adolescent romance they wouldn’t understand how much we love this country. We ride on the backs of motorcycles or in crowded taxis and get a new vista of landscape around every turn. We are greeted daily by locals who praise our efforts and impart to us well being. And our children are protected and adored by the very people we have come to serve. Showing our affection for this nation was getting the girls’ hair braided in the local fashion. The procedure, management, and duration of the plaits had unique benefits and drawbacks that as a bald man I could not appreciate. Obviously much time was required in a chair both to apply and remove the braids. Apparently once the hair was done scratching the scalp is prohibited which also had the benefit of not having to wash it as frequently. All the attention it garnered was fun and the Ugandans genuinely seem pleased when westerners embrace their culture. The girls are receptive to getting the braids in the future but for the time being like to be able to turn their heads without getting smacked in the face.



Another Shipment of Love
Poverty is broken relationship. Poverty is insufficiency of options. People die from poverty. Poverty is not running out of Skittles. Yet every time a care package has come from the States and we exhaust the treats and consumables within we are confronted with our western sense of poverty. We are not making light of the true suffering that exists in this world but expressing the great homesickness that comes when our supply of familiar comforts runs out. It is not so debilitating that we are not able to go without. We do seem to be building up our endurance in between shipments. As sad as it sounds the exuberance that comes when we open the zipper on a duffle or cut the tape on a box is above and beyond what you can imagine. Folks have been so generous in sending these bundles of hope and love. It may seem an exaggeration but believe us when we tell you receiving that package with mechanical pencils and duct tape and Kraft macaroni and cheese in it is like breaking the surface and gasping air when you’ve been held under water just 30 seconds too long. The effort and expense that y’all have extended to us is nothing short of divine providence and we can’t possibly thank you enough. We know it must seem silly all this rejoicing over material items, but truly it reminds us that we are not forgotten. It reminds us that you are out there, thinking of us, and you are willing to go the extra mile to send a box of Little Debbies and Starbucks Via packets. If you’ve had a notion to send something across and save a drowning bunch of white people we will be more than grateful.

Building a Future
Even in America we are a larger than average family, more numerous (and taller), especially than they are used to accommodating here in Uganda. As we shared last month we are living in a former guest house, which is nice, but we really need a place to call our own. There is an office bungalow that with little effort could be converted into a suitable dwelling. We felt this was a better option than building a new structure for cost effectiveness and speed of occupancy. Our initial projected budget of $15,000 doesn’t seem like much to build a home for a family of seven but with lower material cost, donated labor, and our tax return we are sure God will provide for whatever needs arise. If you are interested in seeing what building a home looks like in Uganda we invite you to join us. If you can’t come and help us here, a special gift would go a long way. If God has placed a burden on your heart for the future of Africa, this is the beginning of our ministry in a new era. Hopeland is positioning itself to raise a generation of young people to lead the nation. As Uganda moves forward–Africa follows. Your investment here will affect the entire continent.
Click here if you would like to give.

A year ago we declared our intentions to represent you and do something bigger in this world. So many folks came alongside us and supported us, without you none of this is possible. We are only just beginning. We have big plans and dreams not only to improve the lives of our Ugandan community but to deliver some new lives as well. These posts will hopefully keep you connected to us and the work you sent us to do.

Monthly Update January 2015

Our First Chicken in Uganda
We purchased two live chickens from a local farmer and named them Supper and Dinner. Our local friend Marion came out to instruct us in the proper way to process a Ugandan chicken. Turns out it is just like it is done in the States. For about seven dollars you can have a fresh chicken dinner, if you are willing to do the messy work of killin' and plucking. There may be other tastier homeschool lessons but most other anatomy lessons don't allow you to finish with dinner. We ate "Dinner" that night and sent "Supper" home with Marion to surprise her family. Buying local will have to be a special treat until we can get our own flock going. One of our goals for 2015 is to raise our own chickens for eggs and meat production. We have some coop building to do before that (if you'd like to contribute towards our first African chicken coop let us know). The local breed, called a kroiler, is for eggs and eating and is supposed to be quite delicious, we'll keep you updated.


The Mzungu Midwife Gets Busy
Jeri and Dora found the pregnant people! If the Ugandans who live far out in the villages want to have babies in the town hospital, they often have to travel out of the jungle sometimes on the back of bicycles to the crossroads where they get a taxi. They have to travel on a road that has more potholes and obstructions than pavement which is not fun for a laboring mother. Good Samaritan Birth Center was raised up out of a need for these women to get care in a more obtainable location. Really just a spare room in her home, Christine has delivered up to ten babies in one night! Her story began when she inadvertently delivered a baby during a routine taxi stop where the driver wouldn't let the mother on because he was afraid they wouldn't make it to the hospital in time. Christine, a young Ugandan woman had just finishing her midwife training so she got off and delivered the baby. She later learned this was the hub for mothers heading to town and decided to come back after her residency was completed and established her clinic there. A widowed mother of three children she usually works alone but has accepted the assistance of Jeri and Dora with great happiness. These mothers would not get any prenatal care without Christine's services, exactly what God told Jeri she would be doing in Uganda—helping Ugandan women have safe and healthy births.

There may even be opportunity to bring in western midwife students to further their birthing experience. This is a growth opportunity for development and life saving assistance. If you have any burden for mothers getting better care during pregnancy, don't hesitate to reach out to Jeri. She has a lot of ideas to support Christine and her calling and would love some prayer and financial partners. Christine gets very little money to run her birth center and Jeri has lots of ideas of ways to improve their care. Dora has also written about her experience at the birth center. You can read her post at clark-kids-in-africa.blogspot.com 

The Clarks Take an African Holiday
Our oldest daughter turned 16 in Africa. Unable to give her a sweet sixteen party or buy her a car (a common gift at this age according to MTV) we opted for a safari trip at one of the many wildlife parks here in Uganda. The Queen Elizabeth Park in the southern corner of the country has elephants, water buffalo, crocodiles, hippos, lions and 90 other species of animalia. We saw our share. In one section of the park we watched as another party drove off the beaten path to a outcrop of bushes that our guide told us was a known place for lions. We couldn't follow because that party had paid extra for "special experience." We continued to come across antelope, wart hog and buffalo until our guide came across a park employee who gave us some privileged information. He jumped back into the van and off we went into the savanna. A couple of twists and turns and we also found some lions. Being mid-morning they were halfway to settling in for their daily siesta, but they were right there. We've been closer to the king of beasts in several zoos but to see them free was a "special experience." Later in the day when we saw the hippo, buffalo, and elephant all associating by the river's edge with no guardian watching out to make sure they were behaving, it gave us pause to realize how powerful and awesome God's creation is. What an honor to enjoy some of the richness this country has to offer. Of course because Zoe's birthday is also Christmas day the expedition needed to be a special day for all. Thankfully the trip above and beyond compensated for being away from all the usual holiday traditions and fellowship that we missed not being in the States... mostly (we miss all of you dearly).

The only tradition we were able to observe was our annual picture with Santa. We sought out African Father Christmas on a hunch and he didn't disappoint. I doubt he had any clue about why we were so excited to find him but he was enthusiastic nonetheless. His inclusion made a fine addition to our 15 year ritual (to see the collection check my Photo Albums).

A year ago we declared our intentions to represent you and do something bigger in this world. So many folks came alongside us and supported us, without you none of this is possible. We are only just beginning. We have big plans and dreams not only to improve the lives of our Ugandan community but to deliver some new lives as well. These posts will hopefully keep you connected to us and the work you sent us to do.