A Full, Quiet Week

This week has been going MUCH differently than the last few weeks we've been here. Tyler brought the 8 McCourtney children to be with their parents a few hours away from here. The other woman living here, Theresa, is spending a few days in the capitol city, Kampala. So we're here with a few others, and even with 5 children... it's... very... quiet...

Before coming to Uganda, I had it settled in my heart, that even though I'm a missionary, I am a wife and a momma first. This week of just us has been a slight challenge for me to get back to that basic idea. I'm not here to fill my days with world-saving-super-saint skills. I'm here to love my husband and train my children for Christ. If something else arises during my day, praise the Lord. If not, my ministry is still at home, and I praise the Lord for that too.

All that said, God has brought many opportunities straight to me here at home. We've been working through some deep-rooted heart issues in some of the staff. Bringing all that we can into the light so as to not let Satan have his way with lies and jealousy and sin. It's so good to get things into the open. Also, a woman I've never met before came by today for me to pray for her. She wanted me to pray that this one man would "come to his senses" and come back to her so she could get married and have children. I was able to explain God's plan for marriage. By the look on her face, I could tell she didn't care at all about the one-man-with-one-woman-for-life concept. She just wanted a baby. Marriage is so skewed here. I guess it's skewed in America too... probably everywhere. But here in Uganda, it's completely normal for men to have multiple wives. Many MANY people ask Tyler if these are all of his children. They are SHOCKED when the answer is yes. It's a rarity. A common problem in the church is when men get their lives right with God... which wife and family do they stay with? I'm BLESSED beyond measure to be able to live out the example of a Godly marriage to these people who sincerely want to do what the Bible says. They've just never been taught.

From Tyler's perspective, this week has been quite full. He's been overseeing some building going on here on the property. The main kitchen where teams/Bible school students will stay (once Zane is in America with all of his children) has been remodeled.

Those two round holes to my right are
for charcoal and a pot on top.
We will have someone form clay around the holes
that are there to form "earth cookers." 

We're having a separate kitchen built for our family. It includes a wood-fire oven for bread baking in order to provide an income for some of the ladies here. NO ONE has an oven around here. That's why we chose bread baking. We're hoping to get contracts with some local restaurants and stores. Our kitchen will be finished next week sometime. WOOHOO! That means brownies for this preggie momma, folks... :)

Building materials.

Amazing masons.

Tyler is also preparing for Sunday, his first day teaching at church. He and Ryan (missionary from New Mexico) are trading off the teaching every two months at this point - unless God intervenes and shows them to do something else.

Tyler has been teaching the staff here a Biblical Finance class once a week. Many of them were asking for an advance in their pay at the end of the month. Tyler is teaching them basic principles like budgeting, tithing, saving, spending responsibly, etc. It's so good. We'd love to kick these people out some day to go do this ministry on their own in a different village as we train another bunch to do the same. This financial training is necessary in order to do that.

Right now, Tyler is at the prison with a few other men sharing the love of Jesus to the unlovely. I wish he'd be able to take pictures so we could see. It's so awkward to take pictures... We always feel funny whipping out a camera that costs as much as someone would get paid in six-months' time. I even feel funny drinking a cup of coffee in front of locals... it's a luxury!

The coolest thing that happened this week was when our neighbor Caroline (I've mentioned her husband Julius) came over with their niece they are raising. Lily is 11 years old, and basically runs the house alongside Caroline. She cooks many meals, washes every dish, goes to the borehole to pump for water, washes the clothes, cares for the other children... she is REMARKABLE. Anyway, Lily wasn't feeling well, so Caroline brought her over for prayer and maybe some Tylenol. Tyler and I decided it wouldn't hurt (other than a finger poke) to test for Malaria. We happen to have a case full of Malaria test kits and meds. Sure enough, she had it. Here in Uganda, Malaria is very common, and very treatable. The problem is, most people don't have the money or transport to get to the clinic to be treated. Julius and Caroline probably would have waited a week until Lily was super sick to take her to the clinic. Once Malaria goes to the brain, it is deadly. If it is caught early, it's like the flu. I PRAISE GOD we caught Lily's malaria the very first day she showed any symptoms. She was down for about a day, and cost us $4 to test and treat her. Awesome.

Lily and her baby cousin.
 (All girls have hair that short here.)

So there's the past 4 days in review. It feels real quiet around here, but after typing out what we've been up to, I guess we've been busy? Thanks to ALL of you who pray for us. None of this is possible in our own strength or effort. We give God the glory for anything good that possibly happens here.