Stephen and Jennifer in Uganda

It has now been 5 weeks since we made the move to Uganda and our time here has really flown. The past 3 weeks in which school has been on term break have given us great time to settle and feel more comfortable here. In that time, we have been able to meet with teachers to prep for the new term, continue to set up our apartment and make it feel like home, and also spend some time exploring Uganda and some of its beautiful scenery. We have several highs and a few lows from this break. We were able to do some awesome hiking at Sipi Falls. The hikes included a coffee tour (which was delicious!), three beautiful waterfalls, and one the coolest sunsets that we have ever seen. We also found an awesome local pool where we spent a day relaxing with some of our friends from Amazima. Steve started playing soccer with a group of people at a local health club. It is certainly the most diverse group that Steve has even played with, players are from all over Africa and Europe. Jen has joined a wome...

After our first full week in Uganda we have quite a bit to update you on. First, our prayer request for a car has been answered! The purchase was not a simple process and took hours on the phone with our bank, but our payment finally went through and we will be receiving our car in the next day. Praise God! Up to this point, we have relied on bodas (motorcycles that drive people around) for most of our transportation so it will be much safer to have our car. Also, we have had a number of answered prayers when it comes to preparing our apartment to move in. We have connected with a number of different individuals both from Amazima and the Jinja community that have helped us purchase our furniture and appliances for our apartment. We have one more week (until next Thursday) at the guest house as we continue to set up our apartment, but we are feeling confident that we will be ready for our move when the day comes. Thank you so much for your prayer through the last week! Other than the ...

We are settling in on our first morning in Uganda. Wednesday morning August 8th, we flew direct from Chicago to Ethiopia and then had a short flight from there to Entebbe, Uganda followed by a 4 ½ hour drive to Jinja. Needless to say, we are tired but so excited to be here. We will be staying at a guest house for the next two weeks as we set up our apartment nearby which we will be visiting for the first time today. Later today, we will be setting up our phones as well as getting a tour around Jinja town. We have spoken and met with different people from Amazima and continue to be impressed and encouraged by their kindness and help with the transition. We look forward to going to the final stage of a science competition at the Amazima school this Saturday night as well as attending their worship service Sunday morning. Monday, we will be going to the Amazima school to get introduced and set up with emails and other logistics. We a re looking forward to getting use to the new “normal” ...

The story around our move to Uganda started in 2015 when Jennifer spent a semester studying abroad at Uganda Christian University. Jen truly fell in love with the country and the people there and even before she left, she knew she wanted to return to Uganda with Stephen someday. In the meantime, Steve was just beginning to teach at Timothy Christian in Elmhurst. While he loved his job, he had always thought about teaching abroad. After getting married, we constantly talked and prayed about different opportunities to serve overseas. Because of Jen’s connection to Uganda, we began praying specifically for a science teaching position there for Steve. After a long search with little results, we began to feel discouraged. However, God showed us that perseverance pays off; we were introduced to the Amazima School in November of 2017 and immediately knew it was an opportunity we wanted to pursue. After months of planning, we visited Uganda this past Fe bruary in order to make connections, v...