A lot has happened in the last couple weeks, One of the things I really enjoyed was the Ride For Refuge that we took part in here in Soroti. The Ride For Refuge is an event that happens in the US and in Canada and is an oppurtunity to raise awareness and money for Refuges. Our team here in Soroti had many people back home riding for us and raising money that will be used by the team here to help the traumatized, vulnerable and unreached people aound us. The day of the ride back home three members of our team here, Jennifer, Beckie and Rachel as well as a Ugandan named Dennis and myself set out on our own ride. We braved the Ugandan roads on our 1 speed bikes and road about 12 miles to lake Yoga where we were met by Tim and Angie who drove over and brought us some snacks and water. After some pictures and our snacks we headed back the way we came towards home. The ride was really fun but we had a lot of bike troubles and had to stop multiple times to put chains back on. Also on the way back I was standing up peddaling to gain speed before an uphill climb when my chain decided to pop off, causing me to tumble head over heals over my handle bars and resulted in road rash and cuts and scrapes all down the left side of my body. Luckily Jennifer was there with her first aid kit and fixed me up so I could finish the ride. If you go to the link below, it should take you to a slide show Tim set up with pictures from our ride.
http://cid-94b85c53b78f4a33.photos.live.com/play.aspx/R4R%202010%20-%20Soroti
Another big event that happened recently was my battle with malaria. I started to feel on thursday the 7th and was pretty miserable for about a week and a half. The team here did a good job taking care of me and getting me the right medicine and iv's. I thank them so much as well for all of you who were praying for me back home, it really meant a lot and was a blessing to know that so many people back home knew what was happening and supported me and prayed for me through the whole thing. As of right now I'm feeling normal but I am still tired and weak and I lost a decent amount of weight, so with time I should be getting my strength back and feeling 100%. My ministry has kind of taken a back seat due to the sickness but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things after our team retreat which is happening next week. Please pray for our team as we will be doing a lot of traveling throughout the next week and that we all have a great time together on our retreat.
Josh
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Update
This is Julie again. Today has been a day of ups and downs. After talking to Jennifer and Josh yesterday, we were encouraged...Josh appeared to have turned the corner and was feeling at least a little better. I still spent considerable time in prayer, asking God for complete healing, but I felt at peace.
Then came the phone call from Jennifer. Due to how expensive it is to call FROM Uganda, we never get calls, we always do the calling TO Uganda. When I heard her voice, I knew something had changed. They had taken Josh to the clinic in Soroti and he had been given IV fluids due to dehydration. Josh had begun vomiting again and there was continued blood in his urine. Not sure if this was something other than malaria, Tim and Angie and Jennifer felt it would be best to take Josh to the Kampala clinic (6 hours away) where there is a British doctor whom they trust. Blood tests and urine tests were being run and the hope was that the doctor would tell them to keep doing what they were doing and to continue the malaria medication. The concern was that the malaria might be masking something more serious so they wanted to run tests. I was to call back around 1pm our time.
Obviously it is difficult to be here with Josh so sick and half way around the world. Family, friends, church and coworkers were notified and people began praying. It is so amazing to be a part of the family of God! I know this to be true, yet everytime it happens I am humbled and blessed beyond words. Each time we've experienced a crisis, we have been upheld and surrounded by the prayers, love and care of fellow believers.
When I called Jennifer back around 1pm this afternoon, she said it was good news! WOW...just the words we had been praying for!! The blood tests showed the parasite was no longer in his blood, meaning the malaria medication was working. Josh had stopped throwing up and had been given fluids to rehydrate him. While he was still weak and very tired, he was definitely feeling some better. His kidneys still showed signs of illness, but that was to be expected due to the malaria. He had been released from the clinic in Kampala and had even eaten a small amount of food...the first in several days. They are keeping the IV in for now and will give him fluids periodically to keep him hydrated. The plan is to stay in Kampala for a day or two to let him rest before undertaking the long trip back to Soroti.
To those of you who have been praying...THANK YOU! Your prayers and concern mean more than I can say. Please keep praying. Pray that Josh will continue to improve and that there will be no more set backs. Please thank God for the healing Josh experienced today. Thank God for the AMAZING team that surrounds Josh in Uganda. The love, care and concern they have shown Josh is a blessing beyond words! Pray for renewed strength and energy so that he may soon return to his work in Uganda. We serve a God who is the Almighty Healer as we have experienced time and again in Josh's life and I want to shout it from the rooftops!
Blessings,
Julie
Then came the phone call from Jennifer. Due to how expensive it is to call FROM Uganda, we never get calls, we always do the calling TO Uganda. When I heard her voice, I knew something had changed. They had taken Josh to the clinic in Soroti and he had been given IV fluids due to dehydration. Josh had begun vomiting again and there was continued blood in his urine. Not sure if this was something other than malaria, Tim and Angie and Jennifer felt it would be best to take Josh to the Kampala clinic (6 hours away) where there is a British doctor whom they trust. Blood tests and urine tests were being run and the hope was that the doctor would tell them to keep doing what they were doing and to continue the malaria medication. The concern was that the malaria might be masking something more serious so they wanted to run tests. I was to call back around 1pm our time.
Obviously it is difficult to be here with Josh so sick and half way around the world. Family, friends, church and coworkers were notified and people began praying. It is so amazing to be a part of the family of God! I know this to be true, yet everytime it happens I am humbled and blessed beyond words. Each time we've experienced a crisis, we have been upheld and surrounded by the prayers, love and care of fellow believers.
When I called Jennifer back around 1pm this afternoon, she said it was good news! WOW...just the words we had been praying for!! The blood tests showed the parasite was no longer in his blood, meaning the malaria medication was working. Josh had stopped throwing up and had been given fluids to rehydrate him. While he was still weak and very tired, he was definitely feeling some better. His kidneys still showed signs of illness, but that was to be expected due to the malaria. He had been released from the clinic in Kampala and had even eaten a small amount of food...the first in several days. They are keeping the IV in for now and will give him fluids periodically to keep him hydrated. The plan is to stay in Kampala for a day or two to let him rest before undertaking the long trip back to Soroti.
To those of you who have been praying...THANK YOU! Your prayers and concern mean more than I can say. Please keep praying. Pray that Josh will continue to improve and that there will be no more set backs. Please thank God for the healing Josh experienced today. Thank God for the AMAZING team that surrounds Josh in Uganda. The love, care and concern they have shown Josh is a blessing beyond words! Pray for renewed strength and energy so that he may soon return to his work in Uganda. We serve a God who is the Almighty Healer as we have experienced time and again in Josh's life and I want to shout it from the rooftops!
Blessings,
Julie
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Malaria
This is Josh's mom. Last Friday, Josh came down with malaria. We're not sure how as he is on antimalaria medication, but nevertheless...blood tests show positive for malaria. Fever, chills, headache, vomiting and blood in his urine have all taken their toll. I talked to him this morning. While he wasn't feeling well at all...weak, tired and dizzy, at least he had stopped vomiting and the fever had been gone for 2 days, so we're hopeful things will get better soon. The team Josh is on in Uganda has an AMAZING nurse named Jennifer who has been taking great care of him, and I was told he is getting lots of care and attention from the moms on the team. What more could a mom half a world away ask for? Please pray that Josh will feel better soon. Pray that the medications work and that he will gain his strength back quickly. I hope to talk to him again tomorrow and am praying for continued progress. I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Pictures
Sipi Falls
Sipi Falls Again
Taken From Behind Sipi Falls
Chameleon
Sisiyi Falls. Picture Taken From Our Campsite
Taken On Our Hike To The Top.
Our Camp
More of Camp
New Family, Camping and Basketball
A lot has been going on in the last couple weeks. Are team welcomed a new family. The Kaisers arrived about two weeks ago. They are in the process of looking for a house but until then they are staying with me in the guest house so i've gotten a chance to know them pretty well. Daniel and Andrea and their children Josiah, Nora and Zuri are from Chicago and plan on being here in Soroti for two years, so we are very excited to have them here.
Two weekends ago after the Kaisers first arrived, we had a team retreat and went camping at Sisiyi Falls. We first went and hiked Sipi falls and then drove back about an hour to our campsite at Sisiyi. The falls were amazing and we got he hike behind one of them and to the top of another. I'm hoping to get some pictures up from this trip soon.
One of the things i've started to do in the last couple weeks is have about 9 students from the local Bible college over to our house for a sports and games night. We started with basketball, which was very interesting because none of them knew what basketball was or how to play so we started from the very beginning. I started by telling them some what the point of the game was and then taught them some of the basics like dribbling and tried to get them to use the correct shooting form. So the first week they just dribbled and shot around for about and hour and a half and they loved it. It was really cool to see them trying something new and it was also quite funny to watch as well. At the end of the time they were about to head out when some of the guys who usually come over about 4-5 nights a week and play basketball showed up. Those guys started shooting around and doing lay-up drills and the students from the Bible college couldn't believe how good they were. So the next week when the students came back we started again with a little shooting but then they wanted to try lay-ups as well so I explained to them how to do them and instructed them on where to go and what to do and they ended up doing very well. So we are slowly working are way up to being able to play a game against each other and its really neat to see their progress. Tonight I'm planning on introducing some more passing and dribbling drills. Depending on how that goes, the next step is introducing defense and then we'll be able to play so i'm excited to see how it all ends up.
Josh
Two weekends ago after the Kaisers first arrived, we had a team retreat and went camping at Sisiyi Falls. We first went and hiked Sipi falls and then drove back about an hour to our campsite at Sisiyi. The falls were amazing and we got he hike behind one of them and to the top of another. I'm hoping to get some pictures up from this trip soon.
One of the things i've started to do in the last couple weeks is have about 9 students from the local Bible college over to our house for a sports and games night. We started with basketball, which was very interesting because none of them knew what basketball was or how to play so we started from the very beginning. I started by telling them some what the point of the game was and then taught them some of the basics like dribbling and tried to get them to use the correct shooting form. So the first week they just dribbled and shot around for about and hour and a half and they loved it. It was really cool to see them trying something new and it was also quite funny to watch as well. At the end of the time they were about to head out when some of the guys who usually come over about 4-5 nights a week and play basketball showed up. Those guys started shooting around and doing lay-up drills and the students from the Bible college couldn't believe how good they were. So the next week when the students came back we started again with a little shooting but then they wanted to try lay-ups as well so I explained to them how to do them and instructed them on where to go and what to do and they ended up doing very well. So we are slowly working are way up to being able to play a game against each other and its really neat to see their progress. Tonight I'm planning on introducing some more passing and dribbling drills. Depending on how that goes, the next step is introducing defense and then we'll be able to play so i'm excited to see how it all ends up.
Josh
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