First Snow

Last month the boys experienced snow for the first time. Nico was bouncing off the walls when he saw it coming down. Up to that point he had only seen it on TV. Needless to say they were so excited!

Kobwin Update

Eight years ago, one of our Kobwin daughters was abducted from her family in Amuria by the LRA. At nine-years-old, she became one of “Kony’s” wives. This is the name abducted girls are given. She continues to struggle in almost every way, academically, spiritually, and physically, especially in regards to her health. She still wonders what is”"wrong ” with her. BUT after being with us for almost two years at Kobwin, she now smiles. She now has a glimmer of hope, because of Jesus.
Another son we work with in Amuria, just escaped last year from Central African Republic. Eight years, four countries and five languages later, he has been reunited with his twin brother and is helping to care for his mother. We will bring him to Kobwin in January to be part of our second family group. He is already saved and trusting God to provide care for his ailing mother so he can begin building his future, the future the Father has always had for him.

Who is that? Simply put, family, by God’s grace and blessing. Ask anyone who visits Kobwin even for a short time and they will tell you that there is something very special going on with our family there.

At the age of seven, one of our sons now at Kobwin, witnessed the brutal torture and murder of his mother. The LRA rebels then took his father and until two months ago, our son never knew if his father lived or not. For the last eight years, this young man has had repeated nightmares reliving his mothers death and grieving the unknown fate of his father. We recently received a call that his father was living only an hour from Kobwin! What a joyful, yet tearful reunion it was!!! God, our Father does work in mysterious and amazing ways.

During my recent visit, I had the privilege of leading a number of the nightly devotions as we examined the book of Acts. In just one week, God met us and spoke to us profoundly. We saw how the early church came to be and how they lived and worked together. WE realized that that was us! Young believers, in general, living as family, praying and sharing the word daily, breaking bread together daily – having everything in common with no one in need. The kids were amazed and challenged. The challenge is to go on in the same way and to go out into the Kobwin community and even return to their own community to share the Gospel – to bring life to those who know no life and share the hope they now have. In December, the opportunity is coming. Our kids all go back to Amuria for the holidays and to be with relatives and friends. Please be praying with us for these young ambassadors!

The fact that our Kobwin children are growing is a real testimony to the Father’s amazing ability to change lives. But there is still much work to be done, much healing that needs to take place. And for this, we also need your prayers! As staff we need wisdom and strength to pursue these special children to the depths of their need. Some of them will be “repairers of the breech” (Isaiah 58:12) for their people and their community. Others, I believe, will go to our local community in Kobwin, and beyond.

We are thankful for our current partners and all that have come alongside of us in one way or another, very thankful! We trust that the others who will join us are on the way!
BY CONSTANCE DOBBS

November News

Dear Friends and Family,
As we approach Thanksgiving, we have much to be thankful for, from Caleb’s health, to our time in the States with family and opportunities to spend time with many of you. We have been blessed this past year by the outpouring of love, concern, care, and prayers on our behalf by the family of God here in the U.S. and by our community of believers in Uganda. We have rejoiced with one of our Pacific family young man who received the gift of salvation and has committed to becoming a disciple of Christ, and we thank God in advance as we proudly anticipate the graduation of 5 secondary school (high school) students in our family next month. We have also seen our Father’s hand of grace and provision in countless ways in the lives of so many of you… we remember and celebrate the works of His hand!
There is indeed a time and season for every purpose under heaven, and we have been blessed this season to have spent 2 ½ months in California and look forward to our remaining 2 months in Indiana. We continue to enjoy watching our boys get to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and some of our dear friends. Here in Indiana Caleb is working part time for the YMCA, Nicolas loves attending preschool 2 days a week, and Nate and Mama are reveling in their together time (a direct result of the activity of Daddy and big brother). We are very aware that the next 2 months will go by fast, and so we are preparing for our return to Uganda, by speaking at churches, with small groups, and Sunday school classes.
We are currently raising support for a solar powered water pump for New Hope’s secondary site and for the ministry to equip our family units with solar powered lighting. If you would like to help with either of those projects please contact us via email at calebandalair@hotmail.com You can also give to support us personally by going to the website at www.newhopeuganda.org and clicking the donate button on the top right hand corner. Select the appropriate giving category and write our names in the comment box.
Please pray that we would… look carefully then how we walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of our time (Ephesians 5:15&16). Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20).
The Mitchells,
Caleb, Alair, Nicolas, and Nathaniel
Ps 68:5-6

Through It All

Psalm 124:1-8

”If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,” Let Israel now say––
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul;
Then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul.”
Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.”
The words of the Psalmist above, make lots of meaning to us as Musana Radio as we come to the close of our second year of service. We praise God for your love and support through the prayers, encouragement, counsel, giving and the many ways in which you have been part of what God is doing here at Musana Radio.

If it had not been for the Lord, Musana would not have survived this year.
Twice last year, our station was hit by lightening and our consuls were damaged. We are so thankful to God that some of you responded and we got urgent help to replace them. What we did not realize was that the transmitter had been affected and was gradually losing power. By the time we realized this, it had dropped from 1000KW to 15%, literary only reaching that fraction of broadcast. We had to close the station. Experts took it for repair and found out that the damages were big and that we needed to replace it. This was a big blow to us and to our listeners who had become so used to their Radio that it had made them one big family of Musana. Incredibly, we were off air

for three weeks ONLY and through your very generous support the Lord provided for us and we replaced the transmitter. This was a miracle!

By the time we went off air, we had started a teaching on witchcraft which stirred a lot of issues and many people were being set free. This has been a big issue in our country and there has not been a clear voice to address this matter. Musana Radio has been a tremendous tool in addressing this and many are testifying of how they have been set free from witchcraft ever since these teachings started. The teachings have been very vital in preparing the Nation for the 49th Independence celebrations which we had on October 9th as we ushered in the year of Jubilee for our country.

For the big part of the year we have not had enough electrification. We have mostly depended on a generator and fuel to power our station. This has also been very costly.

But through it all we want to thank God for you, our esteemed supporters. Thank you very much for standing with us in our mission of “SHINE AND TRANSFORM”. Through your prayers, encouragements and financial support, we can say, Ebenezer!

We are also thankful for our listenership. Despite the circumstances of being on and off air, our listenership has continued to grow. And more so in terms of what the Lord is doing in their lives. Again and again we hear stories of how people have learnt how to work hard, invest money and start up small projects like poetry, fish farming and others. All as a result of the teachings that we do on Radio, in which we promote three main values, that is, Hard work, Integrity and Love.

To mention but a few, we cannot fail to be thankful for our team that has worked tirelessly and patiently with little pay but believing in the growth of the station. This team of young men and women, most of whom were not believers by the time we took them on, we are grateful for what the Lord is doing in each of their lives. Some have come to know the Lord from there, some have sanctified their marriages, others have got married and others are continuing to amaze the community in which they live because of the big change those who knew them before are seeing in their lives.
By Godfrey Kyazze, Head of Curriculum Development

Construction Help Needed

Praise God that we have almost completed our Standard of Living Matching Funds grant. This grant is already starting to be used to help in providing some much-deserved raises for our national staff and to do some home improvements. Unfortunately, we have had to go very slowly on the home improvements simply because we currently have a serious shortage of construction staff.

While we continue to look in-country for construction help, we could really use construction experts and handy-man types help over this next year. We have 40+ solar units to install (this reduce our reliance on the unreliable grid system here) and a number of water tanks and indoor plumbing to install. If could help us install these items or do general maintenance and would be available to volunteer here for a week, one month, three months, six months etc., we would love to talk to you.

Please contact us through our website.

Restoration at Kobwin

Recently, a team from Moorpark, CA spent a week serving at our Kobwin Children’s Centre. The team worked alongside the kids to help fence the property. This helped in developing relationship. As our week at Kobwin progressed, I saw hearts open and real transformation happen. Each day that we were there, we covered a certain topic. Faith, Hope, Forgiveness and Love. In the mornings, small groups would assemble to pray and discuss how we see fruit from each of these issues. Then, in the evening, each of the men from the team would reflect on it with a story from the Bible and personal illustrations.

One night that really stand out to me was the night we spoke about forgiveness. Many of the kids, especially boys, came to a point where they faced the fact that they hadn’t forgiven someone for taking their childhood and forcing them into a war driven society.

Their stories and testimonies were heart-breaking, but in the end they were thankful the Lord brought them through those times. For without turmoil, they may never have turn to Him for strength!
Mallari Page, Assistant Teams Coordiator

Musana Camps First Baptism

Alea Haywood (age 10) and her family who go to Andrea Spark’s home church in Williams Bay, WI, have been praying for Musana Camps since it’s humble beginnings. A few months before her family left for a 5-week trip to Africa, Alea felt God prompting her to get baptized in Africa. She thought the perfect spot would be Lake Victoria! But after talking with Syd and Andrea about the Bilhartzia parasite, her parents were a little hesitant. They agreed to play it by ear and follow the Spirit’s prompting….maybe there would be a baptism service in one of the churches they were visiting along the way.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit....
Well the Spirit led them down a steep hill, past a little fishing village, and down to the water’s edge of beautiful Lake Victoria. Joey, her father read Acts 2:37-41, Alea shared her testimony, they prayed, then waded out past the seaweed to where it was deep enough. When they got back to shore, everyone sang “Our God is bigger, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other, Our God is healer, awesome in power, our God, our God….” (that was Alea’s special song of choice). Then the Haywood kids swam with the Bouffard kids for about an hour! A very sweet, simple baptism, for a very sweet, simple, shy young girl who followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting…parasites and all!

Emmanuel Youth Outreach

Emmanuel Youth Outreach, in short EYO, is a youth ministry at Kasana Community Church with the sole purpose of reaching out to the youths in our community and Uganda at large (to be a blessing as we have been blessed). We believe that the young people are the future of our nation and if they are reached with the word of God and trained in the ways of God, Uganda has a bright future. We are a chosen generation to change the world and changing the world starts with reaching individuals who will not compromise with evil.

EYO ministry began in 2008 and has touched the lives of many youths both here at Kasana and across Uganda. These young people are reached out to in several ways which include youth camps, youth seminars, youth debates, discipleship and outreaches. In EYO we believe in being practical with the Gospel such that whatever is learnt is required to be put into practice. Therefore, opportunities are provided for these youths to be involved in building the Kingdom of God. After reaching out to the youth they are required to reach out to other people too. We normally have community outreaches where we go and weed people’s gardens, build houses for widows and orphans, share the word of God with other people and also share physical things such as clothes, shoes , soap etc with the needy.

We thank God that each time he has provided amazingly and we can gladly say we have never failed to reach out to people because we didn’t have provision. The youths here at Kasana have always worked hard to see to it that they raise money to support this ministry in several ways. One of them is the EYO bazaar. The EYO Bazaar is more like a market that is held at Kasana once every year. In order to have this bazaar, different people give things from their homes that they may not need but yet are still usable. As time has gone on, people no longer give only what they do not need but out of a heart that is filled with love toward the needy, they now even give their valuable things.

When we have finished collecting this stuff, we then buy some more and top it up in order to satisfy our customers and then we sell all of it at the bazaar. We invite all people from Kasana and those who are interested from the community around Kasana. When the bazaar is over, we evaluate how much profit we have made and all of is used to fund our annual outreach to the poor, lowly and those who have not yet been reached with the good news of the gospel.

This year, we held the bazaar on the 16th of July 2011 at Kasana. We invested Shs 1.5million and made a profit of Shs 2.2 million. This was a very big improvement in comparison to the past years and we thank God for that improvement.

The money we made from this bazaar will be used for funding an outreach which is going to be carried out in Masaka. We will be preaching the good news of the gospel and doing community work helping the poor and the needy in this place. This will run from the 21st to 26th of August.
By Ronald Mugabi, New Hope Son and Recent University Graduate

WE MADE IT TO AMERICA

Boys helping daddy change oil

We made it to America. The transition has been smooth and the boys are doing well.

Mitchell Update

The highlights of the past few months have been moving into our new home, which was completed at the end of April, and spending four days at Musana Camps with our Pacific family. It was exciting to watch our kids enjoy each other, the beauty of God’s creation, practice swimming in Lake Victoria, laugh hard, play hard, hike, sing, and delve into the word of God!
The rest of this News Letter will be a photo collage of our time there and, upon request; this and subsequent news letters will introduce you to our family members and help you get to know our Pacific family better. As many of you know, New Hope Kasana Children’s Centre is all about family. Well here’s ours… at least the immediate family:) Our family is made up crucial members. Our family father is Uncle Rukundo William (front right in orange & a blue hat). Rukundo is not married, but co-parents with Aunt Christine, (front, near center in a purple). To date, we have 21 children. Uncles and Aunties (like ourselves) assist the family parents, and love on these children! That’s the reason we are here! As a child, Uncle Rukundo was in one of the original families. He is now 32 years old, and has been a family father for 8 years, YES he became a father to 20+ kids at age 24! Auntie Christine, has been parenting in Pacific family for 5 years, and has two of her biological grandchildren with her in our family. Auntie Marian (middle row, left in pink) has been an Auntie for Pacific family for 12 years now, and heads our sponsorship program. Auntie Jenny (front, on the rock, in blue) is our newest acquired Auntie who serves as a nurse in our clinic, and the Jackson family Nathan, Kendra and 2 kiddos John & Hannah (in the back row) are working at Musana Camps. The other Uncle and Aunties (attached to different Kasana family groups) are the Boufard family (on the far left & kids scattered throughout the group) who are leading the Musana Camps team, & two short term camp staff members.

This will be our last news letter from Uganda as we leave for furlough in just a couple of weeks. We have mixed emotions as we pack and prepare to leave. It seems to have taken a full three years to see freedom of relationship with many of our Pacific Family kids, and leaving for an extended period makes us wonder how challenging it might be to get back to this point when we return! We are, however, very aware that our Father spares no expense when it comes to the lives of his children (Is. 43:1-7) and we are sure He has just the right people in place for this season of their lives and ours!
What a loving God!
With love from The Mitchell’s!
Address for online Donations www.newhopeuganda.org
Or
New Hope Uganda
PO Box 154
Belle Fourche, SD 57717-0154

My First Visit to Kobwin

By Brevin Anderson, 15-year-old NHUM Missionary Family Member

My first trip to Kobwin Children’s Center was not exactly a dream ride. To start, my computer battery was no match for the seven hour trip. My movie watching was postponed indefinitely. The car we were going in was not a luxury vehicle. Like a lot of cars here, it was dusty, dirty, dented, and scratched. The shocks on the car were interesting too. I feel I got to know them really well, as I discovered the front shocks were the equivalent of rocks, and you felt every jar and rattle, while the back wheel shocks were more like springs. They, I found, were also very interesting. With only two hours to go, we managed to find a town with plenty of speed bumps. In Uganda, these speed bumps are thin, steep, and clustered lines of cement that go across the road. The ones we met were in sets of four or five; and there were a lot of sets. After a lot of banging and thumping my head on various parts of the car, we pulled off the tarmac onto a dirt road, and began to approach Kobwin. The bad beginning didn’t help my expectations; they were low to begin with as I had heard of the oppressive heat, the lack of water and electric power, and the sporadic internet.
One exciting part of the trip was my first sighting of Mount Elgon. At first, when we entered Mbale, the last big town on the way to Kobwin, we weren’t sure if it was Elgon, but we found out soon, because every other store had a name containing “Elgon”.
As I now write, I am listening to a portable voice recorder that contains all my notes of the trip. I must say, though my voice annoys me, I am glad to have this, for everything that I write is from experiences recorded when they happened.
As we approached Kobwin, it became obviously more barren, with more space between each of the trees or bushes. Large boulders began to appear all over the landscape, and the bedrock appeared to poke through the ground in many places. The road got significantly rougher, and I hugged the seat to try and prevent injury. I largely succeeded, I think, but I missed some of the sights on the way in. As we pulled in to the Kobwin Children’s Centre, the first thing I saw was the main staff housing, which was a cluster of round huts made of concrete and bricks with papyrus roofs. A little distance away were two other clusters of huts, which were the children’s living area and the guesthouse/clinic/school. We stopped near the guesthouse cluster and got out. I was pleasantly surprised by the coolness, but it was the evening, and I wouldn’t know the real heat until the next day.
Most of the kids were outside, and they and the staff members around all greeted Uncle Tal (my dad), Uncle Dan (our driver) and I with handshakes. I got called “uncle” more than once, hopefully because I am obviously so mature and not because of my height or muzungu status.
I was able to hang out with the Kobwin kids for a short time before their devotions and dinner, which my dad and I had with Uncle Charles and Uncle Dan. That night the moon was the brightest I had ever seen it. I later found out that it was the pre-super moon, the brightest the moon will be for 18 years. After lying on a raised boulder in the moonlight for a bit, it was time for sleep. This dad and I proceeded to do, and we soon drifted off.
The next day I was able to meet and learn about the staff members in greater detail. Uncle Allan and Auntie Hope have been here since the beginning, and rest have come along the line. Uncle Shadrach, the Kobwin family father, and I met while he was making a pen for his piglets that had just been weaned from their mother.
Later in the day, around 8:00am, the kids made their way to their classrooms. As there is not a real school house at Kobwin, school is done in the covered, open areas that are used to eat and work in. The children divide according to grade, not age, so the diversity in the ages of the kids in the classes is radical. As some missed a lot of school time, some kids are twice as old and tall as their peers in the same class.
One of the first difficulties I noticed was the Kobwin water situation. Since their well has stopped working, they have to walk or drive down to the lake nearby for water. They use the lake water for bathing, and cleaning, but to get drinking and cooking water they have to walk two kilometers. There is a place closer, but the locals who own the land don’t let the Kobwin kids get water from there. The reasons I have heard for this include the fact that the kids here were involved as child soldiers or were affected by the war, and so are “untouchables”. The other one is that, because Kobwin is involved with Bazungus (whites), locals think the Kobwin kids should have enough money to build their own well. To get water for bathing and cleaning, the truck goes to the lake every other day to fill up lots of buckets and barrels. To get drinking water, the kids have to walk the two kilometers every single day; two there with empty jerry-cans, and two back with 50lb jerry-cans full of water.
One cool thing I have briefly mentioned about the Kobwin site is that there all these huge boulders around. Some are big enough to be little cliffs. I and Uncle Dan, who I hung out with before I twisted my ankle, had the goal of climbing every rock we could see. We were making a good time of it too, and only had had to give up on one impassable one and to turn back on another because we saw a snakeskin in a wonderful area for snakes. We got some great views from the tops of some of the rocks. I had my good tennis shoes with traction, but he had (sadly) slip-in shoes, so his feet would slide out of them unless he careful. I showed him how to climb backwards, and then we didn’t have as much of a problem. We had a good time.
At nine forty a.m. I made another entry into my little voice recorder. “It is now 9:40, kids are still doing school. Just finished conquering a bunch of large boulders. Got most of them, but a couple were impassable. But we got most of them.”
Another entry a little later begins talking about a pigpen, but then switches to this, “The kids here seem really…I don’t know how you’d say it…really devoted, I guess, I mean they are just quiet and I mean I haven’t seen any fights or anything. Just doing their school.…seem to listening. And the teaching seems to be good too.. . it is just really, really beautiful here, a really beautiful place. Thankfully, I am here on a day when it isn’t hot. So that is definitely a blessing. Think I might try to go interview a staff member.”
Now, back to the pig thing. When we had arrived, Uncle Shadrach had just finished a pig pen for some piglets he had. Dan and I were taking a break from climbing, when I went to check on them. I got down there just as some were climbing up and out, and were making their escape. I tried unsuccessfully to catch one, but it escaped. I went back to the guesthouse area, running, and brought back Uncle Dan and another Kobwin boy who had heard me. We tried herding them around back to the pen, and even caught one or two, but once we put them back into the pen, they just hopped out again. We figured out that were heading to their mommy pig. They headed across a field that had been prepared for planting and had holes everywhere. I, in my brilliance, decided to sprint across this field and try to head them off. I got about a fourth of the way when I stepped in a hole, tripped, and fell face-first into the dirt.
At first I thought nothing was bruised but my pride. However, as I tried to get up, I collapsed back down, as my ankle was sending failure notices and giving way beneath my weight. As I was helped up by Uncle Dan and the boy, whose name I will give as George, I figured out a little too late that my ankle was sprained.
For the next few hours I wallowed in pain and self-pity. When it was time for lunch, I barely was able to get over across the courtyard to the table, but I managed with my Dad’s help.
After lunch, I went to do a lengthy interview with Uncle Charles (Kobwin Manager) and his wife Aunt Felistus (Head Mistress of the school).
In the interview I learned how they were brought to New Hope in the first place, how they met, and how they ended up at Kobwin.
Uncle Charles was the first drawn to New Hope. He had wanted to work with children and knowing that New Hope was a Christian organization brought him to it as a teacher.
As for Auntie Felistus, Uncle Charles was at New Hope for six years before they met. At a Christmas holiday Uncle Charles attended a conference and met Aunt Felistus. “It was where I saw somebody unique in the crowd,” he said. “And after that I was like ‘who is this one, I need to meet her’ and after that it was like maybe there is something, but I didn’t take it so seriously. But it leaned on my heart. I started praying about it, I shared with some other people who were counseling me and that’s how things worked out.”
As I went on to ask them Uncle Charles and Aunt Felistus about the kids at Kobwin, their successes and difficulties, and other things. One success they talked about was a boy named Vincent (not his real name).
“One has come out very clear as somebody who is committed, and who is serious, we see him playing the responsibility as a big brother in the family,” said Uncle Charles. “He helps the other children, the brothers and the sisters, and that is Vincent, Vincent Afamo; he is in S3 (9th grade) now, and in his secondary school he is the Head Boy. At home, when the family father is not around he can lead devotions, he can lead programs on Sunday. He really helps counseling the friends, and the rest of the children. Yeah, we have really seen him come out, and really taking the Word of God seriously. [He helps] the other children that are still not seeing life so clearly. We have seen him counseling his fellow children. We see the way he interacts. Vincent is really someone who is committed, responsible, who is honest and hardworking, so I really am proud of talking about Vincent. He is someone who is taking responsibility as someone we can trust, even when we are not around.”
I actually met Vincent later that day, when, bored from putting my foot up in my room, I went out to meet up with the kids.
Uncle Charles had given me a pair of crutches that, though a bit small, did the job. I was now semi-mobile, and with my new freedom I decided to put the Blink card game that my mom sent along for me to give to someone to good use.
After checking with some of the staff members to make sure it was okay, I made my way over to the kids’ compound. There, I found some willing players, and, starting with one, then moving up to three, I taught the kids Blink. They really enjoyed the game. The cards, however, didn’t. With the power that they were slapping the cards down, I don’t think that those cards have a good life expectancy.
One of the boys who came to play the game was fast, really fast. Later on, when I decided to get a few kids’ names down, I asked this boy his. He replied, “I am Vincent.” It was fun to meet the guy who I had heard such good things about.
I played with them for an hour and a half. Their enthusiasm was fun to watch. I didn’t play the whole time, but I stayed there. I left the cards with one of the kids, and then went for dinner.
The last meal I had at Kobwin was uneventful enough, as I remember it. We mostly talked about tribal conflicts in Uganda.
I recorded in my audio journal, as one of the last entries, this; “One other thing that I can say is that God, I mean, he really took what started as a really bad trip; my expectations weren’t that good, I really didn’t want to go, and I missed my [Online] English class that I really enjoy, but I was able to meet some new kids, see a new part of Uganda, see some lives that have been changed, you know, from beyond what you could really expect…I had a great time with some of the boys playing Blink…”
The very final entry talks about the conversation at dinner. One thing that Uncle Charles said was this, “The beginning is better than the end,” referring to the fact that we were leaving tomorrow before sunrise. I however, took it a different way. For me, at least, on my first and hopefully not last, trip I found the opposite was true. The End, was better than the Beginning, for though it was sad to leave, the End happened with understanding and was with the expectation of another trip, My Second Trip to Kobwin.

Coming to America

Hi Everyone,
Many of you have asked about the process with our work permits and the boy’s visas to America. We wanted to update you and thank you all for your prayers. Uganda Immigration has granted us two year work permits. Praise God! Since that approval we were able to process the boy’s visas quite simply with the US Embassy in Kampala. We want to thank all of you for your prayers and notes of encouragement. WE WILL SEE YOU SOON!
Caleb, Alair, Nico and Nate

Holiday with Pacific Family at Musana Camp

Games

Ladder ball

On a hike at Musana Camp

Swim time in Lake Victoria. (Caleb did not participate)
Kayesu blowing the lunch horn.

New Hopes Kobwin Center

Nabulungi Scovia*, 16, was abducted by the rebel group “Lord’s Resistance Army” (LRA) when she was nine. She escaped after six months but the scars from that time run deep. Scovia came to Kobwin with a lot of anger. Though she enjoys living in a place where she is not referred to by the demeaning label “Kony’s Wife” that she has often heard, she is still very insecure and affected by the trauma of her ordeal. The Kobwin staff continue to love her and look forward to seeing her freed from the chains that bind her.
14-year-old Latolo John*, one of 15 boys now living full-time at New Hope’s Kobwin Children’s Centre, spent significant time in Interally Displaced Person (IDP) camps following the chaos and atrocities of the LRA. Such camps can be quite dehumanizing as those there have no work opportunities nor hope of providing for themselves. The only option often seems to be to sit and wait for the next relief agency to come and provide food.
John’s father had died and his mother was unable to pay for any schooling. There seemed to be no future. John enjoyed getting to know New Hope teams who would come to his area and offer camps. When Kobwin officially opened in March, John and his mother jumped at the opportunity. Now, receiving daily remediation schooling, John is preparing for his P7 exam. He talks about being so thankful for the opportunity to go to school and looks forward to one day being able to help his family with the skills he is now acquiring. Though he is still fairly quiet, he has started to develop into praise and worship leader among his peers, even though he is one of the youngest at Kobwin. John is very much still developing, but God is transforming his life and he now lives with hope.
*Names have been changed
Our Kobwin Centre opened officially with the first 21 children like Scovia and John and coming to live with us in mid- March of 2010. All of these
Water color pics of scriptures
children came from Amuria District and where each of them either lived in an Internally Dispaced Persons (IDP) Camp for a prolonged period of time and had been either traumatized by the war in the North or had actually been abducted by members of the LRA and consequently, had become a part of them.
Kobwin Centre was a long time in the making, but God’s timing is always perfect! In 2003 while members of New Hope Uganda’s Kasana Children’s Centre were part of a month-long relief effort in Soroti, the vision for Kobwin Centre was birthed. We actually took possession of the land at Kobwin in 2005, after having moved from what we thought would be the start up site in nearby Bugondo. From 2005-the end of 2009 only a skeleton staff of two couples and their children were in Kobwin, developing the gardens, planning for the future, building the existing structures. Those two couples are still with us as part of the current Kobwin staff and have had the joy of seeing their long wait pay off this year.
In August of 2007, after having identified Amuria as the area that we would bring our first children from
the group of 50 children from Amuria, came to Kobwin to attend our first camp held for them. Thus we slowly began building relationship with a large of traumatized children from whom we would eventually chose the first 21 children from 2 ½ years later. These camps continued as our relationship with the children continued to blossom so that when they arrived in March of 2010 it was more like a homecoming than a coming to a new place. The two years of camps was one of the best investments we could have ever made in these children and really was testimony to how waiting on the Father’s perfect timing has great rewards!
Our ChildrenWe currently have 21 children from Amuria lining in the family group headed by one of our own sons with his wife and three young boys. The children range in age from 14 – 18 years plus one 21 year old. Of the 21, 10 are former abductees. They were each with the LRA for varying amounts of time, from 2 months to 1 ½ years. The other 11 had their lives tremendously disrupted by the life in various IDP camps. All are behind where they would be in school if not for the war in the North. There are six boys who attend a nearby (walking distance) secondary school and are in S1 and S2. The remaining 15 attend our primary school on the Kobwin site and are in P4, P6and P7. We have 5 girls and 16 boys.
In their time outside of school hours, our kids can be found in the normal activities of the people of Uganda. They dig in the gardens, maintain our compound, fetch water, clean their houses, wash their clothing, help with the family parent’s children, play football and other games, develop their artistic talents attend family devotions, small group mentoring and counseling and just enjoy one another, in general!
We currently have maize, cassava, ground nuts, sweet potatoes, and vegetables growing in our gardens. We are yet to be self sufficient but should produce 40% of our own food this year.
We praise God for all He is doing at Kobwin and for all of the prayers and support that have made it possible.

By Constance Dobbs

Hope Family

Back in 1999 Matthew and Julie Shorack took seven babies into their home, into their family and shared the hope of Jesus. Since that day, over 40 babies have passed through the unique place that is Hope House. Some of them have been reunited with their family, some have been adopted and some have joined our family groups here at New Hope.
Last June, we had the privilege of joining the New Hope family here at Kasana. We are now overseeing the work of Hope Family and look forward to developing the care and provision that we can offer to these precious babies.
Hope House is now Hope FamilyWe have changed the name from Hope House to Hope Family and this is because we recognise that words are amazing things!!! We all know that words whether spoken or written can wield unusual power, they can be both positive and negative. We desire to speak positively and truthfully over these little ones and let them know that when they join Hope Family, they are no longer alone but are in a family that will love, care and protect them. Here at New Hope we know that family is important to God, we had seven families, now we have eight!
As this new year began Hope Family had a pretty large growth spurt! We had 3 new babies join us all in a very short time – Carol came to us having spent five weeks in hospital being treated for severe malnutrition. She was found by a visiting New Hope team in the nearby village having been abandoned by her mother. Elderly, sick grandparents were struggling to take care of her and she weighed in at just 3.4Kg, being 12 months of age. Here at Hope Family, she is making good progress and putting on plenty of weight! We are delighted that her father, although very young, has taken some responsibility for her. He is coming on a weekly basis to Hope Family to work in the compound and spend time with his little girl!
Mary came to us over the Christmas period. She is 5 months old and currently with us because her mother is critically ill in hospital with a heart condition. There are no other family members to care for mother or baby and the church here at Kasana is supporting with medical bills as well as spiritual support. We have been taking Mary regularly into the hospital to see her mother!
Our youngest member of the family is Saul who came to us at just one week old. He was collected from the local police station just before New Year’s Eve following a dispute and disagreement about who the mother was. Sadly as more information came it seemed that the mother was ‘lending’ out her new baby to another woman in order to made some money and both women have now been charged with 64 months in custody.
As you can tell we are pretty busy here at Hope Family and now up to our maximum number of babies. We have had to turn abandoned babies away in the past when we had no room and we are praying that we will not have to do that again in the near future. More importantly we are looking forward to the completion of our new baby home for Hope Family, which will house up to 20 little ones, as well as accommodating more staff members. We still have a long way to go with fund raising although the building work is progressing well. We are praying in faith that the money will arrive over the next few weeks and months so that construction work can be completed by August!
A very big thank you to all of our existing supporters and all those who sponsor Hope Family. We are also so grateful to all those who have made donations towards the new build. Thank you!
Stu & Sarah Dendy – Hope Family

Injury working on the house

Caleb was helping to install the water tower at the new house and he fell into the hole where the tower was going. The legs of the tower had several sharp pieces of metal welded on for the cement to adhere to. One of those pieces gouged his left leg. Our friend Shawn Zimmerman drove us to the local hospital where the surgeon worked to clean, and straighten the cut up a bit. We go back on Friday to have the wound closed(repairing the muscle then stiching the skin).

God has a purpose for every life

For you created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother`s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well….. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" Ps. 139:13-16

Every individual was created by God, in His image. We are all ‘treasures in jars of clay,’ in need of restoration which only God can bring. Our Father has plans and purposes for each person he has given life to. Every one of us can glorify God despite our imperfections and limitations.

In 2002, a baby boy called Hassan was brought to New Hope having suffered from serious head injuries which had caused significant damage to his brain. At that time it was not evident how much damage had been done and what disabilities had been caused, but as Hassan grew up in the loving environment of Hope house, it became clear that this little boy would be able to do little for himself.

Hassan is now 8 years old and is reliant on a carer for all of his personal care needs. He is unable to walk or talk and has feeding difficulties which have required him to have a gastrostomy tube fitted through which he now receives the majority of his food and drink. When people meet Hassan, and hear his story, they are often overwhelmed with sorrow, pity and sometimes even hopelessness. Perhaps they ask themselves ‘why did God allow this to happen?’ or ‘Does God really have plans and purposes for Hassan`s life?’

However, as someone who spends the majority of my days with him, I can confidently answer this last question with a YES! God does have plans and purposes for Hassan`s life and he IS using him to bring glory to His name. Hassan brings joy into many people`s lives when they see him laugh and smile or when he tries to sing during praise and worship at church.

Hassan now lives in one of the 7 family groups at Kasana children`s centre where a special house was built for him and his carer(s) [caregivers] in 2009. He loves to be part of the family and attends the family devotions every evening. His brothers and sisters often take him out on walks delivering bread or just visiting other family groups or staff members. In the week, Hassan goes to pre-school and always responds with big smiles and laughter when he is welcomed by his classmates.

Hassan has been a catalyst in the beginning of the New Hope Special Needs Programme. As well as caring for Hassan, we want to reach out to other children and adults with disabilities in the local community. At the moment we are also providing care for a man who has significant learning difficulties and has a history of being abused and taken advantage of in the village where he stays.

During school term time, two other seven year old boys (Kakulu and Ivan) come in to visit Hassan`s house and also spend time within the pre-school classroom. Once a month we have been holding a community outreach session where people in the local community who have children with disabilities are able to come for lunch at Hassan`s house and are given support and advice about caring for their disabled child. At the most recent session, we had a visit from the community physiotherapist who was able to assess each child and show their parents/carers exercises and activities to do that would aid their development.

We are aiming towards starting a special needs class at our primary school in February 2011. Initially the class will be located in the new clinic building but eventually we hope to move down onto the main primary site. The class will run from Monday to Thursday with Fridays left open for home visits and a monthly ‘Community Outreach’ session. We hope to start with five students and we will focus mainly on teaching them independent life skills. Basically, we want to enable each child to fulfil his/her God given potential and to grow in their relationship with God.

As well as reaching out to the children and their families, we also want to challenge the community as a whole to reconsider their attitudes and beliefs concerning disability and suffering in general; does what they believe line up with what God says in his word? Here in Uganda, many people believe that disability is caused by sin or by witchcraft.

Others believe that disabilities are catching and are therefore fearful of those affected. As is the case worldwide, people with disabilities are considered by many as being of less worth than an ‘able’ person.

We want to replace these beliefs with God`s truth and challenge the people who live in our community to see people with disability through God`s eyes and to play their part in caring for them and enabling them to fulfil the purpose God has for each of their lives; to live in a way which brings glory to the name of our Father God.

New Hope Uganda are commencing the Special Needs Programme officially in January 2011 and are opening their special needs class at EEVPS at the start of the new school year. If you are interested in giving to the special needs programme in general or in sponsoring one of the children with disabilities who will be part of the class, please contact us either via our website.

By Kate Tolhurst Special needs corrdinator

Musana Radio

New Hope Uganda feels called to help end fatherlessness in the Nakaseke District by 2027. We believe we need to get at the roots of fatherlessness, not just the end-result of it. In 2009, by God’s grace, New Hope was given an incredibly opportunity to reach the Nakaseke District and beyond on a daily basis through a very powerful medium: radio.

With very limited funding and a staff of 30+ who are mostly volunteers, 107.8 Musana FM has been on the air since December of 2009. The impact in the region has been immediate and profound. Listeners have given their lives to Christ and families reunited because they were challenged by the message on Musana FM. In addition, listeners are forming “Fun Clubs” throughout the region. At the last “Fun Club” event, nearly 1000 people came to spend time with Musana FM and hear more of its message. It is so clear that people here are hungry for the Biblical Truth that the station is communicating.

The vision of the station is to be the leading providers of relevant and timely information and education to the communities of the Luwero Triangle to transform the individual, the family and the community. By God’s grace, Musana FM is beginning to fulfill that vision. Musana’s programming impacts the community by providing godly principles in family, farming, business, healthcare and entertainment for the glory of God. Responsible citizenship and integrity are constant messages on the station as it reaches out to affect listener’s beliefs, creating a biblical worldview and seeking tangible transformation.
Through the radio, a family is being built, with love for each other at its center.

1 More Child at Musana Camp

“Sam” was one of about 40 street boys from a slum outside of Jinja who came for a Musana Camps program with an organization based out of the UK called “1 More Child.” He comes from a tribe in the harsh northeast of the country called the “Karamojong” – a tribe scorned by all others in Uganda. Sam had a blast while at the camp swimming in Lake Victoria, hiking all over our 900 acres, participating in initiative games, singing around the campfire, chasing monkeys, playing football (soccer), and more.
At the end of the camp, he jokingly threatened to hide in the jungle when the bus came so he could stay longer! In fact, all of the boys were begging us to let them come back over Christmas. The Spirit was truly working in the lives of those boys during their stay. We shared devotions with them each day focusing on making good choices that will lead them on a path towards God and bring him glory, rather than living merely out of self-obsession and self-protection. The boys learned that making good choices involves faith, wisdom, integrity, and love. They also learned that all of that is gained through a relationship with God, studying his Word, and learning from other Christ followers.
Most of these boys have endured very harsh conditions in the slum they live in. It is easier for them to beg for money or food than to try to earn money somehow due to the extreme poverty and lack of opportunity they have. Yet during their camp, we challenged them to choose to work hard instead of begging on the streets of Jinja, and to live in relationship with Christ and others, all of which God desires for them. Work is part of God’s plan for our lives, and these boys are beginning to see how begging is not. We are praying that Sam is making good choices back in Jinja, and that we will see him again when his group returns to Musana Camps. Experiences like Sam’s are what Musana Camps is all about and it was such a blessing to host those boys.

Dave Bouffard, Musana Camp Director

IY Buisness Dinner

“Investment Year is an institution of its own” said one of the IY members during the public speaking practice. This greatly struck and I agree with it. Many people have joined different institutions, but if you critically follow what is behind all this is, it is to get training about the life coming or what is going on.
This business dinner was prepared long before we got to know about it by our teachers. We had to pick from a list of 15 careers they had chosen (e.g. Doctor, lawyer, film producer, agriculturist etc.) and we were to act as that person through the dinner.
The day which seemed too far away came closer and closer up to when it happened. It was amazing seeing how beautifully all the business people showed up at the ‘Palm Restaurant’. Men putting on full suits and ladies as well not forgetting the risky high heels which made them taller for a moment!
‘Palm Restaurant’ was opened at 7pm as the senior chef welcomed us in and we had to interact with each other getting to know about where different ones of us were coming from and what job we did. The restaurant had good customer care services as the staff seemed to know what they were doing (The IY staff served).
This time has been really a training of its own because however much we credit schools as being training centres, no teacher will ever come to class with a knife and fork and teach you how to use it! We need these skills if we are to interact publically.
As we were taking our last course which was coffee and chocolate cake, we heard from our guest speaker, Aunty Judith Goddard. Her speech was so strong but easy for some one with little faith and slow to responding to God’s call. For many of us fear failure but we were encouraged to hear about Aunty Judith has dealt with them in her life and kept going. There were many lessons to learn from her words and one of them is knowing and clearly following what the Lord requires of you, persistence being the key. Remember he who started a good work in you will fulfill it.
Zam-zam. IY student 2011.

Kampala Day

I remember the first time I visited my capital city (many years ago!) I think I wandered around wide eyed and stunned at the amount of people, all seemingly going somewhere very important and in a rush. Part of Investment Year is helping our children to develop life skills and to be able to live and operate in different settings. As we live in the village it is important to be able to move around the city safely and confidently, so this week as a group we travelled to Kampala (Capital City).
We split them into 4 groups and gave them a map, a phone with a camera and a list of useful buildings, sites and monuments (eg. Taxi park, post office, parliament, independence monument etc) that they had to find with the final place being the leaders with lunch! As each team drifted off into the chaos of a busy city, there was nervous excitement from each of our children as they headed, for most of them into the unknown! We went to the final meeting place, hoping that no one would get too lost…80 minutes later the team who headed off last reached their destination after successfully finding all their places. The other teams were not far behind. It was a fun day and I believe our children learnt a lot about themselves, working as a team, asking for help, reading maps and being in Kampala. A few of them also learnt how to deal with being stuck in a lift (elevator) for 15 minutes!!We left Kasana with 15 of our children and happily returned with 15!

- Steve Brown, Early Adulthood Coordinator, Staff since 2006

Uganda 2011 Elections

Ugandans have voted in a presidential election on Friday which saw a low turnout despite what diplomats described as big state spending to woo voters.
Some European Union observers put the turnout as low as 30 per cent at many polling stations in a ballot pitching Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, against his arch rival Kizza Besigye for the third straight election.
Polls closed at 1400 GMT. The country's electoral commission says it will announce the results within 48 hours of the closing.
The election was held after a bitter campaign in east Africa's third largest economy. There have been widespread allegations that Museveni's party has been paying voters to back him for a fourth term.
While the election is expected to extend Yoweri Museveni's term in office to three decades, opposition parties in the country have threatened that they will take to the streets if the polls are deemed to have been rigged.
Museveni has given warning that large-scale protests such as those being threatened will not be tolerated, and anyone taking part will be arrested.
Kizza Besigye, the opposition front-runner, has already lost two previous elections to Museveni, a former ally.
Many Ugandans complain of rampant corruption and a lack of investment in basic public services and infrastructure under Museveni, but others respect him for bringing stability to the country.
Rigging suspicions
One of the major issues on the agenda for whoever wins the election will be managing the country's newly discovered oil reserves, which are estimated to be in the billions of barrels.
The country's last two elections, in 2001 and 2006, ended in dispute, after Besigye unsuccessfully appealed to the supreme court both times to overturn the results.
The time, he says that he is producing his own results tally, and if it does not match the official outcome, he has threatened mass protests.
"If the electoral commission releases results that we know to be fraudulent, at that stage we shall recommend the Ugandan people deal with the matter directly," Besigye said earlier this week.
Museveni appeared confident in the lead-up to the polls, however. "It will be a big win," he said on Wednesday.
His government has deployed thousands of security-forces personnel to oversee the holding of elections, and he has cautioned bodies other than the electoral commission against declaring results.
Suspicions of rigging were already rife on Friday, particularly in the Rubaga area, an opposition stronghold. Voters there said that ballot papers had not been delivered to polling stations by the time that voting was due to start.
Polling stations across the capital, Kampala, also reported delays.
'Bribes offered'
European Union observers said voting had so far been peaceful, but were concerned some voters were being turned away from polling stations despite being registered and that they had seen a number of improperly sealed ballot boxes.
The EU's chief observer, Edward Scitluna, said that in three out of five polling stations visited by midday ballot boxes had not been sealed correctly and their lids could be lifted.
"My impression is that's a lack of training, not systemic rigging," said Scitluna, adding some voters were being told they had not registered despite thinking otherwise.
Voters in the village of Wii-Aworanga said candidates from all parties had offered bribes of up to 100,000 shillings ($40) per village ahead of the election to secure votes.
"Bribes came from everybody ... but of course the NRM (ruling National Resistance Movement) are the government and they offered more," one voter who did not want to be named told Reuters news agency.
Deadly clashes
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow reporting from Kampala said the voting has gone well in most places but in eastern Uganda there were clashes between two opposing candidates in one of the parliamentary constituencies.
"Supporters of the minister of defence and supporters of her opponent clashed in and around the town of Mbale," he said.
"Two people are confirmed dead and up to 30 injured, including a journalist. The military has been deployed to quell the situation."
Analysts have said that a public uprising is unlikely to succeed in Uganda, where the population is less educated and has less access to the internet than in Egypt, which Besigye cited as being the kind of uprising Uganda would witness.

Aljazeera News

Pastoral Training Institute

Though there are hundreds of churches in the villages around New Hope, very few are having a significant impact on their communities. Most pastors and lay leaders have had little to no Biblical education, churches are mired in syncretism, and the Gospel is not understood in its fullness. New Hope Uganda’s Pastoral Training Institute (PTI) is geared to bring community transformation by impacting pastors and their families who, in turn, will impact their churches and communities.
PTI will help provide local pastors with a solid Biblical foundation. In addition, it will provide agricultural and animal husbandry training. This training is designed not only to equip pastors to sustain their families, but also as a way for churches to provide self-sustainable orphan care through the local church.
PTI brings local pastors and lay leaders to Kasana for one week (five weekdays) each month over a period of three years. This enables them to receive thorough training while continuing to lead their home congregations. Each participant demonstrates his commitment to the program by contributing a small amount towards the costs but otherwise all costs are covered through scholarships.
The initial PTI class of 12 began in March, 2010. As of May 14, these pastors and lay leaders have now completed three full weeks of training.

Mamma enjoying her boys

First day of School

Monday Jan. 31 was the first day of the 2011 school year here in Uganda. December and January are summer vacation for our kids.
I had an opportunity to see at least a bit of several of our school’s first day. I did not make it out to our vocational institute but was able to briefly visit New Hope Academy (see brief video NHA First Day taken by my sons who are attending for some classes) and spend a bit more time at Essuubi Epya Vocational Primary School and our new special needs classroom that is associated with it.
At EEVPS, Headmaster Simon Katabazi was very welcoming. After having all the teachers lead the student assembly in praise songs, the Ugandan national anthem, the Ugandan pledge of allegiance, and the pledge to the Bible, Uncle Simon introduced all the new teachers and prayed for them. Next he called forward new students and we all prayed for them. Then we had a prayer of dedication for the school year. It was very clear we are looking to God as our source of learning.
I was also able to stop by our new special needs classroom headed up by Kate Tolhurst – for now, their classroom is one of the rooms in our new Clinic. For most, if not all of the students there, this was there first day ever in a school. It was so clear that they were pleased to be there and are very comfortable around Kate and the other staff.
We would love your prayers for all of these students and their teachers.
- Tal Anderson

We normally try to fit our bimonthly newsletter on one page, but January was so full that we have decided to bring you the special expanded edition of our update. First, thank you for so many of your prayers during this challenging time in our lives. For those of you who escaped the prayer chains we’ll catch you up to speed…. Caleb fell very sick the beginning of January (identically to what he went through last Feb.) with fevers (up to 105.4), night sweats, a rash, and complete exhaustion. This went undiagnosed for almost three weeks in which time Nathaniel was found to have Guardia AND an amoeba and had boil like wounds on body, meanwhile Alair was bit by an insect that caused her foot/ ankle to swell almost three times its normal size leaving her unable to walk on it for a few days. By the end of the month Caleb was finally diagnosed with Katayama Syndrome which stemmed from a parasite called Bilharzia (contracted from contaminated water- like Lake Victoria). We decided if Caleb had been exposed to this parasite, the whole family had, and should be boys tested. At that point, it wasn’t surprising when we found out that both boys had it as well. We believe it was caught and they were put on treatment early enough that they should be fine shortly.
It seems that when it rains it pours... We are pushing forward and although Caleb could think of a million other places he would have rather spent four nights than the hospital, we are thankful for the medical care we have received here in Uganda. Even as we looked outside the hospital window in Kampala, we were reminded that there are so many people that do not have access to good medical care.
We know we serve a good God who not only loves us and sees all that we are going through but who walks with us and has prepared the path for us to walk in. We continue to learn to trust Him more, and as the Lord revealed to Paul in 2Cor. 12 "My [HIS] grace is sufficient for you, for my [HIS] power is made perfect in weakness.” It is only by His grace that we live and move and have our being! Alair is doing much better after a strong antibiotic and the insect bite has healed quite well. Caleb is still weak, but recovering slowly. The fevers are gone, but it will be at least a two month regimen of treatment and testing. The boys are settling back into a daily routine and Nicolas, who in the midst of it all, turned three on Jan. 17th, and is learning to ride his new bike with training wheels.
The body of Christ both here in Uganda and in the States have proved to be a blessing beyond measure. From prayers on our behalf, to watching our children and bringing us meals, from a timely surprise visit from our dear friend Laurie just as Caleb was being discharged from the hospital, to the care package she brought, put together by family, friends and our Blackhawk family, we have been reminded again and again of the importance of the body of Christ and how much we need each other as we move through life. Laurie was a huge encouragement to us- we were so blessed to have her with us, even if for just a few short days. It was just what we needed as we fought back wanting to “throw in the towel.” Some days we long for home and the comfort it brings. We cannot tell you how overwhelmed we were to hear that so many people at home and at Blackhawk were praying for us... it brought us to tears. Three years ago, as we were raising support and getting ready to leave for Uganda, we were told how important it was to have people praying for us back home. God has shown us the amazing truth of that reality. Without your prayers we are not sure where we would be right now (emotionally AND physically)!
It is true that during every season of our lives, it is God’s desire to see us gaining the resemblance of His Son in whose image we were created. During this difficult season we have gained a deeper understanding of how suffering brings us into maturity. We have come to count ourselves blessed to have had these challenges even though we would not have ever welcomed them. God has faithfully used this time to revealed sin in our lives that desperately needed to be repented of and turned from. It reminds us of the nation of Israel and how God tested them so that "He would know what was in their hearts." God already knew what was in their hearts, but they didn't. Jeremiah talks about how the heart is deceitfully wicked… who can understand it? We have learned that through difficulty and trials God clears away many of the distractions in our lives in order for us to see the true state of our hearts and give opportunity for repentance. Some areas of sin were places in our hearts where idols of self reliance needed to be removed from their “high places” in order for the LORD to have His rightful place- Amen!
We have also recognized that we have not merely been involved in a physical battle but a spiritual one as well. We have sensed the enemy at work against our family, and have had several other New Hope staff and friends say the same thing. We are depending on the blood of Christ who covers all and has authority over all. And we have clearly seen the body of Christ at work! It is for that reason we are eliciting your prayers on the “sleep front.” Many of you have been praying for “sweet sleep” (Proverbs 3:24) for us and specifically for Nate- our youngest. As we are more and more aware that this is not an area we can “train” him through (and believe me we have tried everything shy of flying Super nanny to Uganda), but rather that this is a battle God must win for us, we are more than ready to request your prayers… that the God who “grants sleep to those He loves” (Psalm 127:2), would not allow the enemy to rob Nathaniel or the rest of us of that precious gift!
Caleb’s Aunt Donna reminded us that prayer is also an act of worship for the person saying the prayer. Prayer connects us with our God and to each other! We praise God that He is using our struggles to produce a lot of prayer, praise and connecting! Glory be to God! We are excited to see Him work in a mighty way in our lives and the lives of those who are praying!
Thanks again for your love for us! We have been so encouraged by you all! We look forward seeing you face to face when we are on home assignment (tentatively end of July through the beginning of Jan.) and telling you of His wonderful grace in our lives. Thank you again for your love toward us and your continued prayers!
In His service for his name and renown,
The Mitchells

Celebrating Jesus

For the past two years we have celebrated Christmas using an menorah. A Menorah is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish faith, a eight-branched candelabrum used in the Temple. So we made up our own Hanukkah celebrating who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Each night we talked about a character of God and gave thanks as we see these displayed in our family. We talked about God as our Father, Protector, Provider, Mercy, Forgiveness, Peace, Love, and Truth. The boys also opened up one small gift during that time. The picture of Nate is the bubbles he opened on night #4.