Nate turns 4 on July 28

We celebrate all that God is doing and has done in Nate's life.

BIG NEWS!!

Dear Family and Friends,

“Never a dull moment,” recently I’ve seen this phrase with hash tags as people twitter about their lives, and I can’t think of a more appropriate saying to describe the past year of our lives… an unknown sickness, malaria, flying to the States unexpectedly, seeing doctors and specialists, leaving California for Indiana, the boys adoption finalized, dealing with their immigration process, not knowing until the last minute if we were high tailing it back to Uganda or not at the end of May, and Nate’s surgery. Well true to form there’s more…

“Never a dull moment” because our God is Provider and He often brings us to the point of need so that we can clearly see His hand acting on our behalf!

“Never a dull moment” because our God is a Healer and He only shows his healing power through sickness whether physical or spiritual!

“Never a dull moment” because we are on this adventure with a God who is all about His own glory and He has allowed us to be a canvas so to speak, on which He has chosen show off. And show off He is, like fireworks in a black sky.

Over the past few months God has laid a very specific prayer on Caleb’s heart and the hearts of several other people (6 and counting… please let us know if the number is higher). The day before we celebrated our sixteenth wedding anniversary God revealed His answer to those prayers. It was a prayer that I had not been able to pray myself because of some significant boulders that served as road blocks in my heart as it pertained to communicating openly and intimately with my Father God. These boulders begged me to believe the lies written on them rather than the truth God says about who I am. But praise be to God who is a Father who knows the desires of our hearts whether we ask or not, a Father who will not give a stone when His child asks for bread, a Father who beckons us to allow Him to remove all obstacles so that we can clearly hear Him speak truth over us, the truth that we are loved daughters and sons of the King, and that He desires for us to have joy and gladness in His presence, and a Father who did all of that in my heart only one day before the BIG reveal!

Now for BIG news! After sixteen years of marriage, and being graced with the gifts of two beautiful, adopted sons, God has begun another life, a “magnum opus” (great work) that will take over nine months to complete. He is fearfully and wonderfully (Ps. 139:16) knitting together a baby inside me. Yes, I am pregnant! And we will, as the prophet Isaiah said, “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;” we will “make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.” We will “Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;” we will “let this be known to all the world.” We will “Shout aloud and sing for joy… for great is the Holy One of Israel among  you.”(Isaiah 12:3)

As for now, the Immigration department has granted the boys extension and we have purchased plane tickets back to Uganda for September 18^th.  We look forward to the next two months chalked full of family, friends, New Hope projects, and telling God’s story of His mighty deeds in us, both great and small!

With our monthly support down a bit and our adjusted planning for a family of five, we would love for you to consider joining us as monthly financial partners for His glory and for His kingdom as we serve Him in Uganda.   Our current committed monthly support is $2525 and our budget is $3300. We still need $775 in monthly support.      http://newhopeuganda.org/donate/

The Mitchell’s,           

Caleb, Alair, Nico, and Nate

f you are led to join Caleb and Alair in ministry with New Hope Uganda, please complete the following:

I/We would like to commit to being a prayer partner:               c daily             c weekly

I/We would like to commit to supporting Caleb and Alair monthly with the following amount*:

c $25       c $50      c $75       c $100       c $200       c Other: $_________

I/We would like to give a one-time gift of $____________. 

Name:______________________________________________  Phone number: _________________

Address:_____________________________  City:___________________  State:_____  Zip:________

Email address:________________________________________________

* New Hope Uganda Ministries—PO Box 154— Belle Fourche, SD 57717 — 800.611.6486 — www.newhopeuganda.org

 *New Hope Uganda Ministries is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

Update

As always we hope this finds you well, that you are reminded as we have been by our little guy Nate singing one of his favorite Seeds song, that all things work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28 & 29). Our God is so faithful to remind us by the Holy Spirit and even through his little ones, all of the things that Christ taught. And the truth that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever,” (Hebrews 13:8) brings comfort and confidence in the midst of changing situations.

 We have been in Indiana just over two weeks now and are thankful for both an uneventful flight from California and for a pretty seamless transition. Thank you for your continual prayers on our behalf… we are full of praise reports this month! One is that for almost a month now Caleb has not had a flare up. In fact aside from fatigue, he feels great! He has been on a steady level of prednisone for two months and he began taking methatrexate a month ago. Please continue to pray as he begins making the transition off of prednisone. Our hope is that he will be able to maintain the quality of life he has been experiencing while solely on methatrexate. Because Caleb is in a transitional stage of his treatment, his rheumatologist has recommended that we remain here in the States for a few more months so that he can manage Caleb on his medication until he is confident that the transition has been successful.
In our last update we  informed you that the boys’ visitor visas expire at the end of May. We have applied for extensions and will have a clear answer on our leave date when we hear back from USCIS. For now we have tickets to Uganda on hold for May 18^th. Please continue to pray as we have not heard from the attorney in Uganda regarding the Judge’s decision on the boys final adoption which was supposed to be given on April 15^th. 

Many of you have regularly supported through prayer or financially be it monthly donations or occasional one time gifts, and for that we are eternally grateful. As we have said before, our service to the Lord in Uganda would not be possible without your partnerships. Thank you! If you sense God leading you to join in His work through these “broken” Mitchell “vessels,” by either joining our team of prayer partners or financial partners please indicate and mail in the enclosed card. Your timely financial contributions whether ongoing-monthly financial gifts or through very appreciated one time gifts, will help us with the upcoming costs of airline tickets ($3,500) for our return to Uganda and our work permits ($1,500) upon arrival. For online donations go to www.newhopeuganda.org. In our next newsletter we will let you know how God answers prayer concerning the boys visa status, the adoption and we will give you an idea about the exciting area of ministry Caleb will be involved in with New Hope.

Thank you for your continued prayers,

Caleb, Alair, Nico and Nate                                       

November News

Written November 23, 2012

 (See bottom of the post for update)

We pray that this Thanksgiving Day was a special time recognizing the goodness of God. Our family celebrated by sharing in this a meal with several others families- turkey and all the fix ‘ins, but the part we cherished most was writing down on the back of colorful paper leaves what we are most thankful for and then sharing how the love of our Father God and his intimate provisions have been so strikingly clear this year and in this season of life for our family.

We are specifically writing to inform some of you and to catch others of you up to speed on Caleb, his health, our family and decisions we are in the process of making concerning all three…

Over the past several months we have had serious concerns about Caleb’s health over the past several months.  In May just before we were Stateside for the weddings Caleb had what we thought was a reoccurrence of Bilharzia symptoms- rash, high fevers and joint pain. He was given the treatment and we left for California. He felt better for a few weeks but in June the symptoms were back. After visits to more than 1 doctor he was treated for “tick fever” and then loosely diagnosed with Reiter’s Syndrome or Reactive Arthritis brought on by an infection either viral or bacterial. The treatment for this was a high and long regimen of prednisolone. Over the past several months he has tapered off of the steroid three times only to have a relapse or “flare up” of the symptoms again and again.

The most recent flare up with symptoms including fevers, (reaching 104.9), severe joint and muscle pain  (to the point that several times he was unable to walk),  brought concern that perhaps this was not the right diagnosis and so he was tested for another suspected cause… brucellosis (bacteria acquired from cattle, beef or milk). The initial test came back negative but the doctor sent his blood to a lab in S. Africa to be tested again with more sophisticated equipment.  Not wanting Caleb’s condition to worsen while waiting for the test results, he started Caleb on the treatment anyway. After three days of treatment Caleb was in fact getting worse rather than better and so he went back to the doctor (Monday). Another practicing physician at the medical center checked Caleb out and believes that he has Still’s Disease. A diagnostic type test was done on Caleb’s blood and there is ample evidence to diagnose him with Still’s Disease.

Caleb has been taken off of the medications for treating brucellosis and is back on a high dose of prednisolone. However this past week has still been rough. Caleb had not been able to sleep for six nights straight because the fevers and joint pains were so intense. Thankfully last night he was able to get almost four hours of sleep! The diagnosing doctors have recommended and the leaders here at New Hope as well as our family in the States agree that it is in Caleb’s best interest to return to the States in order to get treatment, learn to manage his disease and to fully recover. We are praying that fevers will subside in the next few days so that he will be able to travel. Please pray with us. Plane tickets for the entire family to go to California are on hold for Wednesday the 28^th and will be purchased on Monday if Caleb is feeling well enough to fly.

 

Our adoption process (the timing of finalizing the adoption and pursuing immigrant visas for Nico and Nate)…

We spoke with our attorney who informed us that the judge that heard our case and who would grant the adoption order has extended his two week leave to four weeks. In actuality his leave will extend through January because the court system in Uganda recesses for holiday (mid Dec. - mid Jan.). This means that we will not have a ruling until sometime in Jan. or possibly Feb. Our lawyer reassured us that we do not need to be present for the ruling and that he will file all necessary finalization papers with the ministries we are required to here in Uganda to do so with and then will send the final court orders to us in the U.S. We also spoke with the U.S. embassy in Kampala and were told that we are able to file for immigrant visas while the boys are in the U.S. on visitors visa’s (which expire in June 2013) as soon as we have our adoption finalized.

We have been continually reminded by many of you and by the Spirit of the living God himself that there is joy in His presence and it is His presence that we are seeking!

Celebrating Nathaniel Mitchell

After a long day driving in and out of Kampala for doctor appointments we returned home to a meal prepared by friends and co-workers. And after dinner we celebrated Nate! The day after Thanksgiving, three years ago God brought Nate into our family. We call this homecoming event, “God made me a Mitchell,” the day that God made known to us His plan from the beginning for our family. Our prayer for both Nathaniel and Nicolas Psalm 139… We praise God, for Nate is fearfully and wonderfully made! Such a celebration is only complete with an M cake made with M&M’s! We are so blessed to have Nate as our son, and we are sometimes overwhelmed that God has entrusted us with such beautiful boys!

Thank you for your prayers, counsel, encouraging texts, phone calls, meals, and for watching our kids while we’ve been ferrying to and from the doctor!

The Mitchell’s

Update November 27, 2012

 

This is just a quick update on Caleb and what has been planned for our departure.

We have not tried yet to board any flights to America as we had initially planned because Caleb was not feeling up to making the trip.

 

After a conversation with a pharmacist in the States, Caleb began raising his prednisone dose from 90 mg to 110 mg on Monday morning after a long night of high fevers (40.8 C/ 105.5 F). Last night (Monday) Caleb's fever came again reaching the same temperature and he therefore increased his dose of prednisone to 130 mg this morning. We hope that he will not have to up the dose again, but if the fever persists he will taper up to 150 mg then consult the pharmacist about how to proceed from there. We are now awaiting confirmation on tickets to fly out of Entebbe on a commercial airline flight on Friday. This morning we received word that in addition to purchasing the tickets for our family's flight, one of our supporting churches, is sending Caleb's cousin J.T. King and possibly their Global Ministries pastor, to Uganda to assist us with the trip to the US. This decision was one the church made in efforts to fully support us and we receive it a blessing and tangible provision from our Father God.

I (Alair) am on day two of malaria treatment and should be feeling better soon. The boys are doing well and as of now are viewing all of this as a great adventure- which is probably a very good way to walk through life with our God isn't it!?!

 

Please continue to pray…

 

That “he will have no fear of bad news; that his heart is steadfast, trusting in God.” Psalm 112:7

That we will “… fix our thoughts on Jesus…” Hebrews 3:1

That we will “Hope in God” and “praise Him for the help of His presence.” Psalm 42:5

That we will cling to the truth that…

“The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

“For He Himself is our peace…” Ephesians 2:14

“He is Immanuel…” “God with us” Matthew 1:23

 

Thank you for praying,

Alair for the Mitchell family

November News

Written November 23, 2012

 (See bottom of the post for update)

We pray that this Thanksgiving Day was a special time recognizing the goodness of God. Our family celebrated by sharing in this a meal with several others families- turkey and all the fix ‘ins, but the part we cherished most was writing down on the back of colorful paper leaves what we are most thankful for and then sharing how the love of our Father God and his intimate provisions have been so strikingly clear this year and in this season of life for our family.

We are specifically writing to inform some of you and to catch others of you up to speed on Caleb, his health, our family and decisions we are in the process of making concerning all three…

Over the past several months we have had serious concerns about Caleb’s health over the past several months.  In May just before we were Stateside for the weddings Caleb had what we thought was a reoccurrence of Bilharzia symptoms- rash, high fevers and joint pain. He was given the treatment and we left for California. He felt better for a few weeks but in June the symptoms were back. After visits to more than 1 doctor he was treated for “tick fever” and then loosely diagnosed with Reiter’s Syndrome or Reactive Arthritis brought on by an infection either viral or bacterial. The treatment for this was a high and long regimen of prednisolone. Over the past several months he has tapered off of the steroid three times only to have a relapse or “flare up” of the symptoms again and again.

The most recent flare up with symptoms including fevers, (reaching 104.9), severe joint and muscle pain  (to the point that several times he was unable to walk),  brought concern that perhaps this was not the right diagnosis and so he was tested for another suspected cause… brucellosis (bacteria acquired from cattle, beef or milk). The initial test came back negative but the doctor sent his blood to a lab in S. Africa to be tested again with more sophisticated equipment.  Not wanting Caleb’s condition to worsen while waiting for the test results, he started Caleb on the treatment anyway. After three days of treatment Caleb was in fact getting worse rather than better and so he went back to the doctor (Monday). Another practicing physician at the medical center checked Caleb out and believes that he has Still’s Disease. A diagnostic type test was done on Caleb’s blood and there is ample evidence to diagnose him with Still’s Disease.

Caleb has been taken off of the medications for treating brucellosis and is back on a high dose of prednisolone. However this past week has still been rough. Caleb had not been able to sleep for six nights straight because the fevers and joint pains were so intense. Thankfully last night he was able to get almost four hours of sleep! The diagnosing doctors have recommended and the leaders here at New Hope as well as our family in the States agree that it is in Caleb’s best interest to return to the States in order to get treatment, learn to manage his disease and to fully recover. We are praying that fevers will subside in the next few days so that he will be able to travel. Please pray with us. Plane tickets for the entire family to go to California are on hold for Wednesday the 28^th and will be purchased on Monday if Caleb is feeling well enough to fly.

 

Our adoption process (the timing of finalizing the adoption and pursuing immigrant visas for Nico and Nate)…

We spoke with our attorney who informed us that the judge that heard our case and who would grant the adoption order has extended his two week leave to four weeks. In actuality his leave will extend through January because the court system in Uganda recesses for holiday (mid Dec. - mid Jan.). This means that we will not have a ruling until sometime in Jan. or possibly Feb. Our lawyer reassured us that we do not need to be present for the ruling and that he will file all necessary finalization papers with the ministries we are required to here in Uganda to do so with and then will send the final court orders to us in the U.S. We also spoke with the U.S. embassy in Kampala and were told that we are able to file for immigrant visas while the boys are in the U.S. on visitors visa’s (which expire in June 2013) as soon as we have our adoption finalized.

We have been continually reminded by many of you and by the Spirit of the living God himself that there is joy in His presence and it is His presence that we are seeking!

Celebrating Nathaniel Mitchell

After a long day driving in and out of Kampala for doctor appointments we returned home to a meal prepared by friends and co-workers. And after dinner we celebrated Nate! The day after Thanksgiving, three years ago God brought Nate into our family. We call this homecoming event, “God made me a Mitchell,” the day that God made known to us His plan from the beginning for our family. Our prayer for both Nathaniel and Nicolas Psalm 139… We praise God, for Nate is fearfully and wonderfully made! Such a celebration is only complete with an M cake made with M&M’s! We are so blessed to have Nate as our son, and we are sometimes overwhelmed that God has entrusted us with such beautiful boys!

Thank you for your prayers, counsel, encouraging texts, phone calls, meals, and for watching our kids while we’ve been ferrying to and from the doctor!

The Mitchell’s

Update November 27, 2012

 

This is just a quick update on Caleb and what has been planned for our departure.

We have not tried yet to board any flights to America as we had initially planned because Caleb was not feeling up to making the trip.

 

After a conversation with a pharmacist in the States, Caleb began raising his prednisone dose from 90 mg to 110 mg on Monday morning after a long night of high fevers (40.8 C/ 105.5 F). Last night (Monday) Caleb's fever came again reaching the same temperature and he therefore increased his dose of prednisone to 130 mg this morning. We hope that he will not have to up the dose again, but if the fever persists he will taper up to 150 mg then consult the pharmacist about how to proceed from there. We are now awaiting confirmation on tickets to fly out of Entebbe on a commercial airline flight on Friday. This morning we received word that in addition to purchasing the tickets for our family's flight, one of our supporting churches, is sending Caleb's cousin J.T. King and possibly their Global Ministries pastor, to Uganda to assist us with the trip to the US. This decision was one the church made in efforts to fully support us and we receive it a blessing and tangible provision from our Father God.

I (Alair) am on day two of malaria treatment and should be feeling better soon. The boys are doing well and as of now are viewing all of this as a great adventure- which is probably a very good way to walk through life with our God isn't it!?!

 

Please continue to pray…

 

That “he will have no fear of bad news; that his heart is steadfast, trusting in God.” Psalm 112:7

That we will “… fix our thoughts on Jesus…” Hebrews 3:1

That we will “Hope in God” and “praise Him for the help of His presence.” Psalm 42:5

That we will cling to the truth that…

“The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

“For He Himself is our peace…” Ephesians 2:14

“He is Immanuel…” “God with us” Matthew 1:23

 

Thank you for praying,

Alair for the Mitchell family

Thanksgiving Celebration

This year’s Thanksgiving we were blessed with a visit from Uganda’s First Lady, Janet Museveni.
Interview with Tim Peterson, Staff Pastor and coordinator of 2012 Thanksgiving Celebration

I understand Thanksgiving is an annual event here. Can you tell us the purpose of New Hope Uganda’s Thanksgiving celebration?
The purpose is to remind us to give thanksgiving about what God has brought about here, and the amazing works He’s doing in this place – not to take the credit for anything we’ve done, but to give Him the glory.
How was this year’s Thanksgiving similar and different to past years’ Thanksgivings?

Ugandan First Lady Janet Museveni being welcomed at New Hope's Thanksgiving celebration.

[It was] similar in that we bring the whole community – not only the Kasana community, but the surrounding community, to join us in giving thanks. We represented many different languages in our singing, and we celebrated what God has done in the last year, not only in Kasana but in Kobwin and Musana camps as well. It was different in the fact that we didn’t have a processional, mostly due to the security issues, but also due to changing the way we do things. But unlike most years, we had the First Lady [of Uganda] here and although she was a guest at our very first Thanksgiving, it isn’t a regular occurrence at Kasana. The other thing is that we had a lot more children involved with what was going on than in previous years.
Can you describe the First Lady’s participation in this year’s Thanksgiving?
She had two separate roles – one was to see our Special Needs program and the children that were involved in the program, and to open the Hope Family House by cutting the ribbon, placing her handprint on the wall, and planting a citrus tree. The second part was taking part in the actual Thanksgiving service and giving the keynote address. We also appreciated the words from her daughter, Patience, and appreciated her words of challenge about building a legacy for those who come after.
What role did the children play in the celebration?
The biggest roles that they had were singing, ushering, security, and serving food… but all the children were valuable in giving testimonies,singing, and making this a place of welcoming community for all the guests who came outside.
In what specific ways did you see God working?
That all the pieces came together, for one thing! But many people were blessed by the children who were helping them, ushering them, caring for them… and many, including Mrs. Museveni, were impacted by the heartfelt thanksgiving. As she came tired and left refreshed, many others did as well. We appreciated the deaf ministry that came and cared for us by dancing and worshipping God with us. Others were blessed by the testimonies, both verbal and the card testimonies telling what God has done in their lives in the past year. And finally, many were surprised and pleased by the food that was served and how it was served.
As overall coordinator of the event, are there any specific success stories you’d like to share?
The biggest success story was the children showing responsibility. They really showed themselves far beyond their age in maturity. Theyblessed others and blessed God by the way they cared for others without thought for their own comfort, even to the point of missing some of the service because they themselves were serving.
Interview by Harrison Scott

A day in the life of Nico and Nate.  They had fun playing with a dead python after the farm workers killed it. Apparently the python was eating a goat at the time of its capture.

May June Udate

Mitchell Update May/ June and a bit of July 2012

Are we really sending our May and June update in mid July? The past few months were so full we will not be able to do justice when describing each event, but here are the highlights. During the month of May two teams from the States were scheduled to visit New Hope Uganda, Kasana, one from Utah and one from Arizona. Their arrivals were anticipated but created a bit of a situation for our family as Caleb is the Teams coordinator and our family hoped to be in California for two weddings! Thanks to our friends Keith McFarland and Hannah Kusler (also our old partner in Teams) and our assistant Jordana Bakimi for taking on those teams so that we could be there for my Dad and his new bride Patricia’s wedding ceremony on May 12^th and my sister Janea and Josh Beakley’s covenant union on the 19^th! All four of us Mitchells were able to fly to California and celebrate marriage because of a wonderful, which made it all the more meaningful. Both occasions were uniquely special and we were blessed in a myriad of ways and by numerous people during this season of celebration. Thank you LORD for being a God of covenant who perfectly demonstrates covenant love! We arrived back in Uganda on the 23^rd.  Hardly over the jet-lag from our two weeks in Cali, we jumped right back into the activities here at New Hope! The last Friday of May New Hope’s Institute of Child Care and Family had their class graduation. We were excited to celebrate the graduation of Pacific Family’s Kigundu Wilson from this five month intensive training. The word “intensive” is accurate, not because the class itself is so tough, but because God so faithfully challenges, and transforms lives during this time. Days after graduation Wilson joined the East family (fellow classmates during their course) as they moved to Gulu and started their childcare ministry (with Four Corners Ministries). What a joy to see God take Wilson to a place of ministry where he will be privileged to lead others to the healing hands of the Father God, where he himself has received healing! Thank you Lord for the fruit in Wilson’s life! Never the less, emotions were mixed as we said good-bye. I (Alair) fought back tears as we dropped him in Kampala to catch a bus for Gulu, and to start a very new chapter in his life. It was my first experience with one of our kids “leaving the nest,” but the promise of many more similar experiences await (especially when you are part of a family that exceeds twenty)!

About a week later we travelled to Jinja for a foreign staff seminar/ retreat. Four days and evenings were filled with discussions and teachings on co-ministering cross-culturally, opportunities to encourage one another by listening and praying specifically for each foreign staff person/ family, and time for fun and fellowship. When we returned from the retreat we had a little less than a week to finish preparations for the County Line Church of God team who arrived on June 7^th and 8^th. This team did it all- from tutoring in the primary school, working in the clinic and with the ladies who care for Hope Family’s babies, to painting trusses, ceilings and even a mural in Hope Family’s new home! Not only did they serve through their work, but they served our Pacific Family by building the foundations of authentic relationship. They shared testimonies of the journey God has had them on in their lives- challenges, conflicts and change that He has brought them through. They served alongside Pacific Family during an outreach to relatives of Peter and Rebecca (the eight year old twins in Pacific Family) and literally walked life with many of our kids. Thank you Lord for using willing and empty vessels and thank you County Line for your many generous gifts, for loving our kids, and serving our great God!

The third Sunday of June Kasana Community Church had an afternoon baptism service and several people gave testimony to their commitment to follow Christ before entering the water to be baptized. It was a special time for Pacific Family as we rejoiced with Sarah, Jalia and David! Thank you Lord for the saving work you have done in their lives!

June finished with two more teams- Baker Lutheran from Montana who worked tirelessly at Musana Camps with a short visit to Kasana and the North Creek Youth Team from Washington who served our school, reached out to the community, and blessed Worcester Family. And since it is pushing the middle of July we’ll include New Hope Uganda’s Thanksgiving celebration last Saturday. The days leading up to this year’s annual commemoration were full of planning for the event (more so than an average Thanksgiving Day celebration because this year even Janet Museveni, the President’s wife, joined in the festivities).  But it was also a time of preparing our hearts to bring an offering of Thanksgiving to God for all that He is and has done over the past year. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness to New Hope Uganda!

Wild Fires

The familiar nursery rhyme, “Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day,”
has no place, even for children, in this part of the world! As each dry season
comes to an end the entire country eagerly awaits the rainy season to begin.
Rain means life… water to drink, and cook with, planting to begin, green vegetation for animals to graze on, and the end of the coughs, asthma and allergies that come from the burning of brush and the red dust that seems to blanket everything. Brush fires on the New Hope’s Enterprise farm flared
very near our home for a week as surrounding farms and community members cleared land and flames jumped from one neighboring property to the next (threatening a few buildings, and claiming some of the efforts of our farm).
Along with the rest of Uganda, we have been anticipating the rain since we arrived in January, Nicolas was eager too, but for different reasons that we adults. Nico has been longing to play and splash in the puddles in his new rain boots and coat. It has only rained a few times, but he was ready! Nate’s favorite part was the mud the rain left behind!
Transitions are often challenging and our transition from the U.S. back to Uganda has been no exception, but God has been faithful to His word and has provided for each challenge out of the abundance of his riches… grace for each day and even more, the knowledge that He was, is and always will be Emanuel, God with us! Thank you for praying! We are also thankful for the way God answered prayers for continued relationship with the boys and girls in our family group. For those of you are just getting acquainted with us and the Kasana family, let me try to paint a picture for your minds eye. The fatherless (including children whose parents have abdicated the physical and relational aspects of parenting) or completely orphaned children who live here at New Hope Uganda are placed in family groups (God sets the lonely in families Ps. 86:8). These family groups might be compared to foster family in the United States.
God’s design for family is never represented perfectly in any family here on earth. Such perfection can only be found in Him and flawless fatherhood can only be experienced in relationship with Him. With His guidance however, as any other family seeking God’s glory, the children here at New Hope Kasana’s Children Center are given a unique opportunity to belong, to experience family. In these seven families, we pray that each child will experience the love and healing only their Father God can bring. Ultimately we pray for each child to experience the grace of salvation through Jesus Christ. Additionally we pray that they will receive and reciprocate genuine love, acceptance, and trust as they grow and mature through childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Please continue to pray for us and the many committed individuals who serve as parents like Rukundo William Pacific Family Father and Christine Pacific Family mother who has been very sick. Pray also for family associates (Aunties and Uncles) as we alongside the family parents, endeavor to build trust, enter the hurt places in their hearts and direct these young people to the One who cares, loves and heals. Join us as we pray for the children we love and serve in our Pacific family.
Pray for Wilson Kigundu Wilson is 21 years old and has been here at Kasana, in Pacific Family since he was 8 years old. Two years ago, when he was in S4 (his last year of secondary/ high school) Wilson accepted Christ and has since been a journey of challenges and growth. Right now he is in a training course offered here at New Hope. This five month course is designed to confront world views from any culture, redirect individuals to the word and purposes of God, identify woundedness in the their lives and in relationship with teachers and other students, seek the transformation and healing the Lord desires to bring as they then minister to others, specifically orphans! (We were blessed to have gone through this training almost four years ago when we first came to Uganda.) Pray for Wilson as he desires to learn and experience all that God has for him during this time. Pray as he cultivates a God honoring world view. Pray as he seeks to start and conduct a business that would bring glory to His Lord. Pray that his heart would remain soft as he waits on God to direct his steps.
Pray for us the Mitchell’s, as we continue to build into the children God has placed in our lives, for clarity on how best to coordinate short-term service teams, and for wisdom in how we balance family, ministry and work.
Praising the Lord for all that He is and all that He does! The Mitchells- Caleb, Alair, Nicolas, and Nathaniel
Mitchell News

Happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends,
As we start the New Year appreciative for the opportunities to have visited with many of you, we’ve also begun to identify a familiar twinge of sadness as we are not being able to take you with us when we leave. Yet we know and are excited about the ways God uses the times and places He situates each us in His sovereignty! It also helps that we are able to anticipate seeing some of you in Uganda in the not so distant future. Again, thank you for your continued support of us, and please know how grateful we are for the year end gifts many of you sent in.
Our time in the States presented an incredible chance to reconnect with family and friends, and to introduce the boys to loved ones that will again, be so far away once we arrive back in Uganda. This Christmas season was filled with sweet times with our families, times that have been etched in our minds and hearts, and times we will surely recall when we have settled back into life in Uganda. One of the many blessings we received while in Indiana was our time with County Line Church of God, our sending church Blackhawk Ministries, and Auburn Baptist church. All three churches have been an enormous encouragement to us and we are very thankful to be in partnership with them. Not only have they supported us finically but they have been prayer warriors on our behalf.
It was amazing to see God’s provision specifically through County Line Church of God as they took their once a year Christmas time offering which they call the “Joy to the World” offering. This year the funds raised were designated for New Hope in order to outfit 6 of our family groups with solar powered lighting. On a daily basis, solar light is practical way to meet a need that directly impacts the lives of approximately 140 children who call New Hope, “home”. Often the children are interrupted while studying, and their nightly activities are complicated when power goes out. The church’s goal was to raise $12,000 to accomplish this project. Not only was that goal met, but because of the outpouring of God’s generous people there, the goal was far surpassed with a total of $27,000 given. We hope that each time government power goes out in our district and the solar lights at New Hope are turned on, the children will be reminded of God’s provision for them, and the love of the body of Christ half way around the world. The extra funds will allow other vital projects to the ministry to be completed (solar power for additional buildings, much needed text books for our schools, and general supplies for the children at New Hope).
Our flight is scheduled to depart out of Chicago on the 6th with a lay-over in London, then to arrive in Uganda late evening of the 7th. Please continue to pray for us as we have begun to pack and to say some of the many “good-byes” that will fill this week. Pray for health, safety, and the anxiety that often accompanies continent and culture hopping. We know and serve a God who sees our every need and gives peace that surpasses all understanding. Pray also for our financial support. Currently, we are under budget in the area of “non cost of living” expenses such as adoption fees, health insurance, and vehicle expenses, flights between Uganda and the U.S. along with travel costs while in the States. We plan a 30 month budget and are short around $400 a month. Be assured that we are adjusting our budget like everyone else in this economy and are doing our best to be good stewards of the gifts that have been given.
Thank you again and we praise God for you all!
Caleb, Alair, Nico and Nate
www.newhopeuganda.org
www.calebalair.blogspot.com
Psalm 68:5, 6

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