Saturday, February 21, 2009

Goin' Upcountry

Greetings from Uganda! George and I are both doing well and staying busy. George is awaiting civil/structural drawings from the hanger manufacturer before he can move forward with the airplane hanger site preparation. They are expected to be ready in mid March, so he has a little bit of a lull in his schedule right now.

I just received confirmation that I will be traveling, Lord willing, with a small team of engineers to the Family Empowerment farming project about a four hour drive upcountry on February 26th and 27th. I have shared with many of you in the past some of our adventures and work to bring clean water, sanitation, and health care to the families that participate in the co-op farming project. The past couple of years I have tagged along with other short term teams to teach the ladies the Word of God.

Recently, I have been trying to coordinate the efforts of supporters in the United States that are trying to bring the project's vision for creating fish ponds on the farm a reality. The team will be surveying an area on the farm where an existing fish pond and future fish ponds will be located. Test wells monitoring changes in the water table were just installed in January by a short term mission team. I will go along with the team of engineers to help facilitate any needs they might have as they complete a topo-survey of the proposed sight. Our trip has been postponed several times, so pray that our trip will continue as planned. Please pray for safety as we travel by road and for the area to be easily accessible for the team to complete the survey.

I am most excited about getting a chance to share from the Word of God again with the ladies on the farm. The Lord has really laid on my heart to share with them regarding the return of our Lord Jesus Christ for us and the blessed hope we have being a child of God. Pray that any cultural, language or educational barriers are removed as I share with them. Pray that Christ would be magnified through the teaching of the Word of God. Pray that my sisters in the Lord will be encouraged as they learn about the great blessings our God and Father has in store for us that have a personal relationship with him. Pray for understanding of the scriptures, that lives will be changed and for anyone who may attend that has no hope to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The second Project Management workshop with MAF Uganda leadership is going well. Feedback has been very encouraging. We have one more day of training to complete the workshop. Please pray as I have been asked to meet with a member of MAF International, UK leadership team regarding further Project Management training opportunities with MAF.

Please pray that I would be able to find and purchase affordable airfares as I begin to make travel arrangements for my return to the U.S. in late March. Looking forward to seeing many of you!

In Christ,
George and Luan

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Ok, so I need to get better at bloggin!

Wow, I really need to get better at blogging. I am still transitioning from the mentality of writing a newsletter that is published once a month to chatting with you weekly. I promise to get better and publish more frequently.

For the past year, MAF Uganda has been raising donor support to build a new and much needed airplane hanger at their Kajjansi airfield. The existing aircraft hanger was built in 1994. It has been added on to several times to accommodate the growth in the ministry over the years. The existing hanger is in need of significant repairs. It is inadequately sized and lacks the facilities needed to support today and anticipated future growth of the ministry. George has been working with the MAF team to finalize the new hanger layout design. The new hanger will be 120’Wx110’D including office space and facilities to support needed aircraft maintenance functions and staff. A decision was made this past week to move forward and purchase the new prefabricated structural steel hanger from a supplier located Houston, TX. The hanger is expected to arrive in August. Pray for George as he now seeking the right resources to prepare the site, erect the hanger and finish the interior work and office space of the new hanger.


Existing MAF hanger at the Kajjansi Airstrip

Feedback has been very positive following the completion of my first Project Management Training workshop in January with MAF Uganda staff. Six more staff members are scheduled to participate in the second workshop beginning Monday, Feb 9th. We will meet each Monday for the next four weeks. Pray that the training will be practical and applicable to their everyday work and lives. I have also been asked about leading a third workshop with the national staff. Also, pray that my computer will hold out. Our existing laptop is having seizures. Unfortunately the diagnosis is not good. I am using an old laptop that has no battery and has issues of its own as well.

Please keep me in your prayers as I lead the weekly MAF Women’s Bible study. Pray that our time together will be a great time of fellowship as we seek to enter into a deeper relationship and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul admonishes us in Colossians 3:1-4 to diligently, actively, single mindedly pursue the things above, in other words, Heaven. It is my desire in our study of Heavenly things that we would gain a greater and different perspective of the things that are of this world and find encouragement in our moment by moment walk with our Lord in lue of the riches and glory He has stored up for us in Heaven, eternally secure and undefiled. Pray that we would set aside our time together each week as priority from our daily routines.

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!” (NLT, 2 Cor 4:16-17).