5/3/2020 Newsletter-Getting Through quarantine

Dear Family and Friends,

I pray that you are safe, healthy and that this time of quarantine has provided time for you to spend time with God and enjoy His presence and love.

Normally my days are filled with activity, both in daily responsibilities and chores (which take quite a bit longer here in Uganda), and in ministry. During the quarantine I have experienced some change in my daily routine mostly for the better.

• I now walk to the babies’ home each day since public transportation has been stopped. This provides me with 2 miles of exercise each day (up and down the hill).

• I am greeted daily by individuals with the words, “I’m hungry”. I’ve learned to carry a couple of boiled eggs or bananas with me when I walk. The quarantine is especially hard for people in developing countries who live “hand to mouth” (what money they earn with their hands during the day, they eat with that night). Most live day to day. Starvation is more and more common as people have lost jobs and have no way to support their families.

• I’ve developed relationships with people I see on the way: the guards at the Hindu temple, the policemen, the boda-bodas (motorcycle taxi men), the stall shops. I am able to visit with my son in the Lord, Samuel each day. Yesterday I walked side by side with a Moslem man going to town and enjoyed a pleasant conversation. All from a safe distance.

• I’m writing a book! I finally have time to write the book I’ve been wanting to write about my life. I wrestled with this awhile. “Why should I write a book? There are enough biographical stories of people’s lives out there.” After prayer, I decided my book would be from a different perspective because my life has been anything but “normal”!

• I had the opportunity to attend a virtual retreat for missionary women around the world and was totally blessed by it.

• Most importantly, I’ve gotten closer to God, have drunk deeply from the cup of His presence and love, and know Him a little better.

• English classes continue but informally because Victor (the English teacher I’m training) is quarantined in his home.

I visit Welcome Home almost daily and encourage the workers, many of which are living there now due to travel restrictions placed by the government. Living 24 hours a day with 60+ babies and young children can be a challenge. Sometimes, just a “well done”, a smile or a joke is enough to keep them going. I enjoy making the children laugh with a nose squeeze or funny face.

I am thankful for William (house manager) who allows me to visit during the quarantine, Mike (driver) who picks up groceries and supplies for me, the cooks who sometimes save cabbage or beans for me to fix my own concoctions at home, my cat who keeps me company when I’m home.

Please continue to pray for Uganda and other developing countries as they try to get through the pandemic. Thank you for your continued prayers for myself and Welcome Home.

I am most thankful to you who read my newsletters each month, support me financially, write emails and words of encouragement. You mean so much to me!