Surprise! Friends who are like family Part 2

My precious friends from women's Bible study decided to surprise me with a party to say goodbye. I was very touched. There were many clever decorations made of maps, hearts, arrows, and crosses. There was a globe with a crystal heart on Uganda. And a beautiful cake. (Pictures are included below because a picture is worth a thousand words).

The centerpiece of the party was a circular puzzle of the world with Africa in the center. How they found a map with Africa as the center is beyond me. We sat in a circle,  and each person held a piece of the puzzle and said something about me, then added their piece to the puzzle.  I was in tears. My friends are so kind.

The very center of the puzzle is the piece with Africa. I was given the piece but was not allowed to put in in the puzzle. I am to keep it until I return, and will place it then to make the puzzle complete. More tears.  I've decided to carry the puzzle piece with me take photos of it in various locations.

Now, those of you who know me well (or even a little bit) know that I do not like being the center of attention. So this was way way out of my comfort zone and left me exhausted - but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Such a sweet time of fellowship. Thank you, Table 44.

Friends Who Are Like Family Part 1

We still have nearly 3 weeks before we leave, but folks are making sure that they have a chance to gather together to wish us well, ask questions about what we think life will be like, and pray over us. I have been touched by these "wish you well" gatherings on a very deep level. Two of the gatherings were this week, and we now officially feel beyond loved by my friends. On Sunday afternoon (after being commissioned in church) there was a BBQ with our Small Group. Our host and hostess went above and beyond in terms of decking their house with all things Ugandan. We enjoyed food, fellowship, and a sweet time of prayer.
Friends. We will miss them for a season.

3 Weeks, 2 Days

3 Weeks, 2 Days to go until we are on the plane headed for Uganda.
That is not very much time. Of course, it doesn't really matter how much time is in front of us, I don't think it would ever seem like enough time to complete everything that I need to do. Every time we cross one thing off the to-do list, we add at least one more. A couple of days ago a friend asked how I was doing. The first thing out of my mouth was that I was about to have a meltdown because there wasn't a place of calm in my house. There are boxes everywhere, some sealed and ready to send to storage, others still open and partially filled. Our family room is overtaken by all the contents of my kitchen cabinets (when else would be a better time to have work done in the kitchen?)

But enough of the whining. I am so excited about life right now!

For my non-Facebook friends, I am going to copy a post about the generosity of the Raincross Quilt Guild ladies:

Definition of generous
a. characterized by a noble or kindly spirit : MAGNANIMOUS, KINDLY; a generous heart
b. Ladies of the Riverside Quilt Guild

I went to my last meeting of the Raincross Quilt Guild this evening and was overwhelmed by the generosity shown to me. My guild friends kept stopping by where I was sitting and handing me boxes and bags of sewing supplies to take to Uganda. They gave me notes of encouragement. And I can't forget the cash people kept handing me to purchase anything else needed. Friends. Generous.


Yesterday I was once again thinking about the Raincross Quilt Guild, thanking God for each lady who gave. I began thinking about how to best spend the donated money ($420 total!) and grew excited about the many sewing supplies that could purchased and taken with me. I knew could buy more than enough to fill a duffle bag to the brim. This led to the "I wonder how much I can buy and not exceed what we are allowed to carry in our luggage?" question. But then ZOOP! A thought rushed into my head - why not use the money to purchase 2 treadle sewing machines in Uganda? I had a friend (Pam) who had already donated enough money specifically to purchase one machine already. With the addition of these machines, I would be able to have 3 ladies using machines at one time. Amazing to think that one area of our home could be designated for community sewing. Such a blessing!

Come and visit us! We have space!

You might wonder about having enough space in our home to house three sewing machines. I had shared with many friends that I was picturing us living in some sort of small abode, and was praying for running water and a flush toilet. Well, very early one morning about a month ago my phone started exploding with text message notifications. Then photos began popping up on my phone. Unbeknownst to us, Adam (a pastor from our church in Riverside who was chaperoning a group of high school students) teamed up with Pastor Martin (who we will be serving with in Uganda), and did some reconnaissance on housing for us. They found three potential places, all with running water and flush toilets. The choices included a small 1-bedroom furnished apartment, a cottage, and a large unfurnished house.

I struggled with the decision. I do not want to be one of those "rich Americans" who flaunt their wealth. I had thoughts of not deserving such a nice place since, after all, we were going to serve in a sacrificial manner.  It just didn't "jive" with what I had thought that our living situation would be and was resistant to choosing the large house.

But then a couple of things happened that changed my mind. The first was that Pastor Martin, a Ugandan who is held in high regard in Gulu, recommended that we select the large house. He said that we would not be perceived as the big ugly wealthy Americans, but as people who were willing to care enough about the area to establish ourselves with esteem. He also expressed that we could use the extra bedrooms to house visitors. I could use some of the space for sewing classes.

I was reminded of the verse in Isaiah that that says God's ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 58:9). I was moving to Uganda with my idea of what things would be like. While I was open to helping in whatever way asked, I had placed a limit on my thinking.  I had a paradigm shift from going out and being visitors in the community to becoming a part of the community. A larger home would allow us to invite people in and show them hospitality. We could use the space for classes and gathering times for the ladies. The extra bedrooms could be put to use by pastors visiting from out of town for training. So we chose the larger home.  Yes, larger. Four bedrooms plus a guest house with an outdoor place for gatherings.

7 weeks to go!

Just 7 weeks until we take off on August 14th for a year (or more) of volunteer
service in Uganda!   

This year, I plan to teach 300 ladies how to sew.
Many of these women are refugees who have fled South Sudan,
leaving everything behind.
Jeff will use his skills and talents for leadership training,
business development, and church planting.

We are touched by friends who are asking
how to help us in our work with the people in Uganda,
so I thought that I would explain some things about the trip and
how the finances work and provide some ways to help out.
So this post might be a little lengthy.

Some are surprised to hear that we are not being paid
by a church to volunteer in Uganda.
However, this is quite normal.
We are very fortunate in that our church, The Grove,
is making a monthly contribution to cover 15% of monthly living
expenses and 23% of one-time start-up expenses.

One time costs include things such as airfare, visas, work permits,
generator, solar backup, etc. Ongoing monthly costs are rent, food,
and supplies for classes.
We are responsible for all other costs while living in Uganda and
doing our projects such as teaching sewing.
While in Uganda, we still have the expenses of maintaining
our home in Riverside.
We are being creative with generating income by renting out
our bedroom and my sewing room (as another bedroom),
and selling some comic books, paintings, and a car.

We are limited to three 50 pound checked bags each
for our stay in Uganda, which does limit the things we can take.
We are unable to receive packages in the mail
because it is quite unlikely that they would ever reach us.

Some very, very generous family and friends have already
come alongside us to partner with us financially.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you again to those who have been asking to help
and be a part of the team.
Imagine empowering women by teaching them a skill
they can use at home and in the marketplace. And men
and women will be acquiring important business and leadership training.
That’s what you do when you partner with us in Uganda.

If you would like to help with this important work,
in addition to praying for us,
here are ways:

1.Partner with us by making a tax-deductible monetary contribution.

*To make a one time monetary donation to pay for airfare,
visas, work permits, household things such as furnishings,
solar backup for the generator, etc.:

http://tinyurl.com/1uganda

*To make monthly donations for ongoing needs such as rent,
food, utilities, and sewing supplies for classes:

http://tinyurl.com/2uganda

2. Purchase something from our Amazon wish list.

Some items are specifically for our sewing classes,

others are soccer balls and jump ropes to use with children
and give to schools.

There is also a duffle bag to transport the wish list items.
Items that you order will automatically be shipped to our friend,
Shirley Moran, who will be meeting us there for a three week stay.

The link to the Amazon wish list is here:

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/37AWA2ETLG3C5

Thanks for reading this long post.
And thank you for considering partnering with us.

Much love to you!

Yvonne and Jeff

Thoughts about packing my sewing room.

Thanks to the hard work of my 2 sons, Jonathan and Jacob, my longarm quilting machine is disassembled and ready to be put into storage. It was satisfying to watch my sons as they carefully labeled dozens of parts so that someday it can be reassembled.

Packing up my sewing room has led me to a great deal of introspection.

The sewing room has been a quiet place where I have grown spiritually by reading the Bible and praying at the start of the day. It has been my place to allow creativity to flow by sewing and quilting. I have enjoyed the physical process of making things but, more importantly, I have experienced joy while thinking of the person who would receive the quilt. So packing my quilting tools has been bittersweet. The empty room will allow us to generate income which will help us in Uganda, and in Uganda I hope to touch lives - even by teaching ladies there to sew. And that thought brings me joy.

After

Before

During

Generous friends

One of the things that I do in Uganda each year is teach how to sew. A favorite is making purses from beautiful Ugandan fabric. I find it very satisfying, I had lunch with Kathie, a good friend, yesterday. She asked me if I thought that I would get tired of being in Uganda and sharing with the ladies there the skill and fun of sewing. My answer did not take much thought - it came from my heart. No, I don't think that I will ever get tired of teaching and helping others. I am sure that is not what she meant (helping others) but that is what makes me tick. Find what makes you tick, and pursue that passion.

The opportunity to sew would not be possible without the help and generosity of many friends who donated supplies. Thread, scissors, needles, thimbles, tape measures - all things that are now available to use. Thank you for your giving attitude. Thanks for helping me pursue my passion. And thanks for making a difference in the lives in ladies in Uganda.

The craziness of our days

The craziness of our days

Crazy.
I was going to say that our days are busy, but they are beyond that. Crazy is a more accurate description.

We were slicing through our very long to-do list, checking things off on a daily basis. (And adding things to the list, but it seems that we were adding things more quickly than taking them off. Net negative. ) One thing on our list was to get my sewing room and our bedroom ready for renters. Since we had not painted in years, we decided that a fresh coat of paint was in order and since we are so crazy busy with other things, we decided to hire someone to complete it. The next thing you know, painting the two rooms turned into painting the entire interior of the house because of the great deal the contractor gave us. The next thing you know, we were also up to our necks in one major bathroom renovation and a minor refreshing of the other bathroom. It had been a long time since we had painted we had forgotten just how much prep work was required. So we were removing fragile items and taking down pictures from the walls at the same time that we were packing up ALL of the things that were in my sewing room to put into storage.

I did not realize just how difficult packing my sewing room would be. My good friend, Susan, was down from Washington visiting friends and is such an amazing friend that she chose to spend a considerable amount of time and effort helping. It seems like packing should have been a rather straightforward activity - put things in boxes. It was into the second hour of packing that I realized that I was very conflicted. On the one hand, I saw the necessity of renting to generating income. But then I realized that my sewing room meant so much more to me than a place to sew. I had never had my very own space (the extreme example of this was during one period of my life when there were 6 children and 2 adults living in a 2 bedroom mobile home). My room served as a place for reflection, study, and prayer. Isn’t it funny how one activity can lead you to process situations and feelings from long ago.

I am staying at my sister’s house for 11 days caring for my mom so that my sister can get away with her husband for a trip. It has been nice to be away during some of the confusion and chaos of the painting and remodeling. I has been nice to spend time with my mom in advance of being away from her while in Uganda. I am thankful for this time.

Now, back to our to-do list!!