Hi All!

Happy New Year! We hope this newsletter finds you well and that the New Year is off to a good start. We are trucking along in Karamoja and have been busy – hence, the delay in yet another newsletter. One day maybe we’ll make it before the end of the month, but today is not that day, haha. Thank you all for your continued encouragement, prayers, messages, and so on. They have been so special to us! Can you believe we have been here for 6 months already?!?

Goodbyes:

We mentioned in our last newsletter that we had some upcoming goodbyes. Those goodbyes have occurred. We said goodbye to the Grimsley family 2 weeks ago after they completed their one year term. We also said goodbye to Tina 1 week ago as she heads back to the States for 8 months of furlough. What a blessing to have sweet friendships that make goodbyes hard. We miss them a lot, and things are quieter up here in Karamoja as the team is down to us, the Verdick family, Leah, and Beatrix.

Hellos:

Just as we have had goodbyes, we have also had some hellos! We spent a week and a half in Mbale to see the Grimsley’s off and to welcome a new couple to the field! We spent just over a week onboarding the Lo’s and settling them into their new home in Mbale. What a blessing to have new teammates in Mbale to carry on the work there! They will be supporting the work at Knox School of Theology (KST), the Book Room, and All Nations Presbyterian Church (ANPC). We are also expecting another family to join them in March which is exciting! This will also hopefully allow Travis to transition some of his Mbale workload to those individuals as they get comfortable with how things run down there. Then, Travis will be able to have more capacity for the tasks up here in Karamoja. It seems as though there just aren’t enough hands!

Family Updates:

Our dependent passes and student passes (our visas) for the next year were approved and stamped! It was not an easy feat and had some hiccups along the way, but we are thankful for this HUGE praise!

We took a break from homeschooling during the holidays and then again for our trip to Mbale, but we are back at it! The twins are working hard through their kindergarten work. Jackson tags along for some of it. So far, they seem to like science the most (children after their mama’s heart!). Though Jackson likes to play “hide the pencil from Miss Beatrix” as his favorite school activity, lol. Alright back to science, we are doing a section on different classes of animals. Just the other day we were talking about reptiles, and Travis killed a small (non-venomous) snake we were able to look at! They have also been enjoying doing physical education (P.E.) with the Verdick girls. Tina had been leading it, but now Beatrix has stepped into that role. Along with running P.E., she helps us Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with all sorts of stuff. The other weekdays she has started helping the Verdick’s. What a blessing she has been to us and our team!

Dawson has just started standing all by himself and began taking a couple of steps (of course while Travis was away!). We love watching him master new skills! He will be one in just over 2 weeks!

I don’t know if it’s just being here for 6 months or Dawson almost being one, but we wanted to liven some things up. So, without further adieu, let me introduce our new puppies! As much as they are cute, we also like the added security dogs bring here especially as Travis travels back and forth from Karamoja to Mbale and Kampala. The kiddos have been enjoying them lots!

Thanks for being apart of this journey with us!

In Christ,

The Emmett’s


Praises

  • Our 6 months in Uganda

  • Safe arrival of the Lo’s to Mbale
  • Safe returns to the States for the Grimsley’s and Tina
  • Visas!
  • Friendships with the team, locals, and others
  • Safety in our many travels in Uganda

Prayers

  • Language Acquisition: Lord-willing, we will be starting our language learning up again in the next few weeks. Pray that we are able to find time with our team to do their language class and that we are able to find good language helpers.

  • Health & Safety: Specifically pray for Jackson’s cyclical fevers would not return
  • Faithfulness in managing my (Bonnie’s) time and responsibilities
  • Continued growth in our relationships with the team and locals
  • The Church here in Nakaale and in Mbale
  • Peace for our neighboring countries (Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda).
  • The ebola outbreak in Kampala to be contained and protection for the people