Our Ugandan Adventure: July 2015

July 2, 2015

Hello Family and Friends,

Well, the moment has finally come: school’s out!!!

The kids and I (Becky) had our last day of classes a few weeks ago and now we’re off! I still have some things to finish up at school like packing up all of the posters and doing a full inventory of the science lab and packing everything up for the summer.

This has been an incredibly strenuous year for Jay and I: my work and service with Acacia International School, while a fabulous ministry, ended up taking up much more of my time than I had anticipated and putting much more strain on our family. By Christmas time, things were really rough, although I don’t think the kids noticed, and so for January, I was busy pulling back in all sorts of areas of areas of our lives so that we could establish some sort of “normal.” HA! My goal these last few months has been finishing well, and I am so pleased to say that we have made it through by God’s grace and strength. The funny thing, of course, is that despite the difficulties of the year, I really loved doing it: getting to teach Science at an international school is one of my dream jobs, and the students and staff have been incredible!

On that note, I’ve just signed on to teach at Acacia School again in the Fall: I’ll only be teaching one class, which will hopefully be a great balance for our family. I’m excited to be able to maintain some of the relationships with students and my coworkers. Another new role I’ll be taking on will be mentoring a Ugandan teacher who will be teaching many of the other courses. When we head back to Canada in the Spring, this teacher will be taking over my class for me.

God’s timing is so good: just as my work at Acacia School is winding up, Jay’s work at the airfield is intensifying. The office project he is managing is set for occupancy in August, and between here and there, the site supervisor is going to America on a much needed furlough so Jay will be wearing two hats and spending much longer hours on the project. By the time my parents come to visit in September, we will be very ready for a break and some sight-seeing!

This past weekend, Jay and I were able to celebrate the wedding of one of EMI’s local employees. Our friend was the first person in his family to get married. The most interesting cultural difference was the respect that was shown to us guests from EMI: we were seated in places of honour along with the groom’s family. It was interesting to see how big a role that EMI has had in his life. That part was really encouraging: we know we do an awesome job at building and designing great buildings here in East Africa, but to be reminded again of the huge impact that we personally have in the lives of men and women here was incredibly encouraging.

Prayer points:

1) We are now 16 months into our 2 year term with EMI and looking forward to being back with family and friends in the Spring. That being said, the number one question we are getting asked now is if we are planning on returning to North America permanently or if we are planning on coming back to Uganda. Please do be praying with us as we seek God’s leading and direction. To speak frankly, we are really happy here and the kids seem to be thriving, despite their desire to be with family, but we’d also like to go home and be with family once again. That being said, we want to be sure that we are attentive to and obedient to where God is leading us. Again, please do pray with us.

2) Please pray for Jay and I in our work. Pray for Jay as he finishes up the MAF/EMI office building: that he would have wisdom and endurance in project’s final 2 months. For me, pray that I will find a good balance between my new position at Acacia School and my family.

3) Please pray for our financial support. Over the last few months our support has started to dip down due to a large pledge that has not come in. We are currently processing through our options and really need God’s guidance. Am reminded of “Seek first His kingdom and all these things will be added unto you.”

4) Please pray for Jay as he travels to The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) mid-July to follow up and consult on a project he visited last fall with an organization called UCBC. Please pray for safety as he travels and for wisdom as he meets with the contractor there to get the work started.

Thank you to all our family, friends & supporters again. We appreciate you all very much.

Please feel free to email us anytime with what’s going on in your lives. We would love to hear. (jaywhisnand@gmail.com / becky.whisnand@gmail.com)

Jay, Becky, Nathaniel & Bethany Whisnand

If you would like to contribute to our support account, please go to http://emiworld.org/donate.php. There are options for donating from the US or Canada. You can donate by CC or check. If you have any questions, please send us an e-mail.

Some current pictures of us: