October 2015 Update #2 - Looking ahead

Hello Again,
                 A few days ago Becky & I posted an update that gave a summary on specific ministries and organizations that we have been working with while we have been in Uganda. I hope you enjoyed learning more of the specifics of our ministry here. We wanted to follow-up that up by looking ahead to the coming months. As we announced in September, we have decided to return back to Canada at the end of our current contract. We have loved our time with EMI and in Uganda and are sad to leave, but are excited to move back as well.  We have booked our flights and are scheduled to leave Uganda on February 16, 2016. We will be doing some traveling in Canada & the US once we return to reconnect with family, friends and supporters. We are hopeful that this time will allow us to process through any potential culture shock and over life the past 2 years. Here is a quick summary of our tentative travel plans:

• February 16, 2016 – Fly from Uganda to Montreal where we will be spending a week with Becky’s sister and family.

• February 23, 2016 – Fly from Montreal to Vancouver where we will be spending 2 weeks staying with Becky’s parents while we try to find a place to stay and re-settle a bit.

• March 8, 2016 – Fly from Vancouver to San Antonio, Texas where we will be spending 4 weeks staying with my parents, travelling around Texas to see family, friends and supporters.

• April 5, 2015 – Fly from San Antonio to Vancouver.

***Invitation: We are looking forward to spending time with all of you during this time of travel, and so please do e-mail us so we can spend time with as many of you as possible! ***

As you can see it is going to be a busy few months. As a part of this time of processing, reconnecting with people, rest and re-settling, we will be having a lot of expenses. After looking at what we will need to re-settle and what we will be able to sell here, it looks like we are going to need an extra $12,000. Most of this need is due to a large pledge we have not received. Here is a breakdown of some of the items needed:

• A vehicle for our family

• Some of the cost for plane tickets from Uganda to Canada & Canada to Texas

• Winter clothes for the kids

• Deposit for a place to rent

• Moving costs for our furniture

• Miscellaneous re-settlement costs

If anyone can help out with an end of year / Christmas gift that would be great. Thank you all for taking the time to read this. We look forward to seeing some of you in the coming months.

Jay, Becky, Nathaniel & Bethany Whisnand

(jaywhisnand@gmail.com / becky.whisnand@gmail.com) 

Support Info

If you want 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. Any questions, please email.

Some Pictures 

Becky's parent during their visit

Nate wearing a hard hat at Daddy's work

Nathaniel's 5th Birthday party

Picture with Jay's Mom on Safari

Family picture on Safari

October 2015 Update #1 - Year in Review

Happy Halloween Friends & Family!

                Becky told me a few days ago that she saw a post on Facebook that announced there are 8 weeks until Christmas. What! Crazy. Now all of the sudden I am inspired to pull out our Pentatonix Christmas album or some Charlie Brown. I know in reality that Christmas is still 2 months away but lately it seems that the end of 2015 is racing towards us. Recently Becky’s parents and my mom have both come and gone to visit us here in Uganda. They were great trips filled with lots of laughs and memories made but they went by way too fast. The main project I have been involved with since moving to Uganda has, to use a construction term, been substantially completed and I now have the privilege of working with some other great partners and ministries. But again it went by way too fast. As we hurdle towards the new year, the end of our time here in Uganda seems to speeding up as well. We still have about 3 ½ months left here, which is a long time, but we are starting to have logistical items that are needing attention in preparation and that naturally leads us to looking ahead. So we currently find ourselves desiring to still be ‘all here’ in Uganda and make the most of what God has but in at the same time being pulled back home.

As a part of our looking ahead to the end of our time in Uganda, I wanted to write an update that gave a brief summary on some of what we have been doing here in Uganda and what your prayers and money have been supporting.

• Engineering Ministries International (eMi) www.emiusa.org – EMI is the organization that I have been working for while in Uganda. They are a group of Architects, Engineers, Surveyors, Construction Managers & support staff that really want to serve God with all their hearts using their technical & professional skills. They are a group of people who really love what they do and love the people they are serving.

• Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) www.maf.org – MAF is an organization who desires to get the gospel to the isolated places of the world. They use aviation to take people and supplies to countries like South Sudan. I have had the privilege to work closely alongside some MAF employees and they, like EMI, desire to use their technical skills to serve God and the ministries they support. The main project I have been working here has been a new shared office space for MAF & EMI.

  

  MAF/EMI new office building on MAF's existing airfield

• Cherish Uganda www.cherishuganda.org – Cherish Uganda is an organization that exists to help children living with HIV in Uganda. They have 56 children currently living on their campus that have HIV. They support these kids and the surrounding community with a primary school and hospital. EMI designed & built a clinic that is the first piece of their hospital they desire to have. I am currently involved on several small projects for Cherish like a generator house and 2 latrine buildings for 2 of their existing homes.

  

  Clinic at Cherish Uganda that EMI designed & built

• Universite Chretienne Bilingue Du Congo (UCBC) www.ucbc.org – UCBC is Christian university in Beni, DRC that is a community development initiative to educate and train Christian leaders of tomorrow in the DRC. EMI has been involved with UCBC for a few years in the repurposing of some of their current buildings and the master planning of their future plans. I got to visit UCBC in 2014 and am continuing to work with them periodically on their existing community centre.

  

  UCBC Community Centre that EMI is helping to retrofit

• African Children’s Choir (ACC) www.africanchildrenschoir.com – ACC is an organization that supports children all over Africa by giving them support and an education that they could not otherwise afford. ACC supports these kids by doing choir tours in the western world to raise funds for their education. EMI has been a long partner of ACC in Uganda and has designed & built their primary school campus. I will be a part of starting construction for their new Choir Training Centre before we leave in February.

  

  ACC existing campus

• Acacia International School www.acacia.co.ug – Acacia is a Christian international school in Kampala. Becky has had the privilege of getting to teach science at their secondary school for the 2 years we have been here. They are a school that really wants to make a difference in the children they educate, particularly providing world class education for missionary families.

  

  Becky's science class doing an experiment

There have been many other people & ministries that we have been involved with while living here but the above are some of the ones we wanted to highlight. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support that have enabled us to live here and be a part of the body of Christ here in Uganda. It’s been awesome. We appreciate you all very much. We will be doing a follow-up update in a few days, so be looking for it!

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

Support Info

If you want 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. Any questions, please email.

Trip with my Mom to Queen Elizabeth National Park

My Mom took me rafting down the Nile River for my birthday. It was AWESOME!!