Bittersweet...by Tamra

Well, tonight is bitter sweet. We had a night of worship with our family, Pacific Family. It was great because we took turns choosing the songs, having many in Luganda and many in English. It was a great time of praising together. The bitter part came when it was time for us to go back to our house.

You see tomorrow we leave New Hope to join our teams from back home. In the morning we'll go to Kampala to reload on some supplies, then we'll head to the hotel where the youth team has been staying, and then finally we'll join them at Victory Living Word for the end of the youth conference. On Friday, they will head home and we'll join our church planting team for the two week trip. 

There's one thing we've all forgot to mention about our family times. When it is time to go, most nights at least some of the family members walk us part of the way home. They say, "we'll give you a push." For some reason, I just LOVE that. We stroll down the dirt road, in the dark, just chatting and/or being silly. Sometimes they walk us to the guest house, we here we stop to fill our water bottles for the night, and other times they just walk us to the main road (a big circle drive in the center of the property). Tonight they walked us to the guest house and then we gave hugs, hand shakes, and good wishes. 

I just can't believe that tomorrow night, I won't see them. It made me realize how hard it will be to leave them on August 1st. This time, I know I'll see them in two weeks. When we return to New Hope on July 18, it's a Thursday, so the next evening will be family game night. However, on August 1st, I'll leave not knowing if or when I'll ever see them again. Of course they'll always be in our hearts, but we don't yet know God's plan for the future, so it will be tough to leave. 

Please continue to pray for us as we seek to follow The Lord. Pray for the church planting trip and that the youth team makes it home safely with no delays or loss of baggage. Also, please for Kim, as she wasn't feeling well today. She doesn't have malaria symptoms or anything like that, just an upset stomach. 

Our connectivity may be significantly reduced for the next 2 weeks because we'll be in a different place and we'll be much busier with all the clinics and nightly outreaches. So, keep praying. Your work is just as important as ours. The mission could not be successful without the fervent prayers of each of you.