HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!!

One Month Mark

Wednesday marked one month of time remaining for me here in Africa. For those of you that do not know, I will be flying out of Uganda on August 11 and will arrive in Dallas/Ft. Worth on August 14. The time has truly flown by here. This past year has been such an incredible adventure and blessing in my life. I am so blessed to have such wonderful support and prayer backing in all of you. I can’t thank you enough for all that you do! I look forward to being back on the same continent with you soon, though my heart is beginning to feel the pains of leaving what has been home this past year. This last month is going to fly by at a very rapid pace and it will be over before I know it.

This morning I am writing from a fantastic coffee shop in Nairobi, Kenya using their free, fast, wireless internet. I’m experiencing a bit of culture shock even now because Nairobi is such a big, bustling city.

I am on my way to the coast for an All Africa Missionary Conference. Three of my teammates and I arrived in Nairobi early this morning after traveling by bus overnight from Mbale. We are spending the day here and will travel by overnight train to Mombasa tonight. Tomorrow I will get to enjoy exploring the city of Mombasa in the company of good friends and possibly go to a movie for my birthday! We will remain in Mombasa until the 16th, when we will make the final leg of our trip to Malindi for the conference. I am looking forward to meeting missionaries that are coming from all over Africa and getting to spend more time with those that I have already met this year. We will be at the coast until the 22nd, when we will take another overnight train back to Nairobi, spend a day there, and then drive back to Mbale on the 24th.

After the conference, I have just a little more than a week remaining in Mbale. Our national team of missionaries is having our quarterly meeting in Mbarara (across the county) on August 5&6. So, I will be packing up and saying goodbye to Mbale before we leave for that. I will be dropping my luggage off at a friend’s house in Kampala on the way to Mbarara and then will be staying in Kampala after the quarterly meeting until I fly out.

Wow, seeing that all written out kind of makes my head spin! It really is going to fly by! Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I finish out my time here. Please pray that the Lord will give me the time and energy to complete the work that He has for me without feeling too stressed and overwhelmed. Please pray that in the hectic pace of this last month, I will not overlook the incredible beauty around me the little blessings that I receive daily. Pray that I will treasure each moment with my Ugandan friends and teammates that I will be leaving behind and that I will be fully present here and in the ministry that I have been given.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support! God bless you!

Fourth Festivities!

Yesterday was an interesting Fourth of July for me because, well, Uganda does not celebrate the United States Independence Day! So all around us, life went on as usual. However, we still gathered up as many of the US citizens in the community that we could and had a wonderful little celebration of our own. We all headed over to the Shelburne house and fired up the grill for a cookout! I do love cookouts! A big thanks to my mom for sending fun decorations to help us all get in the red, white and blue mood! It had been drizzly-rainy all day long, so the party remained mostly inside, but we still had a wonderful time. Good friends and good food. What more could you ask for?

Happy Birthday!

Most Americans might think that today's Happy Birthday message would be in honor of Independence Day, however, this is not the case in the Chapman family. Now, I don't want to sound unpatriotic or anything, we definitely celebrate Independence Day, it's just that today is my mom's birthday! It's always so exciting because there are always fireworks! I realize that they are in honor of Independence Day, but I always like to pretend that everyone all over America is celebrating my mom's birthday! I'm a little sad that I won't be able to hang out with my family and watch fireworks tonight.

If you know my mom, make sure that you wish her Happy Birthday today! And if you see her today, give her a birthday hug from me!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

And Happy Fourth of July!
For those of you in the United States, make sure you watch some fireworks for me tonight!

July Jubilee!

July has always been an exciting month in my family. The reasons to celebrate start at the very beginning and last until the very end! There will be many more posts in honor of celebrations this month, but to kick them all off, today is my parents anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom!

I love you guys so much! Enjoy your special day!

My First Last

Sunday was the beginning of several lasts that I will be experiencing over the next month. (For those of you that don’t know, I will be arriving back in Fort Worth on August 14.) This is sure to be a very bittersweet month for me. While I am looking forward to seeing the wonderful friends and family that I have missed this past year, it is going to be very hard to say goodbye to the friends and family that I have made here.

This past Sunday was my last time to teach the kids at Mbale Church of Christ. I will be with them one more time as a helper before I leave, but this was my last time to be their teacher. These kids will always have a special place in my heart. There were many times that it was difficult teaching because the kids didn’t always understand me and our classroom was often chaos, but you just can’t help but love these kids. They have been such a blessing to my life and I will always treasure the time I have had with them!