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!

Happy Father's Day!

Nimule, South Sudan

Well, after struggling with the internet and the power for a couple of days now, I finally have pictures uploaded to share with you from Sudan!

I got to visit Nimule, South Sudan, to see the ministry that our team is partnering with and fellowship with God's workers there. It was a week with a lot of sitting around because there is not much to do there, exploring the compound, hanging out with friends, playing with adorable children, checking out the construction site that my teammate Josh is overseeing, and drinking lots and lots of tea.

We traveled to Nimule by plane from Entebbe. The company that flew us there is called MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship). Here is a picture of the plane that we flew in. It is the smallest plane that I have ever been in!

Here are some pictures around the compound where we spent most of our time. The compound is 9 acres and already contains two houses, a kitchen/dining building, a church/school, and the newly constructed SEE Ministries clinic. My teammate Josh has been going up to Sudan for a few weeks at a time to oversee the construction on the clinic and it is almost complete! The compound and the area surrounding it can be extremely barren at times, but we visited during the rainy season and I think it was beautiful there. There are also some pictures of a couple of IDP (Internally Displaced Peoples) camps that are near the compound.

One day we visited the school that meets on the compound to visit the kids. We couldn't speak their language, so communication was a bit difficult, but we were able to sing some songs with them and then they loved having their pictures taken!

There isn't a whole lot to do there, so we had to get creative at times and come up with entertainment. Here are more pictures of us all around the compound.

There was nothing blocking the view of the sky there. It was so vast and beautiful! We spent several evenings watching the sunset and it was gorgeous! The stars were incredible as well. One night the sky was almost completely clear and you could look up and see stars everywhere! It was so amazing! I was reminded every day of the might and creativity of God!

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and was very blessed to be there. This week there is a conference going on there with national church leaders from around Sudan and some visitors from the States to discuss the needs of the Sudanese people and what future ministries might be possible. It is very exciting to see God moving in that place. Please keep Sudan and this conference in your prayers.

Back in Mbale

Well friends, my trek to Sudan has come to an end. Yesterday was a full day of traveling by plane, taxi, and truck. Laurie and I pulled into our driveway around 8pm. We were tired, hungry, very much in need of showers, and very glad to be home. The trip was wonderful and I hope to update with pictures and details later tonight. For now, I am trying to weed through the very full email inbox that was waiting for me this morning and figure out where the best place is to jump in on all the work that needs to be done!

The Big #1

My sweet little nephew, who was only a tiny 2 month old when I last saw him, is now 1!

He's grown so much since I came here and is getting more and more adorable each day! I know that he can't read, but I just couldn't let such a special day go by without saying Happy Birthday!

Isn't he the cutest thing ever?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE DAVID!

(If you are reading this post before June 4, you are not going crazy. I won't have internet on the 4th because I will be in Sudan, so I went ahead and created this post and changed the date.)

Travel, Travel, Travel

I am taking a quick break from packing to let everyone know that I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for a trip to Nimule, Sudan. I will be traveling with my housemates, Heidi and Laurie, and our teammate, Josh. We don't actually fly to Sudan until Thursday, but tomorrow we are driving to Kampala, and Wednesday there are errands to be done in Kampala before we can leave. I am really looking forward to seeing the work that has been going on there. Josh has been traveling back and forth overseeing construction of a clinic there and Heidi is thinking of joining a team to work in Sudan in the future. We will have the opportunity to see the area and help set up for a conference that will be held there next week to discuss the needs of the people of Sudan and ways to minister there.

I would really appreciate your prayers for safe travel, not only for me, but for our whole team. We are in another season of traveling and visitors. There is a group currently doing survey work in northern Uganda that will be traveling back tomorrow. There are several of us, as well as visitors from the States, going to and from Sudan in the next few weeks. Danetta Shelburne is taking a short trip to the states with three of her kids (Leila, Josiah and Asher) and Natalie Tyler. Danetta has the opportunity to attend a birthday party for her grandmother, Asher is too young to be away from mom for long, and the older kids are attending Summer Excitement at LCU. There will be many visitors coming in and out and we are rapidly approaching the time for those of us who came for a short term to begin returning home. There will be many miles and hours spend in cars and on planes. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers and pray that God be glorified in every place that we go!

I fly back from Sudan on June 5, but I do not know when I will be back in Mbale just yet. Depending on various transportation situations, it could be June 5, 6 or 7.

Congrats on 5 Years!

Happy Anniversary David and Kristen!

My brother and sister-in-law are celebrating their 5th anniversary today! Aren't they just so adorable?! (I don't think David usually reads this, so adorable is ok to say!) They are fantastic, and if you know them, make sure that you tell them Happy Anniversary today! I love you guys!

Happy Mother's Day!

I am blessed to have some pretty great mothers in my life. Of course, MY mother is absolutely fantastic and she means so much to me! Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you so much! To all the other wonderful mothers that I know - my grandmother, my sister-in-law, my aunts, my cousins, and my friends - Happy Mother’s Day! The world is a better place because of you!

If you have the blessing of being near your mother today, or any mother for that matter, make sure to give her a big hug and tell her how wonderful she is. If you happen to be near my mother today, give her a big hug for me!

Kisawozi

On Sunday, I went with Phillip and Chrysostom (one of the rural ministry counselors) to the village of Kisawozi for church. It was so much fun! I love praising God with Africans. They just put everything that they have into it! At one point during the worship time, Phillip leaned over to me and said, "It's kind of like praise aerobics isn't it!?"

Phillip preached an interactive lesson about different reasons why you should be baptized. It was so fun to see everyone, from small children to elderly men and women, doing the hand motions to help them remember each reason. It was great to watch Phillip interacting with them as well. He was really getting into it! Who says church can't be fun?


After the service, there were several who had come that wanted to be baptized. So we loaded up many more people than should be squeezed into a truck, and headed to the river (which was 30 minutes away).

Sipi Falls

A couple of weeks ago, some of my housemates and I went out to explore more waterfalls! Sipi Falls is actually three waterfalls. We saw the first one from the camp where we got our guide, and then actually hiked to the second and third one. I was the only one that had not been out there before and I had been looking forward to a chance to go for some time. I think waterfalls are just so amazing. They are so powerful! We spent the morning hiking around and enjoying the beauty, creativity, and power of God's creation. It started to rain on us as we hiked back down from the falls, but it was only a light rain. The real rain held off until we were eating lunch under shelter back at the camp! After lunch the rain cleared off for a little while and we got play on this awesome swing that looks out at the waterfalls! It was such a great way to spend the day!

I'm Missing Out On An Incredible Ice Cream Cake

It's this good-looking man's birthday today!


This means that, as part of the celebrations, there will be an incredible ice cream cake! It has become somewhat of a tradition for my Dad to make cakes for the birthdays in our family. They are so good that he's even making his own! That may sound sad, but seriously, you haven't had one of these cakes. They are much better than store bought! For those of you that know my father, make sure you wish him a Happy Birthday today!

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope that you have a fantastic day! You are terrific and I love you so much!

Welldone Family Vacation - Kenya Church of Christ Children's Home, Kitale

Jennifer does administrative work for the Kenya Church of Christ Children's Home and visits there at the end of each month to make sure that everything is in order. Since the end of the month corresponded with our trip, we all decided to go with her and spend time with the children and the house parents there. The kids were so much fun! We spent all day just playing with them and having a great time. The house parents there are wonderful Christian mentors for these kids. It is so great to know that the children there are receiving God's love from those parents! I hope that I will have more opportunities to visit and spend time at the home in the future.

Welldone Family Vacation - Captain Davie's, Kitale

Our main reason for going to Kitale was to visit the Kenya Church of Christ Children's Home. However, we also enjoyed a morning at Captain Davie's, which is basically an overgrown petting zoo. We got to play with giraffes, look at zebras and rhinos, and met a one-horned elan named John. I even got to ride an ostrich! It was crazy! I'm working on getting a video of that uploaded soon.

It was quite an entertaining morning! I'm always amazed at God's creativity when I see His animals that live here!

Welldone Family Vacation - Lake Baringo

The first stop on our family vacation was to Lake Baringo, which was about a two hour drive from Sunrise Acres. As we drove, we crossed the equator. We decided it was time for another family photo!


At the lake, we stayed in a cabin that made me feel like I was in the Swiss Family Robinson. It was great to walk by the lake, hang out, and play around outside!

The afternoon that we arrived, we rode camels!

This was quite an experience! The camel that Heidi and Jamie rode had very bad manners and, after a while, sat down and refused to go any further. They got off and had to walk for a while. Eventually Jamie got back on, but Heidi had had enough!

The camel that Laurie and I rode was just fine. A camel is an awkward animal to ride, but I wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity to say that I've ridden one!


We spent a relaxing evening enjoying the cool night, and watching for hippos. We had a great view of the lake and some of my housemates actually saw a hippo walking across the lawn.


We saw several hippos the next morning when we went on a boat ride around the lake. We also saw lots of birds, and got to watch the guides feed fish eagles. The fish eagles swooped down to get the fish right in front of our boat! We expected to see a lot of crocodiles as well, but we only saw one small one. We did see a big monitor lizard that probably wasn't much smaller than the crocodile! The lake was probably the brownest I've ever seen, but the area was still very beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed our boat ride.

When we got back we loaded up our stuff and stopped at the restaurant for lunch on our way out. The only reason I mention the restaurant is because it was called "The Thirsty Goat." The name is pretty funny by itself, but it also had a great sign to go along with it!


We set off from Lake Baringo and headed to Kitale. On our way, we drove through some amazing scenery. We stopped at a lookout point on one particularly curvy road and took a family photo with the incredible Rift Valley in the background.