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Settling down "above the clouds"

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We see the decision to retire from full time mission was the wise thing. Some of our friends have already gone on the be with the Lord and others are having health problems. Kent is approaching eighty years old and has the diagnosis of atrial fibrillation well controlled with medication and Peggy will soon be seventy-four with arthritis and macular degeneration in one eye. In our front room overlooking Franklin, NC, we have a lighted tree which turns on after dark to celebrate God’s faithfulness to us over the previous seven years in Tanzania and Uganda. We call it our “celebration tree” which commemorates our deliverance from being killed in a car wreck, survival through the first wave of covid 19 which passed through Tanzania six months before the US pandemic and finishing the last eight months in Uganda preparing the Rafiki village for new long-term missionaries. Both of us view the remaining time as the final sprint before going home to be with the Lord. This does not mean we have ...
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A new Retirement Plan

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Sunday, December 19, 2021 Retirement has again taken another turn for us. We are now mostly settled into our sweet home in the Mountains of North Carolina! Peggy, after nearly 40 years is again in her home state and Kent is happy with mountains after growing up in the mountains of Idaho. We also have plenty of room for any of you to visit and we will give you the view of a lifetime (second only to Mount Kilimanjaro that is). One might wonder how we are filling all our “empty” hours in this new retirement setting. Indeed we are about 7 miles up the mountain from Franklin so not so social, so far. However, we have found a really good small church. It is Evangelical Presbyterian and the pastor is a very good expositor of the Scriptures. We have joined a small group of about 10 people and are slowly learning of the other activities of the church. Many of the other couples and singles there are retired like us. We have joined the Franklin Fitness Center to keep our “old bones” moving. ...
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Mark 9:50.......Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

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  Our "new" Village We arrived here in Kampala 4 December after a two week stay in Florida to gather a few things for our transition to Uganda. Even though we expected to finish our retirement service in Tanzania, at the close of the sixth year back in Africa, we were requested to take up needed service in Uganda where only one person would soon remain to manage a village as large as ours in Tanzania. The Uganda Village has nearly 84 children and more than 50 supporting personnel. Nearly all the children are teenagers or older. We left behind in Tanzania a young discipleship network managed by four people who we had five years to train, a group of well-trained schoolteachers, our house with nearly everything in it and many dear friends as well as the staff and children we had grown to know and love. It was difficult to leave realizing we would probably never return with the exception of a few weeks visit; however, we knew that God was asking us to take on another challenge. T...
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Luke 2:9-10 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."

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We have arrived in Uganda and are looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior here in this new country. Things are different here and things are the same.  Merry Christmas and yes Christmas is much the same around the world. Christmas in Uganda seems to be more similar to Christmas in the USA than Christmas in Tanzania. There is much more decoration here and thus commercialization. I will post a few pictures of our “new” Village and tell you how it is going in general. Kent and I arrived in Entebbe which is the town just south of Kampala, very late on Friday evening December 4. We were met by two taxis, one for us and one for our 6 suitcases. The travel was pretty much uneventful except for the many checks for our COVID certification and checking our temperatures. We had in all about 5 different checks and 3 new forms to fill out before we arrived. We were reminded that travel in this current “season” is not easy and not really fun; however, we were thankful that if is p...
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Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob

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As I think over the events from the past seven months, how encouraging this verse comes to be. Change in a way never before expected or played out has been a pattern for these months and seemingly for quite some time in the future.  We found ourselves “stuck” in the States for five months then on August 2nd we returned to our place of service. We dug into our life here and jobs with renewed enthusiasm and vigor. Our Village had survived the pandemic and the changes, in a good way. The children were back in school and there was not even a suggestion of “social isolation” or a mask in or around our town. Life had resumed to normal and wow did it feel good!!! It does seem for us that anytime things seem normal…..look out…… Rafiki Foundation home office has asked us to move to the Rafiki Village in Uganda and we have agreed. The Uganda Village has a couple who are leaving Rafiki in early December so they want us to resume their positions there. It is with VERY mixed emotions that we ar...
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Psalm 62:8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.

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Empty airport at Dulles in DC We are th rilled to report that after a somew hat a rduous journey, we are again in our place here in Africa… and yes…looking at MY mountain and doing the work that others have so graciously done for us for the past FIVE months. I glanced at my perpetual calendar this morning and it still has the February calendar in place!! It is nearly like time stood still for five months. Some of the time in the States, when going out at all was very frightening, it really seemed like time stood still. Time is whirring on here again.   How true this verse rings as we reflect on the past 5 months and look to where we are at the present time. God provided so well for us during this unsettling time. We had a house to go to in the States and we did not have to make a decision about going back to our work in Africa as the flights were stopped and our country closed. We had a car to drive and even people to deliver the things we needed. God provided the circumstances and...
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Isaiah 40:8 “the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever”.

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What wonderful promises we find in God’s Word when the world around us seems to be spinning out of control. We are still in Florida awaiting our return to Africa and indeed the world is a mess. However, we have secured….and are holding with baited breath…tickets to fly “home” arriving on August 3rd of YES in 2020!!! After 3 cancellations, we are hopeful, as we have had friends go by this route and make it back safely. My favorite: lilac breasted roller African Gray hornbill Armadillo # 4 The children are all back in the Village and HEALTHY and school has begun again. The children are required by the government to wear masks so that is somewhat of a challenge but things are returning to normal. We are not required to quarantine when we return, however, after long plane flights we WILL be careful around the others in the Village.   Our time here in our house has been productive. Not what we had planned for a few weeks of relaxing and vacation and catch...
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