Upward Growth - February 2018 Update

Our last update consisted of asking for prayers for Grace, my coworkers daughter who had been extremely sick. She has now made a full recovery - Praise God! - and we even had the chance to visit her and their family over the holidays in their village outside of Pallisa, Uganda. (Grace is being held on her Mama's hip...)

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The holidays were filled with a lot of great quality time as my sister and her family came to visit for a week and my parents came to visit for 3.5 weeks. It was a whirlwind and we are so grateful for the time together!

Since January, our routine has started back up in full swing. Patrice is getting back into our days of homeschooling with the children and Matt has been pushing to finish portions of the project.

At Amazima, we are currently working on 21 buildings in an assortment of stages spread over more than 70 acres on 4 separate locations. 5 of those buildings are nearly complete while many are just being excavated. When the new year started, more than 100 additional possible workers showed up to the gate hoping for some sort of work. This is in addition to the 160 or so that we had before the holidays. We have had over 200 men and women onsite for most of January and early February. This means 200 men and women who are learning more skills to better provide for their families, 200 men and women who are able to have a continuous income for their families, and 200 men and women who are hearing about Christ's love each week. 

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With the massive manpower onsite everyday, we also handle weekly payroll, HR issues, chapel, distribution of meals, and everything for construction. With the increased labor, we have increased our staff within eMi and brought on 3 more assistant foremen to help with the task as official staff of eMi. Over the last couple years, these individuals have learned and grown through eMi projects as day laborers and have earned their position on staff. These guys continue to be examples of hope and encourage those around them. Below is our current staff, minus 1 who is struggling with malaria and chicken pox (Edison, Ssemujju, Cossy, Yusuf...and Matt)

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We thank all of you for partnering with us to be here and supporting us in this ministry. I get the privilege of seeing lives changed everyday and we couldn't do it without all of you.

-Matt and Patrice

Baptisms - September 2017

In our last update in August,  I (Matt) shared about Kallisa Isaac who passionately shared his testimony in front of the crew during chapel and how God had worked in his life to the point of accepting Christ. That night while I was writing the update to all of you, I started thinking more about his life and the idea of baptism came to mind. As far as I know eMi has never been actively a part of baptizing men and women from a jobsite, so I immediately sent a text message to Tatyabala Richard, one of our site foremen at 9PM and we proceeded to share ideas for about 30 minutes via text on how it could happen and what it would mean. 

The next couple days we discussed with the team how it could become a reality since it wasn’t anything we had done before. At that time we were at about 7 people to baptize and logistics were relatively easy. On September 6, we shared with the crew that we were considering doing baptisms for those that had committed their lives to Christ. Then Ssebunya Nehemiah, a well liked, outgoing young football star onsite who has been with eMi for several years shared his testimony. At the end, Tatyabala Richard very much led by the spirit stood up and asked for the first time in months, if anyone wanted to commit their lives to Christ. 23 men and women stood up that day. It was an amazing day but it also created all sorts logistical challenges....

Over the next week or so we prayed about what this meant. How do we baptize 30 people? Where do we do it? We wanted the Nile River, but most places are difficult to access, or cost too much money. If we went somewhere offsite, how would we transport 160 people to join in? How do we get everyone involved and connected in a local church so they can be discipled within the local body of believers. How can we go deeper? How can we really invest in them and disciple them at this scale? None of us are trained pastors, we needed help.

Photo: Mary McLeod

All of these questions were answered in quick succession. Olupot Cossy and one of our assistant foreman, attend a local church that eMi had connections to from many years ago right near the Nile. This church welcomed our crew with open arms, even providing 30 English Bibles to give out. They led baptism classes for 3 days on the significance of baptism in the Bible and what this meant in each of their lives. The men onsite loved it so much and the numbers at these classes grew so quickly that the pastor kept coming for almost another week during lunch break and he led chapel the following week. An eMi designed and built Christian Retreat Center called Mto Moyoni opened their doors for free to allow us to do the baptisms at their facility right on the Nile.

Photo: Mary McLoed

On Wednesday, September 27, we baptized 43 men and women from our construction site. It was an incredible afternoon and the day was perfect.

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Since the discussion of baptism began, numerous conversations have popped up onsite during lunch and morning porridge discussing spirituality. Walking by masons debating over the Trinity or specific verses within the Bible is common throughout the day.  We even have a praise team who leads worship before chapel and practices once a week during breaks. I find myself wondering if I'm still on a construction site? Praise God for His work in the lives of these men and women I have the privilege of working with everyday. 

Photo: Mary McLoed

And thank you to each of you for making this special day possible

Summer in Uganda

All summer we see pictures from Michigan and throughout the US of summer on Facebook. The glorious time where everyone is enjoying as much summer, water, mountains, travelling, and extra daylight as possible. Some of this makes us jealous. I have very fond memories of summer at Cran Hill Ranch, or camping, or playing on Lake Michigan, or spending time at a friends cottage. I miss camping where there aren't dangerous animals, or mosquitoes carrying malaria and other diseases. I miss mountains, although we are technically closer to some here in Uganda, than in Michigan. I miss eating ice cream in Grand Haven. I miss watching stars without being nervous about malaria. I miss sitting around a campfire until late into the evening. I miss playgrounds and waterparks for our kids. I miss many of the things that were normal to my upbringing.

Since we are basically on the equator, summer doesn't really exist here. Seasons consist of wet and dry, sometimes slightly warmer, sometimes slightly cooler all year. It gets light at approximately 6:30 and dark by 7:15, year round, with only about 10 minutes of variations throughout the entire year. When it hits the 60's, everyone (including our children) complains that it is too cold, when it hits the mid-80's everyone complains it is too hot. We have a perpetual summer with very different expectations and experiences. Although we miss Michigan and many things that come with "Summer in Michigan", we have come to enjoy some of the experiences that are becoming normal to us here.

We found a way to make modified S'mores. They don't taste nearly as good without a graham cracker, but you make due with what you have.

Impromptu date overlooking the Nile

Teaching the kids to kayak on the Nile. Disclaimer for our parents... This area is controlled by 2 dams and does not have any hippos or crocodiles.

Daddy daughter date over milkshakes and a game of Ticket to Ride

Taking the kids for motorcycle rides around town

Licking the spoon from batter crosses all cultural (and sibling) divides, as long as they both have their own :-)

Play equipment can be found if you look hard enough, it just looks different than in Michigan

Rope swing and swimming in the Nile River. 

Abby learned how to ride a bike with pedals and was beside herself with joy.

July Family Update

First, we are just so thankful for the home God provided for us here in Jinja and the growing community we find ourselves a part of! He knew what we needed and were longing for as we settled into this new place we call home (albeit away from home) and He continues to meet our needs in unexpected ways. Praise God!

We've celebrated two birthdays over the last 2 months with Abigail turning 6 and Isaac 4! We are thankful for new friends to celebrate these special days with!

 

Shortly after we returned to Jinja Abigail was able to join a summer camp in town. Not only did the camp include new friends but it also included all of her favorite things like music (she plays a 'flutophone' now. I didn't even know that was a thing...), art, and a new-found love for science! Thank you Lord for this little gift for our sweet girl!

While Abby was away at camp 4 days a week Isaac and Hannah developed a new dynamic between them as well. It has been sweet to see them play together in new ways without big sister around. Isaac is enjoying his 'big brother' title more and more these days wanting to 'help' Hannah with every little thing (although sometimes not with the desired effect...) and reading with her before nap time.

We celebrated the 4th of July with new friends and a BBQ with burgers and hotdogs galore at our house! Politics aside, we realize so much more how we can take fore-granted many of the freedoms we come to expect as US citizens. In a country where liberty and freedom and safety is not a right of every person, we are more thankful than ever to be from a place where it is.

I am particularly thankful for a new opportunity to begin working with single moms and moms-to-be at a local pregnancy center in Jinja! These women are living in high risk situations and the program provides them with some of their most very basic needs in order for mother and baby to remain together. They are enrolled in a weekly program where the child's health is monitored (and referred to a doctor as necessary), receive a small amount of nutritious food, are taught basic lessons regarding the health of their child and themselves, as well as hearing an encouraging word of truth from the Bible. Praise God for this opportunity to serve and support these women and love on their sweet babies!

1 John 5:14-15 - " This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him."

Thank you Lord for hearing us, caring for us, and leading us on this journey! And thank you, friends, for your support and encouragement.

eMi is in the process of updating much it's accounting processes. Part of these changes is an updated website for our family with streamlined giving options. ( https://emiworld.org/zimmerman ) Along with these changes however, can come some unexpected glitches....thank you for your diligence in supporting our family. If you have any problems with your giving account please contact us so we can help you resolve any issues!

Back to Work!

We have been back in Uganda now for 3 weeks. The construction team out at Amazima got a lot more completed than anticipated while we were in Michigan, leaving a project that is currently under budget and ahead of schedule. How often do you hear that? Needless to say, that has helped ease the transition quite substantially for me. The project is quickly working through 2 classroom blocks, a chapel, and 2 latrine buildings. All of which we hope to finish before the end of the year. We are in the planning stages to begin the next step which is 8 dormitories, a sports complex, a staff housing block, and 5 latrine buildings - breaking ground on the remaining buildings by the end of June. Building this many buildings at once is a challenge anywhere in the world, but I believe we have the right team in place and so far it is going very well.

Progress at the Amazima Campus so far

We are happy to be back in Uganda in many ways - Our week has more routine, we have a home, and we have some sense of normalcy for our family. Through our time in Michigan I realized how emotionally drained I was from day-to-day life and struggles in Uganda and I needed a bit of reprieve, rejuvenation, and a general re-focusing of priorities. We're so thankful for that opportunity in Michigan and all the time we were able to spend with loved ones that are usually so far away! 

One thing that I have found to be helpful in my daily routine is my bicycle ride out to site. Almost every morning I ride through Jinja town back roads, crossing the Nile River on a pedestrian bridge, through maize fields, small trading centers, even a small swamp on my way to site over the course of about 5 miles. As Bazungu (White people), we tend to often feel like fish in a fish bowl, constantly being stared at everywhere we go. This commute has allowed me to start seeing familiar faces, passing with a wave, or a simple greeting in Luganda or in English.

On the bicycle heading to work

Onsite Chapel with approximately 115 guys can be a bit challenging packed under a single shade structure, but it is going well. We start and end with praise music - when was the last time you saw 115 construction men and women singing praise music during work...? Yeah, me either. My first week back, my coworkers were just wrapping up "The Alpha Series" and 4 men and one woman gave their lives to Christ. What an exciting way to enter back into this work the Lord has for us here in Uganda!

Weekly onsite Chapel

Ramadan started recently, part of which means all Muslims onsite are supposed to fast during the days. When many of these men did not start fasting, they were heckled by the other men onsite saying that "The holy spirit was working in them! ....or maybe just on their stomachs at least..." Although this was done in jest, there is some truth to this. These men aren't ready to renounce their Muslim faith yet because of the greater implications in the community and they will be kicked out of their families and support networks but their hearts are being prepared and they are building new community and support within the other men onsite.

A few days ago our son Isaac asked me what I did all day at work because he wanted me to stay home. I hesitated for a minute, thinking to myself how to respond and maybe how to use it as a teaching moment. Eventually I said something along the lines of "I have the awesome job of working with a bunch of construction men and women building buildings for a great local ministry and I get to tell them that Jesus loves them too!". I didn't go into depth nor did he seem to want to ask any follow up questions. After all, he is only 3 :-). But I have reflected from that conversation that I really do love this work and we could not be here and doing this without all of you supporting us both financially and prayerfully. In God's great plan He is using each of you to show and share the love of Jesus with people in Jinja, Uganda!

One specific prayer request this week is that we have had to fire our guard. This is very hard for us because he has been with us since we arrived a year and a half ago and we genuinely care about him and his family. Our children spent hours every day playing with him and he is missed. It is likely that he will not find other work and will struggle to support his family - knowing this truth about life here in Uganda only made this decision more difficult. Please pray for him and his family as they face this difficult change and that he will use this as a catalyst to the changes that would allow him to be successful in a job and in supporting his family. It was a painful and emotional goodbye for everyone involved as he left our compound - please pray for wisdom as we navigate this loss with our children too.

Thank you to all of you!

-Matt and Patrice

Something New - Settling back in Jinja

Looking back over our first year in Uganda we realized we did not do a very good job of keeping those of you supporting and encouraging us from the other side of the ocean updated on what's happening on our side of it. Maybe you want more updates and photos from us (ehhmmm....grandparents) and maybe you don't :) But it's our goal as we settle back into Jinja this time around that we will do a better job for those of you looking for more!

Here we hope to post brief but more frequent updates on our new project with Amazima Ministries and of course our family. You can come back here for more photos that may or may not make the general social media world as well. 

We'd love your feedback so please tell us what you think! And let us know what is happening in your lives too - we're far away and sometimes we just want news from "home" too!

Please click to "follow" this blog if you want the most frequent updates! We will post links to Facebook the first few times but then will rely on the notifications sent to those following us to update you when new things are posted. 

Much love,

Zimmermans

Sometimes a decent family picture takes a few tries...

An Update - Long Overdue...

It’s difficult to even recall everything we’ve been up to these past several months—And I’m sure all of you can say the same as another summer season comes to an end! Looking back through pictures is a great way to jog my memory so I’ll share some of my favorites with you here….

Ministry:

Construction on the new choir training facility at Music for Life (African Children’s Choir) is moving along quickly. The project seems to be running on schedule despite some materials issues and the start of a new rainy season upon us now. About 30-40 men are working 6 days a week on this project and we anticipate the project to be about 95% complete by the end of the year.

Choir training center for Music for Life - African Children's Choir

It is encouraging to see the opportunities this project provides for the men onsite. They are earning a steady income and are paid weekly which is not often the case here. It is not uncommon to work on a construction project for weeks or maybe even months at a time before being paid, if you are paid at all. Earning a weekly income through projects with eMi gives stability to their families and a sense of self-worth to the men putting in the hard labor. Men are being trained in areas like masonry and carpentry giving them a marketable skill for the future. And the weekly onsite chapel gives them an opportunity to grow spiritually or even hear the Gospel for the first time.

Weekly on-site Chapel

This past week we attended church with Tatyabala, the site foreman. The men’s ministry of the church was leading the service and several other men from site were a part of the service as well and invited their fellow co-workers and friends from the project to join them this week. It is exciting to see the relationships these men have move beyond simply being co-workers at a construction site and into even a simple invitation to join them for worship at church. Providing men opportunities for work through construction is important but it is in hearing the truth of the Gospel that lives will be changed. We were grateful for the opportunity to support them in joining them for worship. Pray with us for opportunities to encourage these men to walk faithfully and for those who still need to hear of God’s transforming love.

Changes ahead—Next project:

With the Music for Life project ending at the start of the new year we are looking ahead to the next project Matt will be working with. This project is the second phase of a secondary school (similar to high school in the States) for Amazima Ministries (https://amazima.org/). We will be moving to Jinja, Uganda—about three hours from where we currently live. Jinja is famously known for holding the “Source of the Nile River” on the north side of Lake Victoria. This move was quite unexpected for our family after finally feeling settled into our home in Akright but we can see the Lord’s hand through it all. Jinja is a smaller town with a lot happening and we are excited for new opportunities to get more involved within the community. The thought of another move, even within the same country, is daunting and it will be difficult to again say goodbye to new friends we have made here. Please pray for this transition and that we can support our children well through another season of change.

Family:

We have a new WALKER since we last wrote—although it seems impossible that she has only been walking for less than 4 months the way she RUNS and climbs on EVERYTHING to keep up with her siblings now!

    

        

June and July brought birthday celebrations—a Tea Party for our newly FIVE year old (how does that happen?!) and a dinosaur themed park party for the new THREE year old! Thankful for friends to celebrate these special days with us when we are so far from family and friends in Michigan.

In August we were THRILLED to welcome our first visitors, my sister and two of her boys, into our home! It was so wonderful to have them here with us and share this new life we have here with them. Matt travelled back to Colorado for 10 days for the eMi World Staff Conference that happens every five years. Although it was a whirlwind of a trip, he was able to meet other eMi staff from offices around the world and spend time learning more about the work eMi is doing globally. His time away overlapped with our visitors so unfortunately he missed the time with my sister but we are thankful he was able to be back in time to spend just over a week with the boys. The goodbyes were no easier the second time around but what a blessing it was to have that time together here!

We have started school at home and I have a very eager kindergartener on my hands! She is reading everything these days and loves it when I give her math problems to solve. Our equally eager preschooler likes the idea of “school” but is much less interested in sitting at the table together most days. And their baby sister just gets frustrated with all of us because she’s lost her playmates while we are working!

You are looking at a future "Real Lion" and "Waitress" :)

Between family hikes, playing at local parks, seeing friends, and welcoming new eMi families to the area, we have found these months to be full. The Lord has sustained us and there is no doubt He will continue as we look at a new season of change on the horizon.

“For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100:5

“I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:2

Thank you for your support and prayers for our family! 

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58