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 

Coming up for air - Family Update

Coming up for air. That is what it feels like for us this past week or so. We are coming up on 4 months here in Uganda. This past month has been especially difficult as we dealt with a lot of sickness in our family, anxiety, loneliness and just the general fatigue that comes with learning to live in a new culture.

I am SO happy to report that we are healthy again! (Fingers crossed…) We still don’t know exactly what was going on but between several teeth finally breaking through for the littlest of us and treatment for more than one type of parasite for most of us, it seems to have run its course. Good riddance!

The newest addition to our compound is of the furry variety with a fierce bark! After an attempted break-in during the night, Cadet, a one-year old German Shepard came to live with us. She is a very energetic but mostly well-trained dog and has a bad habit of chewing up everything and anything left outside. She’s teaching us to pick up after ourselves if nothing else! And as more than one unexpected visitor has made note, she is very good at her job! Our brave baby girl is her biggest fan so far, she would climb all over her if we let her and the dog would likely just lick her to death while the older two are a little warier and don’t like her rough play so much. We praise God for His protection of our family during a frightening situation (and for a crying baby that woke us up at just the right time) and that the older two kids slept through everything!

Rainy season has brought with it some cooler days and evenings. A welcome relief from the heat to which our Michigan bodies are still adjusting! It rains almost every day either in the night or an occasional shower during the day. Enough to bring a nice breeze to cool things down and then the sun comes back out to heat things up again! I’m not sure we’ve had a day yet where the sun wasn’t shining down brightly for some portion of the day. And with all this rain comes a lot of mud! Our experience driving on icy Michigan roads has actually been very useful here as we slide around through the slick African mud that boils up around our tires and threatens to pull us into the trenches. And that’s just the road to get to our house! Rainy season seems to have brought out some unwelcome house guests as well. Namely a rat and (I don’t even want to think how many) cockroaches. Thankfully the day the rat was discovered an amazing Ugandan woman, Dominica, was working and “took care of” the rat around the house after catching it—alive—on a glue trap. Meanwhile I was proving just how squeamish and apparently incompetent I am by screaming and running the opposite direction! She was gracious enough to only laugh at me for a moment.

It seems that we are finding a healthy rhythm in life here once again and we praise God for sustaining us through some weeks that seemed nearly unbearable at times. The Lord is challenging us in ways we have never experienced before but we find comfort in the promises of His Word.

“Yet you are near, Lord, and all your commands are true.” Psalm 19:151

“Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring to you today.” Exodus 14:13.

I am learning that even in the hard, lonely days here there is beauty. On those days I need to lean a little deeper into my Lord’s embrace and open my eyes to see and acknowledge the beauty around me. Even if it’s in the laughter that follows the squeals of another cockroach sighting…

-Patrice

And of course some photo updates : 

Meet Cadet. Our one-year old German Shepard

Watermelon seed-spitting contest. The littlest made sure she wasn't left out!

A race to help Daddy with the gate!

She thinks she's big stuff standing up in the middle of the room!

Happy Easter from the Zimmermans

Water Fight!

Family Hike around our neighborhood

Handsome boys

Celebrated her 1st Birthday in April!

Party's over! Proof that she really does have quite the temper.

Building millipede houses!

Building millipede houses....unfortunately this little guy's friend was
"still sleeping" when we checked on him the next day...

Proof that we've come a long way since moving here! Very excited to show
off their millipede friends!

Showing off the helmets!

Sometimes their is just too much love around here!

Future boda driver dropping his big sister off at the store. 

Kids can cross all cultural barriers. Making friends with our neighbors.
Play is the universal language.

Sunset view from our home. God is so good. 

Music for Life - African Children's Choir

We can’t believe it has been two and a half months since we left Michigan! The last few weeks of adjustments have been exhausting at times, but as a whole we are acclimating and growing stronger as a family.

My work has kept me very busy the first couple months juggling a lot of miscellaneous small projects. As of March 1, we started work on a project for Music For Life – African Children’s Choir (https://africanchildrenschoir.com/) building a choir training facility. The African Children’s Choir consists of children, who in many cases have lost at least one parent to war, famine, or disease. Through performances around the world these children raise awareness of the needs of destitute and orphaned children in Africa while also raising funds to pay for their future education.

I get the opportunity to be on the jobsite most days to not only manage the construction project but to work with the ultimate goal of building relationships with the men on-site. These men come from all over Uganda and beyond and speak countless languages (there are around 40 different languages in Uganda alone). Many of the men are desperate for a job and eager to work very hard for a source of income. I am continually impressed by how hard these guys work.

There are Christians, Muslims, tribal religions and non-believers among the men. We have started holding chapel onsite every Wednesday. Although optional, everyone has been attending. This week, Tatyabala Richard (our site Foreman) spoke about how our strength comes from Christ and he is the Foundation of our lives. Just as the strength of the building we are constructing comes from the foundations we are digging, the strength in our lives comes from our solid foundation in Christ.

It has been a great joy for me to begin learning about these men’s lives. With permission, I hope to share some of these stories in the months to come.

We are so thankful for this opportunity to serve in Uganda. Thank you for your support through prayers and encouragement as we continue to settle into our life here.  

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.” 1 Timothy 1:12

Blessings,

Matt and Family

Here are some pictures from the site over last few weeks:

Site rendering of finished product. 

Clearing the site. First things first - Termite mounds.

And sometimes you find snakes that make even grown men squeal and run. 

Clearing the site. Pick axes, hoes, and shovels.

First foundations.

Chapel on-site.

One Month Already?!

It’s already February?! Wow. With almost a month under our belts we are beginning to feel settled and finding our rhythm in this new place we are calling home! And after almost 2 months of transient, its-in-a-box-somewhere life it is so good to be in a house and to sleep in the same bed for more than a week!

It really is difficult to believe that just one month ago we were stuffing the last few things in our boxes and saying the hard, hard goodbyes to our family and friends.

Since moving into our house we have been able to start learning and navigating how to function on a day-to-day basis here. And the first of those lessons was driving! Matt of course was the first behind the wheel early on and can confidently navigate his way to work and through the various small towns around us. He even tackled Kampala on Saturday—no small task, let me assure you! Patrice followed suite about a week later and is slowly expanding the radius in which she feels comfortable. Most importantly, she can make it to the grocery store and back with no problem!

Matt is jumping head first into learning all he can at work before another person transitions out of his role later this month. He is excited about the projects he will be working on and has enjoyed spending time in the office getting familiar with his new role and even starting to learn some Luganda.

Patrice and the kids are also settling in to life at home. In all honesty, there have been some rough days made worse with sleep deprivation and strong emotions after all the recent changes. It has been good for all of us to be in a place to call home again and we are thankful for the community of EMI that has helped us navigate these first weeks. Meeting other families with young children in our area has also been a blessing for us. We have seen the kids begin to explore and feel more comfortable in their new environment every day. Our windows have yet to be closed since moving here and our doors are open all day (until dusk when pesky mosquitoes come out) and we love that the kids can just run in and out of the house as they want without any worry of where they are since we live on a compound.

There have been hard days since our move here. But we are also overcome with gratitude for this life the Lord has called us to. We trust that the Lord has good plans for our lives here and we are learning more than ever to trust in His promises.

Will you pray with us:

• For perseverance as we continue to settle in to our new home and life in a different culture.
•  For grace and patience with each other as fatigue continues to linger with us.
•  That we will continue to develop friendships and relationships with families around us.

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness… 2 Corinthians 12:9

Thank you Lord for strength and comfort in this time of transition for our family. May we learn to rely on your grace so that your power and love and comfort is made known through our weakness.

And here are the pictures as promised!

A boy and his boda...all day entertainment!

Visit to Entebbe Zoo....where we had to wait to enter because they needed to "coral the apes"....

Typical....

Sweet girl

Jungle gym! And yes, the little brother showed his big sister how much fun this could be! 

Post dinner tickles

Sunset from our front door

Rooftop view

Walking to the office

Little Miss thinks she needs to keep up with her siblings. Crawling and pulling
herself up in nearly the same week!

This boy loves his dinosaurs!

Best friends...most of the time!

Hike in our "neighborhood"...a little longer than we expected.

Beautiful views!