Hello, 2016.

Hello 2016!!!!  I’ve been waiting for you.  2015 was Faithful.  For us, it was our first full year away from Canada as a family.  A year where Charlee had no seizures, and started to talk!  A year where Theo, though a rough and tumble kid, had so many falls, bumps, scrapes and parasites but came through them all unfazed.  A year where Fred - my super sensitive one - missed home and cried every night for a month, but in the end was alright.  He is now bounding around the compound, shooting his friends with Nerf Guns and laughing so hard.  It warms my heart.  

It was also a year when I was sent to Nairobi because of some health issues, was scared and overwhelmed but in the end everything came back totally fine!  Matt was kept safe through the African skies; in and out of South Sudan and Congo, plus two ferry flights to South Africa and on the roads in Kampala.  Besides being a pilot in our programme here, he is also now the acting Security Officer - a role that has had him in Kenya for training twice.  He’s flown chickens and medicine, food and Medevacs, and has delivered everything and everyone safely to their destinations.  

It was the year when we saw a Special Needs support group at a local church grow into something so much bigger.  We’ve prayed for babies in hospitals, and I’ve sat on my own kids’ beds at night watching them sleep, wondering how we've come so far.  It was a year when I lost someone so dear to my heart in Canada, that I can’t. even. breathe.

Now the New Year is here with a clean slate and the possibilities are laid out before me.  I'm so ready for it.  On Friday, Theo will start preschool two mornings a week while I take on the role of MAF Communications Officer for some programmes within Africa.  Matt is back in the cockpit and I’m missing the vacation days we had together.  When the fireworks erupted over Kampala on New Years Eve, a cheer so loud went up over this city - it gave me such a feeling of warmth for Uganda - and I feel content and very, very blessed.

Thank you everyone, for your prayers over the last year.  We see the results of them on this side, and we appreciate them so much.  Welcome, 2016 - I can’t wait to see what You have in store for us all!

With much love from sunny Uganda,

Chaundra

Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

(Dear MAF),

This is E* from Kitgum. Last month you helped us bring a young man, V*, down to Kajjansii so that he could go to Mulago for an operation on his broken neck. The operation seems to have been successful and he is now home with his family. We are so thankful for MAF’s help and for the opportunity that you gave to V*. May the Lord richly bless you and your family, and the whole MAF team, this New Year!

In Christ,

E*

*names have been removed for privacy.