Coronavirus

Uganda was first  hit with the Coronavirus back in March and just like most countries, caution and fear drove the country into lock-down. The lock-down lasted almost 6 months of hard living and an economic crisis.

Surely it was such a difficult time but as we look back, we are also thankful for such a time as this.

lock-down in the village

In our village, it became a time of family reunion and team work, something that was rare yet longed for. Husbands and  fathers were more present in the lives of their wives and children because many of the social gatherings and bars were closed. Everyone is seen working together in their gardens in the mornings and later heard laughing at their homes in the evenings. On Sundays, most homes can be heard praising and worshiping God as they share the word of God with their families. But with the lock-down prohibiting the gathering of groups of five or more people, most of our ministry programs had to be paused. The women’s group was not able to meet for 5 months and the children’s ministry will likely resume next year (2021). After 5 months of lock-down, we are thankful that as a ministry, we have been able to resume and God has blessed us. The women are running a small business project of making and supplying Liquid soap/detergent which has been successful so far. Additionally, we have acquired two sewing machines which will be used to equip the women with more sewing skills to start up a tailoring business as well as be a ministry opportunity for the women to give back to the community.

In the community, we still visit with many of the women(from the women’s group) but on an informal basis as they are passing by on the road. The neighborhood kids also are constantly coming to play with our nieces and nephews.

When the lock-down first started in March, we had decided to take most of my (Sheilla’s) family to the village with us instead of them remaining in the urban city. So we loaded up 2 cousins, 3 nieces, 2 nephews, and Grandma(Sheilla’s mom) and drove up to the village. We suddenly were a family of 12. In the village, we took on the role of parents; this was challenging and really stretched us. We had to adjust our budget to accommodate a larger household but it has been worth it because God has worked wonderfully in our family’s lives. The kids have a weekly memory verse and they practice everyday during our morning devotions.

The lockdown has in so many ways been a productive period for us as family. It has allowed us enough time to build and strengthen relationships with the locals which has been a blessing. My family(Sheilla) received such a warm welcome since their arrival and we have daily been blessed with fresh food and fruits from people’s gardens and with that, we have also been inspired to do some agriculture. In March which was our first planting season, we planted maize and peanuts on almost half our property and we were pleased to harvest about 100kgs (220 lbs.)of maize grain and 50kgs (110 lbs.) of peanuts at the end of three months. The maize we grind into a flour that is called “posho” this is one of the staple foods here in uganda. We also grind or pound the shelled peanuts to make a crude/organic peanut butter. Here in our village community where most people are subsistence farmers, you eat whatever you manage to grow, this is their way of life!

This pandemic has really open many doors for us as a ministry, but it has also closed other doors. We are so thankful for God continuing to work in and through us in this time.