Mukama siimwe! (Praise the Lord!)
“This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
As each day opens in Uganda, I have to rehearse this beautiful verse. It keeps me focused amidst the trials, tribulations and cultural adjustments. Knowing God is in control takes so much pressure away and lightens the heavy burdens on the heart.
It is amazing how many things we take for granted in the States. When you get up in the morning and turn on the light you do not even wonder whether it will come on. When you plug in your electric appliances or computers you just expect instant results. Since our arrival the power has been high causing us to use high volt guards on major appliances and computers. Just recently the power has reversed and gone low (75 v instead of 220-260 v). This week we went 40 hours straight with NO power, running the generator to keep our freezer and refrigerator cold.
Sickness! Eliana has been through several bouts with illness. The bronchiolitis gave mom and dad a scare. Severely congested, we had tried to keep her air passages cleaned out, but one night they all closed up. Since she was so tired she did not fight the loss of air and stopped breathing. We quickly rushed her into the cool night air where she snapped awake and began fighting to breathe. We then filled the bathroom with steam to loosen the clogged nasal passages. No one got much sleep the next several nights! After reaching the doctor in Kampala and getting the antibiotics, she soon recovered. The past 2 weeks she has been battling a fever. Tuesday the doctor diagnosed her with Roseola Infantum, a virus we think she contracted on visitation.
Masaka was just voted the dirtiest town in Uganda. One does not have to go very far into town to wonder why. Trash blows throughout the streets, dumpsters are overflowing, and small dump sites are left unburied. With this environment, Typhoid and Cholera are on the rise.
Things are not slowing down, but praise the Lord we are seeing some promising results. On the difficult side, we had to discipline a lady out of the church for being a railer and marrying a Muslim man. This was so hard because she has been in the church for 9 years and was looked on as a leader amongst the ladies. Amidst this trial we have seen 7 people come to Christ this last month and some strong leaders are emerging to stand in the gap for Christ.
In His Service,
Tony & Kristy Applegate
tony@theapplegates.net / kris@theapplegates.net
phone-011-256-78-903-147 / 011-256-78-903-137
CURRENT PRAYER REQUESTS AND PRAISES:
Praises: We found a rack for our vehicle; God never changes, despite our circumstances.
Prayer requests: Discernment and wisdom; a continued understanding and familiarization of the Luganda language and culture; physical health and safety.