A Royal Visit

Yesterday, we made a spontaneous visit to one of the palace's of the King of Buganda. We went with our friends, the Showalter's for an Ugandan cultural experience. It was also a wonderful opportunity for a field trip! It is not everyday you can just walk up and go to the palace in Uganda. Now, the king does not actually live at this palace so we didn't get to meet him and we didn't get to go inside, but we still learned somethings. There is a primary and secondary school that are in the compound of the palace and I think it would be pretty cool to say you went to school at the palace.

Looking out at the city of Kampala

The palace is located on one of the seven hills around Kampala. The modern palace was built in style of British architecture. From the palace there is a straight road which leads to the parliament building. This road is lined with fifty-two trees that represent the fifty-two clans of Uganda. Each clan is represented by an animal. When you are born you take the clan of your father, but if you are a child of a king you take your mother's clan.

Part of our tour told of Idi Amin and how he took the presidency of Uganda by force from the king and president in the 1970's. He took the palace by force while the king was away. He bombed the palace and 10 Rolls Royce and Bentleys that the British had given as a gift the the king. They have left the cars shells as a reminder of that time. We were lead to a dungeon of torture, which was built built into the hill by Amin. It was very sad to hear about what happened there and what it was like for the prisoners. No one who entered came out alive. It was a very dark time in Uganda's history, but by God's grace, the people of Uganda are moving forward, seeking and turning there heart's to Him.

Rolls Royce

Dungeon

Our tour ended in a museum with pictures of the current king from childhood till present. I had an opportunity to try on some Ugandan artifacts. Ben says he is not sure if I look Ugandan or redneck. I'll let you decide. We have been very blessed during our adventure to learn more about the world and people God has created. So very thankful for these opportunities to open the eyes of our children to new and different things. I pray we never take for granted the blessings He has given us.

Traditional Ugandan Shoes

Women's Day at Jjogo Community Church

Hannah's Daughters in Traditional Dress

Our son, Emmanuel's mother leading worship
So blessed to have Christine as a Sister in Christ

Dancing for the Lord 

Preaching in my African Attire
Momma Phoebe took me shopping

Dinner on the Grounds

Let's Eat

"I will Rise"

Sharing our Lives

Women of Jjogo
Black and White thanks to the church children helping Ben take the snap
OPPS!

On Sunday, we celebrated the ladies of Jjogo Community Church. I, Rebecca, wanted to spend some time fellowshipping with and blessing the beautiful women of Jjogo. The worship was lead by the women's group, Hannah's Daughters. They were wonderful and all dressed in the traditional Ugandan dress. I was asked to preach, which was a big stretch, but God was faithfully and blessed the word. We then had a catered lunch at the church for all the ladies and children. When we had finished, we gathered together again for worship. Abigail and Elizabeth choreographed a dance to "I will Rise", by Chris Tomlin, to share with the ladies. I am very proud of the girls for working hard together and performing beautifully. Then Phoebe and I sat together with the ladies and had a time of sharing and questions. I shared what it was like to be a muzungu in America and what my life there is like. This time really showed me some big differences in our cultures and parts of their lives that are hard and difficult. I would like to encourage all of my sisters in the US, to pray for our sisters in Christ around the world who are dealing with very difficult situations and hardships. We serve a loving God, who knows our joy and our pain. Who is with us always no matter where we go. What a wonderful day we shared together. Thank you Women of JCC. You have blessed me more than you will ever know. To God be the Glory!

"Vistahs"

Dr. Rogers, Momma Vikki, and Uncle Trent with our  tribe

On Safari with the Thomas family

On the Equator

Just relaxin by the Nile River at the Lodge

Sunset on the Nile

Yes, that is an elephant and no, there is not a fence

Our driver Hannington and guide Sarah with the gang

Peter, Rachel, Hannington and Jacob

We were so blessed last week with "vistahs" from home, the Thomas Family, Rick and Vikki Rogers and Trent Messick. We had a wonderful time catching up and just being together. Of course, we could not let them go home without going on safari and seeing all our friends at Divine Grace. We had a great safari. We saw elephants, hippos, giraffes, Cape buffalo, Jackson Heartbeast,  monkeys, baboons, lizards, and more. I am truly amazed each time at how great God is and how wonderful all his creation is.
We spent a few days around Kampala going to church, visiting Jjogo school, and just hanging out. We then made our way to Divine Grace Primary School, stopping at the equator for a photo and an equator experiment. Did you know that you weigh 3% less when standing on the equator? We had a good time visiting with the staff and students at DG. They are always a blessing to be with!

To our dear friends who are family,
Thank you so much for making the sacrifice and taking the time to come ALL the way to Uganda. You will never know how great a blessing it was for us to be with you all. We love you all and look forward to seeing you soon!!!

Twelve

 I am really not sure how it happened. When you say twelve years, it seems like a very long time, but was it not just yesterday I was holding a beautiful baby girl in my arms. Now stands before me a beautiful young lady.

Banner made by Sisters and Brother

Surprise

Pastries for breakfast from City Oil

Daddy's Little Girl

Lunch Date

The Lawn

Ready to Celebrate

Ben's Game Steaks
Crocodile, Blesbok. Springbok and Wildebeast

Ostrich Burger

Blessings!

More Bunnies

New Camera Fun

Brownie Cookie Cake With Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

We celebrated with pastries and presents for breakfast. Abigail got a camera and some of the picture blogged are ones she took. We took a holiday from school!!! We visited the Friday Craft Market, and then ate lunch at The Lawn. They specialize in game. Ben had crocodile, blesbok, springbok and wildebeast steaks. We were all adventurous and tried some of each. Crocodile was our favorite! I tried an ostrich burger. Not Bad :) Kids just had chicken and beef sandwiches, but they were yummy too! The kids found more bunnies and played with them on the lawn, while Ben and I enjoyed the view. Next we came home and had brownie cookie cake and ice cream. The celebrating is not ending here, still have a surprise yet to come, skyping with family and a movie to watch!
Abigail, you are a blessing and we thank God for you everyday. We look forward to seeing all that God has planned for your life. We are so thankful God gave us you! We love you ALWAYS!

Lotus Mexican Cantina

On the way to a Chinese restaurant awhile back, I saw a sign that said Lotus Mexican Cantina. I told Ben we need to check into this. So we looked it up on the internet and found out it is owned by the same person who owns, I Love NYC, a restaurant with great pizza and bagels. So we knew we just had to try it! Well, it was Wednesday and I hadn't left the house in two days and was ready to see the outside world, so it seemed like the place to go. We had high hopes for some yummy Mexican food, cuz as I have already mentioned, our family LOVES Mexican. We were seated outside on a beautiful breezy day! Drinks were served, when I see a rabbit hop over to the table. The waitress then says there are many and all over the grounds and they even have some babies. She also said that if you feed him he will not go away. Haha! Sure enough we meet Gizmo, Jackson and James. The children were very entertained by their new bunny friends and before we knew it, we had a huge spread of food before us and it was DELICIOUS! Wonderful guacamole, tacos, queso, and burritos. As we were finishing up eating Jacob asks the waitress if they can go see the baby bunnies and she was more than happy to show the children where they were. So next thing we know everyone is taking turns holding the baby bunnies! We are super excited to add Lotus to our short list of restaurants and we can't wait to visit with our furry friends again soon!

Gizmo

Enchiladas

Burrito

Tacos

Sweet Baby Bunnies

God's Amazing Creation

Dinner and A Movie

We LOVE our Sozi brothers and friends!

Smile

Pastor Peter,  Princess Rachel and Momma Phoebe

Makin Chapati

Big Screen

Full House

Last night we hosted our first movie night! The Sozi's joined us plus a few friends for dinner. We served tacos with a Ugandan flare. Can't find tortillas, but they have a flat bread called chapati that makes a great substitute. I did find Old el Paso salsa and mexican seasoning on the store shelf and there are wonderful avocados that are plentiful! We love mexican, so we are very happy to have found a fix. We then watched National Treasure on the big screen. We brought a projector with us and it hooks right up to the computer, add the popcorn and it is just like being in the theatre.  It was a late night but so FUN!