Welcome Jethro

We would like to formally introduce to the world and to our family, Jethro Mukisa. This has been a journey that was put into motion back in November of 2010 when Dwight Saunders spoke on Uganda  in church and invited anyone in the  congregation to go with the Go Team. Sarah and I said yes and did not realize what God had in plan for us. We prayed everyday for God to break our hearts with the things that breaks Gods. This is a very powerful prayer. It has changed our lives.

We fell in love with the country.

We fell in love with the people.

We fell in love with the culture.

We fell in love with the orphans.
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We fell in love with Jethro.

We prayed and prayed for a family for him as well as many other people did. Little did we know that we where the family. If you where one of those praying for Jethro before we where placed we would like to know who you are so please contact us. Many people have helped this day come true. 

At Sanyu the Momas say he walks just like me and also acts just like me. They say his nose is what Sarah has given him. I think that his tender heart and compassion for everyone is what he got from Sarah.  When he gets in trouble he acts just like me, he will find a way to make you laugh while you are trying to discipline him. It is amazing how this kid is our son.  


Just Hours ago we said good by walked out of the big metal gate. We walked home and got some Icream and started the first day of the rest of our life.

He is home!

He has eaten cat food!
We played ball!
We played trucks!
We cooked together!
He ate dinner!
We bathed him!
We prayed together!
Sarah tucked him in and sang to him!
I cleaned up the kitchen!
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He is home!

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Due Date

There has been some major moments that have changed my life.

The day I was adopted.

The day I accepted Christ.

When I moved out on my own.

When I married my Darlin Bride Sarah.

The day my Father passed away from cancer.

What are your life changing moments?

 There seams to be two categories of  life changing moments, planned and unplanned. This does not determine if it is a good or bad emotion. We are privileged to be able to have the free will to make decisions that can change our lives. Like the moment I dedicated my life to God. There are also the unplanned events that we have no control of them happening but we can determine what we take from those events. When my Dad passed away I was able to realize how important family is. I also learned that we never know how long we have on Earth so spend every minute wisely. 

Looking online I found that there are many different life changing moments but one thing stood true for many people. The birth of there children was a predominant event that has changed there lives. This moment is not one that is all the sudden like a car accident nor a death in the family. If planned or unplanned it takes time. You get to watch and prepare for that specific due date.

We have been waiting for our son since the end of June 2011. We have known and loved him since January 2011. Our due date is March 29th at 3pm EAT. This makes a 10 month wait from the day of our first bit of paperwork. When we started this process home was the mountains of Colorado. Now it has changed to the city of  Uganda. On Thursday we are not getting full guardianship to bring him to the US. We will be receiving foster care custody so that he can live with us and leave the orphanage. This means he will live here with us in Uganda. This is just fine with us. We know it is part of Gods plans, just one more moment to change our lives. This is our first kid and I have no idea what to fill or to expect. I do know that I am already in love with this boy and can't wait for every new day.

I already know his personality.

He knows my name.

I have seen him smile.

I have seen him cry.

I have seen him at his worst.

He has made me cry with joy.

He has broken my heart

and

filled it with love.

He is Jethro our son

and 

he comes home on Thursday.

 No crazy drive screaming all the way to the hospital. No water breaking in Wal-Mart. Best of all no chance of me passing out in the delivery room. After snack time we get to walk down the side walk  and out Sanyu Babies Home big metal gates into the heart of Kampala with our son. Grab some ice cream and walk home for a nothing life changing moment.

Foster care

Adoption to foster care.

Is this going backwards or are we making progress?

Where is God taking us?

A few weeks ago the judge told us that he would not give us a ruling till Jethro's biological Father Twaha was found.

Well by knowing his first name you know as much as we did at the time. Finding him is going to take some time, effort, and money.

We have spent many hours at the lawyers office working with them to finalize this. The probation officer is getting involved to do more in depth research, we hope. We have been encouraged that everything is going to work out OK and understand that God is in control 

The big question is how long will it take?

That leads me to our next plan of action. The past week we have been working on getting approved to be foster parents here in Uganda. The process is a home study done here (completed yesterday) visit from the orphanage (scheduled tomorrow morning, if she shows) and for our paperwork to be approved (whenever they fill like). Then cheerfully Jethro will be able to come and stay with us here in our home in Uganda. Currently we get to only see Jethro at the orphanage. It is daily but just not the same as him living with us.  

We are ready and willing to do what it takes to keep our son with us and be able to bring him home. If the adoption is not finalized by 20th May Sarah will go home for her little sister, Jamie's wedding. I will stay here in Uganda with Jethro. Depending on the length of time it looks like to finalize the adoption will determine what will happen next. If it looks to be months then Sarah will go home and move us out of our house in Durango and come back to Uganda. If it will be weeks then I will finish the adoption and fly home with Jethro. Then we get to start our family of three!

No matter what happens we know that it is all in God's timing and he is in control. We are thankful for our blessings and the support from our friends and family. I know that you all have been praying for us and we fill your support everyday and night. You are all part of this awesome journey that God has planned for our lives.

If I only had a camera

 I was at the babies home loving on Jethro and singing songs with him.

As he was listening to me sing the words to "I love you Lord"

he would hum along with me, singing every other word.

He was all smiles and he knows he is loved.

If I only has a camera!

I left the babies home and it was dark. I rode a boda boda home

 and when I arrived at the house, Shawn was outside. I almost tripped over
 a black shoe; then another and then another. I asked Shawn who was at the house. 

night time near the house

Shawn replied "the veterinarian." 

Gina had been trying to find a veterinarian to neuter the

 house cat for a while now, so I thought they were here to look 

at the cat or something like that and then to make an appointment. 

Not the case!

I walked into Gina's room to see two men and Gina all surrounding the cat,

 who was lying motionless on the floor.

They did not neuter the cat at the vets office, they did it right there on the floor in Gina's room.

There the cat was, having surgery on the floor with two razor blades and aerosol spray antibiotic. 

Gina was looking like she could not believe this was happening.

Shawn was as far away as possible, trying not to hear what was going on in fear of passing out.

And me, wanting to see everything that was going on, all the while laughing at the whole situation.

It was truly a sight to see.

If I only had a camera!

Welcoming Moses

Just the other day we where in Jinja, about 2 hours away. We where at Redeemer House and the director said we should go  and help a man with his roof. Sounds like a simple task and I am always eager to meet and visit with new people.

Moses

Moses was his name and little did I know how much he would touch my heart. Adding some new tin to his roof was a huge task for him. Looking at him in the picture he looks normal. He has what appears to be Polio and has zero use of his legs. He moves around by walking with his hands and drags his knees across the red dirt. I never knew that leg bones could be that small on a man. but always a smile on his face.

home made mixer

Moses is not a peddler, beggar, or looking for a hand out. He is an man of God, inventor, a man who cares for his family. He is a baker and an auntrapanure. Not only is he wanting to provide for his family, he is wanting to make so much bread that he provides jobs for others. He has built a industrial sized mixer out of a car axle and a small engine. Yes he designed and built it himself. Oh and his oven, he built it. He is 33 years old 3 kids from 18month to 7 years old. He mixes, and bakes the bread. Then on his three wheeled motor bike he goes to market and sells the bread.


A man without the use of his legs.

visiting like old friends

The oven he built

What did you do today? What was our excuse? Who should fill pity on me? I had no time I have to deal with the kids. I have too many things to do today. This is what started going through my head while talking to this very happy man of God. All he could do is give the glory to God. he knew he had a disability but that was not going to stop him. The only thing that could stop this man was God.


Why?
Because he is following God.


Moses Welcome to our life.

Where's Twaha

The search still continues.

In day one we found Twaha's brother. He was very uncooperative and would not help at all. Then the lawyer was told where his parents where. We thought this would be promising.

This turned out to be false and costly for the lawyer to travel out of the city for a bogus lead. We have one more lead and that is finding Twaha's ex-boss. We are hoping that he will be cooperative. There is no gain for his so this is difficult. If this works out  though they can maybe get his number through some negotiation.

I pray that God will work swiftly for us to bring Jethro under our roof. Just yesterday when Sarah and I walked up to the home Jethro was outside playing with a broom. I started saying his name and soon as he heard my voice he dropped the broom and came running down the sidewalk. 

Big Smiles 

Arms Wide Open

Joy in His Eyes

A boy with a family, that is why we will do whatever it takes to bring him home.

Knowing that God is in full control will help us get through this time in our life. We want to thank all of you that have been praying for Jethro to have a forever home. There are many of you that where even praying before you ever knew of us. So thank you for leading us to our special boy.

Pray for the Women's Program

After Wednesday we have not heard any more information.

 I hope everything is not at a standstill. 

Man, sometimes trusting God is hard.

 I want to take matters into my own hands but I realize this is Gods plan and not mine. 

The Women's Program is going good. 

I will start a Business Bible Study this Wednesday; teaching them how to run a business the way God shows us in the bible. 

I will also be teaching them on Friday about budgeting.

 I am so happy I have had the opportunity to teach the Dave Ramsey classes at our church for the past year and a half. I know it will really help me teach the ladies all they need to know to run a business and manage their money properly.

But, this is NO SMALL FEAT!

I will be teaching them many things that go against their culture, their values and what they have been taught their whole lives. 

I do not want to water down the Bible, hurt their feelings, demean their culture or offend them.

But, Jesus did not come down to earth to water down the word of God.

To worry about stepping on anyone's toes.

He spoke the truth no matter the cost.

So, please pray for the Holy Spirit to give me the words to speak so I can truly teach these ladies everything they need to know to be great Godly Christian Business Women
without them thinking I am just another white person trying to change
everything about them and their culture.
God has BIG plans for these ladies and pray that I can be the tool to help them reach their dreams.

Making head way

Today we have made some headway. It is hard to believe that in 24 hours we have gained any ground. I knew that God had it under control  and of course He has done some miracles. We think that things should work one way and they don't. This is how most of my life works but this has prepared my heart for these days.

So I guess that you might want to know what is going on. Twaha is Jethro's biological father. Today the lawyer located Twaha's brother by 8 am this morning. He is not cooperative but this is a lead. We have a lead that will hopefully give us some more connections. In a city of 1.6 million people it is great that with God on our side you can find leads to a man that you have just a first name and where he delivered charcoal to 2 years ago.

Please continue to pray for God to keep working in our situation. Ask the Holly Spirit to lead and guide our investigators and lawyers in finding Twaha. If we can find him this week we might have court in by the first of next week. Please allow God to use this to work on your heart as He is working on ours. Pray that God will teach all of us to trust in him in all we do. 

Thank you Jesus for loving and directing us. We know that you have our life under control.   Amen

First court outcome

Today was our first court date to get guardianship of Jethro.

This is the big day that would set the

pace of our adoption.

We knew things could not go as planed.

We knew we could get the best news of our life.

We knew God placed Jethro in our lives.

We knew He put the adoption into motion.

We knew it was up to God.

Today we had one of the most difficult times we have faced

as a couple. The judge was not happy that his biological father

was not found. He said he will not give a ruling without consent from the father. The lawyer has proof that she has attempted to

find him but that is not enough. Now we will have to find him

before before the Judge will see us again. All we have is his first name and that he worked on a charcoal delivery truck. This may

not sound like much, well it is not much but it is what we have. 

We understand that God has a big plan for our blessed Jethro.

God placed him in our heart and he is our son. We will do whatever it takes to get him home. We just want to bring our son home and tuck him into bed for our first time.

Jethro we love you and you are our Little Baby Boy. LBB

Time for court

Today marks our 50th day here in Uganda. In these 50 days we have been blessed beyond our dreams. We have been blessed by the strong will of the widows, the joy of the little kids at the many baby homes we have been to. The street boys and boys in the homes have given us great tips of playing and laughter. The Uncles and Aunties that work with the kids have been inspiring. The one thing that is greater than all has been our little Jethro.

For the past 50 days we wake up and get to see him for about 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. Until our court order is finalized we do not get to bring our son home. Imagine not getting to see your kids when you get home from work or getting to tuck them in at night. What about when they have a bad dream and wake you up you get to comfort them. Currently we do not get to be that kind of parent. 

We just are waiting for the day that he is in our home permanently.

At 10:30 am on Tuesday the 6th we have our first court date. This is 12:30 (midnight) MST for you back in the states. We are ahead of you by 10 hours. Please pray for favor with the Judge.

We have Judge K and he is one that wants

everything in order for the case to pass.

Pray for these items and whatever the Lord may lay on your heart:

• that the Judge shows up
• that Jethro's biological family shows up
• that our nerves are calm
• that the judge has all the paperwork needed
• that all questions will be answered
• that the judge finds no errors in the affidavits
• Finally we get Jethro!

Day One, Complete Success

Today we fought for the Kingdom of God and we WON! (of course) Ever since we have been here we have felt the presence of evil. After praying and worshiping God last night and doing the same this morning, we have had an amazing day. 

We were all transported to the Leadership Conference safely, we had no problems while we were there. We left the conference to go look at an orphanage that a pastor had started but has been unable to finish, but is looking for someone to take it over. We visited another orphanage where a retired mechanical engineer lives and is spending his retirement to live at and support  these orphans. He is a true testament to the phrase, "Good and Faithful Servant." Then some people we know from Kenya came down to the conference and we have really been having a great time talking with them. 

We have also called a guy named Cor. We are meeting with him tomorrow. He builds orphanages, staffs them and them gives them away. Wow!

I know God had us come to stay at this hotel for a reason. We were all  feeling kind of weird about the hotel but we had no where else to stay. We left the hotel to go have dinner elsewhere and when we got back we did not just hang out and shoot the breeze, we prepared for a spiritual battle. If we had stayed at the hotel that was more "comfortable," we would have just hung out and went to bed and could have been caught in a battle without our weapons ready. 

My faith has grown so much in the past 24 hours and I am more on fire for Christ and the cause for the orphans and widows. I am meeting so many people everyday that are so inspiring.  Shawn and I are so, so, so, so, blessed to be here working for God, serving the people of Africa. 

This is by no means an easy, clean, comfortable or paying job, but 

I could do this for the rest of my life.

The Battle Begins

We have arrived in Tororo this evening. We had a great morning at a baby orphanage called Amani. They have around 50 kids and a wonderful loving facility. We met the director and some other great contacts. Then we headed to Tororo about a 3 hour drive from Jinja.

When we where about 20 minutes from Tororo we saw baboons on the side of the road and stopped to look at them.  As we were driving off Dwight got a call from his wife and little Rubie Grace was having a seizure and they where waiting on the ambulance to take her to the hospital. Grandma seizures are life threatening for her. Let me remind you that this is minutes from us entering a small town where over 1000 rural pastors from at least 4 countries will be attending a conference Dwight is leading. This is not a coincidence it is Satan attacking because he knows we are here to do some damage for the kingdom of God. She has now had 2 seizures one being 25 min and the other 45 min. Keep praying for Rubie. 

When we arrived at our hotel it is a very large hotel but there was no one staying here, we all had a weird felling about it. They put the team scattered all over the place. None of our rooms where remotely close to each other. There was just that funny felling about it. We gathered together and and talked about what to do. The only other place was full because of a group of workers staying there. So we opted to stay here. At dinner we met a pastor from the US and he warned us about a pastor last year that had acid thrown in his face in the very same park that the conference will be in. I know that things happen for a reason and God has plans for us. I do believe we are facing some serious spiritual battles the next few days. Keep Sarah, our team, Dwights family and myself in your prayers over the next few days.