The newest addition

So we are now a four pack. We have grown by one more. The newest addition of our family arrived after a long long wait. We left to the hospital at 1 am thinking we were getting close. Little did we know that this was just the start of a 22 hour labor. 

Sarah was by far my hero the past few days. I now have a better understanding why men do not have babies, we are not equipped for one and we sure do not have the strength either. I am so proud of my wife and the strength she has. After all she went through then having to have a c/section at the end my hat is off to my deadline bride. We thank all the people who prayed for us and that God has helped us get through these days. 

I would like to introduce the newest awesome mirical from God to the Ferrell family. Wiley Ray Ferrell weighing in at 6lbs 6onces, 47 cm long and born on 6 of August at 4:10 pm. 

Changes with the Ferrells

In this life of ours we all have changes. These some time come at what we think is perfect timing and others we are like, God what is going on. Well we have had a few months of "God what is going on" but we have stayed strong and listened to his quiet but strong voice. He has put great godly people in our lives to help us through this change of season. Without them we would of had an unbearable time. We want to also thank those of you who have had us in your prayers and have encouraged us through this time. 

The Ferrells 3.5

We have a few more changes to come. One being a new baby boy to arrive at any day now. Also we will be making a shift to a new ministry here this month. I will have more on that as everything unfolds. Thank you again for having us in your prayers .  

Orphans need house shoes too

The kids out at home of Praise have been doing so good.

They are some of the sweetest kids.

They ask for nothing but give so much.

The floors in the house are not dirt but are very close to being dirt.

When finished showering they walk to bed bare foot.

At night if they have to get up they walk bare foot to the bathroom.

This makes their beds very dirty and is unhealthy.

I am going to reward them with house shoes if they keep up their personal hygiene this week. There are new hand wash stations put in by our friends kids just recently. 

Jed showing how to operate the tippy tap 

So how can you be a part of this. 

it is only $1 for a pair of croc style shoes here.

There are 33 kids and 4 live in with house parents. 

Just click donate at the top and donate safely through Pay Pal.

When donating during the confirmation there is an area to write a note. Just put money for shoes and we will make sure all funds go to Home of Praise. After the $35 is raised we will make a comment at the bottom of this post. 

Thanks for caring, loving and most importantly praying with us.  

We  have received the money for the house shoes. They will be delivered on the 23rd!

Chicken farm

The home of Praise. 

A home

a school

community outreach

a church

all in a village outside of Kampala. They have 33 kids living there currently and and about 100 kids that go to the school. The kids in the home are orphans that a Ugandan lady named Praise has taken in as her own to love and care for. 

We have been working out there since we arrived in January this year. We have worked on many projects from building an additional class room to delivering food for them and IVO. Also focusing on helping the administrator learn better management skills. 

Brian the administrator getting the coop ready the week before.

The most recent focus has been a chicken farm. Building self sufficient programs that help them support them selfs and be able to step away from all western financial help. This is good because the kids will learn how to support themselves when they are out on there own. 

So this weekend was the first delivery of 50 baby chick that in 3 months will be laying eggs. We will be eating some of them for a good source of protein for the kids and also be selling to help with finances. 

The kids happy bringing in the baby chicks.

Brian unloading the first chicks.

Eat Eat Eat grow fast!

Not your American road trip

Finally going through pictures from this last month. Remembering some good times we have had. One of the best this last month was when we went to Fort Portal to help one of our Ugandan friend get away while he dealt with some life problems and spend some time with some friends adopting there.

So began our first family African road trip. We packed the car as if we would for any other trip. Plenty of food, snacks, candy, crackers, and sweets. Yes that is how we roll. 

Fort Portal is on the far west side of Uganda near the Congo boarder. It is mountains and very pretty. We where excited to get away from the Kampala heat. Nothing but bad roads, traffic officers and good times ahead. 

The trip was great, nothing at all like home. 

We got to play with some kids at a school.

Stood on the Equator.

Saw baboons on the road side. Stopped and fed them some crackers. One even jumped on the hood.

Even saw a heard of elephants in the bush.

It was so pretty there in Fort Portal, I am secretly(openly) waiting for God to call us to ministry there. 

Love the life God gave you

The other day I was thinking about Jethro. 

I was thinking about how he has no one to play with here at home.

Then, I started thinking about who he does get to play with

and it kind of broke my heart.

The only time Jethro gets to play with children is at an orphanage.

This has been heavy on my heart for a while now.

I know God has called us here and this is where we are supposed to be,

but it is still hard to realize the reality of Jethro's friends.

A couple weeks later, I talked to a friend on the phone 

and they were talking about how hard it is to see Jethro

living without all the things he would have and get to do if we lived in the US.

He would get to go to the park and play with children in an open field,

he would get to go to museums and learn about all kinds of cultures and the past,

he would be able to go to the zoo and learn about animals,

he would be able to go to daycare, if we wanted him to, 

and play with children without us fearing he will be beat by the caretakers.

So, I started praying and asking God to open my heart to all He has for us here.

And, of course, He did.

God has really opened my eyes.

I now see Jethro's situation in a different light.

Jethro at the Zoo with Lawrence,
a child from an orphanage we work at

Seeing the ocean for the first time

At a Balloon Fiesta in NM with Grandma

I now see that Jethro gets to play with children who long for a friend

and Jethro gets to be that person

I now realize that we only live 45 min away from a zoo and a good one at that, 

or 3 hours away from the real thing.

Jethro is already more cultured than most American children

and adults for that matter. 

We now have missionary friends from New Zealand 

who come over and their children play with Jethro.

We also have missionary friends from Uganda, Kenya, Canada and the US that Jethro can play with.

Jethro has been to Africa (of course), Europe and America. 

He has been to Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, California, New Mexico, West Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Nevada (yes, we took our son to Las Vegas. He had to experience a Las Vegas Buffet).

Jethro has gotten to see and will get to see more of the world than most people will ever get to see. 

God made me realize, Jethro doesn't need to go to a museum to learn about culture,

to experience culture, 

he is living a very culturally diverse life already.

Getting water to do dishes in Uganda

With Shawn on his first chair lift

On a ferry in North Carolina

Jethro's playground in Uganda

At GG's house picking strawberries

Jethro may not have a "normal" life,

but it is one that will teach him many life lessons and make him a well rounded person.

He will grow up loving people from all walks of life.

He will grow up seeing God move mountains.

He will Grow up to love Jesus with all his heart and

he will get to grow up serving people in Jesus name. 

I truly thank God for helping me to realize that Jethro is not missing out at all.

He is living the life God has blessed him with.

Jethro ready for an adventure in CA

Please dont be like me and only see the things that you or your children are mission out on,

but realize how blessed you are to have the life you have. 

Dads Love

A lady has been asking us to come speak at a girls home for some time now

and so Shawn, Jethro and I went meet the girls and encourage them on Saturday.

It is a home for girls who have been sexually abused.

They are all school age girls, so they are still young. 

When we arrived, the girls surrounded the car, yelling "Hello, your welcome!"

As we went inside, we sat down on the couch as they began to introduce themselves.

They would say what their name was and the grade they were in.

One of the Aunties gave us an introduction about the house.

Jethro then darted outside to play with the soccer ball he had been eyeing since we got there

and most of the girls followed him outside.

They loved playing with him and Jethro was loving all the attention. 

I stayed inside and one of the girls came over and started asking questions about me.

She asked if Jethro was my only child and if we loved Uganda (of course we do)

but it was the next few questions that have been on my mind and I cant seem to forget it.

She asked if I still had parents? 

I said "yes"

Then she continued asking "Are they divorced?"

I said "yes, and they are both remarried."

She then asked the heart wrenching question,

"Does your Dad still love you?"

My heart started to ache right away 

It was so hard for me to hear a question like this.

Why would you ask a question like this?

I thought to myself, DUH, of course he still loves me.

Just because my parents got divorced doesn't mean that my Dad loves me any less. 

But it does here in Uganda. 

So, I answered, "yes, he loves me very much."

She said "you are so blessed. I wish my Dad still loved me"

Then all the girls started calling me outside because they wanted to talk to me too. 

I wanted to stay inside and tell her that she has a Heavenly Father who loves her more than life itself, 

but with all the other girls calling my name and wanting to talk to me too,

I never got the chance.

I wanted to tell her she is special!

That she is the daughter of the Most High King!

That she is a princess!

That she is always loved by her God!

  

I am so happy the girls home is just down the road from our house 

 They are so close to us.

I can now visit them often 

and get to tell Ann all the things I never got to say.

I am blessed to have a worldly Father who loves me and a Heavenly Father who loves me.

Please pray for Ann.

Pray that she can understand a fathers love

and that she is truly loved. 

Bud Day

Family traditions are fun and meaningful to many people. We all have them and some or strange and very confusing to an outsider. Like when I went to my in-laws first family reunion and they auctioned off old family recipes and other items to each other to pay for next years family reunion. Now, I have grown to love it.

Well for me today was a great day of continuing my Dad's tradition with me "Bud Day" a day of nothing but father son fun. Some of my most memorable moments with my Dad are because of 'Bud Day".

Me and my Dad, love and miss you. 

Today I tagged up with a dad that is here adopting one of Jethro's friends from Sanyu and we went to the zoo. We loaded up in our new car that we have been so blessed with and took off. Not but 10 minutes out of Kampala we got pulled over. I was going 16 kl over the speed limit. After you convert it it was not that fast. After we got our ticket and headed down the road all Marty could say is it is not like you just lost 100,000 shillings, then laughing followed. This harassment actual worked after I hit him.

Eating lunch at the chimp tent.

We arrived at the zoo, it was all better we had a blast. Jethro could not stop talking about the leopard that jumped on the fence at us that was about two feet from us. Lawrence on the other hand could not stop running literally. After the leopard jumped he ran a good 150 yard back towards the car. After the drama we had a good day.

Dads, what are you doing to connect with your sons. What roll in his life are you playing? I want to encourage you to take my Dad's family tradition and adopt it into your family. It changed my life and it will change your sons life as well. Moms encourage your husbands stand behind them, let them go do guy thing we like to be dirty and do things that might hurt us. Have them read this and see how one day a week just for father and son can change lives. What day will be you bud day? I am not perfect but I sure thought my Dad was. 

We found him like this at 7:30pm

The water bottle

A water bottle.
It is plastic and has one purpose.
To store your water for convenient use.
Yes that is what I have used it for.........till now.

Ten practical ways to use a water bottle.
1. Perfect dog toy.
2. A toy car for Jethro.
3. With just a string attached it become a piece of trash you drag.
4. Sand box toy.
5. What you buy wood stain in.
6. Reserve gas can for motorcycle.
7. Tupperware dish.
8. Hand soap dispenser.
9. Fire starter (once it is hot enough the flaming dripping plastic burns for a long time).
10. Store water for convenient use.

Is there water today?

We have moved into our new house and it is so good. We are the first people to live here and that is such a blessing. Back home that would mean it was clean and you are the first to live there. Here that is true but the most exciting thing is that there has not been any witch craft in the house. Uganda is full of fetish worship. It is not hidden and is very real. We deal with this on a regular basis, so keep this in your prayers.

The other part of moving into a new house is all of the problems of new construction. For the past 6 days we have been without or just a trickle of water. We have called the landlord to fix it and they have been. Things here are so on Ugandan time. It took the city 3 days to come and see why the neighborhood was out of water. They arrived at our gate, two men on a motorcycle with a pipe wrench and a shovel. Not what I would expect for a city employee checking why a neighborhood was without water. They explained to me that the pressure is low and that is why it is not working. I have decided that I am now skilled enough to be a Kampala city employee.

We now have 4 plastic reserve tanks that will supply the house with water if the pressure gets low like it has for the past few days. During the night the pressure is high and fills the tanks. During the day we use the elevated tanks to supply the house.

Special moments

Back in January there was a GO team here with IVO. I spent most of my days with them as they went and did different projects. The night before the team arrived God gave me dream about an adopting family that was in love with a child but for some technical reasons they would not be able to adopt.

Little did I know that I would be meeting this couple the next morning. A day or two into there stay I learned more about there situation. As I learned of this I shared the dream to them and this was just what they needed to hear. Some things I shared with them really helped them push further to another child.

A few days later they where placed with a beautiful girl "Grace". I was blessed with the privilege of going with them to Jinja to meet her for the first time. The moment they brought out little (malnourished) Grace there hearts melted as well did mine. I was able to film this for them and take pictures too. I will never forget that day, it was so special a Mom and Dad meeting there child for the first time.

I wish the rest of this story was as beautiful, but day before yesterday little Grace passed away from breathing difficulties due to TB. She is now in the arms of our Heavenly Father. For one day this little treasure was held in the arms of her forever family. That day was the best day of her life, she had a mom and dad who loved her and they will forever love her. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Rained out

We woke up today in our new house with little food, no stove to cook on(have not bought one yet) and no electricity. It was the perfect opportunity to go to our favorite restaurant and get breakfast. The day started off good because of bad conditions. Just how Uganda loves to treat us. After breakfast we stopped in at the babies home to see all the kids. Then Em and I ran back to the house to get our passports and left Sarah and Jethro at the babies home. We are needing to open a bank account to receive money for some feeding programs. Then started the rain/hale. We ended up stuck back at our house. It was a long heavy storm that did not want to stop. We headed to the coaster stage (bus stop) to wait for a coaster to take us to town. After a very long wait and still no coaster we started walking. The rain started to let up as we walked and we where able to get a boda boda. We picked up Sarah and headed to the bank, well we thought. We ended up in a hour long traffic jam. We arrived at the bank with a few minutes to open an account. That is not enough time especially in Uganda. So tomorrow we will open an account.

So was the day a loss, yes I felt it was. Then God turned a day of bad timing in my opinion, into a very productive day. After the bank fail I headed to the boys home of 42 teenage and younger boys to see how much food is left. I arrived just as they where getting home from school. They slowly trickle in. I start visiting with them and notice how bad there hair is looking. I rounded up 5 of the worst heads and we headed off to the barber. We all sat around while laughing and talking while each kid got there hair cut. These boys where so appreciative of a hair cut. It was a good bonding time. I was able to get 6 hair cuts for $2. So little but so much. I plan on getting the rest of the 37 boys hair cut over the next week. This is something for $10 a month some one could sponsor that would really help out some kids. The boys have enough food for a few mor days and through IVO they will be fed.

House hunters international

We have finished the house hunt. 

It was long and not the easiest thing to do.

HGTV really polishes and glams up house hunting. 
Our first day was 8 people riding in a Toyota 5 seat 4runner.
We looked at many different houses in many different areas.

At one time I asked myself why is this so difficult to find a good safe house in a third world country. Then I realized we are in a third world country.
Nothing is easy.
Little is truly safe.
Then I realized we have a God that can accomplish anything. We lifted the house hunt up to Him and the very next house we looked at was perfect.
Location.
Size.
Price.
Style.
All perfect.

Thank you God for coming to house hunt and providing for us in a time of need. We had a wonderful family donate to us which made it possible to afford this house. 

Now having this house we will be able to hopefully and prayerfully be able to grow our family. More to come on this as doors open. 

Welcome Wednesday

Timothy from last week. He has broke my heart.

Short term missionary. Yes you you are a part of Uganda you are a part of my life here. You bring a joy filled heart with you. You come to give and you leave realizing that there is not enough of you to give. You thought you would be giving blessings and now are going home more blessed than ever. 

What is this that you are filling in your heart? What is this pain? Why can you not stop thinking about that kid with the big brown eyes that gave you the sweetest letter? Yes I have felt it too. God has broke your heart with the things that break his.

You love on so many babies in orphanages. You have built buildings and put on medical clinics to take care of the sick.

Hauling water from the well up to the house

 I see people growing closer and closer to God. People laying hands on the sick and praying for them. Stepping out on faith and trusting God whole heartily. 

Welcome GO Team, you have impacted me and so many people here in Uganda. I pray that you keep your eyes on Jesus and not forget how God has changed you in such a short time.