The Lund Life

The kids are sensing change. It has been days of obstinance and crying. They are not letting us reflect on our time here at all. As I am writing this, they are all struggling to take a nap because the tears keep coming from being so tired. Arley is worried about the ash cloud, which last we heard seems to be dissipating, and I am just not looking forward to packing and getting on that plane. Actually, I am looking forward to packing and have packed two bags already. The third bag will hold Eden’s diapers and my drum and odds and ends that didn’t make it in the first two cases. The part I am not looking forward to is the day we leave. We are planning a surprise for the kids to go to the zoo the day of the departure and we were going to bring our helper with, but now it looks as though we will not have room for her. She was so excited to go and now it looks as though I will have to tell her that she can’t go. Instead, Maggie is going to try and go with us. This I am excited about because she knows her way around and can get us to all the places that we want to go. We want to have things planned so that we can get to the airport without alot of waiting around and with tired and happy kids that will fall easily into sleep once we board the plane (Doesn’t that sound like a dream!). But alot of me wants to stay. Life is so beautiful and simple and slow, where mingling slowly is a way of life, not just what they do to posho (maize meal most like dumplings mixed with bouncy balls?).

On a side note, I made some hair ties from an old bicycle inner tube for Eden. She has been wearing the fountain of youth (on top of the head) or pig tails many days since them.

Hello everyone,

As we are starting to get packed up and getting ready to head home, we have a few prayer requests that we were hoping to pass along. One, is that the ash clouds in Europe subside so that we are able to fly to and from Amsterdam when our flight is scheduled. Arley just heard that there is 9,500 flights that are backlogged out of Europe. I am not even sure if our flight is still in the cue or not. We are not concerned about it because God is in control, but we do have work schedules to think about (Arley is scheduled back to work on May 4th and my mom took days off of work to come and pick us up from the airport) and we would really like to get back to the states for a while! Another prayer request is when we do fly out, that Eden would not be in progress of cutting teeth. She has been starting to get her back molars and I fear the flight and the pain from the teeth would be too much on her and she would cry all 17 hours back! Also for the rest of us getting back and adjusting our bodies to the time difference.  Also, that we don’t stop communications after we get back. I am so good at slowly wading into new situations and not letting anyone else in to my thinking that it is hard for me to keep up with blogging and email and phone calls. I am sure most of you have figured that out, but just know that I am trying.

Thank you so much for coming along with us in this journey and I pray that you will accompany us in heart and mind and person on many more journey’s to come.

The week long countdown has begun. That is, if all goes well with Iceland’s volcano. We have gathered that most of Europe has been shut down and is just now open for a few flights here and there to fly. And also that they will likely shut down flights at a moments notice. There are 9,500 back logged flights and it could take weeks to get back on schedule. All this, when we are supposed to be out of here in one week.

And if we do get to Amsterdam, who says that they won’t shut down and we will be stranded in Amsterdam! That would be worse than lengthening our stay here. Please pray for wisdom and God’s guidance to this situation! I will have to check on the status of our flight in the next couple days. and see where we stand.

We just spent the morning with Maggie and the AHI students, and staff and ACM staff that we have spent alot of time working with, having fellowship and worship. It was so wonderful. They had signed a painting that Maggie had done and presented it to us along with a shirt for AHI, a DVD from AHI, and a stack of note cards all painted by Maggie. They all talked about how much of a blessing we have been to them. But I have to say, they are more of a blessing to us I think. When we first started this trip, we were ready to go (anytime God) but he knew that we needed three months and that is what he gave us. Three months of love and patience and grace and guidance. Three months of hardship and sadness and agony. Three months of joy and friendship and family and fun. Three months of hard work and great fellowship.  Three months of getting by and making due.  It seems such a short time looking back on it.

I feel kind of what I think an elderly person would feel, sitting back in the rocker on the front step, smelling the mist in the air, and remembering a time. Any time, all time. Memories flooding back too fast to really be able to ponder and in spurts that don’t make much sense but it makes you feel love and feel loved. God has given us such a special gift. We feel so blessed to have these memories etched in our minds. I pray for more memories to come.

It was a wonderful birthday! And Arley was full of surprises. We have been married for almost 8 years now and he is far from romantic or spontaneous and I have come to understand this even if it doesn’t go along with my more adventurous spirit! But let me tell you, he sang to my soul with the help of Maggie and some of her African Hospitality Institute (AHI). It started out with a dinner without the kids at AHI that consisted of fresh salad,  Cajun (not your average MN spicy!!!) Chicken fettuccine, this absolutely phenomenal mango salsa (which I could eat a gallon without anything else) and melt in your mouth bread. Our friends Ali, Sylvia, and Umar sang happy birthday to me with mini brownie cakes and a suitcase size African drum which Arley found with Hakim last time they went to Kampala. Then we strolled over to the new conference center by the field that you can get great service for phone and Internet. We called and left goofy messages with my brother and my grandma, and tried calling my mom. After Arley talked to his mom for a while we walked over to the guest houses where we had a soft bed for the night! I found out that the sitter was staying all night and that Salima was coming early to fix breakfast for them. We woke up to having breakfast on the veranda watching the birds and the African children walking to school. It was so peaceful and refreshing. Little did we know that the boys were causing quite a commotion at the house and the neighbor had to come over after 2 in the morning to tell them to GO TO BED! (all while Eden slept peacefully in her crib). That poor girl Ellen. We paid her three or four times what would have been paid just to calm the seas, and in hopes that one day if we come back, we will be able to find another sitter.

Good morning friends and family,

As I am sitting down to write the last prayer letter for our three month missions trip, I am flooded with emotions. There is still so much work that could be done and will be done before we depart from the ranch, but we want to get home to our families and friends and church.

We are sitting down with the heads of each ministry here on the ranch these next few weeks to see what their needs are that we might be able to fill if God has calls us back full time. There are many different ministries which include a primary school, a secondary school, a leadership academy, a community development, a hospitality institute, a children’s ministry, a feeding program, a ranch office, and several others I am sure. We also hope to go and see some of Uganda before we leave for America, including a visit to the zoo in Entebbe on the day of departure as a surprise for the kids.

The projects that are being completed this month include, installing toilets and a solar water heater in the new guest houses, assembling two chicken houses to be used for eggs and broiling hens, and also more solar panel work on staff housing, the conference center, the children’s office, and Maggie’s house. If there is time before we leave, there is also gutters to be replaced on the primary school so they can again utilize their rain water, and putting new glass in the windows to protect the students during strong storms. Also, since Arley helped install the new solar panels and pump by the leadership academy, their water tower has been literally overflowing so they are needing to apply a rain barrel to catch the overflow. The barrel that they have is leaking, so Arley is hoping to help with that before we go. I have also been busy organizing store rooms and pantries for the cooking institute.

Some things to pray about for us this month

• Continued health and safety and that the work we have set out to do gets completed.
• Our safe travels this month and the adjustments back to the states.
• Our prayer and seeking God’s will in continuing our ministry here.
• That God would bless these people by our presence, as they have blessed us.

Thank you so much for your prayers before we left,  while we were here in Uganda, and for continuing your prayers as we get back and continue seeking God’s direction in our lives. Our burden has become to struggle day by day next to these Ugandans, learning and enriching each others lives in hopes that they can have a better life, and an eternal life, and that God will bless your lives for being a part of His plan in our ministry.

With love and blessings,