Sunset in Akaihamba village trading center

Over the past few weeks we have made a few trips out to some of the village churches we are working with. We have been teaching about Church Health and what are some signs of a church that is living the Gospel in their communities. We have been blessed to worship and study with the Christians in Kabushwere, Akaihamba and Kagando. Our Christian brothers and sisters have opened their doors and hearts to receive us and have allowed us to share in God’s word with them. It has been a joyful and blessed time.

Andrew teaching in Kagando village church with Richard & Will

We have also recently started a Men’s Bible study at the Mbarara town church building on Thursday nights. It has been a refreshing and challenging time for those of us who have committed ourselves to the exposition of the Gospel of Matthew. It is always a pleasure to wrestle through the scriptures with your brothers in Christ. We look forward to the ways that God will use our study to shape us and bring us closer to Him. The men attending this weekly bible study have shown a real hunger and zeal for God’s Word and it is exciting to feel the positive momentum that we are experiencing together as we explore the story of Jesus’ life.

It has been a pleasure to see the many ways God is moving here in Mbarara, and we look forward to seeing more positive movement as we continue to visit our village church members and study God’s Word together.

When will we learn to live each day, resting in God’s presence, focusing on what really matters??

We are grieving over the latest news from the Ryan Woods family. And if we, being just acquaintances, are feeling such distress and emotion, we can only imagine what close friends and family are feeling at this time.

We celebrated Easter last week with friends in Mbarara. Food and fellowship were enjoyed and the kids loved finding treasures in the Easter eggs. We were reminded again that JESUS IS ALIVE–HE HAS CONQUERED DEATH!

And that gives us HOPE.

We have extreme hope that God can heal Ryan. We have extreme hope that HE can pour his love and wisdom over Jones and India, to help them process their reality. We have extreme hope that HE can give Jessica strength, comfort, peace, and patience, as her world has been turned upside-down.

We live with the HOPE that through our ministry to our children, they can grow up to be the caliber of people that Ryan and Jessica are showing to be through this faith-building, heart-wrenching time. And as I live out each day with my faithful husband at my side, I have the HOPE that we will learn to serve one another and take not-one-day for granted on this journey together.

When Anaiah was a baby, I couldn’t wait for her to crawl and then stand and walk. Everyday I was hoping it would happen. I was also anxious for Evan to walk and toddle around the house. However, with Naomi I’ve been in no hurry. I know what it is like to have a little one going everywhere and getting into everything. Before, it was a little easier because we had a 1-to-1 parent to kid ratio. It was like man-to-man defense. With three its more like playing zone defense. The only thing we can do is try to keep them all in front of us. Now, Naomi is going everywhere and so are we.

We are so blessed to have our precious little ones. They are great and we love it!

If you would like to see what our team is doing, check up on the other families we work with (Huttons and Tuckers) or learn more about Churches of Christ in Uganda you can click one of the links at the bottom of our Home page.

Thank you for your support and love.

-The Martins