Greetings from Uganda

Greetings from Jinja, Uganda!

After an 8 hour flight to London, we rode the underground to see Big Ben. It. Was. So. Cold. We walked many blocks until we saw the clock. David was excited to see it. We then rode the underground back to the airport to wait for our flight to Entebbe. Our niece, Danyne, her two daughters, and Mary’s sister, Dorothy, met us at the airport in Uganda. What joy to see family waiting for us! 18 large bags, five carry-ons, and backpacks loaded into the van. We were so glad to be on Ugandan soil.

We arrived on Friday morning, spent a wonderful day with family, then a blessed afternoon at Amani Baby Cottage. The mamas had a ribbon-cutting for David and Courtney. The women sang and danced with great joy at our coming home to Jinja. Then, one of the mamas had a great word of encouragement for David and Courtney. She also had a challenging word for Kirby. God had certainly preceded us. We learned years ago that coming to Africa is not for the African’s benefit, it is for us to be increased in wisdom, love and faith. The mamas are so open to us and GREAT prayer warriors. When we visited Uganda two years ago, the mamas had a send-off prayer time for our family. They prayed that our “tent pegs be moved”! Welllllll, our pegs have definitely been pulled from the ground and we are “camping” elsewhere.

Our house is very much home to us for now. We have settled in and feel like we have been here more than just 6 days. Today, Dustin is at the new Amani site, getting a feel for what is to come. Kirby is feeling comfortable enough to walk to town. David and Courtney are having a grand time with their toys, their cousins, and life in general. Mary is glad to have internet to communicate to you how faithful God is.

We are spending this week acclimating to our surroundings and getting phones, internet, groceries and anything we need to begin our life here. Thank you for your support, it is needed and so appreciated. Next week we begin working. For now, Mary is enjoying holding babies. They are so peaceful, content and happy. You may have a picture in mind of an orphanage where the babies just lie in their crib all day. That is not the way here. The babies are on schedules, loved, held, sang to, play with toys and fed well. That is the way they are cared for, but there are many needs. I will cover that in another post. For now, we just want to say thank you. Continue to pray and support us. We are happy, yet we miss our family and friends. God is good all the time, all the time He is good.

DID YOUR HEAR?

Did you hear we have tickets????? We leave Houston on April 4, 2012 and arrive in Uganda on Friday morning, April 6!!!

Did you hear we are packing after unpacking so many times? We have determined so many things in our lives as "unnecessary", so our priorities change in what we plan to take with us.

Did you hear we had more garage sales? Dustin came home from working in AL, so we had a tool sale. It was hard to see him sell and give away what he has used over the past 25 years in this house, but the joy in knowing we are following God's call is so much more joyful than the sadness.

Did you hear we met people at the garage sales we may have never met otherwise? People that will support us, adopted adults, new friends, neighbors. One neighbor came over after the sale to "wish us luck". She told us she has enjoyed watching our little girl in her many outfits, dancing outside. We had no idea we were being watched, what a lesson  learned!

Did you hear our oldest son, Kirby, is going with us? We are so overjoyed that we will be together! Not so overjoyed that our oldest daughter and her family will still be here. What do you think, should we pray they come to Africa? No, we pray that God's will be done in her family and that they continue to serve Him how and where He desires. She is the first in our family to go to Africa 13 years ago.....a deposit of things God began and is continuing!!

Did you hear Mary was invited to speak to ladies at a church that has supported Amani Baby Cottage for years? The ladies have been praying for specific children, even have all the pics from the website printed and on the wall! It was such a blessing to be able to tell them in person how wonderful they are to pray for the children. The offering they gave me was amazing and precious. I was truly blessed to be with them.

Did you hear? Did you hear? We did, and now we go. Please continue to pray with us. We would love to HEAR from YOU!!!

LOVE

How many songs and sayings do you know about "LOVE"?
This morning I read the ultimate expression of LOVE. Psaml 107
"His love endures forever."
"Give thanks for His unfailing love"
"For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things"
"Give thanks for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men."
"They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved, healed, rescued them"
" Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy."
"Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great  LOVE of the Lord."

My heart was filled with gratitude for HIS LOVE.  Psalm 106, the Israelites were praising God for His unfailing LOVE and then rebelled and forgot what He had done. Many times He delivered them. "BUT He took note of their distress when He heard their cry; for their sake He remembered His covenant and out of His great LOVE He relented. Let all the people say, Amen. Praise the Lord!"

I pondered about how many times I have rebelled, forgotten the miracles and blessings God has given our family. How many times have I failed in my trust, hope and faith in His leading and timing? BUT God took note of our distress, heard our cry and answered out of His great  LOVE.

We have ticket reservations and will be purchasing them very very soon! The timing has been the Lord's, not mine. The process has brought so much peace and joy into my heart. We don't deserve the outpouring of offerings and donations that have helped us get this far. BUT God heard our cry and answered out of His great LOVE.

Our hearts are full, our spirits soaring, our bellies full of butterflies, BUT God is answering out of His great LOVE!

AND THE AWARD GOES TO......

......the men and women at Christ Covenant Church, FAMILY, for planning, organizing, buying food, setting up tables and chairs, decorating, cooking sauce, boiling pasta(in amazing circumstances), assembling, serving, bringing desserts, cleaning, taking down, and sending us home with a generous portion of left over spaghetti and sauce!

.....those that scanned, organized, narrated and produced an extraordinary, magnificent video production of the Nuttall FAMILY mission!

......the executive director of Amani Baby Cottage, Corky Randolph, for his testimoney about the beginning of the babies' home, giving those attending the dinner a great picture of the where and what of our mission to Uganda, for telling them that FAMILY is priority!

......the missions director for his vision and heart for the calling on the Nuttall FAMILY!

......Pastor Dennis for his insight, wisdom, prayer and direction for the move of the Nutall FAMILY!

......the donors and supporters being led by God, blessing the hearts of our FAMILY!

......for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, adopting us into HIS FAMILY so that we may be called sons and daughters of the King!

All of the above deserve an award and one day, they will receive it for all they have done and are doing to help further the Kingdom of God. We are in awe of what the Lord is doing in our FAMILY! The announcement Sunday, was that we are half-way to our goal of two-year support!!! Through monthly pledges and donations, we are at $20,000. Our two-year goal is $2000/month for two years = $48,000.
Some months ago, the Lord dropped a precious promise into my heart. He said the finances would come from "unexpected places". This has happened through circumstances, events, phone calls and contacts! Our support is building. You, our donors and supporters, YOU are FAMILY!

A picture of Courtney and David at Amani. A picture of Courtney and David today. The beginning of our journey with this FAMILY!

 

A lemonade stand

A precious daughter of some friends. She asked her parents to help her make a lemonade stand to raise money for the children at Amani Baby Cottage.  A couple of years ago, her older brother had a  lemonade stand. Can I tell you that those coins he gave us then were one of the most precious offerings we have ever received?! Now, she is old enough to want to give. Not just asking her parents to give her money, but having a heart to work and earn for the children. Yes, tears fill my eyes and heart when I think of these with pure hearts. Scripture says, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right." Proverbs 20:11

WELL DONE, C AND A, WELL DONE! Thank you to their parents for teaching them! Thank you!

Not there Yet!

WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO BE, BUT NOT THERE YET, NOT YET, not yet, not yet............

We are waiting until our monthly support is complete. Please pray about helping us go to Uganda.

So many decisions. So many plans. So many things needing to happen, some all at the same time. So many hopes and dreams. So many phone calls and letters. So many duffel bags and foot lockers.  So many days making new decisions, changing plans, watching things not happen, holding onto hope, receiving calls and letters.     That seems to be the theme of our journey right now: "So many...".

So, what does a person do while having those  “so many” days? God’s Word clearly gives direction:

“To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in You I TRUST, O my God.” Psalm 25:1 
“The Lord is my Strength and my Shield; my heart TRUSTS in Him, and I am helped.” Psalm 28:7
“But I TRUST in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hands” Psalm 31:14

God’s Word is full of Scriptures that say “Trust in the Lord”, “Commit your way to the Lord”, “Be still”, “Wait patiently”. So, while there are "so many" to do while we wait, my soul will not be downcast. Our HOPE is in God and we will praise Him. He clearly showed me during our worship last Sunday, that it’s easy for those who have gone to Glory before us to worship Him, but what pleases Him so much is us praising Him through the "SO MANY!" No, I didn't make a mistake in making that "so many" blue, that is exactly what God is doing, changing us in the process. 

Maybe you are waiting on healing, financial freedom, family relationships, a spouse, a list that seems like "so many". While we are waiting on ours, we will pray for you. We would rather be across the ocean than still waiting, but God’s timing is far above ours. Meanwhile, we ask for HIS help with our "so many": the sale of our house, complete monthly support, tickets, and wise packing decisions. Thank you for following our journey. May you be blessed today. May your “so many” turned into "dancing and shouts of joy"!

......not yet, not yet, NOT YET, BUT NOT THERE YET, WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO BE!

Happy New Year!

  A memory quilt for David, made by his big sister to cover him with love while in Uganda

Greetings and Happy New Year! We pray your family is well and had an enjoyable holiday season. Our family was together celebrating our Lord's birth and built great memories. Now. we are continuing the journey for our move to Uganda to build new homes for Amani Baby Cottage www.amanibabycottage.org . The Nuttall family has been blessed by an outpouring of love, support and prayer. Thank you.

As you may have read in the previous post, the children received duffel bags for Christmas. They are constantly thinking and rethinking about what they will pack in those bags and what will go into their carry-ons. Just in case you are wondering...no mention of clothing has been made. only what toys they just know they can't leave behind! Guess it is up to momma to make sure they are dressed! Our family was generously blessed at Christmas by a Bible study group at our church. Dustin received Barnes and Noble gift cars, Mary received a Kohl's gift card, David and Courtney DS games. What joy! We are eternally grateful for the body of Christ and our church family www.christcov.net . Thank you.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to be used of God to build for Him and the babies. Prayer is so important in this journey, we would appreciate knowing if you are praying. If you would like to receive specific requests, please let me know mariettan@sbcglobal.net . Thank you.

This past week, we celebrated life. Our oldest son turned 24, our 34th anniversary is today, and a precious dear friend went Home to our Savior. Even though we will miss our sister, Charlotte, we have such great hope in seeing her again. If you are reading this post, and you don't have the hope of Heaven in your heart, we pray you take the time to ask Jesus to become Lord of your life "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life". John 3:16. Thank you.

If you want to contribute financially, you may use the pay pal button on the right. OR mail a check to our church Christ Covenant Church  17000 Longenbaugh Dr Houston TX 77095
Make checks payable to Christ Covenant Church with Nuttall missions in the memo. Thank you.