Travis & Kelsey

2009-10-28T05:07:00.001+03:00

Me by an adorable little creek

Wow! This picture really captured how pretty the leaves and water were in real life

Another pretty river shot. It was so Georgia. Just beautiful!!!!!!!

We drove up Johns Mountain and the view was great from the top (picture dosen't do it justice). VERY windy roads though be careful if you go up that way.

2009-10-28T05:03:00.001+03:00

Travis and I in the nice cool weather which we are especially escited about since we missed out on fall and winter last year

New friends from Expedition Church. Sarah, Hannah, and I. Thank you Lord for fellowship!!!!!

Travis braving the rapids as he crosses a narrow tree bridge. Oh, so brave !!!! He really is my hero :)

As we hiked down to the river we thought we had totally found a dead person still wrapped up in his sleeping bag, frozen from the cool weather. He was just a little too far from the warmth of the fire. It really did scare us, but turns out it was just an old blanket and egg shell cushion.

Fall!!!!!!!

2009-10-28T04:57:00.001+03:00

Birthday cake for Travis made by our dear friend Abby Alter (which encouraged me to blog again, so this is for you Abby even though I don't have pictures of the apartment yet :)

Emily, Abby, and I

Gorgeous fall leaves, bark, pine cones, berries and flowers I gathered on an amazing walk in the Berry Wildlife refuge

Another picture from the wildlife refuge. It was so peaceful and quite.

Celebrate good times

2009-06-28T22:03:00.000+03:00

Here are a few pictures from the weekend in Indy. Travis and Kevin playing some pool, all the cousins from the Binkley side (all girls) lined up, singing for grandma, Canaan Zion and Kelsey playing outside, hanging out with Sharp cousins, couddly Zion, Em and Kevin, Travis and Kelsey and Grandmas birthday cake.
Happy birthday Grandma!!!!!

Corvette Museum

2009-06-22T05:26:00.006+03:00

On the Way up to Indianapolis to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday last weekend Kevin, Emilee, Travis and I decided to stop at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green Kentucky. As we looked around we had a blast checking out the Corvettes from throughout the years.

Em and Kevin with a 50's model

Kevin, Kelsey and Travis with a crazy modern experimental one

MEANWHILE...

Our vehicle was experiencing some excitement of its own. We were called out of the museum to find that the trucks window had been busted and EM's purse was gone. The next two hours consisted of waiting for police, checking security videos, and canceling credit cards. It felt so strange that here we were back in the US, where we feel so secure, in the middle of the Corvette museum parking lot during broad daylight and our car gets broken into. We were however very grateful because there were several other things in the truck that would have been terrible to lose.

The best part was driving the next four hours to Indianapolis with the wind in our faces trying to outrun the major thunderstorm.

Answers

2009-06-10T04:13:00.004+03:00

Carrie Thompson wrote this on a comment and I thought I would give a shot to answering it : )

So, tell us about your biggest surprises since you have been home. Things you forgot were different or what you enjoyed being "back" for the most, or what you miss the most about Uganda!

Clean water: In Uganda we would clean our dishes with the water, but then they would have to be completely dry before we could use them again because the water had strange bacteria and such in it. We would also do the same with veggies and fruits and would count anything that had touched the water to be contaminated until dry. Brushing teeth involved a bottle of clean water for rinsing of the mouth. When we first got home I simply applied the same rules to the water in the sink and would think that whatever I had rinsed was no longer usable. Since then I have moved into a phase where I know that it is OK to rinse my knife off in the water and then reuse it. However, each time I do that I think, "now why did you just rinse that it is contaminated now." Hence I am still in a slight state of confusion in the area of clean or contaminated water at this point but I feel like I am moving forward. The brushing of teeth has moved light years ahead of the dish rinsing, and I think it is because I couldn't wait to simply use the faucet water rather than having a water bottle.

Right side: It would seem that after a month one would adjust to the road rules here but every once in a while I have to remind Travis that we drive on the right side here, and he has to remind me that actually people turn off their bright lights here as a courtesy to the oncoming traffic.

FOOD: Wow! Surprisingly as a whole I have found that I had actually built up a belief that food is a lot yummier than it really is. After dreaming about Special K cereal, Eddy's cookie dough ice cream, and Chick-fil-a I have to say that sadly I dreamed them a little over the top. Yes, I am actually saying this. Ok, I must admit that I didn't over dream Chick-fil-a. I was trying to use that as an awe factor but it really is as good as I remembered and dreamed that it would be in my mouth. However, as a whole food is food and it is to keep you alive.

THE WHAT: I miss THE WHAT!!!! This might seem a little weird to some and that is because it is weird, but none the less it is what I miss. I guess I should explain a little. Travis and I were first introduced to this phrase through a book called "What is the What" which if you read it does nothing to explain to you what THE WHAT actually is so moving on. To explain THE WHAT in writing I think i will have to tell a story or maybe just a few examples. It can go like this, I ask a Ugandan , "excuse me Sebo(Sir) do you know where the Pearl grocery store is" he replies, "uh (bewildered look on his face), you go up to THE WHAT(also pronounced THE WHAT WHAT at times) and take a left then when you see THE WHATEVER you go that way (signalling with a waving hand), it is in those ends". Or one of my favorite examples from my friends Stacie and Rosie. The pastor of the church/school/orphanage the girls work with telling a story involving THE WHAT. Here it is... "The dump truck could not get up THE WHAT, the hill because of THE WHAT, the mud which was there because of THE WHAT, the rain." Now with those examples maybe I can take a shot at explaining THE WHAT. It seems to be a phrase that can be used in case the word you want to say or maybe you should say leaves you brain, or as a filler word like a um, or like, and in some cases it is for the speaker to display his knowledge as he answers multiple questions that he himself asked. Anyway this silly example of THE WHAT is just to say that I miss the craziness of Uganda, the boda's loaded with 50 live chickens, the trucks balancing 40 mattresses, the fish tied to the grill of the car or the millions of other CRAZY and BAZAAR things that you see in Uganda. Ugandans are really fun loving and friendly people who make me laugh and bring me joy as they enjoy life in all its craziness.

Time to take off

2009-06-10T03:54:00.002+03:00

It was time to take off the training wheels today. Uncle Travis took Canaan out with his cool low riding bike for a few spins around the neighborhood. The main lessons today were the essentials like steering, pedaling, breaking and best of all how to fall ( of course that was Canaan's favorite). Thanks Uncle Travis!!!!!

Miraculous Birthday

2009-06-10T03:46:00.003+03:00

On Saturday Travis and I went to a surprise birthday celebration for one of his good buddies Sam Romero. About 5 years ago Sam was diagnosed with Leukemia and was not expected to live more than a few months. God had different plans and ever since God affirmed those plans Sam has been using his testimony to share with people about the love and power of an awesome God who performs miracles. He is passionate and eager to reach sick and dying people with God's love whether they are battling physical health or spiritual.

Travis and I ended up matching, which was not planed, and once we got to the party we all had to laugh as we noticed that all three of the young couples were matching. Picture time :)

Here is a picture of Sam and Travis

Of course the soccer ball comes out whenever you get any Spanish speaking males together. Its inevitable.

Sam blowing out the candles as he celebrates 25 years. Happy Birthday !!!!!!

Texas

2009-06-03T18:46:00.004+03:00

Last weekend we went to Texas to pic up my little sister Mary from the dance program that she has been a part of for the last 9 months. The girls in her program have been training and touring in the US using dance as a form of worship and evangelism. The pictures of the Canaan and Zion, my nephews, just cracked me up because they had their little tv's in their hands as they watched a movie in the car during the 12 hour drive there. We stopped in Louisianan to visit with my moms Aunt and Uncle. Then were able to see our cousins Colin, Alisha and their little baby Grant as well as Colin's sister Meredith and Mare's friend from forever Rebeka Garner all of which came to watch Mary's end of the year performance. We then packed up Mare's stuff and headed back to Georgia. There is nothing like 24 hours of driving in a 72 hour trip :)

Since we've been home

2009-06-03T18:36:00.005+03:00

These are a few pictures from our vacation with Travis's family to Saint George Island. We played in the sand, making castles, burying family members, swam and kayaked in the ocean, sometimes right next to dolphins, went crabbing, played tennis, biked, visited a light house, played card games, colored, cooked and just altogether enjoyed being with FAMILY.

In these pictures are Wesley and Terri (Travis's parents), Hidie, Daniel, Isa and Carson (Travis's sister, husband and kids), Tim (Travis's younger brother) and Travis and I. FUN TIMES!!!!!!

Steps of Faith Uganda

2009-06-03T17:49:00.004+03:00

Here are a few pictures from the Steps of Faith Uganda Praise concert that my girls and I put on for friends and family back in April. The dances, music and skirts were based on Ugandan traditional dances. The girls did an amazing job and were a blessing to watch! After the dances we all had a BBQ together and just hung out enjoying the pool and beautiful grounds of the DeWitts. We were all so grateful for the DeWitts opening up their gorgeous home for us to hold classes the last few weeks and to the perform the praise concert. I'm going to miss all my girls so much!!!!!

Remember to click on the pic if you want to see it bigger :)

Farewell Furry Friends

2009-04-29T14:49:00.001+03:00

Monday we gave both of our pups away. I didn't think that it was going to be hard but I was really sad. After all the months of constantly yelling at macho for jumping on EVERYONE who walks in the gate, for barking and play fighting with the other dogs at 3:30 IN THE MORNING, and for all the other little crazy things puppies do. I realized that I really loved that guy. He had also improved SO much over the months, he was finally acting civil. This little cocked head look is the one that really got me when it was time for him to go to his new home. He was all ready to go with Ivan, a young Ugandan friend, when he suddenly cocked his head and gave us the most concerned look, almost as if he was going to cry. He then decided that he didn't in fact want to leave the yard, as he had attempted many times before, he was sure he wanted to stay in. He will have a good home though with a nice young man who thinks he is GREAT. Osito, went to a young missionary couple here in Entebbe that we recently met. they have a little boy who is 15 months so they thought he would be CRAZY about him. Although we only had 8 weeks to bond with Osito he really won our hearts. he started out looking like, you know a little pig but once his personality started shining through it was impossible not to fall in LOVE. So FAREWELL FURRY FRIENDS.

Easter Skirts

2009-04-23T10:26:00.001+03:00

I know that it has been over a week and a half since Easter but I still wanted to post these. I am quite proud of the wrap around Easter skirts that we had made.

Here's Stacie, Me and Rosie with our Kikoy wrap around skirts. The Binkley girls have a tradition of matching at Easter and I realized that this would be my first Easter without my sisters (weird because I have spent Christmases and Thanksgivings away, missed about everyone's birthdays at least once but I have never missed an Easter). Just like at Christmas with the Sugar cookie decorating tradition. God provided me with sisters. We picked out our fabric, cut out the skirts and had some matching skirts. Hip hip hurray!!!

The Office

2009-04-23T10:08:00.001+03:00

Time is winding down and I realized that I never posted anything about the AIM Air office that we have been working in these last 4 months. Here are some pictures of the office, the Entebbe Airport, the plane and such. In the office I take care of the finances, bills, and processing the flight paperwork. Travis does estimates and scheduling for flights and of course all the extensive paperwork for his flights. I think that we have both learned a thing or two from our office work experience. We will see how the Lord uses it in the future.

Puppy love

2009-04-16T13:29:00.001+03:00

Our little guy is growing up so fast. Here he is with his favorite chew toy. Ouch!!!

Look at that little fluffy profile.

Daddy feeding little Osito. Although we occasionally still call him piggy because he is so fat, we call him Osito more often because he has developed more into a little Bear.

STALKER

2009-04-14T20:32:00.002+03:00

Yesterday as Travis and I casually took the trash to the dumpster I saw him. I'm sure he saw me too, the seemingly harmless Mzungu. It was a normal day in Uganda, rain in the morning and bright blistering sun in the afternoon. All looked the same down to random children walking down the street until I saw it... "EAT MORE CHICKEN" it said. Eat what? There is only one place, one blessed place on this planet that uses that slogan. YES, CHICK-FIL-A. I whipped out my camera and tried to sneak a photo but he was gone. Vanished behind the dumpster.

"After them", I say to Travis. I can't help myself this time, I normally try not to be a tourist but this I could not pass. This was the one and only Chick-fil-a t-shirt I have ever seen sported in Uganda, and we see a LOT of random t-shirts around here.

BUSTED. Just as we approached the victims to try to sneak in a photo they turned and my plan is revealed. There was only one thing to do now. It was tough, it meant surrendering my pride and turning myself in for who I really am. An American who thinks Uganda is hilarious, in other words a tourist with a camera. I rolled down my window and returned their quizzical brows with a smile and say "can I take your picture?" It was totally worth bringing myself down to that level. Not only did I get a picture of the t-shirt but look how cute that little guy is.

Got to put the picture with big bro in to because he was such a good sport about the CRAZY Mzungu.

28 Days

2009-04-06T17:56:00.004+03:00

28 days till we head back to the states (for who knows how many days) and 28 things that will go through my mind every day that I wait for it.

1. Lord any time now we are willing to be informed of what the plan is
2. What do I take?
3. What do I leave?
4. I can't wait to be HOME!
5. Is it to early to pack this?
6. Chick-fil-a!!!!!
7. Good byes are hard.
8. Changes are fun!
9. It is so wonderful to have a partner to go through it all with!
10. Clear out, clean up, eat up the food in the pantry
11. How much room do we have in our luggage to take back gifts?
12. Should I apply for school?
13. Should we start looking for a house
14. Macho, I'm so sad to leave you
15. AHHHHHH!!! I'm overwhelmed
16. Oh, Africa is so beautiful I'm so sad to leave
17. Arggg, Africa is so frustrating I can't wait to get out of here
18. Wow, it is going to be strange to pump our own gas again. Truly I can't wait.
19. Yuck, 18 hours in a plane just doesn't sound fun
20. NO MORE ANTS!!!!!
21. So sad to leave my little ballerinas!
22. What's air conditioning?
23. I am going to miss the array of birds and plants
24. Eddy's cookie dough ice cream!!!!!!!
25. What are we going to do with all the wana-recycle things that I have saved when there is no place to recycle them?
26. oh, to drive on the right side of the road again.
27. Will we ever be back here again?
28. Just to BE WITH THOSE WE LOVE IS GOING TO BE THE MOST AMAZING THING!!!! IT CAN"T COME TOO SOON.

Ndere Troupe

2009-03-29T15:40:00.001+03:00

Last Sunday night Travis and I met up with some good freinds of ours at the Ndere Center. Recently we heard about the place and that they have a trained troupe of dancers who perform each Sunday at the center. Of course I was dying to go watch the dancers and it worked out perfectly for us to meet up with our friends. Amber and Terril work up in Northern Uganda and come down for breathers every 6-8 weeks. It is alway so much fun to hang out with them when they are down here. Ambers parents were also there for a visit along with some family friends.

Ndere had a great facility with beautiful paintings done by local artists and other cultural art displayed. It was such a neat place. So strange that we had not heard a thing about it before now. Even when talking to friends hardly anyone knows about it.

The group performs traditional dances from all over Uganda. It is also cool how most of the dancers are from underprivileged families so dancing with the troupe provides them with opportunities that they would not have otherwise. The variety of drums and other instruments were also AWESOME!!! It was just an all around great experience.

You can see how CRAZY active these dances are, one dance the guys jumped almost the entier time.

One reason that I was so excited to go to see this group dancing is because I am planning on doing a Ugandan theme Praise concert for the close up of my dance classes that I teach here. I got all kinds of ideas of steps and got some great African Children's Choir music. Also making adorable wrap around skirts for the girls out of a very traditional Ugandan print.

Rafting the Nile take 2

2009-03-23T15:54:00.005+03:00

Kelsey, Travis and Clay at Adrift riverbase looking over the Nile.

Last week Travis and I enjoyed a visit from Clay Hearn, one of Travis's good buddies from high school. Clay has been in Kapoeta Sudan since January helping build a school and also volunteering at a local clinic. Check out what he has been up to at http://clayhearn.wordpress.com . We were really hoping that we would be able to meet up with him at some point while we were both here so it was so wonderful when it worked out for him to come down to Entebbe for a few days.

While Clay was here we decided to go to Jinja and let him take a trip down the Nile. Travis and I had done this back in June, heres the story http://traviskelsey.blogspot.com/2008/07/rafting-nile.html . After the first trip I told Travis that it was a once in a life time opportunity and that is exactly how many times I wanted to do it "ONCE". Well, I guess that it had been too long since I had made that statment because I did it again. I have to say I am glad that I went ahead and did because I had a great time. I was so in shock at the intensity of it the first time I went, this time I knew what to expect and so I really enjoyed it. Clay also had a blast and said he would have done it agian the next day had we had the time to.

One of my favorite parts of this trip was our awesome German raft mate who was 69 years old (you can see his picture on the top left corner). He was awesome!!! Our other raft mates consisted of an American medical student, Eeyore (litterally I have never met anyone so melencolly), a Brit and a South African. Our guide was Ugandan and was actually the same guy that Travis went with back in 2003. He used to be a fisherman on the Nile then when Adrift started rafting the Nile they trained him and he has been guiding ever since

Enjoy the pictures and remember to see them bigger just click on them.

Piggy Puppy

2009-03-23T15:15:00.001+03:00

So here are some pictures of the puppy one of our Dogs randomly had two weeks ago. At birth he was already HUGE then add on that he is the only one no brothers or sisters to compete for mommas milk, well it seems his name was inevitable. PIG, piggy, Babe, Wilbur, pretty much anything having to do with the fact that the little guys is ginormous.

In fact, he is so large that it seems his hind legs are not strong enough to lift his body off the ground in the least bit. He drags them behind or does a little army crawl. I have to say it is cute but it does worry us a bit. We think developmentally he might be a little behind.

I was trying to get a picture with his eyes opened, they just opened yesterday. He closed his eyes for a little nap right as I took the shot.

Surprise

2009-03-09T16:42:00.003+03:00

Heart pounding, I start to sweat, could it be? It surly isn't. But wait, yes, yes it is. It's CRAFT MAC AND CHEESE!!!!!!! For what? How much? This has got to be marked wrong. 4,000 Ugandan Shillings, but that's only 2 bucks. There are only two I better grab then fast. Hey, do you guess have any more of these. OHHHHH here come five more.

It all started with the Mac...

Next I meet up with my long lost hubby who's been flying all day. "I've got a surprise for you", he says. hmmmmmm!!!! Java house coffee which is the best coffee in the world. Only found in Nairobi. I wouldn't say that I am addicted to it but I sure do LOVE IT. Especially when Travis makes me an amazing frothed coffee, his specialty. Could this day be any better? The answer is yes. "oh, that's for you too, but there's another surprise in there" he says. What do I pull out but a big bag of my fav, peanut M&M's. YUMMMY!!!!

Moving on to the the next day.

Oh look!!! It's craft again in a tiny little hole in the wall shop in Kampala. Not just craft though, oh, ohh, ohhh. CONCORD GRAPE JELLY!!!! CONCORD GRAPE JELLY!!!! GRAPE JELLY. I think i need to stop for a moment and let you know that I am not obsessed with food :):):) Back to the jelly. Over the course of our shopping experience we came to find out that there is a certain American gentleman who has found the desire in his great big heart to ship a very large crate of good old American food to Kampala, Uganda. It is like the biggest care package you could ever dream up. We are talking, Bisquick, muffin mixes, hot chocolate, mac and cheese, syrup, jelly, Campbell soups, instant noodles, little boxed cereals and oh so much more. The greatest part is that they are CHEAP(comparatively that is) and he is planing on doing it monthly.

I think that is quite enough on the food surprises. We did encounter one other surprise I want to share with you.

"Surprise, surprise, puppy surprise. How many puppies are there inside. There could be three or four or five". ( I realize that very few people will remember that commercial, but i always wanted that little dog with the puppies that came out of her Velcro stummy(Em that's for you)). We got home last night from a day in Kampala, two dogs greet us as usual but where is Angel? As we climb out of the car we hear a little whimpering, but its dark so we head on in. The night guard got there at the same time so he starts to look around to find what is making the funny noise. Moments later he knocks on our door. With a huge smile on his face he says "we have a puppy". "What?" Travis says. "WHAT?" Kelsey says. A puppy? Sure enough we take a flashlight out and what do we find? A PUPPY. Lets take a step back here, first of all we had no idea that Angle was pregnant. Second, we got poor little Macho fixed for this very reason. Oh, well. A puppy we have none the less. Just one.... Quite odd I have to say but its cute.

So those are our surprises of the weekend. Hope you enjoyed them as much as we did :)

Clouds

2009-03-06T15:34:00.007+03:00

This morning we woke up to a beautiful overcast day. Yes an overcast day here is a beautiful one and it is so because it provides a much needed break from the HEAT.Later in the morning while driving to the AIM Air office at the Entebbe Airport I noticed a dark brown cloud over lake Victoria. Before pointing it out to Travis I thought to my self, that's odd it looks like the lake is on fire. Travis then informed me that it was a cloud of lake flies. U huh, a cloud of flies. As an Entebbe dweller I have had my fair share of lake flies and I have seen patches of them for sure with a few thousand clumped together but never have I experienced bellowing clouds of lake flies. Of course, as would be expected, next to be seen were the clouds of birds. I assume they were getting ready for a feast (of lake flies that is). Each of these different clouds reminded me of a Bible study that I had just done the day before.

It is Beth Moore's study of John "Beloved Disciple". Yesterday I was studying Revelation chapter 1 verse 7 which says "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him even they who pierced Him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even So Amen.

She listed multiple references of the Lord and clouds including...
Exodus 16:10 - God appearing to Isreal in a cloud
Exodus 24:15-16 - God meeting with Moses and coming in a cloud
Leviticus 16:2 - God coming in a cloud onto the Mercy seat in the Tabernacle
1 Kings 8:10 - Cloud filling the house of the Lord
Luke 9:34 - Cloud comes and covers Christ, Elijah and Moses during the transfiguration.

In each of these examples God is in the cloud, His voice is heard from within the cloud, His glory is hidden within the cloud, and so on.

All of this got Travis and I thinking, in our lives right now Travis and I feel like we are in a cloud or that God's will is hidden within a cloud. Either way we are not sure whats next, where to go, what to do, what should we pursue? It's all so foggy, like flying through a dense cloud where you can't see anything but pure white. PURE, WHITE, hmmmmm. It might be rocky from the turbulence, but as long as you rely on your instruments you will make it through the cloud and see clearly what is ahead. Wow!!! Why would we want to be anywhere other than in GOD'S PURE, WHITE, Holiness and perfection. It will all be so clear when He chooses to bring us out and disclose Himself through His will to us but until then what a joy to realize that in the cloud we ARE close to God. It's alright to be here, to not see, to not know, to have some bumps and turbulence.

Pictures

2009-02-27T21:19:00.001+03:00

Here are the pictures of our house which some how didn't end up on the blog about the house.
Remember click on the pic to see big

Rambling

2009-02-27T17:18:00.003+03:00

This week.

Travis in Nairobi :( Coming back Wednesday, no Thursday, no Saturday, ok Sunday, well who knows he will be back when he gets back I guess.

First night he is gone night guard has emergency, that's ok the day guard will stay. Next morning bad news day guard has to go too. Thank goodness for friends.

Girl time!!!!! I would be dying here if God was not soooo very thoughtful. Just last week He brought two AWESOME American gals into my life. We are talking slumber parties, chocolate, coffee, movies, talk talk talk talk, laugh laugh laugh laugh and talk some more.

The office... Big CAA(Civil Aviation Authority) man trying to walk all over me. NOPE he is not going to win. I've been down to this guys office time after time trying to get him to change an incorrect fee. FINALLY he decided "ok your right, I'll change it on the next bill" I say "no you wont, you will change it on this bill" he responds "its just $20", I say "yeah $20, and we are a non-profit, mission organization, that means NO ONE GETS PAID". My personal fav, he says " oh but you will be paid in the kingdom of heaven"(with a smirk on his face) that just makes me laugh. In the end I convinced him that it would be unwise of me to watch that $20, which could be going towards furthering the kingdom, be senselessly lost. He laughed and finally gave in. You have to bargain for everything here, even your own $$. (by the way this conversation was all conducted in laughter and teasing although it was quite serious. He really didn't want to give me that money). Ahh, all done. Not quite, two offices, 1 hour and a few metal dicetors later I turn in the invoice(finally corrected) and recieve a $100,000 bill. WHAT!!!!! Yeah, they tried to charge me three zeos over. Fun, fun,fun. Life is certainly not boring at the Entebbe International Airport.

My great adventure. I drove to a shopping market near Kampala today. It was the first time that i have driven there and if you have read or heard anything about driving in Africa it is, well, SCARY. You know typical, two lanes, motorcycles, people, bikes, people, cars, BIG trucks, more people and everyone trying to pass each other. I am proud to say that I kept up with the traffic, passed a few, honked a bit and in general had a pretty pleasant drive. THEN, on the way back i came up on a slow car who is followed by a taxi(Public trans in the form of vans with too many people and drivers with no sense). Finally there is an opening in the oncoming traffic, its my chance, I get over and keep getting over and the taxi/van is still in front of me, I realize he is passing the slow guy too. AHHHHHH, step on the gas, now we are three cars across on a two lane road with on coming traffic. There was no turning back now. Moments later it was all over, both cars were behind me and who new what laid ahead. I took on the unknown with a new confidence. I Kelsey Joy Harris had not only gotten to Quality Shopping Hill on my own but I had passed the three car Ugandan chicken test. I'm a new woman. Don't worry mom, just because I passed the test doesn't mean that I must always drive the Uganda way.

Thats it for now folks :) My rambling session is over.

Our house

2009-02-25T20:41:00.001+03:00

It is actually the Weeks house but it is the house that we are staying at right now. It is a great house with a beautiful yard, tire swing, nice view of Lake Victoria and the airport, and porch. It feels a little big for us sometimes, or maybe I just think that since I have to clean it :). It has three bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, living room, dinning room, laundry, garage, and then also an extra area where there is a little out of the house bed and bath. Sorry fam that it has taken so long to put some pic up of this I know that you like to be able to picture where we are living. Enjoy!!!

On the way home from Sudan

2009-02-10T17:35:00.001+03:00

My post are going in reverse to start at the beginning go to the post that just says Sudan. Then come up the list :)

We flew low over the Cush for Christ base as we left. You can see a large metal roof in the top left corner, also a smaller metal roof and two huts. These were the houses of the missionaries we stayed with.

Travis took us up to 17,000 ft to fly home. We were so high that we had to have the oxygen mask, the plane
isn't pressurized. We look alienish but it was supper fun.

I'm not sure if this was just cloud cover or if it was haze from all the fires but it looked pretty neat, a perfect sheet.

Home again. The Entebbe International Airport.

Sudan pics 3

2009-02-10T17:21:00.000+03:00

Here is Amani (means Love in Karamoja) Samuel and Zachary's little sister.

Little Samuel. His parents came out on the mission field when he was just a few weeks old. We really enjoyed hanging
out with his parents late into the night playing cards. It is so nice when we get to hang out with couples our age.

Sunset in the village. We were going around meeting their neighbors. I was adopted into one family and given their name. Family is so important to Dinka, when you first meet someone you always try to figure out if you are related in any way.

Here is one of the ladies we met crushing sorgum.

More pics from Sudan

2009-02-10T17:03:00.000+03:00

All the kids trailed off carrying the boxes that we had brought for the clinic that is in the village of Duke

Refueling in Rumbeck. I thought this was quit a sight, the fuel pulled around by a tractor. I think the beat up pick up in Arua sifening the fuel out of drums beats this. I'm sure Travis,or some of the pilots who have been flying here for ages would probably tell me I haven't seen anything yet :)

We overnighted with some missionaires near the town of Mawlecon. The first picture is Zachary this little guy cracked me up. When we first showed up he came right over to me and shook my hand with a huge smile on his face. I thought it was funny that a little two and a half year old would think about shaking hands. I later found out that the Dinka (Sudanese tribe) greet everyone by shaking hands. Since they live with the Dinka and almost like them (VERY simply) its no wonder. Still cute though.

This is Samuel. He is the big brother to Zachary. These two reminded me so much of Canaan and Zion. The onder one talked non stop and the little guy just had his own language. The little guy was also a cuddle bug like Zi.

Sudan

2009-02-10T13:53:00.001+03:00

Travis and I spent last week Feb 1-6 in Nairobi getting more clarity and training for what we are in charge of over in Entebbe. We handle the finances, booking, scheduling and giving quotes, that is in addition to Travis flying. We had a great time visiting with AIM Air staff. We also enjoyed meeting a variety of people at the Mayfield guest house where we stayed for the week. Please say a prayer for a young lady named Corina who is in the Nairobi hospital with Pneumonia (I want to call it septic ? anyways it has gotten into her blood). She is a medical student from Switzerland who was helping out at a clinic in Rwanda. It seems that the Doctors aren't giving her parents much hope for her recovery. Her parents, friend and boyfriend were all staying with us and could really use prayer during this hard time.

Instead of flying straight back to Entebbe we were able to take a flight up to Sudan delivering goods and dropping of a passenger. The man who we dropped off is helping to put up a radio tower for a Christian radio station to begin broadcasting in the near future.

Old Volcano outside of Nairobi in the Rift Vally. It was INCREDIBLE to see from the air.

Stopover in Duke lead to the whole village coming out to see the action. We dropped off supplies for a clinic that was started there by some lost boys (boys who wondered though the country alone seeking safely during the war in Sudan between the North and the South)

These ladies posed for me. I can't help but wonder what their stories are, they look around my age.

I let the ladies look at their picture which then cause everyone to leave the plan, that was old news and come get a look at the pictures.

Obama's in the House (well plane in my case)

2009-02-03T09:41:00.002+03:00

Yesterday I flew over to Nairobi to spend some time with the AIM Air finance and bookings offices to learn a bit more about those areas and how I can help run them in Entebbe. It was an early flight and I was shocked to see that President Obama was heading over in the same plane. People were going crazy!!!! Getting pictures with him, shaking his hand and so on. It was funny to see how many fans he has from different countries his biggest of course was the guy who brought him with, you see he was a life size cardboard cut out. Yes, this man was taking a life size cardboard cut out with him, not checking him in mind you carrying him by hand. When he handed Obama to the flight attendant to be stowed away in a special compartment, I didn't think he was going to coup with the separation. this isn't the only example of the Obama craze over here. I have seen taxi's and t-shirts sporting President Obama and i can't tell you how many people off the street try to talk politics with me trying to convince me of what a great guy he is and NO ONE missed the inauguration. It all Just makes me laugh so much I thought Y'all might enjoy it as well!!!

people we went with

2009-01-24T15:50:00.001+03:00

Here are Amber and Terril. They are who we were blessed to spend the holidays with. They are an amazing couple working up in the North Eastern part of Uganda. I really encourage you to check out their blog and learn more about them and the neat work that the Lord has them involved with. http://schrockandawe.blogspot.com/

Things we saw

2009-01-24T15:38:00.000+03:00

Crater lakes are adjacent to the game park and are part of the reserve. I have to say that they were truly one of the most picture perfect places that I have seen in Uganda. They seemed so completely untouched by humans, in the two hours or more that we spend driving around the craters and crater lakes we only saw one other car.

Here are a few of the animals that we saw. The hippos were so neat, it was my first time seeing them. From what I saw they seemed cuddly and sweet but in reality they kill more humans than any of the other animal. Very territorial, although you wouldn't know it by the way they cuddle us beside the buffalo and the crocks in the water.

Another crater, this one without water. Isn't it pretty!!!

Places we stayed

2009-01-24T15:13:00.001+03:00

Here are a few pictures of the places we stayed while on our Christmas trip. We don't have pictures of the first place but the lake sunset
pictures in the following blog were from there.

The first picture is from Mountains of the Moom, AKA MOM, which is in Fort Portal. It was my FAV out of all the places we stayed and I really hope that we get to go back at some time. We're talking, great view of the Rwenzori Mountian, gardens galor, huge fire place, stone pool, sauna, steam bath (just watch out for the naked guy, seriously), great food... alltogehter a neat place.

The next two pics are from King Fisher Lodge which is near the Queen Elizabeth game park. Awesome view from the lodge and while we were around there we had a blast weeing tons of animals, including chimps!!!

The last picture was from Bunyonyi Overland Resort. Nice clean place with cool furnished, raised and covered tents but AWFUL service.

More Pictures from Christmas Trip

2009-01-24T13:39:00.000+03:00

Here are a few pictures from the beggining of our trip. We had just arrived in Fort Portal after a beautiful 6 hour drive on gorgious paved roads and then a 45 minute drive on a rollercoaster dirt road. I can't take credit for many of the pictures that are to follow because despite how prepared I felt we had forgotten to charge the digital camera. Thankfully Amber and Terril had their camera and were picture happy so we got a lot of good picture from them.

SKYPE

2009-01-22T19:51:00.002+03:00

PEOPLE,

We have pretty good internet at the moment so PLEASE get on SKYPE so we can talk.

Thanks :)

Little blessings

2009-01-21T18:16:00.002+03:00

Last week I started dance classes again. I was planning on doing the classes at a new location where there are beautiful wood floors and not much furniture to move out of the room but sadly the floors are in need of repaired so we are not sure when we will be starting classes there. Meanwhile the classes are at our new house which although the living room is much bigger there is also twice as much furniture to remove from the room. But in spite of the slight hassle we have to hold classes here I am so blessed each week by the classes. It is such a privilege to prepare lessons and teach these little girls about an awesome creator who made us in His image, who inspired us to be creative and the best part how through dance we can bless Him with our creativity. The girls are so eager to learn and so excited about blessing God. I thank the Lord for the ability to share that excitement with them. I'm considering starting an adult class but now that Travis and I are keeping so busy working with AIM I'm not sure if it is going to come together.

Thinking of AIM reminds me of another little blessing I want to mention. Travis and I started last week working at the AIM Air office here in Entebbe. It was CRAZY at first, there were so many things that were unknown and others forgotten from when we did some training. There were also things going wrong right and left with our day to day life like the car BROKE, the power was off for over 30 hours, the car got back to us then started having issues again.... and so on. You know the craziness of it all just mounds up. I'm getting to the blessing in this :) Anyway, we felt totally overwhelmed and exhausted!!!!! Then one of the many times I was taking it to the Lord God blessed me with some of His heavenly wisdom. Here it is, sometimes life gets so hard that we just want God to take the obstacles out of the way, move the hurtle so that we can really run the race, however it is through jumping over the hurtles and finding a way through the obstacles that we get stronger and wiser. Its hard, YES, and sometimes that is our own fault, sometimes we are making it harder on ourselves by trying to carry all kinds of stuff with us as we jump the hurtles and go through the maze of obstacles. You know carrying doubt, resentment, fear, confusion...... when actually that stuff is suppose to be in Gods hands while we run. It makes us look completely ridiculous and exhaust us way more that need be. Rather than coming out of that particular obstacle course tired but feeling good we are dead with exhaustion. So in the end the blessing was actually the hardship, was the hurdles and the obstacles, it was the realization that I can give the baggage (in this case expectations) to God and then run a bit better through the course. To be fit you can't just sit on your butt, you have to exercise. I don't want to be a weak and lazy Christian so I'm thankful that through last week Travis and I gained a little muscle that will hopefully help us to face the next set of hurdles with a little more grace.

Monkey buisness

2009-01-15T23:57:00.000+03:00

Mare remember when we used to carry those silly little stuffed monkeys around with us? Well last week I got to experience our dream come true. I got to see what it was like to have a pet monkey. Travis and I went to a MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) pilots house to pick up a few things for a friend and as soon as we pulled in to the driveway I knew we would be there for a while. First two cute little dogs came out to greet us which were followed by a soaking wet (supposedly he likes to take an occasional swim in the tub) little MONKEY. Now I have seen a tun of monkeys while living in Uganda but they are the annoying Vervet monkeys which are completely untameable and to be honest just plain yucky. They poop all over the yard and try to get into things but anyways back to my dream come true monkey. He was a little Red Tailed monkey whose name was Sheeta (which means something like trouble). He was one of the cutes things I've ever seen, full of trouble yes but also full of fun. I got most of the pics outside but it was inside for the next three hours that I really fell in Love. The little guy got into everything and literally swung from the chandeliers but it was so adorable when he did it. In one of the pictures you can see him trying to get a drink from Travis's Mountain dew bottle. He would come and sit on my shoulder and them swing from my arm to jump on the back of one of the dogs and take a ride until the dog could knock him off. It was three ours of pure entertainment. I can't leave out the amazing couple who take care of him. They were SOOOOO kind and ended up feeding us the yummiest vegi Lasagna that I have ever put in my mouth. They have been Missionary pilots for over twenty-five years and are real troopers. We really enjoyed their company and are looking forward to getting to hang out again with them and enjoy the chaos of their littlest family member.

Christmas cookies

2009-01-13T20:12:00.003+03:00

Here are the pictures of the Pontier gals and I baking up some yummy sugar cookies for Christmas. This was super special to me cause Christmas cookies are a very important tradition to the Binkley's. Travis was willing to participate if he had to but he got off the hook when Amanda and Brianna joined me. It was great to have the girls to crack up with, it made it more like being home with my sisters.

Our Ugandan Delicacy

2009-01-13T19:40:00.004+03:00

I'm trying to catch up on pictures. I wrote about our grasshopper experience a month or two ago but I know that it means more when you can actually SEE it. You will notice that the legs and wings are not on the little guys. This doesn't mean that we were spared, they simply fell of while being fried with the onions and seasoning. You can be sure that when we took our handful we were sure to get a few of each.

Remember that you can see the collage larger if you click on the picture

JOY

2009-01-09T17:56:00.003+03:00

My world is full of joy today as I have discovered Picasa, a photo organizing and editing program. I can make a collage and it only counts as one photo when it is uploading. this means it takes a fraction of the time to upload it to our blog. Hopefully this will mean that our blog will have many, many more pictures. I have waited for up to one and a half hours for five pictures to upload to our blog and that is why we don't have them very often.

I have discovered this beautiful program thanks to my amazing in-laws who are visiting and brought Travis and I a computer to replace the ones that were stolen. So not only do we have a wonderful new computer we also have a great program that will make my life so much easier, at least when it comes to putting pictures on our blog.

Joy Joy Joy!!!!!!!

Christmas Praise concert 2008

2009-01-09T17:52:00.001+03:00

Click on the collage to see it larger

Hiking in the Rwenzori

2009-01-09T17:31:00.001+03:00

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-02T23:35:00.000+03:00

Hello to all of our dear friends and family,
Well, it's our first year married and we are already off a little on the Christmas card sending ,so maybe we will just start a tradition of New Year’s updates and say that was our plan all along… Happy New Year!!
DUM DUM DUMDUM, May 24th Travis and Kelsey's paths joined together PERMANENTLY, yippee!!! Yep we tied the knot, and the seven months since then have been amazing. After the wedding we enjoyed a honeymoon in Honduras and were back in the states for three days of crazy packing for the year ahead. We headed to Entebbe, Uganda and set up our first little house.
Travis has been working with Air-Serv Limited in Uganda faithfully for the last seven months. However, after a change in the company's management, we felt the Lord calling us to resign from Air Serv. This meant surrendering the security of a paying job, but what can you do when the master calls but follow? We gave a three month notice to Air Serv at the beginning of October and started praying. After a month of seeking direction from the Lord, and through a series of truly divine events; God led us to volunteer for a short term position with AIM Air right here in Entebbe. AIM Air is the aviation branch of Africa Inland Mission. It is composed of pilots and mechanics from various mission organizations such as SIL, SIM, IMB, AIM, and Samaritan's Purse. AIM has asked us to fill in for a pilot who has gone on home assignment, and we will tentatively be serving with them January through the end of March. We are now living in the AIM Air pilot's house who is on furlough. Kelsey will also be working in the AIM Air office doing administrative work. We are still in prayer at this time asking the Lord for further guidance as to where he wants us to be after our time of serving with AIM is up. Please pray with us that God will reveal where he can best use us.
Other than flying, we have enjoyed a variety of opportunities to serve, and to experience Uganda. Kelsey started two dance classes, which have been a thrill for her to teach. Most of her students are daughters of missionaries living in the area. They put on a fabulous Christmas praise concert that helped start the Christmas season thinking of the wonderful gift of Christ. We have also been very involved in a local fellowship called Entebbe International Fellowship, where we have had the opportunity to serve through leading worship. The past seven months in Uganda have been amazing, and we have shared some very unique experiences that we will cherish for a lifetime. We survived rafting the Nile; were able to visit Kurmuk, Sudan where Travis spent a year working with Samaritans Purse in 2003; and we were able to accompany some friends to their mission base on a group of Islands in Lake Victoria (Where Travis caught a 30 lb Nile Perch). We continually marvel at the array of wildlife and plants in this lush fertile country of Uganda, which the British called, "The Pearl of Africa." Recently, we just got back from a week of travelling with some friends in western Uganda. Besides the joy of bouncing along on bad roads, we were able to hike in the highest mountain range in Africa, go trekking for chimps (AWESOME), and take a launch trip along a channel full of crocks, hippos, elephants, buffalo, and more.
Although we have stayed busy and have had so many unforgettable experiences while in Uganda, we still have missed the comfort of friends and family back home. However, God, in his wisdom ,blessed us with a visit from Kelsey's parents back in the middle of September, and tomorrow we will again be blessed with the arrival of Travis's parents. Of course both parents, in their wisdom, have brought many "American Goodies" for us…
In the past year we feel that God has truly blessed us beyond measure. In Proverbs 16:9 it says, "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (NKJV). Looking back on the last year it is amazing to see how God has directed our steps. We feel so humbled and privileged to follow such an Awesome God. May he bless you all in this coming year!

With Love,
Travis & Kelsey

If you would like to be added to our email list please send your email to kelseybink@gmail.com

Christmas Carol Ugandan style

2008-12-29T15:21:00.002+03:00

First I have to note that this was written after 8 hours in the car on Christmas Eve (their traffic is just as bad here and you also have to add the element of BEAT UP roads). It brought us much laughter as we put into the song some of the festive way Ugandans celebrate Christmas that we had been observing.

Notes to try to explain what in the world this song is talking about are red.

Sung to Nat King Coles famous song " Merry Christmas to You"

Tilapia fish roasting on each Corolas grill Taken to relatives in areas with no lakes(litterally strapped to the grill of thier cars most of which are Corolas.
Sunshine burning up yous nose
Christmas hair being worn everywhere I've never seen so many colors or so much poof
and folks dressed up like who knows How about Neon orange and Lime green

Everybody knows Matokee and some gnut sauce Masked bananaish food and peanutish sauce
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know uncle Godfrees coming ova I think we know a hounred Godfees
he's loaded lot of goats and chickens on his boda Note Chickens still alive, Boda=Motor bike
and every mothers child is going to spy
to see if the chicken will break loose and fly

And so I'm overing this simple phrase
for kids from 1 to 92
although its been said many times many ways
Merry Xmas too you I've never seen it written CHRISTmas here
it is always written Xmas.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!!!!!

Moments

2008-12-10T11:41:00.001+03:00

SO I can't get the picture to work here at the internet cafe. So sad!!! Hopefully I painted a good picture with my words. Kels

Where has time gone??? It has been forever since I have written ANYTHING. Since the last time I wrote Travis and I have celebrated our six month marriage and living in Uganda anniversaries. I am just going to write a bit about a few things that have happened in the last month so it isn’t like it was completely lost. h

Thanksgiving. I thought it would be terrible. Thanksgiving is my fav and it is just not the same without family, fall leaves and cooler weather. It is hot hot hot here and it just didn’t seem like Thanksgiving at all. However, the Lord truly blessed us and surrounded us with great brothers and sisters in Christ that we were able to celebrate with and to my delight it actually did feel like Thanksgiving day. So all in all I was very thankful for so very many things that it would have been silly to dwell on the not so perfect things. I also tried my hand at baking Thanksgiving style. I managed to successfully make, carrot cake, apple pie, a chicken, Pumpkin cream cheese cake (it was a box so it doesn’t really count), and my family’s FAVORITE rolls (they were actually the one disappointment because they didn’t raise). Here is a picture of my works of art. I even made a ridiculous boat for the chicken to float in on and named it the cauliflower after my adorable nephew Canaan.

Christmas cookies. Hip hip hurray for girls my age (well close anyways). One thing that I miss more that anything is of course my sisters and girl friends. There are great ladies whom I love and learn a lot from but most of them are twice my age. Anyways, one of the missionaries daughters came home for the holidays and so I have been able to have girl time which has been sooo refreshing. We made beautiful Christmas sugar cookies together the other day and had way to much fun just being girls and laughing about silly things like girls are suppose to. I loved it because I wasn’t sure if they would think my Binkley way of artistically decorating each cookie as a unique individual was insane or not and miraculously they were just as precise. Here are the masterpieces.

Grasshoppers. We have enjoyed wonderful North American delicacies the last few weeks so it was only natural that we should try some of the Ugandan ones and yes I am talking about crunchy grasshoppers J. I need to you realize that Entebbe is a quite modern town with many wealthy and middle class people. The UN has a large base here and the international airport is right outside of town and so there are constantly people from all over the world filtering through. Sometimes I feel like I am hardly in what I have always thought of as AFRICA. Then there are times when strange and not so normal things happen like when all the workers in the Air Serv office were practically dancing because they are so excited to have found some grasshoppers at the market. Well I tried then and they really weren’t that bad after all, you’ve just got to look them straight in the eye and tell yourself “it’s ok, this is all quite normal”. They were even sautéed in a nice oil and onion mix.

AIM Air. Travis and I are going to be finishing up at Air Serv December 15th and through the Lord opening miraculous doors we will be serving with AIM Air from January through March. AIM (African Inland Mission) is a mission organization that has an aviation programme which we are going to be volunteering with for three months. We will be staying here in Entebbe and stepping into the shoes of a few of their missionaries while they are back in the States. I am going to be doing admin work in the office and Travis will be flying so we have been super busy learning all that we need to know to take over this thing while the permanent guys are gone. We will be moving into one of the missionary’s houses who is going to be in the US.

Steps Of Faith Uganda Christmas Praise Concert. Last Saturday SOF Uganda (the group of girls that that I have been teaching dance to) put on a little (ended up having around 60 people show up) Christmas concert where we went through the story of Christ’s birth through the girls reciting scripture, everyone singing carols and of course DANCING. The girls did a great job for their first time performing! I was really excited to be able to do a dance as well. I hadn’t really planned on it because with the computers and Ipod gone we have no music and it would be really difficult to get any here. But God did His thing and, surprise!!!! provided a Christian bookstore with Christmas music, CD with Breath of Heaven (a song I have danced to in the Nativity SOF before) and the coolest part was that is was actually a recording that had been redone by Sarah Groves who is an AMAZING artist (I sang one of her songs to Travis at our wedding). God is so cool!!!!!!!! It made me cry to see how He just patches up everything. Then He and I got together and shared beautiful moments of Him teaching me a dance in which I could worship Him and share the Joy of Praising Him at the Concert.

These are just a few moments that we have had in the last few weeks. I’m glad I got the drive to sit down and share them with you. Till next time. Kels

Psalm 91

2008-11-09T19:41:00.002+03:00

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."
Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare

and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you make the Most High your dwelling even the LORD,

who is my refuge-then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
"Because he loves me," says the LORD,

"I will rescue him; I will protect him,

for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Yesterday Travis and I got a call while we were out that someone had broken into our house. After and insane drive back from Kampala (not only did we want to get home to check on the house but we had just watched the new 007 movie. Travis new that this was his one chance to drive, well, like 007 without me screaming the whole way home. Those who know me know that would NOT BE COOL) We arrived home to find papers shrewn about the yard, the back window to the computer room busted up and our computers, Ipod, hand held GPS, sun glasses baught to protect Travis's eyes while way up in the clouds and Travis's back pack (which had his pilots license and other important paper work including passport in it), gone. The thieves had used bammboo (which had been put up to hold some ivey in the yard), and a hoe to pull things to the window and then take them out through the bars. After gathering up all the paper work that they had thrown out of Travis's back pack we found that miraculously they had thrown out his passport. Our smart little puppy had found it and about torn it to pieces. We also found that they had thrown out a Bandana which Andy had given Travis before leaving which has the scripture from above printed on it.

So rather than spending time fretting over the things that have been taken from us I want to remember the most precious thing that no one can ever take away. That is our relationship with a loving, protecting, caring friend, savior and father, Jesus Christ. In the midst of the stressful and scary situation that we were in yesterday God used a little bandana to tell us that there is nothing to worry about because He is almighty, He is our refuge and our fortress and He will deliver us from all that the attacts of those who try to come agaist us.

Please do keep us in your prayers at this time. We are also in the process of switching jobs. Travis will be done working with Air Serv in December and we will begin a short time position working with AIM AIR which is part of African Inland Missions, in January. We feel that it is no coincidence that many of the things which were taken are important to Travis's flying. AIM AIR is ALL about giving glory to God and serving those who are serving the Lord in Africa.

HOME MADE BREAD!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-31T18:16:00.003+03:00

I Kelsey Joy Harris successfully made home made bread today, and not only that but it was whole wheat home made bread. I was seriously beginning to think that Bethy just got all the bread making jeans and here I was in a country where good bread is hard to come by, not fare if you ask me. I was starting to think that God was calling me to become a brick maker cause every time I attempted to make bread, and mind you I did it JUST AS THE BOOK SAID, I ended up pulling out two lovely brinks out of the oven. Good maybe for building a dog house or something but no good for eating. Then it hit me, don't think bad of me cause it took me so long to figure it out, my yeast was DEAD. DEAD, DEAD, DEAD. Halleluja!!! Maybe things weren't as bad as I had imagind, maybe I have the bread making jean in me after all. I began to have hope once more. I found some new yeast and put myself to the test and by golly, I succeeded. The end

Go Macho

2008-10-31T11:25:00.005+03:00

Yesterday Macho really proved himself to be worthy of his name. We have been working hard with him and at times I think that I am going to pull my hair out because he drives me nuts, pulling laundry off the line, bringing random dead rodents to the front door to present to us, jumping unrelentlessly on everyone who walks in the gate (poor water meter lady), just for a few examples. But he has always been a great barker letting me know when anyone is passing by the house, and pretty early on he got a nice big dog bark which I figured would scare anyone away who was trying to pay us a visit for the wrong reasons. Yesterday I had taken Travis to work and was just getting ready to go pick him up when I noticed that Macho was really going at it with the barking and growling and he sounded more threatend than usual. I looked out the window closest to where I could hear him barking and I couldn't see him anywhere but to my surprise I did see a man pulling himself up on the back wall through the razor wire and everything. I immediately put on my deepest most scarriest voice I could and yelled "hey, hey, get out of here" his head popped up and when he realized I could see him he pushed himslef back down and ran off. I then went for Travises mag-lite flash light, its one of those big ones, and ran for the door, right before running out I realized that trying to chase the guy down when I was the only one home was probably not the smartest thing to do. So I called Travis instead and he had someone bring him home so I didn't have to leave the house alone. In the midst of it I forgot that we have panik buttons in the house which are suppose to alarm a company that sends out guards to your house, Travis had me pull it so I could have someone come and look around to make sure the guy wasn't hanging around anywhere.

I finally got some butterflies in my stomach after things calmed down and looking back I started laughing at myself wanting to chase after the guy. What was I thinking? I am just thankful for Macho because if it wasn't for him I would have had no idea that this guy was coming over the wall.

Just to give everyone a little assurance, I always lock the doors when I am home alone and I always have my mag lite :).

Oh Uganda!

2008-10-27T08:27:00.005+03:00

Once upon a time there were two countries, one names Kenya and the other Uganda. The borders were often closed between these two countries which made it vary difficult to transport goods from one to the other. Thus bodaboda boys were born. The boys would stack up goods on their bikes/motorbikes and haul them across the borders using small trails. You guessed it they got their name because they crossed from border to border. That is where it all began and here are some pictures of how it has blossomed and these courageous (crazy) guys are continuing the legacy not only near the borders but through out Uganda.

Who needs a truck when you've got a bodaboda?

I have not idea whot that is but it looks funny to me

Matoke anyone? (banana like food they cook and smoosh up)
If you look closely you can see that he is holding glass

Two of my favs I have yet to add to my collection of bodaboda photos. One is Chikens on a boda, the other fish. The chickens were tied together by thier legs and drapped over every possible inch of the boda, there must have been about a houndred stacked up on top of eachother and squacking away, yep they were alive.The Nile Perch were plopped on the back of the boda behind the driver and were HUGE. They had to have been over four feet long. Bigger than the one that Travis cought the other day (check out the Catching up blog for photo). Oh and how could I forget the bed on the boda and best of all boda on a boda.

That is a turket on his shoulder (alive)

I've been told that what he is carrying is tea

These two non boda guys made it on the boda boda blog cause I just thought they looked funny :)

Catching up

2008-10-23T10:22:00.008+03:00

I thought that I should try to catch up a bit on what we have been up to.

We were able to go out to the Seesee Islands with some friends of ours who work with the Baptist Mission. The islands are in Lake Victoria about a three hour boat ride from Entebbe. The ride out itself was awesome! Combine huge body of water, a little wind and a small boat and it equals fun fun fun, at least I think so. We were tossing here and there and were absolutely drenched by the time we got there. Way better that Six flags if you ask me. Once we were there we visited some of the fishing villages they minister in and I got to play for a few hours with some precious little kids. We took a hike (also the trail that the kids hike everyday to get to school, 45 minutes or so) on the main island that we stayed on and see the view from the top.

We went fishing several times but had absolutely NO bites until finally Travis pulled in a 30 pound Nile Perch. It was HUGE and really yummy when fried. According to Ricky and Brenda ( the missionaries) it was a little guy. They have caught ones upwards of 160 pound.

We also were in Nairobi for a few days. We flew a plane over for some maintenance. It was one of the most beautiful flights I have ever been on. We flew over countless Island in lake Vic that were just amazing and then once we got into Kenya the view was gorgeous. The land is so fertile, and there were parts where the earth just rolls then suddenly it just drops straight down into a huge valley. Our time in Nairobi was great!!! We stayed in a Baptist guest house and it was like being at home it was so comfortable. We even had a kitchen so we could cook for our selves. Some of my favorites about the trip were...
~Bagels and strawberry milkshakes at Java house
~Put put yes put put at Village Market
~Hanging out with AIM Air people, great company, great employees
~Going to the Nairobi National game park, Giraffes are hilarious and I love them

And the best off all was when we were flying out of Nairobi, my face was plastered to the window to catch as much of the view as possible when suddenly there was a cloud under us but it didn't ruin the view because I saw the coolest thing ever. I could see the shadow of our plane on the cloud and encircling the planes shadow was a rainbow. I felt God promising that he is and will always be surrounding us with his protection. This was especially encouraging to me since Travis and I are in Prayer right now asking the Lord to direct us to where he wants us to go next. We will be wrapping up with Air Serv Limited in Uganda in mid December. While we were in Nairobi we were able to Meet up with people from Aim Air ( a Christian mission aviation group) and we are really impressed with the mission but are also considering many other job opportunities and waiting on God to give us the go ahead for which one he can use us at best. A reminder that He is all around us and taking care of us really lifted my Spirits and reminded me once more that all the concerns that we have are best off in His hands.

Were back online

2008-10-21T11:43:00.002+03:00

So WE HAVE INTERNET again. I went into the store yesterday first of all I felt as usual that I was walking in on someones private residence cause neither of the ladies working there said a thing to me as I walked in they threw me a side glance then went back to talking to each other and working on something on the computer, so I introduced myself and said look it has been a month since our internet has been down and you guys have promised to come out several time and then did nothing ( the annoyed customer), then I said the internet is the only way we can keep in touch with those that we love from home ( the puppy dog face and all), ( I thought I would try a few different methods for getting what I wanted) the employees apologized and said that they had been busy but there was no excuse for a month of waiting. They called the technician and said kindly. He will be there within the hour. (back track for a second, we had already figured out that the router that blew was worthless so we paid for a new one like two weeks ago and the only thing that is left to do is for the technician to bring it to our house and set it up) One of the employees even showed a sign of customer service by asking for my cell so that she could call and make sure that he arrived within the hour. Two and a half hours later I called up and asked what was up. The lady said "oh, he is still at another house he will come". I asked come tomorrow, today? I don't think that she liked my question because then she said "today" and hung up. OHHHHH it took all that I could not to call back and teach her a bit about customer service. I had to go back to my days at covenant studying cultural differences. I remembered that her saying "within the hour" could really be within the next 8 hours and "today" could really mean next week, literally because they have such a different since of time. Also it is not that they are trying to be dishonest, they just want to make me happy so they tell me what I want to hear. To make this story shorter I will just go ahead and say, after three more calls two more promises that he was going to come, a night of rest trying not to get angry or give up on the internet all together WE NOW HAVE INTERNET and not only that, because they were out of the router that we had paid for they brought us a wireless one. I also have to just throw in there that from the time that the technician got to our hour to the time that he headed out the door it was no more than 10 minutes. I ask, why in the world did it take so long for him to get over here but since I have no answer and I'm sure I never will, I will just be ok with it and thank the Lord for the fact that we even have internet here when for so many people in the past and even in the present internet is not even a possibility. I will also pray really hard that nothing goes wrong with the internet.

Home agian

2008-09-30T17:18:00.003+03:00

So we ended up staying in Nairobi instead of going to Mombasa :(:( because Travis had to be back to fly on Monday. I have to admit I was a little bitter at first because we had specifically asked for the day off and had purchased a ticket for me to fly to Nairobi with Travis so we could go down to Mombasa for a few days. Since Travis and I have Birthdays close to each other we decided to take a little vacation rather than doing gifts for each other. I was SO looking forward to the beach. It almost kills me to be living just a five minute walk to beautiful Lake Victoria but not be able to swim in it (risk of getting Belharsia, don't know how to spell and don't really know exactly what it is just know that it is really bad). So it would have been GREAT to be able to spend time in one of my favorite environments WATER.

But bitterness is NO fun and profits absolutely NOTHING. So we moved on and made the most of the time that we had in Nairobi. We shopped a little, thank goodness not back to the shopping center that I had just spent two days at. Thankfully there is more variety in Nairobi than in Kampala as far as shopping goes. There was a great book store in the mall and Travis and I read all the time so we picked up a few books. We were able to go to Carnivore which is a really well known restaurant in Nairobi. As you can guess by the name they are know for all the varieties of meat they serve. It is one of those restaurants that you pay a set price and eat until you can't go on, litterally you put up a white flag of surrender when you can't take anymore. They usually have all kinds of exotic meats, the only one they had when we were there was crocodile, which servers bring to the table on swords then they carve off a piece onto your plate. Pretty cool. I think that the experience what better than the food itself but the food was still pretty good. One of my other favorite things was getting a yummy no better than that, super (for Em) duper delicious FRESH strawberry milk shake, a real one made with ICE CREAM from the Java house, another well know restaurant/coffe house in Nairobi. WOW!!! Travis and I haven't stoped raving about it since we have been home. I haven't seen strawberrys or any berry for that matter in Uganda but apparently they have them in Kenya.

So we ate and we read pretty much. I think that a lot of people like to eat, shop and drink in Nairobi because that seemed like that was all that was listed in the tourist book. We don't have much nead for shopping but we definately need to eat so we got to enjoy toe of Nairobi's best known restaurants and that was pretty much our trip. Good times :):):)

Chilling in Nairobi

2008-09-27T12:15:00.001+03:00

Chilling in Nairobi
Travis and I flew out of Entebbe yesterday to come to Nairobi, Kenya for a few days. The main reason for coming is so Travis can attend a training session (not quite sure what it is on but something for flying), but we thought that it would be neat for me to come along and when he is not busy we can do things around Nairobi and then hopefully get to go down to Mombasa Kenya on Friday after his training is finished to enjoy a few days at the beach. I’m really hopeful that this works out cause our plan is to take an overnight train which is an old English train with private cabins and a food car which I think would be great fun! We might have to go on back to Entebbe because although Travis got permission to take Monday off they scheduled him to fly, ARGGGG, so anyways we might have to cut the train and mombasa off the agenda and hang out in Nairobi. I guess that I shouldn’t be complaining, I am in a country that I have never been before and there are lots of things to do here, I was just really looking forward to the BEACH.
Travis's training is at the UN compound in Nairobi and thankfully there is a mall close by for me to keep myself busy in. It is too weird I can’t get used to my new disinterest in shopping. I have read almost the entire day and the only money I have spent was on food. I have walked the entire mall and window shopped but my favorite part was Nakumatt, the Grocery store and even there all I bought was some flavored tea. I did spend a good amount of time walking the isles in the grocery checking out what all they have here that we don’t have in Uganda. My favorite isle was of course the ice cream isle. They for sure have more variety and it is soooo much cheaper. In Uganda to get a 1liter ice cream tub, which isn’t even that great, is $16 here the same stuff was almost half the price and there was some other brands that looked way better for around the same price. OK enough about food. Well there is one for thing they had real milk in cartons. Now I am done.
I guess that is all I have to say for now about Kenya because really besides the airport and our hotel room the only other part I have seen is The Village Market mall.

MOM & DAD'S VISIT

2008-09-27T12:11:00.001+03:00

Mom and Dad
The best birthday present was to go to the airport and know that my mom and dad were going to be coming out any minute. I have been looking forward to it for months and now it was finally here. Travis was able to go in and help them with the bags cause he had his pilot uniform on, it was great for him to be able to help them with their bags and get them though quickly so they could get out to me faster. I loved seeing moms smiling face as she came out to meet me. I was glad to know that it was still possible for her to be smiling after such a long flight and her back was doing fine. With her back having been out recently we were really praying that the flight wouldn’t put her back down. I also loved seeing my daddy with his suit jacket on, I don’t know how he does it I always choose the most comfy close I have to travel in and he seems to do the opposite, but he sure does look nice.
The Next day it was my birthday, Travis’s birthday and Christmas all in the same day. Mom spoiled us with so many goodies they hardly all fit in the bags. It truly did feel like Christmas as we pulled it all out of the bags.
Mom also brought dance shoes, leotards (which had been donated by Steps of Faith) and colorful dance spots for my little ballerinas. A few of them had leotards from dress up but it was so fun to see how excited they were to get real leotards and shoes. One of the little girls was so excited about her shoes that she kept asking her mom if she could just carry them with her the whole day, and even sleep with them at night. It was so adorable!!!

Shopping in Kampala
Daddy headed up to Gulu (a town in Northern Uganda) with Timothy a friend of his who is from the area and is operating several development projects. Mom, Travis and I spent the day in Kampala showing her around the city and then taking her to a craft market and that is when the fun began. Ever since I have been here I really have NO drive to shop, Travis and I will be in Kampala picking up things like dog food and such and I will be ready to go way before Travis, however, with mommy at my side I was ready to go. We shopped and shopped and bargained and bargained some more and it was great. It was mostly little gift for mom to take home for people but it was just so much fun. Thank you mom for the great time!!!! Sorry Travis for having to wait around for us

The Haven
Poor mom has barely seen anything in Uganda, we took her to Kampala and she has seen a little bit of Entebbe but other than that she hasn’t really seen much. So when dad got back from Gulu we decided to take a little trip to Jinja. A few months ago I had found this really neat eco friendly lodge that is right on the Nile near some rapids. We had seen it when we were rafting the Nile and it was truly a beautiful place. I addition to its great spot on the Nile it is also in an area all to its own away from the hustle and bustle of Jinja. There are several different options for accommodations ranging from cute little bandas (huts) which share a community bathroom to the nicest of all a Honey moon sweet with a perfect view of the Nile and the rapids from almost the entire banda and a great big tub. Since the place wasn’t very busy the owner said that we could just choose what we wanted when we got there. Well we got lucky and when we got there Travis and I ended up being blessed with the Honeymoon sweet. The place was so beautiful that almost every moment we were there we were just soaking up the scenery and the nature. In the evening we went on a little boat ride up the Nile seeing many beautiful birds and also enjoying being surrounded by local fishermen, women gathering water, people washing clothes children splashing in the water and more. I will definitely upload some pictures from the trip when we get home. The trip up and down were quite eventful with some basket shopping, a random purchase of really cheap chairs to go on the porch, fitting back in the car with the random purchase of really cheap chairs to go on the porch, being pulled over by the police (we were speeding, ooops), paying for the speeding ticket, and checking out the fields and fields of sugar cane and tea.

Leaving mom and dad
It is a normal thing to take someone to the airport when they have been visiting your home for a while and it is time for them to return to their home but it is strange to say your goodbyes and then go in through the airport security and them stay. Something just isn’t quite right with that, it should go the other way around they should be going in through the security and you should be staying. Well we decided to put a little twist on the normal farewell that you usually encounter as you take someone to the airport. We decided to leave too and leave before them as well. Travis and I headed to Nairobi and mom and dad headed back to Georgia. Love you mom and dad.

Little ballerinas

2008-09-08T16:06:00.002+03:00

I am overjoyed!!!! Last wednesday I taught my first week of dance classes here in Entebbe.

I had been praying that God would use my passion for dance in some way while I am here. Several opportunities had come up for me to teach dance at a few schools in Kampala but I didn't feel led to any of them. I was actually getting frustrated because I was starting to think that God and I had some major communication issues going on. I felt very strongly that I was going to have the opportunity to share the Joy of praising the Lord through dance here but when the opportunities came there was nothing in me that said pursue it. I kept asking the Lord "am I not hearing you or are you just not speaking?" Finally I got a go ahead from the Lord to try to start my own classes here in Entebbe. There were some little girls who go to a fellowship that Travis and I attend and they just kept coming to my mind. Just a few days later I was at the fellowship and mentioned to their mother that I was wanting to start teaching some dance classes and asked her if her girls would be interested. Her little girls eyes and her own lit up immediatly. She said "are you kidding, my girls have been praying that the Lord would bring a dance teacher here to Entebbe". My heart skipped a beat cause I was so excited to get another confirmation that this was God speaking.

Over the next few weeks I have been finding out about more people who are intereted in dance classes and I have ended up with two classes so far. One for 3-6 year olds and the other for 7-10 year olds. I have had several moms asking if I would consider doing an adult class as well which I am hoping to put together soon.

I am sure that during the first class I was just as excited to be there as the little ballerinas several of the moms even told me you looked like you were having a blast. I am just so grateful that God is such a close God, he doesn't leave us in the dark to figure things out on our own. He gives us the yes when He really wants us somewhere and sometimes His no is just silence. We just have to be patient to wait for His voice.

I just want to add to this that I truely appreciate Mrs. Julies ability to schedule classes so well. It was Nearly impossible to get the schedule figured out so that everyone would be able to make it. Thank that Lord that he got it to all worked out in the end cause I didn't want anyone to miss out.

Lake Victoria

2008-08-31T17:21:00.002+03:00

It is Sunday afternoon and Travis and I just got back from enjoying a picnic on lake Victoria. We went into Kampala yesterday and decided to swing by Quality Cuts, which is where we get our meat. Local meat isn't so great and although we can purchase minced meat and chicken legs at the local shopping markets their electricity is as unpredictable as ours and so there is no telling how many times it has been thawed out and refrozen. Anyway we went to Quality Cuts to pick up some lunch meat(Travis insist it should be called sandwich meat) and some REAL cheddar cheese both delicacy's and special treats for us (isn't life funny). So we drove out to a place that we had discovered one time while out and about trying new roads and seeing where they lead. The location is actually really close to a fishing village so we were accompanied by a constant flow of young and old fishermen coming out with their makeshift fishing poles, some fishing boats pulling in their nets Bible style, and a butt naked bather (once again I want to say isn't life funny). The lake was gorgeous and we could see several islands from where we were. From almost any point in Entebbe you can see the lake because Entebbe is on a Peninsula but this place provides a particularly beautiful view of lake Vic. There was a countless array of birds including some King Fishers who are pretty cool little black and white birds who dive in the water to grab their meal, and also to see the fishermen working so diligently and patiently to bring in a living through fishing. After eating we started a new book about a young girls life in Somalia, Travis and I have enjoyed reading a few books together since we have been here about different people in African nations. All in all it was just so great to be out in the Ugandan sun (should have put some sunscreen on) and just see how beautiful a country and a people God has put here remembering what a privilege and a joy it is to be here.

Grace

2008-08-26T11:27:00.002+03:00

I feel like I am unable to put the words into the right order to be able to share this story with you and I know that my little post on it will not even come close to expressing it to its fullest, but I feel it is better to have what I can write written than nothing at all. This is the story of a little girl named Grace,

A few weeks ago a family at a fellowship that Travis and I go to sometimes shared a prayer request with everyone, they told of a little baby girl who had been found in a pit latrine. She was only a few hours old and yet had been thrown into the toilet to die. Those who found her just heard a slight whimper because the little baby had been wrapped in a flour bag before being thrown into the pit. The rescuers were able to lower someone very small into the pit in order to bring the baby out and by the Grace of God they got her in time.

After being pulled from the bit the authorities tried placing her in an orphanage but none would take her the reason being, as ironic as it sounds, she was too healthy. She miraculously hadn't suffered any harm in her first few hours and was free of AIDS and any other life threatening illness so she was rescued but without a home.

Through the next few weeks, Graces story of hardships continued she was then placed in a home with a woman from a local church but it was difficult for the woman because she worked full time and therefor had to place her in the care of a house girl most of the time and on top of that her husband was not a believer and had a not so flattering history. To say the least it seemed like Grace's life had improved very little in terms of safety.

The really good news is soon to come but first a few more facts, In Uganda like many other countries it is bewildering because there are seamlessly countless orphans with very few having opportunities to be taken in by people and yet it is very difficult for anyone not from their country to adopt them or have custody of them. Well by another act of God's grace the police authority gave custody of the baby to the couple who had lifted her up for prayer a few weeks earlier.

Grace is in the care of a family who now have four precious little girls. Two biological and now two from Uganda.

I got to see Grace for the first time on Sunday and it was all I could do to keep myself from crying because she is such a beautiful little girl and to think of how someone out of desperation and fear (or whatever reason it was) could throw her into a pit and leave her to die is just unfathomable.

Grace's story is a reminder to me that like her we were are born in a pit and yet God hears our cry and not only rescues us out of the bit but adopts us into his family as one of his own. Loving us and caring for us our whole life through.

There is still a long road ahead for Grace just because the authorities have given her into the custody of a loving and caring family the process of adoption is long and unpredictable. Please pray that God will bless the process and open doors and windows where they need to be open.

Our house

2008-08-19T09:41:00.003+03:00

Our house is really looking like a home now especially since the recent addition of curtains in the Kitchen and some wall hangings in the living room and bedroom that help to fill up the blank white walls. Almost all the walls in the house are white and therefor extremely plain. It has been a fun challenge trying to find ways to cheaply fill up the walls. Surprisingly wall hangings, baskets, pictures, frames and other African crafts are way more expensive than I expected then to be. Since we are probably just going to be here for a year it would be silly to spend too much on decorating the house. From my experience in other countries you can buy things at markets for pretty cheap if you know how to bargain. Sometimes you even walk into a market and the people practically chase you and save you the effort of trying to bargain by selling it to you for an unbelievable price. Here they are not like that, some people don't even want to bargain at all and you know that they are charging you way too much. You try to offer a price and they bluntly say no and then you try the walk away strategy which normally works in other countries and they turn around and walk away to. Not to much fun. But none the less I have been able to get some things to help to make our house look more like a home.

Here are some pictures...

Comical

2008-08-19T09:39:00.001+03:00

I think that it is pretty comical that we get internet at the house and then neither of us have written in almost a month. We will have to see if we can change that.

INTERNET

2008-07-25T09:49:00.003+03:00

Exciting news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We just got internet at the house so we will be able to keep on top of things (our blog, e-mails and more) much better now. I am excited because we will also be more aware of what is going on in the world as well. We have kinda been living in a little Ugandan bubble.

Ice?

2008-07-25T09:47:00.000+03:00

Ice, ice baby

I have to start this out with a positive note, the power in Entebbe is impressively dependable. Far more reliable than I thought that it would be however, it is a regular occurrence for the power to be off ALL DAY on Sundays. It isn't such a big deal as long as you get up before it goes off and get a shower and don't have any food that will spoil in the fridge. Last week that wasn't the case, after coming home from rafting we got in around eleven so the power had already been off for a while, we had purchased a great deal of meat on Friday, we had yogurt, milk, cheese, and some left over that I would have hated to go to waste. So around 2:30pm we headed out in search of “ICE”. We approached the first gas station with confidence, I jumped out to run in and grab a bag. I go in search around the store in each of the refrigerators and coolers with no luck. I went up to the lady at the counter and asked “do you have ice” “Ice”? She responded. Yeah, I said you know ice to keep thinks cool. She gave me a confused and said “no”. I ran back outside and relaid what I had learned to Travis. We went to the next gas station, we asked a women working inside if they had ice anywhere? She gave us the same confused look and then said “oh, you mean ice cream” and pointed us to the cooler of ice cream. We said “no like frozen water. So our second attempt was as fruitless as the first. We then preceded to the little grocery, and finally some one knew what ice was. They said “yeah, ice, we don't have that here. Go to Fish ways” We had never heard of it before so after getting an idea of where it is at from the woman we headed on over. It ended up being a HUGE fish packaging factory where they package Nile perch and send them to Europe. We approached the gate and the guard aproached the window he looked at us like “what are you guys doing here?” We asked bluntly, can we buy ice here? He gave us a strange look again and so we went into the whole story of the power and the meat and how no one sells ice and he let us in. We were really feeling funny as we walked into a nice air conditioned office and were brought to “The Boss”. He was an Indian guy sitting at a overly large desk. He gave us the same strange look that by this time we had become accustomed too and asked what can I do for you. We gave him the spill and some puppy dog eyes with hope that we could convince him to sell us some ice so we could save the meat. He laughed and said yes you can have some ice, I will give it to you but I will tell you this, you should just get a generator. Whooooooo. After all that time we finally had a simple bag of ice. We finally got back to the house about two hours later (note: none of the places we went were more than 10 minutes away, things just take a while here). The day was successful the meat and we had a big laugh thinking about the oh, so simple mission that we thought we had started out on but had turned into an our event.

P.S. I think that I spoke to soon when writing about how the power is pretty good besides Sundays, yesterday(Wednesday) the power randomly went off in the afternoon and just came back on around 8am this morning. Thankfully we saved our precious ice in the freezer and so it helped to keep things cool.

P.P.S. I really spoke too soon it was off again. I must of jinxed us LOL.

Rafting the Nile

2008-07-25T09:45:00.001+03:00

White Water Rafting

Last weekend (July 12th-13th) Travis and I decided to take a little road trip to Jinja, a few hours drive from Entebbe, where we could raft the Nile. The Nile actually has its source in Uganda from lake Victoria and then flows up though Uganda, Suddan, and then finally to Egypt. Travis had rafted at the same place a few years ago when he was doing relief work in Sudan. I too had been rafting before down the “mighty” Occoee. Wow! Was I in for a surprise/absolute shock/saw my life pass before my eyes.

We had a great group of people in our boat, two Israelis who had been traveling Africa for the last year, two Norwegians here for a few weeks working in local schools, and a very grumpy, yet some how hilarious, Keewie (New Zealander) as a guide.

The trip started out much the same as the rafting I had done back in the states with the helmets and the life jackets etc... then there was a few kilometers of calm water where we practiced all the maneuvers. We even went down a small grade two rapid out of the raft so we could practice what to do “if” we were to fall out at some point. The first thing that should have gotten my attention was that there were as many “rescue Kiyaks” as there were rafts, and in addition there were two rafts whose purpose was also for rescuing. I thought that they were just a little more precautious here than at the Occoee. It wasn't long before I realized that this was not the Occoee, and they weren't overly cautious they had those guys there for a reason. On the first grade four rapid we went in with excitement cause this was our first big one, next thing we know the raft is completely flipped and we are sucked under, when you are in the rapid there is no fighting it so we all just held our breath and hope to be swept up and be able to get a breath soon. I let go of my paddle when we flipped then suddenly there was one next to me so I grabbed it then I was under again when I came up there was Ingred (a Norwegian) I have never seen such FEAR in anyones eyes, it made me even more concerned then I already naturally was. In a second she was gone then there was another paddle then back under for me and I decided forget the paddles and let go when I came back up thankfully there was a rescue raft and they pulled me up. WOW!!!!! All of that while wearing a life jacket. We all finally got back to our raft coming from all different directions having been rescued by, other rafts, or Kiyaks. After such a traumatic experience Travis tells me “yeah I think last time I came we flipped six or seven times” AHHHHHH! This is an all day trip and I am beginning to wonder if we are going to make it out alive.

To make a very long story short throughout the day, truly by the grace of God, we only ended up flipping once more. I was comforted when I found out that although it was an all day trip there were at least three areas where the water was very calm and we simply paddled through those areas providing a little rest from the intensity. The last thing that I have to mention is my favorite rapid which included a ten foot waterfall. Yes we braved the rapid and then plummeted off the edge of the waterfall. It was one of the most amazing things that I have ever experienced. It was almost as neat to watch the others go off the edge as it was to experience it yourself. It was especially interesting watching those go before you one minute they are rafting about thirty feet in front of you and then suddenly they are gone, not to be seen again until you yourself take the plunge.

All in all it was a fabulous experience and we really enjoyed those that we were rafting with. The next week Travis and I were driving from the airport back to our house when out of the blue we see the Israelies (Smadie and Nadav) walking down the street. We swung a uie and headed back to where we say them. We ended up spending the rest of the evening with them eating supper with them then having them over for coffee and dessert. While they were at our house they noticed the guitar and so they asked Travis to play, we ended up singing praise songs an worshiping and it was so neat to see how God had his hand on who we sat with while rafting and then brought them back into our path to be able to hang out with and share our love for Christ with. We also picked them up the next day to take them to the airport as they headed back to Israel. We are praying that the Lord will bring other Christians into their lives as they are back in Israel and that one day we will be able to meet with them again if not on earth than even better in Heaven.

KURMUK!!

2008-07-11T17:32:00.002+03:00

In Proverbs 25:25 it says, “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land” (NIV). Since the year that I spent in Kurmuk, Sudan back in 2003; I have heard no news about the people I worked with there. So it was truly like “cool water to a weary soul,” when I was told that I would be flying some people to Kurmuk and staying there for several days… For years I had been longing to return to Kurmuk and see who was still living in the area, and what there lives were like. So it was a huge blessing for Kelsey and I to go Kurmuk on Sunday and return on Wednesday.
To my great surprise, many things in Kurmuk have changed in the last five years. And it was mostly development due to the peace between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Southern Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA). The town’s population has visibly tripled because of all the returning refugees. There is cell phone service by three different providers, which totally blows my mind because I thought Kurmuk was as isolated as you could possibly get. There are over 14 different relief and development organizations working in the area on various projects, as apposed to 4 when I was there. The market in Kurmuk has even turned into a massive bazaar with all kinds of produce. The niftiest thing I saw were stands where the salesman had many electrical plugs on a table beside a small generator so that he could charge customer’s cell phones for a small fee.
Although it was great to see and take in all the economic development going on in Kurmuk, the best part about the visit was just getting to see old familiar faces. I got to see many of the old hospital staff, our old compound guard, and Gurshi (who used to be the director of the community center). Gurshi used to go to great lengths to help me go show the Jesus film in various villages in the area. He was a very devout Muslim, and would get permission from all the various Muslim leaders in the area for us to show the movie. On various occasion God has really placed a heavy burden on my heart for this man. So it was really good to see him and get to visit. For some reason God placed it on my heart to give him a really nice pocket size New Testament that I had been carrying around with me for several months. Gurshi has been working with Samaritan’s Purse for the last five years, so he has had access to many free Bibles. But somehow I feel that God could really use this small NT to help Gurshi see the truth. Please be praying that God would speak to him powerfully.

Land Cruiser

2008-07-02T21:12:00.001+03:00

Land Cruiser

We were able to pick up our brand new nineteen ninety-two land Cruiser last Tuesday. We are so excited to be able to have purchased this car because it is in great condition and has all that we were looking for including, manual transmission, four wheel drive and an air conditioner that works, more for the dust than for the heat but we will admit it is so much nicer to be cool and not arrive at your destination with a wet back.

It was pretty neat because we had found a car that was being sold my an aid worker who was leaving to go to the states it was the same make and model but was a automatic, the air conditioner wasn't working and the interior and exterior weren't in to great a shape. We thought well you don't always get everything you want and we can settle for this and get the AC fixed. It was a great price and we were pretty desperate for a car since there had been some confusion about us having a temp car provided by Air Serve so we went home that night and were asking for the Lord to lead us and speak to us about the car. We picked up our Bible and were reading from our daily reading which we were in 2 Chronicles reading about King Amaziah. King Amaziah had hired some troops from Israel to help him fight the Edomites but a man of God had come to him and told him that he need to go to battle without them because God was not pleased with Israel and would cause him to fall. Hezekiah responded “But what shall we do about the houndred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this”.

Travis and I both felt the Spirit leading us back to that verse, like Hezikiah we thought that the best thing would be for us to get that car and then have our own transportation we would be better off more able to acconplish the things that we needed to but we felt that the Holy Spirit was telling us that he had something better planned for us, he was able to give us much more. So we continued looking and and few days later found this car at a car ware house (they call bond shop) which have freshly imported cars from Japan. It was in GREAT shape inside and out and had all the things that we were looking for, it even had new tires as well. After looking over it for a good while we jumped in to take a test drive. One of the workers rides with us and guides Travis telling him where to turn suddenly out of the blue Travis says “hey Kelsey, recognize this place, the guy had unknowingly directed us right past the residence of the previous car we looked at. We both started laughing because this is Kampala, it is a pretty big city and the chances that we would end up in the same residential area where we had looked at the other car was insane. We felt like the Lord was saying “see I told you that I had something better for you”.

Our God is SOOOOOOOOOOO Good, praise the Lord for his provision!!!!!!

Puppy Love

2008-06-23T15:18:00.001+03:00

We have a new addition to our family :) We met a family yesterday who had ten little puppies (They actually work for AIM Air) and so we decided to take one home with us. The mom was a German Shepherd mix and the dad was a golden retriever mix so we are not quite sure what he will end up looking like. He has shorter hair than any of his brothers or sisters and is also darker than all the others. We thought he was by far the cutest.

It has just been one day and we have already experienced the Joys of raising a puppy. It is going to be a lot of work but we are really excited to have him. I have yet to tell you his name because we really haven't chosen one yet. We have one that we are trying on to see if it fits. If anyone has any suggestions throw them out at us.

Fellowship

2008-06-17T17:55:00.001+03:00

Over the weekend we were able to go into Kampala, the capital city which is about 30 minutes away, and meet up with some friends of Travis's. They are a couple who Travis worked with when he was in Sudan a few years back. They have just recently moved here to Uganda and plan on being here for several years. They have two adorable little girls who were so much fun to play with. It made me miss my little ballerinas. It will be fun to have them close by for when Travis and I want to spend some time with little ones so we don't get any ideas about having our own any time soon, LOL just kidding. :) It is kinda funny we have been teasing about babies a lot because there are TONS of storks here. I never realized how huge and really hideous they are. It was soooooo great to be able to spend the evening visiting with them they were really helpful giving us all kinds of helpful information about where to find things in Kampala. Shopping here is like a scavenger hunt, as we dive anywhere Travis and I are looking out the window scanning the view to see if there is anything of interest. There are two mall type places in Kampala where they import groceries and other stuff from South Africa and Kenya so we have been able to find some cereal and stuff there but because most of the stuff is imported it is REALLY expensive so we don't want to shop there for things that we can buy locally. However, the locals don't put all their stores together in a little mall like we do so they are spread out in the most random places so hence we keep our eyes open all the time.

I am also always keeping my eyes peeled for any place where I might be able to get involved volunteering or working. I have passed an orphanage and also saw a dance studio in Kampala. I have been told that there are a few private schools in Kampala who might be interested in having someone come and teach dance. We will just see what happens.

God also blessed us this weekend by hooking us up with another missionary couple who has a house right here in Entebbe. They spend most of their time out on Islands in lake Vitoria but have a house here for when they come back to stock up. They invited us over for dinner and we had a wonderful time hearing about their ministry and just getting to know them. They were also VERY helpful and gave us all kinds of helpful hints about living in Africa. Travis and I just keep remarking on how it is just so amazing how we were complete strangers to them and yet through Christ there was a bond and because of that they automatically took us under their wings and showered us with love. What beauty there is in the body of Christ.

Yesterday we were also able to hang out with one of the pilots that Travis worked with in the Congo who was passing through Entebbe on his way to go raft the Nile. I can't wait till Travis and I get the chance to go.

I think that my favorite adventurous endeavors have been riding the public transportation, like I mentioned earlier they drive CRAZY here and although it is kinda dangerous it is fun at the same time. It is also just neat to be with the people, once we have our own vehicle there probably won't be as many opportunities to take the local transportation. I also had a great time going to the Saturday market which was pretty much right across the street from our house. It is so neat to buy the veggies and fruit SO fresh and so cheap.

One more note before I close. My Cooking/baking has vastly improved since the disastrous peanut butter cookies. I want to through out a thank you to whoever has been praying for this because it truly is miraculous.

GOD BLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uganda

2008-06-12T16:26:00.002+03:00

We haven't even been here for a week and yet Entebbe Uganda feels so familiar. I guess that it is typical to feel comfortable in a place that you are so excited to be at. We got to Entebbe late on Friday night June 6th and were able to come straight to our house which was soooooo nice. The house was pretty dirty so we had to do a little cleaning that night so we could feel comfortable. We were able to find our bedding and bathroom stuff in the midst of the bags that we had

brought with us. We are so grateful to have nice bedding and towels with us and are so glad that we were able to fit it in our bags. Being able to have nice clean sheets, bedspread and beautiful towels, shower curtain rugs and

etcetera helps to make things comfortable. Thanks sooooo much to everyone who blessed us with the linens.

We have spent a LOT of time cleaning the last few days and it feels like we still have sooooo much to do to feel like our house is truly clean but it really is an adorable house and we are so grateful to have it as our first home.

We have also spent a good deal of time looking for a car. The driving around here is CRAZY and so although there are public modes of transportation we are going to be investing in getting a car to be able to drive ourselves. Air Serve (The company Travis works for) has been letting us borrow a car until we can purchase one but yesterday they had to use the one we have been driving for something else and so it was the Borra borras (Motor bike taxis) for us. WOW!!! I have to admit that it was pretty fun but when you are on a bike and the cars are flying around each other on the left and the right, without much thought about the bikes, bicycles and pedestrians that are also on the road it is a little

frightening.

I wish I had some really neat stories to tell about what we have seen and done but I would have to say that some of the most interesting moments have been me attempting to cook and bake :). Well, Binkley family I guess that my reputation for being a disaster in the kitchen lives on. Travis got to enjoy some lovely peanut butter should have been cookies that tastes more like bread a few nights ago. We did make some lovely spaghetti together which we have been eating for three days now. Next time we won't make the entire bag of noodles (that part was Travis's idea I knew that that would be WAY TOO MUCH). We did have some monkeys show up at the house which was a neat experience. Apparently they come around pretty often.

Altogether our first almost week has been so much fun and we have been enjoying being here together getting used married life and life in Uganda. We feel like every day we have been growing closer to one another and learning

more about each other. God has been so good to us and has been leading us and we are so excited to get settled in here where he has brought us.

We hope that all of y'all are doing well. We miss you!!!

In Christ,

Travis and Kelsey

Honeymoon BLOG

2008-06-12T16:14:00.005+03:00

As Travis and I got on the plane together to fly to Honduras it was cool to realize that although both of us have traveled all over the world this was our first time to ever travel together. Honduras was absolutely wonderful. We spent several days on a private cay that we rented. Which was off the coast of Honduras. The cay was adorable with a little house two docks, lounge chairs, hammocks and was surrounded by coral reefs. It was truly a little paradise and it was really neat to spend a few days just the two of us, well that is except for the other residents that we discovered on the island including countless Hermit Crabs, which appeared each night and seemed to cover the island, a few friendly bats, and another resident who seemed to have run out of food because he kept invading ours, yes I am referring to a mouse. We managed to get along with the other residents on the island and really enjoyed those which lived in the coral reef around the Island.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was simply the boat trip from Little cay to Utila, the main island that the cay was off of, a storm was on its way and the water was really choppy so the ride was a blast we were bouncing and being tossed around like crazy, it was sooooo much better than any Six Flags or Disney World ride I have ever been on. I also got to see a flying fish just gliding above the water near our boat.

We spent a few days in La caiba which was really neat because it is one of the cities where Travis grew up. While we were there we hiked to a beautiful waterfall (I think that we must have a thing for waterfalls...Engagement). We were also able to meet up with a few of Travis's REALLY good friends while we were there.

Wedding Blog

2008-06-12T16:11:00.002+03:00

I don't think that the wedding could have turned out any better. The weather was perfect, the location decorated looked absolutely beautiful, the food and cakes were marvelous and ceremony went well without a single train going by and to top it all off the fellowship and dancing afterwards were priceless.

We have to throw in here a HUGE THANKS to everyone who helped out, the hard work that y'all put into the wedding was what made it go so great. We weren't able to thank you all personally but we want to let you know that we really are thankful for y'all. Also thanks to all the guest who came and celebrated with us, it was such a joy to have you all there and to those who weren't able to make it know that you were missed.

There are moments that I think man all those months of preparation for just a few hours

maybe we should have just alloped, but then those moments pass and I remember how much fun we had shopping and finding great deals and awesome things just dropping in our laps. I remember how much fun mom, mare and I had shopping and being on the lookout for things for the wedding and I realize that I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Karibu Sana!

2008-05-02T12:17:00.005+03:00

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to our blog. It might have been a while since we have communicated with many of you, and you might not even be aware of the path our lives have taken. Last November Kelsey and I began dating, and on March 3rd we were engaged while on a visit to South Africa. We first met many years ago while in elementary school as a result of our parents friendship, and their mutual interest in foreign missions. In early 2004 Kelsey and I were reacquainted with one another, and developed a very close friendship which we have maintained over the last several years. We consider ourselves incredibly BLESSED to be joining paths to serve the Lord wherever he calls. Kelsey and I will be getting married on May 24th. Shortly after, we will be moving to Entebbe, Uganda were I will continue working with Air Serv. I have been working with Air Serv International as a pilot since mid December 07 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

We have created this blog to enable us to easily communicate with friends and family. Although we may be separated by great distances, we can still share special moments in our lives as we daily seek to walk in complete trust and obedience to the Lord. Kelsey and I are very excited about embarking on this lifelong adventure together. God has truly blessed us beyond measure!

Yours Truly,
Travis & Kelsey