A farewell to one of our "sons"

We first met Jacob in 2001 when we were working in Sudan at the transitional camp for demobilized child soldiers. Jacob stood out because of his friendly personality, leadership skills, and English skills. He often was our interpreter in the camp. He was so bright and showed great potential. He became a soldier at a very young age and had been in combat several times. He was once shot and left for dead on the battlefield but managed to survive and make it out.

In 2003 we were able to get Jacob out of Sudan and into Kenya so he could go to school. So for the past 6 years we have been sponsoring Jacob as he has studied in Kenya.

This past August Jacob let us know that he was ready to return to his home in Sudan to try to find his family and begin his life as an adult. We were sad to let him go and will greatly miss him, but we also have always known that this time would come and are happy that he is able to go home. He called us after arriving back in his village to let us know that he managed to find his parents! We are still praying for him- that God will direct his path as he now makes his way in Sudan!

Jacob the night he left for Sudan

September Trip to the USA
We traveled to the USA the beginning of September and attended the 50th wedding anniversary of Jade's mom and dad. It was a special celebration as they renewed their marriage vows (I guess after 50 years they truly understand the meaning of those vows!!) and celebrated their anniversary with family members. (It was also a special weekend because I (Shelah) got to see my brother Jason's daughters Ashley and Kerri whom I had not seen in a very long time!)

A-G and K-J got to be the flower girls


The Acker "Tribe"

Our girls enjoyed getting to do things they can't do in Kampala, like riding the merry-go-round at the mall.

They also had fun with the bubble machine

Refuge and Hope Fundraiser

Another purpose in our trip back to the USA was the annual Refuge and Hope fundraiser.
It ended up being a really fun afternoon and we are so pleased and thankful for the money raised that will help our work among people affected by war and conflict in this part of Africa! Thanks to all who came out and helped make it a success!!!

Art work which was donated by various artists for the silent auction

We had a great time reconnecting with friends, especially the student.go team who were in Uganda this past June working with us

Anna, Carson and Abby! :)

Christina!!! She came all the way from Chicago!!! Thank you!!

The BEACH

Thanks to some very dear people (whom we can never repay!!), we were able to have 2 days off in a beautiful condo in Florida. It was especially a blessing because some of our best friends (Chad and Leslie and their daughter) were able to join us at the beach!

AG in the sand

KJ liked the water

and the sand!

Making sand castles

A-G learning how to fly a kite

Trying to hold it down

Jade's sister and family also live in Florida so it was good to get to see them one last time before departing back to Africa

A-G and cousins Ronette and William

Reflections...

This trip back was different for us in many ways. One being that we now have two small children and that made a huge difference in our energy level when it came to speaking, attending meetings, and trying to get work done. Secondly, I think we are just getting older, and our families are getting older, and it makes it harder and harder to say goodbye each time we leave. At the same time, we really missed Uganda and our "family" and work here. It is a very "divided" sort of feeling. We were excited to get back home and into our work, but felt a stronger sense of sadness at leaving our family than ever before. Much of this is due to my mother's illness. It was hard seeing her sick and having to undergo chemo treatments and leave knowing she has 6 more months of chemo to endure.

Also, while we were stateside there were riots and some unrest in Kampala, which was hard because Lino was here, alone at home, while we were there, separated. Thankfully things were calm by the time we returned and Lino was fine (in fact he really did great!) We still haven't been able to get legal guardianship of him so it made us realize that he really would be "stuck" if something ever went wrong here and we needed to leave. We are battling frustration over the difficult process of trying to get legal rights over someone we have cared for since 2003! We hope this will be the month for that to finally take place! Please pray for this!!

So, here we are back in Kampala and trying to sort out all these different emotions. We do feel like this is home and 100% that this is where we are supposed to be and we are excited about what the future holds. Every single day is an adventure and we certainly are never bored, but we do miss our family and friends (okay, and Papa Johns Pizza too)!! We take comfort in knowing that this world is not really our home, that we are just living on borrowed time, and that one day we will never have to say goodbye again...so for now we will do our best with what we have been given and try to live each day to the fullest for the Kingdom of God.

Also, please visit our newly updated website: http://www.refugeandhope.org/ and the Refuge and Hope blog at http://www.refugeandhope.blogspot.com/