Changes and saying Goodbye

The time has come and gone to say goodbye to part of my family here in Uganda. Stacy Buss and Anna. They have lived with me in my home since last July while Stacy worked on finalizing her fostering of Anna and ultimately adopt her stateside. She has worked tirelessly over the last several months, not only to finalize her own process, but to assist the current other parents with theirs, as the foster coordinator for the baby home.

It was difficult to say goodbye. Her and Anna have been an integral part of my life over the last 8 months. I have watched her and Anna grow together as Mother and Daughter and it has been a beautiful maturation. They love each other and depend on each other. I know with God's help, Stacy will be a great MOM. She has already shown that.

The trip to Kampala and then to Entebbe was long, arduous and nerve racking. This is a good time to ask you to pray for us as Christians and white people here in Uganda. Currently, Ghaddafi ( is he the leader of Lybia?) and 19 other leaders of African nations and some other Islamic nations are here to "celebrate" the opening of the largest Muslim mosque in the world ( or so I am told). A 4 day celebration that we ended up having to be in the middle of. Motorcade after motorcade and many police escorts all day long while in Kampala. These completely stopped traffic or drastically slowed it down, which does not help considering the fact that driving in Kampala is ALWAYS a long process and difficult. So far it has been peaceful, and no "christian" has been under attack, except in written form in the paper.

What normally would have taken a mere 40- 45 min at the most at 8pm took us over 2 hours. We left downtown Kampala at a few minutes before 8pm and arrived at Entebbe airport at 10:10 p.m. After a long long wait on Kampala Road and finally detouring way out of our way to get there in bumper to bumper traffic.

Her flight time was scheduled for right at 11:00 p.m. and we prayed all the way, that somehow she would be allowed to board and her flight would be delayed.

We arrived at the airport, unloaded her 4 checked bags and 2 carry-ons between them. They would not allow us to assist her with the luggage and Anna except to stand and hold Anna by the luggage X-ray machines while Stacy went in to speak to the Concierge. She came back out running and told us her flight was delayed "Praise God for Answered Prayer", until 2:30 AM and they were giving her a "special Pass" to go ahead and check in and board. That gave us NO time to properly say goodbye, because she had to get right back into the secured area.

So Debbie, Sonia and I stood outside and watched her at the ticket counter through the glass windows, rejoicing that we could see she was being processed. Then, hoping she would see us as she passed by the windows on her way to the security screening area, we waited. She did see us and came over to the windows, so we could waive and cry to each other through the glass. NOT a great goodbye, but we were thankful she was allowed to go through. Later she text us and told us, they told her she should make it in time for her connecting flight in Amsterdam. We are waiting to hear from her that she has arrived safe and sound to her mom's in Minnesota. She should have arrived about 3 hours ago.

God has been so faithful over the last few hours, for her, that despite the fact we will miss her terribly, we rejoice that she is now home (in America) with little Anna. What a great and mighty God he is!!! Blessings on them as they start their lives in America and become a permanent family.

I am amazed daily, by the many things God allows me to see and do while here. I have the privilege of overseeing the health care of all our children. While that is sometimes a big challenge, and not always easy, I KNOW that they are getting the best medical care that is possible while in this country and since medicine has never been an exact science, at least I perform with their very best interest at heart. What I know, is that I serve a mighty God and He has always shown me His Grace. Blessings on all who read this today!!