Hosanna!

We watched God heal your body...





Now we've seen Him heal your soul...







Samuel Balinda baptized at Faith Quest 2007.

If the Internet was a Race...

The internet.

A vague…can’t hold it in your hands or shake it…but it exists…Thing.

Do you remember when you first heard of the World Wide Web?
Back when the phenomenon of the Net was gaining momentum…we had just moved to Africa.

We heard of the wonders of the “race”. The amazing information. The immediate accessibility. The endless possibilities…

We eagerly joined in to “race” with the world. We wanted to enter the fray and keep the pace. Most other countries seemed to have a speedy, reliable, well-trained “athlete” in their “lane”. Month after month, year after year, the athletes improved…gained strength…ran longer and faster…and were much more impressive.

In our lane, the progress was slower. Amidst the cheering fans of the competitors, we nervously glanced at our athlete and wondered exactly what was going on. Zeroing in on our racer, we recognized the laughable nature of the situation. We searched for another participant. We felt an odd mix of panic and embarrassment. How did we end up with this guy? Ultimately, in desperation, we accepted the painful realization that there was no other option…
We sidled up to our "runner" and began to coax. We encouraged. We motivated. We paid money. We prayed. But in the end…as the speedy opponents lapped us again and again…we accepted the sad, sad fact…that our lane’s success rested on the hardened shell of…a turtle.

Slow and not always sure…

Many times…completely withdrawn and immovable…

Sigh…

As we continue to struggle through the race…that is, the internet…we are doing all we can…

But in the end…we are depending on….a turtle.

Thank you for bearing with us…

Pausing for Thanks

Before we get too far away from it…

Let me just pause and say…

What a pure delight it was to welcome Ben Wall to our home and ministry in Ft Portal.

It’s no surprise… he fit right in.

He and Trisha have been a part of this work for years now.

They are story telling, laugh-festing, sorrow bearing, dream sharing, soul-trusting friends.

And those are hard to come by, in this life.

The only thing that would have made his visit better…

Trisha’s presence. ☺ (Have I said that enough, Ben?)

God spoke mightily through you, brother. At Faith Quest, in Ft Portal church, in our yard, on the drive to Kampala and during all those late night talks…

Our brothers and sisters here were challenged, blessed and fed...

Our children were thrilled to hang out with "Mistuh Ben"...

And Jeff and I were...again, rejuvenated...by the presence of a "point us to God" friend.

Sweet Trisha, I’m sure you had the harder job. Your willingness to sacrifice your husband’s time and presence is a tremendous gift. Thank you for single parenting with your hands very full. You are my hero.

We love you deeply in Christ…and are overwhelmed with joy every time we get to share in ministry with you.

How sweet it truly is!

Come back and see us “Mistuh Ben.” (but bring Trisha!)

I Can't Believe I Did That

So.

After realizing that yesterday was Superbowl Sunday, Jeff and I looked up the time ESPN would run the game on the Satellite stations.

3AM. Oh my.

Of course, it will be replayed in its entirety on Monday at a reasonable hour.

But.

My hubby and I discussed how COOL it would be to actually watch the Superbowl AT THE SAME TIME as all of you dear American loved ones.

Think of it.

While you are eating some wonderful Super Bowlish snacks and dinner...sitting in living rooms watching the action...

We MISSIONARIES....in a FOREIGN LAND....could be bleary eyed...watching the action at the very moment you are.

Which would mean that on the day following the SuperBowl we could freely read the news on the internet...open emails with abandon having no fear that someone would inadvertently give the score away...before we saw the game.

Here's how it all went down.

We drank alot of caffeine around 10:30pm.

The caffeine kept Jeff buzzing until about 3:25am. He saw the kickoff and the first three scores...but couldn't keep his eyes open beyond that.

I, completely unaffected by the caffeine, fell dead asleep about 11:30pm....but woke up about 3:25am when Jeff was searching for the remote control to switch the TV off...

I forced myself awake for "just a few minutes" so I could see some of the gaming live. But, of course, found myself drawn into the terrific game and ended up staying awake longer than I expected. Sometime around the end of the second quarter, I dozed off and woke up to Prince with a head scarf (?) and two women in black dancing madly around him, flinging their very wet hair in all directions. I pulled myself away from the Artist Now Again Known as Prince, and I slept some more, but woke up after about two minutes of the third quarter...and stayed awake to the end.

Jeff slept like an angel beside me.

So I saw it all. The interceptions. The touchdowns. The field goals. The very wet spectators. (I didn't see any commercials. We wouldn't be missionaries if we weren't deprived of something!)

As it became obvious who the winner would be, I had to stay awake for the players to pour liquids on their already drenched coach.

It was delightful. I was thrilled. The SuperBowl live.

Then I realized it was 6AM. Yep. 6AM.

I began feeling the pain at that moment of stunning recognition. I had VOLUNTARILY sat up most of the night. No sick kids. No bad dreams.

Just the Superbowl. And a missionary missing her home culture so much that she would sit up all night to share in one super sports moment with her family and friends in America.

I can't believe I did it. Except that it really feels like I did. My brain is dead tired. And the coffee hasn't yet worked its magic.

Thankfully today is our day off. On the agenda....

More coffee....and the replay of the Superbowl with my husband and kids.

I'll probably sleep through the whole thing....:-)

You Know You're In Uganda When...

...It’s 5PM on Sunday afternoon, the FIRST time you realize it is Superbowl Sunday!

So who are you rooting for?

New Beginnings?

I've missed you.

It's been a sad, sad era in Internet Land for the Cashes. I can hardly believe I'm on my edit page. I haven't been able to move past actual blogs for about 6 days.

Before that, I was, diligently working to upload pictures. Work, that for the most part, proved futile...I'll spare you the gory details.

Nonetheless.

We will not quit.

And the blogs will keep on coming. Sooner or later.

Jeff has spent much time the last few days attempting to get us on a new internet service. He has more gray hair and no new service as of yet.

I repeat, we will not quit. :-)

And speaking of new things...I was headed to the edit page tonight, mostly expecting the internet to lock up before completeing the task...when the "change to new blogger" screen came up. They've been suggesting for some time that we switch...now, they are making us. So, with much fear that I would lose the connection sometime in the middle of my switch...I did it. It seems to have worked. Which is cause for much celebration in our home. Something worked!!!!
I'm just thankful that I won't have to sign in as "Old blogger" anymore. :-)

On to the new!