Sunday, November 11, 2007

1 Down 1 to Go!!!... 1 Year in Uganda!!!

We can hardly believe it, but it was ONE YEAR AGO TODAY (Nov. 11th) that we boarded the plane and LEFT FOR UGANDA! Jesus has met us with extraordinary amounts of grace to handle all the transitioning of a new country, culture, language, house, job and life. There have been struggles and difficulties of course, but we are thankful for how God has given us His strength and discernment to fix our eyes on Him.

AND.... Billy & Joanna gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl on November 3rd!!!!!!!!!!! Elsie Jayne Coppege!!!!!! They are still in the States and are not sure of when they will return to Uganda. Please keep them in your prayers as they are going through this huge time of transition in their life. Also, many of you have been praying for Billy's dad. He is steadily recovering from his heart attack, but still suffering from memory loss. The doctors are hopeful, but the entire Coppedge family still need our prayers.

And... Jeannie Banter has returned to Uganda!!! She is in Kampala right now & arrives in Arua tomorrow (Nov 12), and we can't wait to see her! Thank you for your prayers for her and her health. The doctors say she is healthy enough to be here for one month. She will be leaving in mid-December, which was her original date to return home. Please continue to pray for her health and that the short time she has here would be fruitful!

Also, in case you were wondering... our puppies are getting very big! They are really cute, but a lot of work! They are almost 8 weeks old, so we are needing to find good homes for them. Please pray this happens soon!

Finally, we just wanted to point out that we posted 2 blog entries today... It has been so long since we've blogged; we just had too much information for one entry! Sorry! We hope this isn't too much to read at once! Thank you for caring enough to read about our lives and keep us lifted up in prayer! We appreciate you so much!

Our upcoming schedule:

Nov. 11 - Jeannie Banter returns to Arua!
Nov. 16 & 17 - Pastor Training
Nov. 24 - John & Sam teaching on worship @ Kampala Int'lUniversity
Dec. 1 - Pastor Training
Dec. 8- Pastor Assessment Exam given.

5 comments:

Adam Godbold said...

lindsey and i have been praying for you guys!

-adam godbold

John and Erica said...

Thanks Adam & Lindsey! Good to hear from you guys and thanks so much for your prayers. Drop us a e-mail when you the time so we can catch up.

In Christ,

John & Erica

ambererny said...

Hello Friends! I am glad to hear things are going well for you all in Arua...I miss it so much there! You guys are amazing! I love to read about all that God is doing through you.
This is random but do you think you could email me...I have a question about sponsoring someone there for a computer class.... amber.erny@gmail.com
Thanks!

Blessings,
Amber

Josh and Brin said...

hi guys~ congrats on your 1 year! We just had ours too. Great job on your blog, it was great to check in with you. ~Brin & Josh

Tim and Laurie said...

Hard to believe it's been a year since you arrived. Congrats!

Hope your Thanksgiving day will be special there. A bit harder to do when the whole world around you has no idea! May God continue to bless you.

-tim rickel