June & July 2014

Here is our newest member of the family, "Sandy". 
She is becoming a good guard dog; alerting us to any visitors in the compound. 
She also enjoys keeping Maxwell company by playing with him at the front gate to our door.

Dear Friends & Family,

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. We are very thankful and grateful for what the Lord is doing in both our lives and yours too.

Ticket to ride, food and fellowship:
You can't go wrong with that combination!

 The last time we gave an update was when we were planning to move closer to our church and to the people we minister to and with.  We needed to move for the sake of security and also to increase our effectiveness in the ministry in Nkumba. We are so happy that we have successfully moved in into our new place and special thanks to our church staff who helped us greatly in that process by packing and unpacking, loading and offloading of all our belongings from house to the truck & from the truck to the house.

Ladies from the church help cook a satisfying meal of pork,
rice, beans, chappati, and avocado.  It is now the season for this
amazing fruit-we eat it with just about every meal!

There is no doubt that this is the place where God wants us to be: we feel more secure and peaceful in this new place. We also get an opportunity many missionaries don’t get: daily connection with the people in the church community. Our new home is five minutes away from church. We never know who will show up in our compound-we often have our close friends from the leadership team stop by for tea or a meal; last week a group of teenagers from the church showed up and helped with the giant pile of laundry, sometimes we find young children respectfully kneeling at the front porch with a basket full of avocados, or it could be one of Chief's many relatives that have been living in Nkumba for decades, stopping by to discuss a family matter. We love getting to share a meal, play a game or two, and pray together with friends in our home-not just limiting ministry and fellowship to our church building. Our church's desire to impact the people within our village is reflected in it's name: House of Prayer Community Church Nkumba. Another benefit of living close to church is how easy the 'commute' is-Laura now has the freedom to leave church when needed and walk Maxwell home in the stroller. (Allowing Chief to stay as long as needed after a church service or meeting!) We even had used the stroller on a rainy Sunday morning when the car was likely to get stuck in the mud on the way to church!

Enroute to Church for Sunday Service

 We are indeed enjoying our new life in Nkumba, but of course we have our challenging days- mainly when it comes to time, energy and money. For months we've had to deal with many challenges driving on Entebbe Rd. (the main road that leads to the capital city,Kampala): crazy taxi drivers,ambitious bodaboda riders, irresponsible cyclists, disorganized pedestrians crossing whenever they feel like it, corrupt police officers standing by the road side stopping every car that passes by, driving at night with full lights from oncoming traffic flashing violently through your eyes,the baby crying in the back because it is past his bedtime, cars twirling and swaying in dense inches of mud and puddles.Frustration, indignation and discouragement choke Chief after pursuing for a dependency visa for his wife and son to live here, when they keep telling him “come back tomorrow”...now it’s taken over 3 months of visiting the Internal Affairs office, when the visas should have taken days to complete.

We currently do not have much stable financial support but we are so humbled and grateful for the people who are led to give to our family or the ministry at House of Prayer Community Church Nkumba. Laura's theme verse for this season is Matthew 6:33: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." She experiences the most spiritual growth when studying and planning for the weekly Sunday School lessons from the book of Matthew...she often feels that she needs to learn just as much (if not more) of Jesus' teachings then the children in her class do! We know that God is teaching us so much in this stage of "humble beginnings".  Our 2 bedroom house is simple by American standards but truly, as one girl from Laura's Sunday School class exclaimed upon seeing the spacious kitchen, "It's a DREEEEAM!". Most people around here do not even have a bathroom or kitchen in their house, so we are constantly reminded of how blessed we are when we visit our neighbors. We are also thankful that Laura has the opportunity to teach violin lessons in Kampala once a week. She currently has 4-5 students and we drive as a family to each home with Chief hanging out with Max in the car. Coincidentally, our nearest neighbor (the one that is in the story below) has been looking for a music teacher. This week Laura will begin teaching their 5 year old daughter violin lessons and we hope that she will find more students right here in our neighborhood. 

Bountiful basket dropped off as a
"welcome to the neighborhood" gift!

One particular day when we were all feeling tired and discouraged- the day was rough, we didn't have enough money even to buy groceries, and after coming home late we saw something unusual at the door..  lo & behold...a thoughtful neighbor had dropped a basket full of produce; a giant zucchini, eggplants, cucumbers, bell peppers and a big bag of peanuts (better known as "g-nuts") fresh from their garden. It is so encouraging to see God providing for our needs and strengthening our faith when we are feeble. These are the lessons we carry with us as we continue to venture into this journey of faith. God continues to reassure his love and faithfulness to us through so many things like the families and the churches that support us through prayers and finances. We are highly blessed by you all. We also try to share the same blessings with other people around us through paying them visits, helping their kids with school fees etc..
The elderly lady holding Maxwell in this photo on the left has recently started to attend church. Her home is about 2 houses down the road from the church compound. A few months go we knew she had some back and joint pains so we went to her house to visit and pray for her. People like this "Jajja" value our visits so much in Nkumba-since that visit she has been attending Sunday morning services!  The man with the cap is Chief's brother Frank.  Frank lives right across from the church. He goes to the Jajja's home every Sunday morning to pick her up and escort her as she creeps to church. It is refreshing to live in a community where we always feel very welcome wherever we go. 

Ready or not, here I crawl!!!  -June 2014

Laura often feels more like a daily parade then a resident-she becomes the center of attention walking down the street with her fair-skinned child...when mothers see her coming they often run inside the house to grab their children just in time to wave to us from their front door; encouraging them to call greetings to the mzungu and her baby in his intriguing "bicycle" (I don't think they know the word stroller here).  Maxwell brings so much joy to all of the people who meet him- he is such a people person-giving a squeal and a smile to anyone who gives him attention. We are blessed that people have recently volunteered to take care of him during church (ex-pushing him around the church compound when he gets cranky so he can fall asleep!) so Laura and Chief can focus on their ministries on Sunday mornings.
We also feel very fortunate to be serving with amazing people who are committed, loving, caring, and above all passionate for Christ. Without a solid team of ministers like them there is no way we would have been able to accomplish anything. We are dynamic team with very different personalities! It is humbling to see how God can use all of us-most of us are in our 20's or early 30's, from different backgrounds and different churches, but when we come together to serve we work efficiently as a team. "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them..." Romans 12:4-6a

From left: Markman, Abbey, Thaddeus, Sylvia, Chief 

(Maxwell, better known as "Musoke"), Laura, Sophie & Frank.  

We are so pleased with the commitment the leadership has shown. In the past year every person has been passionate enough to the ministry to move from Kampala to Nkumba except for 2 people: Sylvia-who already lived here-and Sophie-who hopes to someday move with her family to Nkumba. The newest members of our team are Abbey and Frank, who joined us in February this year. Abbey is our Youth Director and also teaches in Sunday School. Frank is our Worship Leader and has recently begun a guitar ministry.Every person is a volunteer.

Laura leads the children as they sing "Our Father", a song based on the Lord's Prayer. The Sunday School continues to learn the same book of the Bible as the main church service. We are currently learning from the book of Matthew. 

Lovely ladies from Kampala come to visit Laura!!!

 We thank God for granting us the grace to finish 2 years in marriage. It has been a wonderful journey to travel together as a couple and to allow God to use us for His glory. We as a married couple have experienced the goodness of companionship, lifting each other up in times of sorrows, rejoicing together in times of joy, serving together in the ministry as we draw closer as friends and parents. It's amazing to think of what we have experienced in just 2 years of marriage-Getting married in the US in 2012, then living in Kampala while Laura teaches at Heritage International School, starting a church together, then living in Georgia for 7 months and travelling to a variety of places (NYC, Las Vegas, California), and of course having our first baby almost a year ago! We thank God for our little boy Maxwell, he brings so much joy to us. Besides being new parents, for the past 6 months we have been discovering what it is like to do full time ministry together. We thank God for every person who has been in our lives during the last 2 years--you all mean the world to us. We'd like to take this moment to say thank you to God for the new doors He has opened up for us and also those that He closed up for our own good. Praise be to His name, for His love endures forever. Lord you are the perfect example of a Father. In the place of our barrenness you have given us in abundance. You are the source of every good thing that has ever come into our lives. We are so happy to lead by your kindness. In you we find satisfaction because you are good shepherd, and we will trust with our future! We will close this prayer with Laura's favorite verse from 2 Corinthians...

“But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him” AMEN

  

June 23rd was our 2nd wedding anniversary. This year we celebrated by crossing the Equator into the Southern Hemisphere and taking Chief on his first safari! We drove about 7 hours to Lake Mburo National Park. We never actually entered the game park--there are no fences around the park so plenty of wild animals are roaming near the park border on display for us to see. We saw many wild animals around our lodge. We stayed one night and the next morning was the best part-a guided walking safari! We learned so much as we pushed Maxwell around, walking the same paths that zebras and impalas take, and of course asking our enthusiastic guide hundreds of questions. We were so glad that we went. It was first time to travel with the baby in Uganda, and he did pretty well!

PRAYER REQUESTS
* Pray for us to stand strong and steadfast in the work of the Lord.
* Pray for our staff members GERALD & SOPHIE for some challenges they are going through, including  financial support.
* Continue to pray for God’s provision for all our staff members.
* Pray for a big harvest in Nkumba area and beyond.
* Pray for our country for peace and stability.

Thank you all for your love and support. If you want help us financially, please note that there is a change in address. Checks can be made out to "Laura Fieg" with a memo indicating “Kasibante Family”.

Please send checks to
Laura Fieg c/o Brian Fieg
2153 Soft Pine LN NW
Acworth, GA 30102

Love,
Chief, Laura, and Maxwell Musoke