Christmas Greetings from Uganda

This year we have completely dropped out of sync on our quarterly newsletters! The summer we had knocked us off course a bit, and our early autumn newsletter was so late that we would have had to start writing our Christmas letter before we mailed the autumn one! So in lieu of a Christmas newsletter, we are sending out a Christmas email / blog post!

Normally I write the December letter around the time of American Thanksgiving at the end of November. I think that every Christmas newsletter we have ever written, whether from America or last year from Uganda, have spoken about Thanksgiving, and of what we are thankful for. In 1st Thessalonians, Paul says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Sometimes ‘giving thanks in all circumstances’ is easier than at other times. When the sun is shining, the bank account is in credit, the car starts on the first go, and the children aren’t fighting, it is easy to be thankful. But life isn’t always like that. The second half of this year has been one of the toughest we have experienced yet. After a year of ‘Ugandan honeymoon’, we have really felt the challenge of culture shock since returning this summer. Our cancer experiences were hard to deal with, working through uncertainty, serious potential implications, as well as the surgery itself. We have had about 2 1/2 months where I have been apart from Heather and the kids since July - not easy when family life is so busy. Heather has started back into full time teaching for the first time since Abi was born, and our whole family routine has had to change to suit. 

But nothing we have been through this year falls outside of “all circumstances”, and so we give thanks. Definitely not because bad or stressful things are fun, but because God is good. Always.

We give thanks because God gives a hope that is so much bigger than any of our struggles. We give thanks because that hope comes because Jesus came. We give thanks for the baby in a manger, the teacher on the hillside, the sacrifice on the cross, the empty grave, and the returning Lord. And what better time to remember all these things than as we celebrate His coming to Bethlehem.

Happy Christmas from the Swansons, and the best of wishes as we head into 2016!

"The Joy of the Lord is my strength" - Nehemiah 8 v10

Carrying Eilidh the Ugandan way!

Since August, life on the home-front has been about as far from normality as I can ever remember.  Keeping it all together juggling full time work and the kids alone in East Africa while your husband undergoes surgery for a life threatening condition on a separate continent – lets just say it stretches you!  I’ve gone from moments of loving my job to wanting to run onto the next plane leaving for Europe.  It has been a roller coaster of emotions for the whole family and I’m thankful we are on the other side of it now.   After Andy came back from his extended time in Scotland (cancer free)  he was then off to Europe for ten days for a training course.  He arrived back beginning of October and this last month has been a time of settling back into routine and dealing with the culture shock that has arisen (I believe) due to the unsettled time our family has been going through.   Although we are happy in our jobs and the kids are happy,  the sense of longing for familiarity of home – (smooth roads and in-corrupt traffic police, or cleaning your teeth with the tap water) can be overwhelming at times.  There are certain things that only those who have been living overseas in such environments as Kampala can relate to – it’s hard to explain.   Andy has been flying all over the place for the last few months and he is ready to be settled for a bit. I on the other hand have been here at home and desperate to fly anywhere to just get away and have a break.  Interestingly Andy and I often discuss about places we might like to go and visit in Uganda which may be only four or five hours drive from us.  However, the reality of packing up, travelling tbrough the crazy traffic on pot holed roads, lack of public toilets or restaurants to feed your family on the way or way home make it more of an “adventure holiday” as opposed to a relaxing break.  Sometimes a holiday just for rest is required.  Abigail and I are going to fly to Scotland for a week over the Christmas break and I am really looking forward to having no agenda and spending quality time with my eldest as well as catching up with my family and meeting my new niece or nephew soon to be born!    We will be flying back with my Aunt who is coming to stay with us for three weeks.  I am planning on resting!

Dressed as Beatrix Potter for School "Stories from around the world festival"

Abi is busy with her school work, piano and her French speaking is flourishing.  She was treated by her teacher to a trip to the snack bar as she was the only one in the class able to sing the whole song “give thanks with a grateful heart” in FRENCH! Her Congolese French teacher is making French fun and exciting to learn and she is loving it.

Matthew’s teacher recently commented on his report that he wished he had a “Matthew” at every table in the class to show the other students how to behave and work, so he is making us proud.  He has joined the cub Scouts recently and loves having a special uniform to wear.  I won’t mention how many times I have heard the Scouts promise so far – more to follow I’m sure.  I’m thankful God is still allowed in the Scouts promise in Africa.

Eilidh attends pre-school three mornings and comes home singing about days of the week and we also hear a few song in Luganda (national language) that she has been learning.  Joyce who looks after her for me when I am working is due to have her first baby in the coming weeks so we are bracing ourselves for coping without her while she is on her maternity break. It has been an education learning about the prenatal care and birthing experience of pregnant Ugandan women.    There is no food offered to her at the hospital and she must take in a friend who sleeps on a mat under her bed to feed her, wash her and make sure no one steals the baby, or any of their stuff! Thankfully her sister is coming from the village to be the “friend” at the hospital.  I hope she gets here in time as I am not sure I could deal with sleeping under her bed on a thin mat in a huge room full of laboring women, and many babies.  Joyce has to take in all the supplies for giving birth,  including her own bed sheets, baby bath, a bucket for herself to wash in, a flask of hot water, and a whole list of other things. Pray for Joyce for a safe delivery and healthy baby and mum.  

Eilidh will go to preschool five mornings a week while Joyce is on Maternity break and Irene our house help will be look after her in the afternoons till I return. We are so blessed to have such great ladies working with us and for us here. 

The work at the hanger is as busy as ever.  Andy is preparing for type rating exams as well as carrying on with the usual program of inspections.  There is more maintenance work happening in the hangar, since the international flying restrictions have been lifted and the planes are able to fly to Congo and Sudan again. Please pray for those working in South Sudan as security and peace has once again become a real issue preventing many mission organisations from doing their work.  Chad is also a place that has seen more bombings of late and heightened security alerts among missionaries serving there. We have enjoyed having Andrew Mumford in Uganda for a few weeks of training; he is normally based in Chad, and before joining MAF he flew an air ambulance out of Aberdeen!

Here in Uganda we are preparing for elections in February.  These elections take place every three years and this will be our first experience of an election here.   Security at our school is already preparing multiple exit plans and strategies in preparations for February, as are the MAF team.  Demonstrations are beginning to take place and traffic congestion will take on a new meaning as the streets become filled with protests and potential riots.  Please remember this nation and pray for peace and safety over the coming months.  

Thank you for praying and supporting us in the many ways you do.  I have really appreciated the cards and emails sent from many of you through our time of separation while Andy had the cancer removed.  I only wish I had more time to write individual emails and notes but please know that your encouragement has helped us greatly through a very difficult time.  The Joy of the Lord is my (our) strength. Nehemiah 8 v 10

God Bless

Heather

In God's hands.

My last little update came after my skin graft dressings had been removed, and things were looking positive about how well the surgery had gone. Everything was still uncertain though, as the biopsy results would determine whether more surgery was needed or not. If the tests on what was removed of the original lesion showed there were still cancer cells at the boundary, they would have had to remove more of my ear to get rid of all the cancer cells. If the biopsy results from the 3 lymph nodes showed that the cancer had started to spread from the original spot (the lymph nodes are the first place it would appear), then the rest of the nodes in that particular area would have to be removed. Either of those outcomes would mean I would have had to delay my return to Uganda and go back into hospital for more surgery.

On Tuesday afternoon I had appointments at the hospital to have the stitches removed and meet with the consultant for a review. I also got good news from the pathologists who did the biopsies. The surgery to remove the original lesion had been successful, and no cancer cells were present at the boundary between the removed tissue and my ear! They got it all! The sentinel lymph node biopsy results were also good, with no cancer cells visible in my lymph system. A huge relief!!

On Tuesday I also had a CT scan of my head, which was the last of the checks that the doctors wanted to do as part of my treatment. There is nothing to suggest that anything suspicious will show up, but it’s one more thing to check off the list before we do a complete sigh of relief. My last appointment at Glasgow Royal Infirmary is on Tuesday next week, where I will meet with the dermatologist and hopefully get the scan results as well. All being well I will be home before Heather’s birthday on Sunday!! I can’t wait!!! :-)

The last couple of months have been an absolute rollercoaster, with so many emotions experienced, high and low. I have been encouraged by so many old friends around the world, I have met new friends and come to know them in a really special way, I have been blown away by the care and professionalism in the hospitals around Glasgow (having had experiences on a few different continents over the years, I can safely say that the UK has the best health care system in the world!) and most of all I am confident that in spite of us not fully grasping everything that is going on around us, I serve a God who is in control.

As a wise friend said a few weeks ago, “I am in God’s hands, which is the best place to be”.

Thanks.

Craftsman of the week award!

I have always had a real appreciation of people who are good at what they do. I remember when I was in my early teens watching fishermen splice ropes, ties knots, fillet fish and shuck clams, all the while having a good laugh with the people around them. It seemed like they didn't even look at their hands before turning out a masterpiece of ropework, or a perfectly boneless fillet of haddock!

This appreciation of good workmanship has carried on throughout my adult life. I have watched welders doing the impossible fabricating steelwork on a rolling ship, excavator operators clearing topsoil and exposing the plastic membrane on a landfill site with same level of care as you put into peeling an orange, and panel beaters taking a damaged car and straightening every dent and ripple before handing back a car that looks better than it did when it left the factory.

I touched on this a little bit when I spoke at Kirkie Baptist church back in the summer and about how God has equipped us all with skills and talents, and how rewarding it is to exercise those talents for His glory. (Go to www.kirkiebaptist.com, then look down in the bottom right corner for the "Latest Resources and Downloads" section, and have a listen to the morning service on June 28 if you want to hear!!)

James 1 says that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows". I don't know if the surgeon who operated on me has any sort of Christian faith, but I do believe that his talents and abilities were God given, and I am very impressed! I have to give my "Craftsman of the week" award to Mr Thompson for all his handiwork, and close runners-up awards to all the other doctors, nurses and hospital staff who have helped since I got back to Scotland a few weeks back.

I am going to post a before and after pic below, both very tame and nothing near as graphic as most of the tv shows that air after 9pm, but if you might get squeamish, just stop here!!! 

Also, if you didn't get the chance to hear us talk when we were back in Scotland over the summer you can listen to Kirkie Baptist's service at the link I mentioned above - Abi sings about the 19 minute mark on the "Opening worship" download, then Heather and I both share a bit about MAF and our time in Uganda at the 28 minute mark. I also do the "thought for the day" bit which is under "Sermon" if you want a listen...

Thanks again for all your prayers and encouragement so far, and please continue to pray as we wait for the lymph node biopsy results which will play a big part in determining what happens next...

Andy.

Taken back at the start of the year - yes that little spot is what  all the fuss has been about!

My new, completely customised, one of a kind ear!

Post-op blog post...

I like an illustration with a bit of a story behind it. I was given a card by a good friend last week that has two pictures of the “Tower of Refuge” in Douglas Bay on the Isle of Man. I did two 6 month spells on the Isle of Man in my merchant navy days, and the room where I stayed for most of that time looked straight out onto the tower perched on Conister Rock. It was built in 1832 by Sir William Hillary, who also founded the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. After several ships were wrecked on the reef, the intention was to provide somewhere safe for ship-wrecked sailors to shelter in, until help could arrive.

The card I was given had a picture of the tower in calm seas and nice sunshine on one side, and a picture of the same tower in the middle of a wild storm on the other. Inside the card is a copy of Psalm 46, “God is our ‘Tower of Refuge’ and strength, a very present help in trouble”. I was told to put the card around which ever way worked best for me each day, but to remember that no matter what is happening all around, the “Tower of Refuge” is the same.

The Tower of Refuge on a nice calm day

...and with the waves rolling in.

This weekend has seen the card spin round quite a bit between storms and sunshine.

My surgery went well (as far as I can tell), although it was much more involved than had been anticipated. The cancer removal part of the operation was always going to be intense with quite a bit of skin around the lesion being removed along with the cartilage below it, before everything was to be closed up with a graft taken from behind my other ear. That part of my ear is still all hidden under some stitched-on compression wadding stuff, so it will be another week or so before I see what the Mark II version of my ear looks like.

We had hoped that the sentinel lymph node biopsy would be a relatively small part of the operation, but that depended on where the sentinal node was. It was a 50/50 chance of whether the lymph fluid would drain to nodes in front of my ear, or behind my ear, with aft being preferable because of all the other glands and nerves in my cheek that might interfere with the lymph nodes there. Unfortunately the dye they injected showed that the lymph drained both ways, and they had to remove 2 nodes from in front of my ear and one from behind. I think that is why I went down to the theatre at 1:30, and didn’t wake up again until after 8pm! Needless to say I have a pretty impressive scar that runs down the front of my ear, under the lobe, back up the back side and down again,in a sort of sine wave shape. 

There are so many emotions flipping the Tower of Refuge pictures round just now. The surgeon seemed positive that all was well with the procedure. He felt the lymph nodes he removed looked healthy. He felt the wide area excision should have removed all of the cancer cells from my ear. But melanoma is the scary version of skin cancer. It is the most likely to spread and has a very real potential to be life threatening, so completely relaxing is not easy while we are still waiting for biopsy results on the 3 nodes he removed. 

I have to say that the swelling and wounds that I have just now look far worse than they feel, and I don’t feel the need to be continually eating pain killers, but having had quite in depth surgery on both sides of my head, my face is feeling a bit tender to say the least.  Getting a good night’s sleep is not the easiest thing in the world to do when you can't lie on either side. Everything feels tight, and swollen and the thought of pulling all those stitches gives me the heebie-jeebies! I have lots of little itchy bits that I can’t quite reach, and I am so looking forward to having all the stitches and dressings away and being closer to normality again.

It’s also difficult as a family being separated just now as well. The kids know I have been getting an operation, but they don’t really understand everything that is going on, and all the possible implications, so that just makes it so much harder talking to teary-eyed kids from the other side of the world. Heather has been busy with her new job, which undoubtedly has helped by keeping her mind off things and giving her something to focus on, but it all takes it’s toll, and she is going through a lot, whilst being a single parent for the short term. I am being well looked after by friends and family, and am making the most of being able to spend some time with my family, especially my brother, who I don’t get to see enough of. All that said, I am still living out of a suitcase and would much rather be in my own home, being part of everyday life with my wife and kids.

It is a great comfort to know that God is our refuge and strength, but equally we really value your prayers and encouragements as the weather changes all around us, almost on a minute by minute basis.

1st consultation...

Sunday afternoon saw me on my way home to Scotland to meet with the Doctors about “The Ear” . The best option for coming home this time was via Dubai with Emirates, so I was back in Glasgow just after lunchtime yesterday. 

This afternoon I had an appointment with the plastic surgery team in Glasgow who will be doing the actual operation to remove the cancer. I didn’t really learn anything I don’t already know (having googled melanoma to oblivion for the last couple of weeks!), but it was good to meet with the surgeon and talk through the specifics of my case. While skin cancer is completely curable (or rather ‘cut-out-able’…), melanoma is also a serious condition that can spread quickly, so it was good to talk to the experts about what will need to be done for me. The ear is an awkward place to have a growth removed from. The guidance is usually to have a 2cm margin around a lesion of the size of mine, although doctors are now doing studies into whether a 1cm margin is sufficient to remove everything that needs to be removed. That is good news for me, as taking away a piece of my ear 4cm across wouldn’t leave me too much to hang my glasses on! The surgeon who is now leading “my team” seemed very knowledgable, and confident that he could remove the cancer and still leave the ear looking reasonably sensible… (albeit, the tragic end to my ear modelling career…) It looks like I will have a reasonably large piece of the skin on the front of my ear removed, along with the cartilage beneath it, leaving just the skin on the back which will then get a skin graft from the back of my other ear to cover the hole. Although it will change the shape of my ear a bit, and leave me with a squidgy bit in the middle, it will leave things as close to how they are just now as is possible. At the same time as that operation is going on, they will also do a sentinel lymph node biopsy to determine whether the cancer has spread to anywhere else. There is going to be a lot of waiting around for appointments and then for biopsy results to confirm all is well before I can return to Uganda again. In the meantime, Heather will be home alone with the kids, so we still appreciate your prayers for life at home, as well as prayers for the melanoma situation.

Thanks.

Another turn in the road...

Today marks 12 years since Heather and I got married! In some ways it seems like it has flown past, and in other ways it seems like we have been together forever! We have certainly covered a lot of ground in our time as Mr and Mrs Swanson; we have lived in 5 homes, on three continents. We’ve been blessed with 3 beautiful children. I have had 4 different jobs, while Heather has had 6 if you include being a stay-at-home mum, and some of the part time ventures she has had whilst raising the kids. We’ve had the joy of making new friends, and we’ve felt the pain of loosing old ones. All that said, if you had asked us how likely we thought it was that we would be living in Africa when we first got married, I don’t think we would have believed you! Life has lots of unexpected turns along the way.

Last night I got another unexpected turn that I would appreciate your prayers about.

A month or two before we came back to Scotland this summer I noticed a spot on my right ear, which was growing and changing shape quite quickly. I wasn’t hugely concerned, as it didn’t match any of the other criteria for suspicious moles (other than the changing shape) so I made a note to discuss it with the doctor when I went for my medical exam back in Scotland. That doctor also seemed not overly concerned, as the shape change was the only suspicious thing to notice about it. He did however urge me to speak to my GP and ask for a referral to a specialist before coming back to Uganda. I did that and was thoroughly impressed by the NHS and Glasgow Royal Infirmary, getting me an appointment in just over a week, and seeing me before my flight back to Uganda. Again, there wasn’t a huge amount of concern by anyone who looked at it, but a biopsy was taken and sent off for analysis as a matter of course.

Right before bed time last night I got an email from the dermatology department at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, explaining that 4 pathologists had confirmed it was a malignant melanoma, and that I would need to have further surgery to remove what is left of the lesion. It still all feels a bit surreal as I have spent today talking to MAF-UK, health insurance people and doctors about what happens next. Whatever way it all pans out, I will need some sort of surgery in the next few weeks, and my preference would obviously be to have that done in Scotland. Until further checks and tests are done, we aren’t sure exactly what that will involve. There might be a need to do a “Sentinel Node Biopsy” to confirm that the cancer has been caught before it could spread into my lymph nodes. There will need to be discussions about the type of surgery needed to remove the cancer; can the cartilage of my ear remain as it is with a skin graft, or will I have a “shark’s bite” left on my right hand ear? All these things (and lots of others!) are rattling around my head just now (now’s the time for jokes about there being lots of room in there for the ideas to bounce!), fuelled by my good friend Google, who kept me up far too late last night, looking at pictures of cancer on the ear!

 'Chuffed' with my newly dressed biopsy!

I suppose I now have a fine opportunity to live out Phillipians 4 v 6&7 (Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus), although it is always far easier to say those first six words than it is to live them out.

I will try to keep blog and Facebook pages up to date with my news, as and when I have anything new to share, and in the meantime, I would truly value your prayers as we set off down this new and unexpected turn in the road. We felt incredibly encouraged by so many people during our time back in Scotland this year, and I feel blessed to have so many people supporting us in so many ways.

Right now I am off to bed before 'Google Images' sucks me in again!

A

Back in the groove!

As I sit here writing this blog post on Friday evening, some quick sums tell me it is about 238 1/2 hrs until I pick Heather and the kids up from Entebbe airport, and family life resumes here in Africa again! It will be great to be back together as a family, but rather than moping around in an empty house, my feet have hardly touched the ground as I pick up with life where we left off at the end of May!

Last glimpse of the Clyde as I head south again!

We had a great time together back in scotland, and really enjoyed the opportunity to share all the changes that the last year-and-a-bit had brought for us in Africa. (In spite of it being a tiring month of driving, speaking, sharing and driving some more!) We have always had a huge appreciation for the churches and individuals that support us, but I think that this time home, more than ever we have felt encouraged and refreshed by all the genuine interest, support and backing we have felt!! Thank you all so much!

After spending a little over a month back in UK it was time for me to return to work, and so I left Heather and the kids to enjoy a few more weeks of Scottish summer while I returned to Kampala. 

I think I am more or less in the groove now, and am finding myself “thinking African” again! I made it back to Uganda a day before our friends Luc and Malaina headed back to Canada with their family, having come to the end of their time with MAF. It was bitter-sweet - great that I was able to see them all again before they head back to Alberta, but sad to see them go. We have become good friends over the last  year, and they will be missed by us all. My first night back in Uganda was their last night in Uganda, and I was glad I was able to help run them to the airport with all their bags and luggage - just don't tell Heather that it is possible to travel with 32 pieces of checked baggage, or she might get ideas!!

Getting used to Uganda again - a wedding guest carries a live chicken in to church as a gift!

Things move on as always in the hangar, and I have enjoyed being back beside my tool box! I find it really satisfying spending time in the UK sharing with people about what we are doing, and talking in churches about the work MAF are involved in, but it is certainly not my natural “default” setting, so being back in my own element is a breath of fresh air for me! Last week was mostly taken up with a 200hr inspection and a long jobs list on 5X-LDR, and with a reduced team due to summer absences, the guys who were left had plenty to stay busy with! Then it was back on to 5X-OPE to work our way through the jobs list as we ready it for a move to Liberia to join the new programme that is being established over there just now! For me that involved fuel tank inspections. I opened up the two wing tanks for inspection before we started work on LDR, then after that was finished I moved on to the inspection of the reservoir tank in the belly of the plane. What should have been a quick open, inspect and close up job, turned into quite a task when we discovered damaged flanges, misshapen parts and broken anchor nuts. As I said though, I feel most at home working at my toolbox, so crawling into the cargo pod isn't so bad!

Lying down on the job again!

A week before I left for Uganda a team from Kirkie Baptist church flew out ahead of me. They were spending time at various places including Luwero community project,  Mulago hospital & Dwelling Places here in Kampala, and of course with me at MAF! It was great to see them all out here, and a real encouragement to be able to explain MAF’s work out here in a context that you just can’t get back home. John, Diane and Jack were able to join one of our flights up country, and came back with a real experience of the kind of environment we fly in, and the work we do; as well as flying some regular flights for passengers who were visiting projects they were involved in, their flight was also used to medevac a heavily pregnant lady who was having some difficulties. It was a good example of the kind of diversity and adaptability that MAF are often called upon to carry out as we serve God by serving people in remote places. As well as flying up country, Jack has ideas of working in aviation when he leaves school in a year or two. Today he was able to come into the hangar with me for the day, and got a taste of what working in aviation maintenance is like! Through the day he did some of the more menial tasks we sometimes have to do, like vacuuming up old sealant and cable ties, and scraping old sealant off a panel that will soon be reinstalled. He also had a chance to practice some safety wiring twisting, drive a few rivets and have a good general nosey around some of our planes! Lots of fun!

Jack and his dad Ewan helping Geoff with some flap rigging.

Thanks again for keeping in touch, and up to date with what we are up to! Please continue to remember us in your prayers too, especially Heather and the kids as they prepare to come back to Uganda in a little over a week.

Hello from Scotland!

I'm not sure where the time has gone but I do know it has been crazy busy over the last month or so getting ready for furlough,  finishing the school year, saying farewell to families who will not be there when we return among many other things.  On arriving in Scotland on Saturday afternoon we were greeting with the shocking reality that winter is not over! After frantically searching through bags in my mum's loft, visiting the second hand shops and a few friends we are all kitted out for the weather now and gradually thawing out :0)  There has been little time to relax yet just sorting out all the basics again like mobile phones, eye appointments and dentist appointments and the like in between some DIY projects needing done in our little flat in Stirling. I never imagined two hours of jet lag would have such an affect on us but it is proving challenging.  Uganda is two hours ahead of course so we have tried to keep the children going till 8pm.  They are still up at 6am or before however and its very hard to keep Eilidh awake past 11am. this all makes for lots of tired and grumpy children towards late afternoon so please pray for us as we try and make things as fun as we can for the kids while we attend to all the practicalities of setting up "life" again in the UK albeit for a few months.  We are all looking forward to a little holiday in the Isle of Bara starting Monday and the kids are delighted with their new ready to use Ikea spades for 80 pence each! Beach here we come! Praying for warmer weather.   We are so happy with our little house we have been given to stay in and its central location in Kirkintilloch which makes all the travelling around the country easier.  We just wanted to let you know again where we will speaking and hope that we get to catch up with as many of you as possible.

Sunday 7th June - Dunoon Baptist Church 11am

Sunday 21st June - Pitlochry Baptist Church  11am

Thursday 25th June  - Perthshire joint get together for catch up along with MAF Uganda Finance Manager, Margaret MacLaren.  Please contact Andy Martin for details - andy.martin@maf-uk.org

Sunday - 28th June - Kirkintilloch Baptist Church , 10.30am

July 8th -Andy returns to Uganda

Sunday 12th July - Heather will be sharing at New Beginnings church in Moodiesburn 11am.

August 3rd - Heather and Children return to Uganda.

Our contact details are
Andy - andyswansonmaf@gmail.com  07943 603 062
Heather - heatherswansonmaf@gmail.com  07507 783 662

The latest news!

It amazes me how animals and birds are able to adapt to their circumstances over time.  I believe God gave them the DNA to allow for this and also he has designed us in the same way.   We have almost been in Uganda for a full year (Andy has been here over a year) and already we have changed in so many ways. Here are a few to give you an idea.  Socks? what are they?  I can easily stamp on giant ants with my bare feet- the giant snails, I avoid stepping on completely! Sleeping without a mosquito net leaves me feeling terribly uneasy and vulnerable.  I love sharing my house with geckos (as long as they stay on the walls)  Rice and beans are becoming a family favourite. Making my own pizzas, chicken nuggets, bread, curries, pastry (not a "ready to roll"anywhere) becomes second nature.  It is possible to bath the whole family in a baby bath sized tub.  I love to eat bananas for the first time and my children are forbidden to ever get sick of them. When I hear the rain through the night it makes me so happy (rain water tank is filling, dust levels are reduced and garden doesn't need watered).  Water and power shortages are now part of life and the candles are always ready and the kids know which drawer the torches(flash-lights) are kept in.  Situations which would normally have my stress levels rising frantically i.e. bumping another persons car, don't seem to phase me like they used to. When the pipe that carries the water from our tank into the house snapped off at both ends two weeks ago due to corrosion it was no big deal really. We watched the last of the water in the tank drain out catching what we could in buckets for flushing the toilets knowing that at some point, things would be fixed and we would find a way to survive in the mean time.  Uganda is home and with or without us knowing we have all changed in many ways.    The people are generally very welcoming and friendly and I am making many friends.  I am slowly learning little bits of Luganda and the locals LOVE it when you speak to them in their language.  The sun shines every day and hardly anyone in the family has had a cold since we got here! I passed the tissue boxes in a shop the other day and marvelled at the fact I hadn't bought a new box in months!  I think the whole family is pretty settled although I know Andy would love to feel some cold weather again.  I know everyone in Scotland will be hoping for some nice sunshine this summer,  we are hoping it will be on the cool side when we return for furlough!

February was a great month where I enjoyed two retreats! Our church had a weekend retreat and then myself,  Pam Wunderli and a few others organised a ladies retreat for 45 ladies at the end of the month.  The theme was living under God's cover and finding that place of rest - Psalm 91. It was a great weekend and there was a good mix of ex-pats and Ugandans.   I managed to catch up on some much needed sleep and enjoyed great fellowship.

Abi and Matthew had a week's holiday from school at the end of March.   We just stayed around the house and the kids have enjoyed playing with friends, sleep overs, swimming and the cinema.  If any of you ever to Scripture Union Camps as a child you can relate to the fact that it feels like we live in one permanently! Never before have our kids had so many playmates so close by which is just lovely.  In Tummel Bridge and in Ohio Matthew never had any boys his own age around.  Here in the MAF team there are eight boys near his age!  

This Easter we went to a Children's home called Noah's Ark.  It houses 170 children from babies to teenagers.  When they reach ten years they divide them into units of about 8-10 kids with a "house mama".  It is a huge campus hosting a primary school,  secondary and vocational school, malnutrition clinic and what could be termed as a mini hospital. There is a huge amount of staff as you can imagine and a church on site.  A Dutch couple started it many years ago.  We had been calling it an orphanage however the founders informed us that only about 7 or 8 children were actually orphans.  All the rest of the children had family members somewhere however they were just thrown away and abandoned by their families.  What tugged my heart most was the kids who kept coming to our doors and looking in speculating about the fact that we had two daddies and two mummies in this one house for only eight children! Our lives are worlds apart yet knowing God is their perfect daddy gives them such a sense of hope and identity.   We were able to teach them some songs on Easter Sunday which they kept coming to our kitchen window and singing back to us :0)    It was a great experience to meet the children and some of the international volunteers that stay there for long periods.  It was a nice surprise to meet with the music teacher there and experience some African instrumental tuition. If you would like to see more of what they are about then here is their link: www.nacmu.org/en

We went to Noah's Ark with the Levesque family and their five children.  Luc is an engineer with MAF US and works along side Andy in the hanger.  Abi had their daughter Adele to play with,  Matthew had their son Jalil, Eilidh had Sammy and their adopted twins Nicolas and Daniel had each other.  Four days away and barely one argument between the children.  It was such a blessing and the adults enjoyed relaxing together while the kids entertained themselves. Next month we will be saying good bye to them as we will be going to the UK and they will be leaving in the summer back to Canada.  I am glad Eilidh will be starting pre-school when we return to Uganda as she will really miss her close friend Sammy!

We are planning our furlough trip to Scotland and at the moment and we can confirm we will be at Dunoon Baptist Church on the 7th of June, Pitlochry Baptist on the 21st and Kirkintilloch Baptist on the 28th.  We will be on holiday the 8-15th of June and Andy will be leaving on the 8th of July to return to Uganda.  Myself and the children will fly back to Uganda on the 3rd of August.  We will be based in Kirkintilloch and, as always, hope to catch up with as many of you as possible.

P.S.  I had some lovely pictures to add to the blog but they keep loading upside down and after spending three hours writing this blog and fighting with the photos at 11pm the text will have to do - sorry!  Very slow internet and hassles like this make blogging hard work hence it has been a while since the last one.  I hope you can use your imagination! : 0)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Getting ready for the game!

Its hard to believe it's almost half way through January already. Almost seven months here in Uganda and I am feeling very much at home. There are still things I miss, and daily challenges that crop up unexpectedly but for the most of it,  I am loving being settled in a house we can call home at last! Abi and Matthew started their second term on the 12th and leave the house at 7.15am.  They are settling in again and glad to see their friends.  It was the longest Christmas holidays they have ever had - almost a month! This is the first year that hardly anyone in the family has been sick over these "winter" months.  Abi spent a week unwell with a tummy bug after cleaning her teeth with tap water but apart from that we have been blessed with better health than any other year.   As Abi and Matthew settle into their routines again, I'm looking forward to having a little more time to catch up on other things. I still have a few curtains to make and other items to be altered - so I'm glad my mum is on the plane to Uganda as I type to visit with us for three weeks - she is the seamstress in the family!  I am also organising a ladies retreat in Feburuary along with three other ladies.  I will be leading worship for the whole weekend (end of Feb). I am also on the worship rota now at Kampala International Church, and I lead worship at the mid week ladies bible study also so am managing to keep quite busy! lol! I am also getting involved more with the Parent and Teacher Fellowship (PTF) at school and there is lots to be baked for bake sales, and other events to raise funds.

Surprise...and shock! 

Our first Christmas in Uganda was wonderful. Our family celebrated on Christmas Eve and the kids opened some presents and we had a very relaxing day.  On Christmas morning we had our church service where I played piano and led. 
We missed our families but most around here were in the same boat so we invited around five families and four others around for the day. In the end we had 15 adults and 16 children come from 2pm onwards. We woke up on Christmas morning to torrential rain but thankfully it cleared up so we could be outside in the afternoon.  Everyone brought food to share and we had a wonderful time of fellowship and fun. We managed to have the usual trimmings such as Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, bread sauce and Christmas cake without a Marks and Spencer's in sight! We played the white elephant game where each family/person wraps up something around their house or whatever they want under $5 and put it under the tree.  If you throw a six on the dice you can pick a present and if anyone else throws a six they can swap yours with what they have.  Once all the presents under the tree have gone you are stuck with what you ended up with.  I've played this game for many years in the UK but never once did we had a real live chicken wrapped up in a box sitting as quiet as a mouse under the tree till it was chosen! You can imagine how much the chicken got swapped as all the children wanted to take it home!  I would gladly host it again next year as it was so much fun but perhaps without the chicken in my sitting room :0)

On the 27th we headed out of the city for four days with our MAF Canadian friends the Levesque family to a place called African Village. It was only 45 minutes drive away from our house, yet far enough to give you a break from the busy city of Kampala.  African Village is a compound that a lady started to train Ugandans in hospitality, beauty school, joinery, tailoring and other skills while providing a relaxing environment for guests. It is hard to imagine that between us there were eight children yet it was one of the most relaxing holidays we have ever been on!  The kids all had a friend to play with and the adults got some time to relax and play games in the evenings when the kids were sleeping. The weather was lovely and it was one of the few places in Kampala that the kids can ride their bikes without fear of pot holes and traffic!
January is dry season and the water shortage in Kampala is real and has been affecting us in the last few weeks. Many MAF families have been struggling with low water and a few reached the point of no water to flush the toilets.  Our rain water tank emptied and our main tank is rationed. The water is on for part of the day and then they switch it off again.  This is the longest I have ever experienced without rain.  Even in Ohio the heat would spark thunder storms regularly but here is has just been hot and dry for about four weeks.   Abi and two other MAF kids that I know off have been experiencing nose bleeds with the dry air which only added to the laundry crisis!  Last night we were woken to huge loud thunder crashes and torrential rain at 3am.  It was SO exciting to have rain again knowing our reserve tank would be filling with rain water,  the garden was getting watered without me having to fill the watering can 20 times! Unfortunately the rain stopped after half an hour and it still took another hour to get Eilidh back to sleep! We are well aware and so thankful to have running water in the first place here when so many Ugandan's around us do not.  It is easy to blog about the fun times and the small challenges we face at times.  It is hard to blog about the struggles we face at times because no matter how hard things can get here,  they are nothign compared to the struggles we see others going through every day around us.  Living here we are continually bombarded with wonderful charities needing money, or people at our gate needing food,  or financial assistance etc.  As a family we believe those we have a relationship with are the ones God has brought into our path and are excited to bless them.  It was a joy this Christmas to take a suitcase we had and fill it with goodies for our house help Irene and her four children.  She called me up after they opened it on Christmas eve and each of her children (9,8,6,3 years) took their turn on the phone to say "thank you thank you a million times and God bless you " which was almost too much for my emotions!   At the same time we gave money twice to a man at our gate who claimed to have been in a boda accident (he had a blooded T shirt over his head) and it turned out he was the local con man and this was one of his regular tricks.   It is always a struggle to know who needs genuine assistance and who is targeting you because of the colour of your skin. Please pray that we will have wisdom to discern those that God is leading in our path and how we can best help them.  Just giving them money is not always the best thing for them.
We recognise visitors have to jump through a few more hurdles to see us unlike in the USA so we really appreciate it.  Mum has graciously undergone her vaccinations ready for arriving here tonight. I'm not sure how she will cope with my driving here - she barely copes with it in the UK! Please pray her body will remain strong as she experiences 4x4 off road terrain for the first time:0) Several times I have banged my head off the right window while navigating through potholes and cracks while trying to look for oncoming traffic, people, cows and dogs.  I haven't knocked myself out yet but the possibility is always there!  Not all the roads are like this thank goodness, but the daily school run is the regular bone rattler!  Mum returns to the UK on the 12th of Feb. Praying she has a wonderful trip with good health. There are three very excited little people ready to pounce on her bed in the morning!
We were blessed to have a few Scottish visitors on the 4th of January. Ewan Kennedy from Pitlochry and two of his university friends are here for six weeks working at a local hospital. We enjoyed a meal with them and we are so thankful when people have room in their suitcases to bring some things out we need from the UK - thank you so much Ewan!
We have booked our flights for furlough and we fly to the UK on the 30th of May. Andy will return to Uganda on the 6th of July and myself and the kids will return on the 3rd of August. We have still to sort the details out yet and will let you know in due course where we will be and when. We have been looking for some accomodation ourselves as a family while we are in the UK.  We feel it is important to have our own family space while we transition from culture to culture and meet with so many (wonderful) people over a short time. Just today we have confirmed this and thanks SO much to Frances Wilson from KBC who has offered to stay elsewhere just to let us have her house when we are back! WOW! - what a blessing!  We will therefore be based in Kirkintilloch.  Once Andy leaves on the 6th, myself and the kids will move in with my mum in Moodiesburn till we leave.
 
Thanks for all the Christmas mail and parcels that were sent to us.  We received most of the christmas cards a week ago -  a few are still arriving.     We are so blessed to have such amazing supporters both in the UK and the USA. Wishing you all a fabulous 2015.
" .....I have seen your salvation which you have prepared for all people. He (Jesus)is a light to reveal God to the nations and He is the glory of the people Israel" Luke 2 v 30-32

lots of love
Heather, Andy, Abi, Matthew and Eilidh