Ingrid update

Dear Supporters, Friends, and Family,

Since we have last written a lot has happened... 

Raoul has completed many projects at Calvary Chapel Entebbe.  He, with help, has completed a three room schoolhouse, transformed an empty sea container into a workshop and medical clinic, dug and finished a well on the church property.  He has been blessed to teach a few of the Ignite classes and most recently taught the Ladies’ Bible Study on Melchizedek.

I am simply doing what homeschooling moms do. Get up, feed everyone, clean up breakfast, teach Math, Latin, German, Reading, Literature, History, Bible, Omnibus, Geography, Biology, Spelling, Handwriting, Algebra and Art are computer based, whew... lunch is in there somewhere.  Cook dinner, clean up, wash kids that can’t wash themselves, brush teeth and so on.

Our big excitement was that our sea container from the States arrived in May. It was a labor like no other for Raoul. Many days he drove to Kampala to deal with import customs. The traffic to Kampala is already insane, and then to deal with red tape, it was exhausting for Raoul.  BUT, I cannot tell you how blessed we are to have our things. Our clothes were pretty worn, but I was too cheap to buy things here when I knew I had boxes of clothes coming. We were able to donate five BIG boxes of clothing and five boxes of books to the church. (As we sort things out, more will go to the church.) Some books were for the pastor’s library and some for the Calvary Chapel Academy, which is grades Kindergarten to fifth grade. The container also brought many things for the church: a lawn mover, a tractor, a boat, Bibles, clothes, and solar panels. The panels will be a real help to the church because electricity is expensive and and intermittent. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to do your job and have the power go out, for any amount of time. The boat is also a key part of the island and farm ministry. Take a quick look at any map of Uganda and you will see that there is a lot of lakeshore and many, many islands.  While there are lots of clinics in Entebbe, very few islands have permanent medical access. If you are sick, then you are just sick. Most people can’t afford to take the ferry to Entebbe for help. The farm is a continuing project. Pastor Deus has recently taken over management and had a few run in with the bees. They stung some chickens to death, but all the human workers ran faster than the bees could fly!

The next big excitement is that Raoul and I were robbed at gun point about two weeks ago, in our driveway no less! Truly, God kept us and our kids, who were in the house, safe.  This is the short version. The thieves had been waiting for us outside of our gate.  When we returned home about 9:30pm from grocery shopping, our guard opened the gate for the car, we pulled in and parked.  The thieves bound our guard and covered his head.  One of them shot the German Shepherd guard dog dead with a single shot. I had already opened my door, Raoul told me that that was a gun shot and to shut and lock the door, which I did. There was one gunman at each window. The older man demanded our money, which we gave him. He ordered Raoul out of the car, and wanted him to open the house, which Raoul refused to do. At some point the gunman hit Raoul in the jaw with the gun butt.  I stayed in the locked car, one of the men threw a brick through my window. I wasn’t injured, just frightened. They told me to get out of the car, which I did. Raoul told me to go upstairs and get help. So I ran! The Ignite Interns were upstairs. I told them that we were being robbed, to call the police, call Pastor Craig, and to pray like crazy. At that point, God in His great mercy, had the robbers leave.  The police never answered the phone. Pastor Craig came over right away and took Raoul to the police to report the robbery. The kids hadn’t seen anything, so thankfully, we don’t have to deal with any shock or stress. There were some tears about the German Shepherd, but nothing too bad. So now we are a professional guard 24/7, and an armed policeman at night.  It was sad to have to bury the dog, and less than a week later we had to bury a kitten we had tried to recuse.

On a happier note, my mother-in-law visited for two weeks in May, and we had a great time.  She brought lots of fun clothes and lots of German CHOCOLATE.  My mother is visiting currently from the States and she has brought lots of BOOKS, which is a close second to chocolate at our house.

Prayer Requests:

We are currently looking for a new place to live.

Pastor Rob is coming in July, safe travel for him and William Paul.

Health for all of us.  Being healthy here means you don’t have malaria, yellow fever, amoebas, worms, typhoid or rabies.

Blessings, Raoul, Ingrid, Eric, Francesca, Hannah, Nathan and Benji.

Ingrid's Update - A Day in Uganda

A Day In Uganda

The sun rises pretty much at 7am everyday.  The birds usually start squawking at 6:30.  I wake up.  Thankfully, today the power is on, so I flip the switch to turn on the water heater for the bathroom and then again in the kitchen for the sink.  I hear Phillip, the night guard unlocking the two padlocks on the big front gate.  I open the curtains and see him stretching and jogging in place to loosen up after sitting all night. The big German Shepherd, Zamu, looks my way. I unlock the wooden door, and then unlock the padlock on the iron bar gate. I’ll start coffee on the vintage gas stove. The ants have invaded again. Ugandan ants are relentless. They find every crumb and crevice. Water doesn’t stop them, bleach spray knocks them out long enough to rinse them down the drain. Coffee’s done. Check the mugs, make sure they are dry, any water droplet can harbor typhoid or amoebas. Get the milk out of the fridge. Give it the sniff test to make sure it hasn’t gone bad, which it can and often does regardless of expiration date. Set the table, check for ants and water on all the dishes and silverware. Toast bread on the grill section of the stove. Feed everyone toast with peanut paste, like peanut butter but kind of gritty, still pretty good. Dishes go into the sink, no dishwasher. I get lunch ready for Raoul, two bottles of filtered water and a sandwich. Check, make sure he still has some toilet paper in his backpack, because most public restrooms don’t have any. Dorecah, my house help 3 days a week, will arrive at 9:30, she will wash, dry and put away the dishes. Foreigners, who are culturally sensitive, hire local people to help them during the day with housework, gardening and guarding.  Dorecah earns about 7,000 Ugandan schillings, which is about 3 US dollars a day. If it rains she will arrive after the rain stops, because she, like most Ugandans, has no car and walks where ever she needs to go. If the day is Tuesday, she will go to the Tuesday market.  She will buy fresh fruits and vegetables for the week.  Since she doesn’t drive, and neither do I, I can’t drive a left handed stick shift on the left side of the road, she will take a taxi.  A taxi is not a big comfortable Yellow Cab, a taxi is a mini van which seats 11 but will FIT 17. Then from the taxi station she will ride as a passenger on a boda, that is a motorcycle.  She will need about two hours to do all this.  She will come back with two fully laden shopping bags: Cabbage, eggplant, carrots, potatoes, a pineapple, green beans, navy beans, mangos, zucchini and a pawpaw. Fruits and veggies have to be washed in a bleach solution to avoid tuberculosis. Forget Salad!  Thankfully, the city water is working and our tank is full, so we have water. I’ve started laundry in the washer, (a real one) but since there is no dryer, it goes out on the line to dry, if it doesn’t rain. There is no such thing as a quick load of laundry, because the water pressure is pretty low going to the machine, it can take half an hour to fill. If I’m in a big hurry, I’ll top fill it with buckets of water. Beans are cooked, rice is cooked, and the cabbage is cooked, time for lunch. Benji smothers everything in ketchup and mayo. If the laundry really dries then Dorecah will iron it tomorrow so that it is not so stiff.  Socks are stiff as a board and actually make a noise when they are folded. Clean up lunch, Dishes into the sink, wash dishes, dry dishes, bleach ants. Dorecah sweeps the house with a broom and a dust pan, amazing how much red dirt travels in. She will mop. But not with a mop. Most Ugandans use a towel. All the floors are tile. Some have grout missing, because the ants come and take it.  I’m not kidding. The floors are gleaming when she is done. At four o’clock she starts walking home. Every bit of her pay will go to pay her son’s school fees. She wants something better for him than the government schools, so she pays for a private school. Dinner happens somewhere in here.  Chicken sausages, potatoes, fresh cucumber. I bring the night guard something to eat and a hot tea. The laundry is still damp. I’ll hang it out again tomorrow if it doesn’t rain. I start shutting windows and doors at around 6:30 or 7:00pm because the mosquitoes are coming out and they can be malaria carriers. I get all the kids ready for bed, making sure they use the filtered water to brush their teeth. Put the kids into bed. Tuck in the mosquito nets, say prayers and turn out the lights. Go back into the kitchen, bleach spray all the counter tops. Sweep the floor for crumbs. Empty the trash.  Make sure no dog food is out. Padlock the iron gate. Lock the wooden door. Turn off the water heater. Pull the curtains, turn on the outside security lights. Read my devotions on my Kindle.  Tuck in the mosquito net. Hear the beach bar music until I fall asleep.

Now, I am not complaining.  Many Ugandan women have no indoor plumbing and cook over a charcoal fire on the ground. They may or may not have access to a city water source. If they don’t, they have to get water from Lake Victoria, which is loaded with parasites. They take big yellow jerry cans which hold a lot of water and are heavy.  Laundry is frequently hand washed and rinsed and laid out on the grass to dry.  I am blessed to have real doors and screens. Some houses have curtains over barred windows and a curtain for a front door.

Now our personal update. Ingrid here to give you on the latest in Entebbe, Uganda. Holiday Greetings, Christmas wishes, and a Happy New Year! I’m not quite sure where we left off last month’s letter, but I’m hoping we had our heads together enough to wish you a blessed Thanksgiving.

December has been a full month. We have been invited to many Christmas events from Church, children’s birthday parties, and a caroling sing along event. Calvary Chapel Entebbe performed a Christmas cantata. They sang traditional Christmas carols, some new songs that I did not know, and there was a cameo appearance of Jonathan and Nathanael Linquist as 2 of the 3 wise men and Loren as Mary. The singers were incredibly talented, really professional caliber.

The Calvary Chapel Entebbe Church picnic was fun. It took place in the Botanical Gardens, which were established in 1898. It is worth your time to Google them and check it out. Craig and his boys had prepared 3 hogs from “oink” to fork for lunch. Also served was goat, matooke(steamed green bananas), rice, roasted potatoes, chicken, beans, and fruits such as pineapple and mango. There were games, and the entire staff was introduced.  

We recently drove to Kampala as a family, thinking it would be a fun family outing.   But traffic was crazy and it got too hot. It didn’t really fit the “family outing” bill!  There is a zoo here, but each time we have tried to go, the rain has stopped us.

Personally I am keeping the homeschool fires burning, doing what I did in the States. I am participating in the Ladies Bible Study at Church on Saturdays with Loren Linquist. I also attend a Thursday evening study with ladies from all over the world. We are working our way through the women of the Bible.

Benji charms everyone he meets. The children in his class are getting used to this little blond boy and aren’t trying to constantly touch him, especially his hair. He just turned 4 on January 6th and is already wishing he were 5!  

Nathan’s Sunday School class is a huge bunch of kids, 60 or so. They are thrilled to get a crayon, a coloring sheet, and a biscuit, which is what we Americans would call a cookie. Nathan’s biggest worry right now is that he has to wait until October for his birthday.

Hannah’s age group at church is more calm.  She usually walks out with a prize for good Bible knowledge. She has made a couple friends on the playground and is getting back to her social self.  She is wearing out my Kindle reading Nancy Drews, which thankfully, we can download.

Francesca stays in service with the grown ups. She has made friends with Riley a girl down the road who is originally from Alaska. Her family is with the Africa Inland Mission. Francesca is glad to have the Christmas break from school. I know that she is glad to have her i-pod so that she can e-mail her friends in the States.

Eric celebrated his 15th birthday on January 5th.  He has started working on some Boy Scout merit badges as a part of the Lone Scout program.  He is diligently plugging along with his school work.  Both Eric and Francesca have enjoyed time with the Linquist boys, as they were home from school and university.

From Francesca:

Finally in Africa! I miss all my friends from TO. I have a friend my age here called Riley.  We had a Christmas Eve dinner with the Potter’s Field interns. It was a lot of fun! We had a candle catch a bag and a tablecloth on fire!!! We served ham, fish, soup, potatoes, rice and friend zucchini for the dinner. One of the intern girls, Ashley, said that she felt like a princess. The Linquist boys had come back for Christmas break and we had dinner with their family at the beach. I am getting over the stomach flu. I’m glad I don’t have anything serious or amoebas. We are on a break from school right now.

"TIA"

TIA: "This is Africa"... that's what people say when their expectation isn't met or is poorly met: the power is out for hours or days, TIA, the water is off for days, TIA, Internet speed? what's that?, TIA, mosquito nets, TIA, lake flies that remind you of the plagues in Egypt, TIA, getting charged a higher price because you are a white foreigner who doesn't know better, TIA..., and then...

beautiful red soil which grows anything you plant in it, TIA, beautiful children who look at you curiously, TIA, big, big smiles with shining eyes, TIA, worship that goes for an hour, TIA,  a prayer service that depicts how we should all pray unceasingly, TIA, missionary wives praying once a week for all the needs around them, TIA.

So we have been here for about three weeks and there are so many impressions of life.  We have been blessed beyond our imagination. We are sharing a huge house with the Potter's Field Inters/Missionary team. The house is old but beautiful: high, high ceilings, big bathrooms, a terrace that gives a luxury view of Lake Victoria,  windows with arched tops, heavy wooden doors.  And as it seems with all things here, there is the OTHER side. All the windows are barred, nicely done, but metal bars that prohibit outside entry. The doors are barred with the same heavy metal bars and everything gets padlocked at night or when you leave the house empty. A high fence surrounds the property with razor wire stretched across the top. The German Shepherd watchdog and the night guard or the day guard are always around.

We are blessed to have access to the Potter's Field vehicle and the people at the grocery are getting to know me.  I know that: the ground beef smells funky no matter what brand, the bread is really fresh, avocados are dirt cheap, matooke is a green banana that tastes like a potato, cassava is a root that tastes like potato, eggs come in two kinds: yellow yolk and white yolk(really!), broccoli is kind of yellow but still good, milk comes in one liter plastic bags, and the tilapia out of Lake Victoria is fabulous. I am surprised that I can get: peanut butter made in New York, Nutella, Nivea body creams, laundry soap made in Austria, towels made in Germany, and biscuits and cookies made in England.

We are blessed by Calvary Chapel Entebbe. So many people extend their hand out to us both physically and metaphorically.  They are glad to meet you and get to know you. I have to listen so carefully because my ear isn't tuned into the Ugandan English yet. I was sitting in service on the first Sunday and I kept hearing the word "fresh". It just didn't make sense, about halfway through the sermon I realized he was saying "flesh".  Each person has been amazingly patient with me as I ask them two and three times to repeat themselves.

Our children are blessed by the missionary wives and some foreign families that have other purposes here.  Many people we meet are here to study and work at the Virus Institute.  There is a play group that we have been invited to that includes a Russian, two British ladies, a Texan and me. Down our street there is a family of seven children who are missionaries from Alaska.  There is incredible diversity in this little town of Entebbe.  The kids are making friends.  We haven't had one major emotional breakdown!  We are back to school and so they are focused on that too.

We are so blessed by all of you out there in the wide world of e-mail and Facebook. We are grateful  for your immediate response to our request for prayers. For those of you who are new to our loop, we have had plumbing work done that took four days, two water heaters die on us-one upstairs, so we had hot water raining through the ceiling, thankfully nothing was damaged and I ended up with a very clean floor. We really have had power outages that went on for days, and no water for two days.  Raoul is still wrestling with the Internet provider.

Our current prayer request: We are still looking and praying for the right car. We are trying to get our paper work together for our work permits. Raoul has been sick with some kind of head cold/sinus infection.

We thank you for all your support, both financial and spiritual.  We would love to hear from you too!  Our e-mail is usually up and we are glad to stay informed with your lives.  Just because you don't have geckos in the wash basin doesn't mean your lives aren't interesting to us.

Goodbye for now, Ingrid.

Raoul here - well, it certainly has been interesting to get our lives started afresh here in Africa. It is not an easy life when one looks at the material comforts but it is a peaceful life. Everything happens at a slower pace and everyone is friendlier and calmer as a result. My first two weeks have mostly consisted of getting our house in order (lots of plumbing repairs were needed) and setting up all the little parts of life like phones, internet, bank, groceries, driving on the left side of the roads, etc. I started this week at CC Entebbe and going forward I will be involved in several building projects (a school, a work shop, a well, a chicken farm), IT support, general facilities oversight, and preparing to teach next year in the local discipleship training school. I will start with one class (lasts about 4 months) in Inductive Bible Study. We are in the process of getting our work permits and finalizing our container to be shipped from LA next month. Lots of prayer needed to make sure it all goes smoothly, for - TIA - you just never know...

We love and miss all of you and send you our love. Raoul.

Showdown at the PFR Corral

This is a video I made on the ranch in Montana. I couldn't upload it at the time, so here it is:

Final Media Project

Here is my final video project. This was a class effort about our time in Montana.

Fiedler Update

Here's the latest! Ingrid at the keyboard,

When we last updated/posted/blogged we were at Potter's Field Ranch in Montana. We have since then packed up our five children, one dog, one intern-Sarah, one U-Haul trailer and driven from Montana to Camarillo, California to come to a stop until October 22nd.

The last days at Potter's Field were full of highs and lows as interns packed and said good bye to us and one another.  Some of them we will see again in Uganda, as we have the privilege of sharing a house with them in Entebbe during their 6 months of serving, then we will all cry again when they leave.

The drive from Montana to California was long and we were all a little squished in the very full Suburban.  We experienced Yellowstone with its bisons, Old Faithful, waterfalls, and other fabulous scenery.


Now we are staying in Camarillo, California enjoying the generous hospitality of my aunt and uncle who are letting us stay in their house until we fly out.  It is our hope to see many of our friends here and  pass out as many hugs as possible!  Our major task here is to get the 40 foot overseas container in order.  It is no minor undertaking as there are potential donations coming from churches throughout the US and it all needs to be buttoned up correctly, not to mention we never done this before.


Godspeak Calvary Chapel of Thousand Oaks continues to show their support for us as they purchased the plane tickets for us yesterday, and ultimately will generously be paying for our share of the container and its shipping, not to mention their monthly support. We are blessed to have a home church like this.


Stepping back from our Potter's Field experience and comparing who we were when we came in, to who we are as we leave, truly we can say that our spiritual cup is full.  Raoul LOVED his classes and greatly admired those who taught with such passion and integrity.  I had a much needed rest from many of my duties as Mom - such as cooking and cleaning.  Eric and Francesca were blessed with friendships with the interns, all of whom are cut from a different cloth. Hannah, Nathan and Benji had a great time exploring the wooded campus. They built forts in the woods, rock bridges in the streams, played hide and go seek, scootered like crazy, and Nathan learned to ride a bike almost overnight without training wheels.  We are glad to be part of the Potter's Field family and look forward to building the school building in which children in Entebbe will be taught and discipled. The Potter's Field staff loved on us with a Christ-like love and will also be supporting us financially in Entebbe. If you belong to a church which has never seen their presentation I would highly recommend it. It is life changing-as all the interns can attest to.

Speaking of looking forward... we are looking forward to the beginning of our time in Entebbe. Our mailing address is currently the Linquist's P.O. box.  Anything you want to send can be sent to:

Fiedlers
c/o Loren Linquist
P.O. Box 837
Entebbe, Uganda, East Africa

Our flight is two 10 hour legs, LAX to London and London to Entebbe. Please pray for our kids, that they can sleep and endure the flight. I can't think of any 3 year old or 5 (almost 6) year old boy to whom sitting for 10 hours comes naturally! Please pray for us as we pack and get ready to go, that we wouldn't forget vital things. Please pray for a spirit of family and peace as we share a large house with the interns in Entebbe. Please pray for health and safety at all times! Please pray that our language skills increase quickly and that we all adjust to our new environment. Please pray that we will die to our flesh daily and that -as we ourselves hope and pray - we can serve Craig and Loren without reservation.

We are so thankful for your interest in our endeavors, for your prayers and support.  We know that this is a privilege to serve our Lord in Africa.

Enjoying God's mercy and grace,

Raoul, Ingrid, Eric, Francesca, Hannah, Nathan, Benjamin.

A Happy Servant

Luke 17:10 "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"

Here we have Jesus giving us the secret to a joyful and happy life. The original disciples were a thickheaded bunch and Jesus had to be direct in His approach in order to get the point across to them clearly. And not much has changed concerning His followers so I am glad that He put it so simply: consider yourself of no worth and consider it your duty to do what is commanded you. Jesus gives us the analogy of the servant so that we have a picture of what kind of selfless attitude He wants us to have.
At the root of all unhappiness in the world lies sin. At the root of all sin lies pride in the heart of man.  From there emanates all that is contrary to life and peace with God. Death and destruction is the end result every time pride enters the thinking of sinful man. It seems overwhelming and impossible to overcome, for it is such an integral part of who we are. It takes a supernatural intervention to remove pride from our hearts, for only God can restore us to everlasting life. The way to overcome this deathtrap is to allow God into our lives and recognize that all good things can only come from Him. In us dwells no good thing - we are unprofitable servants. The good that we manage to do, we do by the grace of God and since it is He who enables us to do good, we cannot take the credit for it. We give the glory to God, where it belongs, and consider it our duty to do as He commands. When we have reduced ourselves to nothing and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us so completely that He overflows from our lives onto others, we finally find that peace and joy we have always longed for.

Application
Today I will remember that I have died to my self and that it is Christ who lives in me. I will keep Galatians 2:20 in my mind throughout the day.