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Full Steam Ahead

Wow, what an amazing circle of family, friends, supporters and ever faithful prayer warriors we have surrounding us! The Lord is blessing us tremendously through all of you, so thank you for your faithfulness. We have been on the ground here in Uganda almost three months and as we share our first big update this side of the pond, we want to say "Thank You" again for all the ways you support and love our family. Without you, it would not be possible for us to be here serving our Acholi brothers and sisters and joining Jesus in the redemptive work He is doing in Northern Uganda. As promised, we have a wealth of images, stories and updates to share.

A Myriad of Medical Opportunities

Bridget did not formally practice medicine during our first two months, but once the doors opened in January, she has had a wide variety of opportunities to serve not only the children, workers and staff at Restoration Gateway (from our front porch and at the current RG clinic), but also Ugandans throughout our district at the local Kiryandongo government hospital and through village medical outreach clinics. 

Getting in the Rhythm

During our first two months in Uganda, our key objective was to establish a healthy and sustainable family rhythm as we integrated living cross-culturally, language learning, building new relationships and community at RG and throughout the surrounding communities, all while getting unpacked and settled into our temporary house. The house we will be living in long-term is still under construction but is scheduled to be finished and have us moved in by early March. This intentional "delayed start" into our full-time ministry roles has been a rich and invaluable time for our family and we can already see the fruit of  living life here in Uganda with our priorities in line: first our relationships with God, then our family, then our ministry roles outside the home.

We began formally engaging our ministry roles in January and here is a summary of some of the things we have been involved with:

  • We organized and coordinated an activities program for the RG children during the month of January, before they start classes back up on Feb. 4th
  • Bridget has been lovingly providing medical care for RG children, workers, staff and Ugandans throughout the Kiryandongo district through her service at a local government hospital and village medical outreaches
  • Steve began meeting with RG department heads and staff. He has also re-initiated and has been leading weekly staff meetings. This has already been so fruitful in fostering team-wide communication and we are excited to see where these will lead
  • Bridget has participated in the weekly bible study, education/instruction time and focused prayer time with the "Mamas" that care for the RG children and has valued the time to laugh, cry, intercede and invest in these sisters in the Lord
  • We have incidentally initiated both a "swimming pool" and "coloring" ministry for all available RG children which has continued to blossom in front of our house and has provided endearing opportunities to interact and play with the RG children at large
  • Steve helped to coordinate, shepherd and welcome various short-term visitors to RG during January (a team visiting from Franklin College, a medically-trained family who sponsors a child at RG, and a pre-med undergraduate student who is interested in becoming a missionary doctor)
  • Steve has been meeting weekly with the male interns and short term volunteers for pastoral and administrative support
  • Steve and Bridget organized and directed a three day basketball clinic for 40 of the RG children
"Daddy, how is Mommy a Mommy, a teacher, a doctor, a cooker and a haircutter?" (One of our favorite Ethan quotes so far)

Equipping the Saints

As January approached, we continued to prayerfully submit ourselves to God's plans and purposes and ignited our giftings to join alongside what He was already up to.  Steve, as operations manager, made his first priority to meet one-on-one with each of the RG department heads and allow for them to share the ins and outs of their roles, their strengths and weaknesses and any insight they had on how RG could operate even smoother. Steve re-initiated and has been directing a staff-wide weekly administrative meeting and meets with the Executive Director and Ugandan co-director weekly to optimize and help implement the vision and plans for RG. He has also been working alongside the short term team's coordinator and helping her with RG visitor logistics.  As highlighted above, Steve has also been meeting with the male interns and short term volunteers for pastoral oversight and last week had the privilege to preach at the RG church's Sunday service.  As Steve's heart continues to be stirred and passionate about equipping the saints, (Ephesians 4:12 "to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up") he is overjoyed for the numerous opportunities to help develop and pour into the amazing staff and leaders here at RG.

One of Steve's first household projects when we hit the ground was setting up our solar power system (something most city-folk know about, right?). Out in the bush, we aren't connected to the electricity grid so consequently we had to immediately research, purchase, deliver and install the system.  Photos truly do express a thousand words here.. as you can see it was as easy as 1,2,3.. right?!  Well, we are happy to announce we have power so all that prayer and effort paid off, AMEN!

Everyday a New Adventure

With 700 acres, a never ending supply of dirt, rocks, sticks and bugs and the Nile river roaring in the distance, RG has been an amazing place for Ethan and Evelyn. Everyday is truly a new adventure for them, as they wake up eager to go outside (after piling on the sunscreen) and see their friends, explore, and play with the ever growing pile of sticks outside of our house. They are thriving and loving Africa!  Ethan and Evelyn are even embracing the Ugandan cuisine. They LOVE chipatis! (Basically a thicker flour tortilla) They have made great friends with the children of the other missionary families here and every day they look forward to playing with them and going on adventures together. They are also loving their times with the RG Ugandan children. As you can see from the pictures below of Ethan in the pool and Evelyn riding her bike, they are loving every minute of it!

Bridget has started homeschooling and they have responded great to her as "Ms. Bridget". Bridget is doing a terrific job!  It's been such a blessing to watch them grow and to be so intimately involved and excited about their learning. On Feb. 4th, the Ugandan school year starts and we are enrolling Ethan and Evelyn in the RG school (Oaks of Righteousness).  We are very excited about this opportunity, as they will be the first "missionary kids" to attend Oaks of Righteousness with the RG children.  We are passionate about integrating them with the Ugandan children and we feel this will be a great step towards encouraging and embracing that.  Ms. Bridget is excited to still home school them every morning as a way to complement their learning and cultural immersion at the "Oaks" (shout out to our Indy Oaks connections :))!

An Amazing Blessing to Our Family

Through answered prayer, the Lord has provided an amazing house helper, language teacher and incredible blessing to our family! Her name is Gloria. As we have transitioned into life at RG and living cross-culturally in Uganda, Gloria has helped us tremendously and has served our family on so many different levels. She has been our primary Acholi language teacher, she has been amazing with Ethan and Evelyn, and we have been so encouraged during our daily lives by her overflowing joyful spirit. She is saving money to go to school to become an accountant and we are so excited about the mutual blessing of our relationship with her.

Prayer Requests


As we navigate the next three months until our next update, we wanted to share some prayer requests:
  • Team unity and for a collective vision among the ever-growing number of both indigenous and missionary staff here at RG
  • For our overall health, well-being & protection from both wild and infectious agents alike :)
  • For Ethan and Evelyn as they enter the Oaks of Righteousness RG primary school on 2/4 as the first and only "muzungu" students
  • For Bridget and Steve as we continue to prioritize our language learning of the local tribal language, Acholi
  • For smooth acceptance and completion of our Ugandan visa & medical license paperwork 
To send us a care package or mail in Uganda:
Restoration Gateway
Attn: Steve and Bridget Hurry
PO Box 828
Bedmot Village
Karuma, Kiryandongo District
Uganda, East Africa

*Visit our care package page for more information.
 
Our Stateside mailing address is:
5219 E. 74th Place
Indianapolis, IN  46250
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