Two days away from turkey day!  Though I have to admit, it is harder to enjoy eating turkey just after slaughtering the wretched thing that morning!  On the flip side, I will not miss the gobbling at 6 in the morning!  It is lucky that it has not died yet!  Though it reminds me of the fond memories I have of sitting in the woods, attempting to call birds in, then falling asleep in a camping chair.  Yep, that’s turkey hunting!  But I am really looking forward to hanging with our ‘Replacement Family’ and enjoying butt-loads of food!

Honestly, I am very thankful for the people here who support us.  It would be impossible to manage this whole endeavor without a release of normalcy.  Though no one has ever called me normal!  But seriously, chilling with people from all over the world and getting along like family… that is obviously a blessing given from God! 

Speaking of chilling with friends… I definitely had a weekend that I will not soon forget!  Nothing big really happened, but one small activity… Scottish Dancing!  Liz and I took the fam out to Kaazi, the sailing club, which is the closest place to have peace and quiet near Kampala, to go camping for the weekend.  On Saturday night, after the barbecue (notice the full revolution to food, only a writing genius could transition from dancing back to food!), the group decided to flip on their mix tape (i.e. ipod) and turn up the Scottish beats.  I have to admit, just hearing the music made me chuckle.  Then one of the guys yells out “It’s time to strip the willow!”  I instantly felt bad for whomever this willow person was.  But then I realized that that was a dance move (obviously nothing like the Carlton!).  Of course, Liz (my other wife, from UK) asked me to dance (cue line from Dirty Dancing!).  And seeing Lizzy and I were the only ones left sitting (she hurt her back) I could not refuse without looking like a tool.  So I got up, proceeded to learn this dance where men and women literally spin and throw one another about.  I know it looked ridiculous (which Lizzy was quick to tell me) but I had a freaking blast!  I am certain that I did not stop smiling the whole time.  Then when it was my turn to be thrown about, oh yeah, that was fun!  Two women in particular, man they threw me like I was a school girl.  That made me giggle and squeal!  After that, I learned the ‘White Sergeant Dash’ which was a little more formal, but still entertaining.  There I got to show some of my rhythm (yes, that was a joke!)!  All in all, that was the highlight of my last weekend!  Just in case you wanted to know.

**I might have accepted the opportunity at the next Scottish dancing night to wear a kilt, commando style!  Pictures to come!**

I am happy to say that we are making progress on the project that is on hold.  I am very thankful that the parties are open to our ideas here and are pursuing them heavily.  I have stepped out of my normal job description, but I am pretty positive that we are going to get that project off hold by December!  Pray that we can setup the organization necessary to get all of this done (Community Based Organization [CBO]) quickly.

So as I understand it, the block machine has totally cleared customs and is available for pickup!  Hallelujah!!!  Though we had prayed that we could get it tax free, we were not that lucky.  The equivalent of the IRS (Uganda Revenue Authority) was pretty nice in not charging us the potential 35%+ of the product’s value and we got away with around $2k.  WWCS USA was quick to support us there and covered the expense!!! Praise God for partners in ministry!  So now, our new found friend, Bob Wright, will be assessing how he can build a trailer for the machine to make it easily portable.  Thanks to Uganda Orphan Relief Fund (UORF) that will be possible!  And they will be using he machine to build a vocational training school!  Win… win in my book!

Even though some days are tough, as you can see there are some pretty good things happening here.  I saw yesterday, on a bumper sticker, the phrase, “Where God guides, God provides.”  So that has really hit home and I am glad to see that affirmation in our ministry.

Another cool thing… the project in Kasawo, Edusabu Junior School, this is the place where earlier in the year we went to do a fund raiser.  I am pretty sure I made note of that success already, but in summary, this project is the poster child of Kingdom development here.  They have taken the initiative to start construction of a large elementary school (AKA Primary School).  They started the construction of the foundation and skeleton, but ran out of money.  Through the grace of God, we were able to assist them with a small contribution, and do a match type fund raising (community donate a bag of cement and we will match it).  Anyway, fruits of that were evident this past week.  We mobilized a work team and got two classrooms constructed!  This is huge considering there are 400+ students without one permanent classroom structure previously.  Even without that, this is a top performing Christian school in Mukono District!  So we are very hopeful for this to continue so that they can thrive in spreading the gospel to these kids in Kasawo!  Well done Pastor David and Chris Mabiru for supervising the work there!

Lastly, a pleasant surprise to us.  Just days after the work halted on our ‘big project’ in Kayango, we were informed that the school where our kids go (Acacia Classical Academy) is planning to build.  So as a way of saying thanks and being able to use our gifts, I have offered to help them there.  We have just started acquiring materials to build another two classrooms there!  It is awesome that the Lord is providing there.  The school is doing a good work in having sound teaching and loving teachers.  I am happy to see the Lord bless them!  I am also happy to be blessed to work there while in the transition phase of the ‘big project.’  Again, where God guides, God provides!  Praise Him!

Anyway, that is all for now.  We are considering another Christmas ministry this year.  Last year we handed out 21 gift baskets and 4 goats while presenting the message.  So if anyone has ideas or interest in doing that again this year, let us know.  Goats were around $40 for a semi-mature, bleating, urinating, eating machine.  The gift baskets were just over $10 a pop, but provided basically a full Christmas meal and a nice Ugandan decorative bowl.  So again, if you have interest give us a shout.

Serving Him as best as I am able,

Chad Neeley

Volunteer Construction Coordinator – WWCS USA/Uganda

Liz reminded me that I was a failure for not mentioning anything about the camping trip with the youth group.  And honestly she is totally right!  It was a reminder that we have a gift for dealing with young people. 

So it was about three weeks ago now.  We piled 13 kids into a small bus (cue joke about short bus… no I was not licking the windows!), us two as leaders, a driver, and a driver’s assistant/translator.  Then we jam packed enough camping supplies for 30.  We headed out at mid-morning to head west to the Fort Portal area.  Now if you know very little about Uganda, Fort Portal is something you probably don’t know.  But you should google it.  It is an area with views of the Rwenzori Mountains with tons of crater lakes.  Not to mention the rolling foothills, random wild animals (like olive baboons that interrupted our morning bible study), and stunning views every way you turned.  Anyway, without going into crazy detail the place is stunning and easy to see how majestic creation is.

So we headed off on our five plus hour drive.  Right from the get go we had some fun and serious conversations.  Sadly, something I really miss, talking to people who have the same mentality level as me!  If anything, talking was the best past time for the whole group.  It was like playing 1,000 questions, but they were mostly directed toward me.  Lets just say that the kids really appreciate my humor and creativity.  Some fun examples… ‘would you rather’ questions (which resulted in my preference of being a big headed leprechaun with short arms, atomic farts, a bowler hat, permanent sun glasses, and a tongue attached like a tail and resembling one as well).  Then there was the video time… so it rained a lot.  And surprisingly, when it is raining in Fort Portal it is actually cold too.  And at some point a laptop was brought out with bad speakers.  And as the movie played, no one could hear.  So I decided to narrate the movie for the kids.  It was basically an hour plus of non-stop laughing, literally.  At one point, as I was also trying to prepare the grill and cook the food, the kids would pause the movie to allow me time to come back.  They said they could not enjoy the movie otherwise.  And you know that I cannot pass up an opportunity where word vomit can flow and people will actually listen!

On the more serious side, we had several study times.  And I really saw some awesome interactions and development/clarity in some kid’s faith.  Liz is amazing at conversing with youth and helping them better understand what our faith is like.  We are the perfect combo… entertaining and informative.  I would say that we have fit in quite nicely with those kids in a brief time.  Praise God for that.  Not too mention this is a part of the ministry that Liz and I really enjoy and bond together with.

On the other side of the ministry, we kind of hit a road block.  So please pray for us.  The BIG project that is planned for Bugiri has been halted as of Tuesday.  There are some issues state side that need to be resolved.  So until that is done, my work building for that project is on hold.  Its really too bad, but the Lord has a plan and will allow progress as He wills.  So just pray that this can be done quickly and that we can go full steam ahead again.

There is really big news on the side of the block machine!  It has hit Ugandan soil!  The machine has arrived in Mbale, a major town just inside the Kenyan border.  There the ‘customs’ (aka tax man) will assess what taxes need to be paid so that it can be transported to its first destination.  Pray that this goes well.  Our goal is to get the whole container tax free!  So we need prayer that greed and corruption does not deviate that plan.

In case none of you knew… I love being a dad!  Sitting down helping Lydia with homework, I got the chance to see how awesome she is.  It was a rough start, but as we progressed there was high fives and laughter!  Thankfully it was math homework, otherwise I am pretty much useless.  It is often simple little tasks that we overlook, but yesterday was really nice.  I am so thankful for these kids of mine.  They are four of the five greatest blessings in my life!

Chad Neeley

Volunteer Construction Coordinator – WWCS USA/Uganda