The last time I updated our blog, we were beside ourselves
about what we're doing next. Jamesdon and I felt like we had two choices and we were
divided on which one was the right one. I felt an overwhelming sense that I
needed to come back home to start work, and Jamesdon had an incredible peace
with me staying here with our family and allowing God to continue to provide
for our family. After taking time to really seek God and talking with family and friends at home, I was reminded of our very first reaction
to this situation when it first arose last summer…
we are going to do this as a
family!
So Jamesdon and I went to work, making phone calls, writing our
Congress woman, writing letters to expedite the process, and began trying to
“fix” what was happening. The potential financial burden on our family was
weighing heavy on me, but Jamesdon remained confident that God would provide. I
figured that I would just continue to extend my leave of absence on a month to
month basis and hope that we could finalize this whole thing quickly...
…because
God is totally capable of doing that, right?!
It was very soon after brought to my attention that , me taking a
leave of absence on a month to month basis is preventing the school from hiring
a teacher to take over my position, and finding a long-term sub for a high
school Chemistry class is not easy to
come by. At this point, I definitely knew I was not ready to come home
immediately, and really had no idea how much longer this process was going to
take, so I made a professional decision to put in my leave of absence for the
remainder of the year. Talk about a LEAP OF FAITH!
Immediately after making
this decision, God started to “show-off”! We literally woke up the next morning
to a message saying that we had a received a very generous anonymous cashier’s check to support our
family. CRAZY!
What I realized then was that God was just waiting for us to
stop trying to “fix” this and to trust in Him to provide what we need. That
first check wasn't the start of God’s provisions for our family and was
definitely not the end. Since making that decision, I no longer feel torn
between going home and staying here, but have put both feet in allowing
Jamesdon and I to focus on being present here.
Once we made the decision to stay, options seemed to open up left and right, from ministry work to paying job opportunities.
After a lot of prayer and continued encouragement and financial provision, we
felt that God was definitely calling us to do ministry here.
When it was all said and done, we felt like we were being called to serve
beside Pastor Alex and Millie Ojera, a couple that has become our family here
in Uganda. They have a network of churches in Luwero District and many other
projects/ministries, one of which is a very quickly growing school. We have
said many times how much we would love to work with them, but I up until now, they only had a Primary School, and weren't really in need of our particular skill sets. But guess what… they have a secondary
school that began last year! Looks like I am going to teach Chemistry again!
Jamesdon, along with his role with align, has made a commitment to become
more active in worship for our church in Kampala, which many people here are
VERY excited about!
It is amazing how many doors God has opened to us now that
we have decided to stay, but really when I look back I realize that all of
these doors have been open, we just finally decided to walk through them! So it
looks like we are going to be here awhile!
If you’d like to unite with us in this undertaking you may send your financial blessings to:
C/O Andrew Galbreath
354 Avocado Street #16
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Please make checks payable to "Jamesdon and/or Coryn Kissling"
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