...:::chapter 2wo:::...

As many of you reading this well know, 2009 was a very unique year for us. It hosted a slue of firsts in our lives but has ultimately brought us closer together and, more importantly, closer to God. We packed up our things and left everyone but each other behind and headed off to the world of Uganda. A world, that up until then, we had only imagined through movies, books, and the World Wide Web.

Arrival here was almost whimsical! The new faces, sounds, smells, and traditions brought us spinning out of our comfortable Californian lives and into a renewed sense of being. Then, of course, that fanciful mind set started to fade with our own adaptation. Before we knew it, we found ourselves picking up new Lugandan phrases everyday and braving the frenzied city on our own two wheels (I love my bike!). We set into our routines and life here has become just that; Life!

To say we love it here would be a gross understatement. All the things, which at first, were strange and out of the ordinary, have now become a thread in the fabric that makes up who we are. We’ve completely fallen head over heals for the people here and the stories of who they are, where they’ve been, and where they’re going, each one with so much hope for their future. Our time here has also given us the ability to better evaluate the need here and determine exactly where we fit into it. That very evaluation has led us to an understanding that the place we belong, the place God is heavily calling us to, is not one we could simply walk away from in August as planned. That being said, we’ve made the decision to, once again, listen to the unmistakable voice of God’s direction in our lives.

So what exactly does that look like? Glad you asked!

First off, as many are well aware, we’ve been asking for your partnership in prayer for a really special little guy here; Daniel.
Daniel came into our lives about 6 months ago through the baby home that we’ve been volunteering with as part of our work here. Abandoned by his parents, and left on the steps of a hospital, Daniel was the first one to arrive at the home, and came dangerously malnourished and under developed. Not only was he severely emaciated, but he also arrived with congenital Cataracts leading to two very weak, underdeveloped, but beautiful eyes! I really think those two wandering, googly-eyes, were what initially drew us to him. Over the last 6 months, we’ve had the joy of being a part of his growth, seeing him learn to sit up, crawl, grunt, walk, and talk (kinda?!?!).

It’s been the greatest blessing and revealed something huge to us! We Love this guy! I mean, we really LOVE him!  We love him and we couldn’t stand the thought of leaving such a joyous part of our life behind!

Now at first, this feeling was much more in Coryn’s heart than mine. I mean come on, she’s a woman with an amazing heart. Of course it was! But for me, I just wasn’t ready to come to terms with what being this guy’s dad would look like. I prayed constantly that God would just provide Daniel with a good family that would be the blessing to him that he has been to us! That way, we could go back home to our comfortable life, guilt free. Pretty selfish huh?

Well, God answered that prayer, but not exactly how I’d hoped. At the end of the year, while we were in Gulu serving alongside our home church, ROCKharbor, I heard an unmistakable calling. We were all gathered for the morning’s devotion, which was on the topic of allowing God to speak in our lives. I had been praying with an inspiring woman, Frankie, Frank the Tank, Galaway, and suddenly had an overwhelming phrase go through my head. ADOPT DANIEL. I immediately dismissed it as my own convoluted thought but then it just got louder! ADOPT DANIEL! I continued dismissing the “thoughts” as my own but they were so dang consistent! Finally I found myself weeping uncontrollably, unable to utter a single comprehendible word! I realized at that point that truth had fallen on me. God answered the prayer I prayed so many times before, “Give Daniel a good home”.

That was it! The second I recognized that voice my heart open up wide to the new life staring us in the face. We came home from that trip and haven’t looked back since. After expressing our desires to the church and getting their blessing, we started the process. We’ve applied for foster care and had our home study done in the last week and are now awaiting our court appearance. After that, we’ll await the approval of our appeal for legal guardianship.

Sounds great right? Well it is, but it does come with a few strings attached. To adopt the right and legal way, one has to foster the prospective child in country for 3 years! Yup, 3 more years in Uganda! But even this has been a blessing.

Knowing that we’ll be around longer has encouraged us to step up our ministry efforts here. We’re currently applying to be the managers of the very baby home that cared for Daniel, and so many just like him! We feel a special connection to it and the vision we share with them; to provide the orphaned and abandoned children of Uganda with loving, Christian families. I can’t express enough the excitement we both have for the prospective future! If accepted, Coryn and I will serve side by side in ministry, just as we’ve always hoped.

So, with this new chapter in our lives, we’d like to ask you for two things…

First and foremost, Prayer! Pray for God’s continued covering in the adoption process. Pray for Daniel’s continued health and astonishing development. Pray for us as new, completely clueless, parents! Pray that we continue to put God at the center of our marriage through all this newness! Pray that God maintains His unexplainable provision for our new family as we continue to follow His path. And lastly, pray that we relentlessly open up our hearts and ears to the voice of God!

Secondly, and probably the hardest for us to verbalize is that of provision. Our family survives completely on our personal savings, which was only budgeted for one year, as well as the support of friends and family like you. We ask that each of you take a moment to evaluate both yours and our current situation. If you feel the work we’re doing here is of God and are able to commit to even the slightest amount to enable us to continue in it, please do so. Either way, we do really urge you to keep us in prayer constantly!

…and stay posted for the announcement of our hug n’ love trip home with Daniel in the coming months!!!

Thank you all for your continued love, prayer, and support!

~The Kisslings

If you’d like to unite with us in this undertaking you may send donations to 3012 Herrington Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92405 payable to Africa Renewal Ministries and include "the Kisslings" in the memo line.

Thank you Savior!

We just wanted to sincerely wish all our friends and family a very very merry Christmas. We especially want to thank God our father for the huge sacrifice he knowingly put into action on this day!

Tell someone you love them today and everyday after!

Don't let Christmas go back into hibernation at midnight!!!

...:::last two weeks = AWESOME:::...

A few months ago I was approached by Jeff Atherstone, the principal at Gaba Bible Institute (GBI), to join him and an American film crew in the creation of a handful of promo videos for ARM. I didn't really think much of it at the time, but have got to say that I feel so blessed to have gotten the chance to work on such a noteworthy project.

The First week had us all over Kampala shooting various projects and getting stories by the people affected by them and those affecting change. The stories have been so incredible and a true testament to what God's doing over here!
This week has taken the four of us, Jeff Atherstone, Jacob Lewis, Jeff Henson, and myself, to the North of the country. First Soroti, and then Lira. We've been documenting the struggles that Ugandan pastors face on a daily basis, and I gotta say it's really opened my eyes! It seems I've come so accustom to noticing the young and the sick, that I've never really thought about the welfare of the shepherds. It's really crazy to realize that almost every pastor here has had no training what so ever, and since their not really looked at as a big investment by their village, no one is willing to send them to bible school. Seems a bit strange but here's how it traditionally works;
A community will come together to fund a village member who shows a good amount of potential in the hope that that vary member will then return home and get a good paying job. That person is then expected to turn around and fund others in the community to enable them to achieve the same thing. The problem with this system is that most Ugandan's know that a full time pastor will most likely end up a poor man, making it less enticing to want to send them to school. It's a scary thing to think about since these figure heads are the ones looked to in times of crisis but will be the first to tell you how ill-equipped they are. 
That's why this week has been so great! Not only have I been able to work with an amazing group of guys on a fantastic team, but I've also grown in an understanding of what the church here really needs. Equipped Leaders!
I now want to ask you for two things...
First and foremost, PRAY!
Pray for the conditon of the church nt only here in Uganda, but at home and all over the world. Pray that God brings healing and colaberation to the many communities that are the church.
Secondly, I would ask that anyone who reads this will take a look at what GBI is doing and really consider how easy it could be for you to take part in the transformation!

...:::been a while:::...

Hello everyone out there! I know it's been quite some time since we've given out much info to you fine people! The more we get settled, the more things seem to get busy around here!

Coryn has been carrying out her normal duties at Maranatha High School, but has also picked up a Chemistry class at Heritage International School, a local "missionary kid" school. They must really think she's something special because they've already offered her a full time science position. We've been praying about it a lot and don't feel led to accept it but I know it's a nice feeling for her to be in such demand. On top of all her classes, she's also tutoring a kid here to earn a few extra dollars so that we can pay a few of really bad off locals for small tasks around the house. It's been great since we came here with a "No Handout" mentality.

Last week, we also got a short term roommate. Her name's Emily from Tennessee and so far seems like a pretty easy going girl. She also seems to like having a few mzungus around to pass the time. It's been fun for us too! Lots of board games and fellowship with her and the neighbors.

As for me, I feel like I've been getting to see a lot of the country. Last month we bought a dual sport motorcycle. It's pretty sick and Coryn even trusts me enough to hop on the back. It's made us a lot more mobile and really opened up some great opportunities for me to interact with the projects ARM has outside the city.

Last month, I traveled to Rukunjiri to photograph and film the kids from the Mwangaza choir. The Kids are amazing and really served a great reminder to why I'm here! I'm working on putting together the pics and vids for a promo to highlight the choir and their upcoming 6 month tour in the US.

I also got to travel to Lazira last week to photograph over 200 new children for the sponsorship program. It's really amazing how looking through a lens into each one of those kid's eyes can really pull on your heart strings. Just really surprised me since I had been with them all morning but it wasn't till I took each one's portrait that I could see the hope in each one's face! Also gotta add that I need to get a bit more exercise since I'm on day three from being sore from taking pictures! TAKING PICTURES?!?!

The next two weeks for me should be pretty awesome! I get to assist on an extremely talented video crew form So Cal! I'm so excited! The gear they're bringing is sweet, The talent, even better, and I get to travel to yet a new location, Soroti and Lira! The talent I was referring to is Jacob Lewis. He's a truly gifted filmmaker with an even more amazing heart for God, and I'm so stoked to get the opportunity to work with and learn from him!Check out this piece form him. It's pretty touching!

I guess that's pretty much it for now. Oh yeah, we're still illegal aliens here but really hope that will be cleared up soon without too much cost so we ask that you join us in praying for that one big time! Also, we just found out today that Coryn's mom was in a pretty bad accident on the 5th. She's okay now but did have to stay in the hospital for four days due to multiple fractures. Since the doctor's said she's be fine, they didn't tell us the news right away, out of fear that we'd jump on the first plane home (and probably rightfully so!). Anyhoot, we also ask that you join us in praying for a speedy recovery for her and to make the insurance process (car's totaled) as painless as possible. Thanks for the support!

Till next time...