Harris Family Update
- July/August 2025 -
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
~ Philippians 1:9-11 ~
This was the memory verse chosen by the team we recently received. We were so excited to have my mom, two nieces and nephew, Eva, Moriah, and Isaiah, and their two friends, Ann and Ellie visit us for two weeks. We had hosted my mom and several nieces a few years ago during the grand opening of our college campus, and it had mostly been a quiet, relaxed time. This time they wanted to do service projects and VBS’s, and we packed each day full of teachings and work, while we took time to visit with friends in the evenings.
We toured them around each branch of the ministry including the college campus, the farm and its annex, and met with multiple widow’s groups. They got to attend our church, Matt and Isaiah visited the prison, and the girls hosted a mini VBS for our little neighbors. After the initial introduction to life in Uganda, as well as an additional mini VBS at a nursery school in town, we managed to squeeze the team, our family, Moses and Calton, and a lot of supplies into a couple of vehicles and take a road-trip!
Our first stop was Palabek refugee camp, where Bismark, a graduate from Terebinth, and his wife, Concy, have set up a small school in tin-walled shacks in obedience to God’s calling. We went to host 2 half-day VBS sessions for their 100+ school and Sunday school students, built a fence for their chicken coop, and picked up LOTS of stones. It was a blessing to see all that God is doing through them, as well as be a part of their home-ministry. Unfortunately, shortly after we left, lightning struck their grass-thatched home and burned most of what they had in the world to support their family and the school. Please keep them in your prayers as they trust God to provide for their needs.
Our next trip was to Kitgum, where Matt, Isaiah, and Calton assisted in installing glass windows into widow’s homes, and the rest of us hosted an entire-day VBS for 250+kids. I was continually impressed by the amount of patience and energy shown by the team. Eva’s ability to keep on teaching, Moses’s creative singing and dancing, Moriah, Ann, and Ellie’s shepherding the kids, and my Mom holding babies, serving up plates, and sitting with the kids. And I was very proud of Isaiah the next day when he preached to the church there in Kitgum. I have never heard him preach before, but I believe he could be a pastor one day, if God led him to be. After getting back home, washing laundry, gift shopping, and then painting the Buescher’s house, we took them down to the airport where we said a teary goodbye, wishing it had been a little longer of a trip.
Scarcely had we caught up on sleep and laundry, and regained our groove in homeschool again when we received a much prayed for phone-call. Our lawyer had finally secured a court date for our adoption case! It was a Tuesday afternoon when she called, and wouldn’t you know it, our appointment was for Thursday morning (provided we could make the 7 hour trip and rally all our witnesses short notice). The rush of it all was probably God’s mercy, knowing that I tend to become anxious when too many details remain suspended in the air for too long. After calling our witnesses, arranging transport, buying outfits suitable for the big city, and praying for the hotel to get back to us concerning our last-minute booking, we jumped into the car with Apiche’s parents and headed off! Thursday morning we prayed, met with lawyers, sat down in the lobby, and held our breath until the hearing. The judge heard our case from the lawyers, from Apiche’s parents, the Psychological Doctor, our Social Worker, and Matt, then gave us her answer: She’ll make her decision within a month. Our lawyers assured us that this is a normal response, and most likely a positive thing since she did not request us to come back for a second hearing.
So here we are, thankful, hopeful, and praising God, knowing that our efforts in Christ are not in vain! Please continue in prayer with us over the adoption, as well as all the paperwork to be done after the court order (name change, passport, immigration, visas etc.).
Matt had the blessing of baptizing Apiyo with her church youth leader!
Login To Leave Comment