A House for a Home

When Andy Smith emailed us over a week ago, we were excited. He had found a house that might possibly work for us!
The next email we received, Andy had done a walk through of the home. Not only was this possibly something to consider, it had EVERYTHING we wanted, needed and MORE! Yes, it has fallen into disrepair in spots and is in need of paint in a bad way ... BUT ... to us, this place seems like a mansion on earth for us!!!
Not only does this home have six bedrooms, there is a Boys' Quarters outback with two rooms, a spacious yard with fruit trees and an existing garden. The place is fenced in with vegetation covering just about all of the fencing. There is also a small house or chicken coop type structure with chicken wire. It is simply amazing to us to consider! All of this and it also overlooks Lake Victoria and the mouth of the Nile River!!!
We started praying over this immediately. The price was definitely right (just under what we had projected in our budget), but we had understood that a lot of landlords require not only a lease agreement of six to twelve months at a time, they also expect the full amount up front. After checking our financial statement from the Global Outreach Int'l Home Office, we were a long ways from having that kind of cash available. We prayed that God would either do a miracle to show us this was for sure His will or He would close all doors immediately and show us that He had something even better waiting for us in Jinja.
We had already decided in our hearts that this place would fill every possible ministry need we could imagine at this time. Our hopes had been not only to have plenty of rooms for our family as well as homeschooling, but to have a place for Andy and Karina Smith to stay whenever they needed it on the mainland; also, to have plenty of room to help with groups and teams that come through to work with SHIM and have a large yard to do a garden with space for the kids. My personal dream is to have a "Hospitality House," a place where people are encouraged and feel closer to God in some way because of their being there. (Because I do not believe I have the gift of hospitality, this would also be a miracle as God would definitely be responsible for such a thing!) Not only does this place have all of this and more, it is also located very near Ripon Port where SHIM lands their boat. Plus ... the timing of obtaining the house this month enables a place for all of our things as well as SHIM's things to be stored as soon as the container arrives. We just couldn't ask for more! (at least I can't imagine it ...)
Today, Andy called on the telephone, stating that he needed to know for sure within the hour if we wanted this place. There was another family wanting the house but Andy had asked about it first so we had first dibbs. Oh, my goodness! I shared with Andy that we definitely wanted the place but that we didn't have all of the rent money upfront yet. Ah ha! No problem! This landlord apparently only requires rent each month and we can certainly swing that!!! Ahhhhhh! Andy! YESSSSS!!!!!!!
Simple excitement quickly turned into overwhelming enthusiasm! Once again, God has shown His Word true in Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen!" (NIV) We had asked for at least 3 bedrooms. He gave us 6 rooms. We hoped for at least a workable kitchen. He gave us this plus even a small mudroom/laundry area. We hoped to be near enough to SHIM in some way to serve their needs. He gave us a home just up the road from the port SHIM uses regularly. We hoped for an extra room/guest area for Andy and Karina Smith to stay whenever needed. He gave us a separate Boys' Quarters with two rooms and a small kitchen. We hoped to be in the country or at least a fair yard for the children where we could have a garden. He gave us a garden, fruit trees, space for some small animals (like chickens), a fenced in space for the children and more. The list goes on as we are grateful for this house being provided for us, in advance. Not just a house, but soon to be our home! We are ever so grateful!!!