Long time, no write

If any of you are checking this regulary, you can see that there haven't been any posts in a long time. The reason is due to the lack of internet access. We have been able to keep up with email since we can write it offline and just sent when we have a connection, but the blog takes a lot longer.

Andrew

Life as Usual; Ministry in Action

I feel the need to let you guys know a little about our day-to-day life here. Andrew’s changes daily, but mostly whatever the Guest House needs he does. Recently it’s been setting up a Coffee Bar and helping teach some classes on electricity (you can read about these things in his blogs). But as for me Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I teach in the slums in a little town within Kampala called Nakulabye. I take a boda-boda there (a boda-boda is a 50cc motorcycle). The ride in itself is an adventure. I always ask the driver to take care. Overall my transport to and fro is mere dollar, the equivalent at the time of writing is 1,600 Uganda Shillings. I have to sit side saddle because I am wearing a skirt, but the driver is always kind and treats me with respect. I have been teaching 12 students for the past 6 weeks. I am just about finished with this assignment and am about to move onto something else, for which I’ll be sad as these men and women have become my friends. I will miss the chance to see them 3x a week, but I know I will enjoy regular visits with them. I have been teaching quite a rigorous set of curricula interspersed with biology lessons as I call them. The women in particular are curious about their bodies and reproductive cycles. Sometimes our conversations evolve into questions about the United States, and recently we had a conversation about the Solar System. In addition to just teaching them, I have had the opportunity to financially support medical needs and hunger costs (so if you are financially supporting us this is some of what your money has gone towards). These students are very poor, and don’t have much, but their faith has taught me more about grace and love than anything else. They have a depth of understanding about how the Lord provides that I may never have and their fellowship with one another goes beyond what Americans will ever achieve. I am proud to have been their teachers and the opportunity in itself is a true gift.

A visit from friends

After being here two months we enjoyed our first visit from friends. Well, technically they weren’t coming to visit us, they were on a Mission Trip from Christ Church in San Antonio, but we enjoyed their company nonetheless. Seventeen people from San Antonio arrived on June 19th with 64 suitcases, two of which were ours. (They brought us some tools, and a few other needed supplies that are costly here, as well as birthday presents.) During their time here we met them for a lovely dinner hosted by a Birtish friend, ad enjoyed their company on a Safari. While here they ministered at the Daughters of Charity orphanage. It was great to see them and watch their eyes open to another culture and people.

Nicholle Franke

The safari

As a part of our goal to ward off the culture chock of living in a big city that has no order we have started once monthly trips out of Kampala. Last month it was Ssese Islands, a wonderful set of islands within Lake Victoria. You probably read about it in another blog. Well, this month it was Murchison Falls National Park with our friends from San Antonio. We all drove up on a Monday and were all supposed to return to Kampala on Tuesday. After the drive up (you can read about this in another blog) Andrew and decided we’d stay until Wednesday. It was a long drive and driving back the next day just wasn’t an option. I cancelled my class and we stayed on to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

We arrived to a fresh, cold towel to clean our face and a wonderful cup of freshly squeezed Passion Fruit juice. A much needed reprieve from the long and exhausting drive to the National Park. We immediately scheduled a game drive for 4:00 pm (we arrived at 3:30) and unloaded all our stuff in our rooms. The drive was amazing we saw cape buffalos, a lion, several herds of elephant, lots of oribi (these are like deer), antelope, giraffe, warthogs, and baboons. A wonderful display of God’s creatures great and small. Then the next morning we were up for a nice breakfast and then enjoyed a nice boat ride up (the river flows North) the Nile for a picturesque view of Murchison Falls. On our boat trip we saw hippos, lots of varieties of birds, more cape buffalos, and lots of crocodile. The group from San Antonio headed back and Andrew and I enjoyed a day at the pool and headed back Wednesday afternoon. I should mention Anderson came down with some kind of virus Tuesday evening causing a high fever. After a stint with diarrhea, a trip to the doctor and a blood test to assure us it’s not malaria he is as happy as ever. The Safari was a nice get away and a wonderful chance to see more of Uganda. Who knows where we will go next month?

Nicholle Franke

Tall decaf cappuccino with extra hot foam please….

One of the projects I have been working on is converting a beautiful thatch-roof African pavilion into a coffee and snack bar. It was previously used as a meeting/conference facility. For the past month I have been looking for a cappuccino machine. The chairman of the guesthouse went to Dubai on business and brought back one for me! I was then on to the task of finding whole bean coffee and a grinder. This would normally take a few weeks, but God must have been smiling on me that day. I mentioned my needs to the man that runs the cash box for the restaurant here at the guesthouse. He said that he used to work at a coffee bar and could get their supplier’s name – if I gave him my cell phone (airtime is expensive here). I happily agreed and went in for some tea. About five minutes later, Amos came up and said he can get me coffee for 5000 shillings for half a kilogram and that we could get half a kilo of decaf coffee for 25000 shillings. This was very exciting to me as there is NO decaf anything here (Nicholle and I gave up caffeine when we found out she was pregnant about a year and a half ago) and ALL the coffee that is available is instant. If we ordered 3 kilos they would even deliver it to us. I handed the phone right back to Amos and asked him to place an order for 3 kilos of coffee and half a kilo of decaf – and it actually showed up in under two hours (the best thing is that I didn’t have to leave the serenity of Namirembe guest house!) That same day we were discussing the need of a bean grinder. Until we purchase a real unit, Nicholle reminded me that the blender we bought had a coffee grinding attachment with it – it all worked and we made some decaf cappuccinos for the Franke’s! Now, I just have to keep on Alex (the man that runs the coffee bar) and make sure he pushes the new drinks and knows how to make them. In fact, I have (with Nicholle’s artistic help) created some flyers that I need to print and place around the hotel to advertise our new addition. In a similarly exciting turn of events, we also started selling ice cream – another hard to come by treat here in Kampala. To my amazement, this was also delivered to us – in fact, about the same time as the coffee arrived. WHAT A DAY Friday was for me. In this culture, you are reminded over and again that you can only do one thing per day. Well, Friday I got about 10 things done, so I told Nicholle that I had earned myself a weekend ☺ Be that as it may, when you live where you work (we literally live in the hotel) you don’t really ever get a true day off, but I’ve had a chance to be lazy and read my overpriced magazines.

Andrew Franke

Smoking is bad for you

So, while we were at the safari camp, Nicholle and Anderson and I were walking back from the boat ride after saying goodbye to our friends when a Ugandan military soldier joined us. As many of the locals do, he greeted us and began in his own way hinting that he would like for us to give him something. He asked if we had any cigarettes and informed us that they are expensive and that he didn’t have any money to buy some. I immediately remarked that smoking is bad for you and that you shouldn’t smoke. I told him that it could take 10 years off your life. Nicholle chimed in that in a culture with a life expectancy of 50 years or less, that is a significant time to loose. The man looked at me and said that he had never heard that and that he would not smoke another cigarette from that day forward. He thanked us for the information and said that he was an uneducated soldier and that he didn’t know how bad smoking could be. I’m not sure that he actually quit, but Nicholle said he probably went back to his friends and told them that the Mzungu’s (white people) told him not to smoke any more – and that they all quit smoking – one can only hope!

Andrew Franke

The road through hell

It’s always great to get out of the city. Our last experience was towards lake Victoria and we were thankful for the ride we got from our friends at the guesthouse. This time, however, we were on our own. We recently purchased a 1991 Toyota Carib (think Subaru outback – sport utility wagon) it is four-wheel drive – something we have learned is not just optional here in the developing world. There are two roads that lead up to the national park that we visited. They are about the same length, but one is paved and the other is not. We were told by both friends and a guidebook to take the paved road, as the other is impossible. We followed two 14-passenger taxi’s carrying our visiting friends from San Antonio to the park during the 6.5-hour drive. The speedometer in our car works about ¼ of the time, which is ok since the car begins to shake violently if you approach 90 km/hr (about 50 mph). The roads here simply won’t allow you to go that fast – that is unless you are following a taxi. The normal method of driving here would lead you to think that people are all drunk. The first priority is missing the potholes (which outnumbers the pavement most of the time) followed by avoiding oncoming vehicles (most of which are coming at you on your side of the road). The potholes we encountered for most of the trip averaged about 3 feet across and about 9 inches deep – there were smaller ones and there were MUCH larger ones. Our little car held up fine and made it all the way to the park – although the horn stopped working by the time we arrived. I later found out that some of the connections had just been shaken apart and was able to fix it. On the dirt roads we got to taste the local scenery – our air conditioner didn’t work (it does as of 8PM last night – hooray for the mechanic!) so we had the windows open the whole ride. Any drive is followed by a shower here. After this drive, we decided to stay an extra day to avoid having to make the same drive twice in as many days. As we were leaving the park, our friends who had left the day before, called us and said that the other road (the dirt one) had just been paved and the guidebook needs to be updated. We took the new paved road – it’s the closest thing we’ve seen to a real road since we left the UK. Most of this road even had lines painted on it! WOW, now if we could just let the other drivers know how to stay on their side of the road, we would be in business ☺ It still took about 7 hours to get back since that road is a bit longer as it turns out, but the journey was much more comfortable. I remarked to Nicholle that if we had the tires balanced and the AC fixed, we would be in heaven. Well, the ac is fixed, so I guess we’re half way there ☺

Andrew Franke

Anderson's Arm

Well, I guess every parent must face something in their child’s life they are completely responsible for and could have prevented if they had been watching them more closely. That is our sin as of late. Anderson is an extremely curious boy. It doesn’t help that not only can he get everywhere, he has figured out how to stand on his toes and hold on to things to reach something that only recently were slightly out of reach. Well, just this week, he found the water cooler in the Coffee Bar Andrew is setting up. Usually we don’t have power mid-afternoon, but on this particular day it was turned on. So our heads were both turned working on other things and Anderson pulled the hot water nozzle on the water tank. It produced a stream of scalding hot water on his arm. He has one blister and a few other burns. He seems fine with the whole thing now. We are using silvereye cream and some gauze bandages with a little doze of twice and sometimes three times daily cleanings with hydrogen peroxide. Plus, some children’s ibuprofen and he seem to be fine. I will remember this always and he won’t unless I tell him; which I am seriously debating when that will be…

Nicholle Franke

Culture Shock

One thing Nicholle always spoke about that people experience when they live in other countries is culture shock. I assumed this was just something that was something you experience for about 15 minutes when you get off the airplane and see how things are (shockingly) different. After spending a month in Kampala, Uganda, I realized that my definition of culture shock has changed.

I started out thinking how different the cultures are and that it was interesting to see and experience all the differences. After a month, however, I was/am in the depths of true culture shock. I have become very irritated with the way things work here, actually it’s the way things don’t work here. One of my firsts goals was to implement a snack shop at the guesthouse to increase business. There is a defunct coffee and juice bar at the hotel built inside a huge thatch-roofed hut, which overlooks the city. Before we arrived it was the aspect of the hotel I was most looking forward to visiting after viewing it on the website. It took a week of constant work to procure the funds of 1 million shillings (about 650 dollars) and to buy candy to stock the shop. It was crazy the amount of time and dedication it took to do something so simple. I am amazed that ANYTHING can actually be completed here – there are so many roadblocks. Back in San Antonio, I would have made one trip in about 45 minutes to Sam’s club and bought everything I needed and been back to the shop and making a profit.

Nicholle, being the wonderful wife that she is, recognized my symptoms (actually she probably couldn’t stand my attitude!) and surprised me with a trip to a nearby holiday center. I’m writing this as I sit at a table overlooking Victoria Lake from the Ssese islands. The weather is cool and there are almost no cars – no “Jam” (traffic jams), no smoke from cars or from burning trash. It is a true paradise – looking like Hawaii.

I feel relaxed and back to my old self again. It will, though, be difficult to go back to the insanity of the city tomorrow. We are really looking forward to the visit with 17 friends from the US on the 20th of this month. It will be wonderful to share in the experiences we have had and work with you all that are coming. We also look forward to the supplies they are bringing.

We are all doing well, finally, after Nicholle and I having been sick with one thing after another for the past few weeks. We are hopeful that it was an adjustment period to our new environment. Anderson is still thriving here. The only thing that has been troubling him is sleep. We had two nights in a row of zero sleep last week. We think it was teething pains. He slept well last night for the first time in a while and we all enjoyed it!

Thanks readers-
Andrew Franke

Mom's Play Group

Through a friend and another friend (missionaries are all connected this way) I found out about an ex-pat mom’s playgroup. Anderson and I have been twice. It’s every Thursday morning across town. We pay more for the transport there, than for the group, which costs just over a dollar. The transport costs between $4 and $10. The group is a broad sweep of women from Europe, the USA, and Uganda. Each mom or nanny brings her child, aged 5 months to 4 years old. We meet and sing, and then network and ask each other questions about simple mom things, like where to get the cheapest diapers, while our children play. I have found the group very kind and inviting, some churches could learn from this group.

I think our Thursday outing will be a regular event barring any sickness, just for the chance to meet and catch up with new friends. And it doesn’t hurt that Anderson has a blast playing instruments and meeting new little kids.

Thanks again for reading-
Nicholle Franke

Sick in Uganda

I guess you can’t be a missionary in a new culture without getting sick. And now that we have crossed that bridge I hope we don’t have to cross it again. Please keep our health in your prayers as being sick really slows the work we do down, and it makes it more difficult to carry on with day-to-day tasks.

About a week and a half ago, I came down with what I thought was traveler’s diarrhea, but after a week of that I finally went to the doctor. There is a very good clinic here for us with a British doc; he diagnosed me as having salmonella. This is of course, after I provided a stool sample, a new experience for me. (If this is too much info, just skip to the next posting.) I got some meds and I feel as good as new. Interestingly enough I think I gave myself salmonella after trying my hand at cutting up some bone-in chicken.

Then just yesterday, Andrew seemed very run down and exhausted. After a trip to the same doc, Andrew was diagnosed with a case of strep throat. He is on some antibiotics, resting and getting plenty of fluids and he is feeling a little better.

Please pray for Anderson as we hope he doesn’t have to get sick like his mom and dad. I think he will probably do better than both of us, as his main source of nutrition is breast milk, which he can’t get salmonella from, and it’s full of antibiotic properties… Praise the Lord for his oversight in seeing Anderson would prefer this to eating at 9 months of age.

Have a great day-
Nicholle Franke

Trying to ctach up

There have been some requests for more posts. Sorry I’ve been lax, it’s hard with a baby and inconsistent internet service.

Anyways, I will simply type and when there is internet we will post our updates.

Things here continue to be great. We are adjusting and enjoying life in the process. Andrew and I have grown closer since we arrived, maybe it’s just a woman thing. But I think it’s because we need each other and there are so many things we couldn’t do without the other. Anderson seems to really be thriving and I think it’s because if all the attention he is getting. In Uganda, they call white people “Mzungo”. Wherever I take Anderson is so greeted first and everyone wants to hold him or if he is in the pack I carry him around in, then they want to touch him. I am not sure how he will adjust to life back in the states, as he is quite used to Africans and black skin. It might be a shock to his system to be one of many white babies and to not be the prized possession. I think that because everyone wants to hold him is slowing down his ability to wlka. But I know he will accomplish this task soon.

Well, thanks for reading and please write if you read something and want us to write more about a certain topic.

May 15th post

We have been here 2 weeks and a few days and it is starting to feel like home. The only predictability in our schedule is Anderson’s nap times, which vary greatly from day-to-day. But mostly he takes a morning and an afternoon nap. Today he went down without a big fuss, but mostly it’s a big scene to get him to lie down.

Andrew is beginning some preparations for his office here at the Namirembe Guest House. He painted it blue (yes, blue) yesterday and today he is picking up some furniture he picked out the other day. Well, in the process of writing this Andrew returned and it seems they are going to deliver the furniture here, possibly today. But I’ll believe that when I see it. He seems ready to really get started. Unlike the US, when you get here they give you time to get settled. In a recent conversation with the Archbishop of Uganda, I was discussing how long it takes to get settled, and his comment to me was “time here is elastic.” I agree the more days I live here the more elastic time seems.

Last week I hired someone to help me with laundry and ironing. She also does dishes and will be going shopping for me once I figure out what I need her to buy. Her name is Mebel; she is a born-again Christian, and a very hard-worker. The money we pay her pays all the bills for her adopted family. The Lord is using our money to provide her a job, and me some much needed help. When she comes to help with everything, it takes her 3 whole afternoons a week to do the simple tasks I mentioned. Of course there are very few washing machines here, and even fewer dryers (actually none that I know of), so washing by hand is the way to go. Mebel helps with these things and I am very grateful.

Next week I begin teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) classes at a nearby church. The church is a fellowship for Muslim Converts. You may know, but just in case you didn’t, when a Muslim converts to Christianity, they are ex-communicated from their family. Therefore they have no means of getting school fees paid or getting a job. I will be teaching those who have little to no English. I am excited about this opportunity to serve the Lord. And just a week or so after I begin teaching, I will be training more teachers to teach in similar venues to the one I will be teaching in. Please pray the Lord would write my lesson plans for me, and I would be his witness to those who are close to Him and those who aren’t.

And just so Anderson won’t be left out, he is doing splendidly. He still isn’t walking along. But holding onto one finger he can get anywhere he wants. He is such a wonderful baby, and really loves Ugandans and their hospitality. Please keep his health in your prayers.

Thanks for reading!!!

Getting our assignments

Well, this will have to be brief.

Anderson just awoke and dad is tired.

Andrew has begun assisting our new residence with Business Planning. It's a time consuming task that will take many more months after we leave to complete. But the Lord is really using his skills ad will be growing him immensely through this.

I will be teaching ESL and then training teachers to do the same. Also I will be brain-storming to do some English ESL camps as an outreach upcountry where there are no English speakers.

Anderson is still the Chief around here and he loves it.

Well gotta go, please keep responding via your posts we love to hear from you!

Nicholle

Furniture, Electricity and Cooking....

Sunday May 6, 2007

Furniture, Electricity and Cooking…

We have been settled into our room for nearly a week now, but it still looks like we just got here. I’m learning that it does take a long time to get things done here. The room did not come with any type of shelving nor dressers so we did what anyone would do – we went to go buy some. This was not a 30-minute trip to Wal-Mart. Day one of this activity included a trip to Nsambia road – only about 2 miles away, but a good 30-minute drive through the potholes, I mean roads…. We walked among the furniture makers who were building things on the spot. There were at least 10 vendors producing tables, chairs, desks, drawers and bookshelves.

We walked around to find something that would fit our needs – something for our clothes, something to store food and other miscellaneous items, and something to use as a cook top/food prep/storage device. We found that it takes a minimum of six men to help you find what you are looking for (all at the same time). Our driver would talk to them and they would all jabber away in the local vernacular. Every few minutes Saison (our driver) would give us a sentence or two letting us know what is going on. After about an hour and a half we had decided on what we would be purchasing and agreed on a price. We would not be taking anything back with us, however, because we were in a car and it would not fit. We decided that we would come back the next day in a truck and get the dresser (which was finished and ready to take home) and then come back on Saturday to get the remaining items – they had to be built for us.

Furniture acquisition – day 2:
Saison and I went by ourselves to pick up the dresser so Nicholle and Anderson could do other things and rest. What I thought would take an hour took three. We drove down to the vendors again to pick up our chest of drawers. We were able to confirm that the rest would be ready the following day and we loaded up and headed back home.

Furniture acquisition – day 3:
Yesterday, Saturday, Saison and I went to pick up the remaining furniture after stopping off at an ATM to replenish our cash supply. We don’t want to keep too much on hand in case it gets stolen. Only 48 minutes after arriving we left with a promise that it would be ready to be picked up later in the day. Yes it took 48 minutes to say “its not ready yet, come back at 4pm”. At 4pm, we returned and another hour later we left with both pieces, however, one of them was to include a basket for storage under the table. It was not ready and we will have to return yet another day. On our way back from picking up our goodies, we stopped off at the petrol station to get a tank of propane to run our new “cooker”. We enjoyed cooking on our back patio last night and made a Franke family staple and favorite – stir-fry!

There was a wedding going on here at the hotel and they were having a GREAT time! There was loud music and women screaming “Yee Yee Yee Yee Yee!!!!” Anderson slept right through it all – Thanks be to God!

Electricity:
We were without power in our room for a day and a half, but we still had lights. It didn’t add up. There was a maintenance man in the room next door fixing some electrical lines so I asked him about the problem. He was very nice and came in to investigate. He took off the plates and found that there was no electricity. We had met our neighbor, Jesse – a man from Liberia who had been in the states for 15 years and was a Baptist pastor. He said in passing that there were circuit breakers in his room. The three of us started looking around and Brian (the maintenance guy) put the puzzle together. It seems that our room is fed power through an extension cord, which gets plugged in an outlet in the next room. When Jesse arrived, he unplugged a cord which looked like it went into the ceiling and plugged in his fan (something I would have done too!) Its nice to know how to fix it the next time and hooray for our fan – it is turning again!!

Church today:
We went to church today up the hill and it was great – about 1000 people all together. Nothing exceptionally noteworthy about the service, other than it was great. On the way out, I saw a very small man who I’m going to assume is a pigmy person. I have to include this because my 15 year old brother in law Joe could not stop asking about pigmies before we left and I promised I would send pictures if we saw one. The piece of paper he is holding is actually ½ a sheet of paper, so its about 8 inches tall and 5 inches wide – this should give you some perspective on his small stature. I got Nicholle to stand for a picture so the little guy would be in the background. Anderson is sleeping now and Nicholle is doing laundry by hand. I’m going to get her some water in a second. When Anderson wakes up we will begin organizing our room and reheat some stir-fry for lunch.

We would love to hear from each of you – email us and let us know what is going on in your life. andrewfranke@gmail.com

First Post from Uganda

We have been to the markets in town two days in a row now. Yesterday we went to three stores; all of them are ‘American’ stores. We were able to get a small dorm room style refrigerator, a propane two-burner cooker and some other necessities yesterday. This afternoon, our friend Saison took us to some street vendors to get some furniture. Our room is ample in size, but there is only a small table with two chairs and a bed. There is a small TV on the wall, but we have not plugged it in to see if it works or if it picks up any signal. We were able to strike a deal on three pieces of furniture. We will be getting a dresser, which has a nice top, which will make a great changing table for Anderson, along with two sets of shelves. We will pay 330,000 shillings (about 194 dollars) for all three pieces. Did I mention they are mahogany? ☺ The dresser is ready and will be picked up tomorrow – the other two pieces will be built and ready for us to pick up on Saturday morning.

After we went to the street vendor, we went to Uchumi – a Kenyan mall. We were able to get food for the week and some pots, pans, cups, dishes etc. The crazy thing is that we have everything we need except for a place to put it. Our room looks like a bomb went off inside! Once we get our new furniture and have the room organized, I will post some pictures.

We will be living in the Namirembe Guest house – which overlooks the downtown center of Kampala. We have been here three nights now and are starting to figure out where things around the hotel are. It is always comfortable, only a little humid or warm during the day. In the very early hours it is almost a little chilly. Our friend told us today that the power is rationed here – on one day and off the next, but sometimes they can go four days with power – never more than one day without. On the days where the power is off, the guesthouse runs a generator, however, it is turned off around midnight. That is when the fan also goes off and you get hot. It’s not bad though, the temperature has never been above 78 degrees that I have seen.

Our hosts have been amazing. They are all so kind and really love Anderson. They line up to take turns holding and spoiling him. The chairman and manager of the guesthouse took us to the country club for some Indian food two nights ago – it was great! The thing it made me realize most was the great disparity between the rich and the poor. There does not seem to be any middle class here.

This is all so new to me and there are so many things I could write about, but I’ll keep this short for now and save more stories for another day.

Back from New Wineskins

We've just arrived back in Southern Pines, NC from the New Wineskins Conference. Blessed be the Lord there are faithful Anglicans living out the Great Commission in the US and abroad. And praise God for faithful servants like Ben and Gloria Kwashi who faithfully serve Christ in the midst of persecution.

Our tickets are purchased and we will be departing on April 25th for Uganda from DC. Stopping over in Oxford for a 3 day visit with the Twist family and arriving in Kampala on April 30th to be greeted by a small entourage from Namerimbe Guest House, our semi-permanent residence in Kampala.

While at the New Wineskins Conference we met with Alison Barfoot about our mission work in East Africa. I am convinced that we only caught just a small picture of what is to come. I know the Lord will use us if we submit to Him. But specifically, here are a few things we look forward to participating in.

* Andrew
- will be helping set up a tour services at the Namerimbe Guest House
- run an internship program for local Ugandans to update the grounds and staff houses on Namerimbe hill
- help with the set up of small business (aka microenterprise) specifically the setup of an internet and cell phone cafe in parts of the country that do not have power or water

* Nicholle
- Train English teachers who will teach
- brainstorm to help run EFL (English as a Foreign Language) camps as outreach ministries for the diocese

We were overjoyed to meet so many wonderful and faithful missionaries ate New Wineskins, as well as nationals serving Christ who we will also have the opportunity to work with in Africa.

Blessings to you all, we look forward to seeing you in November when we return to Texas. Or if you don't live in Texas come visit us.

Please come visit us in Uganda if you have the opportunity!

Nicholle

Tickets are purchased

Well, it's official we are going to Uganda. We still need to raise some funds, but there is enough there to head to Africa.

We depart from Washington, DC on April 25th, and head to Oxford, England to visit the Twist family for three days. Then we head to Kampala for our missionary expedition. We are so excited and we are not quite sure what's ahead.

Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare to depart, especially during April 11th-15th while we are at the New Wineskins Conference meeting and networking with fellow missioners.

Blessings-
Nicholle

PS Our address on this blog is our Africa mailing address...

Andrew, Nicholle and Anderson
PO Box 14123
Kampala , Uganda Africa

So I am an overly doting mother, hence all the pictures of Anderson...

Anyway, wanted to let you readers know we are continuing to raise funds for Africa. Andrew has now gotten his shots, mine were up to date already and Anderson is too young.

We have a tentative departure date of the end of April.

I am getting excited and ready to go.

Blessings-
Nicholle

Pictures from a day of pictures

We had picture day...

Anderson riding a horse...

And the grandmas enjoying their grandson!

These are some pictures of Anderson...

1st pic: Anderson at Chester Burger playing with a fork & cork!

2nd pic: Bathtime at Grame & pops' house...

3rd pic: Very unhappy, but notice the 2 teeth!

Pictures of the Hondo house

Here's the mess that was created in the bathroom, that's where the rotten wood was found!
Note the beautiful floors that took a full weekend and some change to update...

Support Letter

You may have received a copy of this, but just in case... Here is the online version-


Franke Family Update and Support Letter

February 2007

In the last few months Andrew and I have been busy selling our house and working on a new, little house in Hondo, TX. Andrew and Stuart, Andrew’s father, were working in the bathroom recently and came across some termite damage after tearing out the floor. In fact, Andrew stepped right through one of the piers in the pier and beam foundation… Arghh!!! This meant several piers need to be replaced to re-secure the foundation.

As I was remarking on this situation I was reminded of the story in Luke 6:46-48. Christ says, “Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.” A well-built house that’s what we want, correct? Sort of, but the more important part is its’ foundation. A foundation built upon Christ, who puts Christ’s words into practice.

In building a house, the foundation has to be built upon Christ. Recently Andrew and I celebrated our two year anniversary. As we remarked on our short time of marriage we were struck with God’s hand in our marriage and his presence in our lives, before we got married and Christ’s guiding presence now. Part of acknowledging the present means hearing that Christ is calling us to serve him in a full-time capacity as overseas missionaries for the next six months; for us, putting Christ’s words into practice means firmly following him into an unfamiliar place of faith and trust.

Presently we are preparing to move to Kampala, Uganda to work for the Anglican Church of Uganda. We will serve the church and Archbishop Orombi from the end of April through October (and then move into the little house you hear about in the story above). We are going with the support of Christ Church, San Antonio, and the Missions Committee, and the encouragement of Chuck Collins, rector at CEC.

In Uganda, Andrew will serve the church writing small business plans for Ugandan missionaries who are investing in micro-enterprise. As well, he will serve as a liaison for updating the grounds and buildings of the Archbishop’s palace overseeing Ugandan interns. I will of course, be taking care of Anderson, and training ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers who are also Ugandan missionaries. As well, I will be working with children and teens in the diocese. Both Andrew and I will be working with Ugandans who are committed to taking the gospel to un-reached Muslims in their country and the surrounding countries of Kenya and Tanzania.

While we are in Uganda we are trying to get both prayer and financial support. Christ Church will be our sending church serving as the means for our trip to Uganda. John Harrison, chair of the Christ Church Missions Committee, has agreed to act as our coordinator for helping us arrange details while we are in the states. In addition, John is arranging a Mission trip to Uganda in late May-early June. Please contact him at jrhsr@flash.net or let us know and we will help you arrange a trip if you would like to come join our missionary work A friend of the Anglican Church in Uganda, and the coordinator of Archbishop Orombi’s international relations will arrange the details of our mission while we are in Uganda. She has graciously helped us with our budget and is helping to secure housing for us when we arrive in Uganda.

We have estimated that to move to Uganda, live in Uganda and travel for some missionary work in Kenya our trip will cost $22,500. Please see our budget below for a detailed outlook of our expected expenses. We are trying to raise this support through tax-deductible gifts made out to Christ Church to help finance our missionary journey. Contact us if you have any questions about our budget or your support!

Basic Budget
Living Expenses
5500
Air Travel
5400
Unavoidable Stateside Costs
3600
Tithe
2000
Health Insurance
1500
House Rent in Uganda
1500
Visas
1200
Ministry travel expenses
1200
Travel Shots
600
Total
$ 22500


As well, we need lots of prayer support. Several years ago I served as a missionary in the Dominican Republic, while I was in the Dominican Republic, the most valuable and precious thing to me were the prayers and concerns of my friends and family at home. Please let us know if you will support us through prayer or through finances or both. Also while abroad we will have a blog (basically a website where you can read about our journeys and post your thoughts). We will send out prayers emails that will also appear on our blog. To watch our progress over the next couple months and to read about our journey please log onto http://thefrankes.blogspot.com/.

And if you should have any questions, concerns, thoughts or prayers, contact us. If you live nearby we would love to come over and share our excitement for this new season of life. Or if you don’t live close but would love to hear more personally through a phone call, give us a shout and we would love to tell you more.

Contact us if you would like to support us. And we can get you on our email list!

Thanks for your participation in the Gospel-

Nicholle



Nicholle for the Franke Family

Contact Information:
Andrew, Nicholle & Anderson Franke


Mailing address:
2904 Ave I

Hondo, TX 78661

Email Addresses:
andrewfranke@sbcglobal.net
nichollefranke@yahoo.com




Phone Numbers until we leave in April:
210-414-9412
210-387-7524

Blog with updates on our progress:
http://thefrankes.blogspot.com/

Where to Start?

Well, I am starting this blog as we begin to prepare for Africa. There is so much to do before we go and when I start to think about it all my head spins. But nonetheless God is before us and we march faithfully into what he is calling us to...

This will be the place we will post updates for the next three months as we prepare to go and will be our host site as we are traveling and living in Kampala, Uganda. Please stay tuned and we will update it periodically to keep you, our family and friends informed!

Much thanks-
Nicholle
(for the Franke's)