1) What about Wyatt's medication?
2) How do we get insurance?
3) What about safety for us and the girls especially (as young American women in a foreign country)?
4) What about our children's education?
5) What exactly will we be doing?
6) How will this impact our children?
And a million others! For every question that has presented itself, it has lead to two or three more! Thankfully, there have also been many answers.
We found a lot of good advice at Ask A Missionary including information on fundraising, insurance and homeschooling. We also have exceedingly used our best "phone-a-friend"s for missionary work, Wayne & Mary Daniel and Maggie Josiah to answer lots of Uganda specific questions. For homeschooling, this site has been incredibly helpful and has gotten me really excited about what opportunities are available for the kids' education overseas! Also, as I finish school soon, I will be a certified teacher. This will be a huge aid to overcoming legal challenges with the children's education.
All of these resources have really helped answer questions 2 & 4…but what about the most important ones, 1, 3, 5 & 6?
Because our son suffers from epilepsy, we are exceedingly concerned about his healthcare in Uganda. We have learned that we do have several options regarding his medication. First, frequently doctors will do bulk prescriptions for people overseas. This is a possible option for us as we could get a 6 month or yearly prescription for Wyatt to take care of his antiepileptic medications. Another possibility is that you can frequently get US medications at Ugandan pharmacies. Many of the missionaries currently with ACM do this for a variety of health ailments. We also plan to meet with his neurologist to discuss our plans and the risks involved. The most important answer to managing Wyatt's health comes from God. He is the Great Physician and we have faith that He will provide us a way around any obstacle, even this one.
Regarding safety, we have learned that the Ekitengaala Ranch is extremely safe. Safety is actually one of the few things that missionaries with ACM truly worry about. Now the creepy crawly things I mentioned in my previous post…that's another story! We trust that God will protect us as needed, though we covet your prayers in this area as well.
As far as what we will be doing as our mission work, this is yet another area where we are stepping out on faith. Wes truly feels a calling to fulfill the need for technical training for the Ugandan young men. With the basic electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning skills that Wes can provide as a Certified Contractor, these men would be able to acquire some marketable skills that are needed so desperately by Ugandan businesses and people. I currently see my role as mainly one of support for Wes and the ACM community but especially the women and children of Uganda. I have a tender heart and love for children that I believe will be of great use to these people with so little. I also hope to utilize my love of dance in some way that God has yet to make clear. Please pray for God's direction in this area as He truly knows the needs of His people much better than we do.
In October, when Wes returned from Africa, we spoke briefly to our children about how they would feel about moving to Africa. Ashley, who has always had a heart for missions and tries desperately to be a stowaway on her daddy's trips, immediately answered that she would love it. She is our strong willed child so this was a great answered prayer for her to be so willing to go. Wyatt also responded with a resounding "yessss!!" and when we reminded him that there would be no T.V., no video games that he is so obsessed with his quick response was "who needs them? Those things rot your brain anyway!" Haha! Our only holdout was Miss Katie Mae. She has such a tender heart that we were truly shocked that she was one that didn't want to go, but she loves her friends at school and the life she has built here. Please pray that as God's will becomes clear that all of our children would open their hearts to it. We truly want this to be our family's journey, not just mine and Wes'.
Thank you all for your prayers, as you can see, they are desperately needed.
"let us love like we are children in a world, I know, is burning to the ground"
The Wilbanks Fam
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