Adventurs With Mark...

Greetings from Uganda!  Yes, we are still alive and doing well in the land of summer year round.  We have had some busy times and it is hard to believe that we have been back for over three months.  Adjusting back to life in Africa took some time and especially with Megan and the time change.  It felt like a good month before the entire family was running at full speed. We have enjoyed ourselves more recently though and were excited to take our first camel ride at the zoo last week. 

The school continues to do well even under challenging times as inflation continues to climb.  Our year started with the announcement of our excellent grade seven results from their exams at the end of 2011.  Once again we are thankful for the hard work of the staff and dedication of the students that placed our results in the top one percent of the country.  Our class of 29 did an amazing job and especially when you consider the situations they are in.

Later in the year we had a team from my former school, MEI come and spend a few weeks with the school.  A great time was had by all as the Canadians and Ugandans were challenged by each other.  As a family we had a great time hosting this team in our home and testing out the “hot seat” in their team time.

Throughout the term we continue to work away on the different projects that need to be completed for the first phase to be finished.  The classrooms have been painted along with the chalkboards.  They look very sharp and the students are happy for their bright new classrooms.  Currently we are pleased to announce that enough money has been raised for the fence and we are now in the process of finding a professional team that can build the fence properly on the top four acres of our property.  Most likely we will wait until the NGO, EMI that built our school has a construction manager available that can supervise the project.  Once this is completed we will be growing more food crops and putting up a chicken coop. 

We continue to be grateful for all the support the school has received from our friends and family.  It was very exciting to have my sister and her two oldest girls along with my brother, his wife and two oldest children join us for some time in Uganda.  I am very fortunate that my entire immediate family of origin has completely and whole heartedly supported our move and ministry here in Uganda.   We have also been blessed as many other friends have come and currently we have a good friend, Judy staying with us for a few months.  We are excited as other good friends are still coming in July and June.  In our nearly seven years here we have never had so many visitors in all the years combined and we have thoroughly enjoyed it! The school has been blessed with an amazing amount of donations in cash for food, fence and chickens to just name a few things. And we are thankful that there has been a little extra money in our support which has allowed us to bless the school with a few much needed goodies, like bulletin boards.  People have donated hundreds of pens, T-shirts, pencils, erasers, books, clothes, and many other things that have helped out greatly. 

God has been good as many of you have blessed us and allowed us to be the hands and feet of Christ here in Uganda.  The need is great but our aim is not just to push children through school but to train the whole child so they can lead Uganda into a more prosperous nation.  This begins with high morals, integrity, honesty and a solid academic standard as we raise future teachers, engineers, pastors, doctors and pillars of society.

Blessings on you all back in Canada, the US and other parts of the world.  We miss you and pray for you guys often.  We would love to hear from you and trust that God is looking after your needs.

Adventures With Seth...

I love Uganda! And so many people have come to see us here this year. My favorite visitors have been my cousins Ben and Danica and my other cousins Catie and Mya. It was like being in Canada except they were visiting my house! They rode boda bodas in the house with me and wrestled my dad and climbed trees with me (one of my favorite things) and we caught millipedes and frogs and bugs and one time we even rode real boda bodas down to the market at the lake. I am so glad they came to see me! Thanks guys! I can’t wait to see you in Canada.

My favorite new thing that has happened is there is a teacher who lives at our house who is helping dad at the school and guess what? She is teaching me how to read! Her name is Mrs. Heinrichs and she really is a real teacher! Every morning when it’s time for school I get dressed as quickly as I can and brush my teeth and meet her at the school table. I could do school for a long long time and I wouldn’t even know if it was lunch time I think!

Anyway… I better leave room for Jodie. Good bye everybody.

Adventures With Jodie...

I’m a big sister! And I’m almost a mama! I make sure that Meggie is always okay and I kiss and snuggle her and pinch her cheeks and talk funny talk to her and give her toys if she’s crying and I tell mom when she wakes up. But I don’t change her poopy pants! And she’s too messy for me to feed her yet. Mom says when she gets bigger I can feed her porridge and avocados. I can’t wait to do that. I help with dishes every day and help take care of our new rabbits. We have five and dad says they will have babies soon. More babies!!! I like that. And one thing I’ve noticed about Uganda; I’m always dirty. I get hot and sweaty and I play so hard and the dirt all sticks to me. It doesn’t stick to Seth as much as me. I think I’m a dirt magnet. I gotta go check on Meggie. Bye

Adventures With Megan...

I’m six months old now and I eat oatmeal! I like to eat popcorn if someone bites off the crunchy parts. I sleep really well at night… maybe from 10 o’clock until 7 o’clock. But I get a bit fussy in the evenings sometimes. Especially if mom eats stuff I don’t like. I don’t like anything dairy even eggs and especially not onions! And then it seems like there’s other stuff I don’t like but I haven’t told mom what it is yet.

I rolled over three times in one day but then I never did that again. Instead of helping me they took a video when I was doing it the third time and I got so mad I screamed and screamed and I decided I wasn’t going to do that again for a long time. Even when everybody cheered when I finally got it I was still really mad and I didn’t feel proud about it. I found my toes and I like to suck on them. Even when I’m sitting up I just fold over and suck them. I have a chubby tummy. Sometimes I’ve heard someone make a mistake on my name and call me ‘Mega’ baby. I think maybe that’s because I really am! So when I fold over to suck my toes I really don’t know where my tummy goes and even the chub on my legs! But somehow I can do it. I’m getting teeth. You can’t see them yet but they make me grumpy. I love Seth and Jodie. They make me laugh all the time. I gotta go. There’s pooping and sleeping to do.  Bye

Adventures With Sarah...

I’m a mom of three kids. Does that sum it up? They’ve filled you in on their activities. I’m very happy to be in Uganda in this busy time with kids because it is summer all the time! Lots of dirt but that’s okay. Dirty kids are happy kids I’ve found.

I often think being a mom is my main job. But I know I have two ‘main jobs’, the second of which I don’t spend as much time doing but is just as important: being a wife to Mark. Interesting topic. I’ve found, along with some of my girlfriends here it is sometimes more challenging than being a mom! Not because Mark is a monster and difficult (he’s really the best… though I seldom tell him that just to prevent pride from setting in of course) but because my flesh just gets in the way. It’s easier for me to make conscious efforts in my child rearing. Recently I posted a sticky note by my stove with a phrase that came to me in a time when I needed it. ‘When training my kids every day my behaviour is just as important as their behaviour’. Somehow I seldom think of myself as having ‘behaviour’. I have ‘reasons’ everyone else has ‘behaviour’! So I think this phrase would serve me well in my ‘wife-ing’ as well (especially the ‘while training Mark’ part J ). The thing I need the most and get the least is time with God. Please pray for me in this that I learn to MAKE THIS A PRIORITY! I know it will have a huge impact and I DO have enough time. Wives and moms, keep up the good work! If you need to apologize, do it! If you need to put yourself in a time out, do it! And after that, cut yourself some slack! Being a wife and mom can be the toughest job in the world and the rewards come in the times when you’re not asking for them. So remember that when you feel you need a pat on the back.. you probably got one recently.

I’ve loved the visitors we’ve had! They’ve all been so encouraging, helpful and just plain fun! Thank you everyone who’s come this year! You really blessed us.

I’ll sign off now. But I hope you are all doing great. God bless! Sarah

African Adventures With The Williams Five!

Leavin’ on a jet plane!

Last night we had the most fluffy huge- flake snow I’ve seen in a very long time! It didn’t start till after the kids went to bed and as the evening wore on the flakes kept getting bigger and bigger. At midnight Mark was out building a snow man for the kids to see in the morning. There’s about 7 inches on the ground. So the wonder of the snow has brought squeals of glee from Seth and Jodie already this morning. They’re having breakfast as quickly as possible and planning their snowball fight and snowman building. Such a great treat for us before we head off! ( A whole winter of snow? Yuck! A fluffy dump before heading off to the equator? Fantastic! )
Five days from now we’ll be doing the last minute packing and piling our crew into two vehicles bound for the Vancouver airport. It’s a little bit exciting and a lot daunting! The cool part is we don’t have to pack many of our clothes… summer clothes, Uganda… winter clothes, Canada. But we will be hauling along anything the kids are grown out of and my maternity clothes and LOADS of donations. It looks like we’ll have 17 or 18 bags this time and two car seats (Seth’s in a booster, hallelujah!)
We’re looking forward to seeing our friends and the staff and students at the school in Uganda. Our heart is always partly there even when we’re here. This is Sarah writing and from my perspective, Mark and I are becoming a bit weary of the international aspects of our life. It’d be great to have everyone we love on one continent. Silly talk but true desire! We’ll keep you posted as we look into the future of the next few years. We would appreciate prayer about that.
So, to those of you we didn’t get to see we hope to see you next time. We missed catching up with you. But, our little Meg has proven to be the WORST traveler we’ve ever had. She is rarely in her car seat without crying/ screaming. Such a good natured child, but such an aversion to car seats! We fully realize what a dreadful time we would have had trying to travel long distances with her. To those of you we’ve seen we thank you for the great times and good memories. We are so rich in friends and true fellowship. We thank God for that regularly.
Before I sign off and carry on packing I have a great announcement! The music group that came into being in Uganda with friends from our church has finally released an album! We’re called ‘JInja Dam’ and made up of me, my Texas friend Downie, and our British husband and wife combo Andrew and Keeley. We were all missionaries at the same time in Uganda and became good friends as we wrote songs together.

The other two families have since moved back to their respective countries but we all keep in touch and continue to write songs long distance. I LOVE the album and I think you would too! I’ve written and sung 2 of the songs on the album and Downie sings the others that she and Andrew and Keeley have written. So everybody!!!!................ Order an album!!!!!!! Many of you know the hard work and cash that goes into an album and the music is no good still in the wrapper! So please email me with how many you’d like to buy. The best part about that is %10 of all profits go directly to The African Children’s Choir Primary School in Uganda. All of us from the group are selling as many as we can so they’re being sold in the US, Canada, and the UK! It’s exciting!
The Cds are $12 each. When you order send me your mailing address in case we don’t have it so I’m sure to get it to you. We have a New Year’s photo here for all of you that we’ll be mailing out to you in the next three or four days. If you place an order we’ll include your CD with that photo and keep it simple! If you didn’t get our photo last year you may not be on our mailing list so let us know! Most importantly, BE SURE TO ORDER (EMAIL) IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE WE’RE LEAVING IN A FEW DAYS AND MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET IT TO YOU AFTER THAT UNTIL WE GET BACK!

You can send a check or cash to
Jinja Dam
c/o Winnie Williams
#4 West Terrace Close
Cochrane, AB T4C 1R2

We leave on the 20th (Friday) at 8:30 PM and will fly to London (about 9 hours) and then layover 14 hours (we’ll get a hotel and shower and sleep hopefully) and then fly 9.5 hours more to Uganda. We’ll send an email not when we arrive but as soon as we come up for air!

So everyone, farewell! We’ll be in touch across the miles! We love and appreciate you!

Mark, Sarah, Seth, Jodie, and Meg

Look at me!!!
I’m here and I’m happy!
My name is Megan Joy Williams and
I was born on November 23rd at 7:58 AM. I weighed 8 lbs 12 oz and I was 52 cm long. But I think I’m growing already! My brother Seth and my sister Jodie are very excited to finally be able to hold me and kiss me.
I hope you can come and see me sometime soon!

Love from Megan Joy


Along with this birth announcement of our precious daughter we would like to invite you to be part of a special event in her honor.

During this past year we have become increasingly aware of the incredible blessings we have, the provisions God has made for us, and the prosperity of our countries. As we’ve observed intensifying hardship for our staff at the African Children’s Choir Primary School in Uganda, we’ve been compelled to make extra efforts to give in whatever ways we can. So….!! Here’s our creative idea!

Please join us on Saturday December 3rd from 10am to 3pm for a dual purpose open house. We want you to meet our baby girl and welcome her into the world! And instead of bringing anything as a gift for her, we ask that you would come well prepared to give to specific families in Uganda in her honor. We have brought along with us from Uganda unique and practical artifacts that you can purchase and take home as either Christmas gifts for loved ones, for yourself, or even as reminders of Ugandan families who need your prayers regularly. There will be other items available, such as:

· Very nice Christmas trees (it turns out, Mark is a tree planter! He planted them 6 years ago before we left for Uganda!) Up to 8’ tall (4 available)
· African artifacts include a variety of wooden spoons, wooden bowls, shawls, drums, woven baskets and more
· Sarah and some fellow missionary friends have written and recorded a CD! It’s being released next week in the States and the UK and is available here for this event! After production costs are covered 10% of all profits will be given directly to The African Children’s Choir Primary School.

Each item will be priced reasonably and you will be free to give that amount or any amount above that if you would like. When we return to Uganda and are able to dispense the funds of this open house as tangible gifts of food to these families, we will send you a photo and a firsthand report on the blessing brought about by this event! Please come and be part of it!*

There will be beverages, snacks, desserts, and lots of happiness!!!!! You’ll also have the opportunity if you wish, to view a 10 minute video.. ‘The Life of a Choir Child’.. put together by Mark to capture the essence of where the choir children come from and the blessing that the choir program is to them.

It will be held at 30543 Northridge Way, Abbotsford.

Please RSVP! We can’t wait to see you and introduce you to our little one as well!

Blessings!
Mark, Sarah, Seth, Jodie, and Baby

*If you are unable to come on that day you can still be part of this fundraiser by sending a check to

Mark and Sarah Williams
30543 Northridge Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 6X7