Our own Helen Rosevere Story

When we arrived to Bundibugyo on Saturday afternoon, Pat came by with a package that she had picked up from the Post Office. Mail can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months to arrive here. When it comes to Kampala, they wait and gather enough to send it over the mountains. There is not a post office in Nyahuka, so about once a week someone drives to Bundibugyo Town to gather the mail. That is, if the post office is open. At times, I have had to walk around town to find the post mistress. So, needless to say, receiving mail is a highlight of life here.

I set the package on the dining table and told our eager kids that we would open it in the morning. As we arrived in the evening, there was no time to buy eggs or any produce for breakfast. So, on Sunday morning, I stood in the pantry looking for anything that might pass for breakfast. As I couldn’t think of what that may be, I sat down with the kids to open the package.

It was from a dear friend who really reached out to us in our one year in Boston. As Travis was a student at the Harvard School of Public Health, we lived in student housing, making it very rare for any children to be around. We craved friendships for our kids. When we first took our children to Sunday School at Christ the King Presbyterian in Cambridge, a cute little curly-haired blondie named Elizabeth looked at Lilli and asked her to sit beside her. And every Sunday afterwards, Elizabeth saved a seat for Lilli. The whole body at CTK really shepherded us through the process of shock that we were considering ministry in Uganda to the actual point in which our feet here are on African soil. They pray for us and support us. Being in such a transient student area, like us, many members of CTK are there for several years before they move on. One such family is the sender of the package, the Ashes who now live in Pittsburg.

When we saw that the package was from them, we were encouraged that many life transitions and many miles would still keep our hearts close. And when we opened the package, we laughed out loud at God’s goodness and perfect timing.

For in the box was breakfast cereals!

And not just any breakfast cereals, but the yummy, sugary ones that kids like, with even a box of Cheerios for Aidan!

And a precious book about Mothering, one that has encouraged contentment this week as I am doing a lot of the necessary, in-house, non-glorious jobs that must be done when one returns from 5 weeks away.

That package had been mailed 6 weeks earlier, but it arrived in perfect timing. God always knows what we need. And I am thankful that we have friends who listen to Him and love us well!

*If you want to know who Helen Rosevere is and what her story has to do with ours, see the podcast link on the side of the blog. About a 5 minute recording that is well worth your time!