Category Archives: Uncategorized

Currently // 5/1/16

It has officially been one year since we moved to Tororo, Uganda. In light of that, I thought you all might like a little update on what we are currently up to!

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Eating / Jia has been feeling the need to get some Chinese food in our lives. She made dumplings this last week, and they were so good!

Drinking / The staples. Coffee, tea, water.

Practicing / We are getting back into the swing of home schooling and I’ve been practicing working out the week’s plan more in advance instead of leaving it for the night before. This gives me a more consistent view of what we will be working on for the week and should try to get done.

Mastering / I wouldn’t call it mastering, but I’m getting better at hand lettering. It’s actually a pretty fun and therapeutic activity…and one best done when the kids are in bed!

Playing / We now have a volleyball, so of course we’ve been practicing our bump, set, spike!

Finishing / Now that April has finished up we move on to May and that means two birthdays in our family! May 11th for Hellen turning the big one and I’ll have my birthday on May 12th.

Reading/ I recently finished Penduka and would highly recommend it!

Remembering / To be joyful in the present and not try to jump ahead of myself to something I think would be better. Trying to rest in God’s goodness and what He has for me right now.

Wearing/ Back to skirts and tees all day, every day…and of course the floppy hat my mama sent over for my upcoming b-day!

Cooking / The girls have been loving oatmeal for breakfast, so today I’m trying out a baked oatmeal recipe. You can try it out here.

Working / Continuing to attend Women’s group at Smile Africa and hoping to connect the women artisans to a more steady income source. Dustin is continuing to oversee projects and there is currently a building going up on some land in Tororo where they will have agricultural training and animal husbandry projects someday.

Traveling / Lately we have been staying pretty close to home. In the month of May we will be doing more traveling to Kampala.

Wanting /  If all of our friends and family in Ohio wanted to come hang with us in Uganda, we wouldn’t object!

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what we have been up to this last week. What is happening currently in your life!?

Routine and Grace // Return to Tororo

It has been awhile since we posted in this space. We were home in Ohio for a few months and now we have been back in Tororo, Uganda for about three weeks.  We are settling back into a family routine and I’m realizing just how much I crave some sort of routine after lacking one for a bit.931_648834210369_2042157624842885991_nIt was sooo good to be home with family, especially as we were able to support family on both sides that were experiencing trials, hardships, and health declines. I definitely treasure the time that we were able to spend with my Grandma and help care for her, as she went home to heaven a few short weeks after we had returned to Tororo. 6tag_090116-151822I could tell at the end of our few months in Ohio, that I was ready for routine and ready for our own family space again. 6tag_140116-194824So here we are settling in. Getting back into our own kind of flexible, bound to change daily routine. I just had a talk with Dustin last night about establishing a bit more of a routine. Remember, I’m craving routine right now! So we worked out some plans to give Dustin a bit more space to work, time allotted for home school activities, time to spend in the community, or have others over to our house, and definitely time to enjoy each other as a family.

Flexibility is definitely key here in Uganda, and I feel like I am growing into a more flexible person, but I still struggle at times with pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Trying new things, with new people, when my safe little bubble feels so comfortable. God is growing me. He is growing all of us here.  WP_20160204_12_23_40_Pro_LIMy word or phrase that I have been thinking about since the new year has been BLESS. I want to bless others with the gifts, and talents, and resources that God has given me, alongside continuing to count the many blessings He gives daily. I want to love well with Christ’s love and let that be evident in my interactions with others. WP_20160204_12_25_37_Rich_LI As a missionary friend recently told me, our hearts will now continually be torn between Tororo and home, but I do know that wherever we go, God is present. He was with us in Ohio and He is with us in Uganda. His love abounds daily and He gives us the grace that we need for each moment. WP_20160204_13_14_27_Rich_LISo while this post started out all about routine, it’s also a lot about growing in flexibility and receiving grace daily. Of being stretched beyond our comfort zones and meeting new people. Of loving each other well and making for ourselves a sweet and safe home here in Tororo.

Meet Baby Helen

Many of you have heard, or now seen, that we have had a foster baby from Smile Africa Ministries living with us for the last month and a half.  Her name is Helen and she is absolutely adorable, as I’m sure you can see for yourself! We got the ok to go ahead and share some pics with you all, so here is a little bit about Helen so you can get to know her a little better, as you will be seeing more of her around here!

Helen is five months old, can happy scream and not happy screech VERY loudly, sleeps better than our girls ever did during the night, is super ticklish, and gets frustrated when stuck on her belly! She has a loving father and NINE siblings at home that I’m sure miss her very much. As they are unable to care for her at this time, we get the privilege of loving on her and sharing Jesus’s love with her.

Lillie has stepped into the big sis role pretty naturally, and both Gracie and Lillie love her to pieces, as we all do! We are super thankful that Tia Jia is also here to help love on her, and once again balance the adult to child ratio! We appreciate all your prayers for both our family and for Helen and her family as we continue this foster journey.
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Playing Chicken

A bit over 4 months in and I think that might be a pretty fitting title for much of our time here so far. That and I figured I can come up with some cheesy analogies. Frogger, Cat and Mouse, also could have been appropriate titles, but I had to pick one, so here we go.

Backing up.

This is my first blog post. Moriah has done an excellent job at keeping everyone up to date, but we felt like it was time for me to do a bit of writing 🙂

I have been doing a lot of driving so the inspiration for the title stems from the feeling that one might get just about every time they get out on the road. Eventually you realize that there is some amount of organized chaos (Moriah’s still not quite sure) and it’s not so bad. That being said, the journey always seems to include some type of adventure along the way even when the road looks so smooth ahead. And that is where the title blends with our everyday and includes more than just driving.

Oncoming Traffic

Feel free to interchange ‘person’ with every instance of ‘car’ in the somewhat appropriate yet terrible metaphors below.

  • Try to avoid the oncoming car with the flashing lights. It’s in your lane and wants your attention, but do your best to steer around it, you want no part of it.
  • The car in front of you may be driving slow, but be patient it’s a new driver and the journey will just take some extra time.
  • The car flying up behind you is a taxi carrying a lot of people. It might stop as soon as it gets in front of you to drop off or get more people, but don’t get too annoyed, it actually is getting a lot done.
  • The other car flying by has a driver that has someplace to go. You can help it along it’s journey or you can slow it down, take your pick.

Okay, I am done with car/person metaphors. I can’t think of anymore and they are a bit cheesy, but you get the idea (and if you don’t get it, comment below and I can explain in more direct terms). Working your way through the traffic, the relationships, etc. can feel a bit chaotic at times, but as long as we rely on the Lord’s strength rather than our own, than we know we can get through it.

Now onto a bit of what I have been up to.

As mentioned in our newsletter, which you can see here if you missed it, we have been focused on relationship building and not so much on the implementation of new projects. That does not mean we are ignoring the projects that are already in motion.

I have put a good bit of my time working with Smile Africa Ministries (SAM) with the primary goal of working towards more food sustainability. Currently almost 100% of their food is donated. Having a feeding program of ~350 outside kids on top of the ~70  full time resident kids, it is a tall task to be sure. I have been working with some of the older kids on their small gardens inside the SAM compound geared towards educating and relationship building. The kids are seeing a difference and it is great.

The older kids from Smile helped to build a compost pile.
The older kids from Smile helped to build a compost pile.
Adding materials to the pile.
Adding materials to the pile.
1st Pile turning. It was so hot 2 days after making the pile that the guys could not stand on it in their bare feet to turn!
1st Pile turning. It was so hot 2 days after making the pile that the guys could not stand on it in their bare feet to turn!
Finished the 1st turning.
Finished the 1st turning.

SAM has 3 acres about 15 minutes away in a local village. I have spent more time there in the past few weeks. We’ve built a compost pile, demonstration gardens, and are working with some of the local villagers with more training to occur at the end of this short growing season.

Putting in the 1st of 3 demonstration gardens. This one will have corn.
Putting in the 1st of 3 demonstration gardens. This one will have corn.

The guys at Bamba Forge keep getting better and better. With the recent visit from Tim Troyer and Jesse Hemphill the guys are quickly becoming masters in the art of knife making. I’ve got a barrel full of rice ash to take to the guys that will assist in the annealing process next week. The kids at Smile helped in collecting enough rice stalks to burn down into ash.

These rice shafts were burned down to create rice ash to aid in the annealing process at the forge.
These rice shafts were burned down to create rice ash to aid in the annealing process at the forge.
Jesse Hemphill teaching the guys to forge a simple blade from a coil spring.
Jesse Hemphill teaching the guys to forge a simple blade from a coil spring.
New sawmill under a temporary shelter until the permanent one is built.
New sawmill under a temporary shelter until the permanent one is built.

That concludes my update. Any questions, feel free to post them in the comments.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Life

A lot has been going on around here, but I’d have to say one of the most exciting things has been the arrival of Tia Jia! We’ve been initiating her into our daily life here in Uganda and sharing our four whole months of wisdom! The girls have been enjoying having Tia Jia around and are always excited to see her in the morning. Lillie has decided that Jia’s name is now Hannah. Ask her where Jia is and she’ll point to her. Ask her what her name is, and she’ll shout Hannah. I think she may do these things on purpose!
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The week that we picked up Jia, we stayed around Kampala to meet up with our director, Tim briefly. We also visited Bamba Forge again where Dustin got to check in on everything, we got the “petting zoo” experience with the cow and pigs, and Gracie got to “help” make a knife.

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Now that we have been back in Tororo this week, we have spent time at Smile, caught up with some of our friends here, and enjoyed being back in the swing of things.  Soon we will have been living here for four months! It’s crazy how fast it has gone and how much we have learned and experienced in a short period of time. It is also crazy to think of all that we want to do and see accomplished, and how fast that time will slip away from us. We continue to pray that God will help us build His kingdom and we will not work to build our own.

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Life Update

Last week I failed to post an Africa update because Dustin was at a Farming God’s Way conference in Kampala for six days. The girls and I had a pretty successful and relatively low -stress time together.

This was our first time alone without Dustin for that long. About an hour after he stepped out the door the gas for our gas burner ran out. Our electricity was also out, so we had no way to cook. Called Dustin and the crisis was averted after Dustin called a friend who came and filled up the tank for us!That night I decided to plug in our bug zapper. It was already plugged in so I turned it on and *pop* *spark* *buzz*! Somehow it was plugged in without the additional converter we needed. I thought I’d killed the bug zapper! Thankfully the light bulbs had just blown, so I didn’t totally fry it. Our puppy also got sick that week after another puppy on our compound had recently died. Our puppy sadly died that Saturday-I’ll spare you all the details. I will tell you though that Gracie probably handled it better than I.

“It’s ok mommy. The puppy is in heaven now and can play with the other puppy and the other dogs in heaven can take care of them.” She’s a smart cookie that one.

Why does everything happen when daddy’s away!?  But honestly, over all things went well. It was good for me to feel like I was managing and in some cases thriving in our new environment with the girls. It felt good to support Dustin in his growth and let him be confident that things back at home weren’t completely falling apart while he was gone! Dustin is back home now and we are definitely glad! This last week has been a low stress, laid back week with lots of family time. Thanks for all your continued prayers and support!

For anyone that would like to receive a quarterly e-mail updates on what we are doing here in Uganda and the projects that Dustin is working on, please subscribe to our newsletter here. Now enjoy these adorable pictures of the girls!
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Around Tororo

This week has been the usual ebb and flow of the mostly typical week we have gotten use to here in Tororo. Dustin took time to get out of the house and work on sending e-mails, research, and those type of things he can do without having to travel.  He also had the opportunity to go see some land for potential projects, and to help harvest ground nuts this week. As a family we spent a few afternoons at Smile Africa playing with the kids and spending time with the babies. I also attended one of the widow’s classes this week where they go through character training. Next week I even get to read the group the English text…good thing I’m not the one that has to translate though!

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Photo by Lisa Rovenstine

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We traveled to Mbale yesterday to renew our tourist visas. All went smoothly and now we pray that over the next three months the paperwork goes through for NGO status for Forest of Hope and we can get our work visa through that.

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There have also been times for good relaxation and fun this week. A play date, dinner with new friends, pool time, and getting to eat out at a great restaurant, Endiro, while in Mbale.

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Three months has almost passed and Tororo is starting to feel familiar and like a place we can call home. We of course still miss our family and friends back home, along with the simple pleasures of summer in Ohio, though we are not missing the rain you all are having! But good relationships are being built here and wonderful memories made. Tororo has much to offer and we are excited to continue this journey that God has laid before us.

Sipi Falls

Last week when the group from our organization, The Reckoning International, was visiting, we took a trip to Sipi Falls. We got up at 4:30 am. That’s right, you read that correctly. A.M. We picked everyone up and got around to leaving by around 5:30. A few hours later we were driving up the mountain, amazed at the beautiful scenery and picturesque waterfalls that could be seen from a distance.

Once we arrived, our guide took us on a short, steep hike. It was colder than we expected and the spray from the waterfall gave a sharp chill as we got closer and closer. Lillie had the whole hiking with comfort thing down as she got to ride in the back pack. Gracie was a trooper, but when her little legs couldn’t make it, Dustin carried her along.

It wasn’t very long before we reached the waterfall. We took pictures as we got sprayed by the water and took in the beauty and power that surrounded us.

Here are a few of the pictures to give you a little taste of some of the beauty you can find in Uganda. God is an artist, and it is so evident here!

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Love From Uganda

The month of June FLEW by! With how quickly June has come and gone it’s not hard to imagine that at the end of our three year term we will look back and wonder where those three years went! We continue to grow accustomed to Ugandan living as each day passes and we are so appreciative of the continued prayers and support we know many of you have been sending our way. We thought that now that we are a few months in, it may be a good time to update our prayer requests!

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As a family we ask for prayer for continued safety and health. We have been blessed with both so far and pray that as we continue traveling (occasionally longer distances to Kampala, which is a four hour drive) we will be granted safety. We also ask for prayers that our visa situation will continue to progress and the paperwork would go through speedily and with little or no complications.

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Dustin-prayer to continue meeting the right people needed to help projects progress and thrive. For wisdom and safety as he travels, builds relationships, and plans his next steps. For patience with those he works with as he often has to wait on others to fulfill their tasks first and patience at home as we adjust to a new family schedule.

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Moriah-prayers for guidance and wisdom as she seeks more defined roles at the orphange (Smile Africa), and continued guidance in her continued roles as wife, mother, shop owner, friend, etc.  For patience, confidence, and courage to love without fear at home with her family and also with those she meets and forms relationships with.

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Gracie and  Lillie- prayers for patience and peace as they often have to wait longer for things or through things than accustomed to. For a growing understanding of the importance of kindness and generosity to those we meet and a desire to strengthen their walk with the Lord.

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Thank you again for all the support and love you have sent our way. We are so thankful for each of you and want you all to know that you are appreciated and are a great blessing to us!

Love from Uganda,

The Steiners