WEBERS AT WANALE: Some news...

You may have noticed that the blog has been rather quiet lately. And you may have wondered - are the Webers just busy or are things not going well? I'm hoping this post will answer those questions.

Mark has resigned from his position in Uganda as a missionary deacon, and we are moving back to the US. After a difficult year in Africa, it has become clear that the job is not a good fit for Mark's skill set. The job struggles have taken a major toll on our marriage and our family, and we do not feel it would be wise to continue along that path.

Our family is currently staying with Mark's sister, Amy, and her family, who live north of Philadelphia. Mark will be returning to Uganda on 8/13 to wrap things up there. We would have loved to return together as a family to say goodbye, but ultimately the cost of flights for a family of 6 ruled it out. Mark is hoping to be finished packing and tying up loose ends in one month. In the meantime, the kids and I will continue to stay here with Amy. At this point, we are not certain of our next steps once Mark has wrapped up his work in Uganda, but we will keep you posted :).

This was a difficult and sad decision to make in many ways. We will miss many dear friends we have made in Mbale, and while it has been a difficult year, it has also been a very rich time of living outside our own culture. That said, we have a real peace that this is what is best for our family at this point.

Thanks to all those in Uganda who made us feel so loved and welcomed - the Tuiningas, the Johnsons, the Robinsons, the Eids, the Palmers, the Sandys, the Valentines, the Allens, the Magalas, Ezekiel, Sammy, all the Kenyan guys, Teddy, the folks at Mbale OPCU, Milton and family, all the folks in the OPCU, the students and staff of Overcomers School, the staff of Cure Hospital, and even though they'll probably never see this - Messalamu and family, Mama Jane, and Mama Beth and her dear boys. And I can't forget the folks in Karamoja - the Wrights, the Knoxes, the Tricaricos, the Okkens, the Verdicks, Jesse, Bryce, Erika, Taryn, plus all the other great MAs serving up there. Thanks to the MAs who loved and served our family so amazingly - Jenna van Eyk, Christi Zekveld, and Hailey and Morgan Adams. We love you all and are so thankful for you.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. I know many of you have prayed regularly for our family, and we are so thankful. We would really appreciate your continued prayers as Mark returns to Uganda on 8/13. Pray that he would be able to wrap things up well there, that God would keep us in His care as we are apart from one another, and that Mark would be able to find a job upon returning to the US in mid-September.

Thought I'd share some photos from my phone of what we were up to our last few months in Uganda. I probably have some better ones on the computer, but since the computer is in Africa and I'm in America, this will have to suffice for now.