100 Cups of Coffee: The 7 C's Epic Adventure Continues

We were doing the insane immigration "dance" renewing visas...at which point Chris bumped in to 2 mzungus doing a similar dance obtaining their work visas for this organization:

 Restoration Gateway

Chris met with our lawyer and other important people in hopes to obtain a court date.

We took a trip to Restoration Gateway to check out their organization.

(We also visited our friend and former guard Jimmy who lives up north!)

We continued to live life, love folks at our compound, and ask questions about our case...we also began feeling a tug toward RG.

We sensed a strong pull toward Restoration Gateway and also sensed a court date was not in our immediate future.

We began to make preparations to move to RG and spoke to Hope CC about this calling as well as the fact that it was not looking promising for a court date this summer.

We learned that we would not receive a court date until the fall.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

What an insane life shift leaving our world in NC to come for what we thought would be a few months, to now becoming a missionary family in Africa! There was nothing easy about the original verdict and we have been doing our best to respond well--while clearly being re-routed.

 Over time we realized that our story was being re-written in a way we had not anticipated. We have grieved the things at home that we love and will miss but are celebrating what awaits us 5 hours north in Karuma, UG.

 We are going to be serving 100 orphans from war torn Northern Uganda and 10-12 lovely mothers who care for them as their own. (They have a Watoto Village style model of 8-10 children in a home with one mother.) You can read so much more on their website--or even check out their Facebook page HERE. Even more exciting, on June 12th HGTV is going to be highlighting a bit of Restoration Gateway's story...here is the info if you want to tune in: RG on HGTV .

 We love Restoration Gateway's vision. It is a great fit for our family and specifically for Chris and I's gift set. Our children immediately connected with other children at RG and are very excited about the move. Kylee is a bit apprehensive as they do not have electricity in Karuma. So we will need to install solar panels! Overall our kids are thrilled and have not stopped talking about the shift including their excitement for the new baby home that will open in upcoming months! (The "bigs" hope to regularly volunteer!) Chris and I have wondered out loud to one another if God had not been preparing us our whole lives for this next step of the journey?!

How can we help?

 We are asked this question often by friends in the US.

 I always answer "pray"...but now there is more you can do!

We are becoming full time missionaries in Northern Uganda. You have been faithful to pray for our adventure and we ask for continued prayers for the future! Prayers for our for new roles in ministry, for health, for protection and provision, and prayers for the transition for our entire family would be SO appreciated!

 We have seen God MIRACULOUSLY provide for our financial needs thus far for the up fit of our home aka solar panels and a hot water tank. We are now trusting him for the provision of our monthly expenses and other financial needs like furnishing our home, a stove, fridge, and a vehicle...we are 6km from the main road. (And 45 minutes away from a small grocery store!) As incredible as this journey has been, there have been serious steps of faith that we have had to take, including trusting God for our finances moving forward.

 We don't fully understand being re-routed as this was not the original intent of our journey to Africa...but we continue to sense the Lord asking us to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess...because He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

If you feel nudged to support our family financially you can go to Restoration Gateway's site and click HERE. Scroll down the page and click on "recurring monthly staff support" OR "staff support." Please be sure to type COCKERHAM to indicate where the funds will go.

 There will also be an opportunity to hear more in the flesh as I plan to come home next week to do some more personal (face to face) fund raising. One of the events is going to be a Christmas themed

( ELF MOVIE NIGHT ) and it would be a GIFT to see you there!

We promise to keep in touch...

 We will continue to share our journey with you each step of the way. On this blog I will keep it real. There is a lot of beauty and a lot of pain. You will continue to hear my personal revelations and lessons learned from feathered friends! Facebook and email make the world smaller than ever before.

 I could never have told you when we received our original news in November that we would be where we are today.

It is funny because I think following God looks a lot like following a crumb trail...you can only see the little crumbs in front of you and then you take a few more steps. And then more crumbs are sprinkled a bit farther ahead. Those crumbs are what we need (to know) for that day. The path and where it leads is not clear and our destination is not obvious. Pretty sure if we were to have the full picture of our future we might tuck tale and run. I remember distinctly writing the post titled: We Invite You to Join Our Epic Adventure.

 And more specifically these words...

 "...bring on all that this journey has to offer. God has begun this story and He will finish it. It is His story and not ours...we are convinced He has us on an EPIC ADVENTURE."

 I did not have any idea what was in front of us and what would be sacrificed to continue on our epic adventure. I still feel just as passionately about this journey...am just more humbled by the ways in which we follow the crumb trail.