Uncategorized – The Rousehouse

Questions

Posted on December 2, 2020 by Spanky Rouse

For those of you who are on our supporters email list you are very aware that we are leaving Uganda and heading back to the US. During this time I hear the same questions being asked. What are you going to miss about Uganda, What are you guys looking forward to the most in America, and What are you doing now? As a family the answers for the first two change slightly but we are all about on the same page.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO MISS THE MOST ABOUT UGANDA?

FRIENDS – we have a very good group of friends and close community in Jinja. We will miss our dear friends!

2. ROLEX – This is the most common street food in Uganda. It is basically a veggie omelette rolled up in a chipati. It cost about $.50 and they are delicious!

3. PEOPLE – The people are Uganda are so welcoming and nice to new people. They love to talk to you, say hello and host you. The culture is very warm and inviting.

4. WEATHER – We love the tropical warm temperatures and the breeze that comes of Lake Victoria and the Nile River. The temperature stays around the middle 80’s year round. Cool in the morning, warm afternoons, and nice to be outside every evening.

5. LANDSCAPE – We love the lush green bushes, tall pam trees, gorgeous flowers, and red dirt roads. It’s like being in a jungle.

what are you looking forward to in America?

TACOS – hands down, this is one of the best things about America!

2. quiet peaceful sleep – We are so looking forward to the quietness and peacefulness at night time. In Uganda, there is always noises and things happening outside that regularly woke us up in the nights.

3. shopping – Going to the store, and having multiple options of where to shop, and being able to find exactly what I need. How wonderful!

4. INTERNET and ELECTRICITY – reliable and consistent internet service and power!

5. CLEAN CLOTHES – We had a wonderful lady named Josephine who worked at our house helping us with so much like washing clothes. We didn’t have a clothes washer so everything had to be done by hand. It was fine but nothing every seemed really clean nor dried.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?

This is a question that I have already answered a million times and am expecting to answer a million more. I’m not bothered by the question but I don’t have much of an answer which can be a bit scary.

We felt like the Lord told our family that it was time to leave Uganda but He wasn’t clear to us in what is next. The first 6 weeks or so it bothered me very much not knowing the answer to this question. I felt like I had to have this figured out before I returned. Recently the Lord has told me to rest and not worry about figuring this out. He has a plan already laid out for us and he will show us what is next.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

In many ways taking this step of moving back to America is a bigger step of faith than moving to South Africa or Uganda. This time, we do not have a plan, a house, cars, or a direction. What we do have is HOPE in the Lord and memories of His past FAITHFULNESS.

Please continue to pray for our family as we are transitioning. At this time we are in South Africa visiting friends, our church, and favorite places before heading back to Charlotte for the holidays. Pray for protection from COVID and smooth travel plans. Pray that we will see and know the steps the Lord has next for us.

We are excited to tell the stories of all the Lord is going to do in this next season of life!

Rousehouse August Happenings

Posted on September 15, 2020September 15, 2020 by Spanky Rouse

Sickness, kayaking, friends, birthdays, learning to drive, starting school and a baby named Spanky. This past month is full of stories and updates!

Update on Lara’s health

As some of you know, Lara felt sick this past month. She was extremely exhausted, having night sweats, chills during the day, no appetite, stomach pains, soreness in her neck and back, needing to take naps during the day (which is not normal), and was experiencing bad headaches. Thankfully so all of her blood work for the major concerns (Malaria, Typhoid, etc.) came back negative! She was advised to start another round of medicines for a common parasite called Bilharzia. I asked many of you to please be praying for her and you did. We received so many messages saying that you were stopping right now to pray for Lara. With in hours she started feeling better. Lara took a 3 day round of the nasty medicine used to get rid of this parasite and will follow up with 3 more days of the medicine next week. We are so thankful that she is feeling better and we are hopeful that after 1 more round of medicine these things will be gone for a while!

During these difficult times we are reminded again of the blessing it is to have an army of people that support our family. I was so grateful that I could ask many of you to pray for Lara and you stopped right then and went to the Lord for her. THANK YOU so very much!!!

Kayak Camp

Mac and Grey went to a white water kayaking camp for a couple of days in August, living in a town on the Nile River definitely has its perks. We spend a good amount of time in and around the water (hence Lara’s parasite) and the boys have been wanting to become more confident on the river. They learned how to handle a white water kayak, including how to lip and get out in the case of an emergency. They also learned how to SUP (stand up paddle board) on the river. They thought they were pretty great at it until Mom showed them up with her yoga skills. 🙂 The river is a relaxing place, but it is also very powerful and dangerous. I am thankful for the boy’s skills on the water and that they have the opportunity to enjoy life on the Nile.

Elly and I eating breakfast in a tree house while the boys were at camp.

Lara and her friend Kelly spending some time on the SUP boards too.

Grey turns 13!

Grey’s birthday was on the 21st. He turned 13! All he asked for was to have a quiet day in nature, eat some blueberry cobbler, and enjoy a family dinner of ribs. So we did all of those things! Grey and I found a hike about an hour outside of town, through a pine tree forest along the banks of the Nile, ending at the Itanda waterfalls. It was magical for him and me as we walked through quiet, peaceful, beautiful and refreshing nature.

Elly living her best life!

Elly has enjoyed her summer break from school so much! She fills her weeks with sleepovers, swimming dates with friends, and meet ups at the local food park (The Hangout).

She loves beans for breakfast, she is so Brittish 😉

Mac

Mac is practicing driving around town and learning how to drive a manual transmission. He is doing a great job but says that driving in America has to be so much easier than here! On top of all the normal driving skills you need to master when you begin driving, you also need to dodge the massive potholes, goats and cows in the road, children playing in the streets, and motorcycles everywhere. I think He might be right, but we are so proud of him for trying.

Baby Spanky

We have a wonderful lady named Josephine, that works at our house during the week. She has become family and we would not make it through the week without her! This month her sister traveled from the village to town to stay with Josephine and deliver her baby. One day she asked me what I thought they should name the baby and jokingly I said, “SPANKY!” We laughed and I thought nothing more about it. After the baby was born in true “Lara fashion”, she and Elly took Josephine shopping for all the things a new mommy might need and we went to meet the baby before he went back to the village. When we arrived we asked what they decided to name the baby. They said, “Spanky”! My jaw dropped and I said, “No, no, no Josie, I was not being serious. Please don’t call this baby Spanky.” Josephine said it was too late, everyone has already started calling him Spanky. Greyson believes that I have ruined this kids life forever. I am pretty sure we are the only two people in this entire country called Spanky and I don’t think I can’t anything about it now. Lesson learned, no joking about naming babies.

This past month the Lord has given us many opportunities for ministry and serving people, from preaching to fitness trainer. If you missed our last post you can check it out here…Ways the Lord is using us this month

Please join us in praying for:

The kids and Lara started the 2020-2021 school year. Pray for the teacher and students to have a great year!
Please continue to pray for safety. Lord send your army of angles to surround us!
More awareness of the Lord and less energy given to the challenges of life
Praise for Lara’s healing
Stable financial support during this time
Our friends, neighbors and church members that are struggling with finances and food during this time
Our families mental, emotional and spiritual healthiness
Spanky finished his Life Coaching classes and is now working on completing his coaching hours so he can finish the requirements for his International Certification

The best way to be sure you don’t miss an update would be to follow our blog or one of our social media outlets.

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

What’s the Rousehouse up to this summer?

Posted on August 5, 2020 by Spanky Rouse

July has been a heavy month emotionally. To be completely honest it has been a difficult time for our family but we are trusting in the fullness of the Lord to take care of us. We were planning on being in the US this month to see family, friends and ministry partners as well as take a very anticipated vacation to the beach. Instead, we planned a couple shorter getaways here in Uganda. There is no beach, unfortunately, but there are some pretty spectacular natural beauties in this country. It’s also an adventure in just traveling to these places.

Spanky and Lara: Lara and I went away for a long weekend with our friends, Smooth and Kelly, to an area of the country we had never visited. We travelled about 9 hours away to the Kibale Forrest in the western portion of Uganda. We simply relaxed, laughed, ate good food, stayed up late, and swam in one of the 88 crater lakes (A crater lake is a former volcano that has filled with fresh water…so we went for a dip in a volcano!).

Family trip: Then Lara planned a family trip to the Murchinson Falls area of the country which is about 8 hours north west of our town. We stayed at some friends lodge which was a beautiful, quiet safari camping lodge for 4 days. One day we took a game drive (safari), another day we drove to the top of the Murchinson Falls, and most of the other times you could find us sitting by the pool listening to music and playing games. You can check out some pretty cool pictures from our trip by clicking —> here.

Community on high alert: This month many of you know that we have had some very serious home invasions around Jinja. They have all been focused on expats like some of our friends. We have upped our security, been more alert (less sleeping), and even created a safe room and emergency plan, just in case. We pray daily for the Lord’s army of angles to surround us!

Recently we have been noticing a few things that are quiet normal here but might be a little unusual from what you would experience in America.

I asked if this was safe and the worker said, “why wouldn’t it be???”

Kiddos…

Mac decided that he wanted dreads so he got dreads.
He is loving them!
He grew his hair for 3 years for this.

Elly visits the local supermarket weekly just to play with the kittens that are running around the shelves.

Grey’s been enjoying learning how to play tennis these days

Ministry and life is not what it use to be here but we are learning a new normal. Our ministry is definitely more personal as we are feeling our days with individual conversations, dinners with families at their homes, and working to figure out how we can have home groups instead of large church gatherings. We are anticipating the day we can get back into remote villages to serve and volunteering as a family to help meet others needs. Until then, we are doing the next right thing by encouraging people that God puts in our paths and keeping our eyes open to those opportunities that are right in front of us.

It was a major Muslim holiday last week and our neighbors let us share in the slaughtering.

Please join us in prayer:

The kids and Lara will be starting school back this month
Please continue to pray for safety. Lord send your army of angles to surround us!
Awareness of the opportunities the Lord wants us to step in during this time
Praise the Lord for time away and a vacation
Financial support and stableness
Our friends, neighbors and church members that are struggling with finances and food during this time
Our families mental, emotional and spiritual healthiness during this time
Spanky is finishing up his schooling and hours for Life Coaching

The best way to be sure you don’t miss an update would be to follow our blog or one of our social media outlets.

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse/

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse/

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

2020 Safari Getaway

Posted on August 5, 2020August 5, 2020 by Spanky Rouse

Here are a few pictures from our safari game drive in Murchinson, Northern Uganda. Mac will be editing some of his more professional photos and we will be posting a special blog for everyone to view. He is pretty good and I am excited to see what he has for us!

You can click on the photo for better viewing.

Mac and I drooling over this old Uganda Wildlife Authority Land Rover

What’s New In June?

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Spanky Rouse

Uganda Update: We have now been in some kind of lockdown for nearly 4 months and have lost track of all sense of time. Currently we still have an official curfew of 7pm, no schools or churches gathering, and a few other restrictions that continue to limit the outreach and work that we are here to do. We are allowed to have 4 people in a car now, which that is still a little tricky for our family of 5. COVID seems to be on the rise here but we can’t truly tell due to the governments control of information. We are simply trying to live life as normal as possible and keep a content spirit during this crazy season of life.

Family Update: Our children have the privilege of doing most of their school either online or with Lara, therefore they have been successful in completing another year of school! Lara is super grateful to now officially be on summer break!

This summer Mac is studying coffee roasting, exploring around town, and computer programming for fun through an online mastery course.

Greyson is working on a dog training course while using our dogs as test dummies, playing his guitar, and playing tennis.

Elly is soaking up every bit of social time she can get with friends and playing mind craft.

Lara and I are planning for the coming months, working on some projects and investing in Jinja Town Church and people that we can easily connect with that live near us.

Needing R&R: Overall we are doing ok but definitely needing some time to relax, get away, and exhale. We enjoy our life here in Jinja, Uganda but there days that can seem overwhelming from the time you get out of bed. The stresses of a different culture, unstable internet, power, and water, regular sicknesses, safety issues, people around us that are in great need, relationships, never ending car repairs, constantly changing government rules, and learning how to fully live out our purpose during this time can all add up in a day. Also, we are suppose to be leaving for America next week but we are unable to make that trip which can add an extra level of frustration and sadness. I’ve heard that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but I think a little R&R would go a long way too.

We have decided to take a couple short trips this coming month. Lara and I are going to head to a lodge in the Kibale Forest near the Congo border that is offering a nice discount for a couple days. We are looking forward to unplugging, relaxing and being somewhere with out all of the constant noises and chaos. We are also going to go shopping in the capital to pic up some goodies for the family. Then, we are wanting to plan a 4 day trip up north where we can take the kids. Our hope is to go to a safari lodge where we can swim, hike the waterfalls, and take a day safari. We think the kids would really enjoy this time away and going on an adventure! We will be sure to update you and send pics.

Please join us in prayer:

Spanky’s ankle is feeling much better but not 100% yet
Safety
Awareness of the opportunities the Lord wants us to step in during this time
Vacation and time away as a family
Financial support and stableness
Our friends, neighbors and church members that are struggling with finances and food during this time
Our families mental, emotional and spiritual healthiness during this time

The best way to be sure you don’t miss an update would be to follow our blog or one of our social media outlets.

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse/

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse/

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

COVID Creating Change

Posted on June 29, 2020June 29, 2020 by Spanky Rouse

The world is learning what the new normal will look like after this pandemic. It is a whole new way of life for some. COVID is creating changes for the Rousehouse here in Uganda as well, but we see it as an opportunity to step into a calling.

COMING SOON: we will be sending our June Newsletter sometime in the next week. We have many new happenings and stories to share.

PLEASE keep our family in your prayers during this uncertain time. If you would like to partner with us financially on a monthly bases or with a special gift we would be more than grateful! Click here —> Partnering with us…

Thank you to those who are supporting our family and ministry during this season of life! We are forever grateful!

Ugandan Lockdown & Our Children’s Thoughts

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Spanky Rouse

It has been a few weeks since our last update but not much has changed. As for Uganda, there are 489 cases and 79 of these have recovered fully. Most of our cases, around 400 are truck drivers from neighboring countries that are sent back to their home country when tested at the boarder. Thankfully we have NO official deaths from COVID-19 yet!!!

The biggest problem currently is the lack of income and food for most local families. We meet people everyday on the street, strangers stopping by our house, or through our church that have not eaten in days. Our biggest impact currently is by providing basic necessities like food and soap to families. It’s life or death for some during his time. This season of life makes us really think twice about our true wants and needs.

Our family is holding on here in Jinja during this time of lockdown. It really isn’t that bad but we definitely have days when we are ready to throw our hands up and wave that white flag. We just finished week 10 of this lockdown which means it has been 10 weeks since we have driven cars, road on motorcycles, been to restaurants, had normal busy schedules, gone to church, held gym classes, and seen more than a handful of people in a day. We are over this! We are likely to have some changes come this week which makes us happy!

As for the Rousehouse kids, we wanted you to hear from them.

We are still in great need of your financial support. We are dependent on generous people like you back home in America to partner with our family. Your generosity helps us in providing food for families, serving the Sole Hope staff during this time, and partnering in many ways with Jinja Town Church who is having the greatest impact on hundreds of families a week that are in need.

This time is not what we had dreamed and hoped it would be, but we still believe that God brought us here and is using us and this situation for His good and kingdom. He is not done with us in Uganda!!!

We need you to stand with us and say a prayer for us during this time! Here are a few items:

Praise the Lord, Spanky’s ankle is almost healed up!!!
Safety, peace, and general calmness here in Uganda
The Lord’s working in our hearts and lives during this time
No missed opportunities during this season – His vision and purpose
The Lord’s quick and perfect victory over COVID-19
Uganda’s and the World’s Economy
Our families mental, emotional and spiritual healthiness during this time

The best way to be sure you don’t miss an update during this crazy time would be to follow our blog or one of our social media outlets.

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse/

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse/

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

Rousehouse Rona Update Week 4/5

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Spanky Rouse

Click on link in to view the Rousehouse’s latest update…

Rousehouse Rona Weekly Update 4/5

Highlights:

Uganda has only had 55 cases so far, NO deaths, and only 18 active cases
Economy is being effected greatly and people are beginning to run out of food
We have had 3 ways to help those in need with food
Sole Hope is also on lockdown so only essential staff are on site. Others are still being cared for.
The Rousehouse is doing FINE but tired of lockdown

Please join us in prayer: