Uganda Trip Update

Our trip preparations are STEAMING AHEAD! We are 1-month away from Uganda. YIKES!!!

Not to worry, folks. God is good, and I feel like we've got things going in a good direction. Here are some updates about what is happening with our trip, and some items for which we could really use your prayer:

Ministry development

Thankfully, we have been able to make great strides in gaining more clarity about what we (think) we are going to do over in Uganda. Our team members have been hitting the phones with our little Africa calling cards (gotta figure out that Skype thing someday) and making plans with our ministry partners over in Uganda.

We are at the point where we have a day-by-day schedule established. Our planned activities include door-to-door evangelism, sports ministries, home and school visits, and worship services. Now our team is working on collecting all the SUPPLIES we will need for these tasks. Big job for sure, but I know we are up for it!

Safari

While the ministry is certainly the focus of our time, we are very thankful to be able to spend a portion of our trip enjoying the beauty of Africa. Our team is going to go on a 2-day safari trip in-between the two weeks of work.

We will do a cruise on the Nile, watch an early morning game drive, and see beautiful Murchison Falls. I know that we will NEED the relaxation time. Everyone is telling us to be prepared for long-days, difficult conditions, and constant change! Oh, boy!!!

Support Update

Praise God and thank you all for your generosity! Kat and I are within $500 of our full support amount. At least one of our other team members has met and exceeded her goal! We feel so privilidged to be blessed by the people who have made it possible for us to minister in Uganda...

Prayer requests

We would really appreciate your prayers for the following:

• One of our team members, Chris, has an application in for his passport, but has not received it as of yet. Pray for expediency of the passport office!
• Our team is still coming together and trying to "gel." We will need to work well together in these times of packing and preparing. Please pray for our tempers to be held, our patience to be infinite, and our love to be sincere.
• Praise God for blessing us with such an abundance from you and others.

With our warmest thanks,

Brent and Kat

Life Hacker

I saw this site featured in Time, and thought it looked really cool:

http://www.lifehack.org/

I thought it was a wonderful mix of geekiness, short-attention span, and self-improvement. Because who knows when the need is going to arise for me to know How to pimp out my desktop for productivity???

The Jury is... coming about

I've been fulfilling my civic duties this week ~ That is, I have my 2nd day of jury duty this week. It is really hard to complain about this one, lone thing that Americans have to do. Especially when you consider other countries that have requirements about mandatory military service, size of family, and more...

But it is exposure to a world that I so often just forget exists. I'm waiting to see if I will be selected for a criminal/civil hybrid case. As a result, they've been asking all the jurors if they have ever been the victims of certain types of crime. It's just astounding to hear what people have been through!

I find that more than anything else, I am struck by my need to pray more thankfully that God has blessed Kat and I with such a peaceful life thus far, and to remember what we are being protected from each day that we are given...

Parents, Parents, Parents, and Parents

Mom and Dad Applegate have been staying with us since Thursday. It's been a great visit thus far ~ They went to the company picnic with me (Mom embarrassed me by putting me in my place in front of my work group ~ :-) ~ at least there was no paddling), we took them to a Farmers Market, and we all went to church together.

Cool highlight was getting together with Kat's parents, who also came into town for a conference. Nothing like having TWO sets of parents sitting across the dinner table... I'm still working on transcribing all the parental advice! *grin*

It's good to be loved...

B

Friends, Fairs, and Frogs

Its summertime in San Diego, and that usually indicates two happy things: 1.) Lots of concerts and events, and 2.) Lots of visitors. Fortunately, we love both!

Kat's college friend Mamina and her boyfriend Steve came out to San Diego to celebrate the completion of their medical board exams. Now this thing sounds INTENSE! I got the impression it was like every exam you have ever taken all stuffed into one grueling session!

So they were really ready to relax. We took them to dinner and then over to Del Mar, where there was a neat little outdoor concert at Powerhouse.


Nothing like a reggae plus harmonica version of "All along the watchtower" to accompany your sunset. I thought the helicopter swooping by was a nice touch. Jimi would actually have approved of that, as opposed to the harmonica.



That was Tuesday, and on Wednesday I talked Kat into going BACK to the San Diego County Fair (which faithful readers will recall she went to last Friday) - I had never been to this fair, and also country artist John Michael Montgomery was performing.

So we spent a couple hours taking in the sights and sounds of the fair. It is definitely a people-watcher's dream; you've got mulleted hillbillies from the east county walking around with bleach blond surfers from the coast. Only in San Diego!

I especially appreciated the volunteers at guest services (which we visited like 5 times for various reasons), the oh so tasty funnel cake, and the great flowers. The big draw HAD been the John Michael Montgomery concert that was included in admission.


Ol' John was a little... well... low on energy at this particular show. Perhaps it was a let down to be playing the Fair Freebie show, or too much sun during the round of golf that he alluded to, but he just seemed kinda... Sleepy. He did some good ballads, but I found that everytime he tried to fire the crowd up I got all smirky. Some of his moves were right out of WWF/Hulkamania... But I shouldn't criticize... Free show. Nuff said.

Frogs - So we slept in the guest room in anticipation of my parent's coming and staying in our room. The alarm, which also doubles as an IQ test, somehow got set to frog sounds to wake up with. I tell you, it is a wierd sensation to be woken up by frogs blaring right next to you. You feel like this might be one of those "plagues ala Egypt" kind of days. We'll just have to see what kind of day a froggie morning will bring. Cheers!

Highway to the Grunion Zone

Kat and I have been blessed with a nice, leisurely, sunny, and enjoyable weekend out here in America's Finest City... It feels a bit like the calm before the storm ~ Next week we will have both of our parents in town, plus one of Kat's dear college friends...

So the fridge is well-stocked, the house is a bit cleaner, and hopefully we are ready to roll! Now, not to say that nothing good happened this weekend! Here are three cool things worth embellishing:

1. Kenny Loggins at the Fair!

Kat went to a Kenny Loggins show at the SD County Fair with Sara, Sara's Mom, and Katie on Friday night. They did the required Fair gastrointestinal workout of eating deep-friend and then scooted in to see what they described as "a pretty good show" from 80's icon Loggins. Never realized until now that the immortal Top Gun ballad Danger Zone is from Kenny Loggins... "Highway to the..."

2. Grunions at...errr... not at Torrey Pines Beach

So the Grunion (fish, I am told) live off the coast of California and have the somewhat bizarre mating practice whereby, "At very high tides the females come up on sandy beaches and dig their tails into the sand to lay their eggs. A male then wraps himself around the female to deposit his sperm. For the next ten days the grunion eggs remain hidden in the sand, but at the next set of high tides the eggs hatch and the young grunion are washed out to sea."

This bizarre fish behavior engenders even stranger people behavior, often involving frying pans!



The Grunions were supposed to be spawning on Fridy night from 10-midnight (conveniently just after Kenny wrapped up on his show)... We showed up, armed to the teeth with frying pans and buckets, and all set to scoop up these unsuspecting and twitterpated fish. The purpose for which we were to collect the fish was never quite clear to me... No matter, the grunion didn's show by 11, and so we (along with a good quarter of San Diego) dejectedly started heading home...

Sigh... No grunions... but a neat night out on the beach for sure!

3. Horshoes are in the HOA

Last cool thing! We went up to the new home of our friend's John and Heidi for dinner on Saturday. The food and conversation were both delish, but the highlight of the evening was the Applegate's come-from-behind victory in horseshoes, which the developer was forward-thinking enough to recognize as a GREAT thing to put in the little park in the middle of the development.



The action was fast and furious, with John and Heidi getting out to an early points lead with a couple of solid ringers. Kat and I had to dig deep forevery ounce of our collective midwestern Americana to overcome these two southern dandies. In the end, VICTORY! Or at least that's what I recall, but Heidi may have a different viewpoint.

So that's a weekend in San Diego... Can't complain! See yaz

Uganda Prayer Support Update

Here is a brief update to those of you who are supporting Kathryn and me in preparations for our two-week mission trip to Uganda from July 30th to August 15th. We really appreciate your prayers and encouragement!

Some bumps and bruises, but the team is beginning to “gel”

Our little team of 6 had our fourth group meeting this past Tuesday. To be totally honest, it didn’t go as well as we would have liked. After some reflection, we see that the culprit was mainly our lack of spiritual preparation. I think that I (Brent) in particular am learning that for an activity like a mission trip, having a full agenda and everyone completing their homework is just not enough. If we, and especially I, are not prepared spiritually, then things just won’t work very well!

Still, I think this is part of the process of “getting real” with each other. We must learn how to forgive each other and resolve our conflicts, or we will never be able to survive in Uganda!

Parent’s Night Out - first real chance to work together

From an emotional low on Tuesday after the meeting we came to a euphoric high on Friday at Parent’s Night Out. The event was a HUGE success! Our Uganda Missions Team was assisted by some 15-20 volunteers from our church. Together we took care of 34 kids on Friday evening for 3+ hours. The purpose of the event was both to raise funds for our trip and to give parents a much needed “night out!”

The event went off without a hitch! We split the kids up into groups by age. They had counselors who stayed with them, and rotated through stations in which they did crafts, played games, enjoyed snacks, and learned about missionaries.

The kids seemed to have a TON of fun, and I don’t think the volunteers were too far behind. As a team, we raised close to $500 that we will share to cover our trip costs. But I think that for our Uganda Missions Team, the sense of unity and trust that starts to develop after successfully completing such a project far outweighs the monetary gain. I was so encouraged to see how we rallied together in service for God!

An abundance of blessing!

We have been blessed by a tremendous outpouring of generous giving, both by those in our church and by our own friends and family. Praise God, Kat and I are well on our way to covering the cost of the trip!

It brings to mind Malachi 3:10: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

When we are faithful with a little, God blesses us with a lot! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Prayer requests

Our hosts for the trip, Dave and Darlene Eby, wrote recently to tell us that a tragedy has occurred in their midst, involving their good friends and fellow missionaries in Uganda, Scott and Laura Scheffer, of Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. Laura and one of Scott's workers, George, were killed after being struck by a car outside a restaurant. Laura left behind Scott and four children, and George left behind a wife and two young children. Please pray for these families and the Ebys, who are most distraught.

Please pray for the development of our ministry and activities. Over the next month we need to work with the Ebys, a team from Connecticut, the Mission to the World (MTW) staff in Atlanta, and our contacts with Ugandan nationals to put together an itinerary. The communications challenges are daunting! I take solace in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God knows what is going to happen, even when I may not see the whole picture!

Closing

Thanks to all for your love, support, and encouragement! It has been humbling to plan this activity, but in a good way. Every time we get puffed up and feel like it’s our work, God most courteously smacks us back down. But every time we rely on Him alone, we see that He is faithful.

All blessings,

Brent and Kat

Brent's new email address

I am slowly weaning off my old yahoo email. I finally got fed up with the filing system and the annoying ads with gyrating people... Now, I'm all in favor of gyration, just not when I'm trying to write a dang email!

So my new address is:

brent.a.applegate@gmail.com

THX

Texas - Part 2 through a bunch

Ahhh, memories of those days gone by from... last Saturday. How I long for those days when life was simpler... *sigh*

Yes, folks, we're back in Cali again (there are certainly worse places to be) after our lovely jaunt through the big state of Texas. We came back from Texas with a few extra pounds from an endless procession of cakes, cookies, and glorious dinners that began with the words "chicken fried..." We also came back with a 37 lb stone carved in the outline of Texas (more on that story later.)


But MOST importantly, we came back with wonderful memories of friends and family... and absoulutely no armadillo statues dressed as wild west sherrifs. None! Kat whined a lot, but I had to say no!

Part 2 - New Braunfels: After our time in Ft. Worth, we drove down to New Braunfels to see Kat's grandmother, who the family always calls Omie. Omie is the best. She is a huge Spurs fan, visciously competitive at all board games, a pretty good mini golfer, and a provider of great cookies and hugs. We checked out the sites, took walks, and just had a grand time!





Part 3 - Austin: After Omie's, we spent one night in Austin. We have been thinking that Austin might be a good potential home for us someday, as it is known as a tech-friendly, science-friendly, creative sort of place. We stayed downtown and went to a really nice dinner at the Driskill... But on the whole, the place just left us feeling like it was really... gritty

Now, don't get me wrong! It's got some great stuff. We loved the Bob Bulloch State Museu, the State Capital, and the LBJ Library on the campus of UT...



But 6th street was all bikers and hippies and wierdness... I know I sound so much like Hank Hill right now, but we just never felt really settled in the downtown. Though we did get to see an Alfred Hitchcock thriller in a classic movie house, which was a plus. Ah, I'm just too conservative, I guess...

So Austin is not out of consideration, but its previous lustre has been dampened considerably.

Part 4: Sherman, TX: In order to ensure we would enjoy the true Dallas Metroplex experience, we left Austin at just the right time to hit Dallas at 5:00 rush hour on Friday. Loved watching the heat waves rise up off the asphalt as we inch forward... But we made it to Sherman (12 miles south of Oklahoma) by nightfall to see Kathryn's friends Jenn and Micah, and their baby Noel, at her Mom's place.



I'll say this much about the trip: I have no complaints about the level of cuteness of the babies we met! Great fun catching up with old friends and making new ones. Felt like a real Texan tooling around with Jenn's Mom's husband, Randy, in his 4wd buggie in their cow pasture. Sitting outside at night watching the lightning bugs and listening to the night sounds is such a treat after California, though I think I lost a pint of blood to the mosquitos.

All in all, this part of our visit was short but oh so very sweet! Before too long we found ourselves packing up to go... and faced with the dilemma of trying to figure out how to transport this 37 lb souvenier we had bought (for 10 bucks at Home Depot, so we weren't super-worried).

In the end, we wrapped it in bubble wrap, put it in a flimsy quilting bag, and I hand-carried it on the plane. Nobody even looked twice at me! Feel safe, fellow travelers! I've got this huge rock under my arm, but I surrendered my toothpaste at the gate! *grin*

But who am I to complain?... The rock has made it back to california... and so have we! Cheers!

Texas, Part 1

Kat and I are in Fort Worth, Texas, with her sister, brother-in-law, and incredibly adorable nephew. We've enjoyed a weekend full of family, play time with the baby, not an insignificant amount of thunderstorms, really good barbecue, and that famous southern hospitality.





Today we are off to New Braunfels, TX to see Kat's grandmother... I have to say that I really do feel at home here in Texas. The people, the accents, the wide open spaces... It just warms my heart to be here! Cali is home for awhile, but this place definitely has an appeal that seems to defy logic or explanation. Cheers!

Happy Girl!!!

Kat passed her quals on May 23rd with FLYING COLORS! Here's what she has to say, in her own words!

I am pleased to report it went really well this morning! Honestly, it was all God these past few weeks upholding Brent and me, and keeping me on track for this day. The oral defense was very smooth (no technological difficulties, no unreasonable questions that I couldn't answer), and the Committee had lots of positive things to say. I wasn't even that nervous! It has been a whole month of learning that I am not in control, that God is trustworthy and sovereign over all my ways, that I must daily repent of fear of man.

We've learned a ton, about ourselves and each other, during this last month. We approached it with sort of a "work trip" mentality, so that Kat pretty much focused exclusively on the exam. Now we're off in Texas, enjoying the feeling of completion of a job well done!

Tres Uganda

Our team met last night for our 3rd of 6 team meetings in preparation for our trip. Its been beaten into my head through corporate trainings that teams have to DEVELOP... and that there is a natural and healthy process of Forming, Storming, Norming, Conforming, etc. that all go through...

Yet it IS always so nice to see that those trainings are actually RIGHT! Last night it felt like our team was finally starting to hit the "conforming" phase ~ Interesting how at first everyone is kinda shy and awkward ~ We all knew each other in the sense that we go to the same church... But it is a whole different ballgame to be either working closely together or planning something substantial.

So things are good- We are doing a Group Fundraiser on June 8th called Parents Night Out where we will encourage parents to leave their kids with us for an evening and have a nice night out. Our two youngest team members are in charge, which is SUPER! Gives me a chance to ... let... go... of... the control... So... hard... to not want... to control everything!!! WHEW! But I'm learning~ Oh how I am learning!

Kat's quals are today... We'll find out in a few short hours whether or not she is an OFFICIAL candidate for the PhD at the Scripps Research Institute!!! Woo Hoo!!!

And I just couldn't resist...

Pretty natural looking, eh? Borrowed baby of a fellow Scripps-er~

Passages

Kat has been putting incredible hours in at the lab as she prepares for her Qualifying Exam on May 23. The quals are kind of like the midpoint of the PhD. It is the point at which you declare your thesis and plan for the rest of the program.

She was able to take a much-deserved break on Saturday when we went to a going-away party for one of her colleagues, Jonas, who is graduating and moving to Montreal with his wife (Note the lab gift of lots of warm, wooly clothing in the picture below)



Its really neat to see scientists get together to drink European sodas you've never heard of, talk about subjects which are actually making more sense to me (scary), and to celebrate the accomplishments of one of their fellow researchers.

I think this recent season has given Kat a lot more hope... One day, Lord-Willing, it will be US wearing funny clothes in the park with a bunch of grinning scientists gathered round!

Cracked...

So, let this be a lesson to you... And don't say I never warned you!

Pop Quiz: If you should happen to one day walk out to your car, and see that a small crack (say, smaller than a dollar bill) has developed in your windshield, is the proper response:

A.) Ignore it - Chalk it up to one of many things on a 1999 car that go wrong which you don't really want to spend money on to fix

or

B.) Drop everything you are doing and call the window repair guy, or else pretty soon the crack will exapad and you you will have to call the window replacement guy (who charges substantially more than the repair guy)...

Which one do you think I picked?


*Sign* - I don't recall reading about this in the "How to be an adult" manual... Oh well!

Add to my X-mas list: Off-Road Commode

Off-Road Commode, Model# ORC Towing Accessories Northern Tool + Equipment: "When you're out in nature, you never know when nature will call."

Where has this been all my life???

Otterson Hall 1

Otterson Hall 1
Originally uploaded by Rady School.

It's a bird... it's a plane... it's... my new B-school...

Though it may look a bit like something out of Star Wars, this is Otterson Hall, where I will be going to school this fall. The grand opening is June 1st, and I will start orientation on Sept 14

Movin' right along...

This past weekend was "Move Central" - Two couples in our church were moving into new homes, and I was fortunate to be able to help out both for a bit. I love helping people get into new homes. To me, the oft-scoffed "work party" really is the truth. It is so neat to be able to come alongside your friends to help them in that most basic of need... to get a roof over their head... and a 400 lb armoir in their living room! :-)

On Friday I painted doors at Brandon and Abby's new place. Some might tell you that the doors are left to the most talented artisan. Those people are liars. It's the easiest job on the planet, but I was happy for the low-stress work!

Saturday brought our friend's John and Heidi moving into their new place. They got a good crew together, provided the necessary staples for any move (Doughnuts and Pizza), and made the day a lot of fun!


A crew that was Unstoppable...


Thankfully... No casualties


Pizza will get you everywhere with people!

I topped off the evening by heading downtown to the Padres game with my buddies from work. Padres lost 5-nil in an anemic performance, but the game was a sell-out and being San Diegoans, nobody really cares THAT much about sports, so they were doing the wave, having fun, etc. Good times!

Tee-shirt night at Petco - gotta love that!

So you might be saying to yourself, "Hey, isn't this Brent AND KAT in California? Where's the better half?" Alas, my dear wife was slaving away at the lab all weekend. Her qualifying exam is on May 23rd, and she is working so very hard on her proposal. Say a prayer! It's due to her committee on Wednesday!

Late nights with Golden Spoon and Good Coffee

It's cool! Last night we felt like real students again. Kat is working really hard on her Qualifying Exam, which is like the mid-point of her PhD program. She has to put together both her actual thesis, and an alternate proposal for something not related to her field.

Being the ever-overachieving person that she is, her alternate proposal (which in most cases is not going to actually be acted upon) is for nothing less than to cure malaria... No problem! :-) It's actually really neat to see her so fired up about science. She's working long and hard, and that's where I come in with the encouragement of a late night visit to her lab with Golden Spoon, which I have come to learn, is the brain fuel for all great scientists!

As Kat has been working, I have been playing (Fair? Hmmmm?) My ever-ready buddy, Hank, and I went to Sea World this past weekend.

I never thought I would live in a place where Sea World could be a spur of the moment outting. You should see the humble little zoo in my home town... I think it has like two gold finches and a pet goat or something.

Africa - Our effort continues to come together. Right now we are sending out support letters, which is always a kinda weird feeling. I know there is a biblical justification to give the burden to God, and then to let others know of it. I think this is just one of those times to be reminded of the fact that, contrary to all notions of American idealism, we are called to be dependent on God and others. This trip is stretching us both in ways we never imagined!

The Uganda Trip... From the pen of Mrs. K

Hi all,

Here is an excerpt from Kat's letter to her prayer partners for Uganda. She did a GREAT job of summarizing the team (and our) state of mind and current progress about Uganda. And now you can't say that Kat never writes in the blog!

:-)

Brent

Hello, Prayer Team!

I wanted to send a quick update on the progress we are making towards the missions trip. The group had our second team meeting last night, and we covered a TON of stuff. First we addressed and stuffed envelopes to send out support letters to folks within our church. We thought it would be good to send one letter on behalf of the team to people in the church so they don't get 3 or 4 letters each. (We each will then have a more personalized one to send to friends and family.) The purpose of the letter is to ask for prayer and financial support, so please pray that people would give joyfully and generously. There are so many demands on the church body right now, like the building fund, Faith Promise (which supports many missionaries), the Uganda Children's Sponsorship Program, the Deacon's fund, and the regular tithe. So we are trying to be sensitive to this and learn how to walk by faith.

At the start of our meeting we had a great time of praise. We are blessed to have a beginning guitarist among us - a college freshman named Chris - who was brave enough to play for us. Between his playing and my missing the high notes, we had a good laugh about how the Bible says "Make a joyful NOISE to the Lord," not "Make beautiful music to the Lord!"

We covered a lot of logistical stuff about vaccinations and insurance during the meeting, but we also had a devotional on the importance of giving and worked on the team goals part of our Team Covenant, which we'll continue to develop as the meetings go on. To tell you the truth, this was the hardest part of the meeting, since each member has different expectations about what the team should be like. We really need prayer for unity and open communication in our group. Brent and I talk SO much about the trip together, but we rarely get feedback from the other group members in response to the dozens of trip-related emails and phone calls we send. I think that's been particularly challenging to Brent, since it's difficult to trust people with big things (like planning fundraisers) if they don't follow through with small things. So please pray that our team would encourage each other and not resent all the work that goes into planning a trip like this! Pray that each person would be diligent and fulfill the roles we have taken.

One cool idea for a fundraiser we discussed: First Aid training! The Red Cross will come and do training at NCPC for a group of 8 or more for a fixed rate. We were thinking that if we opened it up to our church and other local churches and got a group of 25+ (when the 10% discount kicks in), we could charge people less than or equal to what they would pay for a First Aid and CPR training course at the Red Cross location ($70), but more than the per-person cost to run the on-site program. All the proceeds would then be split between our group members. Please pray for this and other ideas to be carried out, to help relieve the financial burden. Also, if YOU have ideas for group fundraisers, please let me know!

Another item: Brent and I have proposed to a visiting colleague that she rent our spare bedroom for the month of July. She goes back to Connecticut July 31 and is currently staying in a hotel. It would be fantastic for us to bring in some extra cash for the trip, and it would be cheaper for her as well. Not only does she seem kind and interesting, it turns out she is a Christian, too! Something of a rarity among scientists. So, please do pray that Juliet would take us up on our offer, if it is God's will.

Whew! Thanks for reading to the end, and for your prayers and encouragement. Oh--perhaps the biggest thing you can pray about for me, in particular, these next few weeks: I have my Qualifying Exam on May 23. I am working really hard for it, and Brent is trying to do more household things to help me out. God give me the grace to accept help gracefully and show my appreciation and affection towards him, and for him to sacrifice for me and be assured of my gratitude and love. And may God give me success on the writing and defending of my proposals!

Love,
Kathryn