Hutcheson February Update

We wanted to post our most recent newsletter on the blog today since it has some great pictures. Many of you are not on our newsletter mailing list and only catch up with us via facebook and our blog so we wanted you to have a chance to see some of our recent pictures. If you'd like to be added to our mailing list feel free to click the link below. We'd love to have you on our team!

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Update from Drew and Amber Hutcheson Serving with International Justice Mission Kampala, Uganda

Dear Friends and Family, We've been in Uganda for nine months now! Can you believe it? Time has sure flown by and we are sad to think that our time here will be ending in a few short months! Our last nine months here have been filled with times of excitement as well as some times of difficulty, with times of rest and yet with some tiresome times. The Lord has been with us every step of the way, though, and we have learned to lean on Him like never before! Below we've posted some recent pictures to show you a little bit of what our life has been like lately. We hope it will give you a taste of what we're up to! Thank you for being a blessing to us, Drew, Amber, Isaiah, & Baby Girl Praise: - WE HAVE A COURT DATE! We were given a court date of March 21st to obtain legal guardianship of our daughter! We are so excited and praising the Lord that we finally have a date! This means that soon we will be able to share pictures and details with you! - Drew's dad, aunt, and cousin are coming to visit for two weeks from the end of February to the beginning of March. Anyone who has ever lived overseas knows how exciting it is to have visitors!! We are so looking forward to spending time with them, along with showing them around Kampala and introducing them to the newest member of our family! - In the department that Drew works in at International Justice Mission their goals for 2012 were exceeded in regards to how many people they helped in legal education clinics, will writing clinics, and victims of property grabbing!! Prayer: - Please pray that our court date would go smoothly and that we would soon have legal guardianship of our sweet daughter. Also, after the court date we need to apply for a visa for her to come to the U.S. on. Please pray that this would be granted without a problem. - As busy as IJM was in 2012, they have even more complex goals for 2013 that they need to achieve in order for IJM to meet their grand goal of ensuring the public justice system works less corruptly for the vulnerable by 2017. They have a a lot of work ahead of them and it keeps Drew very busy but they believe strongly that their goals can be met with God's help! - Please pray for us as we make plans to return to the U.S. in June. We will soon be announcing more details as to where we will be moving and what God has in store for us in this next chapter of our lives! Getting chicken on a stick is one of Drew's favorite things! You pull the car over on the side of the road and tons of people literally run over shoving chicken, bananas, water and other things into the car for you to buy! Have to use the bathroom? Here's what you'd use if you were out in the field with Drew! Except this is a really nice one...most are just holes in the dirt! Make sure to slow down for cows crossing the road! A church out in the field where Drew preached at last Sunday. What can't a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) carry? We've seen fans, chickens, 4 people, and even a cow all on different bodas while here! This one is carrying lots of jerry cans. Since we can't drink the tap water here, this is how we get our drinking water! Each day we fill up the blue bucket with tap water which drips clean water out through a filter into the jerry can which we then use to fill our water pitchers in the fridge! Fried grasshoppers, anyone? Our dilemma is, should we eat it butt first...or turn it around so the eyes are staring at us as we pop it in our mouths? Cereal is expensive here! Cornflakes are $8.40 for 750g and $10.80 for 1kg! And rarely any sales!

Copyright © 2012 International Justice Mission, All rights reserved. You are receiving these e-mails because we think you may be interested in keeping up with our work in Uganda with IJM! If you wish to unsubscribe please see the link below. Our mailing address is: International Justice Mission Drew Hutcheson P.O. Box 70445 Kampala, Uganda Visit our blog at: www.thehutchesonheadline.blogspot.com Call us: 231-709-9633 E-mail us: Drewamhutch@gmail.com www.ijm.org unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

An Update on Our Financial Support



Out for a Saturday afternoon walk by the Nile River.

As we are adjusting to life here in Uganda, we are also adapting to prices of items here. Having lived here for roughly a month, we can already conclude that certain items are far more expensive than back in the US and others are not.

As we continue to modify our budget accordingly, we thought it would be helpful to post an update on our support raising for anyone interested in supporting us or anyone who has questions. We cannot be more thankful for the ways God has provided for us financially through our friends and family, as well as those we don't even know, but who have given in light of seeing the work we're a part of!



Through gracious support, we can purchase typical items such as these mattresses we bought for our new home.

Current Finance Report
Many of you know we have raised 100% of the support which IJM budgeted for us to raise. What may not be known is the amount raised through IJM is not quite enough for us being in Uganda as a family of 3, soon to be 4.

The amount we were allowed to raise is the same amount budgeted for IJM personnel whether single or with a family. Hence, for a single person this amount will suffice. For a family, it is doable, but it is very tight.

In light of this, we began a while back raising additional support through our home church in Jacksonville, FL for out going expenses and the purchase of a vehicle. In the time we have been here we have come to realize that we need to continue raising additional support in order to help offset additional start-up expenses and regular budgetary items which exceed the amount of support raised through IJM.

We would be humbled and honored to have you financially support us during this next year either regularly and/or through special occasional gifts. If you feel led to do so, please visit the Start up & Support page of our blog for more details.

For those of you who have been supporting us monthly or through special gifts, we cannot thank you enough for you gracious offering. Words cannot describe what it means to us to have such wonderful people in God's economy giving so faithfully. Truly, God's love and provision is being experienced in our lives through you.

We have arrived in Uganda!!

We know you all have been anxious to see some pictures so here they are!!!

(Remember, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger if you want!)

Carrying 20 boxes out of the U-Haul and into the airport is not a small task. Good thing my hubby has strong muscles (and a strong dad to help!).

All of our luggage ready to be checked in!

The little Zai man was excited about his first international flight!

Having a snack...he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to eat on that big noisy airplane thing.

One last walk with Poppy.

Last family picture in the U.S.! About to board our plane.

Isaiah slept the entire first flight....and woke up with a crazy hairdo!

He was such a good traveller. We were so proud of him. He seriously was amazing!

Some friends of our who live in London picked us up and we spent our 10 hour layover with them. It was Martin's birthday!

The Durham family...  London's finest! It was so great to see them!

This is the first day we arrived in Kampala. Isaiah was so exhausted he just passed out on our bed and didn't move a muscle!

He was so tired yet still such a good boy the first day.

At breakfast the next morning Isaiah was fascinated watching the workers build.

The view from our guesthouse.

Isaiah loves this dog. Her name is Mimi! He's leaning in for a kiss here.

"Ewww mom, she licked me!"

Leaning in for another kiss.

"Oh man! She licked me again!"

So....Isaiah has started making super silly faces whenever we say, "Isaiah, Smile!" Apparently, this is his "smile." We're going have to work on it....

"Ok, Isaiah, smile again!" Oh dear....

And...one more time!

The guesthouse we are staying in until we find a place to live.

Driving our new car for the first time. Good thing Drew is a GREAT driver. The roads here are small, there's lots of traffic, and they drive on the left side of the road!

This was quite the road. We weren't sure we'd make it back up!

Exploring Kampala.

We are using our map alot! It's going to take us a while to learn our way around here.

Traffic comes from all directions!

Notice the cows in front of the gas station...

I love this little man. He can sleep through anything...even crazy traffic.

Not so much for me....Haha!

Such a sweet boy.

The view from one of the houses we looked at to rent.

"Isaiah, smile." Looks like he's getting the hang of this. We're improving! =)

Our new vehicle! A Toyota Rav 4. A HUGE thank you to those of you who contributed towards our car fund. We raised enough money to purchase this great car which will be a wonderful help to us during our time here.

Well, we know you mainly wanted to see pictures but we'll post a small update as well. =)

Things have been going so well since we arrived! Isaiah has adjusted extremely well. From the first night we were here he slept his normal 12-13 hours straight through the night and a 2 hour nap during the day. Praise the Lord! None of us really had any trouble with jetlag- we have all taken the time change (7 hours ahead) very well.

Another praise is that we were able to purchase our car the day after we arrived. We got a wonderful deal on a great car and it was such a blessing to get wheels so soon after arriving. It has really helped us do many things since we have been here. Thank you to those of you who gave so that we could afford this vehicle! We are so grateful!

Drew has been able to meet several of the people from IJM already. We are hoping to visit the field office tomorrow so Isaiah and I can meet everyone. We are so excited to be a part of this great team and begin doing the work God has called us to.

Next on our to-do list is to find a place to live. We have looked at many houses and apartments. Now, we just need to figure out which one would be the best setup for us. We feel like we're on House Hunters International! =)

Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers! We will update again soon!