Happy 2026!!!!

Hello friends and family!

Happy 2026! 2025 was a wonderful, challenging, fun, hard, and beautiful year. I can never say thank you enough for all your support that has allowed me to serve with Amazima in Uganda. I'm so thankful and blessed!

2025 Overview

Teaching 

This past year I taught Bible to about 100 students, English to about 50, and Science Club to about 40 students. For some of the students, this was my third year teaching them. It was really sweet to begin the school year already knowing the students and being able to continue to build even deeper relationships with them. I feel as though I know many of their individual challenges better and how to help, encourage, and pray for them more specifically. I've also continued to open my classroom to students at lunch three days a week. We often listen to worship music and play games (bananagrams is a big hit!) together. I love these opportunities to connect with and encourage my students. 

*This video is about a year old, but it shows where I work (if you're ever trying to imagine Jaci in Uganda 😉). Princess Catherine in the video is one of my lunchtime buddies most days. She just took her Primary Leaving Exam the first week of November and will have to wait until the end of January to know if  she passed to Secondary School.

*This video is a couple of years old, but I feel like it really helps show who we are serving at Amazima. This little boy, Trevor, is so much fun and I'm excited to be one of his teachers next year! 

Teacher Training 

This year I worked with a team to revise some of our policies at Amazima Primary. Our school is still so young, and unfortunately we've had to learn some lessons the hard way - but we are learning!!!! This past year I spent many hours in meetings discussing problems, feedback, and solutions with a team of seven people. 

I also led a team of five teachers and worked with them to help develop lessons that were engaging, interactive, and addressed the needs of a wide range of learners. All of the teachers on my team want to teach more effectively, so its been fun helping them create resources and encourage them to try new strategies in class. One of my team members, Sarah (on the left), was always willing to try out new things, give helpful feedback, and let me know when something would not be culturally appropriate. So thankful to not have to learn everything the hard way!

I also got to lead trainings at a rural school, about an hour away from Amazima, with my friend Gladys. The teachers were so grateful and soaked up every bit of information we gave. Some teachers have even been able to come tour Amazima and have shared with us how they've used pieces of our training in their lessons. Amazima has more plans to do trainings at this school next year as well.

Medical Outreach 

I had the opportunity to serve at all six of Amazima's medical outreaches this year. This was the first year Amazima ran these outreaches, and I loved the small peek into Amazima's work in the communities (since my work is always on Amazima property). I got to see where many of my students come from and witness the medical staff and social workers in action. I also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some of Amazima's secondary students even better as they were my translators throughout the outreaches. 

Friends 

I know some of you were specifically praying for good friendships for me in 2025, so I thought I'd include that in my update. Thank you for your prayers! This year I've felt so blessed by many relationships in Uganda. One answer to this prayer has been my friend Morgan (Amazima's nursing director). She lives in the same apartment building as I do and we started running together this year. This has been a time of where we often laugh, cry, pray, and encourage each other. Thank you for those of you who prayed for that good friend for me! 

I also had the opportunity to serve on a wedding committee for my friend Sam this year. Sometimes our cultural differences are so apparent. Ugandan weddings traditions are so different than American ones! I told Sam I'd serve on his wedding committee, but I had no idea what I was getting into. I ended up meeting with the wedding team once a week for about two months to help prepare for his big day. If anybody needs help throwing a Ugandan wedding, I think I can help you come up with a matooke budget and figure out where to get a nice sized bull for the reception! 

*Also, recently we were celebrating a friend's birthday and Sam said he had never celebrated a birthday in his life. I asked him if he at least knew when his wife's birthday was, and he didn't - so he went home and asked her. It's marked on his calendar so he can be prepared for the future!

One of the biggest highlights of my year was having my friend Jenny come visit in November/December! She was able to meet a lot of my people and even served at our last medical outreach of the year. Also, because she is amazing and so so kind, she travelled all the way to Uganda with a frozen turkey so that we could have a proper Thanksgiving celebration with our friends. Thank you, Jenny!

2026 Plans

Many of you were also praying for clarity on whether or not I should continue at Amazima in 2026, serve at another ministry in Uganda, or return to the US. I've decided to stay at Amazima for at least another year. 

For the 2026 school year I’ll continue creating our Bible curriculum and teaching Bible to the P4 and P5 students. (We began Genesis back in 2023, and this year we’re finally making it to Revelation!) 

I’m also excited to begin developing a reading intervention program for students in P4, P5, and P6. I’ll start with eight students who have struggled academically since our school first opened. In our area, many schools would simply expect these students to drop out. Instead, my hope is to help them grow in foundational reading skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives. One of the things I’m most excited about in creating this program is the freedom to work outside the restrictive Ugandan curriculum and design individualized learning plans that specifically address each student's needs.

Finally, I’ll be developing a plan for our school assemblies in the new year. I volunteered for this role because I felt that often assembly time was wasted or ineffective, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to help shape it into something more meaningful. I’ll be creating clear guidelines for teachers and meeting with the teacher leading assembly each week to support and prepare them.

I’m especially excited that our school will be focusing on John 15 throughout the entire year. This chapter has been so meaningful to me over the past two years and I’m really looking forward to creating assemblies based on it.

Prayer Requests

1 - Elections: Uganda is currently in an election season, so things have been more tense than usual. Election Day is January 15, and most people expect the current president - who has been in power for 38 years - to remain in office. There has been talk of uprising if the opposition leader, Bobi Wine, does not win. Please pray for Uganda! Change is needed, but pray that violence will not be necessary.

2 - End of the Year: Amazima students will be out of school until February 9th. Please pray that our students would be safe and make wise choices during the break, that their needs would be met in healthy ways, and that they would return excited to learn in the new year.

3 - US Visit: I’ll be in the US for the rest of the month! My brother is getting married on January 31st, and after his wedding I’ll be traveling back to Uganda. Please pray that this time would be restful and refreshing, that I’d have meaningful time with friends and family, 
and that I’d be able to accomplish everything needed to be fully prepared for the new school year beginning in February. I'm thankful for the time I've already been able to spend with family this visit!

Thank you again for all your prayers, encouragement, and financial support that make it possible for me to serve in a place I love, doing a job I love. I’m so aware of how much your kindness blesses me, and I’m so grateful for each of you. I look forward to catching up with many of you while I'm in California!

💜 Jaci