A few new roommates

It is 8:30 am, I've been up for over an hour drinking tea and relaxing as the house is slowly waking up. It is wonderful.

This past week I moved into Pastor John's house with him and his family and it is slightly different than my previous living situation. For the past month I have been renting a small one room apartment but now I live with Pastor John, his wife Esther, their 4 children (Caleb age 4, Cephus age 3, Karissa age 2 and Chloe age 6 weeks), John's cousin Julius (I work with him a lot), 4 teenage boys that attend our school and 4 other younger boys. Also, another American has arrived and is staying here. One of the boy's mothers has been here for the past 2 days and the visitors from the US are still here. So I went to living by myself to having 19 roommates in a few short hours. Not the typical living situation but it is very cool to see how this family operates. Everybody helps out, nobody complains and they seem to truly enjoy each other. I have no doubt that if 4 more people showed up they would make room. Then they would proceed to feed them and love them well.

I share this because in June I got a small glimpse of this and it really affected me. I think this is such a clear depiction of the gospel being lived out. What a beautiful picture, that anybody and everybody is welcome?!

There is something else that is pretty amazing about this place. When I got up at 7:15 am today, one of the older boys was wiping down the floor in the kitchen, another boy was ironing and soon after a few of the younger boys were sweeping the lawn (TIA - This is Africa). The attitude towards service is unlike anything I have ever seen. They truly serve and love so well. I pray I adopt this attitude towards service.

Small observation - huge implications

This past week has been extremely busy as we have visitors in from the US. The wife, Vicki, has been staying with us while her husband and son have been doing work a few hours away. We have taken Auntie Vicki (what the kids call her) all over, introducing her to the kids, women in the community and taking her to a few tourist places in Kampala.

This past Monday, Auntie Vicki and I had dinner with Auntie Rose. Auntie Rose lives on the church property and her and I have become very close over the past month. Auntie Rose is absolutely amazing. She makes a very small income as a teacher but has taken in 6 children. 4 of the children are sponsored so there is a little relief from food as they are fed through the school, but she cooks for them, buys them clothes, cares for them when they are sick and most importantly shows love to them everyday - she is wonderful.

Dinner with Auntie Rose was great. We ate a huge feast with all the kids and spent hours enjoying each other.

The next day I asked Auntie Vicki if she had a good time the night before. She told me that she was a bit overwhelmed with Auntie Rose's generosity and hospitality. She said, "In the US we give out of excess and Auntie Rose gives out of sacrifice."

It is Thursday night and I am still thinking about that. It is absolutely true. Auntie Rose truly gives out of a joyful heart regardless of how much she has. She has very little, lives in a small 2 room house, sometimes has 10 people sleeping under her roof and feeds any person that comes into her house. I have a lot to learn from Auntie Rose and I am so grateful to have several more months with her.

Auntie Vicki's statement is so true and I think has huge implications. In my mind the big difference between those that give out of excess and those that give out of sacrifice is trust. It doesn't require trusting Jesus if we give out of excess but it takes tremendous trust in Jesus to give out of sacrifice. It requires us to trust that while we give what little we have, He will provide more. It requires trusting that loving people and sharing what you have with others is more important than keeping all you have for yourself in the event you may need it in the future. I definitely have a lot to learn and pray that God would be patient and persistent with me.

As a thank you for the dinner, Auntie Vicki wanted to buy Auntie Rose some food since she couldn't have her over to her house in St. Louis. It was incredible. We spent about $70 and probably bought enough food for 2 or 3 weeks. We bought rice, sugar, tea, onions, tomatoes, beans, cooking oil and soap. We also bought her a lantern since using a candle each night to do homework can be very dangerous (especially with 5 kids running around a very small space).

We brought the food to Auntie Rose last night and I have no doubt that she will turn around and use that food to feed others.

This is why I love it here - because of people like Auntie Rose.

TIA - This Is Africa!

I haven’t written in awhile and I feel like there is so much I want to share. Over the past two weeks a lot has happened.

I have made over 10 trips to the clinic with either sick kids or visiting those that that had been admitted overnight. First there was Angel, my little shadow, she had Malaria. After Angel there was Moses and Fidi, her cousin and sister. Moses had Malaria and is also severely underweight and malnourished. Fidi had to be de-wormed and had an infection on her scalp. Then there was Hasifah who had Malaria and a horrible allergic reaction to the medicine. A few days later I took Roger to the clinic in the morning for Malaria and later that night after Bible club I took his sister, Gift, to the clinic as well for Malaria. Yesterday I took Fidi back to the clinic for Malaria and due to the severity; she had to be admitted overnight.

Tuesday after I took Roger to the clinic I decided to bring my IPOD with when I went to Gift as a distraction for her as the doctor pricked her finger. I am happy to report that it worked. Gift was completely preoccupied when they drew blood. When we got home later I watched as each child was in utter amazement as they put on the headphones and music came out - they couldn’t believe it. They patiently shared and sang and danced as the songs came on. It may sound weird but it was so cool to see, I felt like I was in a different world. I can’t think of a child in America that hasn’t seen an IPOD and here were 5 kids having a blast over something we consider so common.

Also, over the past two weeks Bible club has started and it was been wonderful. Since there are so many girls, I split them up by age this week and had Bible Club 3 times this week. Holidays are coming up and many of the kids are going home to be with family but I am so excited for their return. I am confident that God is going to work in mighty ways through the Bible clubs. I think we will study women in the Bible when they return and then tackle the ever-so-fun topic of sex, boys and relationships. I know they are talking and thinking about it so it is time to take a look at it from a Biblical perspective. This particular topic is going to require a lot of preparation and even more prayer.

Now that I have written a book, I want to share a story. There is an expression we use here; This is Africa, or TIA. I said TIA probably 20 times this past Saturday. I was invited to the wedding introduction of two people that have quickly become my good friends here. Their wedding isn’t until next year but the introduction was Saturday. Here in Uganda, the wedding introduction is a very important tradition in which the bride-to-be is formally introducing her soon-to-be-husband to her family.

I had been told that we had a long journey ahead of us, as the introduction would take place in the western part of Uganda. The craziness started at 3 am on Saturday morning when I arrived at the school to meet everybody else that would be going as well.

I was told there would be around 13 of us going on this journey but upon arriving at the school, I noticed that there were a few more people coming. By the time we left and headed to the western part of Uganda, it was 4:30 am and there were 19 of us in a small, 15-passenger van. TIA. Nobody seemed to mind that for the next 9 hours we would be literally sitting on top of each other. While it was suppose to be a 9-hour trip, we arrived safely to the introduction a full 11 hours after we left.

At one point during our journey we stopped for a bite to eat. As we pulled over to the side of the road, people from all directions came up to the van, trying to sell us water, newspapers, bananas and meat on a stick. I opted for a few cookies – I know better than to get meat on a stick in a rural village in Uganda – that could have made for a very long journey. We also ate pineapple but since it was so sticky and dripping everywhere, I decided to open the window and hang my outside as we continued to drive. Please take a minute and try to picture that. I am in a small van with 18 other people, I have been literally sitting on top of one of the teachers from the school and now I am hanging my head out of the window as we drive down the road. Seriously I felt like I was in a movie. TIA.

The introduction itself was wonderful. I was dressed in a traditional, Ugandan dress and am convinced the children from the village had never seen a white person before. I truly felt like an alien – they were whispering, pointing and running everywhere to get their friends.

4 hours after the introduction started, it ended and without any hesitation we got back in our miniature van and headed home. This time we had 2 extra passengers to make it 20 adults and a 2-year old little girl. We drove for another 9 hours back, over the same road, with the same broken window that allowed a nice freezing cold wind to come into the van, and the same small seat that I shared with one of the teachers at the school. He didn’t know it but he quickly became my pillow. It’s funny that after you share a seat with somebody for 9 hours, you surprisingly feel a closeness to them. There is something about that experience that just brings you together.

I could write for another several paragraphs but will hold off for now and write more soon.

Things here continue to be great and I love being here. I posted a few pictures on facebook and hope to post more soon.

I will again leave you with a few prayer requests:

Health – staff members, students and small kids are falling sick left and right. Please pray that God would heal their bodies, bring them peace and keep us healthy.

Exams – the students are all taking exams right now and many of the high school students are stressed and exhausted. Some of them get up at 3 or 4 am to study and after dinner they continue for another few hours.

Holidays – a part from a few kids, all the students that live at the school will be going home this week and will not return until January – February for the next term. Please pray that God would keep them close to Him during this time and protect them. Each of these children are going home to different family situations, some of which are incredibly sad. Please pray for the kids that are staying at the school. These are our kids that truly have nobody to go home to or it is unsafe for them to return home. Pray that they would not feel abandoned or lonely during the next few months.

Personal – please pray that God would continue to keep me healthy and safe. Things are going so well but I am starting to feel a bit tired and rundown. Please pray that I would remain close to God and continue to rely on His strength and guidance.

More to come soon!

What a crazy 48 hours!!!

I have been wanting to write about last weekend for awhile now but haven't found the time until now. Last weekend was absolutely crazy, so much going on but I loved every minute of it. It started out early Saturday morning with the weekly laundry and cleaning. By 10 am I was at the school and off with one of our staff members to meet a few families that live close to the school and have children that are in our sponsorship program. It was so great meeting them and since then I have been back to visit them, making sure they are all ok. I truly love meeting the families and spending time with them, it is a great way to serve and get to know our children a bit better.

After the few visits, I headed back to the school for lunch and played with kids for the afternoon. After returning from internet cafe around 6 pm, one of the little girls, Angel, had a horrible fever and was crying. She isn't in our sponsorship program but lives next to the school and she has quickly become my shadow, following me around everywhere. In fact just yesterday she told me (she is 3 years old) that her and I are going to America, she doesn't want to stay here anymore but wants to come with me. Last Saturday night I took her mom and her to the clinic to get tested for Malaria. Her mom is so sweet but very young and really didn't know what to do with such a sick child. We got her medicine and I'm glad to report she is completely fine now.

Sunday started out with Sunday school at 8 am followed by church at 9 am. After having lunch with the kids at school, I brought 7 of them back to my apartment (remember it is really just one room that is about 12x12). Angel was of course with us and proceeded to spill her Fanta twice within 5 minutes of being there. We had soda, ate cake, painted nails, played outside, colored and put the pictures on my wall and had an absolutely blast. Angel did manage to get a bloody nose 5 times while we were there but all the kids helped out, getting tissues and the waste basket. It was truly a great day.

We returned back to the school, had dinner and played. Another one of my favorite little girls, Yvette, ended up falling asleep in my arms - it was another slice of heaven. That is until she wet herself on me - but all I could do was laugh at that point.

The week ended up being just as busy as the weekend and I was often in bed before 10 pm. I ended up going back to the clinic several times with a few sick children, including a little baby that is severely malnourished. Moses is about 1 years old but can't weigh more than a 6-month old. He lives in the same house as Angel and also had Malaria this week. I took him and his mother to the clinic to both treat the Malaria and also the malnourishment.

I am continually grateful for my time here. God is so good. Each day brings something I didn't plan for but in true Ugandan spirit, I am learning to go with it.

I will hopefully have internet later this week and will be able to post updates more regularly.

I will leave you with this: Tugende means we go in Luganda. Angel told me Tugende America.

Love you all.