Ok, so funny things happen on a daily basis here. I keep a little journal of all the funny experiences and stories just so we can go back during the times of no power, when we're bored out of our minds,- and laugh at them again. I thought it was time to share some of these with you. Have fun and know we're still laughing about most of them....
- We've experienced earthquake #2. We also discovered that with each earthquake a little more of our wall falls off and the cracks get bigger. Yeah Beco is struggling.
- There was a rat in our room last week. But we, correction...Desarae bravely got rid of it.
- Patience, one of the girls at the bible study, might have just come for the cookies. In between people sharing their stories, she would announce, "And meanwhile, I'm going to have another cookie." And she did....about 6 to be exact.
- I electrocuted myself again today. But good news, it was with an American plug, so only 110 volts of energy instead of 220 like last time.
- Today while running, a little girl ran next to me for a few minutes. It was really cute.
- For the last day of school, my kids rapped Psalm 143, which was their memory verse this summer. It was hilarious and I'm sad that the internet connection is too slow to put up the video.
- A guy in our hostel very bluntly proposed to me a few weeks ago. No worries Mom...I said no.
- The doorknob on our bedroom door is broken and we've been locked in several times.
- We experienced a Ugandan garage sale and it was hilarious. Everyone and their mom was asking for reductions....on everything.
- A random man that we met on the street the other day invited us to his wedding on Saturday. Sadly, we will be out of town and we had to decline.
- Avery Fouts announced to me one day that she was going to walk on water the next day and I was invited. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.
- Another time, we had girls night out and I actually decided to wear make-up for once. Avery just looked at me and said "How'd you get so pretty?" I decided to take it as a compliment rather than being offended that apparently I'm not pretty any other time.
- So sometimes being stared at 24/7 kind of gets old. In one of these moments, D-rae said the following, which really made me laugh. "I just don't understand it. I mean we glance, assess, and look away. It's that simple."
- We had no power for 11 out of 17 days. Wait, that's not funny. How did that make the list.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
God's blessings
Today has been a great day. It's just been one of those days where God seems to pour out his blessings even more abundantly than usual, and as a result, you can't help but give him thanks. These past few weeks have been really busy and filled with some bittersweet emotions. We've spent a lot of time with the Fouts soaking up every minute with them since they are leaving Uganda on Sunday. They've been here for 10 years and were part of the initial team that came here in 1997. Their commitment is up and now they are headed back to the states to start a life there. We had our team goodbye with them on Sunday, and it was a really hard night. It's incredible how close I've gotten to that family is just four months (also incredible that I've been here for 4 months...this time is going way too fast). It was hard to watch them pull away from their house in Mbarara on Monday knowing that we can't walk up the hill anymore for lunch or just to hang out. Thankfully we're headed to Kampala on Friday to spend the weekend with them before they leave. I'm really grateful for this time with them, but still dreading the goodbye on Sunday.
So in the midst of sadness and transitions, I'm especially grateful for a day like today. God is so real and alive here in Mbarara, and I thank him daily for bringing me here. I wish I could put into words the things he's teaching me. I wish you could all come and experience this, even for just a week (good news Mom, Dave, Morgan, and Jessica...you get to!) because this place will change you no matter what. I've seen him more clearly and in a more real than ever before these past few months, and it has nothing to do with me. It has to do with the people that I've met here, the team I'm apart of, and the different kind of life that I'm experiencing here. It has to do with the fact that our God is bigger than anything and can get through to anyone, even a stubborn sinner like me.
Tonight was one of the best nights I've had since being in Uganda. For those of you that don't know, I'm now done teaching full-time. We have the next three weeks off of school, and then in late October we'll only be teaching part-time, which leaves us with more free time to start some other ministries that Desarae and I are both passionate about. One of the things I've been most excited about doing here is starting a Bible study with some of the girls in our hostel. Tonight was the first time we met and I want to share the joy of it with all of you.
It was supposed to start at 7:00, but of course with African time, we still had girls showing up at 7:45. We had five girls come tonight, Rachel, Angela, Rachel, Fiona, and Patience. Rachel showed up at 6:30, ate dinner with us, and then watched me make cookies. I made some cake mix cookies and she was amazed at how easy they were. She is a very strong Christian, and I can already tell that I'm going to learn a lot from her. She loves Christian music and we were talking about our favorite groups before everyone else got here. Sidenote: She couldn't believe it when we told her we've never met any member of Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, or Oprah. She was seriously in shock. We had to explain to her that America is huge and you don't see those people just walking down the street from day to day.
The night was just great. We explained to them our vision for the Bible study and talked about days and times. Then we just spent the rest of the time sharing our stories of how we came to know God. It was so encouraging to go so deep and be so real with these girls so quickly. They all opened up to us and shared their hearts in a real way. Angela's story is especially interesting because her family is from Rwanda and they moved to Uganda after surviving the genocide.
One of the coolest parts of the night was just seeing how similar we all are. Desarae and I grew up in America living with comforts that these girls will never know. Most of them probably grew up in a mud hut in a village somewhere in Uganda or Rwanda. Yet, at our core, we are all sinners and we all struggle with similar things. We're all saved only by God's grace and that is a connection that is so strong.
D-rae and I closed the door after they left and just smiled. Tonight made me come alive. This is my passion and this is why I came to Africa. Teaching the kids has been a blast and I've loved it, but I wanted to come here to interact with the Ugandans and hopefully share Jesus with them. These girls taught me more tonight than I could've ever imagined. I am so blessed to be surrounded by them, and I can't wait to see how God is going to move and work. Please continue to pray for our work and especially for new open doors here in our hostel. God is good and I'm so thankful to be his child.
So in the midst of sadness and transitions, I'm especially grateful for a day like today. God is so real and alive here in Mbarara, and I thank him daily for bringing me here. I wish I could put into words the things he's teaching me. I wish you could all come and experience this, even for just a week (good news Mom, Dave, Morgan, and Jessica...you get to!) because this place will change you no matter what. I've seen him more clearly and in a more real than ever before these past few months, and it has nothing to do with me. It has to do with the people that I've met here, the team I'm apart of, and the different kind of life that I'm experiencing here. It has to do with the fact that our God is bigger than anything and can get through to anyone, even a stubborn sinner like me.
Tonight was one of the best nights I've had since being in Uganda. For those of you that don't know, I'm now done teaching full-time. We have the next three weeks off of school, and then in late October we'll only be teaching part-time, which leaves us with more free time to start some other ministries that Desarae and I are both passionate about. One of the things I've been most excited about doing here is starting a Bible study with some of the girls in our hostel. Tonight was the first time we met and I want to share the joy of it with all of you.
It was supposed to start at 7:00, but of course with African time, we still had girls showing up at 7:45. We had five girls come tonight, Rachel, Angela, Rachel, Fiona, and Patience. Rachel showed up at 6:30, ate dinner with us, and then watched me make cookies. I made some cake mix cookies and she was amazed at how easy they were. She is a very strong Christian, and I can already tell that I'm going to learn a lot from her. She loves Christian music and we were talking about our favorite groups before everyone else got here. Sidenote: She couldn't believe it when we told her we've never met any member of Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, or Oprah. She was seriously in shock. We had to explain to her that America is huge and you don't see those people just walking down the street from day to day.
The night was just great. We explained to them our vision for the Bible study and talked about days and times. Then we just spent the rest of the time sharing our stories of how we came to know God. It was so encouraging to go so deep and be so real with these girls so quickly. They all opened up to us and shared their hearts in a real way. Angela's story is especially interesting because her family is from Rwanda and they moved to Uganda after surviving the genocide.
One of the coolest parts of the night was just seeing how similar we all are. Desarae and I grew up in America living with comforts that these girls will never know. Most of them probably grew up in a mud hut in a village somewhere in Uganda or Rwanda. Yet, at our core, we are all sinners and we all struggle with similar things. We're all saved only by God's grace and that is a connection that is so strong.
D-rae and I closed the door after they left and just smiled. Tonight made me come alive. This is my passion and this is why I came to Africa. Teaching the kids has been a blast and I've loved it, but I wanted to come here to interact with the Ugandans and hopefully share Jesus with them. These girls taught me more tonight than I could've ever imagined. I am so blessed to be surrounded by them, and I can't wait to see how God is going to move and work. Please continue to pray for our work and especially for new open doors here in our hostel. God is good and I'm so thankful to be his child.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
My Brother Alex
I've been wanting to write an update about Alexanderson for awhile, but I wanted to wait until I could let you all know something definite. About a month ago, I sent out an email to many of you letting you know about a friend here who was in need of some help. Sitting at my computer, reading the 20+ responses that I got to that email in just a few short hours was one of the coolest things I've ever witnessed. People responded immediately and generously. It was so cool to see God's people surround and support a Christian brother, halfway across the world, that they will probably never meet. Thank you for reminding me of the incredible community that we're all a part of. I pray that I never take it for granted.
Over $700 has been raised for Alex so far, which is more than enough to cover his first term of school as well as the many supplies that he had to purchase to get ready for school. He came by this week and we gave him money to register for school and to go shopping to get some new clothes and all of his school supplies. The school that he will be going to is a boarding school so he won't have to worry about where his next meal will come from or if he'll have a place to sleep that night. So all of you not only took care of his education for the next year, but you've also helped to meet his everyday needs as well.
Alex starts school on Monday. Some of the money that was raised went to pay for coaching, or tutoring, these past few weeks to get him ready for school. He has been out of school for a couple of years, and he told us that everything in his brain has become fuzzy. Yeah, it was cute. He seems very very excited about going back to school. He can't keep the smile off his face when he's around us and talking about it. This week he told us that he is going to find some way to thank us, and his idea was to help us learn runyonkore over the next year. I'm all about that because it's getting kind of old to either 1) get laughed at every time I branch out and try a new phrase or 2) have the exact same conversation with the old man who is the guard near our apartment every single morning. I could use the help.
I hope you can all tell from the picture the joy that you've brought Alex by giving him the chance to go back to school again. He told us the other day that he just loves us so much and he could never thank us. I reminded him that there are many people back in America who love him very much and are so happy to help. I don't feel like I deserve any of his thanks in this. I did nothing except let you all know about a need. You are the ones who deserve the thanks. Thank you for helping to change his life. He is a special guy, and he deserves this chance. We've raised around half of the money that we'll need to pay for his entire year of school. If you're still interested in helping out, drop me an email and let me know.
One verse in the Bible that means a lot more to me after being in Uganda for three months and meeting people like Alex is Matthew 6:33. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Many of these people have no hope outside of God. They don't have money to eat today and they aren't sure if they will tomorrow. They're months behind on rent, and have nowhere to go once they get kicked out. They don't have the money to finish school, and so their hope of ever getting a decent job is pretty slim. Yet winning out over all of those negative circumstances in their lives is their trust and faith that God is still going to take care of them. I read in a book recently that perhaps those who live in poverty actually have an advantage over those of us who have more than we need. They actually live a life where there is nothing to depend on so they are forced to depend in God. So often, those of us who live in abundance of the things we need and many things we could definitely live without, never really learn to lean on God because there are so many other things we lean on first. I pray that God continues to teach me, through people like my dear brother Alex, what it truly means to take him at his word and believe that he will give us everything we need.
Over $700 has been raised for Alex so far, which is more than enough to cover his first term of school as well as the many supplies that he had to purchase to get ready for school. He came by this week and we gave him money to register for school and to go shopping to get some new clothes and all of his school supplies. The school that he will be going to is a boarding school so he won't have to worry about where his next meal will come from or if he'll have a place to sleep that night. So all of you not only took care of his education for the next year, but you've also helped to meet his everyday needs as well.
Alex starts school on Monday. Some of the money that was raised went to pay for coaching, or tutoring, these past few weeks to get him ready for school. He has been out of school for a couple of years, and he told us that everything in his brain has become fuzzy. Yeah, it was cute. He seems very very excited about going back to school. He can't keep the smile off his face when he's around us and talking about it. This week he told us that he is going to find some way to thank us, and his idea was to help us learn runyonkore over the next year. I'm all about that because it's getting kind of old to either 1) get laughed at every time I branch out and try a new phrase or 2) have the exact same conversation with the old man who is the guard near our apartment every single morning. I could use the help.
I hope you can all tell from the picture the joy that you've brought Alex by giving him the chance to go back to school again. He told us the other day that he just loves us so much and he could never thank us. I reminded him that there are many people back in America who love him very much and are so happy to help. I don't feel like I deserve any of his thanks in this. I did nothing except let you all know about a need. You are the ones who deserve the thanks. Thank you for helping to change his life. He is a special guy, and he deserves this chance. We've raised around half of the money that we'll need to pay for his entire year of school. If you're still interested in helping out, drop me an email and let me know.
One verse in the Bible that means a lot more to me after being in Uganda for three months and meeting people like Alex is Matthew 6:33. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Many of these people have no hope outside of God. They don't have money to eat today and they aren't sure if they will tomorrow. They're months behind on rent, and have nowhere to go once they get kicked out. They don't have the money to finish school, and so their hope of ever getting a decent job is pretty slim. Yet winning out over all of those negative circumstances in their lives is their trust and faith that God is still going to take care of them. I read in a book recently that perhaps those who live in poverty actually have an advantage over those of us who have more than we need. They actually live a life where there is nothing to depend on so they are forced to depend in God. So often, those of us who live in abundance of the things we need and many things we could definitely live without, never really learn to lean on God because there are so many other things we lean on first. I pray that God continues to teach me, through people like my dear brother Alex, what it truly means to take him at his word and believe that he will give us everything we need.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
The week of Sleepovers
I am exhausted. This past week has been a whirlwind. We've had two different sleepovers, each with 4 kids in this tiny apartment of ours. It was a busy week, and I feel like I haven't slept in days, but it was awesome. The kids here have become so special to me in the past three months, and I cherished these fun times with them.
The first sleepover was with my class. I challenged the kids at the beginning of the summer to read 150 books as a class during these three months of school. I promised them some sort of fun surprise if they made it. Well, they blew that goal out of the water and read well over 200 books, so they got their fun surprise. The sleepover was all the kids could talk about at school for several weeks. Everyday they asked me "How many days til the sleepover?" It finally got to the point where we just wrote a countdown on the board and updated it each day. The sleepover was Sunday night and during church Sunday morning, I looked across the room at one point to see Luke holding up 6 fingers and pointing at his watch. He was counting down the hours until the sleepover started. Cute huh?
The kids got to our apartment at 6:30. They absolutely love our apartment and they love coming over. They look at all of our pictures (Mortimer...this is where you come in :) and they love the sign that D-rae has up in our room that says "Don't pass gas." All of this usually occupies them for a good 15 minutes, which was perfect for me and Des to finish up their pizzas. We all ate dinner together and then started the first of three movies that we watched that night. After 3 movies, a game of Apples to Apples, getting fake tattoos, and lots of brownies and popcorn, we finally went to sleep at 1:30.
I woke up the next morning at 7:15 to Elizabeth Fouts staring at me from her sleeping bag on the floor. She just smiled and I could tell that she was ready for the fun to continue. After french toast and half of movie #4, we sent 4 adorable kids back home and we crashed. Ok sidenote, you know that part on Kindergarten Cop where Arnold Schwarzenegger walks in the door after his first day as the teacher. He shuts the door and then falls face first on his bed. Well, that's pretty much how I felt after I shut the door behind the kids. I even re-enacted it and started to fall face first on our floor, but stopped myself when I realized D-rae had no idea what was going on. I was exhausted...you get the idea.
Sleepover #2 happened on Friday night with just the Fouts kids. Nick and Renee were out of town for their anniversary, and D-rae and I jumped at the chance to watch their kids. We had them from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, and it was so fun. After school on Friday, we went to our apartment. Things were complicated a little bit because our water had been out for a day, which tends to make cooking, bathing, brushing teeth, etc. a little more difficult. But that's life in Africa. It always keeps you on your toes.
D-rae took the three older kids to play while Avery, who is 3, stayed to help me cook dinner. I made spaghetti while she drew pictures and then taped them up in my room. When the kids got back, we ate dinner, watched a movie, and ate more brownies and popcorn. We got a little more sleep this time because their bedtime was 9, but I woke up to Avery jumping on top of me at 6:58 the next morning. After breakfast and another movie, we went to their house to hang out for the rest of the day. It was great to be with those kids, and I know that we will really cherish that time since they're leaving in just two weeks.
The first sleepover was with my class. I challenged the kids at the beginning of the summer to read 150 books as a class during these three months of school. I promised them some sort of fun surprise if they made it. Well, they blew that goal out of the water and read well over 200 books, so they got their fun surprise. The sleepover was all the kids could talk about at school for several weeks. Everyday they asked me "How many days til the sleepover?" It finally got to the point where we just wrote a countdown on the board and updated it each day. The sleepover was Sunday night and during church Sunday morning, I looked across the room at one point to see Luke holding up 6 fingers and pointing at his watch. He was counting down the hours until the sleepover started. Cute huh?
The kids got to our apartment at 6:30. They absolutely love our apartment and they love coming over. They look at all of our pictures (Mortimer...this is where you come in :) and they love the sign that D-rae has up in our room that says "Don't pass gas." All of this usually occupies them for a good 15 minutes, which was perfect for me and Des to finish up their pizzas. We all ate dinner together and then started the first of three movies that we watched that night. After 3 movies, a game of Apples to Apples, getting fake tattoos, and lots of brownies and popcorn, we finally went to sleep at 1:30.
I woke up the next morning at 7:15 to Elizabeth Fouts staring at me from her sleeping bag on the floor. She just smiled and I could tell that she was ready for the fun to continue. After french toast and half of movie #4, we sent 4 adorable kids back home and we crashed. Ok sidenote, you know that part on Kindergarten Cop where Arnold Schwarzenegger walks in the door after his first day as the teacher. He shuts the door and then falls face first on his bed. Well, that's pretty much how I felt after I shut the door behind the kids. I even re-enacted it and started to fall face first on our floor, but stopped myself when I realized D-rae had no idea what was going on. I was exhausted...you get the idea.
Sleepover #2 happened on Friday night with just the Fouts kids. Nick and Renee were out of town for their anniversary, and D-rae and I jumped at the chance to watch their kids. We had them from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, and it was so fun. After school on Friday, we went to our apartment. Things were complicated a little bit because our water had been out for a day, which tends to make cooking, bathing, brushing teeth, etc. a little more difficult. But that's life in Africa. It always keeps you on your toes.
D-rae took the three older kids to play while Avery, who is 3, stayed to help me cook dinner. I made spaghetti while she drew pictures and then taped them up in my room. When the kids got back, we ate dinner, watched a movie, and ate more brownies and popcorn. We got a little more sleep this time because their bedtime was 9, but I woke up to Avery jumping on top of me at 6:58 the next morning. After breakfast and another movie, we went to their house to hang out for the rest of the day. It was great to be with those kids, and I know that we will really cherish that time since they're leaving in just two weeks.
So as you can tell, it was a full, but really great week. We got to spend a lot of time with our kids, and I wouldn't trade the late nights and early mornings for anything. It's funny how much I felt like an adult this past week. I know, that's a funny thing to say. Go ahead and laugh. But there is just something about cooking meals for kids, putting them to bed, and waking up with the sun to take care of them again that makes you feel all grown-up. Des and I were talking yesterday, and I mentioned that I think watching those 4 kids for a day was probably the most responsible thing I've ever done. Who would have though Africa would make me so mature? Hopefully you're all laughing at this point. I know that I laughed a lot with these kids, and I hope you enjoy the pictures!
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