I can remember a lot of things from my childhood. I remember certain holidays, birthdays, vacations...all the big things. But just as much as I remember the big, fun, exciting things, I also remember some of the small, tough things, such as the rules that my parents had. One of the rules that really stuck with me was the one about asking if a particular friend could come over and play, right in front of that friend. In my family, asking Mom and Dad if Suzie could come over and play, while Suzie was standing there and it was hard for Mom and Dad to say no....yeah, that was always a dumb decision because the answer was automatically no. But no matter how many times I fell into the trap of that rule, I kept on asking right in front of my friends. It was almost as if I was so excited to ask permission that I simply couldn't wait to ask until I was alone with just my parents. Stubborn kid + well-enforced rule=lots of tearful Sundays without a friend coming over to play
I grew up, and I would venture to say most of us did, in a home where ask was not always synonymous with receive. I knew that asking for a Milky Way while we were checking out at Wal-Mart most certainly meant that I would not get it. Those were only for when we were good, right Mom? :) I also knew that asking for a certain toy while shopping would also mean I wouldn't automatically just get it. My parents did an awesome job of teaching us that we don't always get everything that we ask for. Now before you feel sorry for me, know that my parents threw the best birthday parties and Christmas mornings of anyone I know. They just taught us the difference between getting everything we want and being thankful for the things we have. I'm so thankful for them and for the way that they stuck to the rules, even when it took stubborn little Betsy awhile to catch on.
I got away today and spent some alone time. You might think that living in Uganda, apart from most everyone I know, would create quite a bit of alone time. But the mission team has done such a great job of welcoming us here that D-rae and I actually have to intentionally take time to ourselves, which I think is a pretty awesome problem to have. I spent some time writing in my journal and processing a lot of thoughts and emotions that I've been going through. It felt so good to just spend time with God, talking to him, questioning him, but ultimately, meeting him.
God convicted me of several things today. The one that is sticking with me the most is that I simply don't pray expecting that he will answer me. I really like the way that Matthew 7:7 reads in my New Living Translation Bible. Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. How many times have I read this verse without really reading it? God promises here that asking=receiving, seeking=finding, and knocking=an opened door. Do we really believe that? Better yet, do I really believe that? Do I pray about things to God expecting that He is going to answer me?
The more I walk this journey with God, the more that I think I can answer yes to that question, but definitely not all the time, or even a majority of the time. But even when I do pray expecting God to show up and answer, I usually pray with an agenda. What I mean by that is that I pray for something and then secretly wait for God to answer it just exactly as I have planned for it to go. When he doesn't, I get upset, lose faith, and stop expecting big things. I realize as I'm typing this that none of this is new, earth-shattering conclusions. It's not even really that wise. It's just something that hit me in a new way today and I wanted to write about it.
All my life, I've heard people say, "Be careful what you wish for." But what I think is just as true is "Be careful what you pray for." God promises us that if we ask we will receive. He doesn't say we will receive just exactly as we have planned. But he does say that we will receive. I have prayed for God to stretch me and mold me into the person that he truly wants me to be a lot in the past month. I have prayed that I will truly be satisfied in only Him. I had a picture in my mind of what that would look like. You know, it was painfree and happened practically overnight. It was the easy way. Well, let me just say that God had something quite different in mind. He had joy, freedom, and grace. But he also had trials, struggles, pain, and hurt. God is God and He knows just what we need in life. He knows that I am stubborn and he knows that sometimes it takes big things to get my attention.
So often I pray about something big and something that I deeply desire, but I might not desire the way in which God chooses to answer. Is that truly praying with faith? I've been convicted today that to truly pray with faith is to accept any answer that God gives. It is to accept the obscure answers that we don't understand and the painful ones that break our hearts. It is to accept the good with the bad and the bad with the good. To truly trust God means that we will ask humbly and accept willingly. I pray that God will truly give me that kind of faith, whatever it might take.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Isaiah 26:8
I'm not even sure how to start this post because I have so many thoughts and feelings going through my head and heart right now. God is just working on my heart big time right now and it's taking me awhile to process through these thoughts and ideas. Let's just start with the above verse.
Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; Our heart's desire is to glorify your name.
Isaiah 26:8
Is it my heart's desire to glorify God? Or is my heart's desire to glorify Betsy? Do I desire earthly relationships more than I desire the one with my heavenly father? Do I desire controlling my life rather than trusting that God is taking care of me in everything? Do I desire the prosperity gospel, full only of blessings and joy, or do I truly desire to know Christ and share in his sufferings? Do I desire to be comfortable, never asking difficult questions, and constantly just staying in the same place, or do I truly desire to know God more everyday in a way that is constantly changing my life? These are some questions that I've really been asking myself lately. These are questions that I feel like God is putting on my heart.
One of my favorite times of the week is team worship. We all get together on Saturday afternoons to just spend a few hours in worship. We praise together and we have a time of feeding. The mission team here realized early on that it's very easy to give and give and give here, and as a result come up empty yourself. They call this time that we get together "feeding time" and I think it's extremely wise that they make it such a priority to feed themselves before they try to feed others around them. Anyways, we've been watching some videos from the Passion conference a few years ago. They have been very tough videos to watch only because the message is so real and so true, and I can't help but walk away being challenged to make changes in my life.
The message today was about being truly satisfied in God. I can't tell you how many times I have prayed that God will make the statement "God, you are all that I need." a true statement in my life. But it's hard. It's hard to give up the tangible things here on this earth that can bring us that sense of satisfaction. I recognize that it is hard, but then when I sit and think about it, I wonder why. Why is it so hard for us to give up the things of this earth? I'm not really sure actually. I've been thinking about it all day, and I can't figure it out.
God gives me such good gifts here on earth. He has blessed me with an amazing family and incredible friends that mold and shape me everyday. I truly believe that God reveals bits and pieces of himself to us through the people that He puts in our lives. He gives me all the things I need to physically survive. I have never known true hunger, and I have never been without anything that I absolutely needed to live. He gives me everything that I need, all the while waiting for me to realize that I need nothing but Him. I praise God for earthly gifts. But as good as they are, they are imperfect and they are ever-changing. We cannot depend on anything of this world. I have the greatest family in the world, but even that is not something I can always find my satisfaction in. I never in a million years thought that I would lose my dad when I was 15. But life doesn't go the way we plan, and things happen that we would never expect and never want. I know that. I know that life is full of twists and turns, yet I continue to search for satisfaction in these things that are unconstant. (I realize that is not a word, but it's 1:00 AM and I'm having a hard time here.) I just don't understand why, when I know that the things of this world are fleeting, I continually turn to them to fill my heart and my life. I desire things that, by design, cannot provide eternal satisfaction.
I'm ready to stop this pattern. I'm ready to truly be satisfied by God more than anything else in this world. I have definitely experienced seasons of intensely desiring God and truly finding satisfaction in him. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and I am ready to taste again. I feel like I am learning more and more each day what it means to be truly satisfied in God. I think that the more we get a small glimpse of this life, a life of fullness and true satisfaction, the more we crave it. What a cool God we serve! He is always there waiting, even when we're searching for satisfaction elsewhere. He picks us up and dusts us off, when we're broken from another disappointment of something that we thought would give us that satisfaction. I'm so thankful for his faithfulness in me, even when I am so unfaithful to him.
One quote from the video today that I think will stick with me for awhile is that, "The things that satisfy us are ultimately the things that we glorify." If we are satisfied with a particular relationship, then we will glorify that person. If we find satisfaction in our possessions, then we will praise those that made them. I want to find satisfaction only is God and then let my maker be glorified.
Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; Our heart's desire is to glorify your name.
Isaiah 26:8
Is it my heart's desire to glorify God? Or is my heart's desire to glorify Betsy? Do I desire earthly relationships more than I desire the one with my heavenly father? Do I desire controlling my life rather than trusting that God is taking care of me in everything? Do I desire the prosperity gospel, full only of blessings and joy, or do I truly desire to know Christ and share in his sufferings? Do I desire to be comfortable, never asking difficult questions, and constantly just staying in the same place, or do I truly desire to know God more everyday in a way that is constantly changing my life? These are some questions that I've really been asking myself lately. These are questions that I feel like God is putting on my heart.
One of my favorite times of the week is team worship. We all get together on Saturday afternoons to just spend a few hours in worship. We praise together and we have a time of feeding. The mission team here realized early on that it's very easy to give and give and give here, and as a result come up empty yourself. They call this time that we get together "feeding time" and I think it's extremely wise that they make it such a priority to feed themselves before they try to feed others around them. Anyways, we've been watching some videos from the Passion conference a few years ago. They have been very tough videos to watch only because the message is so real and so true, and I can't help but walk away being challenged to make changes in my life.
The message today was about being truly satisfied in God. I can't tell you how many times I have prayed that God will make the statement "God, you are all that I need." a true statement in my life. But it's hard. It's hard to give up the tangible things here on this earth that can bring us that sense of satisfaction. I recognize that it is hard, but then when I sit and think about it, I wonder why. Why is it so hard for us to give up the things of this earth? I'm not really sure actually. I've been thinking about it all day, and I can't figure it out.
God gives me such good gifts here on earth. He has blessed me with an amazing family and incredible friends that mold and shape me everyday. I truly believe that God reveals bits and pieces of himself to us through the people that He puts in our lives. He gives me all the things I need to physically survive. I have never known true hunger, and I have never been without anything that I absolutely needed to live. He gives me everything that I need, all the while waiting for me to realize that I need nothing but Him. I praise God for earthly gifts. But as good as they are, they are imperfect and they are ever-changing. We cannot depend on anything of this world. I have the greatest family in the world, but even that is not something I can always find my satisfaction in. I never in a million years thought that I would lose my dad when I was 15. But life doesn't go the way we plan, and things happen that we would never expect and never want. I know that. I know that life is full of twists and turns, yet I continue to search for satisfaction in these things that are unconstant. (I realize that is not a word, but it's 1:00 AM and I'm having a hard time here.) I just don't understand why, when I know that the things of this world are fleeting, I continually turn to them to fill my heart and my life. I desire things that, by design, cannot provide eternal satisfaction.
I'm ready to stop this pattern. I'm ready to truly be satisfied by God more than anything else in this world. I have definitely experienced seasons of intensely desiring God and truly finding satisfaction in him. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and I am ready to taste again. I feel like I am learning more and more each day what it means to be truly satisfied in God. I think that the more we get a small glimpse of this life, a life of fullness and true satisfaction, the more we crave it. What a cool God we serve! He is always there waiting, even when we're searching for satisfaction elsewhere. He picks us up and dusts us off, when we're broken from another disappointment of something that we thought would give us that satisfaction. I'm so thankful for his faithfulness in me, even when I am so unfaithful to him.
One quote from the video today that I think will stick with me for awhile is that, "The things that satisfy us are ultimately the things that we glorify." If we are satisfied with a particular relationship, then we will glorify that person. If we find satisfaction in our possessions, then we will praise those that made them. I want to find satisfaction only is God and then let my maker be glorified.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Pure Joy
Today was, by far, my favorite day that I've had in Uganda so far. My friend Alexanderson took Desarae and I home to the village that he from, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Mbarara in the Isingiro district. It was an incredible day full of different adventures. I'm just going to write about a few on here (I know I tend to get long-winded so I'll try to avoid that), but be sure to check out the other pictures on my picasa site so that you can see all that I experienced today.
We started out from Mbarara at 9:30 this morning and finally arrived at his village, Kashojuoa, around 12:30. It was definitely a surreal experience to be driving through southern Uganda listening to Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time," over and over again. Our hired driver had a few tapes of old 80's and 90's music and that just made the trip a little more humorous for D-rae and I. The trip was longer this morning because we made a few stops for food and for visiting some of Alex's friends. My favorite part of the day came when we stopped at the primary school that Alex went to. This is a school of over 2,300 children, many of whom are refugees from Rwanda and other neighboring countries. Some classes have 200 students in one class and because of a lack of classrooms, some classes meet outside everyday. When the headmaster found out we were school teachers, he got so excited and immediately granted my request of visiting some of the classrooms and seeing the children.
After today, I think I can truly say that I know what it feels like to be a Hollywood celebrity, because that is what we were treated like today. It was incredible the reaction that we got every time we stepped into a classroom. The kids would scream, shout, clap as loudly as possible, and try their best to get into every picture that I took. Kids from every class would follow us when we left their class, so the group of kids following us grew more with every class we visited. They would reach out to hold our hands, play with our arm fat (no seriously the back of the arm fat that everyone has....apparently it's really appealing to Ugandan children), and try their best to touch us or be near us in any way possible. We completely disrupted school for the half hour that were there, but it was great.
The kids couldn't get enough of us, but what they didn't know was that I could not get enough of them. I can't stop looking at the pictures that I took today. When I look at these kids, I see poverty at it's most extreme. They have no desks to sit in, no pencils to write with...only books to share with one another. They are crammed into rooms or made to sit under a tree all day because there is simply no space for them. They probably don't have much more than the clothes on their back and if they're lucky, the shoes on their feet. But when I look at these kids, I also see pure joy. Happiness doesn't describe what these kids have. To me, happiness is something that is based on the circumstances around us. By that definition, these kids have very little to be happy about. But if ever I have seen joy...I saw it today. I saw a joy that isn't based on earthly treasures. I saw a joy that comes simply from life, and nothing else.
Experiencing this today at the school really touched me. For thirty minutes today, Desarae and I were the center of attention at this school. We were celebrities and those kids would've done anything to be near us, or even better, touch us. It was overwhelming but also, extremely humbling. The whole time, I just kept thinking to myself, "Who am I that these kids would get this excited about me being here?" Those kids knew nothing more about me than the fact that I was white and to them that was enough. It's something that is really hard for me to wrap my American, judgmental mind around. I am no one special. I am not extraordinary. I am not a celebrity, but to those kids, I was all of those things. I don't think I've ever simply accepted anyone in the way that these kids accepted me today. They asked no questions and demanded no answers. They just loved me. If only we could look at people and see them as God's children, and that just be enough.
The whole time we were at the school I couldn't help but think of Matthew 18 and 19 when Jesus talks about little children. He calls them the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, and he welcomes them when no one else will. Jesus was constantly the center of attention. People were constantly pushing and pressing to touch him and feel just a fraction of his glory. They gave him no privacy to the point of his disciples trying to protect him by keeping the children away from him. Seeing these kids today painted a very clear picture of why Jesus welcomed the little children the way that he did. How can you not? In children, Jesus saw what life was about, and today I feel like I was given a glimpse of that same realization. These children have joy when the world tells them they have nothing to be joyful about. They welcome and accept those that they know nothing about, and the world tells us that is foolish. They were unashamed of their excitement and held back nothing. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to see the hearts of these children today. They taught me more in the thirty minutes I was there than I could have ever imagined. I saw Jesus so clearly in their small faces today. They truly are the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Refiner's Fire
God is constantly teaching me things here in Mbarara, and tonight was no different. Friday is a long day for us here, and today I was especially tired after our first full week of school. We have youth night every Friday night at 5:00 either at the church or at the church office. Youth is kind of a relative term, as anyone who is single and unmarried can come. It's a really great time for us to build relationships with the guys and girls who are around our age. We usually play cards or volleyball and then end with some time of worship. It's always great. It's always uplifting, but tonight staying at home and relaxing sounded so much more tempting. In fact, I was kind of having a bad attitude about going if we're going to be honest. I just wanted to stay home and be lazy. But I went, and God really humbled me tonight.
When we got there, everyone greeted us. I don't just mean they said hi and kept playing their game. They stopped their games to extend their hand or give us a hug and remind us that "You are welcome!" To us that sounds like a response to someone saying thank you, but here they say that the first time they see you for the day so that you are reminded of how welcome you are here in Uganda. Desarae and I made our way to the back table where our friends Bob, Nicolas, and Winne were playing a game. Immediately Bob and another guy stood up and gave us their chairs so that we could play. We spent a long time (D-rae claims it was 40 hands) playing cards with Nicolas. Then we ended with singing some songs, both in English and in Runyonkore. In the middle of one of the Runyonkore songs, our friend Gibrel (who looks remarkably similar to Whoopi Goldberg) came over to make sure that we understood what the song meant. She always makes a point of doing that so we can know what we're singing and understand the meaning of the song.
After youth night was over, we made plans with our friend Alexanderson to go to his village on Monday. A lot of people who we've met through church here in town, actually live in villages that can be quite a ways away from Mbarara. Being invited to go to someone's village with them is a pretty special and intimate invitation. Desarae and I are so excited about getting to experience this true side of Uganda. Any picture you have of what you think Africa might be like...mud huts, no running water, very primitive situation..that is what we understand the villages to be like. We're so thankful that our new friends wants to share this with us.
We headed to our favorite grocery store here in town to pick up a few things after youth night, and our friend Wilbur, from church, followed us there. He insisted on buying us something in the store, so we finally gave in and let him buy us some juice. Then as we were walking home, our friends Livingston, Cheeza, and Gibrel saw us, waited for us, and then insisted on carrying our bags for us.
I went to youth night tonight dragging my feet. I would have rather stayed home. But from the moment that I got there, I was continually served. People gave up their chairs, bought me things, and carried my bags for me. They put my needs far above their own in a way that completely floored and humbled me. Accepting this kind of love from these people, who have so little to give anyways, is a very very difficult thing to do at times. It was wrenching my heart to allow Wilbur to buy us something, knowing that he probably struggles to make ends meet every single day. But that is just how the people here are. They have a giving spirit that I have never seen before. They love you before they even know you. They love you simply because you love Jesus. Thank God for the example of what it truly means to be unified in Christ and what it truly means to love and serve others.
As we were walking in town tonight, I saw this. I gasped (Desarae actually thought something had scared me and was worried for a second) at the beauty of this place. But even more than the beauty in the landscape, I notice the beauty of God's people here in Mbarara. He is alive and active. I pray that these people can only rub off on me in the next year to make me more what God wants me to be.
Refiner's Fire. My hearts ONE desire is to be holy. Set apart for you my master. Ready to do your will...
When we got there, everyone greeted us. I don't just mean they said hi and kept playing their game. They stopped their games to extend their hand or give us a hug and remind us that "You are welcome!" To us that sounds like a response to someone saying thank you, but here they say that the first time they see you for the day so that you are reminded of how welcome you are here in Uganda. Desarae and I made our way to the back table where our friends Bob, Nicolas, and Winne were playing a game. Immediately Bob and another guy stood up and gave us their chairs so that we could play. We spent a long time (D-rae claims it was 40 hands) playing cards with Nicolas. Then we ended with singing some songs, both in English and in Runyonkore. In the middle of one of the Runyonkore songs, our friend Gibrel (who looks remarkably similar to Whoopi Goldberg) came over to make sure that we understood what the song meant. She always makes a point of doing that so we can know what we're singing and understand the meaning of the song.
After youth night was over, we made plans with our friend Alexanderson to go to his village on Monday. A lot of people who we've met through church here in town, actually live in villages that can be quite a ways away from Mbarara. Being invited to go to someone's village with them is a pretty special and intimate invitation. Desarae and I are so excited about getting to experience this true side of Uganda. Any picture you have of what you think Africa might be like...mud huts, no running water, very primitive situation..that is what we understand the villages to be like. We're so thankful that our new friends wants to share this with us.
We headed to our favorite grocery store here in town to pick up a few things after youth night, and our friend Wilbur, from church, followed us there. He insisted on buying us something in the store, so we finally gave in and let him buy us some juice. Then as we were walking home, our friends Livingston, Cheeza, and Gibrel saw us, waited for us, and then insisted on carrying our bags for us.
I went to youth night tonight dragging my feet. I would have rather stayed home. But from the moment that I got there, I was continually served. People gave up their chairs, bought me things, and carried my bags for me. They put my needs far above their own in a way that completely floored and humbled me. Accepting this kind of love from these people, who have so little to give anyways, is a very very difficult thing to do at times. It was wrenching my heart to allow Wilbur to buy us something, knowing that he probably struggles to make ends meet every single day. But that is just how the people here are. They have a giving spirit that I have never seen before. They love you before they even know you. They love you simply because you love Jesus. Thank God for the example of what it truly means to be unified in Christ and what it truly means to love and serve others.
As we were walking in town tonight, I saw this. I gasped (Desarae actually thought something had scared me and was worried for a second) at the beauty of this place. But even more than the beauty in the landscape, I notice the beauty of God's people here in Mbarara. He is alive and active. I pray that these people can only rub off on me in the next year to make me more what God wants me to be.
Refiner's Fire. My hearts ONE desire is to be holy. Set apart for you my master. Ready to do your will...
Sunday, June 24, 2007
2 posts in one day...don't get too excited
I know this might be a little ridiculous...posting twice in a matter of minutes. But really, I just have a bunch more pictures online that I wanted to make sure everyone knows are there. This group of pictures is basically just an assortment of things that I've experienced or seen in the last 2 1/2 weeks. There are pictures of my class, food that I've eaten, and some of Mbarara.
This picture is my favorite one that I've taken so far, and you'll notice that pictures of sunsets completely dominate this album. I love being outdoors because it's always a place that I see God in a tangible way. Watching a sunset is pretty much one of my favorite things ever, and they are absolutely the prettiest here in Uganda. Every night we have dinner at one of the missionaries' houses at 6:30, which is just about the time the sun starts to set. So every night I get to walk in the direction of it, and I have a difficult time not taking a picture. God is so good to us when he showers us with blessings, and being able to see his beauty, here, all around me, is a blessing that I hope I never take for granted.
This picture is my favorite one that I've taken so far, and you'll notice that pictures of sunsets completely dominate this album. I love being outdoors because it's always a place that I see God in a tangible way. Watching a sunset is pretty much one of my favorite things ever, and they are absolutely the prettiest here in Uganda. Every night we have dinner at one of the missionaries' houses at 6:30, which is just about the time the sun starts to set. So every night I get to walk in the direction of it, and I have a difficult time not taking a picture. God is so good to us when he showers us with blessings, and being able to see his beauty, here, all around me, is a blessing that I hope I never take for granted.
Home sweet home
I know that my last post might have provided some insight into the apartment that I live in. It has definitely kept us on our toes the last 2 weeks, as we're never quite sure what might work or what won't work. But to me, that is just part of the adventure. It's a cool lesson that God has already taught me since being here. I wake up every morning completely thankful IF there is hot water to take a shower. I told Desarae this morning that I feel like I've gotten spoiled because we've had water for the past 4 days. Just learning to go without much water and having to conserve that water that we did have taught me a lesson of thankfulness. Water is something we just take for granted in America, but here it is a special blessing. I can't tell you how many times, just out of habit, I've gone to the faucet to get some water to drink or make some coffee before I remember that I have to get that water out of the filter. It's a new kind of life to get used to, but I feel like God is teaching me things everyday just by learning to adapt to life in Uganda.
Even though our apartment is maybe not the most reliable always, it has been an incredible blessing for us to be here. It's in a great part of Mbarara, and we are surrounded by beauty every we look. There are only a few other people living in our building right now because all of the university students are on holiday break, so we haven't gotten to meet many neighbors, but we have gotten to know our landlord Mbaga pretty well. He is such a blessing and has been so good to us. There have been numerous days that we have had to call him several different times to come help us fix things or whatever. Each time, he comes right away and stays until everything is working perfectly. We've even called him late at night before when our toilet wouldn't stop overflowing and we were out of water. Through it all he has been very gracious and helpful. Today as we were walking in from church he asked where we'd been. When we told him, he said, "Next time I will go with you." Des and I had been talking about how we wanted to invite him to church because a lot of our friends are probably around our age, and then he went and invited himself. It was pretty great. We usually don't have church on Sunday nights here, but tonight we're having a special praise and worship time at 4 so he is going with us. Please pray for him and pray for us that maybe God can use us to reach him.
I know that a lot of people have been asking for pictures, and I finally was able to load a bunch onto my picasa website. The picture below is a picture of our apartment building. Our apartment is on the back side of the far right of the apartment complex. It is still very much under construction as you can tell from the picture. If you click on this picture, it will take you to a bunch more of the inside of our apartment. And just a warning, be prepared to take a pretty indepth tour of our apartment. I had a little too much fun taking pictures of everything, but I know everyone is curious about what it looks like, so that's how I justified it! I miss you all!
Even though our apartment is maybe not the most reliable always, it has been an incredible blessing for us to be here. It's in a great part of Mbarara, and we are surrounded by beauty every we look. There are only a few other people living in our building right now because all of the university students are on holiday break, so we haven't gotten to meet many neighbors, but we have gotten to know our landlord Mbaga pretty well. He is such a blessing and has been so good to us. There have been numerous days that we have had to call him several different times to come help us fix things or whatever. Each time, he comes right away and stays until everything is working perfectly. We've even called him late at night before when our toilet wouldn't stop overflowing and we were out of water. Through it all he has been very gracious and helpful. Today as we were walking in from church he asked where we'd been. When we told him, he said, "Next time I will go with you." Des and I had been talking about how we wanted to invite him to church because a lot of our friends are probably around our age, and then he went and invited himself. It was pretty great. We usually don't have church on Sunday nights here, but tonight we're having a special praise and worship time at 4 so he is going with us. Please pray for him and pray for us that maybe God can use us to reach him.
I know that a lot of people have been asking for pictures, and I finally was able to load a bunch onto my picasa website. The picture below is a picture of our apartment building. Our apartment is on the back side of the far right of the apartment complex. It is still very much under construction as you can tell from the picture. If you click on this picture, it will take you to a bunch more of the inside of our apartment. And just a warning, be prepared to take a pretty indepth tour of our apartment. I had a little too much fun taking pictures of everything, but I know everyone is curious about what it looks like, so that's how I justified it! I miss you all!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Fully Alive
Well, I'm finally here. I've been in Mbarara for 2 weeks now, and I have absolutely loved every minute of it, and I'm not just saying that. It's amazing how wonderful this trip has been so far. I know that it's early on in the trip and I'm still on a high of being here, but I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such a great beginning to this journey. I know there will be plenty of days where I'm not feeling this great and days where I want nothing more than to be home. I know good and well that every day of this journey will not be great or easy, but I'm just enjoying the great days right now and the ways that God is so good to me here in Uganda.
I don't even know where to start to tell all about I've experience so far. All I know is that I've never felt as alive as I do now. Someone told me once that when they're in Africa, they truly come alive. She also told me that she could see that in me. Well, she was right. Mbarara already feels so much like home to me despite the ways that it is so different. I feel God's presence in such an intimate way here...a way that I've never felt before. I can't explain how much I enjoy worshipping with the town church here, singing and dancing (yes I said dancing...this is Africa). Desarae (who, holy cow has been an incredible blessing to me here) and I have talked about this. It's almost like there is a face of God that we see here that we've never seen before. These people help us to see a side of God that we've never even touched before. It's almost like I see God in such a tangible way...like I can reach out and touch him. That might sound so strange to you, but He is just so real here. The Ugandans that I meet have a joy in God that is indescribable. They live in the most run-down slums you could ever imagine. Seriously, imagine the worst area of a town you have ever seen and multiply it by 10. They don't know where most of their meals will come from. Most of them don't have jobs and don't know where their next 1,000 shillings will come from (which sounds like a lot, but is really only 60 cents). Yet, through all of that, they smile and they thank God for the clothes on their back and the meal they had 3 days ago. They shake my hand, hug on me, and thank me for coming every time I see them. Seeing them jump, shout hallelujah, and give God their all during worship, and every day, is truly humbling to me. I learn something more about what it means to truly love God every day that I am here.
God has also shown himself in a big way through the mission team here. The 3 families are incredible, and Desarae and I have become incredibly close to all of them already. They invite us over for meals all the time. Since we have been here, I think we've only been on our own for maybe 5 meals. They have completely welcomed us as their friends before they even know us. The way that they live their lives and the way they raise their children is a huge example to me daily. I love the 9 kids that are here so much already. Plus there just happens to be a 2 year old girl here who is 6 days younger than Kennedy so she fills in as my nieces for the next year. One of the ladies on the team is pregnant and due in September so I'll have another little one around when I'm missing my new nieces and nephews. The kids are really incredible though. One of the neatest things has been building such great relationships with them before being their teacher. We started school 2 days ago and it's been great. These are some of the best kids I know and it is nothing but a pleasure to teach them.
Ok, I feel like I could go on for days about my time here, but I have to go to dinner soon. I haven't figured out how to get pictures on here yet with my internet connection, but hopefully that will come soon. I'm going to end with a list of some crazy things I've experienced so far. Enjoy!
- 40 hours of traveling from Peoria to Mbarara...enough said
- Riding in a car on a Ugandan road where there are absolutely no traffic laws
- Playing a trick on one of the kids here where I acted like I could take off my finger. Then having him ask his dad for his knife so he could do it too
- Eating posho (a cornmeal mush here with random rocks in it) surrounded by all kinds of spiders in a local restaurant
- My landlord's name is Mbaga, which means Party...seriously that's cool
- Going without power every 3rd night from about 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM
- Coming home during our first power outage and realizing we have a generator. What a blessing!
- Trying to cook mac and cheese in our apartment. Trust me, it's an adventure every time.
- Playing the Ugandan game of Uno which is ironically enough called "cards."
- There is a part in that game where you say Pick and Play. Ugandans can't say their L's very well and they sound like R's so me and Desarae thought they were picking and praying for awhile.
- Experiencing my first earthquake...especially in an apartment building that is still under construction
- Eating fried grasshoppers
- Eating goat
- Mbarara had a water shortage and we went without water for 2 days
- Being in the middle of taking a shower and all the sudden the nice, clean water turns to muddy water all over me
- Just not really ever knowing if we'll have water or not
- Realizing that I can't whistle constantly like I always do because in Uganda, a woman whistling is like a sign of distress
- Riding a pici-pici, which is basically just a moped for a whopping 30 cents. We basically do it every time we come home from town.
- Having every Ugandan kid say "how are you?" when we walk past them on the roads. It's the only phrase they know and they don't even know how to answer it when we ask them how they are doing
- Having a Ugandan girl courtsy to me and then reach out and just touch me
- Having a Ugandan man ask if we are single and then giggle excitedly when we reply that we are not married
- Our toilet wouldn't flush for 2 days...sick.
- Then we got that fixed and our toilet wouldn't stop overflowing
- We have no shower curtain and the shower head is 1 foot from the toilet and 2 from the sink...it's quite an experience.
- The paint on our floor is still wet...There are footprints all over our rug.
- Our clothes rod in our closet randomly fell off today.
- We wake up to construction workers outside our door everyday.
- Desarae swears she witnessed an excorsism in the grass behind our apartment yesterday.
- Actually being woken up by a mosquito buzzing in my ear. Maybe I should put that mosquito net back up...
- Having my first African sickness called giardia...it was awful.
- Giving one of my students a mohawk the night before the first day of school
- Watching Ugandans pave a road here. It's really interesting.
- Hearing a bird that sounds just like a monkey and actually running outside to try to see my first monkey.
Ok I think that's all. Uganda is incredibly interesting and always keeps me on my toes. I love you all!
I don't even know where to start to tell all about I've experience so far. All I know is that I've never felt as alive as I do now. Someone told me once that when they're in Africa, they truly come alive. She also told me that she could see that in me. Well, she was right. Mbarara already feels so much like home to me despite the ways that it is so different. I feel God's presence in such an intimate way here...a way that I've never felt before. I can't explain how much I enjoy worshipping with the town church here, singing and dancing (yes I said dancing...this is Africa). Desarae (who, holy cow has been an incredible blessing to me here) and I have talked about this. It's almost like there is a face of God that we see here that we've never seen before. These people help us to see a side of God that we've never even touched before. It's almost like I see God in such a tangible way...like I can reach out and touch him. That might sound so strange to you, but He is just so real here. The Ugandans that I meet have a joy in God that is indescribable. They live in the most run-down slums you could ever imagine. Seriously, imagine the worst area of a town you have ever seen and multiply it by 10. They don't know where most of their meals will come from. Most of them don't have jobs and don't know where their next 1,000 shillings will come from (which sounds like a lot, but is really only 60 cents). Yet, through all of that, they smile and they thank God for the clothes on their back and the meal they had 3 days ago. They shake my hand, hug on me, and thank me for coming every time I see them. Seeing them jump, shout hallelujah, and give God their all during worship, and every day, is truly humbling to me. I learn something more about what it means to truly love God every day that I am here.
God has also shown himself in a big way through the mission team here. The 3 families are incredible, and Desarae and I have become incredibly close to all of them already. They invite us over for meals all the time. Since we have been here, I think we've only been on our own for maybe 5 meals. They have completely welcomed us as their friends before they even know us. The way that they live their lives and the way they raise their children is a huge example to me daily. I love the 9 kids that are here so much already. Plus there just happens to be a 2 year old girl here who is 6 days younger than Kennedy so she fills in as my nieces for the next year. One of the ladies on the team is pregnant and due in September so I'll have another little one around when I'm missing my new nieces and nephews. The kids are really incredible though. One of the neatest things has been building such great relationships with them before being their teacher. We started school 2 days ago and it's been great. These are some of the best kids I know and it is nothing but a pleasure to teach them.
Ok, I feel like I could go on for days about my time here, but I have to go to dinner soon. I haven't figured out how to get pictures on here yet with my internet connection, but hopefully that will come soon. I'm going to end with a list of some crazy things I've experienced so far. Enjoy!
- 40 hours of traveling from Peoria to Mbarara...enough said
- Riding in a car on a Ugandan road where there are absolutely no traffic laws
- Playing a trick on one of the kids here where I acted like I could take off my finger. Then having him ask his dad for his knife so he could do it too
- Eating posho (a cornmeal mush here with random rocks in it) surrounded by all kinds of spiders in a local restaurant
- My landlord's name is Mbaga, which means Party...seriously that's cool
- Going without power every 3rd night from about 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM
- Coming home during our first power outage and realizing we have a generator. What a blessing!
- Trying to cook mac and cheese in our apartment. Trust me, it's an adventure every time.
- Playing the Ugandan game of Uno which is ironically enough called "cards."
- There is a part in that game where you say Pick and Play. Ugandans can't say their L's very well and they sound like R's so me and Desarae thought they were picking and praying for awhile.
- Experiencing my first earthquake...especially in an apartment building that is still under construction
- Eating fried grasshoppers
- Eating goat
- Mbarara had a water shortage and we went without water for 2 days
- Being in the middle of taking a shower and all the sudden the nice, clean water turns to muddy water all over me
- Just not really ever knowing if we'll have water or not
- Realizing that I can't whistle constantly like I always do because in Uganda, a woman whistling is like a sign of distress
- Riding a pici-pici, which is basically just a moped for a whopping 30 cents. We basically do it every time we come home from town.
- Having every Ugandan kid say "how are you?" when we walk past them on the roads. It's the only phrase they know and they don't even know how to answer it when we ask them how they are doing
- Having a Ugandan girl courtsy to me and then reach out and just touch me
- Having a Ugandan man ask if we are single and then giggle excitedly when we reply that we are not married
- Our toilet wouldn't flush for 2 days...sick.
- Then we got that fixed and our toilet wouldn't stop overflowing
- We have no shower curtain and the shower head is 1 foot from the toilet and 2 from the sink...it's quite an experience.
- The paint on our floor is still wet...There are footprints all over our rug.
- Our clothes rod in our closet randomly fell off today.
- We wake up to construction workers outside our door everyday.
- Desarae swears she witnessed an excorsism in the grass behind our apartment yesterday.
- Actually being woken up by a mosquito buzzing in my ear. Maybe I should put that mosquito net back up...
- Having my first African sickness called giardia...it was awful.
- Giving one of my students a mohawk the night before the first day of school
- Watching Ugandans pave a road here. It's really interesting.
- Hearing a bird that sounds just like a monkey and actually running outside to try to see my first monkey.
Ok I think that's all. Uganda is incredibly interesting and always keeps me on my toes. I love you all!
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