Regarding Wedding Feasts

I just got back from my third Ugandan wedding. Unsurprisingly, weddings here are somewhat different than in America. For one thing, there are usually two parts to weddings here. One is the culturally Ugandan “introduction,” where the bride price is decided and paid. I haven’t been to one of those yet. The second is the “church wedding,” which borrows a lot from the traditional western ceremony.

A major difference, though, is that frequently the wedding ceremony is combined with something else. Both of the weddings I have attended at Kasana have taken place during the church service. The wedding two weeks ago in Kobwin occurred as part of the school’s end of year ceremony. My understanding is that this is done to save money.

Weddings are also a much more open affair here. In every wedding I have heard about, an open invitation was extended to the whole church and/or the surrounding community. This goes along with the more communitarian lifestyle here. So at a wedding, many of the guests may not know the bride or groom personally – certainly not in the same way as at American weddings where each guest is individually invited.

The receptions (and meals) are also usually open to whoever wants to come. So far I have only been part of one of those, so my experience is fairly limited. But that is what this post is about.

As I wrote in my post about my trip to Kobwin, I helped a bit to prepare the food for the wedding there. The ladies on staff at Kobwin spent hours preparing a feast for the wedding party and special guests (community leaders, plus members of the staff who came from Kasana for the wedding). These VIPs had matooke (steamed banana, a traditional food) with g-nut (peanut) sauce, rice, beef and sauce, chicken and sauce, and sautéed cabbage. That is a fairly typical “special meal” here.

For the general public who were going to come, the cooks prepared pilau, flavored rice with some beef mixed in. This was the very first wedding to take place at Kobwin, so everyone was excited about it. But that also meant that we really didn’t have a good way to know how many people would show up.

In the middle of the wedding ceremony, I tried to estimate how many people were there. There were probably more than 100 children sitting on mats on the ground in front of me, probably at least 250 people sitting on chairs or benches under the awning on one side, plus more people behind me. A few people were still arriving as the wedding ceremony was wrapping up, even though that was more than five hours after the event had been scheduled to start.

I had offered to help serve the food to the community, so as the wedding party and VIPs headed over to another area for their meal, I went over to the area where we had cooked the food. The pilau was staying hot in a huge pot. Here is a picture from earlier in the morning to show you just how big it was. I don’t know how they managed to pack so much food into that pot, but when I went to help serve it was mounded high.

The first thing we had to do was use bowls to scoop the rice/beef into somewhat smaller (but still two times bigger than anything Americans have at home!) pots so that we could serve food from multiple locations to different groups of people (the extended family of the bride/groom, the other guests—men first, and the children). We had what seemed a big stack of bowls for people to eat out of….until we started splitting them up and looking at the crowds.

As I said, there were more than 100 children there, and those were just the ones under the age of 10 or so! The lady in charge had the children all come sit on the ground under a tree. We had one washing basin full of food for them, and maybe about 20 bowls. There was some food still on the fire in reserve, but it was easy to see that there was not an overabundance of food.

I could feel the tension and frustration level increase a bit among those who were preparing to serve the food. Ugandans tend to serve very substantial portions of food, two or three times the portion size I typically eat. But there was no way the food was going to last like that. So with the kids, we were serving up a typical Uganda portion, but then trying to have three kids eat from that bowl.

The kids crowded towards the food….they had been sitting for hours and hours, and I’m sure they were very hungry. There wasn’t much I could do to help, there were several of us standing there trying to keep the horde somewhat orderly and figure out how to make things work. We took a big serving tray and had seven kids share from the food we put on it. Slowly the crowd of hungry children began to diminish. But by then it seemed we really were out of food, guests from the other groups were even coming to the cooking area trying to get food.

I think there were about 20 children left who hadn’t had anything to eat yet. I’ll never forget their eyes and their faces. Hungry eyes, somewhat desperate expressions on their faces. I felt like we had failed them. Even the ones who had gotten some to eat probably hadn’t had as much as they wanted.

Feelings and emotions started clashing and flooding my heart. Frustration over the cultural norm that meant so so many people came, some who I negatively assumed had come only for the purpose of eating the meal. Pain when I thought about these kids who weren’t getting the meal they had hoped, for whom—as far as I knew—this may have been their best chance at a good meal for the day. Helplessness that there was really nothing I could do. Recognition of the orphan heart that New Hope talks about in these kids—the orphan heart that always wants/needs more than is given.

Any joy and celebration of the day had left me. I could feel a flood building, I knew my inner dam would break soon. I turned and left, walking towards the rocks to escape and vent. As I went, I met the bridal party coming back from their feast to rejoin the guests for the rest of the celebration reception. Honestly, deep inside I was angry…..so angry…..but, either by God’s grace or plain hypocrisy, I was able to greet and congratulate the bride and groom, and my two good friends who were the best man and matron of honor. Once the interaction had passed, though, I was only closer to tears.

I attacked climbing the rock as the sobs started coming. I didn’t care that thorns were scratching my legs, that tagalong seeds and burrs were catching onto one of my nicer dresses. I finally felt myself out of sight, and I let it all go. The tears streamed down my face as I thought about the children’s hungry eyes.

I should point out that I was pretty tired from having woken up very early to help fix food. I was also overly emotional that weekend for other reasons. Now as I look back from a more rational mindset, it does not all seem as dire as it did then. But it is still something I will always remember—my first experience seeing the expression of hungry children who feared there would not be enough for them.

In the midst of the stormy tears, all I could do was pray for those kids. I knew God loved them, I knew God could see them….I knew they were important to Him. My mind flew to the future wedding feast of the Lamb that we are told about in Revelation. I couldn’t help but think about how that wedding too is open to all who will come through faith in Christ—but there, there will be no running out of food. And so I prayed that somehow those precious children would know the gospel of Christ so that they may join us at that feast.

I lay on the rocks until I had calmed some, then went down to the house where I was staying. I was still emotionally raw, though, and I couldn’t bring myself to eat any of the food Constance said was left over from the VIP’s meal since all I could think of was the children who hadn’t gotten food. Hearing her comment to someone else that the large bucket for food waste needed to be emptied for the second time (leftovers from the VIP’s plates) just set me off again.

I retreated to music on my tablet, to anything to get my mind off of being stuck in what I had felt. Two of the foreign staff ladies could tell something was wrong, and one pushed gently to get me to talk. I explained what had happened through heaving sobs, and she was just there with me in that and prayed for me. After some time alone reading, I was finally able to move on.

On Monday evening, we had dinner with the Kobwin staff member who had been the one coordinating the food for the community. She mentioned the fact that I had disappeared from the wedding, and I asked about how things ended. She said that everyone had gotten fed, that as the rain storm came in everyone else was leaving and so she took the last of the food for herself to eat. She even said she had invited some people to come have seconds once everyone else had gotten some.

So I have chosen to take her at her word on that, even though I didn’t see on Saturday how in the world that outcome could be possible. Maybe some of the leftovers from the VIPs were used to serve the community. Maybe they had some extra rice they could cook. I don’t know how it worked. Part of me wishes I had stuck it out to see how it ended. Most of me just takes it all as a reminder that we in ourselves can never truly satisfy the needs of others. Only God is enough to do that. Praise Him that His goodness never runs out!

The Beauty of Kobwin, Part 3

I should have added to the end of my last post that the family parents of the first family group are going to be coming to Kasana (our main center, where I live) for the Institute of Childcare and Family from January to May of next year. We will be classmates since I am also taking the Institute during that time. Now that I know them a bit, I am eagerly looking forward to this upcoming opportunity to grow in relationship with them!!  :)

Monday morning marked the beginning of our last full day in Kobwin, at least for this trip. The manager had announced at church that the students needed to come to the school at 7:30 on Monday morning to do a project with me. Unfortunately, not all of the day students were at church….so we mostly just had the students who live on site.

But other than that it went pretty well. It took a lot longer than we were expecting (three hours), partly because the students were having so much fun coloring and drawing after they had done the writing bit! Also because students didn’t all come right at 7:30, they kind of trickled in over the first couple hours. Thankfully we had enough papers and colored pencils to keep everyone occupied!

I had simply written a couple basic examples. Other than telling the children to put their name, age, class, prayer requests, and signature, I really didn’t give much instruction. Later that week, as I read through the kids’ requests, I was mostly impressed. Sure, I chuckled at a couple (“I want to be the next Obama”), but there were also some that showed the students’ positive character (“Please pray that I would have a forgiving heart”). There were also some that included bits of Spanish, since we recently had our first ever team from Mexico and they spent most of their trip at Kobwin.

Once the last student had finished, Constance took me on a tour of the property there. She was taking some pictures of the community outside for comparison. It was interesting to see a few houses and learn a bit more about Ugandan culture in that area. For example, there are lots of large gray rocks in that area, and the people there use them to dry potatoes and things like that as a method of preserving food.

{Side note – since Kobwin is in a different part of the country, the people are mostly of a different tribe and thus speak a different language. I kept wanting to use my small bits of Luganda, and then remembering that the people there may not understand it because they speak Ateso instead (or sometimes also)!}

By then it was only 11 or so, but already so so hot that we gave up on our walk, even though we had only gone part of the way around the property. That was one of the unfortunate parts about Kobwin….it is much hotter there than at Kasana, so activity becomes much less enticing pretty early in the day.

{Kasana will be warmer these next couple months than it has been, though, because we’re now entering one of the dry seasons. I got back towards the beginning of the rainy season, and there have been a few times where it has felt down right cold here at Kasana! But really that means it was “only” 60 degrees or so…..}

Later that afternoon I went and did a quick email check for the first time in five days, then played a couple games with some of the kids. First we tried doing dominoes, but we only had a double sixes set and we had about eight players. So it didn’t work too well. Then we played cards for a while, until a football {soccer} game started and most of the students wanted to join that {when thinking about Kobwin, it doesn’t seem right to call them “kids” or “children,” because so many of them are in their late teens or early twenties! So I end up calling them “students” instead, even in non-school contexts.}

My three young friends from Friday then wanted to take me up on top of the rocks right behind Constance’s house. A couple of the youngest staff kids decided to tag along, and my guides didn’t want them to come, saying “they’re going to cry!” I had been up on the rocks just a bit on Saturday, and so knew to watch out for 1) thorns and 2) cow paddies. But I was looking forward to being led up to the top, since I had just kind of wandered around. I figured I could help the little ones if needed.

Well, the wind started picking up…..sure sign of a storm blowing in. We tried to go up the way the boys knew, but the two youngest ones were scared…it involved climbing up onto one rock and then immediately scooting through a narrow space from another rock on top in order to get higher. I couldn’t quite figure out how to get up the rock, even though I was definitely the tallest in the group. {Wearing a skirt and flip flops is a convenient excuse, right?} The little girl proceeded to cry a bit, so I called everybody back and helped the little ones down.

We tried going up another way, but it was too overgrown to really get onto the top. The littlest boy cried somewhere along there too, so the guide’s prediction proved correct! We had seen that the sky was getting dark, though, and when we started feeling a few raindrops I said that we had to get down before it poured on us. So down we went, none the worse for the little adventure.

The storm took longer to really come in than I thought it would, but my word, it really did POUR when it came! So the temperature was quite a bit cooler in the evening than it had been in the late morning. There were a couple girls in Constance’s house when I got back, so we shut the windows (to keep the rain coming in) and then used solar battery lanterns (because there’s no power there) to see enough to play cards (since we couldn’t hear one another talk because of the rain pounding on the roof!). It was a fun day :)

Then that evening, we three muzungus (Lugandan term for white foreigners) went to the second family group for devotions and dinner. And this family mother fed us a small feast! She makes me chuckle even as I think back about it – she is definitely the mothering type!! She kept urging us “You eat! Be free! Drink your tea!” And she insisted on sending me away with some homemade peanut butter, the best I’ve ever had!

Both of the sets of family parents were just so welcoming and so ready to open their homes, hearts, and families to include us. It was a special time getting to know some of the special members of our extended spiritual family!!! They accepted me and loved me and encouraged me, even in a short few days. I was definitely blessed, and I look forward to seeing them again whether here at Kasana or on future trips to Kobwin!

The next day we left Kobwin by 6 a.m., and in Kampala I bid farewell to Constance and the others and headed to the mall to print pictures, then on to public to go home on my own. It all worked out, thankfully, and I was back home to Kasana by about 7 that evening. {Constance needed to take a young boy to Entebbe--south of Kampala--for a surgery. Keep him in your prayers, please! He has now had a second surgery, and is in a cast for a while.}

The Beauty of Kobwin, Part 2

Well, it’s nearly a week later and I’m finally getting around to writing more about Kobwin!

On Friday morning, I got started taking pictures of the students there for the prayer cards we were planning to have them do for sending to prayer supporters in the U.S. I was a bit unsure of myself at first, but the family parents (our staff members) welcomed me in and encouraged me “be free!” and to not be afraid.

Soon their young twin boys and one of the younger students from the family group were helping me by pulling in the students I hadn’t gotten pictures of, finding them on my list, and even copying what I told them to write as the description so I would know who was who later! I really appreciated those three young fellas helping make me feel more at home :)

Around lunch time, Constance and a couple of the staff members got busy mixing lemon juice and powdered sugar to make the typical Ugandan cake frosting. One of the ladies had amazingly baked the cakes on a sigeri (charcoal-burning small round stove) since ovens are not common household appliances. (As I think I mentioned in my previous post, there was a wedding coming up the next day!).

We had fun frosting the cakes, wrapping them in ribbon, and then trying to add more frosting since we had a lot of extra. The problem with the latter was that we didn’t go slowly, letting one layer of frosting harden before putting on the next layer. So it ran all over and we spent some time frantically trying to shore up the “dams” of the ribbons….and pretty nearly just ended up with a big mess! But it all worked out :)

After we had got that straightened out, I went down to the school to start helping prepare food for the wedding. We peeled matooke, sorted/winnowed pounded ground nuts (peanuts), and chopped up several cabbages. The first two were new experiences for me! The ladies also had some young men gather large rocks to build fire pits of sorts for cooking the food. By then it was dark, and so lack of electricity sent us all home.

The next morning, the day of the wedding, at least a couple of the ladies woke up at 2:30 a.m. to start preparing the meal for the wedding. By the time I got there around 3:30 or 4, there were about a dozen people working by flashlight, and five or six fires going under massive pots (I’m talking two to three feet in diameter!). At first most of them were butchering the meat (cow and chicken) that I think had been slaughtered the night before. I thankfully missed the slaughtering bit! But the rest about the wedding feast will need a blog post of its own.

By 7 or so most of us went home and showered to try and get the smoke smell off before getting dressed up for the wedding. The ceremony was scheduled to start around 9—and I think it did start pretty close to that. The first hour or so was taken up by the two processionals of groomsmen/groom and bridesmaids/bride. It is evidently the tradition at least in that part of Uganda for the processional to be very very slow. I guess it helps make sure people arrive before things really get started?

Anyway, we had the school’s end of year ceremony, complete with speeches, musical numbers, etc. The crowd steadily increased as time went on, and between every couple of pieces of the program the MC would again welcome those who were just arriving. That’s just part of the “African time” culture here…..(my friends’ youngest son slept in my lap for an hour).

Then we went straight into the wedding, including more singing and dancing. Vows and rings were exchanged, a culturally acceptable (though exuberant) hug took place instead of a Western-style kiss. Then Uncle Jonnes preached a short wedding message that even I as a single appreciated…about how 50-50 isn’t sufficient for a marriage…God calls a husband and wife to give 100% to one another as an example of how Christ held nothing back but gave 100% of Himself for us!

Finally, at 3:30 I think? It was time to serve the wedding meal. I was helping with that also….and as I said above that will be the subject of another blogpost. Quite a bit later, a threatening rainstorm blew in, putting an end to the wedding festivities. We enjoyed simple rice & beans for dinner, and I went to bed early!

Sunday was a very chill day, everyone just needed to recover from the wedding! Church that morning was an interesting experience. Lots of dancing and clapping from the worship leader…he had to have two handkerchiefs to try and keep up with the sweat of his exuberance! Also, here at Kasana, we do the service in English and it is translated into Luganda. But in Kobwin, the service is carried out in Ateso and then translated into English sentence by sentence. So it was my first time here to be understanding the translated sermon rather than as originally spoken.

In the afternoon I worked on sharpening three gallon bags of colored pencils for kids to use the next day on the prayer cards. Thankfully the three little musketeers, my friends from the day before, showed up and pitched in to help me with that!

That evening we attended devotions with the first family group at Kobwin, and then had dinner with the family parents. Oh my, such a feast she set before us! I really enjoyed getting to know them better and hear bits of their story! A couple girls from the family had helped the mom cook, so they ate with us as well.

Well, I am falling asleep here on Tuesday night as I try to type this…so I think I better call it quits and finish another evening!

The Beauty of Kobwin, Part 1

I just wanted to put fingers to keyboard tonight (this was written Wednesday) to get this written, even though I am tired….because I know these next few days are going to be hectic and I want to grab this chance while I have it.

As you probably know, a week ago I traveled from Kasana (New Hope’s first and main location in Uganda) to Kobwin, our other children’s center in the northeast of the country. When Kobwin first started in 2010, our main focus there was working with young men and women who had been kidnapped or otherwise affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels. Those kidnapped served as child soldiers and became known internationally as “Invisible Children.”

Now, four years later, we do still have some young people at Kobwin who are “returnees”—those who were abducted and then escaped or were released. Others grew up in IDP (internally displaced person) camps because their families were trying to avoid the atrocities of Kony and his rebels. All told, many of our students in Kobwin have come through even more intensely traumatic circumstances than our children here at Kasana.

At any rate – part of my job here in Uganda is updating supporters and prayer partners about the happenings at Kobwin, but until last week I hadn’t been there. Aunt Constance, our foreign staff member who has invested a lot of time and energy in Kobwin, invited me to go with her up to Kobwin for a wedding and the end of {school} year ceremony—and I jumped at the chance!

I was eager to see this location that I had heard so much about from interviewing three of the main guys in charge there. But I was also very excited to get to see two special people, their two sweet girls and their two adorable boys! :D So my expectations were high for the long weekend :)

The first day of travelling was kind of rough. But you can read more than enough about that in my previous post. The next day (Thanksgiving) was thankfully much less stressful. Watching a beautiful sunrise over Lake Victoria….seeing the Nile River (near its source) for the first time….enjoying a short passage through an actual forest! (I miss proper woods/forest while at Kasana)….observing Mount Elgin in the distance….just getting to witness more of this beautiful country that is my home for the next year. :) And that was all before we arrived at our destination!

When we got there, most of the students and some of the staff were just eating lunch. We joined them (for the typical posho and beans) after being greeted by a hug from each of the young people there. I think that’s one of the things that most stood out to me about Kobwin. It is quite a bit smaller than Kasana (less than one-fifth the size in student population, even less as far as staff), and thus has a much more intimate feel to it. The two family groups are very close to one another, but each is enclosed with a wall (originally to help the kids feel safer).

That afternoon, the students were practicing musical selections they had created and prepared for the end of year/wedding ceremony. The whole student/staff community (probably about 50 people) gathered to hear them and to offer advice. I just enjoyed experiencing a new style of instruments and singing! And I also finally spotted my friends’ two daughters. Their dad was also there, though I had been able to see him a couple weeks before at Kasana. I had told him I was coming to Kobwin, but told him not to tell his family so I could surprise them!

Well, since the daughters had seen me the dad and I decided I should go home with him to surprise the mom before the girls gave her the news. Their home is a short distance outside of the center because staff housing is really limited there. As we walked, he proudly showed me the small square of land where his family grows a bit of maize and papaya, collards and sweet potatoes.

As we neared the family’s house, the late afternoon sun was shining into my eyes. So I knew the mother would be able to see me before I could see her. Sure enough, I hadn’t spotted anyone I recognized before I saw a figure running towards me. It was my friend!! She grabbed me in a hug, ending in a tickle as I had forgotten was her habit towards me ;-) I met their neighbors (also Kobwin staff) and was invited in to my friends’ home for some tea. But not before my dear friends spent a couple minutes praying and thanking God for bringing me to their home and reuniting us!

Their two boys were hanging about. The older one (age 6) gave me a shy grin of remembrance, but the younger one (age 2)—my piggy back buddy—didn’t seem to know who I was. A bit later, though, he started to remember—and as I tickled him, I got to hear his adorable laugh again!! :D The time with them was far too short, but I had to get back to Kobwin for dinner with the manager and his wife. Uncle took me back on his bike – it was my first time to ride side saddle on the back rack of a bicycle, so I was glad someone I trusted was doing the pedaling!

That evening, Constance, Allison (a visitor from America who had spent a whole year working in Kobwin a couple years back) and I enjoyed a wonderful meal with the manager and his family. His wife and a couple young ladies prepared atapa (aka kilo, aka millet loaf. I’ll have to explain it some other time….), chapatis (they take a lot of work!), rice, and a yummy sauce with pork. It was all so delicious that I went on to P2 (aka, I took a second helping)!

Their two young boys nearly fell asleep while eating, and it was interesting to notice them being bathed in basins in the middle of the living room as we finished our dinner and conversation. Later, after we had gone back to Constance’s itinerant home where we stayed, I was able to call my family and talk to the three of them for a little while. Which was a blessing, because I had heard that cell signal up in Kobwin wasn’t much good.

So that was my Thanksgiving day…..I’ll have to write about the rest of the weekend later. It certainly wasn’t a typical American Thanksgiving……but it’s where God has me this year, and I am grateful for all of the opportunities He is giving me!!! Towards the end of the weekend, I couldn’t help but think that, while most Americans use Thanksgiving as a time to visit family, God used this Thanksgiving to grow my family….to introduce me to members of our spiritual family that I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet before. That’s what my next post will be more about! :)

Last Wednesday....

Just a couple little snippets for your enjoyment tonight J

A few days ago, I had a couple interesting/funny things happen.

First, I was preparing some food for a young adults’ class potluck. I’m still having Uganda withdrawal, so I decided to make one of the dishes we had there often: avocado salad. At least that’s what I call it.

It’s pretty simple – you can make it too! Just cut up a few avocados, add a tomato and some red onion, and maybe a few spices (I forgot to put spices in mine…sorry folks!).

Our wonderful cooks there were always making it for a crowd, so I had to remind myself not to use as many avocados as they normally did…but then again the size of these green fruits (or vegetables) is twice as big in the Pearl of Africa as it is here. I guess that one guy was telling me the truth when he joked about how Uganda keeps all the best avocados and only exports the little ones ;-)

So there I was, cutting up the salad ingredients, thinking about how much I missed Betty and Harriet and hanging out with or helping them in the kitchen. I was listening to the radio, and you’ll never guess what song came on:

Just their favorite song! I don’t know how many times it was playing as they made dinner. I felt like I was right back in Uganda….but still missing these wonderful ladies. Soon—I’ll be back soon!

So that was happening #1. #2 occurred when I went over to my church to babysit during a class/Bible study. I had four kids: Two brothers, just turned 7 and 5; and a sister and brother, 7 ½ and almost six.

I was having fun watch them do the whole kid thing, playing ninjas and princesses and capturing and rescuing and wrestling a little. Anyway, we decided to play sharks and minnows. Somehow I got picked to be the shark.

I don’t remember how the subject of age came up…..but it did! They asked mine, and I told them to guess. Actually, I think I just told them that I’m 23.

Well, the oldest boy didn’t believe me. He was like “no way, you look like you’re 13!” To which his younger brother responded “no she doesn’t!” The other boy was like “no, she looks like an old woman!” And the young lady of the group won when she told me “no, you just look like a grown up woman.”

Or at least that’s how I remember it now. Hope you got a chuckle out of it J

And don’t give me the “you’ll be glad you look so young someday!” line. Because I’m not there yet. We went to an event for military academy students and graduates. Folks knew Nathan was either in the Academy or just graduated….but they didn’t know about me.

“So where do you go to school?” one important person asked me. “Oh, I graduated from college a year ago…..” Yep, I got there before Nathan did!

But another gal took the cake. She just graduated from high school and received an appointment to USAFA, I think by now she’s there undergoing BCT! Best wishes to her! At any rate, her comment after me mentioning that my brother had graduated was “are you applying to the academies, or are you going to let him be the only one?” In other words, she assumed I had just finished my sophomore or junior year in college! {sigh…….}

At least Nathan was very nice and considerate when we were in Colorado last month. He was kind enough to make a point of introducing me to his friends as his older sister! Thanks didi, I definitely appreciated that J

The Institute Kids

Four months ago, I arrived here at Kasana….and shortly thereafter the other people who would be going through the Institute began to arrive as well. They live in what I affectionately call the “Institute village,” and we share all of our meals together. There are others who have already been on staff here at Kasana and who live in other areas of the compound…sadly I haven’t gotten to know them as well.

Our Institute village consists of five bandas (round huts) and a duplex down the hill, plus a kitchen and the dining hall/classroom. The residents are as follows: three single guys, one single gal (my roomie!), one young married couple, a couple and their daughter from Liberia, two Ugandan couples with children, and a new missionary family. There’s also a gentleman who has a family back in Kampala…he lives in one of the family groups but comes to eat meals with us.

I’ve been writing the rest of this post in my head for a while, and am finally sitting down to actually do it. I wanted to talk about the five African kids who have stolen their way into my heart these past weeks. When I leave, I’m going to miss everyone I’ve met here a lot….but especially these kids. {Here at Kasana, “Auntie” is used as a prefix before women’s names as a sign of respect}

Those first few weeks the kids were understandably shy. But now, looking back…it makes me chuckle inside. Because now they are anything but shy!!! Going to school here where English is the common language has helped that too—now they are actually confident enough to speak in whole sentences. J So I dedicate this post to these kids….and I pray God’s blessing on their life journeys.

There is the set of three siblings (a girl and two boys) who came with their parents from NHU’s other location. They have an older sister, but she stayed home for the sake of schooling. The daughter who is here helps a lot to take care of the littlest fella, and she still tends to be reserved. But there have been several times recently when I’ve seen her beautiful face light up with joy and excitement, and just last night she was teaching me how to say “moon” and “stars” in her mother language J

When I got back from the Institute break of four days, she and a classmate were just getting back from a day at school. She ran up to give me a big hug and the traditional Ugandan greeting to one who returns from a journey: “Auntie!! Welcome back!” Adding on, “this is my friend who is in my class!” I think that might have been the first time I heard her speak two whole sentences in English…

The older of the two boys was missing his two front teeth when I first met him. Now they are mostly grown in. The whole time, he’s had the most adorable grin. A few weeks back I taught several of the kids how to play “Go Fish,” and now this fella’s favorite question is “Auntie, we play the cards??” After I started working in the afternoons, my roommate told me he kept coming to our hut asking to play cards with me when I was gone.

He’s also our most frequent meal bell ringer. And he can play the djembe drum with better rhythm than I can! I tell you what, these kids just have rhythm in their blood! I love how concentrated he is when he does it, his mouth partly agape…his head usually tilted to one side J

Their little brother has me wound around his little finger. Man, those first couple weeks he was so whiny and so withdrawn….but now! Well, now he’s like the baby of a great big family J And I think I’m probably his favorite auntie… :D I don’t even remember how it started…but he taught me how to give a piggy back ride African style. The little kids here know how to hang on tight! After our meals, he almost always runs up behind me and grabs onto my skirt and we go through a whole routine of piggy back riding traditions that have developed over the past weeks. And even though he’s not far out of the toddler stage, he is perfectly capable of feeding himself (though it does make something of a mess) and washing his hands regularly (though he does need lifting to be able to reach the sink!). His name is perfect for him, because his laugh is probably the cutest I have ever heard.

He’s also started talking while here, kind of all of a sudden one week in the past month and a half or so. And now he talks up a STORM! On mornings when he’s in a good mood (about 50/50), I can tell it’s breakfast time when I hear his adorable little voice singing “happy birthday to yoooou, happy birthday to yooooou.” When we pray, his “AMEN!” is usually the loudest (and occasionally a wee bit premature…). “How are yooou? I’m FINE!” is another favorite, especially at breakfast. And when I have him on my back and go sit down in one of the cushioned chairs (to signal that I’m worn out for the day), he says (with the biggest grin on his face) what he’s evidently heard me say a few times: “I am tIReddd.” He’s also taught me some of his language! Akipi is water, Iya is again, and Inya is there (the last two I had to have his mother explain to me because he kept saying them during our piggy back riding times!)

Two other girls round out the little group. Both are between the ages of the two boys in the three-some

The older one is something else. She’s probably the most spunky, out-going little kid I have ever seen! She’s just a firecracker, always on the go, always in motion…sometimes to the point of minor calamities (I have no idea how many cups she’s spilled or pieces of silverware she’s dropped here…. ;-). My first clear memory of her is the day the first week when I was the blind man in Blind Man’s Bluff and she opened the closed door and ran into a stranger’s house, grabbed my hand, and tried to lead me to the kids I was trying to tag. That’s just how this little gal operates.

She definitely acts like she’s a little princess and certainly isn’t afraid to make her wants and desires known…and expects them to be met! And her high energy level can be hard to keep up with sometimes. But she is also definitely a blessing, with her joyfulness and her vivacity. The only times I’ve seen her close to “calm” is when she’s just gotten up from a nap. That’s the one occasion when she’s sporting a gloomy face and not running around laughing and chattering away. I love her facial expressions too…I can definitely see her dad in her face and in her voice J

The other little girl was the second most reserved of the group. I met her right after she and her parents got here, and she was hiding behind the door. I watched her interact with the friends from home who had brought her family down, and I knew it would take some time before I was able to interact with her that way. Sometime in the first couple weeks I went over and sat talking to her parents for a little while…and that was the first time I heard her speak a whole sentence…but in her native tongue. But just like all the others, she has since blossomed into quite the cheerful little lark. Quite often, she’ll be singing at the top of her voice rather early in the morning (good thing I’m an early riser!).

She and her parents are my closest neighbors, and I love all the little exchanges we have. Like her brushing her teeth outside and showing me how she can make the water squirt out of her mouth. Like her announcing to me “I am washing!” in her sweet little accent when she is doing her laundry (by hand, of course). Like just today her hollering from outside of my hut: “Auntie Esther!” “yes?” “Hi!” But boy, this little lady has some shrill vocal cords! If you tickle her or startle her (both of which happen to most of these five kids on a pretty regular basis…), you better be prepared to have a loud scream split your ears! In the past couple weeks she’s really attached to me, running up whenever she sees me and practically jumping into my arms. The funniest thing to me is how on nights like last night, when the temperature is maybe 60 degrees, she walks around wearing a coat/jacket lined with cozy warm fluff. Weather is certainly relative!

So yep, that’s the description of my five little “nieces and nephews” here. I’m so thankful that they have good families and parents who love them and care about them (including coming to the Institute partly to learn about parenting their kids)! It’s a good thing they do….because if they didn’t…….well, it would be a lot harder to leave them behind. It will be sad anyway, but I’m thankful to know I leave them in the most able hands of God and the good hands of their parents.

What a Lovely Easter :)

Here in Uganda, Easter weekend is a big deal. And I don’t think it’s just because I’m in a Christian organization/community – I’m pretty sure I heard people talking about how there are many people who travel on this weekend.

Both the Institute class and the NHU admin office had Friday and today off. Last time we had a four-day weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to go out to an island on Lake Victoria for a little vacation. Last month as I thought about the Easter break, I knew there were a couple other places I’d like to go visit…….but at the same time I just felt like I wanted to celebrate Easter here at Kasana, in the place that has become a new home and with the people who have taken me in as part of their family.

And boy am I glad I decided to stay – because this weekend (especially yesterday) has been such an amazing blessing.

Friday morning I did laundry and spent some time continuing the Bible study/reading I’ve been working my way through (fairly slowly, I must admit…) this year. I think I may have also spent some time reading either a devotional by C.S. Lewis or one by Anne Graham Lotz.

Mid-afternoon I headed over to the church for the Good Friday service there. Uncle Jonnes talked for a while about Jesus’ humility at not answering His accusers, and about how we should do likewise rather than allowing ourselves to be imprisoned by anger and bitterness. Then we watched the last 30 minutes or so of the Jesus Film, from Jesus’ time in Jericho (healing the blind man and discipling Zacchaeus) through His ascension.

I’ve watched the Jesus Film before….but not like this. Because there are many in the congregation who come from the surrounding area and may or may not speak English very well, we watched the Jesus Film in Lugandan. (For the same reason, Uncle Jonnes’ teaching and each week’s church service are translated into Lugandan by an interpreter. So there’s kind of two speakers every week J) Having seen the movie before, and being pretty familiar with the story, I was able to follow what was being said for the most part. But I certainly noticed things I might not have noticed otherwise (I might write more about those another time).

I also enjoyed hearing the people in the church with me interacting with the movie as we watched it. The laughter when Jesus bested the religious leaders trying to trap Him. The applause when Jesus reappeared alive. The murmurs of many repeating the prayer at the end. And then during dinner, the conversation with one of the couples about how all representations of Jesus look the same—how do we know what He looked like?

Saturday I must admit I didn’t spend my time as productively. I took advantage of a “second Saturday” by doing what I wanted to do – reading about cute animal stories and just amusing myself (choosing not to think, if you look at the etymology of “amusement”). I also enjoyed the fan thanks to the power being on most of the day!

After a trip to the market and some dinner, I heated water for a “shower,” thanks to power still being on! But then it went off, so I showered by star-light and lantern-light. My roomie had turned our banda into a nail salon again, with four ladies painting nails by candlelight. Before I joined in, I couldn’t help but go out and stare at the stars. That’s the best part about the power going out at night. The stars are so amazingly beautiful here, but when power is on it’s still harder to see them. So I had to take advantage of the darker sky thanks to moonless-ness and powerless-ness.

After we had finished decorating fingers and toes for Easter, we just chatted and/or sang worship songs (and danced to them some J). Of course then power came back on ;-)  Called my parents for a while and had a good chat, then fell asleep before 11.

Sunday morning the roomie was making pancakes for our Institute village breakfast, so I pitched in. They were so yummy. J Then she handed out some gifts to the families we live near, thanks to her church back home and her friend who came to visit. Seeing the joy of the children and the parents at receiving even “simple” gifts such as Bibles and dresses made my heart so happy. J

When we walked the short distance to the church at 10, I was surprised by how many people were already there! Usually the 10:00 start time finds the church only half full, and it slowly fills up. But for Easter, there were many more people there on time! And what a morning it was J I’ve never been to a more joyful Easter morning service.

Ugandans usually worship with more vocal/physical exuberance than my home church, and yesterday they were even more excited and celebrating even more loudly than normal. It was so fun to watch and to take part in. Uncle Jonnes was the preacher for the morning, and his message focused on the fact that Christ’s death has freed us from our bondage to sin! Always such a good reminder!

After a delicious Liberian lunch (preparation led by a Liberian here to go through the Institute) and some dinner prep work, I blogged for a while and enjoyed listening to the afternoon’s rain shower. Later in the evening I went over to my family group for dinner.

While we were waiting for it to be finished cooking, two of the Worcester sons and daughters taught me to play “Ludo” (I think?). It’s very similar to Sorry, but with a couple different rules. It was so fun laughing with them.

The daughter taking her turn to cook did an amazing job! The beef and rice tasted so great. J And even though it was a simple meal by most standards, it was special compared to their normal daily menu of posho and beans (I need to do a food post sometime….).

I am so thankful for my Worcester family – I felt so blessed to be included in their evening. The four girls and the parents have been so sweet and welcoming toward me whenever I have gone to visit. And the six young boys are fun to watch as they run around and play together.

Today they did not have school either – so I went over on the bright and early side to help them work in the garden. We spent a couple hours planting white sweet potato clippings in the furrowed mounds of dirt. My first row took me more than an hour, but the second row took less than an hour. I came back dirty and tired, but again blessed and thankful to have a family here who takes joy in having me involved even in simple daily things.

And that’s the story of my weekend and why I’m so glad I stayed here at “home” rather than travelling to some other place. I am so very blessed J

A Boy and His Music

Recently, I witnessed a moment in a story which has burned itself into my memory.

If I had gotten a picture of it, I would print it and hang it on my wall, and it would certainly be worth a thousand words.

If I were an artist and could draw or paint with any level of accuracy, I would spend hours perfecting the capture of that moment.

But I neither have a photograph of it nor the visual artistic skills to reproduce it. So instead I turn to the medium where I think I have slightly more talent: writing and words.

Picture this:

It’s a Sunday morning at Kasana Community Church, which means the simple wooden benches are full of people, arranged in rows throughout the open-air structure (a concrete slab with telephone pole-like pillars and a sheet metal roof).

The congregation is in the midst of the praise and worship part of the meeting, which typically lasts 30-45 minutes. The songs are sung in a mixture of Lugandan and English, since there are both non-native missionaries and non-English speaking members in the congregation. The “praise” songs are almost always accompanied by loud clapping, with occasional punctuations from an African-style “ayiyiyiyiyi!” or lyrically-appropriate motions such as spinning around or running in place. The “worship” songs are usually more low-key and reflective, as some people take their seats.

{That’s all just setting the scene J}

I was walking from the front of the church to my seat when I saw the image which burned into my brain. I don’t remember what song we were singing at that moment….it doesn’t make much of a difference though.

Sitting on the outside edge of the very front row was a little boy, probably about six years old. His dark face beamed as he joined in the praise music. He held a small guitar/ukulele, on which he strummed away. Clearly his whole heart and soul were pouring into participating fully in that moment.

It may be that he would have caught my attention if that were the only thing special about him. But it wasn’t. This little boy was sitting when the vast majority of the congregation was standing, because he was in a wheelchair. He is one of the children who is part of the special needs program provided by New Hope Uganda.

Behind the little boy’s wheelchair stood one of the gentlemen who helps care for these kids. He leaned on a crutch, his constant companion even when pushing one of the children in their chairs, because of what appears to be a shorter leg and turned-out foot on one side.

The young one’s entire countenance showed the joy of his heart. He could have been moping because he was stuck in a wheelchair, unable to walk or run as other children his age. I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, even in his short life, which would excuse a good dose of self-pity. But that’s not where his focus was. His focus was—consciously or unconsciously—on worshipping God. I don’t know what that little boy’s story is, physically or spiritually. But I do know that he brought a smile to my face, praise to my mind, and conviction to my heart.

And that image has stayed with me in the days since. One afternoon since then, I was sitting “watching” members of the New Hope family playing football (soccer for you Americans) and making small talk introductions with the man sitting on the ground in front of me. One of my neighbor girls sat in my lap. Then beside me appeared the same little boy, angling himself into position and locking his chair’s wheel.

He greeted the little girl, because they are in the same class when he joins the kids at the on-site primary (elementary) school one day per week. He still had a grin on his face, not that much different than when I had seen him strumming his heart out in church.

Almost hidden behind the wheel of was a sticker, indicating that he had received his chair from Joni Eareckson Tada’s international ministry. On his feet were red felt slippers, decorated with whiskers. Those were cats, he told me. We talked for a little bit, and I learned his name. After a few moments, someone came and wheeled him away.

I think it was then I saw the crutch lying beside the man in front of me. As I had been talking to him, I had noticed nothing different or unusual. But as with the little boy, this gentleman faces daily challenges that are different than what I have to deal with. But I guess it’s a reminder of the fact that each and every one of us has parts of our lives which are hurt or not fully functional. Some of us can just hide it better than others.

But when we hide it, are we really doing anyone a service? When I try to act like there’s nothing wrong with me, that I have everything together, aren’t I really doing one of the silliest things possible? These two members of the Kasana community seem to have learned something far better than I have. They both deal with what the world calls “disabilities.” But, by what I have witnessed, I think it is safe to say that they have made the decision not to be bound by that.

My brief interactions with them make them heroes of the everyday variety, in my mind’s perception. They do not allow themselves to wallow in self-pity or to be held captive by their situations. They do not seem to see themselves as victims. Instead, they seek out the positives. They bring joy. And I pray God’s blessing on them for that.

{Last night I saw the little boy again. This time, he sat beside one of the caregivers on a bench, leaning against her for support, his wheelchair out of sight for the time being. The event was a concert by two of Kasana’s sons in the local town nearby. Again, my little friend demonstrated his love for music. His guitar remained at home – but that didn’t keep him from dancing with his upper body, his face again radiating joy. And so, I send this post out for him. Never let the music die out of your heart, little buddy. God is with you.}

a "Crazy" Fun Afternoon

After lunch I was tired from a busy morning of organizing/sorting paperwork in the admin office. I was sitting on the couch reading when the thunder started and I guess the clouds must have rolled in, because it started getting darker. I flipped the curtains of the three living room windows up over the strings that they hang from.

I was hungry, so I ate a couple little sweet bananas. It was starting to rain a little, but I walked the 10ish yards to go wash my hands at the sink in the dining room. A couple kids were in there, and as I was coming out they followed me, dancing around in a funny way. I knew what they wanted: several weeks ago when it first rained and I was here I couldn’t help but sing in the rain. The kids expected a repeat performance.

So we all got a little wet as we (mostly I) belted out the lines to “Singing in the Rain,” thanks to Andrea’s teaching at Kids’ Club in Northern Ireland this summer. Complete with hand motions and tongues out at the end, of course. A couple new girls came along and stared at me like I was crazy. Well, I was crazy….so they had reason to do so I guess ;) After we had sung through the song once, I retreated to my banda.

The rain was coming down a bit harder now, and so the rain was coming in through our screen-only windows. I pulled the curtains back down, but the wind was blowing hard and the rain seemed to be coming in sideways. So I braved the rain (intensified because I had to go right in the places where the runoff comes down the slanted roof) to go around and close the outside shutters.

I got back inside and was about to get warm and dry, then realized there was one more thing I needed to do first. So I quickly walked the 10 or so yards in the opposite direction (through the pouring harder rain) to the pit latrine. While I was in there, it almost sounded like hail on the metal roof!!! When I got back, I seriously wished I had put my towel by the door. I literally had water dripping off my hair, glasses, clothes, etc.

To top it off, power was out. With the shutters closed, the banda was pretty dark. Thankfully my 12-LED lantern was within pretty easy finding distance on the table. So I grabbed my towel and dried off, then got into nice cozy dry clothes (sweatpants & a hoodie!). Wrung out the clothes I had been wearing, then flopped onto my bed and read by lantern-light for a while. The rain poured hard, and eventually let up. The birds started singing again!

So I decided to open up the shutters to get some light into the otherwise quite dark room. While I was outside, the kids came out of taking shelter wherever they could find it. They ran over, excited to see me and wanting to play. Three of the younger Institute kids begged to be held, and again we sang the song (even though now it wasn’t raining). They also discovered that my hoodie made a fun "toy," and soon I found they thought that having my face entirely covered with only a small hole for my mouth made a great game!

Then they asked to play “Go Fish,” so I told them to wait while I cleaned off my couch, etc. Which they did wait very patiently, I was so proud of them! :D So we had me and four Ugandan kids ages 10-4 (well, one is Liberian) playing “Go Fish.” We’ve played it a few times before, so they’ve mostly gotten the hang of it. They do still often think that a 6 should be able to be paired with a 9 though, and sometimes they ask for a card that has already been played on the table. But we make it work :)

We played several games, giving each of the kids a turn to “share” as one girl says (she means deal). A couple times this same gal, who is pretty high-octane, was literally bouncing up and down on our couch. I could hear it creaking….I’ve kind of been wondering if it might be on the way to breaking….so I asked her not to bounce on it. {I was also starting to get overwhelmed by trying to keep game play orderly and didn’t need that distraction…….} So I said I must need to tell her to go run around the hut a few times while I shuffled the cards. Which she and the other kids proceeded to do, lol ;) We had to repeat the process a little later.

I could feel exhaustion setting in, so announced that we would do one last game. The kids were very good sports about going outside to play something else after that game. I sank back down onto the couch and sat there for a moment, feeling so so tired. Keeping four kids entertained for an hour…especially while trying to maintain the rules of a card game!...can be pretty tiring. But so much fun, and so very worth it :)

They are dear, sweet kids…even when I do have to fight against my perfectionistic nature to keep it from making me too annoyed with them when they don’t quite do things the “right” way and I’m tempted to lose my patience…….  But their love and friendliness and joy and laughter make it all so so so worth it :D

Spring Break Edition of YKYLiCUW

A continuation of the previous post, specifically about this past weekend's adventures!

~~The rainy weather makes puddles in the capital's street that are a deep orange color.

~~You are not a fan of taxi parks. Especially when, as in this case, it's just hundreds of taxi vans parked closely together and bumper to bumper....there's barely space to walk between! Plus the continuing rain doesn't help.

~~A couple boxes of chicks and at least one rooster accompany you on the boat ride.

~~Said boat ride takes nearly four hours!

~~You are annoyed by said rain, (and very thankful that the boat has a tarp over it!) until the sun begins to break through the clouds and you get to see a rainbow!!!

~~A short drive from the island jetty brings you to the small beach hotel where you will spend the night.

~~You eat dinner and go to bed listening to the crash of the waves on the lake shore.

~~But before you go to bed, you take your first running water shower in 10 weeks!! And with hot water too!! You’re surprised at how much water you get in your eyes….but maybe that was just from this particular shower head.

~~Trying to figure out a bathroom door that doesn’t want to stay shut, how to make a round mosquito net work with a four-postered bed, and overly-squishy pillows make you miss your banda bed back “home.”

~~You awake to take a long birding walk along the shore, and love every moment.

~~A few steps away from the sandy beach, and you find yourself in thick trees.

~~You sit on a bench swing back at the hotel’s beach doing nothing except listening to the waves, watching the birds, and thinking about how you could do this always…..but life doesn’t work like that… :/

~~One of the hotel staff comes and talks to you for a while, and you learn more about Ugandan culture. Including the fact that this gal thought she would never be of a high enough “level” to have a conversation with a muzungu….

~~There’s a super playful (half-grown) puppy running around the grounds that you quickly nickname “Floppy” because of his over-sized ears ;-)

~~As you eat lunch, you watch a large-ish lizard (I think he must have been nearly two feet, including the tail!) eat his lunch….I think a dragon fly?...on a nearby walkway.

~~You take tons of photos and videos……mostly of birds, I must admit ;)

~~You’re fixing to go sit on another bench to journal, when you suddenly see a monkey! And later, you realize there is a whole troop of monkeys in the woods very nearby…..probably close to a dozen!

~~As you watch the monkeys groom one another and pick food off the trees, it seems so very familiar. You’ve seen it before….in nature movies. Then you remember that this isn’t a nature movie, that you’re standing there watching live, wild monkeys in person. Wow!

~~You try to use the Internet to just check email and Facebook (yes, I’m an addict….) but it’s too slow and you give up.

~~You eat fish for dinner….fish that in the morning had been swimming around in the lake! Thanks to the fishing skills of the young couple who knew about this beautiful island and let you tag along.

~~The next morning, you get a bike and enjoy a long ride….pushing it up the hill, riding through the town, and out to a secluded spot overlooking part of the island coast. You’re thankful to be wearing capris for all that rather than a skirt!

~~During your ride, everyone from little kids to older folks is excited to see you. The little kids yell “hi!” and “bye!” and it seems to make their day when you say hi back. And the older ones holler “muzungu, what are you doing??” or “where are you going?”….to which you don’t answer, because the one is obvious and the other you don’t know for sure…

~~You spend the next three hours sitting in one place, meditating on God’s Word and worshipping Him. It is a beautiful time, and reminds you of times you’ve done the same in other places around the world. You are thankful that God is the same always and everywhere!!! (for more on this, check out the post on my other blog)

~~When you ride back down the steep hill you came up, you don’t pedal from the time you leave the town to the time you’re on the hotel road. Instead, you’re squeezing the brakes almost non-stop. You’re thankful they’re in good working condition!!!

~~You enjoy playing games with the folks you came with, and wading in the lake, and just relaxing and recharging J

~~A couple times, African guys come over and try to strike up a conversation. You’re not interested, so you keep responses short.

~~You hope to take another last hot shower……..but the hot water does not come out. After dinner you try again, take half of a cold shower and then the hot water comes!

~~Your room’s trash can displays the results of your “drinking addiction” – it is FULL of WATER bottles! ;-) Since tap water is not safe to drink, you must buy bottled water from the hotel restaurant. Every time you go you ask for at least one bottle….sometimes three…..

~~You wake up at 2 a.m. from a dream of going for a walk with one of your best college friends, wishing that you really could. You listen to the rain that is pouring down, and go back to sleep…..to have a very odd dream, probably thanks to the malaria med side effects :P

~~Morning comes, and with it the end of your time on the beautiful island. You hope you’ll be back.

~~The boat ride back is super choppy. You grab the bench in front of you and close your eyes often for the middle hour of the ride. Thankfully the motion sickness doesn’t fully make its way to the point of nausea.

~~You distract yourself by watching the antics of the full-grown chickens trying to escape the handmade rough, wooden crates they’re being transported in.

~~A little over three hours later, you’re very glad to be back on solid ground.

~~Another three hours later, you arrive back at your banda. One of the Institute girls has just gotten back from her school day and greets you with an excited “Auntie!!!” and an enthusiastic hug.

~~Everyone is glad to see you again, and after dinner the wee two-year-old is begging for a piggy back ride, as always. It’s good to be home J

Catching Up - Finally!

Well, I have had another long hiatus on here. Sorry for the lack of posting – the fall/winter months did not go as I had expected, and I sometimes felt like I didn’t have anything worth talking about on my blog. Especially after the crazy/exciting three-to-four months after graduation!

This fall was really important for me though. I was reminded again and again that “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” (Is. 55:8). I had plans, plenty of them….But God’s plan was different than anything I had expected. While the changes and unmet expectations this fall were certainly challenging at times, I am thankful for the assurance I have that God has brought me where I am for His purposes and glory alone. Because of that, I can say that there is nowhere else I would truly rather be during this time.

The beginning of October dropped a new door in my path after the three doors I had wanted to work out closed instead. There was an opportunity to assist a new missionary family by helping homeschool their five kids. I didn’t feel qualified…it felt out of my league…but I sensed God’s direction and so I (a bit hesitantly) offered my availability. A month later, I was officially accepted and knew for sure: I would be spending January through May in Uganda! God provided in a really big way for me to come here—even when my faith was weak. He certainly deserves all the praise for that.

So the past five weeks I have been adjusting to living in the African bush. A friend last night asked me if I’d had culture shock, or how I liked it so far. There are, of course, differences in lifestyle. While some things are more challenging here (no running water at my hut, intermittent electricity and Internet), I can honestly say that I like it here just as much as in the U.S. Different can sometimes mean better :D

One of the many things college taught me is that I’ve always been a small-town girl at heart—and so spending four months mostly in the mega-tropolis of DFW was not always easy….especially having spent the three months previous in places where I could easily walk a short distance and be by myself surrounded by trees or open country. Going to a city park (which I did sometimes) is just not the same as walking out one’s back door and straight up a deserted mountain…or leaving one’s dorm and shortly later arriving at a hidden little hollow in the woods. Here in Uganda, I’ve already find a couple spots at our mission’s compound that I’ve visited for the same purpose. And it’s nice to have that chance again.

I’m also loving the opportunity to spend a lot of time with kids here. In addition to the five I came to work with (who are mostly teens/pre-teens), there are five kids all under the age of 9 who live right around my hut. Their parents are attending the same Institute training that the parents I came with are in. Just this morning, two of the little girls – ages 3 and 5, I think – were just hanging around my hut. They’re pretty fun and mostly sweet – though sometimes rambunctious and crazy of course :) The other three “Institute kids” are siblings, ages 9, 6, and 2. I love indulging my inner childhood spirit playing with them all :D

The adults have also made the experience an enjoyable one. Ugandan culture places a high priority on relationships, and it certainly shows. There are about a dozen adults (plus the five younger kids) who eat all of our meals together, and as we gather we greet one another with handshakes or hugs. It’s just been a great blessing to be in a small community like this, as part of the larger New Hope Uganda community at Kasana.

Do I miss JBU and my college friends, and my family, and the places/people where I left parts of my heart this summer? Of course I do. It’s hard for me to believe how long it’s been already since those places were my current home. I’ll always be thankful for them and jump at any chance to visit. And I’ve been grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to use Skype, Facebook, email, the phone, etc. to keep in touch with folks over the past nine months (WOW) since graduation. But life goes on, and this is where God has me for now—and I am blessed :)