The children lift up their hands to Yeshua-10th Avenue North

This semester's first grade chapel was a doosie. This year has been a stretching one so far. It's really different working with 15 boys and 4 girls. Most of them are Ugandan so even the parental involvement is surprisingly different. 

So when it was time for me to get 1st grade ready for their chapel, I picked something that they really loved telling the story of...Noah's Ark! 

We've also been learning about some of the different names that God has. One of the children in our class is named Emmanuel, which means "God with us". Earlier this year they had a homework assignment to find out what their name meant which really interested the children. So, this brought to mind a song that 10th Avenue North used to sing at camp called "God with us". As most of you know, I sing all the time. So I've been teaching the kids lots of songs through out the year so far. I have also been teaching the children some signs when we learn our word wall words to help them remember them more. So, combining these efforts I taught them to sign out the song "God with us". One of the lyrics is "The children lift up their hands to Yeshua, God of love, Emmanuel, God with us". Here's a picture a friend took of the kids signing that song.

The kids went on to move outside while I stayed inside the chapel. Just outside the door sat a small child squatting on the ground ready with the microphone. I started off by singing "The Lord said to Noah..." and he chimes in singing the wrong words- "to build me an archy archy." The crowd erupts in laughter. My kids all start screaming and standing on their tip toes to get a glimpse of how people were reacting. Oh my. I got the crowd and my children calmed down and corrected my student so we could start again. This time around things went much smoother with the lyrics, but the kids were still their rambunctious selves! In the process of me stepping out to get the weather people to come in for "it rained and poured...", the other children were in the ark singing "So Rise and Shine" and the animals on the ark decided to climb up onto the risers for some fun. Never a dull moment with these kids. 

We ended by singing the chorus "I will cast all my cares upon you" and had one my students tell the audience what that meant which was really rather endearing. 

While the chapel didn't exactly turn out the way I had originally intended, for the rest of the day I did have people walking up to me telling me how funny of a chapel it had been!

I am glad that week was over, as all in the same week was my class chapel, my assembly (where I taught the elementary school the song "He's my rock, my sword, my shield..."), report cards due, parent-teacher conferences and a special fellowship night with my KIU gals. Needless to say that Friday night I relaxed, but looked back on the week as a real experience and one where God was very VERY very present in my life! Praise the Lord for all of his goodness :)

Caught up in the crowd a million faces reaching for the stars that lost their places- Mending Point

The glamorous side of Uganda is a fascinating one (not that I know much of that life in the US). One of my friends here found out about the Miss Uganda pageant and proposed that a bunch of us go to it. Some of us joined in when we found out that they had lowered the price to an affordable rate. The day of the event 3 of us hopped into the matatu taxi vans and went downtown to Owino to find some random dressy things to wear. Success! I wore a black top with sequins ($2) and black heels ($6) along with my designer jeans that I had bought the previous time around. We went early and hung out on the balcony of the hotel until the doors opened. I was happy we got there early because we were able to get seats that were fairly close to the cat walk. The whole event was really rather entertaining and another fascinating cultural experience. They had traditional dances, talked about the pride of their country, and even had a traditional dress walk. Just in front of us were the VIP tables. One of the guys we went with is casual and when no one was sitting at the table he went up and sat there. Soon there were 3 girls sitting at his table- Brenda (who designed the swimsuits for the competition), Angela, and the previous Miss Uganda. Before we knew it we had scored free tickets to the after pageant VIP dinner with all of the contestants! WOW! While it may have happened at 1am, it was so neat to meet these women and learn some more of their stories. My roommate and I even got our picture taken with the newly crowned Miss Uganda! We've stayed in contact with Brenda and Angela, even going to Brenda's wedding dress show the following night! Since then we have gotten together with the two of them several times. It's really neat to get to know someone with so many connections. They are both from Uganda and have fascinating stories of growing up through war, but rising above it and they both lived and learned in London for some time. One night when we got together I got to sing with Brenda's cousin's band in a hotel lobby! And I'm getting some more connections so I might get to sing some more! How exciting is that? Brenda called me the other day and said she was being my agent here :)

People all over the world live such different lives, even across the city from each other, and I consider it a privilege to get to learn more and more every day!

Lala Salama- song sung in Kenya meaning 'Peace, sleep well'

This past weekend was a unique experience for me! I had the wonderful opportunity to join a group of over 100 Kenyan, Ugandan, Tanzanian, and Sudanese University students on an island retreat! It was put on by the UFC (United Faith Chapel) AGC (African Gospel Church) that our mission started at the local university, KIU (Kampala International University). My roommate and I joined them late on Friday. We went to the Palace (the building we hold meetings in by the school) to meet up with a few other students who were also joining late. It was 5 pm by the time we went out to catch a matatu (van taxi) to the Ggaba landing site. When we got down to the water we did some small shopping to stock up on drinking water, candles, etc. 

We eventually loaded in a long skinny boat and started on our way with the sun starting to set through the clouds. It was already such a joy to be with people who really knew how to laugh!  Just look at them all laughing!

It only took about half an hour to get to the ‘island’ (we are still not sure whether it was actually an island or was a place that would have been too long of a drive to get there otherwise). When we arrived we were lead to our dorm rooms to drop our things off. There were about 10 little houses on the property like this one where we all slept. 

Then we headed down to the pavilion where the sessions were being held. As we walked down the path towards the water we were met with an influx of all the people heading up to eat dinner. It felt almost like a wedding line where everyone wanted to stop and hug Teresa and me- such an amazingly warm meeting! We all headed up for a dinner of Ugali (cassava or corn flour cooked in water), rice, beans and stew. After dinner we all headed back down the hill to the pavilion for an evening session which lasted until 9:30ish. After the evening meeting we all hiked back up to our respective rooms to prepare for bed. I happily fell asleep at around 10:30pm (when the power went off- it was only on from 7pm to then). This is where it got interesting for me-all throughout the night I was awoken by girls getting up to shower. And while they were up…why not sing at 4am??? Wow! Many East Africans shower 2 times a day or more! One of the ladies was SHOCKED that I shower every other day. She also thought it was funny that I like warm showers as she thoroughly enjoys her cold ones. Culture is so fascinating! Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much this weekend! We were pulled out of bed at 6:15am because we were all to do morning quiet time devotions down by the lake at 6:30. 

While this is a wonderful blessing, I did not want to be awake earlier than a weekday on my Saturday. The Lord used it for good however…look at how focused this student is!

After quiet time we had whole group devotions until breakfast at 8am. For breakfast we had bread with blue band (veggie oil butter), a hard-boiled egg and chai tea (slightly different than American chai- the base is boiled milk with lots of sugar and black tea leaves). We then sat down for the next sessions, which lasted us until 2:30 pm with two 10 minute breaks. Lunch was rice with tomatoes and some stew. After lunch we went back down for more sessions until dinner at 9pm! That was some intensive learning that was just soaked right up by rigorous note takers! The only time they seemed to struggle in concentrating was when the half-dollar sized spiders dropped down from above! We had a two main speakers, a Bishop from Kenya and a Ugandan pastor, both quite talented speakers! Dinner was matoke and meat (which I did not partake of). That night was a bit better in terms of sleep. The next morning we again woke up at the crack of dawn for quite time. I took advantage of this and took lots of pictures around the water. It is so relaxing to walk around during the sunrise and snap away freely in peace. I’ve really missed nature living in the big city and soaked up the chance to take pictures of anything!!! Here’s some of my findings! This was a real gift to me!

After devotions we had breakfast: Sweet potatoes and matoke with chai…an interesting, but actually quite tasty, combo. We all journeyed back down towards the chapel and had a great church service of healing and restoration! Such a blessing for these hard working university students. Lunch oddly enough was porridge, which I really did not want to try at first and there was bread available so I opted for that. However, one of my friends pulled me over (someone who has been giving me HUGE portions all week) and convinced me to take a taste. He cooled it down for me to taste, and I sipped at it, finding myself really enjoying the gritty drink. It’s so healthy too! So he gave me some more and I drank it down. Here we are enjoying the deliciousness!

I’m amazed here how quickly some people can eat. I know that I am a slow eater, but wow! Some of my friends were telling me that when they were children either their mom would beat them if they did not eat fast enough or their brothers and sisters would come and eat it. Thus, they’ve learned to scarf down their food!

We started to gather up people to head down to the dock so we could begin our journey back to the big city. My roomie and I put my pack in the pile and loaded the boat expecting to leave fairly soon. An hour later we were being shoved off of the dock with water already leaking into the boat. You put 120 Kenyans in a boat who don’t know how to swim…and it’s quite an experience! There were not enough life jackets for everyone, so only people who had no experience swimming got one. Funny thing is, I had to explain to someone that if they are in water with a life jacket on, they don’t need to panic- just sit still and they will float. Imagine! They would have panicked, dragging those of us who do know how to swim down with them.  The boat ride back was much longer, seeing as this was the ‘mini titanic’ and the motor was the same size as the small boat we came on. The time was well spent enjoying those around me, laughing, talking and singing all the way! When we got back to the landing site we slowly off loaded, and some of the gents rolled up their trousers and carried some of us ladies off so we wouldn’t get wet! Then some of the other guys went and bargained with several matatus to take us back to the Palace. We piled in and rode rather quickly down Ggaba road. The three of us (me, my roommate and her brother) got off at the main hostel of KIU and caught boda-bodas back home. I was warmly greeted by my little askari (guard- really, his son Benti) and threw down my things to lay down. I emerged 2 hours later, sun burnt and still exhausted to go to a meeting. As you can guess, I slept like a ROCK that night…my solid foundation laid.

It’s been so exciting even in the past week to see how those relationships have grown and to have really multiplied my friends over in Kabalagala. I’ve even learned more Kiswahili thanks to them! I am so grateful for their gift of friendship and it is such an honor to be teaching them what God and his followers have taught me.

If you want to see more pictures of this camp, go here to enjoy: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037435&id=30200100&l=8c098bc837 

When my enemies draw near I pray that they will find that I'm protected and secure...I can lean against your throne and find my Peace-Jennifer Knapp

School closed early today. There are riots througout the city.
The short of it is that one of the tribal Kings was coming into the city without proper permission to attend an event by the central government. People got upset, and there's been clashes between the Buganda and Government since Wednesday night. Rubber bullets are a clear mark of riots, as are the thick dark clouds of smoke rising from buildings and tires. People have already been killed downtown and on some of the outskirts. Luckily nothing has come that close to us- I have heard some things that I would rather not hear such as sirens and a gun shoot off. However, apparently sometimes the police here shoot off rounds up into the air during times like this. We were on lock down today at home, not being allowed to travel anywhere at all. Tonight my mission has said that we are allowed to go down the road, which will be nice to spend some time with some other people. 

Please pray for peace. It makes me so sad to hear about all of this. People fighting over power is seems sad when the real Ruler of all is in Heaven and can handle it all. May peace reign. 

Below are some pictures from school today. It was the end of Spiritual Emphasis week, so I praise God that we got to have the last chapel which was so INCREDIBLY moving! The spirit of the Lord was so evident that tears kept coming to my eyes. I also had to say goodbye to a beloved little student of mine who is returning to Italy to be with her mother who is very ill from cancer. That family could use continued prayer as well. They will be so missed, and they will miss their home of 10+ years, Uganda. 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise God that I can lean against His throne to find my peace any time of day, any day of my life!

The morning started out B-E-A-UTIFUL!

During Chapel: A drama about God. Jesus said "Let the little children come to me"...and they all ran up to him!

Children being prayed over by teachers and parents.

Me praying over my student who is leaving to be with her sick mom.

We were so blessed to have a WHOLE STAFF communion service after the service. Here you see the second grade teacher Margaret serving Grace, one of the cleaners at the school. 

Ilaria and me. I found that shirt at Owino last week...perfect  for saying goodbye to my little Italian student!

These kids make me smile :)

One of my little 1st graders singing "Give us clean hands"

Don’t get comfortable- Brandon Heath

So, the past year of showers in my humble little apartment have been interesting.

Here's a little journey of my bathroom:

Christina (the first roomie) filling up the back of the toilet when that wouldn't work.

The contraption that was added to mix the cold water with the boiling water so that it would not scald us. So we lived with a shower that we were constantly turning the handles of to just get a shower that would go through cycles of hot, cold, hot, cold.

Me, very confused about what to do (notice the lid still off of the toilet in the foreground). 

Forward about 9 months- the kitchen sink stopped working, so we were washing pots in the bathroom. Meet Teresa, the new roomie. 

This is the bucket shower method. Instead of fixing the shower, they took away the only way to shower without being burnt. Plus, we couldn't shower when there was no power- fun when it's gone for 5 days! So, we fill up this tub with boiling and freezing water, then use a pitcher to shower.

The next attempt at making our shower better. Meet "the widow-maker". There's a reason they are called that! I was the only one to try this little guy out. When I showered with it i got burnt and there were sparks flying out of the front of it where that switch is. That switch was supposed to help you if you wanted hot, cold or a mix- pretty sure it was wired backwards so I was trying to figure it out when the blue lights started flying.  I stopped that shower quick!

THE NEW MACHINE! This thing may not seem amazing, but you have no idea how wonderful it is to have a warm shower in your home. It is a small tank so it's not a long shower at all, and there's not very much pressure, but it's great! And now we can have a cold shower when the power is off! There's even a little temperature gauge on this thing! 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Don't forget to be thankful for the little blessings you have, and don't get too comfortable ;)

You’re never fully dressed without a smile-Annie

This became evermore clear to me after my Owino experience this week. My one and only pair of jeans that I brought with me have two giant holes right above the knees and are not appropriate here. So, considering that I LOVE wearing jeans, I needed to find a new pair. Being that new clothes are a rare find here, and when they are found are really rather expensive, I ventured to the giant open air market known as Owino with 3 of my friends. This is a place that is very difficult to describe to someone who has never been before. It is also well known that you don’t take your camera there, or else I would have a picture. Truth be told, it would be difficult to capture the chaos of this place through a lens. I just went searching for a picture on google images, but nothing does it justice. It’s massive and easy to get lost in. They sell everything there! It’s a dark maze struggling to find your way through stacks of shirts, pinned pants, hanging winter coats, chains of shoes, and steaming matoke. I was happy to be with friends especially this time as I looked for jeans.  I found one pair that seemed to fit me from holding them up and I was thinking about moving on because they seemed a bit long. But then I looked at the name brand: United Colors of Bennonton. Wow. The only reason I knew that this was an expensive brand was because I saw their stores all over the place in Europe this summer. I bargained with the man to bring down the price to around $7 and walked away feeling alright. I showed my friends and they were amazing saying that in the US they would have cost $150!!!!!! I couldn’t believe it. I never paid more than $25 for a pair of jeans! African just don’t have that sense of name brands and think only of what it looks like. I do enjoy that most of the time, but I am also looking for quality- so sometimes it is important to know what you’re looking at. However, I wasn’t quite sure that they fit me. So walking along I looked up and saw another stand smothered in jeans. As usual, the owner reached out his hand and grabbed my arm. I gave in this time because the jeans hanging on his makeshift wall looked pretty nice. He asked quickly started pulling some off the wall for me to look at, asking me if I wanted skinny jeans or boot cut. He asked me how big of a flare I wanted on them. He did at one point go to a few stalls over and borrow a tape measure. A lot of the things in this market come from Europe and I didn’t know my size, only in American numbers (which don’t really make sense). I watched amusingly as he measured my waist…backwards!!!!!! It didn’t really matter however, because he seemed to know exactly what he was doing (kind of). He suggested over and over again that I try them on. I looked around and laughed. How in the world was I going to try on a pair of jeans at Owino? The man wanted to hold up a dirty sheet with a few holes in it to cover me from the masses of people. I declined, but he insisted. I don’t know how he convinced me, but I instead got my roommate, Teresa, to do the holding of the curtain. It was so awkward. I peeked around as I slipped my capris off making sure that there were no gaps between the thin boards that made up the walls. I didn’t see any eyes, so I figured I was somewhat safe. I did however pull down my shirt as far as it could stretch, just in case. As I attempted to put first pair on I couldn’t help but smile and laugh the entire time. These trousers were a disaster. I put back on the linen that I came in. Then he found another pair that he was CONVINCED would fit me. So, back I went into the changing room made of a block with cardboard (on which I had to remove my shoes) and a coffin sized box on the side. This pair failed to slip over my thighs. He handed me one more to try and BINGO. Perfect! I couldn’t believe how well they fit! I did however have to curb my enthusiasm. If you show too much interest in a product, it is much harder to bargain down to a good price. The process began. He started at 45,000/= (around $21). Wowzers. That is just crazy- they see a white face and instantly think money and stupidity. Luckily, I know better. I explained that I could get new jeans for cheaper than that in the US and that I had just gotten jeans of good quality for a third of that price. He thought I was saying his jeans were not good quality- I quickly explained to him that his were, but that different makers means how long they will last. Plus, I asked Agnes (the assistant teacher in my class) how much they should be. Luckily, without too much haggling, I got him down to the same price as the other pair. I was happy to pay that because of the fact that I had never had a pair of jeans fit me so well since my pair that gave out in grade 8. It may have been an incredibly awkward experience changing in the middle of that market, but I am SO happy I did J

I can’t even count the number of times that I was tagged, grabbed, or cat called. I can’t recall all of the countries that people called out to us (“Hey Russian” “Hey Scottish” “Hey Obama! How is he doing?”, etc.). But it was worth it this time around.

I went with the intention of buying jeans. I got 5 shirts of all types, 2 pairs of jeans (that both fit amazingly), 7 oranges, a pile or tomatoes, a pile or potatoes, 2 packets of seeds, 4 mandazi, and an interesting story all for under $25. Amazing. 

Where are the greener pastures? You [Christ] are my greener pastures –David Crowder

 Guards here in Uganda are kind of essential for people who live in actual homes, especially if you are a foreigner. I’ve had lots of them pass through my compound over the past year. From what I know it is due to the small amount that they are paid by the land lord. I can’t imagine what our guard gets paid. People quitting over a small amount being paid is a pretty big deal here. They are grateful for any job, and even the lowest of the normal amount that guards are paid is pretty dirt dirt cheap. The guard that we have now has been here for several months. I don’t know much about him, besides the fact that he is from the DRC and speaks Kiswahili and French. Neither of which language I am any good at…so hence the lack of knowledge. Along with him is his wife and what seems to be a 3 year old boy living with him. The set up for him is actually not that bad in terms of how housing goes for guards- he’s got a bedroom with a big bed in it (that’s all that’s in there I think), a room on the other side of the house-like structure where a refrigerator is held and there are some stools, then around the back of our apartments is an outhouse with a drop toilet and a bathing room. It may not seem like home to you or I, but it’s not all that bad. However, the wife does not have a job either. I’m guessing that they are refugees here- at least that was the story of my last Congolese guard.

I feel bad for them and wonder how much they are actually eating. The only time I ever see them eat is late at night sitting outside of their house on the ground with a little coal stove things and a pot. It’s really not that uncommon for people to only be able to afford one meal a day here. But that doesn’t make it any easier. Especially when I feel like I can do something about it.  The hard part about that is what happens when I leave. I mean, while I’m here I can go out once a week and bring them back some bread, blue band (like butter), sugar and some soap, but once I’m gone, they are stuck again. And then…that is what they will come to expect, and won’t be able to find it. I know one woman in a village who worked for a mzungu that paid much higher than the normal house worker (and more than a normal person could afford here), then the mzungu left and since then she has not found a job because her standards have been raised and won’t accept less. I don’t want that to become true for my guard and his family. So, when I do bring back food it is sparatic and a surprise. Tonight I came back from a dinner with a team that is here to build for a school out on the island we work on, and I had some extra cornbread. So, when I came into the apartment I went to the kitchen, pulled out a napkin and placed the 3 remaining pieces on the red paper. As I walked outside to give it to them my mind scrambled to think of the words in either French or Swahili to convey the message of what this odd thing was that I was handing over. All I could come up with (as usual) was a mix of the two languages-“Bonjour, pour tu, maize…karibu sana, la la salama” A rough translation is “Hello, for you, corn…you are very welcome, peace sleep well”. Yeah…not the best, I know. When I steped out my door and closed it behind me so the mosquitoes wouldn’t seep in, I noticed that they were not eating. Now, I’m not sure if they have already eaten their meal, or are going to eat it later (people generally eat dinner here around 9:30ish at night). As I walked over the man sat up from his prostrate position on the gravel with child and reached out his hands while his wife got up from her stool to kneel and extend her own arms, as is the traditional way to receive. To give you some what of a better idea of these people…I’m guessing that the parents are younger than me. One of the pieces of corn bread slipped out onto the rocks below as I handed it over to the gentleman. Instantly the little boy picked it up and started saying repeatedly “asante, asante sana (thank you, thank you very much)” over and over and over and over again and stuffed the crumbling morsels into his mouth.

Sometimes life here becomes normal. Then there are moments like this that makes you beg and sit here dialoging with God about the best thing to do. Sometimes I wonder if there is an answer.

I know that people are hungry here right now. Especially in the northern part of Uganda, spread all across where there is drought which has lead to famine. Arua has not had a good rain fall since September of last year! It’s one thing if people are going hungry because they are too lazy to plant (which is the case sometimes), but quite another when there is not enough rain to plant, so the cycle continues. Then if you factor in the fact that the World Food Program has deserted the people they have been helping in Soroti & Gulu to move to the Karamajong area boardering Kenya, it gets complicated. I was told just yesterday that some people who have $300/month jobs are quitting because they see they can get free food. Please pray for rain. Pray with me that as God is seeking out the hearts of his children in Uganda that he would fill their stomachs as well. May God give us wisdom in sharing our blessings!