life in Uganda

I have two months left here in Uganda before the institute ends. That seems shockingly close. I feel like I just got settled, learned a little Luganda, making friends, understanding life a little better. I want to see all of you people back home, but I want you to come here so I don't have to leave. Can you all just do that for me? That would be great, thanks. You would love it.

What is life like here?

Well, the sun rises and sets every day here at pretty much the same time and in the same place. The sun is always up by 7 am and down by about the same time. Equator life revolves around the sun.

Before the sun is rises, you begin to hear all of creation stir. The chickens are calling, the oxen are mooing, the cicadas start to sing. The sun is generally a beautiful orange color when it first comes up. Not long after the sun is up, you hear the kids heading off to school for the day. They are all dressed in their royal blue uniforms and not long after arriving at school you hear drumming and excited kids singing to begin the day.

I am out of bed, getting dressed and washing my face before breakfast. I look in on Valerie (my roommate, love her!) to see if she is up yet. I head up to breakfast with a few schoolmates-Jenny, Collin and Medie. We are usually eating bread, sometimes its frozen, sometimes thawed and I decide whether or not I'm eating that, or ramen noodles for breakfast.

I head back to my little three room banda and finish getting ready, the usual, doxy so I don't get malaria, happy pills and vitamins, brush teeth and put on make up if I have time.

Head to class and have quick study of the chronological Bible before jumping into the day's topic. About an hour and a half in, I either desperately need to pee or I start to fall asleep. It's a lot of sitting for long stretches, and I'm still not used to it. We break at 10:30 for tea time, which is milk tea, and a snack. Then back to finish class until lunch which is at 1. Lunch is at 1 because the African way of telling time is different. The sun comes up at 7(or 1 in African time), so midday is actuallyw hen the sun is overhead, therefore, lunch is at 1 instead of 12.

Our class is small, only about 13 people. We have covered such topics as worldview, fear, racism, Old and New Testament, counseling, the Fatherhood of God, Biblical man/womanhood, suffering, child rearing, and hell, just to name a few. God has changed me in so many ways and challenged me more than I thought possible through this institute. I thought I knew most of this stuff, I went to Christian college, right? No, I only knew in part, and Mukama (God) has revealed Himself to me and showed me the depths of my sin and His amazing love and grace over and over again in each of these areas. He is so good.

If it's not my day to dishes, and its a Monday or a Thursday, I head up to the clinic where the special needs school meets. Brian squeals with joy when I walk through the door and he immediately wants me to get him out of his wheelchair and go outside to look at the “cockos” or chickens. I then help Kakulu to learn how to use his right hand, or help little Allen take her fingers out of her mouth, or make Ivan smile. Then they all pack up to go home and I take Kakulu or Brian to Hasan's house (a special needs equipped home). I head over to Kim, my mentor's home. We sit on her back porch which overlooks just a few trees, some green grass and an enormous blue African sky with dramatic clouds. She lives at the secondary site and from her porch we watch animals like little deer or birds play while I share what God is teaching me, I'm struggling with, or she shares with me about her week. God has met us there many times as He gently reveals things in my life that aren't yet made beautiful through His love. When we see the cows and the sheep with their little ones come by to graze, we know its close to dinner time. As I walk home, the journey is filled with, “Jabale ssabo/nyabo” (well done sir or ma'am), to which they respond, “Kale. Jabale nyabo”, and I say “Kale” (Kale is like yes, it's good, thank you, and ok depending on the context).

If its Wednesday, I try to join the kids in the garden to dig. We use the hoe(which I need to retrieve from them by the way) to clear out the weeds or plant a new crop. I work beside the kids and they ask me all kinds of questions, usually about two things: what is it like in America(do you dig in your garden Auntie? Eee! No? Then how do you get food?) or about God and how to tell if He is speaking to you. If I'm asking the questions I want to know where the kiddo is from, if their family is alive, what they want to be when they leave here, and what to the wrestle with God about. Unless of course we are just somehow teasing each other.

I leave for dinner and then to shower outside with what little daylight is left. Hopefully the water sat out long enough to get somehow warm.

Once the sun goes down, the sounds of African worship start to fill the air with sounds of drumming and children singing to Katonda (the Creator) before evening devotions and worship. Its such a great thing to live around children singing praise to God, in their language and with the specific culture God gave them to worship Him. I love it. I can't believe you all are missing this. Life is just right, not to busy, but not boring. There is time to value what God and all Ugandans value the most, relationship. Time is secondary.

My evenings at home I see the geckos eat the bugs (I wish they would eat more), do homework if we have any and then get to bed at a reasonable time (I CAN go to bet at 10:30, who knew?).

There are challenges, times of laughter and joy as well as sorrow, but it is all under the hand of my Taata (Father) God. He is sooo good, and I am so blessed to be given this opportunity. Thank you all for your prayers and gifts to get me here, and see me through. I couldn't have done any of it without any of you.