A Ugandan Christmas song

Another missionary here made up a version of "Jingle Bells" related to transportation in a taxi here in Uganda. I love it and all my students sang it for me this morning. Here it is:

Dashing through the mud

In a four door taxi van

Fourteen passengers

And a conductor hanging on. 

No lights, no brakes, no horn

But still we carry on

We're going to our jja-ja's house

We'll get there just at dawn. 

Oh..

Chicken here, chicken there, chicken in my ear,

Bok, bok, bok!

Oh what fun it is to ride in a taxi without gears.

Chicken here, chicken there, chicken in my ear,

Bok, bok, bok!

Oh what fun it is to ride in a taxi without gears!

Lyrics by Julie Probst

A rough week

Last week was a particularly challenging one for me. The week began with the poles bringing electricity onto campus being cut down (no one knows why) my phone freezing up, and saying goodbye to my friend and prayer partner who is moving up North with her 3 children to be with family since her husband has left her. I also got a 24 hour stomach virus or something.

I went to town and found that it would take several days to fix my phone, which turned out to be nearly the whole week. The back-up generator which usually runs 6-9 hours a day when power is out, was not working properly. A little girl here was diagnosed with an incurable disease. I was unable to find the medicine in Jinja to help with managing her symptoms. While I was in town looking for the medicine at several different pharmacies, I slammed my left index finger in the van door. My whole nail turned black and as they say here, "It has been paining me." Throbbing actually. So we decided to drain it to relieve a bit of the pressure. Sharon graciously offered to use a drill bit to put a hole in my nail to drain the blood. Draining it has decreased the pain, but I continue to hit it on things. 

It was in the midst of these frustrating circumstances that I began rereading the book of Philippians. I know that later in the book, the apostle Paul discusses contentment and rejoicing always, but chapter 1 really struck me that day. Paul was saying that his imprisonment has furthered the gospel. His concern was not that he was mistreated and had to suffer, but he had his focus on what God might accomplish for the sake of His Kingdom through these circumstances. He even goes on to say that this life is "labor," but he knows that God is working for a purpose in the midst of it. 

I wonder how I could view my circumstances with more of a kingdom perspective? I have no idea how God will use this little girl's sickness or my friend's difficult situation or a finger injury for his kingdom, but I am going to cling to the promise of Romans 8:28ff.  "God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." 

By the way, my finger is looking much better now that I have drained it. It isn't all black anymore, but it is still a bit gross. :) 

Hosanna African Children's Choir

These are not the faces you would expect to find in an African Children's choir, are they? But the children here at Good Shepherd's Fold have welcomed our oldest two children into their choir and are teaching our kids to drum, dance and sing in the Luganda language. 

This past weekend was a choir camp here at GSF. The kids practiced many songs, played games, and even watched the "Sound of Music." Elijah and Esther really enjoyed the opportunity to better get to know the kids who live here at GSF. One of the girls who grew up here leads the choir along with help from several of the teenagers. They sound really good, and it is fun to watch them dancing. 

One very kind boy, named Henry, has been helping Elijah learn how to play the drums. Henry has been here at GSF for many years and is a great drummer. It was so nice seeing him take his free times to help Elijah learn the rhythms. Elijah is really catching on. 

I am very thankful that Elijah and Esther are getting some music instruction and making new friends. This weekend of camp was great! 

Christmas cards are welcome!

As we have settled into our new home here at GSF, I began putting up pictures on our refrigerator. I realized that many of these pictures were from last year's Christmas cards. We would love to update your family photo on our refrigerator or add you to our collage. If you would like to mail a card to us, here is the address:

      The Fish family
      PO Box 1960
      Jinja, Uganda

If you don't want to spend the extra postage, please save a picture for us and I will get it from you in January when I am in the states. We love to see your smiling faces several times a day! Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was our first Thanksgiving here in Uganda, and we had a great day! It was a day or cooking, playing, eating, resting, and having fun with friends!

We spent most of the day with our dear friends, the Lawsons. Jennifer cooked the turkey (It was store bought in Kampala; sorry I don't have a great story about that), and we made most of the sides together. Fruit salad with the fresh fruit here is delicious! We also made many of the traditional Thanksgiving items. (We did use a bit of food coloring to make our yellow sweet potatoes look orange.) Special thanks to Mom and Dad Fish who sent a care package so that we could enjoy some of our holiday favorite foods! Yes, that is stuffing and sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top in the photo! 

On Wednesday we each made a pie in advance. Jennifer made pecan pie using the pecans Mom and Dad Fish sent; I made pumpkin pie. I started with a pumpkin, flour, shortening, eggs, milk powder and some spices and ended up with a delicious pie! In the past I had either purchased a pie at Publix or bought a can of pumpkin and a pre-made crust. I am learning much about cooking here. By the way, did you know that spaghetti sauce comes from boiled tomatoes, not just from a jar? Haha 

As we ate dinner we talked about the things we are thankful for, and about what we miss as we all were experiencing our first holiday in Uganda. We have so much for which to be thankful. I never would have imagined that God would bless us with friends who moved to Jinja the same month, with kids similar ages who have become such dear friends so quickly. It was a such blessing to be together on this Thanksgiving day. As we discussed what we miss, we said that we miss family and friends most, but by the end of the day I was thinking about how we also miss dishwashers. ;) I still vote family and friends are first, but a dishwasher might be a close second. 

As we reflect on so many people and things for which we are thankful, I have been thinking about how thankful I am that we are here. God has brought us to a place where our gifts and experience are useful to support a ministry that we are passionate about. We are so thankful for Good Shepherd's Fold and the privilege of being a part of this team here. 

As we returned to GSF campus, we heard laughter coming from next door. Many of the missionary families had gathered for another game of Dutch Blitz. We joined in the fun for a good end to a great day! Happy Thanksgiving!

What Zeke is learning in Uganda

Since Zeke turned 3 today, I thought it might be fun to reflect on the things he has been learning in his first 5 months here in Uganda. (The spiderman bike was his present and he loves it!) It is interesting to see how Zeke has adjusted here, what Ugandan sayings, habits, etc. he is picking up. This boy keeps me laughing. Here is a list:

1- Sharing- Zeke is learning to share his mom's lap. Whenever we go to play at the toddler house, I somehow end up with about 5 children in my lap. Zeke always checks in to make sure I still have room for him, but then he is usually content to run and play on the slide or swings. 

2- Potty training- Thankfully Zeke has been one of my easiest children to potty train and rarely has accidents. But apparently he has been observing that not everyone uses a toilet. A couple days ago Zeke said, "I have to go potty!" Then he proceeded to run outside, pull down his pants and pee on the grass. He is also one of the few American 2 year olds who knows how to use a "squatty potty." And when he missed the squatty potty and got his clothes wet, he learned that in Uganda it is ok for two year olds to run around without pants. Actually, that is the norm.  (No photo for this one.) 

3- Language- Zeke has begun learning some Luganda, the primary local language. The morning greeting is, "Wasusotia," and the reply is, "Bulungi." Zeke enjoys greeting people in their language, but he likes to reply, "Balloon!" He actually knows how to say it properly, but he enjoys making a joke. Of course everyone loves hearing a little mzungu speak Luganda!

4- Relationships- Zeke spends most of his mornings with Bobby, Claudia's son who is 3. These two have a lot of fun together! Bobby has been living as the only boy in Claudia's home since he was a baby. (Alex is now there too.) Zeke talks about his mommy and daddy, so Bobby has now declared that, "David is my daddy too." So Bobby and Zeke have declared themselves brothers. They are so cute together. The other day Bobby was looking for Zeke and he spotted him across campus and said, "See, there is Zeke's little white head." 

5- Rude sayings- While Zeke and Bobby where playing, Zeke said, "I'm gonna whip your butt." Claudia told Zeke that his mom would not want him to talk that way. Zeke replied, "My mama teached me to say that." (To clarify, I have never said that phrase, other than on the basketball court many years before my children were born, and I certainly did not teach it to my 2 year old. But our missionary team here is enjoying teasing me about it. I don't know where Zeke heard that phrase, but we obviously have some instruction to do.) 

6- Electricity- Since blackouts are fairly common here, anytime Zeke is in a room with the lights out he thinks it is a blackout. We are working on the distinction between when the lights are turned off and when they cannot be turned on.

7- His birthday- For those of you reading this from America, you will probably be experiencing some colder weather and the leaves are probably all brown or off the trees. Here in Uganda, the temp is in the 80s and it is sunny and green. So we are celebrating a birthday in the end of November with a pool party! One day Zeke will learn that he can't have pool parties on his birthday in America, but for today, we are going to enjoy splashing in the pool! We have invited two other three year old boys who have become Zeke's closest buddies here, Bobby and Abraham. The Lawsons also came and brought a blue cake, at Zeke's request. All three of these families joining us made our celebration so much fun! Here is a cute picture of the three year olds playing together. 

All in all, Zeke is doing very well adjusting to life here in Uganda. He is a sweet, cute, three year old. He does require some instruction and training in self-control, but I still do too. Please pray with us for God's ongoing work in Zeke's heart, that he would grow to be a man after God's heart, living with joy and love, for God's kingdom and glory! 

Our first few days on campus

Saturday was our first official full day living on campus. On Friday we cleared our stuff out of our Jinja house and brought it all here. We really enjoyed our first Saturday at Good Shepherd's Fold. Most of the day was spent settling in here, cleaning, putting away, and organizing. 

In the afternoon we took a little break from our work inside and did some gardening at the schoolhouse. It was fun to work on that project to beautify the area around where we work and live. Our older kids also had the opportunity to go to a class with the children who live here at GSF about making crafts with Banana Fibers. Jonah, who grew up here at GSF and now makes and sells these type of crafts, has been coming back on Saturdays to teach the children here. It is neat to see how he is investing in the next generation of GSF kids. 

 

In this picture you can also see our home in the background. It is a duplex and we live in the left half. You can also see David working on his gardening project, while teaching Ezra and Chad, a young man who has been growing up here. 

Later that evening we invited the other missionary families over for a game night. We spent much of the time playing Dutch Blitz. I found out that I am not the only one who is competitive while playing games. ;) There was even some hand slapping when someone else played a card first. We laughed a lot and it was good to be here with the team. Our game night continued late, so our kids had a later bedtime, so they crashed quickly and slept well. 

On Sunday our kids attended Sunday school at GSF, then we walked to church in Buundo. We do not know many of the songs yet, but we can clap and dance until we learn the words. There are not any hymnals or even bulletins with praise songs printed here. You just have to learn the songs. Esther went to children's choir practice in the afternoon so she could begin learning. 

We had the privilege of spending Sunday afternoon with my friend Judith and her children. They joined us for lunch and the kids played together most of the afternoon. Judith took me around to the nearest market and to visit some people in the village of Buundo. Overall, Sunday was a good day. 

Today was David's birthday! After school, the kids and I came back to our home to make frosting for the cake. We had a team potluck dinner, so it was fun to celebrate with our team. After dinner we were walking back to our house and out of nowhere, people come running at us. Here in Uganda it is a tradition to "water" (throw water on) someone on their birthday. Our students and the older kids who live here at GSF, had all gotten large basins full of water. Henry held David while they drenched him! There was not a dry stitch of clothing on his body. Then they all sang "Happy Birthday" in their upbeat Ugandan way. David just started dancing soaking wet in the street. It was a fun memory. 

We are so glad to be here on campus! Many of these fun times were not possible when we were living in Jinja, needing to drive back each night. We are so grateful for these first few days on campus and look forward to many more!