A wonderfully exhausting week

On Monday I wrote about David preaching on Sunday and us taking a woman and her child to the hospital on Monday. If you have not yet read that post, you can read it it here. While I was working on writing that blogpost, David was running errands in Jinja and getting the van worked on. These things took longer than expected, so we ended up driving home late in a borrowed vehicle. It was a good day, but we were a bit worn out by the time we got home.

On Tuesday after school Esther and I went to the hospital to check on the woman and her daughter. I was so happy and relieved when I found the little girl sitting in her mother's lap. She was still very weak, but she was alert and looked so much better than the day before. Honestly, I did not know if she would be alive which was why I was anxious about going to check on her. Esther brought along some small things of hers that she could share with the children in the "pediatric ward," which is just one big room with some beds and cribs. The women and the children there loved meeting Esther and trying to talk with her. I decided to try to pray for the child in Luganda so that the mother could understand. When I said that I was going to pray, the moms from all over the room gathered around. I don't know if it was because they were curious to here a mzungu pray in Luganda, or because they also wanted prayers. I did my best, but I know that God hears and understands even if I still struggle with the language. That night I went to bed feeling so thankful that God was bringing healing to this little girl, but very tired.

At around 1am I received a phone call from my friend and teammate, Katie Fox. Her husband Cody, was diagnosed with malaria on Sunday and had been taking the medication for treatment. He had really improved by Tuesday and even taught that day. But that night he woke with symptoms of cerebral malaria. I had made Katie promise in advance that she would call me at any hour if his malaria got worse and he needed to go to the hospital, so she called. David has more experience driving here, particularly in Kampala and at night, so we decided he would go pick them up Katie and Cody in Nyenga. They decided it would be best to take Cody to a clinic in Kampala that is open 24hrs. David had another chance to be the ambulance driver, but this time not really knowing where he was going in the middle of the night. I stayed home with the kids and prayed. After doing several blood tests, they concluded that Cody was okay, and that he was having side effects from the medication he was taking for treatment. I received a text message around 4am that Cody was alright and they were heading home. I went to sleep around 4:30am and woke when David arrived home a little after 5:30am. As he lay in bed, I tried to make a joke saying, "You could have a second career as an ambulance driver." His replied, "I don't want a second career." Within three minutes he was snoring. We sent a message canceling school since none of the teachers had slept more than an hour or so, and then slept for another hour.

On Wednesday morning we received a phone call from the local hospital administrator that the little girl was ready to be discharged. On Wednesday morning, I took Elijah with me and went to pick up the woman and her child who had recovered so quickly. She was much stronger and even smiled a bit. While we waited for some paperwork, (They had to turn on the generator in order to print the receipt for them to be discharged.) Elijah and I visited and prayed with some others there in the children's ward. He enjoyed passing out stickers to all the children and practicing his Luganda. I wish I had his young mind which seems to learn the language so quickly. We were able to drive them home and talk briefly. If we understood correctly, the father is not in the picture. Unfortunately, this seems all too common in the local villages.

On Thursday, we did not go to any hospitals! We taught school, worked on some ministry related paperwork, and had a generally quieter day. I got a chance to go for a short run which was really good after such a physically and emotionally exhausting several days. In the evening, I went to visit our neighbors and they told me that they had sweet potatoes for me. The sweet potatoes here are white, but they are still very tasty. When they asked if we ate them, I thought that maybe she would give us 6 so that we could each eat one. Instead she brought a huge bag and gave it to me to carry home on my head. Wow, these Ugandan women must be so much stronger than me, because my neck and back are so sore from that sack of potatoes. The Ugandan women told me that if I had a baby on my back and was carrying a 20L jug of water, then I could be like a Ugandan woman. Yikes. I have my work cut out for me.

I thought Friday might just be an ordinary day of school and then a trip to town for some supplies, but I have learned that there is no such thing as an "ordinary day" here. During our morning school break, a Ugandan friend found me and said that she had a gift for me at the gate. I was very curious since most of the gifts I have received from Ugandan friends are food items. I thought, "Why would she leave a bag of tomatoes at the gate?" I walked to the gate to meet her and found her there with a live chicken. The feet were tied and she had obviously carried it here for me. Most of the people around here do not eat meat very often, so a gift of a chicken is an expensive and very generous gift. I was so honored and grateful that this sweet woman sacrificially gave me this amazing gift. I am still overwhelmed by the generous hearts of so many of my Ugandan friends.


I don't know what the rest of today or tomorrow will hold, but this week has been both amazing and exhausting! I am so thankful that God has brought healing to the sick, given us opportunities to be his hands in feet, and shown us a small picture of his lavish love through the generous gifts of others.

Our compassionate God

On Sunday David had the opportunity to preach at our church in the village. He chose to preach about the passage from Luke 10:25-37. It was his first time preaching, and he was a bit nervous, but he did a wonderful job. He talked with the congregation about the questions of who is our neighbor, what does it mean to love our neighbor, and why Jesus used this parable, to show us our inability to earn our own righteousness. He reminded us that in the parable, we are like the person in the ditch, helpless and dying, and Jesus came and sacrificed himself to save us. Actually Scripture says we are dead in our sins, not just dying, but parables only carry the analogy so far. When we realize that there is no way we can justify ourselves, but that Jesus saved us at great personal expense, this changes our heart when we see another person equally helpless. It was a very good sermon, encouraging God's people with the love of Jesus, and encouraging them to live out that love with their "neighbors" even if it happens to be someone who is more like an enemy.

One of the things that I have always loved about my husband is that he is a compassionate man. He knows that he has received grace and mercy and wants to show that to those around him. Not all the time and not perfectly, but it is one aspect of the way God is shaping his character that I absolutely love! Since a young age he has particularly had a soft heart toward the needs of widows. As a teenager, he would help the widows in his neighborhood with gardening or mowing the grass. A few months back, we began driving to church instead of walking so that we could offer a ride to a widow who is in poor health and cannot walk to church. Soon we realized that some of the GSF kids with special needs also were not going to church because their wheelchairs cannot make it through the narrow walking path. Since God has provided us with a van that can carry wheelchairs on top, we are able to drive these kids too. When I told David how I appreciated his work every Sunday loading and unloading the kids and their chairs, he had a funny reply. He said, "Having a small inconvenience to make it possible for some handicapped orphans to go to church seems like a no-brainer." We laughed a bit realizing how this is obviously something God would want us to do, not just because of the needs of these kids, but because of the way God has had that type of love and compassion toward us at a great inconvenience to Himself.

Since God has blessed us with generally reliable transportation, and since most of the people around us do not have that convenience, we often stop to offer a ride to people on the side of the road. We usually stop for either an elderly woman or a woman carrying a child. Sorry men, you can walk. Today, we had a "fall break" of sorts, which is just a day off of school to take care of some other important things. We were planning to drive to Jinja to run several errands, get lunch, use internet, and take care of some things related to building the house. Soon after we turned out of the GSF driveway, we saw a woman carrying a child, walking. We pulled over to see if she needed a ride somewhere. I got out to ask her "Ogenda wa?" (Where are you going?), but as I stepped out I immediately saw that something was terrribly wrong. She was wailing and carrying a child who was maybe 4 or 5 years old. At first I thought the child was dead. The child was limp and her eyes were open, but completely empty. But then some friends from the village came over to her and began rubbing onion all over the child's face to see if they could bring her to consciousness. She eventually came to, but was very limp and barely conscious. In the midst of the gathering crowd, I offered to drive them to the hospital. After a bit of brief discussion in 2 or 3 languages, some of the people in the village who have become my friends told me to take her to the nearest hospital. David drove like an ambulance driver as fast as was reasonably possible to get this child to the hospital. As we arrived, I was struck by how many people there were in similar situations. I have been to this hospital several times and each time my heart breaks for the people there. We were able to make sure this child was seen received testing and treatment quickly, prayed with them as best as I could in Luganda, and then we left them in the care of the doctors and nurses there.

It was interesting how God gave us an opportunity the very next day to live out what David had been teaching about. One thing that his sermon reminds me, is that caring for people in need is not earning for us our own righteousness. As I thought of all the people in need there, I realized that there was no way, we could help everyone. I also realized that we had only a mild inconvenience to take this woman and child to the hospital, but Jesus gave his own life for us.He died so that he could save you and me. Any little expression of his mercy is simply what we want to do as people who have been rescued from the ditch. Just moments before seeing this woman and child, I had been irritable with my family, and lacked love and compassion with them. I know that on my own, I fail to love often. I cannot keep the law and earn my own righteousness, but Jesus has rescued me, has declared that I am righteous, and has graciously given us opportunities to live out a small picture of his love to those around us. Please pray for this woman and her child. I don't even know their names. But our compassionate God does!

Learning dependence

Our school for missionary kids here in Uganda, is anything but "traditional" in terms of American education. We have students in Pre-K through 12th grade. Older students often have opportunities to help teach younger students. Since there are at most three students in any grade level, there are many opportunities to work in small groups both with those in their own grade and in other grades.

While all of our students have different personalities and gifts, it has been good to see how they have grown and been stretched by opportunities to work together. Some students have a tendency to just want to get their work done on their own as quickly as possible. I have been praying that God will use this unique educational situation to provide opportunities for us all to learn about working together and how we can help one another grow, both in school and in life.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)

I have seen some practical examples of this verse in our little school. Last school year one of our students broke his arm. He was unable to write for several weeks. During that time, he worked together with another student in his grade level on all of their daily math assignments. As they were forced to work together and discuss how to solve the problems, I found that they both began scoring higher on tests (which they took separately). While they were working on their daily assignments together they were able to help catch each others mistakes without much conflict too. :) Praise God!

In recent weeks Elijah and Hayden have been working really well together on their math assignments. I often find that they don't need much supervision or instruction from me because they are able to help each other. (They are also both pretty quick to understand new math concepts.) As I was reviewing my student's progress I realized that these two boys are making great progress in math, and I attribute much of their success to the way they are working together.

I was talking with the 4 high school girls about this issue during our hour long class together which we have recently renamed "Algebra-Discipleship." During this hour I get to do some of my favorite things, talk about Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, and talk about living life to glorify and enjoy God with teenage girls. It is easy for many of us to want to be self-sufficient and independent. But God reminds us that it is "not good for man to be alone." (Genesis 2:8) It is often hard for us to admit that we need the help of others and even of God. When I find myself trying to solve problems on my own rather than praying or asking for prayer or help from others, I realize that I am falling back into the trap of the pride of self-sufficiency. It is a grace when I find myself to weak to accomplish something on my own. The joy of the Christian life is not that I am able to do it all and accomplish it all. It is that my Saviour has accomplished it for me. I can rest in Him and learn to run to him each moment I find myself weak and insufficient.

 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

In my relationships with my friends in the village, I have realized that they do not need to see me as the person who has it all together and can help. Instead I want them to realize that I am a weak broken sinner who has much to learn. It has been great to have them help me learn Luganda. These new friends find great pleasure in my weak attempts at learning their language. They are helping me and teaching me. They are also teaching me about Ugandan culture. I have often received gift from these neighbors, but yesterday their gifts were large. Elijah was with me and they gave us several large sugar canes. I was not sure how I would carry it all home. They amazed me as they used banana fibers to tie the canes together and banana leaves to make a circle to cushion the weight of the canes and help balance them on my head. They also lent me a scarf and wrapped it on my head. I was told that I am now a real "muganda." I enjoyed learning from them and trying to balance the canes on my head. I still need to use a hand for balance, at least for now. It seemed like the whole village was watching and laughing as I was trying to learn how to do something that all of their 5 year old girls can do.

I am learning that it is good to reveal my weakness, to ask for prayer, to confess my sins, and to ask for help. It is good to laugh at myself when I make mistakes and fail to balance sugar canes. It is good that I begin most days feeling like I am not up to the tasks of the day and desperately feeling my need to pray and read God's Word. I still struggle with many of these things, but I can see that God is graciously reminding me that I need Him and the body of Christ. Please continue to pray for me and my family that we all would learn to depend on Jesus more each day.

Graduation!

Yesterday was a graduation celebration for the P7 students at Good Shepherd's Fold primary school. The educational system here is very different from that in America, so I will briefly explain what this means. The school year begins in February and ends in November. The primary school system begins at P1 and continues to P7. When students complete P7 they take a placement test which determines much of their future. If they do very well on this exam, they can get into one of the better secondary schools and possibly make it to university one day. If their score is good but not great, they might get into a lower level secondary school which decreases their chances of scoring well enough in secondary school to continue on to university. If their score is a bit lower they may only be able to attend a few years of secondary school. And if they have a bad test day, they are finished with school altogether. These kids are most the age of students in middle school in America. Can you imagine if your educational future was determined by a test you took when you were in middle school? (The photo to the right is of me with my volleyball players who made it to the national level of competition. They were also recognized at the graduation celebration.)

These students feel a great deal of pressure, and for good reason. The celebration yesterday was celebrating the end of their regular school year. These students still have the exams to take and a class safari trip. (There are some great benefits to growing up in Africa!) At this celebration there was much talk about these upcoming exams. When Mark Gwartney, our team leader, spoke to the students, he also talked about this exam. He talked about how this test is important and may feel like a lot of pressure, but there is a more important test, the testing your heart to determine whether Jesus is your Lord and Saviour. All you have to do for this test is to acknowledge your inability to be right with God on your own and to receive the righteousness of Jesus through faith. While the results of their academic test will have many implications for their lives, the results of this Spiritual test have implications for both this life and the life to come. I was so thankful that Mark had this opportunity to share the gospel with these students and their families one more time before they leave school at GSF. Most of these students come from the nearby villages and are from a variety of religious backgrounds. The students from the school have historically scored well on these tests, so many families send their kids to the GSF school even though they are not Christians.

As you think of the ministry here at GSF, please pray for these students as they prepare for this important test. (To the left is a photo of our nurse, Kim, and the GSF kids who are finishing their P7 year of school.) Also pray that the families who have heard the good news of righteousness and salvation in Jesus Christ will come to faith in Jesus. Please pray for us to know how to encourage, comfort and point to Jesus as we talk wit the kids who live at GSF who are also preparing for this exam. It is so good for all of us to remember that our lives are in the hands of our Saviour who loved us so much that he sacrificed his own life, that we might be children of God. When I get anxious and worry about the future this is my greatest comfort.

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" Romans 8:32

Things

Recently, many members of our team have had things stolen. As you may recall, David had his phone stolen in Jinja. Other team members have had laptops, phones, kindles, ipads, and money stolen in Jinja and Kamapala. With David's phone we found that it was highly unlikely that the police would be able to recover anything. Mostly, they just asked for money to help look for it. Thankfully in all of the recent theft, no one has been personally in danger.

It can be very frustrating and discouraging to have things taken. When it is a device that you have grown accustomed to using for work and communication, missing that device creates many challenges. Even though many years ago, we did not have such conveniences, these "things" have become very important to us.

While I personally have not had anything taken yet, I have been learning from my teammates and husband as they have dealt with these situations. When David's phone was taken, he decided to just wait and to not be in a hurry to replace it. For a little over a month he did not have a phone until our nephew generously donated his phone for David to use. Out here in the village there are no land lines, so David just had to use other people's phones when he needed to communicate. He was also not able to check email very often because opening a full website on a computer takes much more bandwidth than getting an email on a mobile device. I have also heard other team members talk about not being in a hurry to replace a stolen item, rather just being willing to go without for a time.

At times I can get caught in the mindset that I need these "things," but living in a rural village in Uganda is teaching much about what I really need. Many of my neighbors live in mud huts and eat what they can grow. As we are building a house here I often struggle with wondering if I am living with much more than I really need. Our house will be very modest from an American perspective, but it seems so big compared to the one or two room huts of our neighbors. This is an ongoing struggle for me as we make decisions regarding the house.

As all of this has been mulling around in my mind, I am often reminded of this passage of Scripture.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)

Even though people do not have as many things here as in America, it is still so easy for our hearts to seek after things that do not ultimately satisfy. It is interesting that the prosperity gospel is just as popular here in the midst of poverty as it is in a wealthy country like America. Whatever we have, it is so easy to always want more. It is so easy for us to be discontent with whatever we have. I am praying that God will teach me to be more like the Apostle Paul who "has learned in whatever situation I am to be content." (Philippians 4:11) This contentment does not come from comparing myself to others but through looking to Jesus Christ who has given me eternal life and has made me a beloved child of God. What more could I ask for?

Baptisms

With all the people who have recently come to faith in Jesus, our church leadership decided that we needed to have an opportunity for new believers to be baptized. It was an exciting day celebrating the work God is doing!

Above is the group of those who were baptized. (We were at GSF in order to have water readily available since there is no running water in Buundo village.) Eleven of the people who were baptized were from Light of the World church, and the other eleven were kids who live at Good Shepherd's Fold. I have been so encouraged seeing how God has been bringing people into his family! And while my friend was being baptized, I got to hold her precious grand baby. 

I am so thankful to be a part of the work God is doing in this part of the world! Please pray for these new members of the Church as they learn to live out their faith. Also pray for those of us who have the opportunity to encourage them as they grow. 

Independence Day

On Thursday, we celebrated Uganda's Independence Day. We came to Jinja for the morning, where there is better internet, so I thought I would post some photos from our fun times celebrating. This first photo is of our students on our special school day on Thursday. We used the day to study African Geography and Ugandan history, language and culture.  As you can see, we all wore our Ugandan colors to celebrate 52 years of independence!

drumming

 Our school day included several differnt activities including labeling maps, making a Ugandan flag, making a timeline of Ugandan history, playing Ugandan trivia about history, languague, geography, and culture, and a photo scavenger hunt about various aspects of life in Uganda. I will show you some of the photos that we all enjoyed with brief captions.

Elijah holding a bucket of posho
(This is what is served for lunch along with beans each day.)

Avalyn carrying matooke on her head
(Matooke is a banana that is cooked and then eaten.)

Zeke pumping water

Playing netball - yes, Zeke is the ball for this photo.
I don't think he ever was actually thrown through the hoop.

Megan, Zeke and Emma walking toward the cattle

Esther after being caught in a rainstorm

Ezra cooking over a charcoal stove
(Most cooking is done this way.)

Some GSF boys playing football, Uganda's favorite pass-time.

Overall, it was a great day with lots of learning and lots of laughs. I hope seeing our photos gives you a little picture of our life in Uganda.